5-10-10

I am a smoker so I have been looking for ways to
cut costs with that. I know the best thing to do
is to quit but that's easier said than done.
I had a homemade cigarette the other day
that was about like my Doral Light 100's.
So I started asking questions about costs
and supplies because I had thought the tax
increase had killed the idea of saving money
by rolling your own.



If you buy PIPE tobacco
it is cheaper than
cigarette tobacco!! There is a brand called
Criss Cross Smooth Blend that can be found in most
tobacco stores. It runs anywhere from
$10 to $15 a 1 pound bag. I asked this person who
made their own cigarettes how much can be made
with that one bag and he said about 3 cartons.
Cigarette papers/filters run about $10 to $15
a box of 200 to 1000 from what I saw on Ebay.



So for about 3 CARTONS I would said would run you
about $20 to $30.
Now compare that to about $50 for 1 CARTON!!
Or look at it this way, at least about $1.00 a pack
compared to $5.00 a pack!!!

I am currently watching some auctions on Ebay
for cigarette makers. Some can runs as cheap
as $8.00 with shipping all the way up to
about $40.

Pipe tobacco is not taxed like cigarette tobacco.
Read this article I found how some manufacturer's
of cigarette tobacco are finding ways of selling
it under pipe tobacco to be able to sell it
cheaper without the tax increase.
This is why I mentioned the Criss Cross brand above.
It is labeled as a pipe tobacco but it can
be used for cigarettes.
___________________________________________________

This morning I took out mom's trash for her.
I ended up trash picking in her own trash can, lol.

In there I found a pair of rubberized garden gloves
my step-dad had thrown out. There was a couple
spots where the rubber was coming off but I didn't
mind. I could use these in the garden and not
get dirt under my nails.

When asked why they were thrown away my step-dad
told me it was because they had Ortho Weed Killer
on them. I'm thinking, SO, I'll throw them
in the washer with a little bleach and hot water
and wash them up.

People are soooo wasteful! But I am there to help
and swoop up on it! I scored me a free pair of
garden gloves!



___________________________________________________

Just yesterday me and Tony had to restake
our baby tree out front. We purchased 2 trees
almost a year ago from Lowes. Found them in
the clearance section for about $1.50 each!!
They came with not tags to say what kind of
trees they were. I did a little research
and think they may be pear trees.
The tree on the side of the house did not bloom
this year but the one in the front did.
Anyway as we were restaking this tree we noticed
it had fruit buds on it!! YEAHH! So guess
we will find out this year what kind of tree
it is. I figured it would take many years
for a tree to mature before producing fruit.
But I did learn it took 2 trees to produce any
fruit is why I planted 2 so they could pollinate
one another. This tree is not very old. The trunk
and branches are about the size of a pencil
circumference. So how is it supposed to support
all this fruit??? Guess I'll have to read up
on what to do. But for now I am glad to have
a fruit tree with free fruit in the near future!




You know every mother's day people like to give
gifts such as a bouquet of flowers. Well I like
to ask for flowers BUT ones that I can plant in
the ground. Hubby has bought me a mini rose
bush one year. Next year I might ask for a raspberry
or blackberry bush, something we can enjoy and
get free fruit from year after year.
Now whatchya gonna do with a bouquet of flowers?
Throw them away after about a week! So why
throw money in the garbage??? Ask for plants
that will come back year after year.
I like ornamental along with fruit bearing ones.

Be sure to check out the clearance area in Lowes
or Home Depot in the garden area. Sometimes you can find stuff for
cheap like I did. I think that's where I got
my Concord Grape also.

__________________________________________________

Kitchen Tip

When setting out your styrofoam tray
of fresh mushroom do not place it on
a burner then turn on wrong burner!
Smelly! Now I have to scrape plastic
crap off my burner!

SUPPER

Brats topped with saurkraut, onions,
mushrooms, cheese and green peppers.

Another money saver tip of mine:

I don't buy buns too often.
I use a regular loaf bread for hot dogs,
brats and hamburgers. Why buy
a package of 8 buns for $1.00
when I just bought loaves of bread
for .39 cents. I can use this for many
more hot dogs and hamburgers than
a package of 8 buns.

___________________________________________________

4:20PM

Trying to hurry up and have supper ready by
the time Tony gets home. Have to go out
to Blacklick this evening to work on welding
the trailer. I hope it all works out.
PLEASE PRAY THAT IF IT DOES THAT OUR RETURN
HOME WITH CAR AND TRAILER WILL BE A SAFE ONE!!
I have been soooo worried about getting the car
and trailer home in one piece.

___________________________________________________

Here's my seedling inventory that are sprouting.
Already planted the cucumber seedlings.

