Tips on Shredding Documents

Aurora AS810SD 8-Sheet Strip Cut Paper/CD/Credit Card Shredder with BasketNow being the owner of a paper shredder,
I think it is a good investment.
You can get an 8-Sheet-at-a-time shredder
for a reasonable price.

It's nice to have in an accessible, convenient corner of your home office or work room.  Just shred bills or bank statements as you get them, but pay and read them first :)


Another alternative is a shredding service.  My local Kinkos does not offer shredding, but my local Office Depot does- at only 99 cents per pound.  Use a shredding service for big jobs.

The next alternative is getting statements and bills online.  It saves trees and frankly,  it's where commerce is going!

Remember to save your online documents and then save these- 'your records' on a back-up disk!



Prevent Ice Dams in Your Gutters

Prevent Ice Dams in Your Gutters... now.

You can thank me later.

Ice Dams form in your gutters after a lot of snow has fallen, snow starts melting and then refreezes in your gutters.  In the interest of full-self-disclosure- I had never heard of 'ice dams' or gave them ANY thought whatsoever before last week, or rather- before the DC Snowpocalypse of 2010.  I personally like the term- KaiserSnoze, which I've heard bantered about, a little better :)

With that said, it's a good idea to INSULATE your roof... especially insulate the ends so heat doesn't escape- right where the gutters are.


You can buy insulation and put it tightly at the bottom of your attic, where the roof and ceilings meet.

I found a thorough article about Ice Dams and Preventing them at Do It Yourself Life.

Please click on the link for more information!

Happy Households... and roofs and gutters!


Have a 'Cleaning Bowl'

Trudeau Melamine Mixing Bowls, Set of 3This Tip is pretty straight-forward,
but it's amazing how 'little tips', like this one,
make life so much easier.
And that's really what we're about here at HouseHold Tips, after all!


Have a bowl, or a stack of different size bowls that are for NOTHING,
but cleaning.
No food is ever in these bowls.
Write 'CLEANING' on them (that's what I did).

Keep them under your sink, or somewhere else very accessible.

Whenever you get some kind of stain- Get Out The Bowl,

Mix Hydrogen Peroxide and dishwashing liquid,
And soak the article of clothing,
in the bowl.

POOF!

It comes out, even BLOOD.

and how fantastic it is as a stain remover!

So, Tip of The Day:

Have a designated 'Cleaning Bowl'; if you have it right there- you'll use it!

Easy!














Another Great Linen Closet Solution... Use White!

Pike Street 100% Egyptian Cotton 725-Gram 6-Piece Towel Set, WhiteI've gotten a lot of response about my post on rolling your towels in the linen closet... people love the idea!  Here's another great solution to organizing towels and linens-

Use white!

If you use white towels for your bathrooms, and especially for spare towels (for company, etc.)... THEY ALWAYS MATCH!


HOLD ON- I know what you're thinking... 'White?!  How do I keep them clean and crisp?'

Since they are all white- you can throw them in the washer WITH BLEACH,
No Harm,
No Foul,

No Problem!

Thank You to Kristin,  a great Mom and extraordinary 'HouseHold Tipper'-
for this great idea...

She's so smart!





'Buying a Dishwasher' Tip



When buying a dishwasher, remember what you are paying for:

NOISE... basically.

Recently I purchased a new dishwasher.  I went with a Frigidaire because it was discontinued and therefor, drastically reduced (to $179.00).  It frankly cost more to have it installed, but that's another story :)

It's a nice looking dishwasher, it's stainless steel and matches the rest of the kitchen appliances,

AND most importantly, cleans dishes well, without a lot of dishwashing detergent.
It has some kind of hyper-efficient cleaning mechanism that most dishwashers have now-a-days.

So is there any downside?  Well... noise.

It's pretty loud when it runs.  Let's put it this way- my husband joked that he's glad that our son is not a baby anymore, because the dishwasher would wake him up.  That's a little exaggerated, 
but not completely off the mark.

So the tip for today sounds a lot like the Blender Tip I gave recently,
Yet different...

