Have you been to your
library lately? Yes, your local library! As well as books and computers, libraries have a nice selection of VHS tapes, music CDs, books on CD and movies on DVDs. We recently checked out 4 DVDs of the “Campion” Series from the BBC. Another movie from the library we enjoyed was
“Bread and Tulips,” an award-winning comedy about a woman who realizes there is a lot in life she is missing.
And then there are the books - thousands of volumes. You can find nearly any subject you want from science to genealogy. And in fiction, everything from mysteries to romance. And don’t overlook the new-book-section for both fiction and non-fiction.
I have always been a library user and taught my children to be. But we still bought lots of books and movies. Now the bookshelves are full and with retirement there is less money to spend. So we go to the library every week.
Our library has “Fine-free-Friday,” so if I slip up and don’t get a book back in time, I return it on Friday. How cool is that? My hubby and I go to our Orange County Library every Friday and we each get a bag of books plus a couple of movies. That is hours of entertainment - all free. We have movie night, complete with popcorn. Can’t beat the price!
If your county has more than one library, they will swap books within the system. So if the library you go to doesn’t have the book you want, they will check the computer and if it is in their system, they will get it from another branch. If you have a state college nearby, you can also use their library.
Using the library gives hours of entertainment at no cost, other than a one-time small charge for a card. Another benefit is, if your bookshelves are already full, you aren’t adding to the overcrowding since you return the books to the library. Having said that, I sometimes check out a book I decide I want to own. The kind of book I will read over and over again - usually a reference book - maybe about gardening or crafts. Then I go to Amazon.com where I often find my book of choice used. I have bought used many times and have always been pleased.
So, if the entertainment budget is a bit tight, I’ll see you at the library!
This photo is from an old Country Living magazine (9/08). I keep my old magazines and enjoy them again and again. Country Living is one of my favorites.
I checked online and found this great site, Cottage Chic Store.
I always plant marigolds near my tomatoes because the marigolds repel nematodes (soil dwelling microscopic white worms) that are harmful to tomatoes. Actually, marigolds are natural insect repellents but they are vulnerable to slugs. Well, the tomatoes are fine but the marigolds took a direct hit from the slugs. The slugs must be fat and happy with their tasty meals, yet I can’t find them on the plants, just their dried slime shinning in the sun. Guess I need to get up earlier and sneak up on them. I considered using Diatomaceous Earth (DE). I have had good results in the past with this powder which is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. The DE acts like razor blades and cuts up the slugs, but DE works only when it is dry and with the weather here I am feeling like I live in the rain forest. Yesterday one of the roads near here was closed due to high water and on the main road to town we could see the creek was just barely below the bridge.
Have you been to your library lately? Yes, your local library! As well as books and computers, libraries have a nice selection of VHS tapes, music CDs, books on CD and movies on DVDs. We recently checked out 4 DVDs of the “Campion” Series from the BBC. Another movie from the library we enjoyed was “Bread and Tulips,” an award-winning comedy about a woman who realizes there is a lot in life she is missing.
My husband likes to buy extra large or jumbo eggs. That is fine unless I am baking and need small eggs. I checked my Betty Crocker cook book and found this guide for how much an egg should measure. I hope this guide helps you as much as it helped me!
Several times a week I take a walk in the neighborhood. There is a nice walk of a mile and a half (round trip) that takes me to these secluded stairs that lead to the lake.
Here is the pier where I can sit and hang my legs off the end. It is too far above the water for my feet to get wet but it's fun to dangle a long stick in the water. I like to sit and feel the breeze and listen to the birds. And I am getting my exercise in a pleasant way. Beats going to the gym and walking on the treadmill! This way I can see the flowers and butterflies and smell the cut grass. I'll bet you wish you were retired, like me!
By special request here is another of my "Collections" photos. This is my bear friend and sometime garden assistant, sitting in a antique child's chair. She has chosen one of my old books "The Tailor of Gloucester" by Beatrix Potter and has a candle to read by.
In experiments to test how male mice responded to sex pheromones found in the urine of female mice, neurobiologists at Washington University in St. Louis, Tim Holy and Zhongsheng Guo, recorded male mice as they sniffed a cotton ball soaked in a female mouse’s urine. Within seconds of smelling the urine of a female who is ready to mate, the male mice broke into song, inaudible to the human ear. The male mice were genetically identical and were all the same age. Surprisingly, each mouse sang his own individual song. It isn’t certain if the best singers win the most desirable females as is often the case with birds.
