Joy of Country Living

Living in the country is peaceful, relaxing and hassle-free – most of the time. However, when things go wrong they go wrong big time.

Such has been the case the last 2 weeks here on top of the hill. Plumbing problems are bad anytime – even a leaky faucet is irritating . . . but when the ‘thrones’ go south – you’ve got real trouble. Our porcelain thrones had been operating (barely) for the last 10 days or so  – and after David did everything he could think of from using a plunger (the obvious) to ‘roto-rooting’ the lines – ‘we’ finally gave in and called an expert.  I might add not only was it inconvenient – but it also caused me to miss my favorite auction in Reagan, Texas – Johnny Norman’s.   His auctions are always fun with lots of good stuff.

Luckily for us our neighbor (Sam Bradshaw) – who has a business installing septic systems – made time in his busy schedule to drop by and help us out. Since David had already dug the dirt off the tanks in the backyard and removed a 3′ portion of the raised wooden walkway – Sam was able to check on the problem (broken pipe) and offer a fix. We needed a new line! If – I’d been a little smarter and thought about it – I should have snapped that the periodic bubbling in the ‘modes (much like a huge belch) was air . . . and how else could air get in except for a break in a line somewhere. Duh!

At any rate Sam and his crew came out – equipment in tow and proceeded to dig up the rest of the back yard over the tanks. (Note…before all this happened – I made sure David knew exactly where my blueberry plants were so – hopefully – no one would step on them. Those little plants don’t look much better than a twig right now.) It was short of a miracle that they could get the piece of equipment they needed to use into the back yard – through the side gate – and between the fence and trees . . . they maybe had an inch on each side to spare. It was some sort of trench digger (David called it a Ditch-Witch) with a ‘mini-back hoe’ on the other end. I have to say – they didn’t hurt a thing and were careful to move my cypress tree limbs out of the way too! Red operated that piece of equipment much like a surgeon operates – carefully but with assurance.

The whole process took about 3 days and without going into all the details of this mess – you wouldn’t want to know anyway – we ended up getting a new line, having the tanks pumped clean and reburied. We’re almost back to normal outside – just need to spread some good dirt over the clay and plant some grass. I’m not complaining – we were afraid we’d have to dig up the whole system which would have meant tearing down fences and wiping out the garden. Those guys worked wonders and what with feeling like things are back to normal – I’m happy again.

Things have been so busy around here I haven’t had much time to do anything – anything that I like that is. 

Of course, it’s tax time …..again – so most of the weekend was dedicated to getting papers together. Just about have it all sorted out – so it’s off to the CPA next.

After reviewing last year’s numbers and this year’s numbers it would seem that everything is getting more expensive. What else is new??!!  And, what with the way the overall economy is going, looks like we’re all going to need to find a way to earn a few extra $$$. That being said, we’ve been really busy working on our outside Internet projects trying to see what works best for generating some additional income. We’re rarely not doing something on the computer – but have found that monetizing our websites seems to be working…. slowly. We’re definitely not getting rich – but if we continue to build on what we’re doing – we can at least help offset some of the rising prices.

We’re very much encouraged with a new program we’ve found out of New Zealand. The guy that runs it (Mark) – so far seems to be the most realistic about what to expect, and very up front about how and what to do. We’ve dealt with a lot of these guys in our search for the ’silver bullet’ – and unfortunately not all have their member’s best interests at heart. Mark’s got loads of free tools to download for use and always good info. If any of you think you might like to try Internet Marketing – give a look at www.powertoearnmoney.com – and from that page click on the Affilorama link (right side bar). If you’d like to see a website that’s been built based on what we’ve learned from Mark – visit BodyBuildingFitnessProgram.com

For those that may be interested in doing some sort of on line business – or have questions and want to know how to go about getting up online either with a business or blog, we’ve developed PowerToEarnMoney.com as a learning tool. You’ll pretty much find everything you need to get know to get you started  – including a lot of the basic do’s and don’ts of having a website. Best thing – the information is Free and in very simple to understand language.   Fact is I’ve put this blog on line based on everything I wanted and needed to know when I first got started but had a hard time finding and understanding.   PowerToEarnMoney is my way of  trying to help  others find the information they need  – without it taking them as long as it did me to ferret out all the info and explanations.  

