Stocking Up on Sunblock

Sunblocks

May 4, 2010

We use a lot of sunblock year round to protect us from the sun's damaging rays.  During the winter months we use sunscreen or sunblock on exposed skin because even though the sun is lower in the sky it can still have a damaging effect.  May through October we spend a lot of time on the boat where the damaging rays of the sun are magnified through reflection so we need stronger sun protection.  We also live on waterfront property so spend a lot of time on the dock where sun protection is also needed.  It is very important when boating and indulging in water activity to use a water resistantbroad spectrum UVA/UVB sunblock.  It is also important to wear some type of sunblock on your lips.  Last year I experienced my very first cold sore while on vacation.  It was not a pleasant experience!  I have since learned that sunlight exposure can trigger the virus responsible for cold sores so now wear lip protection all the time.  I recently stocked up on a variety of sunblocks including lip sunblock.  This will not be enough to get us through the boating season but it is a start.  Since we have little ones visiting us as well as going boating with us I always keep extra sunscreen and sunblock on hand both at the house and on the boat.  We also keep a bottle of sun block in each vehicle and my husband keeps one in his golf bag.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Extra Sleeping Arrangements

I grew up in a rather small house that was often overflowed beyond capacity. So finding sleeping arrangements for overnight guests was always a challenge for my Mom. Usually the kids gave up their rooms and beds for the adults and we had a chesterfield that pulled out to make a bed as well. The kids usually found a sleeping spot on the floor with heavy blankets and quilts. The upper bedroom level wasn't heated (more on this later) so sleeping on the floor was cold. I can still remember when my Mom bought two folding roll-away beds. They had thick mattresses so were more like beds. The biggest problem was finding a storage spot for them since the house had no closets either! Fast forward to the 2000's and there is a whole new solution for spare beds. We bought an Columbia Air Bed that essentially is an air mattress that goes into casing on an easy to set up frame for comfortable sleeping yet it has compact storage and easy portability.

In the Box

We bought a queen sized Columbia Air Bed on sale from Canadian Tire® for $149.99. The box was as long as the folded height of the frame. It was heavy as well. Inside the box there was the carrying case, mattress, electric pump, bedskirt with pocket that holds the mattress in place and a reversible heavy comforter that can be zippered to prevent it from falling off the bed. All of the bed components were packed into the compact carry case that has wheels for easy portability.

The entire set-up is heavy and sturdy but portable. We were immediately impressed with the quality. We also liked that bed included an electrical pump for easy inflation.

Carry Case

The nylon carry case is large enough for all the bed components to fit in. It has a three sided zipper for easy removal and replacement of the bed components on one long side. The velco flap with the Columbia lifts up to reveal a plastic protected luggage tag holder. There is a heavy duty handle on one short end and wheels on the other.

Pictured is the filled case. The air mattress behind it is another one we have that doesn't have a frame. The new air mattresses inflate with included electric pumps or electric blow dryers and they easily deflate making them an ideal solution for temporary additional sleeping arrangements.

Inflated

We set the Columbia air bed up in the soon to be craft room. The set up was surprisingly easy taking less than 5 minutes. We found that an extra blanket between the air mattress and bottom sheet keeps the bed from getting cool. This is a problem with air mattresses. I like that the bed is up off the floor so it looks and feels like an actual bed. It's a lot nicer to be up off the floor! I also like that the bed sets up and dismantles quickly taking up minimal storage.

We have taken this air bed with us on a few trips to one of our kids who does not have a spare bed. I'm glad we bought it as it does solve the problem of having a temporary spare bed. So if you are in need of an extra bed this might be a solution for you. There are several brands available through most sporting goods and outfitter type stores.

The crib in the background has now been dismantled and the air bed is in it's case. The craft room is our winter project this year. It will have a complete make-over including replacing the carpeting with hard flooring. While this will remove a temporary overnight guest room it will provided the much needed space to organize all my craft supplies as well as set up the sewing and knitting machines for ready usage. I'm really looking forward to this space so please check back to see how we complete this project.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Spring Cleaning

I grew up in a household where spring cleaning was a must. I could always tell when Mom was gearing up for it too. There would be empty boxes, a couple of large package of garbage bags and buckets with mops, dusters and any other cleaning aid possible. The ladder would be brought out for the windows and the plank brought out for the one attic. I hated that plank! It rested on the stair landing on one side and the attic opening on the other side. To get to it you had to crawl along the plank over the staircase! Worse than that there were mice in that attic. The other attic had mice as well but at least there was no stairwell. Everything was pulled from the attics, dressers, cupboards, cabinets and I do mean everything. She left no stone unturned! Everything had to be gone through for whatever didn't fit or wasn't of use to us for the donation boxes and bags but nothing was ever tossed in the garbage. Well as if that wasn't bad enough then the cleaning began and it was from top to bottom, one end of the house to the other. It just was not a good experience when spring cleaning time came around.

