I started my business because I wanted to build something valuable. I sold it because it was time to build something else. I loved the challenge of creating, then growing something scratch. Although my Amazon business remained small (about $100K annual sales), it was fun to carefully select … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Lose an Audience
Tonight I tried to listen to a podcast on a topic I care about and closed it out after 10 minutes. I'm not sure how I tolerated it that long. Why? Here are 5 ways to lose an audience: Assume your listeners are stupid. Your verbal mannerisms, language choices, sighs, all these convey … [Read more...]
How to Make a Lattice Top Crust Pie
Lattice topped pies look so fancy that we think they are hard to make. In fact they are easy! Here's Dave's method to make a pie with a lattice top crust. Make the pie as usual and be sure the bottom crust edges extend over the top of the pie plate. 1 Moisten the top of the bottom … [Read more...]
Planting a Perennial Grass Garden – Clean Up Steps
We had a mess in our back yard with weeds and left over black dirt and gravel that covered up the perfect spot for my perennial grass garden. It is the bunch of dead plants and dirt and an old tarp right in front of the fence on the right. Since it's good to share here are close … [Read more...]
Garden in Mid April 2017: Weeds, Leaves and Flowers!
Tick tock, tick tock. Time is moving. Spring is advancing. Flowers are ready to bloom and I'm Not Ready! Last fall I decided to leave the debris and summer stalks in situ and deal with them in the spring. Well...now it's spring and I've got 3 garden beds full of stalks and leaves and spring … [Read more...]
The Birds of Spring – And a Rufous Sided Towhee
We live in a rural area with a large field behind us and wooded swaths about half a mile north and we get a lot of birds. All winter we have cardinals, sparrows, titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, gold finches, juncos, mourning doves, purple finches plus the odd blackbird, blue jay and robin and lots … [Read more...]
This Year’s Haul: Windblown Garbage in the Trees
We are on a ridge and it gets pretty windy here. The wind swoops up garbage and debris from cross street just south of us and deposits it in the trees and along the fence. In spring 2016 I found someone's cashier check for rent, paper bags, drink cups and lots of other mail. This year the most … [Read more...]
Cats Have Impeccable Timing
I sat in my office all afternoon yesterday without a glimpse of George. Today he spent the morning sleeping on my soft shawl in the closet and came out only at 3 to get some love and lap time. Why 3? Why not earlier? It was raining earlier, pouring. Despite the empty bird feeders and … [Read more...]
Remembering Dad with Ice Box Cookies
My Mom made Ice Box Cookies* her own, special cookies that all of us kids remember. My Dad liked them too... I remember Dad taking me to Saginaw to see the eye doctor. I was about 7 and that was a longish trip at the time, about an hour. Mom packed Ice Box Cookies in a coffee tin for us to … [Read more...]
It’s Been An Interesting Week
It's been an interesting week. Last Tuesday and Wednesday we had a fierce windstorm with winds more than 60 miles per hour. For the first time ever since we moved here 5 years ago we lost power for more than a few hours. In fact we were out from early afternoon on the 8th until evening on the … [Read more...]