Two Friends' Blogs: Help Needed and Giveaway

Kymber at her blog is rallying financial help for MMPaints at Self Sustained Living. You can read kymbers blog for direction to MM's place. I was going to direct you there in a blog post, but kymber knows her situation and history better than I.

Slugmama at Don't Read This; It's Boring has a giveaway. Check it out! You could win. She has a long-running contest where she adds something to a box each week.

Blue Apple?

Will this blue apple  work? (BluApple) Is there a chemist or a fruitologist in the house? I just made up that word!

And, I read:
Using the BluApple ethylene gas absorber, you can extend the useful storage life of your produce up to three times longer.  Government experts have estimated a typical family of four throws away as much as $600 worth of spoiled produce each year.

The following information can be found here.

• Includes 2 Blue Apple ethylene gas absorbers (Last 3 months each)
• Includes 1 year supply of Blue Apple ethylene gas absorber refills
• Pays for itself dozens of times over in the the first year alone
• Average household can save up to $600 per year
• Prolongs freshness and storage life of produce
• Put in refrigerator crisper drawers or anywhere you keep fruit
• Made in the USA
• An absolute must for vegans and vegetarians

How Does the Blue Apple Work

"Ethylene gas is given off naturally by fruits and vegetables as a signaling mechanism in order to coordinate uniform ripening. However, once concentrated in your refrigerator or other storage areas, the presence of ethylene gas continues to speed up ripening and hasten spoilage.
The BluApple ethylene gas absorber is designed to provide effective ethylene gas absorption for three months in a typical home refrigerator produce bin or storage container. The active ingredient does not "wear out", but continues to absorb ethylene until it has reached its capacity. A One Year Refill Kit rounds out the BluApple ethylene gas management product line, allowing consumers to reuse BluApples and not add them to landfills."

I am not considering buying one of the BluApples, but I wonder if it works.

Your turn
Does anyone have this Blue Apple? If so, does it work? Is there a simpler method that duplicates the action of the Blue Apple?

Overpopulation: How to Call a Kitten Whose Mama Told It To Stay Put

 

 

source (at bottom of the source post)



The day may come when you want to remove kittens after the mother is dead or captured by you in an attempt to control too many cats on the premises or the neighborhood. Kittens are cute, but too many can actually be harmful to you and the population of too many cats. I won't go into the dangers.

When my two mother cats were poisoned by a spiteful neighbor, their three shared kittens disobeyed orders and came out of hiding. Three days in a row, they came to me as I returned home, scrambling from under the porch where she kept them. One actually bit my little toe as hard as he could before I figured out they might be hungry. I talked to them and they went away while I returned with cat food, the hard crunchy kind. After I called them in my mama cat voice, they scrambled out on unsteady feet. I had rushed back. I wanted to return with something that they would recognize from their mothers having eaten it.  I figured mama cats might have had cat food breath.

If you need to remove a mama cat and kittens, I would not recommend leaving  the kittens to starve. But, I would not condemn you either. But, their might be a better way if you can follow my advice borne of experience.  Besides, dead kittens under the porch might not be pleasant.

If you trap the Mama cat, you could remove it from their hearing and take her voice from their hearing--move trapped mama far away. Then, maybe the kittens would show themselves if you learn mama-cat-speak. Three little kittens, about a month old, learned to crunch cat food that first time. They were so desperately hungry it broke my heart. Where was mama? Then, I put milk on the food for ten minutes before I brought it to them, and they had an easier time. They learned to drink milk by choking on it as they walked in the bowl. They would not come out on their own or get near me unless I called them like mama after the singular toe-nipping. I did not have a live trap then.

I actually had hidden in the house the week before with the door cracked a bit and learned to call kittens from hiding like their mother did. That is probably the only reason they dared to come and chew my little toe. Sometimes, I called them just to see if I had it right. They looked around, looked puzzled, and retreated as I came near them. 

The kittens having seen me and heard my voice may be the only reason they crawled over my feet for several days as I tried to enter the house. I don't know. They were desperate to get food. Their mamas were barn cats given to me as males! Since I could not see, I believed these friends who probably did not know either, but were looking to dump extra cats. Beware! I was looking for rat and mouse control around the house since I lived near a hospital dumpster. The mothers would not come to me or allow petting, but they did hunt, and I kept food for them, hoping they would stay as feral cats who just liked my yard and under-the-porch housing free from rain and probably warm from the house.

To call a kitten like mama, use a short, very soft trill that is neither high- or low-pitched. You probably will not get a kitten to come the first time. Keep practicing and trying. Sit very still.

As I fed these furtive little balls of fur, I wondered where the mamas were. I did not try to catch them or try to give them a box to live in because I thought the mamas would return. The mamas always took turns nursing. One would lie in the yard while the other mama would fetch grasshoppers for the kittens amusement and to hone hunting skills. The mama were attentive, so I could not figure out why they did not return.

The mothers were dead but I did not know that at first. There was no way I could hope for their return when I figured that out. I did not discover the bodies until a week later, trying to get into the basement, but dying on the outdoor, concrete steps.

The kittens remained feral and part of the growing feral cat population. Eventually, I caught 8 cats, one of whom had 8 kittens that were hand caught since they barely had their eyes open.

