Garden & Chicks Update, Potato Progress, Cell Phone Deal/Insurance, Farm Fresh Decor

Garden & Chicks Update-
We have had more of the same wacky weather, temps swinging like a pendulum here! In the 80s's all week, then wind hit bringing a cold front, temp dropped 20 degrees this weekend. 45 this morning, brrr. We've been trying trying to figure out when to plant some things, and that can be a little bit challenging. I had planned on putting the chicks out this weekend for a while, but the weather was just too cold.  transferred them from the laundry basket that we had them in for one week to a larger box last weekend. It works out really well since they have plenty of room, with nice pine shavings. Today I took them out, then I took the box outside and pitched it all into the compost pile. Hopefully next weekend the weather is supposed to warm up, we can move them out into a temporary coop for a while and see how they do. I plan on putting them out this week for few hours in the warm evenings. We have an outdoor playpen that we got at a thrift store years ago. It's really fun to see chicks go outside for the first time and explore! Here's the 2 boxes I put together for their temporary digs, and added chicken wire on top-

busy exploring!

It's amazing how fast they grow in 2 weeks! Feathers coming in, getting taller-

Our hens were in trouble last week. Due to a too-low gap in fencing, they got in and completely ravaged our lemon cukes. Dave was in a huff and went shopping and came back with a few. He also bought taller chicken wire. Next night he stopped somewhere else on the way home. He bought some on sale tomatoes, more lemon cukes and some peppers. I think we're set for now! Lots of berries on the vine, and first blossoms on squash/slicing cukes. Now we just need some warm, stable weather!

waeting out the rain, again

My flower seeds are coming up,flowers blooming, and the rain has really helped with that! Warm and wet, perfect for plant growth.

Potato Progress-
Our free potatoes seeds planted in the trash cans are doing really well! After having some torrential downpours I thought maybe they would rot in the totes, but they had pretty good drainage. We planted them in a light, fluffy organic potting soil and Dave had drilled lots of holes, so that helped. We've been adding soil once or twice a week as the green start to come up. I'll be really curious to see when we can dig the first potatoes.

Cell Phone Deal/Insurance-
I had an interesting experience last week. My old Galaxy 6 phone wouldn't hold a charge over several days so I could tell it was on its way out. I had insurance on the phone for several years and knew there would be a copay to replace it. I called my service provider ATT (work discount) and asked about the co-pay.  To make a long story short I paid $112 copay for an $800 new Galaxy 8 Active phone. Yes, retail about $800.00, geez! The guy in the store was really shocked that I got such a good deal. He was really helpful transferring all the data from the one phone to the other. It's a heavier phone with really long battery life and tons of storage. I thought it was kind of funny that being a homesteader of sorts I wound up with a military grade phone! It has little rubber bumpers on each corner and actual screws on the frame on the outside. I did order a couple of inexpensive covers as the back is a little bit slippery. It's great to know that it is waterproof, dust proof, sand proof, etc. It'll be nice for blogging since I can now take photos on my phone and upload them to my photo editor on my computer. I used to be able to do that but the plug-in port died a year or so ago. I was able to wirelessly charge the phone but I couldn't transfer any photos directly to my computer. I could upload them to Facebook and transfer them from there, but that was kind of a pain. So insurance may be a good idea for some people and with AT&T the co-pay goes down over time, it's not fixed. Even with the premium for the insurance of about $10 per month for the last 2 years, and the copay, I still wound up with a heck of a deal. I could have potentially bought a phone off of eBay, Amazon or some other website but I was wary of doing that. So,just a thought- if you're thinking about getting a new phone, slap a little insurance on it!

Farm Fresh Decor-
I finally hung up my Farm Fresh wall art, and I love it! Up close it looks like an original piece of art. I love the colors and size, perfect over my little side table. It's made of wood, 13.5" long x 24" tall x 0.62" thick, less than $20.00! More info here-

                                                    

My Birthday Wintry Mix & "Supermoon" Tonight, Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding w/Almond Milk, Solar Charger Review, Mini Sink Makeover

My Birthday Wintry Mix and Super Moon Tonight-

Today is my birthday and I woke up to a very wet day- 34 degrees, rain and snow mix. It must have poured all night from the look of the fencing. It's really windy, but the sun is coming out this afternoon. I put out extra wild bird food for the local critters and they're eating. We had a gorgeous sunset a couple of nights ago- 

Dave wanted to get me something for my birthday. I really couldn't think of anything, but the one thing that would make my life easier was a new monitor, mine was pretty small. With aging eyes, it's harder. Dave found a 75% off deal and I love it! My old one was 18, new one is 22", here's a side by side-

Big difference, much easier to use!

I just found out that tonight will be extra special, CBS news said-  "The supermoon" will illuminate the night sky on Sunday, December 3, when the moon will appear about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons. This is the first of three supermoons in a trilogy that will continue on in January." via Twitter. Cool!

