Steel knives

Steel knives need special care before you put them away for a long time.
To prevent them from rusting you need to make a strong solution of soda (1 part water and 4 parts soda) and put them in there for a moment. Then dry them carefully and put them in a dry place rolled in flannel.

Cleaning sponges

First decide if you want to clean the sponge or throw it away.

When your choice for throwing away is made easily why not cut a new sponge in two, so you'll be kinder to your wallet and the environment.

When cleaning a sponge use an anti bacterial washing soap for hands.
Use clean water to rinse it out.
Then take a fresh lemon and have the juice go well into the sponge.
Rinse it well with lukewarm water.

Cleaning glass

When you wash glasses you need to wash them seperate from the dishes.
Adding a bit of ammonia in the dishwater will make is shine like it's new.

Don't use too much ammonia and use a clean, non dusty, t-towel to clean the glass or let it dry in the air.

Knee pain

There are so many creams that promis magical healing that you'd better take a native medicine remedy.

Boil some garlic pods in mustard oil.
Soak a cloth in it and press excess moist out of it and apply the cloth to the knee.

It's worth a try and some people love the smell of the boiling garlic and mustard too.

Good health!

Swollen hands and feet

A friend from India is the daughter of a doctor.
She has helped many women here with advice for common diseases.

When you experience swollen hands and/or feet you can drink barley water.
Use that instead of normal water and you probably feel OK.

You can help yourself by putting the hands or feet up.

When the swelling persists, see a doctor.

Earache

Earache is one of the worst pains and especially for young children it can cause fear too.

Warm a bit of garlic or sesame oil just lukewarm and drop 3 drops in the ear.
With the right temperature the child won't feel a thing. Don't forget the tell before that the hearing might be weird or gone for a while.
Recurrent earaches and earaches after an illness should be presented to a doctor.

Bleeding

Today I got a call from a friend who was clearly in panick.
Her son had hurt his leg and it was bleeding profusely.

I asked her some questions and it didn't sound as an arterial bleed.
So I told her to get a bandage or an ironed t-towel and pul the wound closed from behind the leg to the front, carefully observing not to tie the knot on the wound.
Then I had her made an ice compress by putting ice in a clean and ironed washcloth and put it on the material that covered the wound.
She could holt it in place with another clean and ironed t-towel.

She was lucky to be one of the few who love to iron things, so she had it all available.
But you can prepare yourself by taking a plastic box, clean it with dettol or something else anti-bacterial, and put ironed stuff in there and close the lid well.
Refresh every month.

After covering the wound that way she went with her son to hospital where they found that the bleeding had stopped.

She got a compliment for treating the wound so well and after some stitches they were allowed to go home.

Beer is healthy?

Today the newspapers reported the researchoutcomes of a study of the results of drinking beer.

It turned out that using one, for women, and two, for men, glasses of beer reduce the chance of getting diabetes.

Personally I don't feel like drinking beer, not even after this news, because others report an increase of breastcancer risk after drinking beer.

The scientist who reported the research results has some ideas why beer might prevent the occurence of diabetes, but none of his ideas where based on facts.

Unhealthy meds

Some people think that everything made of plants that is sold as a healthy potion or pill is safe.

It's not.

Over the counter plant medication can be dangerous too, even when used in recommended dosage.

So be careful not to cause premature labour, a miscarriage, or a child to be even sicker than he was before.

Medical use of the potato

Haha! You didn't know a potato can help you fight disease?
It can.

The medicinal part, functioning as analgesic and antispasmodic is its swollen underground stem called “tuber”.

It's good against gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers.
Wash the potatoes well get rid of the sprouts and grate them into a cheesecloth.
Press the juice out.
Half a cup of it before every meal is enough.

Because potatoes also contain atropine itll also handle your gastrointestinal pain.

Topical burns can be treated by a combination of the juice and the peels.

Medical use of the eggplant

I've never used eggplant much.
I don't like it.
But now I know it's so healthy, I have to change my mind.

The medicinal parts are its calyx, leaves, and the fruit.

Take 2 to 3 grams of dried calyx of the eggplant and make an extract. It's one of the best ways to combat food poisoning, I've been told.

When you want to get rid of a wart, just cut a slice of the eggplant and make it a little bit larger than the warth. Secure it with tape. Refresh the treatment every day and after a week you'll see result.

You can use the eggplant also against breast inflammation, boils, chapped skin and frostbite.

Wow!

Medical use of green onion

The stem of the green union, also called spring onion is very healthy.

Chop it very fine and use it in salads, on bread, rolled in a slice of cheese, etc etc.
The white stem contains a lot of glucose and allyl sulfides.

You can use it against colds, headaches, chills to the stomach, indigestion, and insomnia.
It's antipyretic, expectorant, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal.

Spring onion should grow in every windowsill, that's clear!

Yoghurt with

Children sometimes refuse to eat.
I've discovered many ways to fool my children so they would get enough nourishment to stay healthy.

I never told them yoghurt is healthy, or is a desert.
Yoghurt is a treat.

And I make it even better when there's a reason to do so, and I don't like sugar to play much of a role in it.

I use a smoothy to improve the taste of yoghurt when I have no fruit available.

Pour the fruit in the yohurt and mix it in a blender until it's foam.

