Winter takes its toll ...

Winter seems to go on forever, doesn't it?  One of the things I hate about winter (besides being LONG, COLD, and DARK) is that ...my ski gets really dry.  We're talking alligator skin.

I feel like I need to slather my skin with hand cream day and night just to keep up.  But worst of all are the tiny little, but extremely painful, cuts I get around my thumbs.

These suckers are PAINFUL!!!! But I have finally found relief.

The first time I applied it, I thought, "Gee, this smells like nail polish."  (And guess what?  It comes with a little brush just like nail polish.)  The instructions said, "To remove, use nail polish remover."

You mean I spent my hard-earned bucks on special liquid bandage fluid when all I really needed was to coat the wound in a little clear nail polish?

The wonders of modern science.

Have you tried any miracle cures lately?

Growing Old Sucks, Part III

Okay, I promise -- after today I won't do another growing old sucks post ... well, not for a while at least.

What's today's topic?  Cholesterol.

My last bloodwork showed my cholesterol was a little high.  We're not talking in the 400 range.  It was 233, and since 200 should be the high end of normal, my doctor has threatened me.  "Get it down," she said.

So, I'm eating oatmeal every day.  (Ick.)

Actually, I don't like my oatmeal too sweet, so instead of brown sugar or even maple syrup, I've been eating it with raisins to sweeten.  And you know what ... it's not half bad.  I can eat it for a few months and not get too bored with it.  (I hope.)

Meanwhile, I also eat a handful of almonds every day. (Well, 10 actually.)

 

And in case the oatmeal and almonds don't do the trick, I've also resorted to . . .

(Double ick.)

Have you tried natural means to try and curb the forces of nature?

Growing Old Sucks, Part II

Another of the wonder things that happens as you age is that your eyesight departs.  Well, partially.  In fact, while my close-up vision has deteriorated, my long-range vision has improved.  So much so that I no longer have to wear glasses to drive.  Yes, I once again have 20/20 vision. 

YAY!

However, as mentioned above, I can no longer read anything in small print.  Not without my cheaters.  That is, reading glasses.

Another thing about aging is that you forget where you put stuff, so I have to have about 20 pairs of the things scattered around the house so that wherever I perch to read, reading glasses will be ready and waiting for me.  Luckily, The Dollar Tree sells them for a buck each, so having so many pairs lying around the house (and in my purse, etc.) wasn't a huge expense.  But why, oh why, can I never seem to find a pair when I need them?

How about you?  Do you have cheaters, too?

Growing Old Sucks

No doubt about it, growing old sucks.

First, women have to suffer with menses for a very LONG period of time.  (Um...about 40 years.)  And then we are blessed with menopause, which is like having a volcano exploding inside you 5-10 times a day, bringing with it lots of heat and no comfort.

So far the only thing good about menopause is that it has allowed me to start collecting fans. Boy, do I have a LARGE collection of fans.  I have electric fans placed strategically in my house. . . .

. . . but I also have a lot of the hand-powdered models, too.

Of course, not only do I have rattan ones like that above, but I also have quite a collection of paper fans that I've picked up at yard sales all over the area.

They come in all shapes and sizes, and one thing they have in common is that they are pretty.  And they actually work, too.

I don't believe in hormone replacement therapy, but I am trying Flaxseed Oil capsules.

... so far so good.

What natural remedies have you  used to fight off the dreaded hot flashes?

I dot a code in da doze . . .

I haven't had a cold in several years--but I've got one now.  As colds go, this one isn't too bad.  On the misery scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I'm only at about 6.5.  But I'm sure it would be much higher if it wasn't for my neti pot.

If you've never used one, it can be . . . kind of disgusting.  Like when you were a kid and went swimming and water got up your nose when they made you dive into the deep end.  Ick!  Only this is kinda worse. You're actually rinsing your sinuses and cleaning them of germs and other crud.  Click on the video below if you want to learn a lot more about it.



One of the worst things about having a cold is waking up in the middle of the night and NOT being able to breathe.  I got through the night just fine.

Have you ever used a neti pot?  What's your best home remedy for the common cold?

My kingdom for some pockets!

Why would clothing manufacturers make sweatpants without pockets?  I mean, what gives?

I live in sweatpants.  I need to have stuff readily available.  Like a tissue.  Or Chapstick.  These are vital things, especially in winter.