1. When buying Dishwashers AS WELL AS Blenders-
DO NOT go with a brand you have NEVER heard of,
you just don't start a 'dishwasher manufacturing business',
it must grow and develop-
go with a name you've heard of- like Frigidaire, WhirlpoolMaytag, etc.

2.  Think about noise level:
Most dishwashers clean dishes well;
at this point, in 2010, you're paying for a
lack of noise.
Ours is a little noisy, but you get used to it.
And it's still not as loud as that cheap inexpensive blender I bought!
On the other hand, an Electrolux dishwasher is SILENT,
and it's price tag reflects that.

It's your choice- go with what your lifestyle needs!

Happy HouseHolds!




Use Baby Wipes For Clean Ups Too!

Baby Wipes are a necessity in a house with babies, obviously.
But they are a good helper for any household.

I keep Pampers Baby Wipes in the bathroom for removing make-up,

and generic baby wipes in the pantry of my kitchen.  Why generic in the kitchen?

Because when it comes to baby wipes- you get what you pay for... Generic wipes are a little tougher and thicker- hence: perfect for cleaning up a countertop or wiping up a quick spill!

I know this isn't the 'greenest' practice in the world, but you can put them in with your recycling!

One Last Tip for Today:  Keep wipes (and any cleaning product) where you use it.  If you don't have space for it- make space.  If it's right there, you will use it; If it's not, it becomes inconvenient and a chore.

A Great New Cleaning Tool

Procter & Gamble 43515 Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
I found a great new cleaning tool
to get marks off of paint,
more specifically- painted walls!

I think everyone (especially those of us
with kids) has walked through a room and
thought,
'How did that mark get on the wall?'

My hallway was so marked up that I was
begrudgingly thinking of painting the whole thing again.

So I did something as simple as Googling 'cleaning painted walls',
and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers came up.  I think they are pretty new, I hadn't heard of them before, so I tried them...
* Mr. Clean didn't pay me or give me free Magic Erasers to try*

And...

They work Great!  They get marks off of paint easily!!  I'm so excited to find this new cleaning tool!
My hallway looks freshly painted, brand new!
My dining room looks great too- no chair marks on the walls!

To be fair to readers I went to CVS and found their generic brand of these 'Magic Erasers':
No Difference, the CVS generic brand works great too!

These erasers work on a lot of surfaces,
they are FANTASTIC on paint.


Enjoy!




Dyson Appliances

James Dyson, the founder of Dyson Appliances, is a British industrial designer and entrepreneur who studied at the Royal College of Art in London. His early product designs include the Ballbarrow, a wheelbarrow made more maneuverable by substituting a ball for the front wheel. He is best known for the Dual Cyclone line of bagless vacuum cleaners that he designs and manufactures.

Based on his observations that traditional vacuum cleaners become less effective as the pores of their dust bags become clogged with dust, he set about designing a new kind of vacuum cleaner. Dyson’s dual cyclone system uses centrifugal force to separate the heavier dust particles from the air, thereby maintaining a clean airstream and full suction. In 1979, he made an industrial version of the cyclone cleaner for the Ballbarrow factory. It took five years of further development and more than 5,000 discarded prototypes to create the world’s first bagless cyclonic vacuum cleaner, the G-Force, which Dyson patented in 1984. Another nine years were to pass before Dyson began to reap the commercial potential of his invention.

Dyson tried to interest existing vacuum cleaner manufacturers in his patent with little success. He managed to negotiate licenses with a Japanese company and an American one. Production went ahead in Japan, but the American company, Amway, pulled out. Dyson then discovered that Amway was producing a cyclone cleaner, purportedly of its own design. In 1987, he sued Amway for patent infringement, a case that took five years to be settled in Dyson’s favor. During that period, he relied on the income from the Japanese license to meet his legal costs and pay the patent renewal fees. With the court case won, Dyson was able to set up Dyson Appliances at a factory in Wiltshire, in the south of England, to mass-produce his designs.