Kids, and grown ups, love it!

Report health effects

It's amazing how many people suffer health effects after a fire, for instance.
Authorities get every chance to ignore the health effects of a disaster, because people solve the problems themselves.

Even when you don't want a medical specialist to look at you, you can report the health effect and how you dealt with it to your own family docotr with the request to report it to the authorities.

Cleaning coffee machine

When you're cleaning your coffee machine don't forget to clear the place under the cup.

When you have cleaned the small tray that is supposed to collect a few drops, put some desinfectant gel in it. This prevents fungi to grow and also gives a nice smell.

And it's not so dirty to clean the thing.

Baked apple

Take a goldreinette (apple which is quite firm and stays rather firm when heated).

Peel it and make slices of one to 2 cm.

Take the middle hard part out with a knife.

Heat a teflon pan with a bit of butter.

High fire.

Put the apple slices in and keep moving the pan.

Throw cinnamon on the apple.

Turn the slices,

go on baking and moving and throw cinnamon on.

Throw snowsugar on it and turn the slices.

Bake for 30 seconds and throw snowsugar on the slices and turn.

Repeat snowsugar and turning.

Keep a close watch on the bottom of the pan, because the sugar shouldn't go black but golden brown.

When you like the smell well enough,
pur the whole lot on a plate and either serve them slice by slice with some honey and cinnamon icecream, for instance. Or on a piece of cake.
Or just the way they are.

Yummy!!

Handles

When i entered the kitchen I saw that a repeat of a traditional warning was in place.

Turn the handles of pots and pans to the wall.

OK, it's a bit easier to grasp a pot when the handle is towards you.
But it's also a danger.

Just one uncontroled movement and all the boiling content is spiling right over you, causing serious burns.

be aware of that.
If there chidlren around or not, make it a habit.

Need fancy clothes?

Do you need nice clothes?
This week is the best week to shop for them, because many shopowners put the christmaswear in the sales.

Also consider the services that provide clothes for parties. You know the rental ones.

Often these clothes are still good, but need a chemical clean.

When you need a scottish outfit, try the online rental services.

Good luck!

Resolutions

Many people make resolutions for the new year.
It's a great idea to face up to your weak characteristics and work on them, but when one of those characteristics is to make it easy for yourself you'd better hide until the next new year.

Ofcourse you can help yourself realise your plans.

• Don't make them too difficult,
• cut them into easy reachable small parts,
• work together with other people
• change your life in such a way that you can deal with your plans without missing something else
• create benefits to each goal
• be realistic
  

And...do you have resolutions?
Can we help you?

New calendar

Buy a new calendar for the new year and put all the birthdays, anniversaries and special events on it.
Don't forget the regular appointments, the times you have to order your medicines and other regular occurances.

Put the calendar at a place where you will see it each day, and at such a place where you are bound to look at it.
Like beside the coffee machine.

Happy new year!

All volunteers of Action for Autism wish you an amazing, colourfull and enjoyable 2011!!

Aftershave in the winter

In the winter the skin gets dryer and more delicate.
One needs to ad moisturiser and prevent further drying.

I've heard quite some men complain about their aftershaves these past weeks and it makes me smile.
They shouldn't complain about their aftershaves, but about their lack of knowledge.

Aftershave contains alcohol and alsohol dries the skin.
So use something else when you want to shave yourself.

Greeting the troops

Last year a friend was serving abroad and we requested many songs on their radio to cheer him up.
We were even asked for an interview, because we were the most serious requesters and the most dedicated ones.

Then he came home.
He said nothing about it all, and not even said a small thank you.

When there was finally a chance to ask him how he experienced the greetings from us, it turned out he didn;'t hear a thing, not even the interview which was made especially for him.

So when you send greetings to the troops, also send them in such a way that they can't be missed: just in an envelope in the mail.

Animals at the change of years

It's almost december 31 with the turmoil on the streets and the fireworks.

Are you aware that many animals are terribly afraid those hours?

It helps to have a meeting with the people in the neighbourhood to see if there could be a central place to ignite the fireworks.
Those who live near that place and have animals in the house could consider bringing them elsewhere or leaving for that time.

What do you do with your animals?

When snow on the roof melts

After such an intense time of snow higher temperatures generate their own features of winter.
The snow on the roofs melts, but when the high temperatures are only for a very short while, the water freezes again.
A layer of ice is created that way. Ice under the snow.
It doesn't stick as well to the roof as ice and the result is that the whole lot comes down.

Be careful!

Christmascards

Don't forget to make a lot of pictures of christmasevents.
Next year they'll make the perfect material for christmascards.

Those who need money might even consider to sell them as formal cards.
Just print them on high quality paper.

A merry christmas 2010

I wish all my readers and visitors a very happy christmas.

Have a lovely time together.

decorations on mugs

When you prepare for christmas it's always nice to make something extra for the people who visit.

Why not buy some christmasmugs and decorate them with a cookie.

Just tie a nice ribbon through the cookies and attach the cookie with a ribbon to the mug.

Looks lovely!

Tablecloth

It looks so very mice: a table cloth.
Especially at a christmasdinner.

But with a large group accidents are about to happen, and spilled wine, fruitjuice or freasy food can make a wonderful tablecloth look like it's pulled from underneath a mountain of junk.