Spring is a busy time of the year for me and if you've read my gardening blog you would see why. Still despite my childhood spring cleaning trauma, I still spring clean. I still follow a similar way of doing the spring cleaning too. Mom was right, remove the clutter or items you can no longer use first. I made an earlier entry on clutter so here's what I do for spring cleaning. First, I break it down into manageable working units of time focusing on one room at a time since I simply have too many things to do in the spring to spend a week or so just cleaning. Second, since I keep up a regular cleaning routine, I don't find that the big spring cleaning takes as much time inside. Outside is a bit more and then there is the garage. Over the winter it gets piled up with recyclables and anything I've decided is no longer needed in the house. Since the car goes in the garage there is usually a lot of mess on the floor that has to be cleaned out and of course we can't forget the freezer.

Clutter: I use the three box method - keep, toss, donate. I start with the clothes then work my way up. Anything that hasn't been worn or used in the past year goes mainly to donation. The trick is to get the stuff in the appropriate box without thinking. Set a time limit then just go.

Closets: Sorry the only way to deal with closets is remove everything. This pertains to closets being used for storage only. Use the three box method, clean the closet then replace only what you are keeping. At this time you may want to add space saving tips or organizers to make things easier to finds and discourage future clutter.

Cleaning: Unlike my Mom, I have new gadgets to help me so I don't have to lug heavy pails of cleaning solution around and I don't use toxic chemical cleaners. Everything I use to clean our home is on a previous entry. Also unlike Mom, I do not wash every piece of clothing I'm going to donate. It was clean in the drawers and they are going to wash it anyway. I have kept some of the old habits though like working from top to bottom. It makes good sense. Start with the ceilings then work your way down.

Outside: This can be as simple as picking up twigs and broken branches or in my case cleaning the garden beds to prepare them for planting. We tend to get a lot of branches and twigs so even during the winter, if the weather is nice, I'll take a 10 or 15 minute break and pick up whatever I can. It doesn't seem like a lot but it does save from a major having to do it all at once cleaning. Cleaning the garden areas is as simple as removing any rubbish and debris. But this is also the time to look at problem areas or pest problems like mice or spiders. Deal with these problems now.

Garage: Here's our nightmare! We start with the recyclables. During the winter months they pile up because they are in huge bins and bringing the bins back in with winter conditions is difficult for me but I can't leave them out there to blow away either so they pile up. Starting right about now we try to get whatever recyclables out possible. Empty beer cases, while we don't drink it ourselves but I cook with it on occasion, do pile up. We have kids and friends that tend to leave their empties after poker parties despite my warnings they must take them with them. We gather these for one load for our son to take the empties back. The funds goes towards filling his gas tank so everyone is happy. My husband crushes all the cardboard which is taken to a larger recycling drop-off. Once that is done it is time to tackle the clutter. We have three walls of industrial shelving and it holds a lot, too much! What it tends to gather aside of the necessary (Christmas & seasonal storage) things are things we don't need in the house but aren't sure whether we will need it again. We try to pare this down to one shelf. Then it is off to sweeping out the garage.

Spring cleaning is a tradition and one that can easily be worked into most schedules by breaking it down into bite size chunks. Pace yourself. As long as you do 15 minutes per day on the declutter stage followed by the cleaning broke into rooms, it will be more than manageable and your house will be squeaky clean freeing up a lot of time to enjoy those summer rays and that what it's all about.

Image by: Free
Clipart or Photos: www.ace-clipart.com

Garden Gnome
© 2007

With rising energy costs, I think everyone is concerned with saving energy in all areas of their home. Since I spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen, I thought I'd start there. Let's face it the energy costs are not going to get any lower and the kitchen is filled with a lot of large energy users. Then there are all the small appliances that when used add to the energy load. I heard so many frugalistas claim their meal costs under a $1 per serving to make but for some reason they never calculate in the energy costs per serving. When factored in, energy costs could easily increase considerably the cost per serving.