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding w/Almond Milk-
I had some Brioche bread (Trader Joe's) left over from Thanksgiving weekend, bittersweet chocolate, walnuts and lots of eggs. So... it was bread pudding time! Since Dave has developed a sensitivity to too much dairy, I used 1/2 Almond Milk. Next time I will use 100% since it came out amazing, just perfect for a cold night.

Recipe- 
1 loaf Brioche?Challah bread, cut into 1" cubes, about 8 cups
10 eggs
2 cups Almond Mix
2 cups milk
1/2 sugar plus 2 TBS
1/2- 1 cup Guittard bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped, love that brand!!!
1/2- 1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt

Butter 2 qt. baking dish, fill with bread cubes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl beat eggs, salt, liquids, 1/2 cup sugar. Mix in choc chips and nuts into bread cubes- I put about 1/2 in the middle and 1/2 on top. Slowly our egg mixture over bread. Let sit overnight (for best results). Sometimes I bake right away, if so, push liquids into the bread gently. Sprinkle bread with remaining sugar and put in oven. Bake 1 hour, remove and cover with foil, bake an additional 25 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool and enjoy! If you're a real chocoholic, add coarsely chopped gourmet dark chocolate! And double the nuts! Enjoy! You can also sub chopped apples, cinnamon, nutmeg for a fruit version.

Solar Charger Review-
I recent bought a Floureon Cell Device Solar Charger  It comes with one USB cord, a LED flashlight, and SOS flasher. Waterproof and small, the size of a cell phone, but a little thicker-

Front

Back, has clip and compass/keyring

You can charge up to 3 devices simultaneously! I did 2-

I have to use a wireless charger as my plug-in port died, worked great!

VERY bright LED flashlight, can also flash SOS in Morse code, handy!

There are so MANY applications for this- keep in your car on trips, hiking, hunting, cross country trips, emergency preparedness, you name it. You might not have a cell signal if there's a real crisis, but there might be info on your phone you'd still need. A great deal, $16.99, I LOVE IT!!!

Mini Sink Makeover-
All of this was less than $10.00 and I like it! love our white cast iron sink we bought a few years back, during our kitchen re-do, but I don't like this, the side sink strainer, hard to keep clean and I rarely plug this sink. This just kept bugging me-

I was on Amazon buying a belt for Dave and I found this- NITO Stainless Steel Sink Strainer, it's effective and simple, $5.00-

It has a depression, is easy to lift and empty. The garbage disposal strainer, ditto- this was the 2nd one I'd bought, kept staining-

I spotted this Danco Garbage Disposal Strainer, $4.00, black, domed, and antimicrobial-

How I Got Started With The Independence Days Challenge, Little Winter Preps

How I Got Started With The Independence Days Challenge-
I was wondering recently when I first started doing my IDC posts? After digging a bit I found it was back in 2012! I was looking at my Sharon Astyk books Adapting Our Homes and Our Lives to Settle in Place (Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living) and Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage & Preservation , have read these books several times, and they still inspire me! There are so MANY great ideas on doing what you can, where you are! Links are on my side bar for more info. Since life is a process I find the ideas can be adapted over time really well. With variations in space, money you can invest, time you have they're great resources. My original post is here 2012 Independence Days Challenge Ideas and to think it was 5 years ago, how time flies!  I still love looking at this list and thinking about what we've done, and what we still need to work on. I did modify it a bit after reading how some other websites re-worded it just a bit, but you get the idea-

1. Plant Something-

2. Harvest Something-

3. Preserve/Store Something-

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

6. Build Community Food Systems-

7. Recycle/Re-Use-

8. Skill Up-

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

I really loved following Sharon's blog, but then she went on to other things. So if you need some inspiration to start with where you are already living, or want to try some other things, buy her books!

Last Winter's Snowmageddon

Little Winter Preps-
With winter settling in, I have been doing some random preparedness tasks like-
making sure ice scrapers and fleece travel blankets are in the cars, air pressure checked in the tires, new wipers as needed, antifreeze checked, chicken water heater plugged in in the coop. Dave put the sun room for the coop back together for the winter.  We didn't last year, and it snowed, several feet! It's ready now-

Flashlights in the cars with fresh batteries, new rechargeable batteries in the solar garden lights.

