Fix For A Scratched Wood Finish

Today I spent the day with my grandson.  He had been sick during the night, so he had to stay home from school.  As the day wore on, he felt a lot better.  We actually had a wonderful day.  We watched HGTV and he played on his ipad.  I knit and made him dumplings for lunch.  My three oldest  grandkids want my dumplings whenever they are sick.  It must be comfort food.  During the day my daughter called to check on us.  She told me she had pinned several things on Pinterest the night before.  One of those things was how to repair scratches on wooden furniture.  She told me that all you do is mix 3/4 cup olive oil with 1/4 cup of vinegar, and that she was going to try it on her dining room table.  As long as I was there and she had the oil and vinegar, I gave it a try.

Two spots on the table where the finish was scraped off.

After I applied the oil and vinegar.

More marks on the table.

After the treatment.

My conclusion is that it really does cover the scratches.  The only thing that showed after I wiped the oil off was the marks didn't have a sheen to match the shine on the table.  It would need some wax or something to make it shine.  These marks were quite big but small scratches on furniture or woodwork would blend in nicely.  It is a very inexpensive fix, and it is worth a try.

The original blog shows another example of how this works.  http://lilyandthistle.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-quick-trick.html

Then another project that appeared on Pinterest.
http://www.domesticblisssquared.com/2013/06/diy-fix-scratches-in-wood-furniture.html

Taco Soup

Many years ago we went on the Formula Zone 40-30-30 eating plan.  It works but I quit because living such a rigid diet lifestyle is very difficult.  I did learn that living a healthier life style has many benefits and just cooking good meals at home is the most important part.  Some of the recipes from the diet book are very good and healthy, and we still make them.

My Tuesday recipe is from the 40-30-30 cookbook.  It's quick and easy.

40-30-30 Taco Soup

1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 clove minced garlic
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes with juice
15 oz. can of tomato sauce
15 oz. can of black beans, with juice
1 cup fresh, canned or frozen corn
1 pkg. of taco seasoning mix 

In a large soup pot, heat the oil.  Add the ground beef and brown.  Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.  Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, corn and taco seasoning.  Bring to a simmer for 30 minutes.
 

Toppings:
Sour Cream (low-fat)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Crumbled taco shells
Diced Jalapeno pepper (optional)
 

A Return Visit To The Worm Farm

I am going to preface this blog with a warning.  It is somewhat gross if you don't like worms.  I blogged about this subject before and was told by some that they wouldn't read it.  That's ok but some of you will find it interesting and may want to try it yourself some day.

My previous post was an introduction to my worm farm.  If you haven't read it or couldn't read it, here it is.  Just click on this link.  Worm Farming, An Unusual Type of Farmer

In the blog I told that I take the worms and the casting dirt out of the trays in the spring, and then I start the process all over again.  Today was that day.  I left one working tray in place because the worms were still working on the latest carrot peelings and removed the other three.  There were a lot of worms left in these three trays so there must have been some bits left to eat, but it was mostly lovely dirt.   At least I thought it was lovely dirt.

Tray of worm castings that used to be kitchen waste and paper.

It was nice and sunny outside.  I spread out an old tablecloth on the sidewalk and dumped out the first tray.  The worms don't like the bright sun and immediately embed themselves under the dirt.  By doing this, it made it a little easier for me to retrieve them.  If anyone has a better way, please let me know because it still wasn't easy.  Then I noticed it.  Oops, someone had shredded a plastic credit card.  That someone was probably me.  There amongst the dirt were pieces of plastic.  I mentioned before to be careful not to shred the envelopes with the clear plastic windows, but credit cards are a definite no no.  I started to pick out the plastic and pick out the worms.  It is a good lesson. It may take millions of years to decompose every piece of plastic that goes into a landfill because even worms won't eat it.  People shouldn't ingest it either but that's another topic.

Bits of plastic in the dirt.

This looks like more than one card.  I think it's the AARP cards we received.

This tray took a while to sift through, but the other two trays went faster.  I ended up with thousands of worms.  I'm not sure what others do with the excess worms, but I would love some ideas for this too.   I kept out a pound container of worms and put the rest of the dirt and excess worms in my outside compost pile.  I also spread some of the dirt around a few plants that were just starting to come up.  Now here is the gross part.  Don't look any further if you ever want to eat spaghetti again.  It's time to return the lucky ones to the farm, or maybe the lucky ones were set free today.

I started a new tray with a lot of shredded paper.  Then I put the worms back to live another day. 

Night Bowhunters Return To Our Marsh

It's May 3rd of 2014.  We had a very nice day.  The temperatures were in the low 60's but best of all the Baltimore Orioles returned for the summer.  At this time we only see the male birds but soon the females will follow to build their nests and raise their young.  I am thrilled every year.

The first of many birds we will see this summer.

Last night was a very long night for me, and I didn't get very much sleep.  Seeing this Oriole this morning was wonderful.  Last night the Carp bowhunters returned to our marsh.  I wrote about it last week. 

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/04/was-it-ufo.html 

They didn't stay that long last week, but last night they were here for several hours.  They have very bright halogen lights on their boat.  They come very close to shore so the lights brighten up our whole house.  The air boat sound is very loud.  I am a light sleeper and couldn't sleep while they were out there.   Fishing must have been successful because another boat joined the first which doubled the lights and the noise.  It is legal as long as they stay on the water even though the land is our private property.  I think it is very rude and kind of creepy, but hopefully it is just a temporary situation.

It kind of looks like a pirate ship.

You can see the shadows of the fishermen standing on their boat at 2:30am.