The Dual Cyclone line, more effective at removing finer dust particles than the G-Force, began with an upright model in 1993, soon followed by a cylinder (canister) version. All Dyson cleaners feature a transparent plastic dust container and cylinder models have a unique “stair hugging” shape. The classic Dyson colors are gray and yellow, but variations have been introduced to differentiate new models—for example, the use of purple casing for a high-efficiency filter. The de Stijl models are a stylistic tribute to the Dutch design movement of that name. Another Dyson first is the Recyclone, the first vacuum cleaner to be made by taking plastic waste from the manufacturing process and recycling it. At the end of the twentieth century, Dyson began working on the development of a robotic vacuum cleaner.

Dyson Appliances quickly achieved great commercial success in Britain, in spite of its products being at the higher end of the price range. In 1996, Dyson sold 400,000 vacuum cleaners, taking cumulative sales income above the £1 billion mark. The company now accounts for half of the British vacuum cleaner market by value. As exports only represent about 15 percent of sales, there is considerable foreign growth potential.

Winter Roof Tip

Tip for Today:  Take Care of Your Roof!

We happen to have a slate roof,
but whatever type of roof you have-
take care of it!

We found a very good, honest roofer in our area,
and every March, after the snows and cold weather,
we have him come over to inspect our roof and
replace any slates that need it.  It doesn't cost very much, and frankly, you are gradually,
replacing your roof;
you never have problems with it,
and it's very cost effective.  

So take care of the roof you have, and it'll never give you any worry!

Snow Removal

Today some tips on Snow Removal!
You may have heard, the DC Region has gotten pummeled
with over 3 feet of snow this past week,
so I have become an 'instant expert' in snow removal.

1.  Dig out in stages.  Don't wait til it's all over.
It's easier to go out every 2 or 3 hours and dig out,
especially for your back, heart, and sanity.

2.  Don't pile up snow around your house (aka- your foundation).
This prevents possible leaks when the 'big thaw' comes.

3.  Have fun!  Make other paths that are 'snow forts'.
My son loves this!

Drills, Electric

The first electric hand drill is a good example of an appliance becoming truly popular almost sixty years after its invention. At the beginning of the century household tool kits could include either a hand drill or an Archimedean drill for making small holes. The first electric model was invented by the German Wilhelm Fein of Stuttgart in 1895. The American Black & Decker Company introduced its first model in 1915 followed by the first on/off trigger switch for a drill in 1917.

Housed in metal cases, these drills were used by workpeople in factories and workshops. They were not seen as a domestic product until the rise of the do-it-yourself (DIY) phenomenon of the postwar period. Black & Decker produced affordable electric drills for the DIY enthusiast, retailing at around seventeen dollars in the 1940s. This and other models had metal casings, and their styling appeared to be influenced by “ray-guns” seen in magazines like Amazing Stories and science fiction film serials such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Some companies were developing ergonomic designs. Atlas Copco commissioned the Swedish designer Rune Zernell for its LBB 33 model of 1955; he used ergonomic models and noise reduction chambers to make it slimmer and easier to use.

Bosch, the giant German engineering company, also began to make drills for the domestic market. Founded in Stuttgart in 1886, Bosch began producing industrial equipment and has diversified into appliances, power tools, and communications technology.

The rise of DIY and the confidence of homeowners to tackle bigger jobs as well as a more competitive market led to increasing product specifications and refinements. Variable speeds and hammer adjustments were introduced in the 1960s and 1970s, along with sanding attachments. The hammer action makes the drill bit vibrate backward and forward, pounding the material at the tip of the drill. This is especially useful for masonry, especially combined with two speed gearboxes that increased the torque (twisting force) of the drill at the lower speed. Increasingly models also featured a reverse action for use with a screwdriver attachment. Plastic replaced metal casings. Battery-operated cordless drills appeared on the DIY market in the 1980s. Convenient for light tasks they are not as powerful as drills that plug in to power outlets. That decade also saw the introduction of electro-pneumatic drills with a powerful hammer action and torque control to limit the twisting force at the chuck, ensuring that screws are not driven in too tight.

Today the electric drill is an essential part of the home tool kit and continues to be improved. The main manufacturers are Black & Decker, Bosch, Hitachi, and Makita.

Always Have Firewood

Okay, I tried to upload a cute image of firewood, but I was unable to.
That is because we are in the middle of our 2nd blizzard within a week...
And I'm using my husband's computer; my laptop is broken right now,
and I'm unable, once again, to get to the Apple store.

