What are you knitting?

It's been many years since I have blogged.  I had a hard time keeping up with blogging because my son hogged the computer and I never had access to it.  Now that son is grown and gone, off to live in The Netherlands, so I have the computer to myself.

Not that I have much to write about!  For those who are new here, I have Cystic Fibrosis.  My lung function (or FEV1) is 33% and I am on oxygen most of the time.  That kind of rules out rock climbing and a lot of things that would be neat to write about.

I just sit around the house a lot and knit and peruse Pinterest.  Pinterest gets me into trouble because I love to cook and bake, but need to lose weight.  So many tempting recipes on my Pinterest feed just trying to take me down!  But I combine the Pinterest with my knitting at times and look for free patterns for things I'd like to make for someone.

Right now I'm working on knitting two things:

This hat in NC Tarheels blue for my adult nephew.

And this: 

Dr. Quackers

for my 3 year old granddaughter.

Anyone else knit?

Around the House Solutions

I saw this on Facebook and thought many of the suggestions looked good, so I'm posting it on here in case anyone is still reading.  Also posting on Pinterest!!

Most people are watching their dollars and working off a budget to make ends meet. Many are also now looking for natural alternatives to live a more wholesome and chemical free life. Following are a few ways in which you can have both of the above. These uses are becoming more prevalent and are easy to do it yourself. So, here are great easy uses for common household items to make your life more chemical free and your wallet a little fatter. 

1) Toothpaste: Buff a CD/DVD
Apply toothpaste to a cotton ball and wipe the disc. Wash with water afterwards and you’ve got a brand new disc!

2) Cornstarch: Untangle Knots
Sprinkling cornstarch into tough knots, such as shoe laces helps loosen them.

3) Walnut: Buff Dings out of Wood Furniture
Get rid of unsightly scratches and dings on wood furniture by rubbing a walnut on the areas. The blemishes will vanish quickly and your furniture and pocket book will be saved.

4) Club Soda: Make Your Breads Fluffier
When baking, where recipes call for water, add club soda instead to make pancakes, waffles and any other breads fluffier.

5) Salt: Keep Windows Frost Free
Pour a cup of salt into a liter of water. Sponge the liquid onto the inside of window to prevent frost from forming during the winter months.

6) Rubbing Alcohol: Remove Permanent Marker
Dab the surface that has the permanent marker on it with a cloth or cotton ball covered in rubbing alcohol to make it disappear quickly.

7) Chap stick: Stops Bleeding When Nicked Shaving
Cut yourself shaving? Just swipe some chap stick over the cut to stop that constant bleeding. No more tissue squares!
Apple Juice: Removes Dandruff
Don’t ask how it works, but it does! Instead of buying a special shampoo, just wash your hair in apple juice to rid your scalp of pesky dandruff.

9) Aspirin: Get Rid of Armpit Stains on T-Shirts
Grind up an aspirin tablet or two, then make a paste out of it using water, lemon or vinegar. Spread the paste on the stained area and let sit for an hour before washing.

10) Olive Oil: Make Pets’ Coat Shinier
Add a bit of olive oil to your pet’s food to give them a healthier, shinier coat of fur.

11) Newspapers: Clean Windows and Mirrors
Instead of using a spray and a streaky cloth, use only newspaper to clean off your mirrors and windows for a streak-free finish.

12) Baking Soda: Remove Bugs from Windshield
Mix baking soda with warm water to make a paste. Spread the paste over your windshield for fifteen minutes. Then wipe or spray off with a hose.

13) Bleach: Extend Life of Flowers in Vase
Add a few drops of bleach to vase water to prevent the build-up of the slime caused by bacteria. It works just like chlorine in a swimming pool.

14) Kitchen Dish Soap: Flea-Killing Dog Shampoo
Kitchen dish soap (not dish detergent) can double as dog shampoo for its flea killing abilities.

15) Coke: Remove Blood Stains from Clothing
Soak the stain in coke until the stain is dissolved, then wash the clothing as usual. Wash before the coke dries, though.