Maybe you can develop a mama-cat-voice. Listen to how mama does it if you have non-feral cats that are in the house. Women will probably be able to match the tone better. I have used this method just to prove I could lure kittens out of hiding, so I know it works. However, I did not use my newly found skill for evil. You might not be able to hand-catch a kitten, but you can lure it out so it smells food you provide, especially if Mama Cat is removed and out of hearing. If you feed your cat commercial cat food, provide that first to the kittens, even if it is not appropriate. My theory: They know mama-breath.

How to trill for the kittens. It sounds sort of like a purr. Put your tongue behind your upper teeth. Inhale. Close your mouth. Push air from your throat as you open your mouth just a little bit. Practice.

Your turn
Have you ever learned how to trill like mama cats call their kittens?

Jennifer Aniston Has Backyard Chickens!

I have always liked Jennifer Aniston, and for good reason.

Following the stars is not my thing. However, what they have in their backyards might be interesting. I was not sorry I clicked on the article. 

Check out this article. 

 

You can be sure she will only be drinking coffee and watching, not doing the dirty work. But, that's okay.

Cool Summer Dinner

Cool eating
Romaine, radicchio, tomato, cheese, turkey, dressing
Too much dressing even for me.
Yellow squash and shredded carrots were put in post picture-taking.

sweet corn
Not supposed to be yellow!

white grapes, blackberries


 

Wednesday was such a torrid day. Okay, the heat index was 94. It was not the heat that hurt so much; it was the humidity. Add in no ac and no windows to open, and it is so miserable inside. The one 5000 BTU ac far away does not cool six feet from the front of the ac, so 25 feet to the kitchen the air is heavy and oppressive.

 

I baked the  free turkey late the night before, bagged the wings, legs, and thighs for exbf. The breast is mine and stays here. The corn had to be boiled, heating the house but only for a short time. Plus, I did not have to stay in the room.

 

Corn was $0.50 for each ear. The only way I could get it in the small, square Corelle pot was to break it in half. I had eaten most of mine before I took the picture. Often white corn is sweeter than yellow. I don't know why.

 

These blackberries were about ten-cents apiece. I paid $3 for less than a cup of blackberries. AND, the blackberries were on special, marked down from $5.49 for the tiny box. It was a splurge that I may regret later this month.

 

Dinner was painless and delicious. Oh, after we did lots of hard work--hard because of weather and our failing physical prowess, we had an ice cream cone from Burger King for $.50. I told him I wanted to get a bag of salad from the store and he might as well just sit in the car. After corn, bagged salad, tomatoes, milk, talking, waiting for printed Internet coupon, and whatever I did, he called me, asking what I was doing, saying that I had been in the store for 25 minutes. He has never, ever in 7 years we have known each other has he called me while I was shopping and he was waiting!  Shopping in a cool store seemed like a luxury compared to going home to no ac!

 

At least the turkey breast will last me a week!

 

How is cooking for you right now? Hot? Do you cook ahead so you won't have to cook in the heat of the day? What is your favorite cooking keep-cool method?



Sugar, sugar, I love you

Three times as sweet

Domino Sugar in the four pound bags was on sale this week for $1.99. I was not impressed. Sugar at $0.50 is not an impressive price, not at all. THEN, I saw the $0.50 coupons in the Red Plum ad of June 2, 2013. AND, the store where the sugar is on sale doubles coupons.

 

Now, I am excited. $1.99 - $1.00 = $0.99 - 5% for senior day + 9.25% tax. Okay, I am never sure when the 5% comes off. However, I paid $3.20 for 12 bags of sugar. So, $2.97 before tax for 12 lbs of sugar is a great price--less than a quarter/lb. for sugar. Is it ever this cheap price in bulk?

 

The ad stated there was a limit of 3 per visit. Okey dokey. I can do that.  Multiple trips is never a problem since I live less than a mile from this grocery. I won't get my senior citizen's 5% discount other days, but that is okay. The discount was $0.15, so I won't lose much. I have four more  coupons thus far. Exbf brought me about 40 Sunday inserts. He makes me soooo happy.  

 

Do you want to take advantage of this deal? My store is Food World. They were recently bought by Belle Foods. Go to bellefoods.com to see if there is a store near you, using the store locator. Get the coupons for June 2, 2013. You are all set.

 

Now, I have to get the Ball canning jars washed and dried. I do get ants occasionally. Plus, I really don't want to try to bake at Christmas and be faced with bricks of sugar.

 

Your turn

 

Do you have a store owned by Belle Foods near you? Got the proper Red Plum ad?  What do you pay per pound for sugar in bulk? What good coupons and sales have you been able to pair up lately or ever?

Curb Shopping

3 pots on the curb

It's not much, but I was happy. These pots have been on the curb for several days. I passed them going to Lowe's and on the way back. They sat in buckets that held sheet rock mud, stacked one inside another.

 

Finally, today, with exbf in car on the way back from Lowe's, I came to a screeching halt right in the road, popped the trunk and ran (as well as I can run) and pulled out these three. I did not bother pulling to the curb, turning off the car, or explaining what I was doing. He is accustomed to my scrounging around in people's trash.

 

The one on the left is my favorite. The middle one is the kind that has its own reservoir, and the third is a hanging basket that just needs its wires reattached.

 

This is the time of the year for finding planters. Don't you think so?  I hope to find a table for outdoors. 

 

Your turn

Have you found anything good on the curb lately? Ever?