Suddenly, I only seem to have sweatpants without pockets.  Where'd my pants with pockets go?  I don't remember tossing any (although I probably should--you know, the ones with bleach stains (from when I cleaned the deck of mold/moss) and paint stains, when I backed against the table that was still wet).

It's time to take a trip to K-Mart and see if I can find some sweats with pockets--you know, before all we can buy are shorts and swimsuits.  (You wouldn't want me to wander around the house with chapped lips, would you?)

Any clothing gripes from your end?

From trash to compost . . .

Last year mother gave me some money for Christmas. Not a fortune, but it was $$$ to treat myself to things I'd really like.  So I bought some DVDs and had a bit more leftover. At first I couldn't decide what to do with it and then it came to me.  I'll use it to buy a composter!

The problem is, most composters are big deal things.  We're just two people and four cats, and the cats don't eat a lot (any) veggies, so we don't create much to make compost with.  Still, I want to go greener (and according to a recent article in USA Today most people my age are getting the urge to do the same).  So last week I decided the time was right and I whipped off an order to Amazon, which was selling the thing for cheaper than anyone else.  And best of all, I had to spend only 5 cents more and I'd get free shipping!  (And let me tell you, this sucker is HEAVY.  Of course, I bought a $7 book, but I wanted to buy it anyway.)

New York State has decided that Amazon is making too much money off its citizens because Amazon now collects sales tax from New York residents.  (They've told every major business the same thing.)  Mind you, Amazon has no physical presence in New York, which has been the precedent for tax collection.  So I have a feeling my Amazon orders will fall off as of now.  I can order a book from Barnes & Noble and pick it up at my local store, and though I have to pay state tax (and the gas to get there), I can get at least 10% off the cost of the book (because I have a B&N saver card).  I'll miss ordering on impulse from Amazon and I resent that New York is yet again sucking me for more tax income.

There's a reason there's a mass exodus of people and businesses from this state.  We pay too much and receive too little in return.  Too bad I can't dump my compost on my local elected representative.

But I digress.

Getting back on topic ... do you compost?

What's in a soap?

For years I've had this fascination with homemade soap.  I've read all about it, have several books on it, but I've never worked up the courage to make it myself.

Apparently the easiest soap to make is with glycerin.  My first experience with glycerin soap was in Ottawa, Canada, at a Suites hotel.  (WOW--I loved it!  Could've moved right in.  This place was better than my two apartments and my first house.)  Every day they provided guests with lovely little cakes of apricot glycerin soap.  Whoa!  Nice!

Not long afterward, I bought that first book on soapmaking.  The problem is, one batch of homemade soap will wash an army and what if the soap was a dismal failure?  (A couple of years ago my friend Gwen's son made soap from pig fat.  Read her wonderfully funny account here.)

My parents jumped on the liquid soap bandwagon a few years ago.  I can't say I'm fond of the stuff.  Too slimy and it doesn't want to "wash off" easily.  I will admit I do have it in my powder room, Jergins cherry-almond scent, but it's the only kind I use because I like the smell.

We like hard soap.  Yardley oatmeal-almond to be precise.  We used to use Yardley baby soap, but apparently it's been discontinued.  As it is, we can only find the oatmeal almond version in The Dollar Tree...if we're lucky.

I have no clear memory of what soap we used when I was a kid, but I remember my Aunt always had Dove soap.  I've always loved its scent (with its one quarter cleansing cream--now called "moisturizer.")  If we can't get the Yardley soap, I'm considering moving on to easily accessible Dove.  Then again, I'm not the only one who uses the stuff.  Mr. Ivy may want something more "manly."

What triggered this rhapsody on soap?  Some handmade soap I bought at a garage sale.  It was supposed to be vanilla-oatmeal, but there was little evidence of oatmeal and none at all of vanilla.  I also wondered about it's cleaning ability.  Plus, Frank didn't like the half-circle shape.  (Didn't fit well in the hand.)

What's your favorite soap?

Candle In The Wind . . .

From the time I could understand words, my mother instilled the fear of fire into me.  She grew up in England before the days of central heating, where a coal fire was the only way to keep the shivers at bay (and not very well, either.  You toasted on one side while the other froze).

So when candles became the rage, I never succumbed to the temptation to buy and light them.  All my friends did, but the idea of touching match to wick was just more than I could bring myself to do.