16) Honey: Remove Blemish Overnight
Have a blemish you need to get rid of by tomorrow? Put a dab of honey on the blemish and cover it up (it’s best to use a Band-Aid) and the honey’s natural antibacterial properties will clean out the bacteria by the morning.

17) Wax Paper: Clean Can Opener Gears
Run a few small strips of wax paper through the can opener to clean out of the bits and pieces that have built up in the gears throughout the year. The wax will also rub off on the gears to protect for future use as well.

18) WD-40: Remove Crayons from Walls
Use the lubricant and a cloth to remove stubborn crayon marks from the walls just by spraying the wall and wiping with a cloth.

19) Chalk: Keep Ants and Slugs Out of the House
Ants and Slugs Won’t Touch Chalk. So, simply draw a line in front of your doorway where you are having problems with these pesky critters and they won’t cross it, meaning they won’t be able to get into your house.

20) Vinegar: Kills Weeds and Helps Flowers Grow
Vinegar is a magic wonder when it comes to gardening. It not only kills weeds but they help flowers grow as well. Douse vinegar all around your garden to prevent weeds from popping up and to help your flowers to grow healthy and strong.

21) Mayonnaise: Remove Bumper Sticker
Spread mayonnaise on the bumper sticker and let sit for at least thirty minutes. Then, rub the sticker off with a towel, leaving a clean bumper!

22) Tin Foil Ball: Replace Dryer Sheets Permanently
Instead of using a dryer sheet ball up one or a few sheets of tin foil and toss it in the dryer. It removes the static electricity from your clothes and one can last up to a year.

23) Banana Peel: Polish Leather Shoes
Use the inside of a banana peel to give shoes a professional and natural shine that will last for quite some time.

24) Mouthwash: Cure Athlete’s Foot
Pour mouthwash on cotton balls and then swab your feet. The alcohol will disinfect the bacteria completely if you continue this for a week or so.

25) Baking Soda: Clean BBQ Grill
Mix a cup of baking soda with half a cup water to make a paste. Dip your brush into the paste and scrub the grill. The caked on pieces and black residue will come off much quicker and using baking soda is much safer and cheaper than using cleaning chemicals.

26) Coffee Grounds: Fertilizer
Coffee is full of nutrients and vitamins that are very beneficial to soil. That’s why some people include it in compost piles. If you want to get the most out of your coffee, pour the grounds on areas where you want more grass or flowers.

27) Olive Oil: Shaving Cream
The smoothness of the oil can replace the need for shaving cream, and it also provides great moisture.

28) Dryer Sheets: Gets Rid of Static Electricity
Use dryer sheets to remove static electricity from things such as clothing, TV screens or your own hair. Tame fly away strands by running a dryer sheet over them.

29) Freezer: Freeze Candles to Make Them Last Longer
Put candles in the freezer for at least 2 hours before using. Once you burn them, the wax will melt at a much slower pace, making them last much longer!

30) Two glasses of water: Cure Headache
Water is the cure to most common headaches. To make the headache go away quickly, drink two cups of water very quickly.

31) Lemons: Deodorize Garbage Disposal
Toss whole slices of lemon into the garbage disposal then run it. The acidity of the lemon will rid your sink of all odors and leave a fresh scent that usually lasts for a few months.

32) Alka Seltzer: Remove Burnt-On Grease and Food Stains
When letting your pots and pans soak, throw in one or two Alka Seltzer tablets and the caked on residue from cooking will come off easily when you scrub/wash.

33) Apple Cider Vinegar: Relieve Diarrhea
Mix two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into eight ounces of water to soothe your stomach. The taste may not be the greatest, but the antibacterial properties of the vinegar will end the unpleasantness of the bowel problems.

34) Toothpaste: Remove Scratches from Glass
Apply toothpaste to scratch, then rub with a cloth until the scratch is gone. Make sure the glass is clean beforehand.

35) Cheerios: Relieve Pain from Poison Ivy, Chickenpox and Sunburns
Pound one to four cups of Cheerios into a powder and add to your bath to soothe your skin while you soak. You may not feel relief while in the tub, but you will soon after.

36) Buttons: Sort Earrings
Organize your earrings and prevent them from becoming entangled by using spare buttons as holders for each pair.