We are currently paying 5.5¢ per kWh (6.4¢ per kWh adjusted rate) but that goes up to 5.8¢ per kWh in April. We also pay a higher fee for usage above 1000 kWh per month. Now in reality we pay a little over that per kWh in service charges (delivery, regulatory, dept retirement and GST) so on the lowest end we are paying a total cost of closer to 13¢ per kWh. The amount of kWh used directly affects all the service charges. We are currently paying 31.9¢ per cubic metres of natural gas plus additional service charges. Water and sewage is averaging about $30 per month. All three utilities are used in food prep in some manner so knowing that, here some of the things I do to reduce energy usage in the kitchen.

Major Appliances: Any major appliance should be replaced with an Energy Star® qualified model if at all possible. But that isn't always possible so take necessary steps to minimize energy wastage by maintaining and using your appliances wisely.

Stovetop: I do a lot of stovetop cooking especially with the amount of canning I do. Stove burners can be larger energy consumers but there are ways to combat that. I think it is important to fit the pot or pan to the burner. Too large or two small of a pot and you are wasting energy. Second wherever possible, use lids! I also prefer to steam vegetables. Steaming is faster, uses less energy and the vegetables don't get that water logged look or feel. I like using pressure cookers for energy savings as well. Not only do they cook food faster with excellent results, they save money. Stovetops must be kept clean especially the drip pans that are designed to reflect the heat from the burner back to the pot. So if your drip pans are heavily stained, you're wasting energy dollars!

Oven: My number one rule of thumb is not to operate the oven for one thing. If I'm making a casserole for dinner chances are good there will be two or three other things in the oven for later in the week. I aways us convect when possible as that not only reduces the cooking temperature by 25ºF but also the cooking time. The self cleaning feature on the oven uses 8kWh on average. By my calculations each time I use this feature at the 2 hr setting it cost me $3.99 despite Hydro One quoting it at 89¢ ($1.98 actual cost) per use. Even at the higher cost, running the self clean feature is still cheaper and less toxic than using oven cleaners plus there are no containers for the landfills. However, to save on this feature, I like to wipe up spills in the oven after each use. That way I can minimize running the self clean feature to bi-monthly. Clean ovens are more efficient to operate than dirty ovens.

Refrigerator: This can be an expensive appliance to run if not Energy Star® qualified. If not, check all seals using the dollar bill test. Place a dollar bill on the seal, short end facing out. Shut the door. Now give the dollar bill a tug. If it breaks free, replace the seals. Keep your seals clean. I wipe them down once a week. If you have a model with coils on the back, vacuum those monthly for better energy usage. I don't like over stuffing my fridge because that interferes with air circulation. I also like to let hot foods cool before placing in the refrigerator.

Freezer: If you have a freezer especially and older one, you could be paying as much as $20 or more per month just to store food. It is best to replace or at least keep fully stocked. Use jugs of water if necessary. Keep the seals clean and replace if necessary. I prefer to have all foods cooled before placing in the freezers. I also don't like adding a lot of unfrozen food to the freezers at one time. Sometimes this can't be helped but in general if I can avoid it, I will. If your freezer is in an unheated space as one of ours is, cover with a heavy blanket. This helps conserve a bit of energy.

Dishwasher: My dishwasher only runs when fully loaded, drying element off! That may mean more than once on busy cooking days or only a few times a week when I haven't been doing a lot of cooking. I like using a liquid detergent with rinse agent included because it does dissolve better in our water. For ultimate functioning, the filters are cleaned regularly and I run an empty load once a month using only vinegar.

Microwave: Sorry folks, I'm not a big microwave user even though it can be a large energy saver. It really depends on your usage and your cooking style. I have an 1100 w that on full power costs 2¢ per 5 minutes. Not bad really except I don't like food cooked in the microwave so it really is used for reheating. However, if you use your microwave more than me, keep it clean. That is really easy to do by boiling a cup of water, letting it sit 5 minutes than wiping out the inside.

