It's Cold!

One thing I thought I could count on is that the weather in Boise always changes. Last weekend I checked the weather and it was predicted to be the same all week, lows around 20 degrees, highs in the 30's, and sunny. That is exactly what it has been, the same cold every day. Monday morning the frost was so thick on the grass that everyone's lawn was white. I don't remember it being this cold last year, but then I did not have to go out before 8 am. By Monday night I was already tired of being cold and ordered myself some LL Bean lined leggings for running in the cold weather. One commenter said they ran outside when it was 28 degrees and they were still warm. I thought those were the pants for me.

Today I treated myself to a carwash, the kind where someone else does it. I usually wash my own car, but I don't know how you do that when it is 30 degrees. The car wash is more expensive here in Boise, probably for the same reason dry cleaning is more expensive, more expensive labor. Almost everyone in the car wash was white, and they did not do as good of a job for $30 as they do in So Cal for $15. I don't care that much about my car being clean, but it did need a wax for winter.

At work every Tuesday and Thursday in December, people bring food, and last Thursday a few of my co-workers got together and made the office breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy. I don't understand biscuits and gravy. They barbequed the bacon and sausage outside on the patio, but I could smell it cooking from my office. The bacon was some of the best I've ever had. To deal with cold weather, you have to eat meat, I crave it here sometimes. Idaho is not a good place to be a vegetarian.

I installed Centurylink internet and phone without a hitch and turned in the Cable One modem and cancelled my service last Thursday. I still had TV on Thursday night, but when I got home on Friday my cable TV was off. I did have one day last week where if someone called me they got a message about my mail box not being set up. The phone service I got came with a voice mail box, which it took me a day to have turned off. I like my answering machine, I like to see that blinking light. Not very modern of me.

Yesterday morning I braved the cold and went out trying to finish my Christmas shopping. I drove past D&B Supply, which someone recommended for jeans, and ended up buying another pair of 501s. I guess their quality control is so bad that you now have to try on a bunch to find the pair that fits and isn't sewn wrong, sizes mean nothing anymore. I could have also bought some cowboy boots, some feed, and a bucket with a built-in warmer, but I didn't. I also found the local market with the raw milk in those glass jars with a deposit and fresh cider. I just bought some cider, but it was nice to know where to get the milk. Then I went to Meridian Meats looking for Elk jerky, but they only had beef. Meridian Meats are local meat packers with their plant right down the street and are only open on Saturdays around the holidays, I bet if you bought their beef you would not be able to eat it from Albertson's anymore.

Yesterday afternoon my friend had a Make Your Own Ornament Christmas tea party. She researched home-made ornaments, printed the instructions, and bought all the materials. It was fun, but seemed like a lot of work for the hostess. I saw someone that I only see at Margo's parties, that was the one who suggested Margo do the Artist's Way. She lives in Sweet, Idaho, which is about an hour away. Margo made her a needlepoint that says Sweet, Home, Sweet. I don't know how you can feel bad living in a town called Sweet, but then I don't know how you can feel bad living in Star, Idaho, or Bliss, Idaho. Lots of happy town names in Idaho, maybe you need it to deal with the cold.

On the topic of preparedness, my friend reminded me of all the uses for vinegar and bleach. I added ammonia, and between those three things, you can clean just about anything, except clothes. This makes me now wonder at the cleaning isle, now filled with products to clean a multitude of specific things. I decided to look for 101 uses for vinegar, bleach, and ammonia, and found some things I did not know.

Vinegar is useful for removing hard water and for cleaning glass, but you can also,

Wash fresh vegetables with a mix of 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar in 1 1/2 quarts of water.
Kill weeds and grass growing in unwanted places by pouring full-strength white distilled vinegar on them. Especially crevices and cracks of walkways.
Stop ants from congregating and eliminate anthills by pouring in white distilled vinegar.
Kill slugs by spraying them with a mixture of 1 part water and 1 part white distilled vinegar.
Catch moths by using a mixture of 2 parts white distilled vinegar and 1 part molasses. Place the mixture in tin can and hang in a tree.
Keep rabbits from eating your plants. Put cotton balls soaked in white distilled vinegar in small containers with holes near the plants.

My daughter and I used to kill snails by sprinkling salt on them, they turned into foam, I think that seems more fun than vinegar.

Increase the acidity of soil by adding white distilled vinegar to your watering can. Give acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and gardenias a little help.
Preserve cut flowers and liven droopy ones by adding 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to a quart of water in a vase.

(From http://solinspirations.com/vinegar.html)

Ammonia can stop mildew just as well as bleach without causing discoloration, and it can also repel moths, keep garbage cans odor-free, and eliminate paint odors. Ammonia is also a great oven cleaner. Simply place a bowl full of ammonia inside your oven overnight and then wipe it clean without effort the next day. Oven racks and pots and pans can be cleaned with ammonia to help them recover their silvery spark, although you may need to rewash kitchen utensils a few items after that just to make sure there are no traces of ammonia left. Ammonia can also be used in the garden to help alkaline flowers such as lilacs grow stronger and faster. By mixing ammonia with water, you have one of most powerful plant foods available for plants that prefer alkaline environments.

(From http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-household-uses-of-ammonia.htm)

Baking soda is also a good thing to have around, you can clean with it and bake with it. No one uses Cream of Tartar anymore, it is on the spice isle, but did you know you can make mayonnaise with oil and Cream of Tartar? Cream of Tartar is also the difference between baking soda and baking powder. Add Cream of Tartar to baking soda and you have baking powder.

One modern invention that is just plain better than it's predecessors is laundry detergent. Even when you try to use those more environmentally friendly kind, they just don't get your clothes clean. When I was at my Dad's, he asked me how often he should bleach his whites. I said maybe once a year and he was really surprised. That's because he was using Seventh Generation laundry detergent, a few washings with that and all of your whites are grey.

Sorry, no TV since last Friday and I am already getting nutty. I suppose there is such a thing as too much quiet. Together with the cold weather it is amazingly quiet here. The full moon is super bright and even though I close up the house at night, I left my bedroom blinds open the last few nights so the bright moonlight could shine through. That also means the sky is clear, no snow on it's way.