And for those of you that may not be into building websites or blogs - but still want to try earning a few dollars, check out www.oodle.com. It’s a ‘classified ad site’ where you can sell just about anything for free. I haven’t tried it so can’t offer any help – but I’d be sure and read all the Terms before listing anything.  And while you’re at it – if you have something to sell, a service to offer, etc. check out the FREE listings on www.txantiquemall.com. Look for the Marketplace on the home page – right side towards the ‘bottom’.

Received these helpful hints from my cousin Lynn this morning – who had gotten them from her niece Kim.  Some I had heard of before, some I had not – and a few of them I had forgotten about.  They are all good,  worth remembering and definitely worth passing along.

Bananas – take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

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Peppers – with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

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Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

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To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in, then beat them up.

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For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

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Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

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Leftover snickers bars makes a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream..Yummm!

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Reheat Pizza – heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs – put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done Easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting – when you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread – to warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away – start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass – use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

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No More Mosquitoes – place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

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Squirrel Away! – to keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it. (I’ve found sprinkling cayenne pepper anywhere or around anything you don’t want animals bothered will keep just about any animal away)

Flexible vacuum – to get something out of a heat register or under the fridge, add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling – pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and … ta da! … static is gone.

Measuring Cups – before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield? – Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car . When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope – If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner – Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies – To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2′ with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants – Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it ‘home,’ can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!  (Really thought this was a good hint . . . no poison)

With everyone watching every penny these days - and looking for ‘green’ options – if you have a good hint pass it along via the ‘comments’ and I’ll put them up for others to use.

We’ve always heard that no two snowflakes are alike . . . hard to imagine when you think how many gazillions there are of them. But after looking at the black and white photographs taken by Wilson Bentley (1865-1931) you’d have to agree. I saw these few images on the ‘The Fox Nation’ website earlier and found them to be absolutely amazing.

“Photography in 1885 was closer to science than art, and by connecting a bellows camera to a microscope to capture the tiny beauty of the flake, Wilson Bentley pushed the bounds of both.”, Fox News

I found it curious that they come in all manner of styles – some appear to be almost solid while others are delicate and lacey.  But regardless of how they look -  it would appear that all have 6 sides.  I’ve uploaded a few of the images for you to see. Click once on the image  to make it larger, click twice to return it to smaller size.

While snow in our part of Texas might not be quite as rare as hen’s teeth – we don’t see it very often – so when we do it’s a pretty big deal. For those of us who are ’snow challenged’ – any amount of snow is something we’re not used to dealing with – but that doesn’t keep us all from hitting the roads to take pictures. And, that’s exactly what David and I did last Friday. Of course, the fact that we were without power probably had something to do with it. It usually takes about 2 hours for the power to come back on – so we figured that was just about long enough to jump into the Jeep and see how everything looked covered in a blanket of white.

David is a real photo-hound and must have taken about 20 or so pictures before we’d even gotten off the property. And while he does enjoy taking pictures – I have to admit he is very good at it and has taken some beautiful pictures over the years. The pics here are either of our property or the surrounding area. My two favorites are the ones of the mother cow and her calf – looks so typically Texas, and the pond with the ’square’ cloud.

If you click once on the each picture it will enlarge, click twice to return it to smaller size.

By the time we got back home the power was back on so we sat down in front of the fireplace to steaming mugs of our version of Irish Cream Coffee. It’s a favorite and we enjoy it at night as well – but with decaff! If you’d like to try it here’s our recipe:

• 1 Cup brewed coffee (in over-sized cup)
• Sweeten to taste
• 2 teaspoons of chocolate syrup
• 3 teaspoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
• Enough whipped cream to fill to top
• Stir and enjoy!

They say each snowflake is unique – hard to imagine when you see so many of them – but I saw some photos the other day taken of snowflakes and will try to get those posted a little later this week – depending on when we do grocery shopping.    The pictures are absolutely amazing!