View from the farm

October 8, 2010 First inside house project

  Good evening…from the farm.

I’ve been wanting to start some home repair projects for a long time.  Unfortunately, when my daughter wasn't’ here, just keeping everyone fed and watered was enough of a challenge.

I finally decided to start with a fairly easy one.  We almost always use the basement door and steps into the kitchen as our main entrance.  The wall is unpainted cinderblock.  The door is painted dark brown.  It’s gloomy and hard to see, even with the light on.

I talked to the paint people at Home Depot and ended up with a nice  pale yellow paint.  I got one coat on it today, and I’ll do another one later on.  Then I want to Killz the door, and some of the woodwork, and paint the door and trim with white enamel.

Side Note:  Do all you former military folks know that Home Depot gives you a military discount any day of 10%?  All you have to do is show a military ID card.

Wait till you see how it looks when I get done.

Later.

Tea Drinkers of the World, Unite!

I spent 26 years in the military, Air Force, and Air Force Reserves, and I never learned to drink coffee.  If there was a microwave, and a paper cup, I was in business.  Before microwaves were ubiquitous I used a gadget called a Hot Shot to heat water for my "tea" break.

I recently found a new tea that I really like. It is a loose Lipton tea in a uniquely designed "tea bag" shaped like a pyramid.  I like the plain version, which they call Black Pearl.  My other favorite tea is Bigelow's Constant Comment.  It is a black tea with orange and spice.  Usually when you see an orange spice tea they skip the black tea.  I've been drinking Constant Comment for forty years.  Yep, it's that good.  My daughter, on the other hand, prefers their Lemon Lift variety. 

When I want just plain tea, my favorite brand is Tetley.  I learned to make Southern style sweet tea with Tetley when my daughter and I lived in Georgia and Alabama.  It has a good black tea taste with no bitterness or aftertaste. 

Try any of them, if you haven't had them before.  I think you'll enjoy them if you're a tea drinker like me.

Work stand

Yesterday when I was taking down the old tarp and putting up the new "home-made" tarp, I used my work stand instead of a ladder.  We bought it two years ago at one of those tool sales sponsored by the local VFW post.  Paid $20 for it and it has been worth every penny.  Now, you don't want to use it for any electrical repairs.  It's aluminum and conducts electricity.  I have used it extensively to paint, both inside and outside.  Arthritis makes it hard for me to get up and down ladders.  I use the little step stool to get to the work stand.  When I'm painting, I set the ladder up next to me to hold the can of paint.  The work stand is very stable and allows me to cover a lot more territory before I have to move.  There isn't a brand name on it unfortunately.  I'd write and tell that company how much I like their product, if I knew who they were!

Marked down produce

Our supermarket regularly marks down produce that is "a little past its prime".  We always check it because sometimes you can get very good buys, but you have to use it immediately.  As an example,at our Price Chopper supermarket the other day we found a cauliflower head with a few brown spots on top marked $.48.  It just happened that my aunt had recently sent us a recipe she found for cauliflower soup.  Kismet!  Check your supermarket.  Some of the stuff is not worth it, but you can occasionally find a really good deal. 

Foil Pans

We like to cook in disposable foil pans.  We buy Bakers & Chefs, half size. deep, steam table pans.  You can find them in the restaurant supplies section of Sam’s Club.  I expect you can find something similar in other warehouse stores.  We pay less than $10 for a pack of 30.  If you buy foil pans one at a time, you can pay $1 or more, each.  Use them for messy casseroles, and baked goods for bake sales.