37) Corn Oil: Prevent Hairballs for Pets
Add a few drops of corn oil to your pets’ food to prevent hairballs from forming. The thick oil helps the fur pass through the animal’s system much quicker and easily.

38) Whipped Cream: Remove Gum from Hair
There are many remedies for removing gum from hair, but this is a lesser known one. Give it a try rather than peanut butter the next time you’re in need.

39) Coke: Remove Oil Stains from the Driveway
Oil stains are very difficult to remove pavement, but one method guaranteed to work is Coke. The highly acidic drink will eat away at the oil until clean.

40) Brown Sugar: Facial Scrub
A scrub is good to do about once a month to remove dead skin and bacteria built up in pores and remove excess oil from the skin. Brown sugar does just as well as expensive products and will definitely result in a clearer and smoother complexion.

41) Dryer Sheet: Lint Brush
You already know that dryer sheets remove lint in the dryer. Well, it can do the same thing out of the dryer, too. When you’re in a fix, use a dryer sheet. It works just as well as a lint brush, and if you like the scent, it’s an added bonus.

42) Newspaper: Deodorize food containers and Food Drawers in the Refrigerator
For that stinky Tupperware or smelly refrigerator drawer that is too much to deal with, toss in a sheet of newspaper overnight before you deal with it. The paper will absorb the smell greatly reducing it or eliminating it completely.

43) Olive Oil: Unstick a Zipper
The oil will help the zipper slide more easily, fixing the problem!

44) Salt: Cool Something Quickly
You know that feeling when you’re having a BBQ and someone asks for a drink and you realize that no one has put them in the cooler? There’s nothing worse than a warm drink on a hot day. Chill a drink quickly, by adding salt and water to your ice. The drinks will be cold in a matter of minutes; saving your party and making you look smart all at once.

45) Scotch Tape: Prevent Wall from Chipping When Nailing
The wall can leave unsightly chips when hammering in a nail. Prevent this by simply placing a piece of scotch tape over the area you’re going to nail. The wall will be held tighter, preventing chips from occurring.

46) Alka Seltzer: Soothe Insect Bites
Dissolve two tablets into a glass of water. Then use a cloth or cotton ball to apply it to the affected area. The red will go down and most importantly, the itchiness will vanish usually in fifteen minutes.

47) Lemon: Whitens Whites
Add about half a cup of lemon juice to your load of whites to makes them extra white. You can use lemon juice with bleach or detergent, so don’t worry about mixing chemicals with the acidic lemon.

48) Banana Peel: Whiten Teeth
This may sound a little odd, but rub the inside of a banana peel on your teeth twice a day for two weeks and you will receive the same effect from a teeth-whitening kit. Plus, you’ll save yourself money and the hassle of using chemicals.

49) Hair Dryer: Free Photos Stuck on Pages
If you have a photo stuck on a page that you can’t get free, try using a blow dryer on the back of the page. It will loosen the photo from the page and the adhesive holding it there.

50) Banana Peel: Heal Most Skin Problems

Bananas are the magical fruit, because they heal many common problems on the skin. By rubbing the peel on your skin, you can heal bruises and cuts and eliminate rashes, itching and warts. Basically if you have a common skin problem, it can be cured by this fruit.

I thought I'd come back to my original blog and do an update.  It's been a few years.  Probably no one is following any more!!

I've been getting into Pinterest and linking my recipes here to Pinterest so I can find them MYSELF quite easily.  You know how you lose your recipes from time to time?  Plus people ask for my recipes and it's easiest to point them to Pinterest.

My health has continued to decline on a slow, steady decline.  My last trip to the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic showed my lung function is now 30%.  That is after 5 weeks of IV antibiotics.  I did two weeks at home and my lung function actually went DOWN.  My norm had been 36%, then 30% when I was sick, then it went to something like 26%.  After the 2 weeks then switched me to another antibiotic, but since I'm allergic to all but one now they had to put me in ICU at Vanderbilt and desensitize me to another (Zosyn).  I went home on that for 3 more weeks.  I did that one 24/7.  You have to do it that way when you are desensitized.  If you go longer than 90 min. w/o it, they have to readmit you and desensitize you all over again.  The good thing of having an IV running 24/7 is you get more sleep.  The bad part is you can't take a shower!!!  And I don't know about you, but sink baths just don't make you feel clean!