Take your plain tablecloth and put it on the table.

Then take either homemade or bought small pieces of tablecloth and put them at the places where you want the plates.
It should be wide enought to cover the border of the table to slightly above the top glass. Long enough the cover the whole lenth of the table.

Make or buy a second set and buy plastic tablecloth of the same size.

Put the pastic under the long small pieces.

And keep the second set as a reserve,

Insurance claims

This week I had some discussions with people about their insurance.

When you cause or find damage to your goods, don't think the insurance won't pay.

It's their decision, not yours.

When you send in a claim, describe the damage and make some photos of the damage, if that's possible.

Also give a clear description of what happened.

End the letter stating that you gave as clearly a desription as possible, but becauase it's the first time you send in a claim you might have forgotten something. So you can be mailed or phoned.... plus name, adress and insurance number.

That's all.

Secret santas needed

I was reading Laane's blog and was caught by the fact that she is not only dealing with her lungproblems, but that she also feels rotten because she didn't find enough secret santas for some autism families.

Read here and jump in, please.

A draft in the house?

Right now we're entering the coldest night of the year. Minus 15 celcius is announced.
You have to keep the warnth in the house as well as possible and ventilate at regular times, for those with lungproblems preferably with the heating on.

To prevent warmth from leaking out of your house, and even more to prevent a cold draft, make a round at a cold night like this and just feel the cold air coming into your house.

Keyopenings of locks, beside doors, but also woodwork around windows can be nasty.
Have you ever considered controlling the place where the antenna enters your room?

Ofcourse I would love to hear the most drafty places of your house.

Dry your shoes

We're dealing with snow and salt here and it's not good for shoes.
You can prepare them by spraying them waterproof, but it's not enough against the nasty salt.

When you come home, clean your shoes or boots with a damp cloth to prevent white circles of salt.

Don't put the shoes on the heating, as the leather dries to fast and gets too firm to be comfortable.
The glue used may start to leak or dissolve.

Place your shoes at a drafty place and when they're damp inside either have them dry by air or put a paper in them. Remove regularly for new. You can use toiletpaper, but it's rather expensive to do so.

When the shoes is dried you can old them to make the leather softer.

Snow and warts

I'm not sure if it's a fairytale or something true, but I've heard it so many times:
when you want to get rid of your warts, cover them in snow.

I think snow is not cold enough to get the result the doctor gets when he freezes the warts, but maybe... maybe it helps.

Have you ever had your warts removed by snow, please let us know.

Snow and by car?

Know the laws of the country you're in.
You can get high fines when you don't have winterties on your car in Germany. The Dutch dont mind.

When bad weather is expected it's announced on the radio. So know on which radiostation it's broadcasted.

Check if your car has got the legal stuff available and put in what might come in handy: like a battery lamp (check the batteries), an emergency sign, a first aid box. Don't forget food and clean water.

Throw a few sleepingbags in the back.

And luxuries, like a book.

Snow and train

We're dealing with lots of snow here, so it won't be bad to share some advice for those who travel by train.

Always take your phone with you, so you can call.
Take enough money to stay in a hotel. Why wait at drafty stations for hours when you can be warm and safe in a hotel nearby.
When the trains come to a stop you can claim your money back.

Take a warm cardigan with you, enough food, with for instance chocolate. Some drinks. And warm socks.

Bonnets

In the old days women and men had a sleep bonnet (or how do you call it?).
Not only were they used to keep the lice away.. or near the head. LOL!

They also provided warmth in the drafty houses and beds.

Now people get olders and the winters seem to be colder the night bonnet might start a new life.

People loose a lot of warmth through the head and it's wise to wear a bonnet not to get too cold.

Do you wear something on your head in winter when you go to sleep?
Or do you wear bedsocks?

Drying clothes outside in the winter

No, I don't use a dryer to dry the clothes of my large family. Not even in winter.

I use the clothes to get the right humidity in the house. You know that the heating causes low humidity, so drying clothes will act against it. Your clothes need to be rinsed well, and to do so I put them an extra time through the rinsing part of the laundry program.

When I dry the clothes outside I put half a cup of salt in the last rinsing water.
That prevents the clothes from freezing.
My gram taught this to me a long long time ago.

Plants with flowers for christmas

Right now is the time to be in contact wth your gardener if you want to have flowers in your home at christmas.

Some plants only need to be put into light a week to a fortnight and they'll flower during christmas. It takes an expert to know precisely what to do.

Ofcourse you can gamble and buy plants in the supermarket, But my experience is not do good.
Yours?

Christmas for overseas friends

One of the main things people who live far from their homecountry miss at christmastime is their own traditions.

So when you prepare a surprisde for them why not wrap up special sweets and cookies, using old fashioned wrapping paper.
And why not make a tape or CD with those old fashioned songs>

It'll be extra special when they're recorded from a gathering with friends and family who sing along.

Clean boots and shoes

The salt used to remove the snow and ice from the roads is not good for your shoes and boots.
When your footwear dries ugly white circles stay.

There's an easy way to get rid of them.

Pour a bit of vinegar in a cup and put water on it.

Take a cloth and use the solution to rub off the circles.

Don't put your shoes and boots near the heating, but put them at a place where the air goes by. Let them dry there.

Good luck!