So now, for the HouseHold Tip: even if you never use your fireplace,
like us,
Always have at least a small pile of firewood on hand,
in case the power goes out.
We learned this the hard way,
so for this 2nd blizzard:
we are equipped with
firewood,
kindling,
newspapers,
emergency lights,
and batteries.
I'll be back with more HouseHold Tips in a couple of days when things... and the weather, are back to normal :)

A. F. Dormeyer

A. F. Dormeyer developed the electric Household Beater in 1927. It was designed so that the motor could be easily detached from the bracket that held the beater blades, a forerunner of detachable beaters. It was originally manufactured by the MacLeod Manufacturing company, which later changed its name to the A. F. Dormeyer Manufacturing Company.

The company continued into the 1960s producing beaters, deep fat fryers, and coffee percolators, including the magnificently named Automatic Electric Hurri-Hot Electri-Cup

Pioneer Woman


So I haven't had time to look through this hardly at all yet but I already love it! Find a link here or in my sidebar...http://thepioneerwoman.com/


Someday when I grow up I want my blog to look like hers!

Batteries

Many small electrical appliances rely on batteries for their power source. They can be for hand-held games such as the Nintendo Game Boy, portable radios, and systems like the Sony Walkman or for remote controls for videos, televisions, and hi-fi equipment.

The development of batteries began with the experiments of Alessandro Volta (1745–1827) and John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845). Volta discovered that when two different metals are in contact with moisture an electrical current is produced. His first “wet cell” battery used alternating zinc and silver discs separated by cloth moistened with a salt solution. Daniell improved on this by using zinc and copper electrodes, resulting in a more practical battery. The “dry cell” battery was developed in the 1860s. This led to the ubiquitous zinc-carbon battery that was to be in use for most of the twentieth century. The so-called dry cell has a moist paste electrode inside a zinc container. The positive electrode is a carbon rod in the center of the cell.

These batteries developed into two basic types, the small cylindrical battery for flashlights (torches), and so on, and the larger, rectangular power pack. The main manufacturers in the United States and the United Kingdom were both called Ever-Ready.

Batteries were important because they made electricity portable. The small inexpensive battery-operated flashlight soon became a household staple. Other appliances (such as radios) had to wait until the associated technological and social conditions allowed them to become smaller. The radios that followed the “cat’s whisker” sets required heavy “wet-cell” batteries. The development of valves allowed the use of lighter “dry-cell” batteries and the portable radio. These models, such as the Pye Type 25 of 1928 (which featured the first of its famous “sunrise” speaker grilles) were heavy due to a combination of batteries and wooden cases. Although a little lighter, even late 1940s and early 1950s models were cumbersome. The British Ever-Ready battery company also produced its own portables.

The development of transistors and radios such as the Sony TR-55 (1955) and the UK Pam (1956) and increasing personal mobility led manufacturers to produce smaller products. The rise of the portable transistor radio was also aided by the growth of rock and roll and a youth culture fuelled by a generation of teenagers with more money and time.

The development of transistors and the culturally driven desire for music and communications on the move has led to a migration of the products from the domestic and office environment into the public realm, as exemplified by the Sony Walkman and the mobile telephone. To keep this revolution going, manufacturers have relied on increasingly efficient lightweight long life batteries.

This trend was exploited by the Duracell Company, which pioneered the marketing of longer-lasting alkaline batteries in the late 1970s and 1980s. It caught the manufacturers of zinc-carbon batteries by surprise, as they were unprepared for the competition. The UK Ever-Ready Company folded in 1981, only to be bought up by an American company, Ralston Purina. In less than ten years alkaline batteries accounted for over 50 percent of U.S. battery sales. Duracell is a division of the Gillette Company and trades in over fifteen countries, employing 4,500 people in the United States, Belgium, China, and India. Although 80 percent of the world market is still zinc carbon, the alkaline battery dominates the Western consumer goods market. Recent trends have been the introduction of power indicators on the sides of the batteries and longer-lasting rechargeable batteries.

Being His Crown...







