Quilt hanger, simple inexpensive

My mother received a quilt in the mail from a dear friend and wanted to hang it. 

We looked at quilt rack options. It was hard to find anything long enough. They were super expensive. 

We figured out a $13 solution and it was done and hanging in one week. 

My mom sewed the tabs. She had the fabric.  I helped her figure out the math and how to attach each tab in the front and the back so the quilt hangs evenly. 

That is a curtain suspension rod which youngest used in college. 

The three hooks are from Lowe’s (the $13). Black screws came with the hooks. We had plastic anchors for the screws, none of the hooks hit where there was a stud. 

It was a sad day, but the solution was simple

One Saturday I was cooking a Green Chef bag as an early lunch. 

I grabbed my salt and pepper grinders and my hands could no longer do them. I have arthritis, my hands are the most impacted. 

It was this type of store bought grinder -

I was pretty sad. My list of things I can no longer do, grows a little each year. 

I called my youngest and she happened to be near her large mall, she stopped by William Sonoma and ordered a battery set for me as an early birthday present.

They come prefilled, including batteries. 

They are automatic, turning them upside down, starts the grinding. There is no button or twisting. 

The clerk told youngest that they have carried this style for years, it is very popular, and they sell a lot to special needs people (like people with arthritis).

Three Genealogy podcasts

https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/announcing-generations-cafe-genealogy-podcast/

Amy Johnson Crow started a genealogy podcast (link above) in 2018. It does not appear to be active now, but the archive (72 episodes) is fantastic, in my opinion. Her sound quality is excellent. Her topics are helpful and she has a nice, simple presentation style. If you are just getting started in genealogy or would simply like a refresher, this is a good place to go. 

Amy Johnson Crow has one book available - 

Her website lists workshops in 2022, I am not sure if that is continuing. 

After you finished this series, my next suggestion would be a mother daughter team, Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer, podcast -

https://familylocket.com/the-research-like-a-pro-genealogy-podcast/

There are 240+ podcasts in this series as of this writing. These podcasts are longer and more detailed. They do an outstanding job. 

This pair offers webinars and classes. They have two books - 

An excellent British Genealogy Podcast - 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/journeys-into-genealogy-podcast/id1541830347

Great guests, great topics, great accents. This podcast has about 50 episodes and has been running since late 2020. 

Excel family chart/tree

As part of the submission process for the certificate programs in county genealogy societies, a family chart/tree is required. 

I am working on a project to submit multiple ancestors as a means of saving/sharing research. My multiple packets will require slightly different family trees. 

Looking at the papers previously submitted, in other people’s  packets, most of those trees were handwritten (see blank form below). 

My arthritic hands could never take that much writing, my writing is not that clear, also good way to make an error. 

Here is what a standard form (fill in the blanks, meant to be hand written) looks like -

My youngest built an Excel template for me to use. 

As she typed, she took screen shots and texted them to me so I could edit as she worked. Here are three in a long line of texts. 

She started with the far right column because the math/space was very specific for 16 boxes. 

She worked her way to the left, letting the math/space dictate the design. 

Early on she added the background shading to make the boxes pop. 

Note there are only attachment lines on box #1 to the far left. Attaching the rest of the boxes at the corners, simplified the page considerably. 

It is very readable, even with no data on the page. Again, the background shading makes a huge difference. 

I will start with the oldest documented maternal/paternal ancestors, my 4x great grandparents, on the far right column. And do one page with the oldest ancestors, my maternal grandfather’s two family lines (4x, 3x, 2x, 1x great grandparents) who have been in my county from 1849 and the mid 1850’s.

I will add a first page with me, my parents, my maternal grandparents, and my great grandparents. I will add a note to verify which family line is continuing with more details on page two. 

On both pages, I will use the bold function to highlight the exact family line I am documenting. 

My first submission is my maternal grandfather’s, mother’s, father’s, father’s, mother who died in 1867.

PS - I have Legacy family tree software on my PC, but (to the best of my knowledge) it does not print out a format to get this many people on a single piece of paper. 

Boxes

I try to rehome larger, good quality boxes. 

Sometimes I list them on Facebook Marketplace. 

If no one responds, we flatten them and I take them to a recycling center. (There are too many to go in our pick up bin.)

But most of the time, someone comes to get them immediately.

I also have a local lady with a shop, who also has an Etsy shop. I save two types of boxes for her. We get a medicine shipment once a month in a sturdy box lined with styrofoam. I get a once a week shipment of meals from GreenChef in an insulated box. 

One season each, continuing character.

My mom wanted to watch the last season (ever) of Doc Martin. So we picked up Acorn for a month. 

My husband and I found two series, with an overlapping main character, that we really liked.