Okay, I exaggerate.  Before I learned to say NO SMOKING IN MY HOUSE, I'd burn a votive candle when my friend Judy came over.  When I visited my brother, I used to take a candle with me because it seemed to dissipate the smoke somehow.  (Either that or it was wishful thinking.)

My friend Gail waxed poetically (pun intended) about certain candles.  She particularly liked the lemon icebox cookies aroma.  (They're soybean wax/no lead Kitchen Pantry Lights from Swan Creek Candle Company.)  Gail told me she sits her candles in a potpourri warmer and the aroma keeps her from eating cookies all day. (She should know.  She's a Weight Watchers graduate and has kept the weight off for several years.)

I thought about it for a long time before I broke down and bought myself a candle warmer and yes, a jar candle of lemon icebox cookies.  At first, I timidly warmed the candle in the kitchen, fearing the cats would knock it over.  But after a couple of weeks and they didn't go near it, I worked up the courage to bring it into my office, where it's sitting even as I type this.

Oh, the heavenly aroma of lemon icebox cookies is enough to make me get out a spoon and gouge out a piece of wax...it just smells sooooo good.  I've also got a butterscotch toffee candle that someone gave me as a gift that smells just like butterscotch pudding.  Yum.

Supposedly burning (or melting) aromatic candles should heighten the senses and cause your creativity to flow.  I don't yet have enough experience to know if that's true.  But if it is...I've got a world of dessert-flavored candles in my future.

They all came with bows, too!

My brother is a teensy bit upset with me.  Last Christmas I asked for and received a wonderful food processor.  Over the past twenty or so years, my brother has practically outfitted my entire kitchen, and everything he bought me still works.

I think the first "appliance" he bought me was an electric fry pan.  Boy, what a little workhorse.  I used to make chili in it (I do that now in the crock pot, which he also bought me), and now hubby makes his wonderful seared scallops in it.  Next up was a hand mixer (which I just used last week to whip up a batch of cookies).  Then there's the little toaster oven, which gets used at least five to seven days a week, be it reheating pizza (lunch) or cooking our breaded chicken entrees. 

As I mentioned, last year I asked for and got the food processor, but it's still sitting in the box.  I've been meaning to make something using it, and even got a cookbook dedicated to food prepared in a food processor, but I just haven't gotten around to opening the box.  (I think it's the fear of cleaning it that has kept me from investigating it further.)

I've got a few hand-me-down appliances, too.  Like my mother's first Oster blender.  Yup, it's got to be about 35 years old, but it still purees like new.  And her old (20 years?) Mix Master.  (Used that last week, too.)

Then there's the milkshake machine hubby bought me for my last birthday.  I've wanted one of those for YEARS, but it seems like I just keep forgetting to buy some ice cream to make the shakes with. (I prefer just vanilla ice cream and milk--NO syrup.) 

 And of course nothing beats my 50+ year-old Sunbeam toaster, which I bought at a yard sale in 1979 for $4.  (I know it's 52 years old because someone stamped the date on the bottom of it.)  I found another one at a yard sale last year that looks brand new.  (Mom has one, plus one back up.  She had two back-ups, but dropped one and broke it last year.  Handy all those back-ups, eh?)

So what's your favorite kitchen appliance?

Butt Ugly

I’ve been a fan of Puff Plus tissues for years. They’re easy on the nose (though useless for cleaning your glasses), and aren’t filled with lint like their sister Puffs without lotion.

But for some reason the company that makes this marvelous product has insisted on putting them in horrible, BUTT UGLY boxes. Like a pink box with big (gaudy) white daisies. Currently their Christmas boxes feature the same wooden/pointy people as on their commercials. (Do they think it’s little kids parting with their hard-earned money to buy this product?)

These boxes are so unattractive and intrusive to my décor that I’ve been reusing the same tissue boxes for years. When I run out, I simply take the tissues out of the new box and put them into the old boxes. Works for me. My favorite box is very Victorian; a green background with pink roses.
Awwwwww.) I’ve got a white box with gray accents in the bedroom.
One day these old boxes will simply fall apart from old age. Then I’ll have to think about using wrapping paper to disguise the "new" boxes.

Either that, or hope they hire a new graphic designer.

How about you?  Don't you think these are ugly?

Eww! It went bad!

Back in February, Mr. Ivy and I bought a new fridge.  Actually, I bought it.  For some reason, he wasn't available the day we decided we had to get rid of the old one.  (It was freezing EVERYTHING, especially the milk.)

