Over or Under

or How do you hang your toilet paper?

Does it matter to you how your toilet paper is hung? Does it matter whether it unrolls from the top or from the bottom? Apparently it does to many people. Advice columnist, Ann Landers, said the toilet paper debate was one her biggest topics over the years. I, on the other hand, never paid much attention to the way toilet paper was hung until I met Ward. After a couple of years of me and my willy-nilly ways of hanging, he asked if I could hang it so it would unroll from the top. That seemed like a small enough request, so I tried to comply. Eventually, I got the hang of it (pun attended) and over the top became my preferred way also. He gave several reasons of why over the top was the superior method--none of which I can remember now. However, I have learned that always having it hung the same way makes it easier to unroll it in the dark. No guessing if its over or under. We have passed this method onto Wally and Theo also.

So all was right with the world until this weekend when someone else was in the house and just happened to install a new roll in our guest bathroom. And guess what? They put it on so the tissue unrolled from the bottom! Oh no. What to do? I decided to sit back and watch what was going to happen next. Would we be able to use up this roll without changing it? Or would one of us not be able to help ourselves and fix it? Well, it took about eight hours until I noticed that it had been changed. I'm not sure who did it, but my bets are on the person who taught me the over the top method in the first place. And if the truth be told, I also felt a lot better when it was "fixed".

Do you have a preferred way of hanging your toilet paper?

Thankful Sunday--September 15, 2013

I am thankful that Ward and Wally fixed our fence.

We have a 30 year old split rail fence around our yard that has seen better days. What hasn't fallen down from rotten wood is being knocked down by the deer. However, Ward and Wally have been working on repairs. Not easy work, but one I am thankful they are doing.

Magic Show

or Kids will be kids--no matter how old they are.

Recently at a festival we attended, we watched a magic show. The magician was Rodney The Younger (not to be confused with Rodney the Elder.) and even though he did only simple tricks, he was still a crowd  pleaser.  He was really more like a stand up comedian with his humorous patter while he was pulling things out of his sleeves.

The first member of the audience he pulled up on stage was a little curly haired boy who was totally awed by the "magic" Rodney was doing. He was adorable to watch with his big eyes and gasps as tricks were preformed around him. He truly believed in the magic.

Next Rodney asked who was there with their parents. Wally promptly raised his hand high. I scolded him and said that he wasn't eight years old and to put his hand down. And then Theo raised his hand which was totally out of character. He usually doesn't want to do anything to draw attention to himself. However,  I guess the possibility of getting his parents on stage overrode his shyness. And you know where this is going. In no time, Ward and I were both on stage for the next 10 minutes of the act.

While Rodney did some good-natured teasing and jokes, Ward and I and the audience watched as he did many tricks with Chinese Linking Rings. And, yes, it was both embarrassing and fun. But mostly it was fun for Wally and Theo. I guess it doesn't matter how old you get, it is still fun to see your parents look silly.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions, Sept. 13, 2013

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. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

Wally had a yummy milkshake from this booth while on vacation

This Week's Food Waste

None

This was fairly easy to achieve since we were on vacation part of the time and we hadn't been to the grocery store in a couple of weeks except to get a gallon milk.   

This Week's True Food Confessions

(I didn't get any food pictures this week, so I've included these food-themed pictures from a historical festival we visited while on vacation. )

Can you find: A chicken plucker, colonial cooking, a cider press, a barrel maker, an electric potato cutter, a threshing machine?

Let's see. When didn't we eat out this week? A bad cold, late hours at the office, and a few days of vacation conspired to make this a week of catch as catch can. Some of our eating highlights:

--One morning at the hotel, they had biscuits and sausage gravy. They were not as good as my mother makes, but pretty darn good. An unexpected pleasure from childhood.

--And speaking of things from childhood, I had canned spinach for supper tonight. I loved this stuff as a kid, but haven't had it in years. We were recently gifted several cans, so I tried it again. And I still loved it. I thought maybe my tastes had become more sophisticated and I would prefer spinach the way I usually have it these days-- in a salad or freshly cooked. Apparently not. I still like the well cooked (some would call slimy) version.

--Wally had the best nachos he has ever had (his words) while we were on vacation. Instead of the chips piled high with the ingredients piled on top of that, the chips were in the middle of the bowl and the toppings were around the edges. Not only were they much easier to eat, they were delicious too.

--Theo discovered peanut and butter jelly again. We had PB&J sandwiches for lunch while we were on vacation, and he liked them.  For the last few years he hasn't. As the boys said when they were little, "He had a taste change."  

--Ward also tried a favorite from years ago. Pizza, Pizza. Or Little Caesar's Pizza. There was a Little Caesar's Pizza near where we used to live and it was our favorite pizza. We've been seeing commercials for it on TV and discovered recently that they opened a store near where Ward works. Well, to make a long story short, it did not live up to our memories. We decided that if we were going to do carry out, he'd stop by Aldi's which is also close to his work and buy a much cheaper pizza to bake when he gets home.

--We actually did eat at home a little thanks to the abundance of Leo's and Uncle Billy's gardens. We had roasted butternut squash again and two salads with fresh lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers among other things. 

 --The new recipe of the week was Graham Cracker Fudge. I modified a recipe that popped up on Yahoo that caught my attention because we had some stale graham crackers to use up. It also didn't hurt that we had all of the ingredients. It was super easy and pretty good. However, I still prefer conventional fudge, but would be happy to eat this any time.

 Graham Cracker Chocolate Fudge

14 oz sweetened condensed milk (1 can)

6 oz (1/2 bag) chocolate chips

7 oz. (1 1/2 sleeves) of graham crackers

Pour milk and chips into a microwave bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat this until all of the chips are melted.

While the chips and milk are heating, crush graham crackers into fine crumbs. 

Mix crumbs into melted chocolate mixture and then pour into greased 8"x8" pan. Let cool and set.

Enjoy.


Until next time....

A Second Look--September 11, 2013

Fall is the air--sort of. Some leaves are falling from the trees but most of them are green and hanging on. Many flowers are fading while others are just starting to bloom. (As evidenced by all of the allergy sufferers.) Last week we had a nip in the morning air, but it was 90° F and humid today. And except for the allergy part, I'm enjoying it all.

 Here's what I saw this week during my Second Look.

The sedum is in full bloom now. There were a lot yellow ants on it.

Every September in this bed of brown day lilies and tiger lilies, these Sternbergia lutea pop up to add a bit of brightness.

The hydrangea blossoms are starting to fade.

The butterflies are enjoying the second blooming of the sage. (Okay, Ward thinks this is a moth. I think it looks like a skipper butterfly, but I'm too tired to figure it out right now.)

These two late bloomers stand out among the other faded celosia.

We still have a few balloon flowers.

The volunteer marigolds continue to please.

I don't have any baby birds to show you this week, so I'll show you a bluebird feather I found.