Entry way clean out

There are many areas of a house where a surface needs to be empty or nearly empty to stay clean and clutter free. Our corner table by the front door is one of them. The dresser by the front door is another. 

I love the cherub. The baskets make this statue versatile for other holidays - 

There is no in-between, these areas are either empty (above) or they are full (below).

Chinese beef and noodles

My husband’s cousin is married to a woman who was born and raised in Taiwan. Parents of middle’s best friend from college were also born and raised in Taiwan. We love their cooking.

The cousin’s wife makes fabulous Chinese Beef and Noodle Soup. With her version, there is about six hours of effort. I wanted a simpler method. 

My goal was to get the flavor of the broth correct, add a lot more broth volume and more veggies, reduce the size of the meat to bite size, and simplify the process.

I started following the online directions at 8pm one night, thinking I was crazy for starting so late, that lead to the crock pot. And I would do it the exact same way again, overnight.

Middle found a recipe online -

https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/chinese-beef-noodle-soup/

I used that recipe as my starting point and modified. The smell was correct as it was cooking. The broth seems right too. 

Note - Chinese grocery needed for whole peppercorns (which I did not have at 8pm that night) and the noodles. 

Prepped the night before, in water over night, ready to add in the morning -

My Chinese beef and noodle soup

Ingredients/directions 

• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 1 heaping tsp red pepper flakes 
• 3 pounds stew meat, cut tiny

Brown on stove

• 8-10 cups water
• 4 tablespoons apple juice
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 heaping tsp chili bean paste 

Bottom of large crock pot

• 8 star anise pods
• 5 peeled slices ginger
• 5 bay leaves

Spices in strainer in broth, top of meat in crock pot, on low, over night 

• 8 chopped carrots 
• 1 peeled/chopped daikon radish 
• 2 chopped baby bok choy

Next morning, remove/discard spices

Move broth/meat to large pan on stove 

Add vegetables, lid, low heat for an hour 

• Cook Shanxi Noodles separately at mealtime 

“Shanxi noodles are a type of Chinese noodle that is popular in the Shanxi province. They are made from wheat flour, and have a chewy texture. Shanxi noodles are often served with a beef or pork broth, and can also be stir-fried or boiled. Cooking shanxi noodles is not as difficult as it may seem.”

It looks like a little crock pot, it is actually a rice steamer

Between March of 2019 and August of 2021, we ordered three small rice cookers (below). These have stainless steel liners. 

I am not sure of the order, but those three belong to myself, middle and youngest. 

I mentioned we have been using a meal service for several months -

https://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2023/01/green-chef.html?m=1

I now use my little 6 cup rice cooker almost every day. I use to only cook plain rice, now I also use it for a variety of grains. And now I add multiple ingredients to the pot, like spices and vegetables. 

The rice cooker advertises that bonus -

I ordered a back up rice cooker recently. 

Mine gets so much use, that I was in fear of it dying. It is my most valuable kitchen appliance. If I could only have one appliance, this would be it. If I could only have two appliances, my second choice would be my big crock pot.

Plus, I wanted a second liner for the days that I use the cooker twice. 

Instead of ordering an exact duplicate, I got the one with the steamer insert. 

The cookers, liners and lids are identical. The upgraded version simply adds the steamer tray. I use this for spinach and kale and chard. 

The birds - part two

So that same night in January, after the bird went out the door, under his own wing power, my husband blocked the hole where the bird  had (apparently) gotten in through the outside vent. 

Those (above) are two 1’ lengths of 2x4’s blocking the hole.

We very tired of birds at this point and did nothing more. 

Friday morning, as soon as the middle dropped off the pups, they went right to the fireplace. And following them, I could hear a bird in the fireplace. 

Big sigh. 

I went and got heavy brown paper from another room, scissors and tape. With my back to the fireplace, I started to cut the paper to cover the light coming in the big living room window, so we could release the bird, and have it go out the front door toward daylight. 

Chaos ensued behind me. I turned around to see a bird loose in the room with the dogs jumping and snapping at it. All three went toward the front door with me hot on their trail to open the door. 

I turned around, after propping the glass security door open, to see two quiet dogs and no bird. My husband hunted all over the house, and could not find a bird, so we assume it went out over my head the minute I opened the door, and I just did not see it.

It was definitely not the same bird as last night. It was much smaller. 

We looked outside and the boards were still on top the vent. So we think this second bird was already in the vent. And we blocked this second bird in when we put the boards on the vent and reclosed the fireplace. 

And I think the dogs actually let the bird out of the fireplace by nosing the panel on the bottom which opens to the controls. 

We removed the boards from the vent outside, took the glass off the fireplace and my husband blew air up the vent to encourage any other birds to flee. I was watching outside, no birds flew out of the vent. 