Your attention is needed for:

Ofcourse you have to read yesterday's post and act on it. Please!!
You can make a young person so very happy.

She has created the blog, with help, to win a project at school.
For those who want to do something extra: she needs donations to pay for her schooltrip.
All children have to find ways to earn some extra money, but as she spends quite a lot of her time with her autistic brothers, she doesn't have as much time to go around and ask people if she can do chores for money.

So please...help her out!
Wouldn't it be a nice christmasgift?

safe internet for kids

This time no tip for housekeeping or such, but a link to a site where a post was written about safe internet. See here.

The site owner is one of our junior autism ambassadors and you can surprise her by becoming a follower.

Ingrown toenail

Ingrown toenails are a real killer.
So why not prevent them?

My gram had an old remedy...

Take a slice of lemon and put it on the nail under a bandaid.
To prevent the sheets of rubbing the lemon from it's place, also wear a sock.

When you wake up the nail is soft.
You can either cut it the way you want (straight, not rounded) or you can treat the ingrowing nail by putting a small ribbon of cottonwool or leather under the nail, so it has to grow over the cotton wool or ribbon.

Good luck!

Bronchitis

There are thousands of bronchitis remedies on internet, and at the moment I would use them all to get rid of the breathing problems.

My inhaler will help me get more air inside my lungs, but it won't take care of the coughing which tires me out.

An aunt wrote down an old fashioned remedy my gram used for her kids when they were coughing like me. It helps to cough out the mucous and diminishes the urge to cough.

My gram used to have a pot with a herb mixture.
She used to buy the herbs at the market and measure them with a small cup.
But you can use soupspoons, or any other measurement. And you can buy the ingredients at a shop for natural foods or a pharmacy which also provides herbs.

2 times licorice
3 times linden flowers
3 times Iceland moss
4 times fennel seed
4 times coldsfoot leaves
4 times marshmallow root

Mix this all very well and put it under a closed lid at a dark cool place.

When you need it take two teaspons of the mixture.
Put it in a mug and pour one cup of boiling water over it.
Place a lid on it and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

In case you need to sweeten it, use honey.

3 or 4 cups a day are all one needs to feel better.

I hope so.

Cleaning copper

It's almost christmastime, so you have to unwrap and clean items that have been hidden all year.

Copper ornaments and statues and such can be cleaned in an easy way by taking a lemon.
Slice it in half, dip it in salt and rub the lemon over the copper.
After that you have to rinse well with water and dry the item with a clean and soft cloth.

Good luck!

A little extra warmth

We got stuck with the train in the snow and when we finally were brought back to a large station all shops were closed and all we could get was coffee or tea.
And the coffee was bad.... It was terrible.

Those who wanted tea got hot water and at that moment I craved for soup.
If I only has one of those one cup bags for soup.

So my tip for today is: always have a few of those packages in your pocket.
They hardly take any place and with hot water they are perfect under all circumstances.

Addressbook and winter

Leave your addressbook always at a place where other people can find it.
Or maybe leave a copy at family or friends.

When you get stuck while travelling, due to heavy snow or ice, you might need a place to sleep at another town.

Instead of taking the booklet with you all the time, one simple phonecall might motivate your friend or family member to make a few calls with the help of your addressbook to help to organise a sleepingplace.

Ice roads

We've had lots of snow this week, and we're starting to get used to the slippery roads.
But mash of snow is different from roads made into mirrors by ice rain.

And ice rain is expected.

To be able to walk a bit safely on your shoes you need a trick or two.

My grandmother used to binds old socks around her shoes, but nowadays we have better things.

A clasp of a sodacan, taped under your shoe can make a huge difference. But it can also damage the sole of your shoe.

More convenient is the bag, the plastic maze, of the unions ans certain oranges.
Take a string and get it through the mazes that are not under your shoe, pull the string and fix it. Ready.

Animals and snow

Well, the tile should have been different.
Cats and dogs can deal with snow if they have to.
The problem lies in the salt on the roads and pavements to prevent humans from slipping and falling.

Many animals lack proper protection against the salt.
It hurts them and some animals even refuse to go any further and lie down to prevent their feet from touching the ground.

You can buy little boots, or make them yourself.
Or just don't leave the house beyond the snowarea.

As soon as the animal comes home rinse their feet with luke warm water to get rid of the salt.

The cold and the paper

It could have been a title of a short story: the cold and the paper.
But it's just a tip so you can keep warm on your motor or bicycle.

It's a very old tip, my grandfather used it, my dad, and even I.

When it's very cold and you need to go outside through that freezing winterstorm you should dress properly.

Good underwear, layers of clothes, like a T-shirt, sweater and cardigan and a coat.

But you can protect yourself even better with a paper.

Put it between cardigan and coat, all over the front area, and then close the coat.

It works perfect!

Secret Santa

Sorry for not posting.
We've been very busy organising a Secret Santa event.

Because we have to deal with two timetables: Europe and America, we had to start early.

In The Netherlands the gifts are delivered in the night of december 5 to 6.

When you want to send us something, let us know in the comments. We always forget ourselves. LOL!

Winter salt

Now it's time to buy winter salt. You know, the salt you use on your driveway when it's slipery?

You need low quality salt. Often the shops where they sell farm equipment can sell you this salt for a very low prize.