I just ordered one of these FLOUREON Portable Solar Battery Charger only $16.99! Can charge 2 devices at a time, great idea! Having a couple of these is a good idea. While you may not have cell service, you can still access important info stored on your phone, tablet or other device. Amazing how expensive these used to be compared to now-

Selling Tech to Tots: The Downside

Selling Tech to Tots: The Downside-
There's LOTS of money to be made off uninformed people who thinking if a little technology is good for them, it's great for their young kids! I get so frustrated reading all the excuses people make for sticking their child in front of a screen. It's "educational" therefor it's ok. Parenting is exhausting no doubt, but that's what you signed up for. And there's things like babysitters, and child care swap friends! If you want an easy, restful life, don't have kids. Not everyone is cut out for it. I see first hand every day the trouble with getting kids hooked on devices. I had to explain to a 6th grader recently that ebook aren't always a good idea, that batteries can fail, wireless can fail, devices crash. She just didn't get it. With no power you just have an expensive piece of plastic, a nice paperweight. A Special Ed teacher told me years ago that the "baby Einstein" kids would probably all become ADHD over time. That was what the scientific research showed. Great. You want your kids to be smarter and you wind up with a damaged child. But someone made some $$$. 

I read a post recently that really brought together all the bad reasons why young kids shouldn't be using technology, or much of it at all. As a very busy Mom who worked full time and raised 3 very bright kids, and is VERY techy, I would say there's all kinds of problems there. Scientists have been warning for several years about the damage done to the wiring of young kid’s brains by putting them in front of TVs, Ipads, devices. Not to mention the radiation coming off the devices. 10 Reasons Why Devices Should Be Banned For Kids Under 12  by The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics. Educators are seeing this too (I’m one). Kids with no patience, glued to screens and not interacting with people, lack of social skills, etc. I read people are putting their kids in bed to chill with a device, never a good idea. No child should ever be alone with tech. As a tech support person I know that technology can fail, devices can overheat, stuff happens. Our Roku2 had to go back to the store a while back, as it was so hot it almost melted. Could have started a fire. Kids should be able to go relax or go to sleep with a night light, a book, a stuffed animal, and someone who loves them. Kids can do this really strange thing and go outside and run around! It doesn't take much to take 10 minutes and read a book to your child, sing to them and hold them to help them relax. Relaxing music is wonderful too- have them close their eyes and think about what the music would look like? Use their imagination! It’s just so much better to cuddle a person than a piece of plastic. They’ll have plenty of time to be techy later, and then they are all done with the cuddling stage. Good article here too- Lifeofdad.com

amen to that

Throwback Thursday

I remember using these, now it's this-

I wonder what my Grandparents would think???

Have A Good Laugh! Poo, Cell Phones & Essential Items for the Apocalypse!!!

Yes, it's a real ad. I thought it was funny!

Get Off the Phone

Amen, I love the chorus!

Get off the phone now, it's gonna to be okay

There's no need to be afraid

It doesn't love you, it's gonna die one day

The government's probably spying on you with it anyway

Get off the phone now, it's gonna to be okay

There's no need to be afraid

It doesn't love you, it's gonna die one day

It's crawling with e-coli bacteria anyway

Get off the phone now, it's gonna to be okay

There's no need to be afraid

It doesn't love you, it's gonna die one day

The government's probably spying on you with it anyway :)

Essential Items For The Apocalypse

There's actually good ideas there!!! 

I have never seen a folding stove before...

Punxsutawney Phil Sees 6 More Weeks of Winter, How To Save Money Watching TV, Saving Money On Cell Phone Bills

Punxsutawney Phil Sees 6 More Weeks of Winter-

With another little snowstorm on the way here, and lows in the teens this week, sounds accurate....

How To Save Money Watching TV-
I read this excellent blog post here, Adventures in the Goodland and it got me thinking. We haven't been happy with our Dish bill, and many of my favorite shows are either gone, or available in another format. We may get a wii for Netflix, much cheaper than our current bill, with sports/exercises included. I can watch HBO, etc. in another form. My former favorite SYFY channel sucks now, with Eureka, and Warehouse 13 gone (soon). Only Haven left, sniff. Who watches wrestling and cheasy movie with poor spcial effects on SYFY? Anyway, the savings- $800.00 a year. I think we'll switch over in the spring since we'll need to install an antenna, and do more research. And finish up True Detective  Interesting reviews on antennas here by Consumer Reports. You can find your area here, as far as what's available channel-wise and what the signal strength is- FCC DTV Maps

I like the look of this antenna-

Saving Money On Cell Phone Bills- 
I decided that since I'm paying $30.00 a month to use a smart phone, for the data pack connected to ATT, that I'm going back to a texting, NON-smart device. I'm due for a free upgrade next month. I get a good discount thru my employer, but I have 2 computers at work, and 2 at home. I always have ZERO data usage, so what am I really paying for? Back to the basics for me. I am also looking into a "GoPhone" for $50.00 a month with unlimited text/talk and wireless. Just no data connection/use to ATT.  I can save $360.00 a year, or more, no loss of convenience for me. 

Total savings- over $1,000. per year I'd rather take a vacation, or, ah yes- all those home repairs :)