We put a wooden box in front of the control panel. I stuffed bags in the vent. The dogs are keeping watch.

That was the end of birds in the house, two was definitely enough for a lifetime. 

We borrowed a shop vac and middle and my husband cleaned out the chimney vent from the outside of the house. 

They replaced the screen on the outside vent. They added a second screen inside the outside vent, directly over the pipe opening. So there is now an original screen on the bottom, a new screen on the top and a new screen on the inside. And my husband is adding this outside vent to his mental check list. 

We did not use the fireplace until the fireplace guy was able to come clean/check. It was more than a month wait, they are very busy. The inside logs have to be in very precise locations for the fireplace to work correctly. Ours were all over the place/askew.

The birds - part one

On a Thursday in January, just after 11am when I had finished putting away the Christmas decorations, the puppies and I sat down in the living room and I heard a noise. 

I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye and realized a large black bird was in our gas fireplace. This is a sealed gas fireplace, so the bird was behind the glass. The bird had clearly come down the vent. 

I called my husband and told him to come home very quickly. 

He said he would, but commented that he had no idea WHAT exactly he was going to be able to do, so I needed to figure out a plan/think. 

Next I called our neighbor who is a retired engineer, woodworker and very practical guy. He said he would be over in about a half hour. But he also said he had no idea WHAT he was going to do. He also said I needed a plan. 

I was freaking out this whole time, with the bird flapping and pecking, trying to get out. 

I called the local company who installed our fireplace. He said one service man was on vacation and the other was working out of town and there was no one to help. However, over the phone, he told me how to get the front off the fireplace to get to the bird. I listened very carefully. 

I called two critter control places. The first was on vacation, out of town. The second said he had a busy day scheduled, but could come in the evening if needed. And he told me an important thing, he said if we could get everything dark, and the open front door was the only “light” thing, a released bird would simply fly right out the door. 

Our problem - the living room window is huge, does not open, is very “light” all day. 

This is what we tried - 

The front is off the fireplace. That is a huge plastic bag taped to the fireplace and to a chair. There is a wooded box under the bag.  Inside the bag, on top the box, are several pieces of wood for the bird to land. There is a light for encouragement. 

Two puppies and I were on the loveseat, my husband and neighbor were on the couch, we were on bird watch all afternoon. 

The bird would fly into the bag, but would not stay in the bag long enough for the guys to grab it. 

Periodically they would send me up to the attic with a roll of wrapping paper to beat on the fireplace vent pipe. That would stir up the bird, but it never stayed in the bag long enough to get it. 

All this took the entire afternoon. And then at some point the bird made its way behind part of the fireplace and was quiet. We thought it was stuck, dying. We disassembled our trap and the guys put the front back on the fireplace. Our neighbor went home. 

Later, as dusk was falling, suddenly we heard a lot of activity and the bird reappeared behind the glass. Clearly the bird had been taking a nap.

I put the puppies in their crate, we turned off every light in the house, closed every door, lowered the living room shades. I turned on all the porch lights.  

My husband took the fireplace front off, again. And we simply let the bird out/loose. And it went right out the front door. The relief was immense.  

This whole process took about six hours. Little did we know, there was part two, the next morning. 

Risotto

I make a very good risotto. I have several different recipe I use. I add lots of roasted/cooked veggies and shredded chicken.

Every time, I think of the Top Chef judges who (I think) did not like any risotto any chef contestant ever made. 

My secret? I start in my rice cooker. I “cook” the rice and the spices. I start with boiling hot water/broth. 

When the cooker switches to “warm”, I add the rest of the smaller ingredients, the move to a bigger bowl to add the chicken and vegetables.

My forced tulips bloomed in February and were gorgeous.

My island cook station is working very well for me. 

I am still cleaning out and organizing every day

As I clean out, things need to prove they have a purpose. 

Creativity has been necessary to find a productive place for a few things I really wanted to keep. 

Here is an example - 

That is a large, wooden Lazy Susan. Most definitely vintage. I love it. 

I have tried it several places. 

Add a large recipe holder and a couple small containers, and it has a wonderful new life. 

The tiny crock and basket are to hold things. I use the basket for spice bottles. I use the crock for vegetable trimmings headed to compost.

The recipe holder is large and very secure. It can hold a book, sheet or card. The Lazy Susan raises it to a very nice height for reading. 

Aisha Harris (Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast) does a set of three, deep dives, into three iconic movies

 “Today we debut Screening Ourselves, a new documentary series hosted by Aisha Harris. The Godfather is considered an American film classic with an enduring legacy that still shows up in TV, hip hop, and even Muppet culture. But the film also sparked a complicated relationship with the real-life Italian-American community about how they were seen and screened. In this episode, Aisha looks into the politics and the legacy of representation in Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather saga.”