When you keep it outside your house, you need to make a box which allows no rain or other moisture to come in.

Mix the salt with sand before storing. In case moisture gets in, you can still use it. And it also works against sliding when the temparature is too low to work.

Waste thrown away

No place near the computer to put in your small waste?

No problem!

Take a small pastic bag and tape it to the side of your desk.

How do you solve the problem of small waste at your desk?

Making the bed

Most kids hate making a bed.
They make a mess of it each day, so why not leave it a mess when no one is there?

I found a trick that helps a kid make a bed in no time.

I've made ribbons on the top of the sheet and the bed cover and I tie them together after washing the bedwear and making the bed after that for the first time.

All the children have to do in the morning is to find the tied ribbons, look at what side of the bed they belong, and pull them to the top.

Looks great such a nice bed!

Plastic throw-away containers

Don't throw away the plastic containers of cookies, muffins, deserts, etc etc.

They can be used again.

When you need to freeze in vegetables or other food, you can do it in a way that you need lots of time to defrost one big lump of it, or you can freeze it in one person portions, needing little time to defrost.

I love the packages of cookies, because the portions are flat and can be put in a larger box when froozen. But the muffin packages are great too, because the froozen portions won't stick as much to each other as the flat ones.

What do you use?

Clean glass

A few times a year I clean all the glass in the house.

I put it all: vases, marbles, statues of glass, etc. etc. in the bath and put a few washing machine tablets between them.

We don't have a washing mashine, but I collect the tablets which are given for free in the shops.

I oour water over it all and stir the water when the tablets are dissolved.
I leave it there for about an hour.

Then let the water out.
Spray it with the shower with clean water and let it dry.

Additional effect: bath is clean without rubbing.
Not so nice: effect on environment.

Walking in week

A large family has advantages and disadvantages.

One of the advantages is many friends around the kids.
Disadvantage: they don't fit in the livingroom at all.

Solution: a walking in week.

Kids are allowed to bring friends in for dinner during one week of the vacation.
I make a large board with the menu of each day, so they can have a choice and they can sign in. As many kids as we have place for.

Shower gel

With men in the house, their smells are in the house.
I'm not talking about feet. but about shower gel.

That stuff in blue or black bottles smells awful!
Especially when they use deodorant too.

A while ago I took the emtpy bottle, cleaned it and had a go at a home recipe for shower gel.

Take the cheapest shampoo you can get that smells ok or is just a bit not nice.
Add just a bit of water and about 1,5 tablespoon of salt.
Mix very well.
Add a few drops of sesame oil.
Mix.

Sniff.

Smell ok? In the men's bottle.
Smell not OK? Add a bit of your favorite essential oil.

Put it at the right place.

And just react like you always do...each day a little less, unless they think you've given up.

Sorting magazines

Are you one of those people who love magazines, but always jave to look for hours for that one special one which seems to be lost forever?

Get magazine boxes or make them yourself.

Take a detergent box. Cut the top off, over it in painting, wallpaper or self adhesive plastic and put a tag at the back so you can see what's in it.
One kind of magazine in one box.

Works great, smells good.

Sorting online groups in your email

I'm kind of fed up with sorting my mail, or looking through all sorts of folders.

So I made an emailadress for each online group I'm in.
Google, yahoo, and other services offer easy ways to create an emailaccount.

I love the fact that each ones has it's own signature, so that saves time too.

It also prevents me from sending mail to a wrong adress.

A costume?

Men's wear. gentlemen's wear.
Oh my dear!

Most men hate shopping for clothes and fitting jackets and trousers.

Especially when they need a suit it costs a lot of energy to get them going, and when they've finally got the suit they treat it almost like their socks.
In case you've got a guy that uses his trousers on bicycles too, you can deal with a good tip.

One jacket, two of the same trousers.

When they've spilled their coffee, sat on a dirty bench outside or just went through the whole fabric, you won't need to go shopping and buy a new jacket too. Jst get the trousers from upstairs. That's all.

This tip is only usefull for guys who are not eagerly growing a beerbelly.

Preparing to move

When you need to move to a complete new house and make it into your home, why not prepare yourself well?

Get old magazines and advertisements. Ask the shops for brochures.

Cut out what you like and put it in a box.
You can do that for years if you want to.

Go through it once a while and throw out what you don't like anymore.

When the move is coming closer you'll have a far better idea of colours, which furniture you want and where to buy it.

Peanutbutter extra

We're not living in a country of peanutbutter eaters, but there's always a jar in the house. Grwing old and grumpy.

A friend shared a tip she heard in Amwerica during her holiday there.

When the kids have eaten a good layer out of the jar, pour the rest in a bowl and a few tablespoons of honey.
Stir well and put it back.

When the peanutbutter becomes too thin and liquid, save it in the fridge.

Yummy!

Saving money: outdoor memberships

In an attempt to save money we all sat down and had a good talk about out outdoor memberships.

Most sports and creative activities started with friends and we stayed, while the friends were long gone somewhere else.
ofcourse it's great to be in a team, but when one is aware that expenses need to be lower, it's time to put them on paper.

• Travelcosts
• membershipexpenses
• clothing
• special events like competitions
• birthdays and anniversaries
• yearly trip

We found out that some were sporting at a facility that required a lot of costs for traveling.
One left for a facility nearby, saving quite a lot of money.