Anyway, after the 5 weeks on IV's they retested my lungs and I'm only at 30% so they said that's probably my new baseline.  I feel okay most days, unless I have bad sinus pain and headaches, but I just don't have as much energy.  I used to be able to do so much in a day, like the Energizer Bunny, but these days I have to stop and rest a bit.  I walk much slower, especially when it's a distance, as I get so SOB (short of breath).  I am on 2 liters of oxygen when I'm active and at night.

Ryan is now 18 and a great big guy.  He finished high school last month and is spending a lot of time working out and on the computer.  He hasn't been able to find a job, but that might be a good thing right now.  He's been having some mental problems - delusions - and it would be nice to get that straightened out before he starts a job.  He is studying for his GED and I'm planning a Graduation celebration for him.  Maybe I should celebrate for me, too, since I'm finished homeschooling!

Goodbye, Hank. We will miss you!

Our favorite and beloved animal at the Chattanooga Zoo has died.  Hank, a 42 yr. old chimp, was found dead this morning in his habitat where he died in his sleep.

I am so glad that the manager snuck Ryan in to work with Hank a few times last year, even tho he hadn't reach the level where it was allowed.  (The manager can make the exception and was with him.).  I remember how Ryan served Hank a tray of produce and that Hank wanted to share some of his lunch with Ryan.  AN ONION!!!  He forced it into Ryan's mouth and held it there until Ryan had finished it!

Hank would run and hug his caretakers when they would enter his habitat.  Ryan got a few of his hugs and said they could be painful.  lol 

Hank's birthday was celebrated by the zoo each year and people would bring him gifts.  He was afraid of the jack-in-the-box the first time it popped, but loved it after that.  He had a Little Tykes Coupe Car and would drive that around.  He was served cake and ice cream.  He had a CA King bed to sleep in at night and wanted the caretaker to tuck him in each night.  He was very spoiled!

Hank knew some sign language and would sign to you sometimes through the exhibit glass.  He would also pucker up and kiss you through the glass.

Oh, Hank, it won't be the same without you!

Photoshop Elements

You might remember that I received Photoshop Elements 9 for Christmas but it didn't work.  After going back & forth with Adobe about replacing it, finally Amazon.com replaced it for me.  I received my WORKING Elements on Saturday.

I haven't gotten into any serious editting yet, but have had fun fooling around with it and seeing what you can do.

I had fun messing with this picture of Ryan, which he thinks is a riot.  Besides distorting his face, I tried to make Rico look like he was being choked.

(This is the before shot)

I look forward to doing some serious work with it, but it probably won't be until the end of the week.  Tomorrow is filled with school, hair appt. and errands.

Wednesday I go to the CF clinic and that will take the entire day.

But maybe Thursday I can really get working with my new Photoshop!

MORE snow

When we moved to Georgia we imagined warmer winters.  No snow.  We sold our snowblower to a neighbor in Pennsylvania, figuring he would need it a lot more than us.  WE wouldn't need to be shoveling or snowblowing anymore.  WE were moving to the sunny South!

Ha!

Christmas Day we got 5 inches of snow, then yesterday we got another 6 inches.  Today it's snowing some more, altho I'm not sure if it will accumulate.

Rico loved the snow and raced around like a crazy dog.

He even tried to help Ryan with rolling some snow.

But I think they were working against each other!  :)

I tried to get Raini to go out so she could get some exercise.  I mean, Rico gets LOTS of exercise outside.

Well, Raini wouldn't go outside.  Finally I threw some animal crackers out the front door and she went out to get them.

Of course, once the goodies were all found and eaten she wanted to come back in.  No wonder she's so fat!

Thirsty or a slob?

This morning while I was using my Total Gym, I asked Ryan to round up all of his cups.  I've been seeing them all over the place, just left wherever he last drank from them.

This is what he rounded up:

7 cups!  I might think he's really thirsty, but I think he's mostly a teenage slob!  Guess we need to work on that some more.