Small Appliances: I love cooking so that means small appliances and if you have read my cooking blog, Mom's Cafe Home Cooking, you will know my current goal is replacing whatever small appliances I can with KitchenAid® attachments for my stand mixer. The reason for this is both energy and space savings. So my first tip would be to eliminate any single use appliances if possible. The next step is to calculate the cost per use of that appliance then decide if you really need that appliance. The calculation is kW/1000 x rate adjustment x cost/kWh x hours used x number of times per month used = cost of operation. Some small appliances are going to be worth it just for the convenience but others aren't depending on your use. You might be surprised at how much some of these small appliances are costing you per month. Honestly, there are a lot of electrical appliances that are available in manual form and always nice to have on hand during power outages. Check out Lehman's for any kind of non-electric appliance. I invested in a good set of knives and knife sharpener as well as manual graters, mandolin. I refuse to use an electric can opener and do not have a toaster oven.

Natural Gas or Propane Grills: During the summer, I use my outdoor natural gas grill as much as possible. The cost for natural gas is considerably lower than electricity here. By cooking outdoors not only am I reducing the cost per serving by using less expensive energy, I am also saving on AC costs by not heating the house. I use my grill not only for grilling but as an oven for baking and roasting.

PS. The title I made is supposed to be animated but for some reason the animation is being stripped. I have an SOS out to a help group to see if I can find out what the problem is. If you see it as an animation, please let me know in the comment area. Thanks so much!

Animation Update (March 11, 2007): It still won't animate properly when uploaded directly to Blogger. A very kind soul uploaded the title to his site and when uploaded to Blogger that way, now works.


Garden Gnome
© 2007

Photo Enhancement

There are many reasons for enhancing your photos. I have been learning how to better use the features in Adobe Photoshop CS Version 8.0. This is a lovely program with a lot of function that I was basically using to simply resize images. Instead of taking the time to learn more about what this program could do, I simply bought a couple of scrapbooking programs when I decided to start into digital scrapbooking. This was not the frugal way to do things when I already had a program that could do all these things and so much more. For my genealogy images, I simply uploaded them to the program without any type of enhancement. Well, suffice to say I am now learning the different features thanks to a couple of very nice Yahoo groups and a lot of tutorials.

On Tap

I've been playing with animation, filters, and layers. So today I tried out a couple of ways to make picture frames. This is the result of my first attempt.

This is a photo taken at a restaurant we enjoy. I always have my camera with me when away from home and within easy reach at home. I take a lot of pictures! Digital just makes it so easy. My current digital camera is a Canon PowerShot A450, 6.0 mega pixel and 4x optical zoom. Holding the zoom control it will go up to 16x but the graininess increases. This only seems to be noticeable on certain photographs though. Back to the photo, I liked the looks of the copper beer tap so snapped a photo of it.

I did something wrong on this tutorial but am not sure what. The only thing I can figure is I merged to many layers. That's easy to do since I'm rather new at using layers. My end result was an 8" x 10" supposed to be frame with no way to remove the background leaving only the frame so I decided to improvise. I opened the photo, did a cut and past, then centred it onto the frame image, added my name then merged the layers. I thought the results weren't too bad and that the colour of the resulting frame accents the photo is rather a fluke too. The frame consists of layers with filters creating texture and beveling.

Ice on Water

Well onto the second tutorial. I used a picture taken by me a couple of days ago. We live on the water so I take a lot of water shots. This one was so much easier to follow. I added my name to the photo and merged the layers. Then I duplicated that layer and added a gaussian blur filter, layer set to multiply and adjusted the opacity. After merging the layers, I created a new layer, dragged that to the bottom and created the first matt by changing the canvas size by .2. The next layer was created the same way with canvas size at .5 and the third at .8. Each matt was filled using a colour picked from the picture using the eye dropper tool then filled with the paintbucket tool. Overall I like the effect. I think it gives a more formal look that will work nicely for enhancing my genealogy photos.

Ice on Water with Filters

This is the same picture as above but slightly cropped with no frame and more filters added. I thought it would be neat to try and get that true sparkly look of the ice. The sun was very bright when this picture was taken so I started playing to try and capture that feeling.

I added the name, merged the layers then did the gaussian adjustment. Now, the gaussian adjustment was another tutorial that works with layers. Depending on how it is used, it deepens the colours and just softly softens the edges a bit. It seems to work better on some photos than others. Once the gaussian adjustment I used a texture filter set to patchwork. That looked rather interesting but it still did not have the sparkle I wanted. An artistic filter set to plastic wrap seemed to fit best and this was the end result. I can't wait to use this in scrapbooking!