Others talked with their teamleaders and organised a fetch and bringservice. One car picking up teammembers on the way to the sportcentre and bringing them home after the training.

Worked well.

A simple present: tags

I'm always trying to find presents which are not given often and are inexpensive.
Not only because i don't have much money to spend, but also because I want us to get out of the spiral of escalating expenses for presents.

A friend suggested I could make tags.

Which was a great idea.

So for the ever jam making, collecting and ordering friend I made tags.

I found a nice form to cut, and painted a simple but nice design on them.

because I liked the painting I also made a few bookmarks with the same design and finsihed it all with a birthdaycard in the same style.

Fun to make, fun to give and fun for the wallet too.

A game to keep them bussy

Little ones are not often bored, but sometimes they just need an idea to keep them bussy.

Please two kids, each at a side of a door. No see through one, please.

Let one make a sound and let the other guess.

All sorts of things make noises, like clicking a pen, opening a pencil box etc etc.

Kids love this game!

Boots

Boots can have a longer life when you use inlays under your feet in the boots.
Preferably use leather ones or the soft and warm sheepskin.

When they're large enough you can make a pocket on the inside where you can keep some money.

Boxes

The chinese take away comes in boxes which can be re used.

You can put them in the micro wave, but be carefull when you leave content with too high a temperature too long in the box.

You can also use them in the freezer, but when they've been used about 10 times the box might break more easily.

The boxes are also great to sort toys and other things.

Spooky halloween

We wish you all a spooky halloween.

Here we celebrate the traditional Samhain, which has been converted by christianity to the all saints and all deaths days.

No matter which name is given to the event, remember that the veil is thin and there are many realms we can't otherwise sense as well as tonight.

halloween - 5

Using tomato juice as bood might seem a good decision, but there are far better solutions to create blood.

Paint used for children tyo paint with, based on water can often be washed away easily.

But have you ever considered beads that look like blooddrops?

When you can't find them in the shops or online make them yourself with clay you can bake in the home oven.

You can use a cocktailpricker to make a hole in them.

Good luck!

halloween - 4

I'm sure no one wants to go to school or work tomorrow looking like someone smashed their face with an ax, so please, please, before you apply your halloween make up check if you have sometimes to take it off.

An eye make-up remover comes in very handy because eye make-up nowadays is made to make you buy those products too.
Most water resistant make up can't be removes with water and soap.

If necessary you can use eye make up remover to clean your whole face.

Before going to bed clean your face and any other parts of your body where you have applied make-up.

And do the same the next morning.

Some make up creaps into your pories and during the night the body tries to get rid of it.
So give yourself a thorough morning clean to.

halloween - 3

It's great when you have a lot of money to spend on halloween costumes, but most people have to find funds to look spooky.

Ofcourse you can swap csotumes with friends. With a different make up even your closest friends won't notice.

But you can also rely on what you have.
A black dress or black t-shirt and trousers will do great as a basic costume.
A mask, and vintage jewelry will do the trick.
And how about using your bicycle lock chain, if you have one. It's great not complement a men's costume, and it also gives perfect halloween sounds.

halloween - 2

Children all over the world love to receive gifts, but sometimes we just don't have the money to make something or buy something.

At this time of year though many supermarkets have special promotions.
When you spend for a certain amount of money you'll get a small toy.

These make perfect gifts for trick and treat.
Especially when they're still in the wrap.

Have fun!

halloween - 1

Halloween treats are always welcome.
We don't have a halleoween tradition in my country, but there are always a few children who want to sneak this interesting event into the agendas of grown ups because sweets are welcome.

So they dress up at halloween just like in many other countries and rang the doorbeels looking for treats.

Try to keep them healthy.

So avaid too much sugar, too much salt, additives and the whole lot.

Here kids also love small boxes with raisins, cupcakes, small applepies, cheese.

Wrap them individually and with care.

Carrots and leek

Take about an equal amount of carrots and leek.

Slice them and put them in a pan with potatoes.

Cook.

When it's nearly ready take smoked bacon and slice them in small pieces or buy pieces.

Bake them in their own juice until the fat is nearly gone or the bacon is brown.

When the potatoes and carrots are ready, stamp the food and mix it with the bacon.

Yummy!!

Against muscle cramps

Muscle cramps can be nasty. especially during night time.

It's best to extend/stretch the muscle that's cramping until the pain has gone.

Preventing new cramping is possible by applying clove oil on the muscle.

Some say cramping can be preventing by taking vitamine B6.

Smooth zipper

A zipper can be a real pain, but I'm going to teach you a trick so you won't have stubborn zippers anymore.

Just rub the teeth of the zipper with a bar of soap or a candle.

When you use soap you need to reapply after each wash.

In the dryer

To dry your clothes fatser in the dryer add a few tennisballs.
I've been told it saves 25 to 50% of the time you'll otherwise need to dry your clothes.

I would love to have some feedback on this item, because I hardly use my dryer.

No mothballs?

I hate the smell of mothballs.

My gram had far better silution against bugs.

Roll a paper and put it in the back of the wardrobe at a place where it can't touch the clothes.

Take a small net and fill it with soap leftovers.
Put the net in the wardrobe. It makes the clothes smell nice and prevent bugs.