ENCHANTED ROSE ZINNIAS



CRACKERJACK MARIGOLDS



SWEET SPANISH ONIONS



DWARF GRAY SUGAR PEAS



GARDEN BEAN



RADISH & SWEET BASIL



FLYING SAUCER MORNING GLORIES



LARGE RED CHERRY & DELICIOUS TOMATOES




___________________________________________________

5:00PM TO 10:45PM

Just got home!

IT HAS NOT BEEN A GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

But I had my camera handy to document
how the night went. This usually doesn't
happen when there's some action going on.

Passing through Gahanna on the way to
Blacklick we saw this license plate
on a Suburban of all things.



I finally got a picture of this weird mail
box. I cannot figure out why the one is up so
high.



Randy and Tony welding the trailer hitch.







Here's my picture & video story of tonight's events....


GOODNIGHT!!
GLAD TO BE HOME!!

This is in Gahanna on Granville.
Driving along. Then bump, thud
and eerie scraping sound.
Managed to drag it just up the
street into the library's parking lot.



Cop said it was sparking pretty good after
the trailer hitch broke.
He was going by in the other direction
as this happened. Did a u turn
and came up behind us with lights on.
He saw we were all ok but shook up.
He left shortly after checking out
the situation.




You probably can't hear me in this video
due to the diesel tow truck running but
I say, "Oh that's something I didn't need to see"
The tow truck people are hooking our trailer
up to the back of the roll back when out pops
this lil surprise, LMAO.

5-9-10

Headed out to Indian Lake about 8:45AM.
Was there til about 4-5PM.
Then headed out to Blacklick.
Didn't get the rollback as planned for the
car because the guy was out of town.
Sooo...tomorrow Tony is going to attempt
to weld the crack and brace it with
metal plates.

I am whipped once again. Very irritable
because I am tired! Kind of glad to be home.
Hoping for a relaxing day tomorrow with
some quietness.

Enjoy some pics from today as I throw two
youngins in the shower and get them ready
for bed soon. I am so ready for a slow down
since it is 8:30PM and we've been going non stop.


JUST ARRIVED AT TONY'S PARENTS PLACE.
TONY'S MOM, JONATHAN & TONY.




HIBISCUS WE GAVE TONY'S MOM




DUCK COUPLE




MALLARD DUCK




BROWN DUCK




TONY & CHRISTOPHER ON THE DOCK




PRETTY WILDFLOWERS




BABY GEESE




RED SQUIRREL.





PRETTY WILDFLOWERS.




CHRISTOPHER & JONATHAN BY THE LAKE.
IT WAS A LITTLE BRISK.




JONATHAN DOWN BY THE DOCKS CHECKING
OUT THE BABY GEESE.




ROY JR (BIL), ROY (FIL), JOE'S (BIL)FIANCE,
JOE'S LITTLE BOY & LADY THE DOG.




MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, TONY, JOE
AND HIS KIDS HELPING PLANT FLOWERS.




ME HELPING PLANT MARIGOLDS FOR
MY MOTHER-IN-LAW.





TONY'S BROTHER ROY JR.




PLANTING THE HIBISCUS WE GAVE TONY'S
MOTHER FOR MOTHER'S DAY..





FATHER-IN-LAWS "NEW" JEEP

5-8-10

The weather has turned much colder today
compared to yesterday. Yesterday it was 85
and today it's supposed to be 58,
a 27 degree difference. Back to wearing
pants and jackets.

I was watching the news this morning
and saw a segment about Mama Mimi's.
They were making cinnamon rolls.
Oh that sounds so good! I haven't been
able to look at cinnamon rolls since
having one at Cinnabon at the mall.
That was a little much. Too sweet for me!
But I have gotten passed that incident
and have decided I want to make my own
cinnamon rolls that are a little less gooped
up with a ton of icing. That's the great
thing about making things from scratch,
you can make them to suit your needs.

Whew my hands are aching/tingling like crazy this
morning and feel so swelled. I haven't experienced
my carpal tunnel in awhile and it's once
again catching up with me. I can't write
with a pen without my hands going numb.
At least I haven't been getting the pains
in the night like I was. The only way I could
describe that was like having a charley horse
in your forearm. Not a pleasant experience at all.
I've tried splints to keep my wrist from becoming
bent when I sleep and that doesn't work.
I've had other family members who've had the
operation done to both wrists to help
alleviate the pain. But they say the operation
is not guaranteed to work. For some it does.
So I've just been dealing with it for many years.
I started getting it when I was doing cross stitch
and plastic canvas years ago. I was making
about 100 magnets a week to sell to make a little
money. Needless to say I had to sell all my supplies
because I can no longer do it :0(

10:20AM

The boys are ready to head outside.
Jonathan can't wait to get back on his
new skateboard he got. He skinned
up his knee already yesterday with the thing
so decided to get out all the pads today
before heading out.



Here's a video from yesterday.
The kids were playing out front on the
skateboards riding them on their bellies
down the sidewalk.
The neighbor's little boy looked so funny
on the mini skateboard. I thought he
looked like a lil frog!! LOL He's all of
about 2-3 years old.