Golden Glow

This was something I was just playing around with after working with frames. The picture was taken during sunset the same day the water picture above was taken. The sky was absolutely gorgeous!

I discovered that the marquee gave other shapes than rectangular so decided to test it out. After several attempts and realizing that once it's make if you use the move tool, it moves leaving a transparent background. So I hit copy then new and then paste. Well that looked pretty good but I thought some type of frame would be nice except I didn't know how to do that so I beveled that layer instead. Then I added my name and merged. I liked the effects and think this will be perfect for both scrapbooking and genealogy.

Hopefully this gives you a few ideas of what is possible as far as photo enhancement. I am definitely in the learning stages. It is amazing some of the effects you can get. I encourage you to try some of these techniques. There are a lot of resources to help you learn them. The possibilities are endless and I can't wait to use them in my scrapbooking and genealogy projects!

Enjoy!

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Laundry Detergent for Front Loading Washers

I must say how impressed I am with my Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer. Yesterday alone, I did up all our laundry (1 1/2 extra deep hampers), every comforter and sheet in the house, 8 king size pillows, 5 large afghans, 2 thow pillows and 3 door mats. My husband refused to strip so I could do more laundry. I started about 10 am and was done and in completely finished by 3 pm and that is taking into consideration my folding time as well as going at a slower pace. I could never have done that with my old top loading washer. I am very impressed with this set.

With the new front loading washing maching a High Efficiency (HE) is needed. This is a type of detergent specifically formatted for use in front loading washers. We knew this before we bought the washer so it was no surprise. While some have said they use regular laundry soap in their front loading washers this is not recommended. The front loading washers use 1/3 to 2/3 less water than top loading washers. That means regular laundry soap will not dissolve easily and may leave a soap residue on the clothes. Regular soap also causes more suds in front loading washers because of the tumbling action something that will make your washer work harder, creates an overflow problem and cause components on your washer to breakdown prematurely. Considering that a front loading washing machine will set you back about $1000 you really need to follow the manufacturer's recommendations. While it may on the surface be frugal to save on laundry soap, it will not be frugal when you have a high repair bill on a relatively new washer.

There are several sites that outline making your own laundry soap. Sorry this is not suitable for front load washers. Remember you are saving a great deal on electricity, water, detergent, time and the wear and tear on your clothes. You are also saving on the cost of drying the clothes so spending a little more on laundry detergent is more than covered. Consider too that less soap residue in your clothes is a good thing! It lessens clothes going dingy and reduces allegic reactions. Clothes do not need to smell the latest, greatest scent put out by the manufacturers in order to be clean. While there are powdered versions of HE laundry detergent, the liquid HE has a better reputation.

Our washer came with a sample of Tide HE however due to allergies and asthma we cannot use that brand. There are other brands available so let's do the math. As always break it down into cost per load. We bought a bottle of Sunlight Multi-Action HE Fresh Rain. Honestly, I do wish the manufacturers would give it a rest on the scenting of everything! Surprisingly the scent, something I cannot tolerate, wasn't too strong. This is 3X concentrated and formulated for front loading washers. A 946 ml bottle cost $8.99 for 32 loads working out to a cost of 28¢ per load. The appliance store where we bought our set sells a 120 load liquid HE detergent for $29.99. That works out to 24.9¢ per load. Neither price is overly expensive and more than reasonable per load. But I decided to check around. Amazon.com is selling a 9 pack of All Small & Mighty for $47.99. It does 288 loads at 16¢ per load however you do have to factor in shipping costs that will increase the cost per load. The best deal I have found was at Sam's Club who is selling a 3 pack of All Small & Mighty for $11.74 so I will be buying that our next trip. That works out to 12¢ per load with no shipping costs. All these figures are based on if you are using the amount of detergent the manufacturer recommends but quite often less detergent will get the clothes just as clean. So if you want to save even more shop around. Just remember to use only HE detergent in front loading washers!

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Christmas Miracle

Our new grandbaby made her debute Dec. 23, 2006 at 8:03 pm. She weighed in at 8 lb 6 oz and is absolutely the most perfect little sweetheart you have ever seen!

Garden Gnome
© 2006