Stop Cursing the Fur, Get Crafty With It

Mar 062012
 

Thor sheds.  A lot.

I spent the day on Saturday curled up with the big lummox on the Lay-Z-Boy reading my Kindle.  I removed my sweater that night to discovered it was covered in massive quantities of cat fur.

I washed blankets on Sunday, and when I went to clean out the lint trap of the dryer, there was a 1/2 inch layer of his fur engorged in the thing.

So the Reduce Reuse Recycle side of me made her presence known by posing the question, “There’s always so much of the stuff, I wonder if you could recycle it.”

Hrmms… she may have something there.  So I posed the question to the interwebs and lookie what I found.

That’s right, Amazon has a book just for this purpose.  From tote bags to book covers, this little dandy has enough projects to keep you busy with all that extra fur flying around your house.

The GreenMuze has a delightful assortment of handbags that you can make from cat and dog hair.

Perfect for that purse collector in your life.

And Etsy.com gives step-by-step instructions for making these cute little cat hair boxes.

I know you’re going to ask for these next Christmas!

And if all of these suggestions aren’t enough for you, just Google “Things to do with cat fur” like I did and you’ll be amazed at what you find.

Just don’t gift any of these to friends that are allergic to cats.  Unless, or course, you get a kick out of watching their allergies kick into overdrive.  In that case, make sure they have enough Zyrtec on hand so they are well enough to chase you down and beat the crap out of you for your thoughtfulness.

 

Burn Baby Burn

Mar 052012
 

Having a wood burning stove is a sure guarantee that I’m going to burn my fingers/hands a few dozen times during the winter heating season.

Sometimes it’s nothing more than a slight singe, other times it a full out melt-the-skin-back-four-letter-swear-word curse fest.

This morning it was the lesser of two evils and I want to share with you my go-to product for times like this.

This balm is the ultimate product to go to when I want to smash wood against the wood burner ease that burn and jump start the healing process.  Not only does it immediately take away that terrible burning sensation that seems to go on forever, it completely stops any blister from forming or greatly reduces the severity of one (depending on how bad the burn is).

Besides being a miracle worker on “heat” burns, it’s great on sunburns, insect bites and minor scratches.

Now don’t let the price tag scare ya.  That little 1 oz tin will last you forever!  I’ve had mine for over 3 years now and have hardly made a dent in it.  And it’s not because I haven’t been trying (you should see my little war wounds), it’s because you use such gosh darn little of it each time you need it.

Seriously, this stuff isn’t filled with “inactive” ingredients to get in the way of how good a job it does healing life’s little boo boos.

If you’ve ever seriously thought of getting away from the commercial crap out there that you pay little or nothing for and get little or no results from, stop by Nuwati Herbals website and read the reviews from others who have used this product.

And while you’re there, take a gander at all the other great products they have available (another one of my person favorites is the Four Directions Balm… fantastic for chest colds and headaches).  I guarantee this stuff works and it’s well worth the price.

 

I have not been compensated by Nuwati Herbals to write about their products.  They are just so good that I have to let more people know about them.

 

Itchy Green Thumbs

Feb 272012
 

Ever since I wrote about how I cant-wait-for-winter-to-end-so-I-can-play-in-the-dirt, it appears that Rick has gotten caught up in my enthusiasm.

Granted, he won’t be out there with me sweating, planting and weeding, but he will do what he always does:  admire the gardens every day and patiently wait for all those ripe veggies to indulge in.

And unbeknownst to me, he’s been looking at supplies to help me with my upcoming garden.  Like this, for example:

This is the perfect little greenhouse to help me with my starter plants this year.  And he bought it for me yesterday.  A nice little bonus that he liked is that it comes with shelves so we don’t have to invest any extra money on those.

He’s thought of the perfect place to put it too, where it will get plenty of sun (well, as much as it can get on our property) and will be close enough to the garden when I’m ready to transplant everything.

Now don’t go saying “Well Sandy, it’s only February!”.  Psh, whatever.

Up here in the Northwoods, you have to start planning these things well in advance.  We have a short growing season, and with the mild weather so far this Winter, it could be summer by April.  (No, I’m not delusional.  Crazy maybe, but never delusional.)

Now if my darn seed catalog would just get here, I could start drooling making my list and drawing up my plot arrangements.  I’ve even secured some space over at the college farm to plant popcorn and  sunflowers.