Clean cast iron pans

To clean cast iron pans you don't need expensive bottles or wipes.
It's ridiculous how much people spend on detergents and other cleaning products.

Cast iron can be polished clean with one of the best kitchen scrubs: salt.

First clean the pan the usual way. Dry it and then pour a bit of salt on the bottom and use a cloth or brush to clean the pan with the salt.

When the dirt has come off, clean the pan and rinse with a lot of water.

Then fatten the pan with a bit of oil before putting it away.

autumncolours

Taka a camera and go for a walk in the woods.
The colours are beautiful at this time of year and it's well worth to take lots of photos.

You can add them all together in a collage and add coloured leaves to make a real nice autumn present. For instance for someone who isn't able to leave home.

Right now it's still possible to ride with a wheelchair through the woods, unless it has rained a lot.
So when you know someone to take for a ride, do it now.

Broccoli pie

Needed:

500 gram potatoes
375 gram broccoli
125 gram carrots
100 gram sellery
50 gram bacon
250 spices minced meat
1 union (circa 125 gram)
1 garlic
1 tin tomatomash (60 gram)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 teaspoons parsley

75 gram grated old cheese
nutmeg, pepper, salt.

circa 25 - 50 gram butter

Preparing

Time in oven: 40 - 45 minutes after preheating..

Peel potatoes and cut them in 4 parts. wash them.
Put them in water. About half under.

Don't use salt!!! Cook them. When ready pour the water away and leave them to rest.

While cooking the potatoes, cut the large stem from the broccoli and wash what's left.

Cut the flowery part from the broccoli, and save the small stems for later.

Kook the broccoli in a bit of water with salt in about 5 to 10 minutes. Pour in a sif so the water can be drained.

Slice the small stems in small pieces of a half to one cm.

Clean carrots, peel them and cut in small parts.

Cut selery in small parts.

Put the broccoli stems, carrots and selery in water and a bit of salt and cook for 3 minutes.
Leave them in the water and save for later.

Peel an union and slice in small parts.
Peel garlic and cut it in very small pieces.

Bake bacon, take it out of the pan and put minced meat in the fat and bake that. It doesn't need to be brown, just baked a little bit.

Get rid of too much fat and water.

Add the union and bake a bit more, add garlic and leave it baking for 1 minute.

Take tomatomash and add it.
Add some thime, parsley and a bit of dalt and pepper.

Then put the vegetable to the meatmix and add all in a fatted ovenbowl.

Make mash from the potatoes and add the broccoliflowers.

Maak nu de aardappelpuree:
Add cheese, some pepper and salt and nutmeg.

Add the mash to the vegetable mix in the ovenbowl.

Put little pieces of butter on top. (about 15 grams)

Preheat the over at 200 degrees celcius.

Put the pie in it in the middle and bake until brown. That's about 30 to 40 minutes and about 5 to 10 minutes longer when the pie was kept in the fridge.

Be aware of frost

Not all plants are able to deal with frost, we all know that.
But often we forget which plants need to be put inside before the first frosty night.

So today is the perfect day to look up on internet or in books which plants of your collection need to go inside.

When you're in doubt, take a leaf anf d go to your gardencentre to ask.
They won't think you're stupid.

You're only stupid to let your plants die when it isn't necessary.

Water and leaves

Water and leaves results in rotting junk.

When you've got a birdpool, or other water in the garden put a net or roster over it so the leaves can collect there and they're easy to remove.

This is more pleasant than removing the stinking rotting junk that forms when leaves stay in the water.
Apart from the fact that the quality of the water is badly affected by leaves.

Remove the leaves very regularly.

hanging baskets

Some people put their hanging baskets away when autumn starts, but there's no need to.
Even when there's a bit of frost at ground level the temperature at the basket is above zero.

You can plant ivy at the sides of the basket to keep the green look.

When you keep the flowering plants in their own pot when you add them to the basket you can exchange them without problems, and it's also more easy to keep the water in the basket when watering the plants.

drawstrings

I found my wintercoat with an old.. too old... drawstring and suddenly remembered the care I always showed when the coats and caqrdigans of the children had a drawstring.

For children who are caught up in play they're very dangerous.
The string might get caught on elements of the playground for instance and strangle a child.

Each year children die because of a drawstring.

House inventory

A good house inventory is important.

With a list of your most important belongings you can provide the insurance information to assess how high your insurance should be.

You can give them the list when something has happened, like a fire or burglary,

In some countries a list like that also comes in handy for the taxes.

Make the inventory in such a way that it's easy to see where the item is, how old it is, what the prize was and how much it costs to renew it.

Chestnuts

It's time to harvest the chestnuts.

Kids love to do that.

Tradition says one should keep one chestnut in the pocket against rheumatism.

We used to keep a large wild one in our pocket to get warm hands in the winter.
When you rub it against your trousers it get's shiny, but warm too.
You can even rub it too long and burn your hand when you're not carefull.

My kids like to do what I did when I was young: take a handful of chestnuts to school.
When you're hungry they're good food.

Sheets

It's OK to use the standard size of sheets on your bed, but we prefer a bit more.

So I buy unbleached cotton at the market in town, and take one or two meter extra in length and width.