A virtuous and worthy wife [earnest and strong in character] is a crowning joy to her husband, but she who makes him ashamed is as rottenness in his bones..... Prov 12:4 (amplified).


So my friend Nicolle and a blogger friend of hers (Angie at Homemaker Chronicles) have started a new venture from Homemaker Moments. Now Friday's will be on how we are to be crowns of joy to our husbands...
Tim isn't actually home today so I will have to wait to fill out mine but wanted to at least put it out there! He'll be home tomorrow so hopefully sometime before Monday I can get my "assignment" finished! :)

Don't 'Go Discount' on Blenders


You live, You learn.

Case in Point: this blender, pictured on the left.

I have, believe it or not, never bought a blender before last week.  We got one as a wedding present and I've been using it for the last 12 years.

The blender we got was a nice one, but not a 'ridiculously-priced gizmo that that blends, dices and tells you the time of day'.  It was a blender, and it lasted 12 years.  So, since I have no experience with buying blenders, I figured-

'A blender is a blender.'

And that's not quite true.  The blender to the left was on sale at Target for $13.99.  What did I learn?

DO NOT buy a blender that is $13.99.

It is SO LOUD, it deafens the ears.  It even scared my 6-year-old son, and he doesn't really 'get scared' anymore.  I'm not mentioning the brand name (which I'd never heard of- another red flag), (I think you can read it on the front of the blender), because they didn't do anything wrong- they are selling a very, cheap, blender; 

It's just that I found out it is not worth saving a few dollars to go cheap on a blender.
It is worth a few more dollars to get a nice blender, that isn't CRAZY LOUD,
and rattles,
and scares small children.

So, I went back to Target and got an Oster 12-Speed Blender, that even crushes ice for smoothies... 
in seconds... silently,

for $37.99.

You know what?  Just about ALL the blenders at Target were between $30 and $40 dollars.

This is probably a good price range to look in when buying a blender :)

Once again- You Live.  You Learn.

Enough Said.





Beatrix...



I've always been interested/fascinated by her life and I loved this photo... Beatrix Potter and friend on their way to the Lake District for the summer. Later she would purchase Hilltop Farm and help save parts of the district for all to enjoy. If you thought/think her children's books are all their was her story is much more than that. I really enjoyed reading the mysteries by Susan Witting-Albert based on Beatrix as well... and we own all her little books (although in one large one). Would love to get the movie with Rene Zellwiger as well... and some interesting books which popped up on Amazon! (When Ross was little we read Peter Rabbitt almost every night - the large collection being his Christmas present in 1998 and Mrs. Tiggy Winkle is one of my favorites)




Use All Your Space... Coat Closets


Today we are talking about Efficiency.

One way to be efficient is to-

Use All Your Space!

Here is a great example:  you'll see in the picture to the left  that I'm using all the space in the bottom of the coat closet.

I got this little storage container from The Container Store. I put purses I frequently use on the top, my husbands' baseball caps in the middle drawer, and all gloves and hats in the bottom.  And there's a little space left over for my son's boots (to the right) and a couple of bags I use (to the left).

Now, everything has a place that is out of sight; no clutter, no baskets full of mittens- Yey!



Do-It-Yourself

The term “do-it-yourself ” or DIY now refers to one of the most popular, if enforced, leisure occupations within the Western world. It is supported by an equally large manufacturing and retail sector. A largely post-1945 phenomenon it covers a huge range of practical household tasks that are now carried out by the resident of the home rather than a specialized professional. This is especially so in countries like the United Kingdom, where private property ownership is high, and primarily appeals to people on low or middle incomes, the wealthy being able to afford interior designers and professional craftspeople.

In the United Kingdom, 70 percent of families lived in rented accommodation before 1939. The repairs were the responsibility of the landlord and there was little incentive to redecorate or improve someone else’s property. Also, labor was cheaper and culturally such manual work was not seen as the preserve of the middle-class office worker. Couples often worked together on their gardens and the “man of the house” may have hung the occasional picture, but to attempt the work of the professional painter, plumber, or electrician would have appeared eccentric.