Yep, Spring is right around the corner.  I just hope it doesn’t make a detour on it’s way.

 

I’ve Swapped One Fever for Two Others

Feb 202012
 

Cabin fever is right on schedule.

We’ve gone past the midway point in February and the temps in the Northwoods have been downright balmy.  4 months ago when the temps were in the upper 30s to low 40s, I was freezing my tuckus off.  But now?  Heck, I’ll walk outside without a coat and soak up those delicious rays of sun!

But don’t you even think that I wouldn’t want 80 degree weather right now… because I do.  Desperately.

I want to tie back my hair, throw on some shorts & T-Shirt and a pair of gloves and head out into the garden.

So what kicked my green thumb out of it’s slumber?  Cat food cans.  Yep, you read that right.  Calie goes through those little cans like there is not tomorrow (which is a good thing) and I’m getting sick of throwing them in the trash.  And Saturday I did a huge head slap.  Save the little suckers and use them to start seeds for the garden.

Huge Duh factor.

And along with that little revelation came the planning of my garden that will happen in 3 short (YAY!) months.  But just when I thought that I didn’t have another bright idea in my mind, another thought hit me:  canning.

I had resolved a couple months ago that I would can more than I did last year.  Why?  Cheaper and better.

And because I know how.  And I have all the necessary equipment.  And my Mama would be very proud of me.

So I went onto my computer and went to the one place where I knew I could get Organic seeds at a great price:  Seed Savers.

Just look at the nummy things they have to offer:

Russian Pickling Cucumbers that will be fabulous for canning more of my Mom’s dill pickles.  I’m even going to try relish this year *high five* .

These Taiyo Sunflowers grow 5′ – 6′ tall and have 10″ – 12″ heads!  If I can find the right spot for these babies, I won’t have to shell out so much money for bird seed next year.

Please excuse me while I drool over these John Bear tomatoes.  Wow.

So after I ordered my new catalog, I hopped on over to the FreeCycle website for our county and posted a need for canning jars.  Any size or shape.

Yep, I’ve got the gardening fever pretty bad.

Which is better than the fever I was running last week that came with my cold.  That one, my friends, has been kicked out of the house along with my cold to search for a new home far from here.

 

Beware of Contact Highs

Jan 252012
 

No work today.  School is closed.

No, we didn’t get a buttload of snow.  The tribe is celebrating Treaty Day, so some of the tribal affiliates are closed, which includes the college.

*happy dance*

So keeping with my theme of putzing around the house on my days off, cleaning here, throwing out stuff there,  I decided to do one of the worst jobs around the house.  One that I avoid at all costs.  One that puts the “suck” in suckage.

I cleaned the shower/tub in the bathroom.

I know *GASP*, right?  Yeah, I’d rather have more teeth ripped out of my mouth that clean that thing.

So here’s the problem:  with the hard water we have up here, our shower does not really ever get “clean” per se.  Yes, it’s technically clean, but stained in areas from hard water deposits and what appears to be a light sheen of rust.  Not terrible, just enough to be annoying.

Believe me, I’ve tried everything to get it back to shining splendor that I can think of short of acid.  But since that’s not readily available, I found this:

For the record, I hate, Hate, HATE using chemicals.  H A T E !!! I’m a greenie… a lover of the environment… reduce, reuse, recycle damnit!

Call me weak, call me desperate, revoke my Friend of the Environment membership card.

I had to try it.  I was reaching for hope against hope.  This was my last ditch effort to get my shower clean.  I mean, it turned colors when the surface it was used on was clean!  How cool is that!!

So, did it work you may be asking?  Ummm… yes and no.  I wasn’t expecting miracles, so I wasn’t really disappointed.  Some of the areas actually got clean.  I was impressed with that.  But the heavier affected… notsomuch.  And how did some of these areas get so bad?  Who the hell knows.  Is there such a thing as high traffic shower areas?  Well, if there is, we’ve got ’em.

Oh, and one other reason why I HATE using chemicals (especially in a small area like a shower with no windows or ventilation):  contact high.  The fumes aren’t that unpleasant, but I can sure tell that they had an affect on me.  Whee!!

OK, maybe I’d better go outside and get some fresh air now.

Oh, and would somebody please get me some frickin ACID!!

Thank you.

 

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