A Second Look--December 14, 2011

This week I did a Second Look on a clear, crisp night and examined the Alberta Spruce by our front door. 

See what I found.

Christmas Ornaments

Every year when we decorate our Christmas tree, I get nostalgic as I remember where each ornament came from. Sometimes Ward and the boys are interested in the stories and sometimes they suddenly need to do something else when I start going down memory lane.

Below are a few of the ornaments that we have collected over the years. Their stories range from family heritage, handiwork of Wally and Theodore, gifts from friends, and the first Christmas that Ward and I spent together. If you want to know any of the stories, just ask. I love to tell them. However, if you suddenly need to do something else like Ward and the boys, I'll understand.

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On another topic, did anyone notice that the Queen Anne's Lace ornament didn't have a black spot in the middle?

Food Waste Friday--December 9, 2011

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money.

Here it goes for this week.

We did better than last week with no current waste and fewer times eating out. Hooray for us! 

Therefore, I decided to tackle the spice cabinet that has been annoying me for a while. I seem to get it all organized and then somehow the jars multiply to the point that when I'm reaching in for one another falls out. I don't cook with many spices, so I'm not sure how this happens unless I never get rid of any. I have a feeling that may be what is going on.

The whole cabinet was too overwhelming to tackle at once, so I started with eliminating spices that I knew were very old. Some of the containers didn't seem to have dates on them (a clue right there), so I did a bit of research. I had several tins of Astor spices and after a call to the company, I learned that they were a store brand for Winn Dixie. I haven't shopped in a Winn Dixie in over 20 years. A safe bet to eliminate all of them.

 

Next, I visited the McCormick site that discusses spice freshness. According to the McCormick chart for freshness, most spices have lost their effectiveness after 4 years or less. There I also learned that McCormick packaged spices in metal tins in the 70's and green lid bottles in the 60's and 90's. All of those dates make them pretty old so those containers are leaving too.

In addition, I found French's spices with a date of 1983--definitely past the 4 year limit. I think those may get incorporated into some holiday projects, but they are definitely leaving the cabinet.

The final clue that some of my spices are older than the hills is that I found them being sold on Ebay as vintage merchandise.

What would you do with all of these old spices?

Ponderings from Theodore-the Middle Years

Theodore has always been a thinker--meaning long after I have moved on from a subject, he is still pondering it. Occasionally, we are going to visit some of his questions and observations from his earlier years. Some are serious and thought provoking and others are humorous.
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December Snow

 I am listening to heavy rain that will soon be turning to snow --then all will be quiet. Here's what Theodore had to say about that subject when he was younger.

Snowflakes

Snowflakes falling from the sky,
Landing softly on the ground,
Often times I wonder why,
They never ever make a sound.

Landing softly on the ground,

Snowflakes white and glistening,

Nothing ever to be found,

For someone who is listening.

(Picture is from a December snowfall in 2009. It is looking out from our front stoop.)

A Second Look--December 7, 2011

The theme this week for a Second Look is the weather. It was a week of variable weather with cold, warm, sunny, cloudy, and breezy days. The only thing we didn't have was frozen precipitation. That's coming today. What is it they say about weather? "The only thing certain about the weather is that it will change."

Below, see what the weather was like this week while I was exploring and some of the things I found.

 COLD       Frost on wild strawberry

CLOUDY      Feather under bird feeder

SUNNY     Holly berries

SUNNY     Roots girdling one of our maple trees. So far, there is no obvious damage from this, but it can't be good.

CLOUDY     The Snow-on-the-Mountain (Bishop's Weed) has survived the frosts so far.

BREEZY     Coneflower seed heads (It took several tries before the picture didn't come out blurry because the seeds were blowing in the wind..)

RAINY     Deer watching me ready to flee.

SUNNY and WARM     Fungus on decomposing tree stump

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Just for the fun of it--a few other weather sayings

--Whether it's cold or whether it's hot, there's going to be weather, whether or not.
 
--Weather forecast for tonight:  dark.  ~George Carlin

--Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't 
    change once in a while.  ~Kin Hubbard
 
--There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.  ~Alfred Wainwright