1 The Godfather

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-happy-hour/id278974813?i=1000585119243

“In the second chapter of our special documentary series, Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris revisits the politics and legacy of Basic Instinct. Paul Verhoeven's 1992 thriller is a sexy and violent cult classic. But the film was also a problematic mainstream portrayal of queer women at a time of great political crisis for LGBTQ politics and representation.”

2 Basic Instinct

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-happy-hour/id278974813?i=1000585910011

“In the final chapter of our special documentary series Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris recounts the debates ignited by Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. The 1985 film is remembered as a fan-favorite centering Black women's lives, but the acclaimed adaptation of Alice Walker's novel was received quite differently among female viewers and male viewers.”

3 The Color Purple

 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-happy-hour/id278974813?i=1000586756684

I did not realize this until last week

https://www.troutfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Sean-Anderson?obId=26756239

How terrible for his family. 

His blog was abandon several years ago. 

His family is posting on his Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/seananderson505?mibextid=LQQJ4d

New life for an old piece

Our middle lived through the pandemic with us. She moved home after grad school to take a much needed break and study for her boards. One year turned into four. And we got a lot done in those four years. 

She traveled before the pandemic hit. She passed her boards. She found her job and has thrived. She helped me when I recovered from sinus and then rotator cuff surgeries. She got puppies and it took all of us to get them out of puppyhood and into good dogs. She built a house and moved. 

As she moved her things out, we have rearranged our house. 

One small change that has made a big difference, for me, is a set of shelves. 

They have been in the girls’ rooms for years. Now they are in the hall, right outside our computer room, holding my genealogy binders. Very valuable use for me. The top is perfect for opening a binder to find something or file. 

Hide games for dogs

This set went to Youngest’s old roommate’s dog - 

This set was under the tree for middle’s puppies to play with at our house. It replaces a previous set they dismantled as small pups. Now, they can play without destroying.  

This set was used as white elephant gift for Youngest’s Christmas party -

We wrapped it in this paper 

We wrapped it and put a note so people at the party would realize it was a dog owner gift. After this photo was taken, I wrote “hint” on the dog cutout.

Very good house shoes

This was an early Christmas gift for me from my oldest and his wife. I opened it at Thanksgiving because I was in great need. After a week, I ordered a second pair to save for when the first pair wears out. 

I have arthritis, I have foot issues that require support. These come with a larger price tag than most slippers, but are well worth it. 

They offer warmth, good support and I feel very steady on my feet. I wear them in the house only. We do not wear street shoes in the house. 

I normally take an 8, I followed the directions on the website to size up, and the 8.5 fits perfectly. I have a thin but slightly wide foot. 

Green Chef

Our youngest is a vegetarian who belongs to Green Chef meal service. She subscribes to the two serving, vegetarian, option. It gives her dinner and then leftovers for lunch out of each bag. (I think she goes out with work friends for her fifth lunch each week.)

She brought her Green Chef bags home over Christmas and cooked for herself. So I saw the process and liked it. 

I subscribed for one week to try it. I did not like the idea of raw meat being shipped, so I used the vegetarian option also. (I always have cooked meat of different types in my freezer, so it is easy to thaw/add some to each meal.)

We are three days into our first four Green Chef bags. 

We like the meals, and the cooking process is very simple. The meals are nudging us to eat more diversely. So, we are pleased. 

The bag procedure I use is to order two serving size vegetarian meals. I add more vegetables and some type of meat to it. This works extremely well. 

The first night (bag 1) I added more rice/mushrooms/and chicken from the freezer, there was enough for dinner and lunch the next day for my husband and I. The second night (bag 2) I added sliced turkey and mushrooms to the sandwiches, no leftovers. Last night’s pasta dish (bag 3) I added cooked lean ground beef/black beans/onion that was ready in the freezer and a few mushrooms, enough for both our dinners and today’s  lunch for my husband. 

I only ordered one week’s worth to start/try it. So next week we are on our own (regular meals/cooking) and I will be able to see how I feel about that process vs the bags. I have already placed orders for the following week to meet the deadline.

A very good gift idea from this just past Christmas

Middle got an electronic photo frame for me a couple years ago. Mine came with a funny little story, it was loaded with photos from a bar mitzvah and we had a heck of a time removing them. 

The kids and I email photos to my frame. I really enjoy it. 

My brother and I buy one expensive gift a year for my mother. This covers Christmas, her birthday and Mother’s Day. She is turning 82 and does not need a lot. It has just worked out that I have been able to think of one big thing each year. 

The first year we contributed a big gift certificate to her landscaping redo. The second year was a new garage door opener with key pad and safety shut off sensor. Last year was a new (big) TV. This year was a 15” photo frame. 

I am envious of the 15” frame. It is pretty great.