Even if one had wanted to attempt such things the odds were stacked in favor of the professional. There were few detailed manuals and household guides were rudimentary in this area. To take decorating as an example, the wallpaper still came with a selvedge and had to be trimmed, either by hand or with a machine fitted with circular blades. The adhesive paste had to be mixed in a bucket.

World War II brought hardships and shortages and a “make-do-and-mend” attitude, which was in turn followed by a desire to improve the domestic environment. The two attitudes were not necessarily polarities; those who had to mend or make things often found that they enjoyed the creative or technical challenge and translated former tasks into hobbies.

The slowly rising affluence of the postwar period led to rising expectations and the need to replace bomb damaged houses with new towns and suburbs. Despite this, many young married couples still had to live with one set of their parents for a few years before they could find a place of their own, which was often rented. Buying a house was expensive and could require a 30–40 percent deposit. Local governments built many houses and usually decorated them The London County Council used green, cream, and battleship gray; Stevenage new town in Hertfordshire used white walls and gray paintwork. Some local governments let tenants decorate their own houses, others did not, and local government workmen appeared to redecorate two rooms every four or five years. Many people aspired to better brighter homes, inspired by events such as the 1951 Festival of Britain, but often the materials (wallpapers, for example) were scarce in the early 1950s. The influence of the “American dream home,” deluxe modern interiors featured in magazines and Hollywood films, was also important.

By 1957, the industry was big enough to stage a Do-It-Yourself show at London’s Olympia Exhibition Center. It ran for three weeks and attracted over a quarter of a million people. Magazines such as Practical Householder, Handyman, and Do-It-Yourself appeared in the late 1950s, and companies began to respond to this changing mood. They offered step-by-step guides to projects such as converting attics, boxing in stair rails, and removing old fireplaces. They recommended the right tools and helped popularize new materials such as Formica and Melamine. Black & Decker, for example, began to produce power tools aimed at the home market.

These materials were able to transform previously dull rooms, especially kitchens, where a laminate could be glued to old furniture and worktops. Not everyone approved; Richard Hoggart, writing in his influential The Uses of Literacy, glumly commentated on the changes in the working-class home of 1957. “Chain-store modernismus, all bad veneer and sprayed on varnish stain, is replacing the old mahogany; multicolored plastic and chrome biscuit barrels and bird cages have come in.”

Despite the fears of some cultural critics, the market continued to grow. The rising affordability of television provided a mass audience for televised DIY programs such as the BBC show hosted by Barry Bucknell. In 1962, the BBC bought a derelict house in West London, which Bucknell “did up” over a period of months, removing old fireplaces and covering paneled doors and stairs. The project inspired many terraced house dwellers to transform their homes into brighter more modern spaces. Over 2,000 people came to view the house before it was sold. The Daily Mail Ideal Home Show began to introduce DIY displays.

By the 1960s the pioneering days of DIY were over and it had become an accepted part of modern life. The range of paints, tools, and equipment continued to expand as the stigma of doing it yourself fell away. Paint companies such as Crown and Dulux produced “fashion” colors aimed at the homeowner rather than the professional. Dulux is the paints division of ICI and was a pioneer in promoting DIY paint. It remains one of the major brands within the United Kingdom. Its success illustrates how the company aimed itself at the new DIY consumers. In 1961 it introduced an Old English sheepdog into its advertising, both on television and in magazines. Much of the advertising was directed at women and the dog achieved remarkable brand recognition, so much so that Old English sheepdogs are often referred to as “Dulux Dogs.”

The lead content of paints was reduced and then removed. Nondrip paints were introduced in the 1970s, followed by one-coat gloss paints in the 1980s. The large DIY stores began to introduce their own lines of paints in the 1980s.Wallpapers became washable and ready pasted. DIY was seen as an important pastime and many households were proud that they had “done it themselves.”

Culturally, DIY has tended to follow marriage or a long-term commitment. One suburban male interviewed in 1998 probably speaks for many:

I never used to do any DIY before I was married. When I lived at home, I just used to play football every weekend and that was it. And quite honestly when we got married it was just a question of you went out and, if you could find somewhere to live and you could afford it, then you bought it, and if there was anything to be done then you did it yourself. You couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do it for you. I’ve just learned as I’ve gone along.