11:20AM

I got the dough started for the
Cinnamon Rolls in the bread machine

I tweaked my regular roll recipe some
for cinnamon rolls. (now considering
maybe a half batch to make a swirl
cinnamon loaf of bread, yummy)

1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup oil
3/4 tsp vanilla
3 T. brown sugar
1 T. plus 1 tsp. grated orange zest
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. yeast

add everything into bread machine
in order above, making a well in the
flour then add yeast into well.
Put on pizza dough cycle (NOT baking it
in bread machine)

Once done remove from pan, punch down dough.
On a floured surface, roll into a large rectangle. Smear with 3 T softened butter. Combine 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar. Sprinkle over the rectangle. Generously sprinkle 1/3 c. raisins and/or 1/3 c chopped nuts over the top.
Using a pizza cutter cut dough into 12 slices, roll up. Place the rolls into a round greased baking pan. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1.5 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, and 1.5 tablespoons milk into a thick frosting; set aside.
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool 10 minutes. Spread frosting over baked rolls and enjoy.

Here's a tip of mine for zesting oranges.
I freeze the orange peels. Then when I need
some orange zest I pull out my grater
and run the peel along the side of it.
The orange peel when frozen is so much
easier to grate then.




Just hanging out and waiting for Tony
to get home from his drywall repair job.
Don't know how long he will be.
Damien's supposed to stop by sometime this
morning for Mother's Day since we won't
be home tomorrow.
Afterwards we have to dig out the car trailer,
load up and strap down the motorcycle
then head out East to go pick up our car.
Don't this all sound like fun? Sounds like
a lot of work to me! This is what it is
like being the only gal in the household.
Good thing I am a Tomboy and can deal with
all the guy stuff.

11:30PM

Damien stopped by and brought me a card
and a flat of Geraniums for Mother's Day.





I've been a little behind with pictures.
We had a couple pieces of cake for lunch
with Damien.
Here's the inside view of what my cake looked
like. White cake mix with crumbled up cookies
in it. Topped with cookies n cream ice cream
topped with cut up Snicker bars. Frosted
with cream cheese frosting and more crumbled up
cookies on top.



12:15PM

Was going to go outside and plant the Geraniums
that Damien gave me. It is freakin' BRRRR out!
I changed my mind real quick.
Instead I went out the garden and took the drip
bottles off their stakes and covered the tomato
and pepper plants with them.




Me and the squirrels are gonna have go 'rounds
like last year. After a couple times of yelling
at them and chasing them off with the broom
they left the yard alone. I need to give them
a lil reminder of what last year was like.
Here is Mr. Squirrel in my garden, grrrrr.
Plants are all ok. He must of been eating
the "helicopter" seeds from the trees.



3:30PM

Still waiting for Tony to get done
with drywalling. They purchased quick
drying mud and let me tell ya it ain't
so quick to dry!

Got my rolls and breads baked and
out of their pans. I went with smaller
cinnamon rolls and squished them
all in a small cake pan. Almost
looks like a monkey bread.
I have run out of powdered sugar.
Should have checked before starting
so will have to pick some up later on.





My butt is sooo draggin today. The chilly weather
makes ya want to just crawl in bed and cuddle up
under the blankets. I popped the movie Finding Nemo
in for the kids to watch and fell asleep myself
watching it.

6PM - 10PM

This evening started off pretty good.
Got the motorcycle loaded up and made it
to Blacklick. Was a slow ride as it liked
to jiggle around on the car trailer with every
bump and pothole in the road.




Took us awhile to get the Trans Am up on the
trailer. Then the night went downhill real
quick. Was pulling the trailer with the car
out of the driveway when we heard metal dragging
the ground. At first we thought the hitch part
hadn't been put up but then Tony yells out
that the trailer BROKE!! The weld on the
tongue of the trailer split! Can you believe
that! I sure as hell can't. All that freakin
work to get the car on the trailer and was
almost on the home stretch. It didn't snap
completely off, thank God, and we were able
to park the trailer on the side of the street.
I just thank God that it happened then and
not on the way home!! That could have been
bad.
Good thing we have friends with tow trucks
and roll backs that's gonna help us out
tomorrow evening. We have to take the
car back off our trailer then put it
on a roll back to bring home.
Monday Tony will have to borrow a welder
from work and go back out to Blacklick
to try and fix the trailer.
Sooo close to bringing Blue Thunder home!


I am soooo tired. And it is soooo cold
and windy out this eve with some rain sprinkles.
It's been a loooong evening. Hey, about like
yesterday evening. One of these days I'll get
caught up with me sleep.
I'm just glad to be home and have been thinking
about cuddling up under my electric blanket.
Tomorrow we have an early wake up call.
Gonna try to be up to the lake for brunch
with the family at about 10AM. Takes about
an hour to and hour and a half to get there.