You can put the sheet well under the mattress at the bottom, so you won't get cold feet, and at the top there's a good overlay, which can be pulled up in the neck at cold winternights.

When making the bed you can fold the overlay down over the blanket, and then fold half of it back upward again.

The unbleached cotton causes less pollution and after washing it a couple of times it get whiter.

planting and trimming trees

Planting and trimming trees depends on a lot of aspects.

It's best to go to your gardencentre and have an expert advice you.
He'll know the tree in question, and he'll know the conditions in your garden.

There's a fast difference here between parts of town here.
One part has great soil. Sand, with lots of woodland compost in it. The layer of soil in the gardens is very deep, because it's the natural soil there. It used to be a forest.
The cold won't get in the ground as fast as in our part of town, so there they can plants trees later in the year too.

Here we have heavy clay. We're living on a former swamp, and it means that rains transform whole areas in a mess. In summer the toplayer dries out and changes into a firm layer that kills plants easily. Rain stays on top of it for a long time.
In the winter the humidity causes the cold to get into the soil early and deep.

Some trees can't be planted in oktober any more, because they won't invest in good rooting anymore. Maybe they'll survive in containers, but the chance is they won't have a wide rootsystem in the future and can be blown flat easily.
They'd better get a good chance and be planted in spring.

Other trees will do fine when they're planted in a large hole with good soil.
They'll be able to grow roots for quite a while until it's really winter.

As climats change and local conditions are all different, I'll stick to the advice not to plant now anymore, unless you really have to.
It takes a lot of a plant to survive winter, so why not give it the best start you can give?

Autumn in the garden - 4

It's too late to plant trees this year, but you can still put them in containers.

Plant bulbs for early flowers next year.

Remove leaves from the grass, but leave them alone elsewhere unless it are leaves from the willow.

When you want to mow the grass, do it for the last time of the year and at a height of 4 to 5 cm's. Remove all mowed grass. If you don't it will rot and cause the underlayer to go brown.

When you want to cut trees and shrubs read good information first, because some needs to be left alone uintill spring.

Autumn in the garden - 3

It's time to take your gardenequipment inside.

Remove all the dirt and apply a bit of for instance silicone oil to prevent rust.

Take the gardenhose and remove all the water.
Hang it out in the wind to be sure every small drop is removed and hang it inside.

When you have taps outside, switch off the water and let those taps run until all the water is removed.

Close them and turn the wauer on again if you need water elsewhere.
Sometimes the fgatdentaps have their own distributionswitch. When it's in the shed, be sure the pipes towards the garden are empty. Then cover the distributionswitch with isolationmaterial, because water runs towards that point and the pipe might break when it freezes.

autumn in the garden - 2

Do you have nesting houses for the birds in your garden?
Then now is the time to clean them.

First look if they're still in use. In that case leave them alone and clean them in spring.

Otherwise get all the twigs and dirt out.
Desinfect the little house with something against bacteria and fungi.

Let it dry well and hang it back after you've removed all rotten plantrests around it.

When the winter gets cold the birds will value your work, and otherwise a small family will find it's way there.

Autumn in the garden - 1

Now autumn is taking over you need to work in your garden to prepare it for winter and the new year.

One of the first things to do is collect seeds.
You can only do that when the seeds are ripe.
So read about your plants and find out how you can see the seeds are ready for harvest.

It's best when you harvest the seeds after a few dry days, but that's not always possible.

Put them on a flat surface and allow them to dry.
First take any leaves and twigs away, and if possible everything else around the seeds too.

Sometimes seeds are in pods that are very easy to remove when they are dry, then dry the seeds and the pods together and remove the pods later.

Let the seeds dry more time before you store them.
Maybe in an envelope with the name on it.

Insurance

Stay informed about your insurance, and keep the booklet at a place where you can find it without problems.

For certain procedures you need their permission first, others are only allowed every so many times during so many years.

Many insurances have a central mailaddress, so you can reach them without problems.

Ask in your mail to send you proof they have received the mail, simply by replying with "received".

Keep track of dates, so they'll answer you within the lawful time.

Ask for diploma's

When you are refereed to a free situated practice of a psychologist, physiotherapist, docotr, etc etc. it's good to ask for a diploma.

Some people feel rather hesitant, thinking it is a statement of distrust.
Don't think that way.

People who are professionals don't mind other people guarding their wellbeing by asking if someone is a real professional.

mushrooms

Some people like to pick them theirselves.
I think it's too much of a risk.
Each year many people get ill because they didn't know the difference well enough between good and bad mushrooms.

Mushroom poisoning can cause suymptoms which range from relatively mild (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) to death.

It's interesting, and dangerous, that mushrooms that are non-toxic and thus edible in one area, might be toxic in another area.
So always use someone with thorough knowledge of the local varieties.

Nails

In the sixties we glues small flowers on our nails, or painted them.
It's in fashion again and I have to say: it's nice to see so many different nails.

So when you're short of a good present for a girl or young woman, buy a set of naildecorations. They come in all sorts and sizes. You have to watch the pirzes though.

Add some coloured nailpolish or transparent nailpolish and you'll hit the right spot with the spresent.

Can't reach adgitize

I don't know how it's at your side of internet, but I can't reach adgitize.
Hopefullt they'll compendate for being unavailable.