DIY was given a further boost by the economic uncertainties of the early 1970s, following global recession and the increase in oil prices in 1973. Many people could not afford to buy a new house and invested in improving what they had. Even so home ownership did rise in this decade, and a British survey carried out in 1979 showed that 51 percent of the male respondents claimed that DIY was one of their main leisure pursuits.

DIY continues to be a major pastime, covering home painting and decorating, electrical work, gardening, car maintenance, and small-scale building work. America has had a different experience of DIY due to its size and diversity. For many established eastern farmers and the homesteaders attracted to the prairies in the 1910s and 1920s, doing it yourself was a way of life. Many urban Americans continued to rent their apartments. The rise of suburbia in the United States led to similar trends as those in the United Kingsom, although professional decorators and repair companies have survived longer in the U.S. labor market. Nevertheless U.S. companies such as Black & Decker and a host of smaller companies produce tools, fittings, and accessories. Large supermarkets have DIY sections. In the United Kingdom, the Sainsbury group introduced Homebase stores in the early 1980s and the Woolworth’s group their B&Q stores. The U.S. market has Black & Decker’s own stores and also large suburban outlets such as Builders Square, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and Sears.

The domestic area continues to be a center for much of modern life as computers and the Internet offer home-based services. There is a growing trend toward working at home in some sectors. As a result, the desire for attractive affordable surroundings remains high.

Health and Wellness...


are once again on my mind. I've started taking bioidentical hormones and we shall see if that helps, do not like the weight I'm at but honestly it's very hard for me to get motivated when it's cold and grey outside! (yes I do have Seasonal Affective disorder and my doc even told me to tan for a few minutes each week until I can get a light box or it's sunny again!)....I know I feel better when I eat better or exercise but it's still hard to get moving. That being said I am once again starting on the Perfect Weight America site (http://www.perfectweightamerica.com/ with Dr. Rubin ) and taking part in a food challenge from The Nourished Kitchen site (see link in my sidebar under blogs I enjoy)... join me???

Just Horsing around....


Dickinson County Senior team: (L-R) Jessica, Heather, Sarah, Bailey and Taylor (being held) at the Harvey County Hippology meet! The girls have done really well this year and are looking forward to Panorama (State Meet).

For those who don't know hippology is the study of horses and teams compete in slide identification, stations (posters, tack,etc), written tests, team problems and a quiz bowl.

Go girls!


Hearts for Home....

So as you can probably see my list isn't all that different from earlier but hey at least I can try... (Tim is currently tdy in KY so that's why he's not on the list at the moment)

1. Set up my prayer journal (again! :))


2. Make the chalkboard I've been wanting for awhile to display scripture for thought each week/month etc.


3. Exercise


4. Family Prayer time /Bible study


5. Focus on our home and what needs doing - do the next thing not everything


6. Daily prayer/study time of my own

February.......already!

Today: February 1st, 2010:
  • Outside my window~ brrr! bare trees on a grey canvas, spots of snow and ice still on the ground.
  • I am thinking~ that I need to follow through better!
  • I am thankful for~ food to eat, my children, my husband, space heaters
  • I am wearing ~ jeans, hubby's red t shirt and no makeup today
  • I am currently reading~ starting Lost and Found, one daughter's story of Amazing Grace by Kathryn Slattery
  • I am hoping ~our tax refund is deposited this Friday
  • On my mind ~ Grocery list, Highschool transcripts for Sara and how I am yet again behind
  • From the kitchen~ Nacho's tonight, did I mention I need to make a Grocery list and go shopping tomorrow? :)
  • Around the house~ Laundry going, son tapping around with his umbrella as a walking stick, 20 year old is feeling bad - wisdom teeth?
  • One of my favorite things~ warm socks
  • From my picture journal ~
  • Cross at Forest Home with everyone's card's they've left there. Always thought it was a great visual of Col 2:13 & 14 " And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

Use Smaller Paper Towels


Here's an easy HouseHold Tip!

Make a point to buy those perforated,

half-sheet rolls of paper towels.

You usually only need a half a sheet anyway...

You'll save resources- you green, money-saving machine!