Fast forward into summer and -- gosh darn it, didn't we wish we still had old Mr. Freezer Fridge, because now our milk is constantly going bad.  I don't mean one or two before their sell-by dates, I mean ALL OF IT.

The new fridge has these really big door shelves that will hold a gallon container of milk.  Great.  Except the milk is always warm.  Not great.

So now we've moved the milk from the really convenient place, and put it on one of the shelves, where stuff usually gets shoved in front of it.  Then we have to search to get the milk out for stuff like adding to coffee or recipes.  Not very convenient.

Truth be told, we just don't like this new fridge.  It's too small.  The guy at the appliance store assured me this was THE standard size fridge, but it isn't.  The next time I was in the store I looked a bit harder and saw that there are quite a few taller ones.  (Of course they were all stainless steel and cost about $500 more, but that's beside the point.)

Well, at least the milk isn't going bad anymore.

Have you bought an appliance that didn't live up to its hype?

With life comes loss...

Yesterday I lost a trusted friend of almost 29 years.  We'd been together through thick and thin.  In sickness and in health.  Through good times and bad.

Yesterday, my multi-speed Waring hand mixer died.

And, of course, it died in the line of duty.  It was hubby's birthday.  He prefers pie to cake, and his favorite:  lemon meringue.  I was whipping up the egg whites and my kitchen buddy suddenly died.  The pie turned out okay, perhaps out of respect for my old mixer, but the meringue didn't stand as tall as it might have if the old Waring had lived just a minute or two longer.
I knew it wasn't well.  Oh, it hadn't been coughing up blood or anything like that, but for the past couple of months, it would only give me two of its six speeds, and I would have to mess with the speed control before it would start.

Before the poor thing even had an indecent burial, hubby was on the Internet searching for its replacement.  (You see, he's quite fond of Dr. Oetker's Mousse Supreme which must be beaten for nearly five minutes.  I think that's what might have killed the Waring...all those Mousse Supremes we've had this year--the light version, to avoid excess calories.)

I loved that mixer.  My brother gave it to me when I moved into my first house. (As I've mentioned in the past, he's given me most of my small kitchen appliances.)  Now I live in fear that the toaster oven and electric fry pan of the same vintage may soon kick the bucket.  My Waring hand mixer even lived in the box it came in from the factory all those years ago.  And, of course, you can't buy Waring hand mixers anymore.  Now Waring concentrates on bar blenders.

I'll get a new hand mixer, but it won't be the same.  In these days of planned obsolescence, a new mixer will probably live a couple of years and go on to that great appliance store in the sky.
But please, let's have a moment of silence for my late, great, Waring hand mixer.

( ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...)

Thank you.

Are you inordinately attached to any of your kitchen appliances?

Doesn't Everyone Want To Smell Like A Toilet Deordorant Cake?

Why is it whenever I like a product--really like it--it gets taken off the market? (Garlic flavored "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter," Reynolds plastic wrap with the easy slider cutter; ice tea flavored Gatorade?) And if they don't take it off the market, they "improve it."

Lots of things DON'T need to be improved, and I ran across one yesterday when I went to ... ahem ... color my hair.

I've been using Nice'N Easy #116A for about 18 years. Okay, I tried to be a redhead for a while, but even though there have been redheads in my family, it just didn't suit me, so back to #116A it was. I've been very happy with the product. They changed the conditioner a few years back, which was okay (but they give you a million times more than you need, and I usually just toss out the newest tube.)

Hubby always complained about the smell. "Ick--like chemical green apples." I got used to it and after a couple of hours, the bathroom doesn't smell anymore and life goes back to normal. Yesterday I used the NEW AND IMPROVED Nice'N Easy #116A and ... quite frankly, it stank. Stank like those little deodorant cakes you hang from the side of the toilet bowl. But ... eventually the odor dissipated and life went back to normal.

EXCEPT -- I could smell my hair. Just a whiff now and then, but it's really revolting. I took the cat to the vet and all the time wondered ... can the vet tech smell my hair? I was awakened in the middle of the night and what did I smell? MY HAIR. LIKE THOSE LITTLE DEODORANT CAKES YOU HANG FROM THE SIDE OF THE TOILET BOWL.

I've been quite happy with this product for almost two decades. Maybe this bottle was a fluke. But next time I use it, if I end up smelling like a deodorant cake, I'm switching brands.

Anyone got a suggestion?