Tips For Homemakers

During this busy holiday season and the all-day cooking, I realized I use a shortcut every time I cook.

I fill the kitchen sink full of hot soapy water and wash dishes as I dirty them. Most of the time I am organized enough to even wash some of the pots and pans before putting the dinner on the table. Plus, even if you don’t have time to wash them, you have soaked them and they are definitely easier to clean.

If you have a dishwasher, this still works for you. I don’t use a dishwasher… by choice. I hate dishwashers. But, my daughter does enjoy her dishwasher and it helps to wash off the pots and pans before putting them in the dishwasher. Also, if you do this when you have a big meal with lots of pots and pans, you can start the dishwasher with the pots and pans and then by the time you finish eating, you can unload the pots and pans and start the second load of dishes/glasses and silverware . A big meal almost always means two loads for the dishwasher.

I used a $6.99 bottle of gel drain cleaner and still had a clogged sink. I went online and found a solution with items most people have in their home.

You take 1/4 cup of baking soda and pour down your drain. Mine didn’t want to go down since the edge of the drain was wet. I added a small amount of water to flush it down. Then I added a cup of vinegar. Boy, did it bubble!!!!! I used the plunger, too.

I did it a couple of times since it was really clogged up.

It worked better than the expensive drain cleaner.

Our dogs are outside dogs but I cannot help but feel sorry for them when they are in the driving rain. They have shelter but it seems two of them don’t want to get into the same shelter even though one shelter is 4×8 foot. Go figure.

A quick solution is to put up a (PUP, ha ha) tent. It was $17.96 for a 5×6 foot floor area. Two of the three dogs got into it immediately and took an afternoon nap. My third dog is older and just wants to be left alone so I am sure she will end up in the 4×8 ft shelter.

Even if you don’t want to use the tent as any type of permanent solution, it is great to have if you just need some shade when the trees lose their leaves.

Do you hate flipping through your coupons at the grocery store? I sure do.

I found if I use an envelope to make my grocery list on and then put all my coupons in the envelope, it works great. By looking through my coupons at home, it reminds me that I need some items, too.

It really helps to only clip coupons that you use on a regular basis or if you have been wanting to try an item.

No matter how hectic life gets to be sometime, you should wake up early and enjoy a few minutes alone just admiring the Lord’s handiwork. With my coffee in hand, I am off to the back porch to enjoy watching my chickens scratching for food and my dogs running from tree to tree following the squirrel as he jumps from branch to branch. And the wild birds are entertaining, too. Yesterday I watched a Woodpecker and some Blue Jays sweep down to steal a bite out of the dog’s dishes.

The lawn is freshly mowed and everything looks so green and manicured. There is still work to be done in the yard but I will think about that later. Enjoy…relax, now.

My daughter helped mow the lawn last night and it really tickled me to see her on the riding lawnmower going around in circles and zig zagging to make sure she didn’t  miss  a blade of grass. Not exactly what she did on Friday night in Raleigh. Then we raked the grass in the thick part of the yard and feed it to the two horses and the goat next door.

I guess I am particularly thinking about “another day in my paradise” because I am missing my Dad so much and he is in the REAL paradise now. I think I will just try to enjoy the time I have on this earth with all the Lord’s many beautiful wonders and make myself more available to the people who mean so much to me. My son lives in Raleigh and my daughter lives in Atlanta and I don’t always make the time to call like I should. Emailing is so much easier. I do speak with my Mom almost every day. Everyone just seems so busy…don’t they? I was hoping at 57 I wouldn’t be so busy myself. lol

Well, I am going to grab another cup of coffee and get back out on the porch before it starts getting too hot. Have a great day folks. Take the time to enjoy a few moments outside in the refreshing morning air. You won’t regret it. Unless you live next to a couple horses, like I do and sometimes the air…not so fresh.

I read in my Mother Earth News magazine that you can take diluted or full strength vinegar and pour on the weeds growing in cracks in your cement driveway or between your bricks or stepping stones. Boy, that has to be cheaper than the weed killers you buy in the store. I haven’t tried it yet since I do not have a sidewalk or concrete driveway out in the country. lol

Remember I told you we have an uninvited armadillo living under our shed who comes out every night and makes havoc in my yard. I read how you need to capture it and move it to an area that has water so that was my plan.

My husband, daughter and I came home after dark and there in our front yard was the culprit just digging away in my yard. Well, I remembered I had a 5 gallon bucket in the trunk of the car. I walked right up to the armadillo and tried to put it over him. He seemed oblivious to our presence even with the car lights shining on him. He was a little bigger than the bucket opening so I didn’t manage to catch him that time. He ran about 20 feet away but he ended up cornering himself so I did manage to get the bucket over him.

Then I had my daughter run inside and grab the extra large cookie sheet I have and I slide it between the bucket and the ground. My husband flipped the bucket upright and carried it to the car.

We flew down the dirt road trying to get to a place to release it before it pushed the cookie sheet off the top of the bucket. We found a spot about a mile away and released it knowing there were a couple of small ponds nearby.

This is most excitement we have had in awhile and we laughed through the whole thing. Making memories!!!!

I occasionally make pancakes from scratch and they are very good but not that much better than the “complete” pancake mixes you buy.

My mom makes really good pancakes and part of the reason is because she adds vanilla flavoring and melted butter to the “complete” mix. I make enough for two people and I usually add a teaspoon of vanilla and maybe two teaspoons of melted butter. Then I also add some wheat bran. You can buy that in the cereal aisle. Just add a couple tablespoons of it though.

You will find you won’t get hungry so fast when you add the wheat bran. The butter and vanilla flavoring really add to the flavor. yummy

I recently visited NC and my sister, Sandy had some pecan trees growing in her yard in unwanted areas. I think the squirrels are the culprits or just a strong wind blowing the pecans everywhere. Well, I hate to see a tree go to waste so I asked her if I could dig them up.

I borrowed my sister, Wanda’s red rectangular bucket without realizing it is her husband’s car washing bucket. Sorry, Mike. I will return it in August.

Make sure you dig the tree up carefully without damaging the roots. It is always best to try to get enough dirt around the tree’s roots that they are undisturbed but in my case, I decided to try something different since the dirt was unwanted in my two week old car.

I filled the bucket half way with water and then dropped the small trees into the bucket roots first, of course. My trip is 10 hours so I knew I wouldn’t be planting the trees until the following day.

One of the trees is producing new leaves so I know at least one will make it out of the six I brought. Three of them had damaged roots so I suspect they probably won’t make it but I planted them anyway.

I also noticed plenty more crepe myrtles growing along the ditch. Some of them are only a foot tall with blooms on them. My husband has taken a couple days off and he will be digging in the ditches, that’s for sure. With me, of course. lol

We couldn’t help but notice the wild blackberries growing along the road. We live on a dirt road so it is easy to notice when the they are ripe.

So one evening after dinner, we put on long jeans and high top shoes and starting walking along our road with a large baggie in hand.

Well, the first time we went blackberry picking I got stung by a wasp and my hand and arm swelled up about three inches up my arm. My skin was so tight I thought it would break. I must admit, my hand looked good with no wrinkles. tee hee We saw a small skinny 8 inch long snake, too.

We went blackberry picking last night and we saw the wasps before they saw us this time. I had been warning Bonnie to watch out for snakes and when she steps into tall grass to stop and listen before going further. Sure enough she heard a noise and ran (like the smart woman she is) as a four foot black snake crawled up a tree.

We were victorious though because we got probably a gallon of blackberries. There is a blackberry farm right near our house and maybe next year, we will go there. Probably not. The blackberries are free along the road.