Hello Friends,
I have decided to change a few things in my blog. First and for most the name. I am now called Suzanne Richards Living Fully. I believe this name is more applicable to my blog and what I try to convey. Secondly, I have changed my layout. I like a clean organized page so I'm experimenting with new layouts as I go. This one, for now, is right for me.
Our lives are always changing therefore we need to change with the times. Go with the flow as they say. I working on a few new articles to place here in my blog, I hope they will be more fulfilling and help many more people in their lives.
Be well, live well, and love one another.
Suzanne
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Garden Happenings
Dear Friends,
As the season has progressed, my garden has come along way. I added more fertilizer mid way through the season and can now see the results. I have been harvesting zuccini as have so many other gardeners, along with arugula. Sharing with my friends is one of the best parts to gardening. It brings me much joy to see their delight at my gift. Yesterday, I received in return for my gifts, a larg head of butter lettuce. I truly appreciate the thought, care and love that went in to his garden and the kind gesture on his part. Mutual appreciation all around.
I also have been reseeding some plants for fall harvest. I have now started carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach and peas. Hopefully they will grow and I'll reap the rewards of a successful veggie garden. I bought a soil test kit to see what nutrients my soil lacks if any. I feel I should do this test after my season has ended because I'll not be able to amend the soil now. Regardless, my garden thrives. For the first time since living here I have a garden. I guess it's the time, water and fertilizer that has paid off. Prior to this year I had little time to contribute, and I did not fertilize enough to grow anything.
No mirical grow here. No roundup here either. I pull weeds or douse them with vinegar, and I feed my plants with manure and 10-10-10. It has been a little difficult to do all this work since my car accident in March. I sustained back, neck and arm injuries that are healing slowly. However, I do only a little at a time and aquire help for the really heavy stuff. Proof that a garden can be made with only a little time and effort.
More to follow as I progress. I will add some phots to my sight soon.
Peace, love and happiness
Suz
As the season has progressed, my garden has come along way. I added more fertilizer mid way through the season and can now see the results. I have been harvesting zuccini as have so many other gardeners, along with arugula. Sharing with my friends is one of the best parts to gardening. It brings me much joy to see their delight at my gift. Yesterday, I received in return for my gifts, a larg head of butter lettuce. I truly appreciate the thought, care and love that went in to his garden and the kind gesture on his part. Mutual appreciation all around.
I also have been reseeding some plants for fall harvest. I have now started carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach and peas. Hopefully they will grow and I'll reap the rewards of a successful veggie garden. I bought a soil test kit to see what nutrients my soil lacks if any. I feel I should do this test after my season has ended because I'll not be able to amend the soil now. Regardless, my garden thrives. For the first time since living here I have a garden. I guess it's the time, water and fertilizer that has paid off. Prior to this year I had little time to contribute, and I did not fertilize enough to grow anything.
No mirical grow here. No roundup here either. I pull weeds or douse them with vinegar, and I feed my plants with manure and 10-10-10. It has been a little difficult to do all this work since my car accident in March. I sustained back, neck and arm injuries that are healing slowly. However, I do only a little at a time and aquire help for the really heavy stuff. Proof that a garden can be made with only a little time and effort.
More to follow as I progress. I will add some phots to my sight soon.
Peace, love and happiness
Suz
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Watts the matter?
Hello All,
I wanted to tell you of my recent discovery regarding outdoor lighting. After Hurricane Sandy here in NJ, we were left without light for about 10 days. As a result I realized how dark the night is. We have a dark road compared to other areas in our county, but this time it was totally dark. No house lights, no street lights, no light pollution from the highway. Total darkness. I had battery operated lights but really wondered what I would do if I intact had run out of batteries and could not get them. Especially since people were buying them up left and right because we had mass power outages. That experience taught me to think about a lot of things before the next disaster. Food cooking and light. No I did not buy a generator. Nor did I stock up on batteries. I had a crank radio that we cranked up to listen to the radio reports about what was going on. Since there was little to no communication available. Then I realized the radio was also solar powered. ( that radio in a bit) Remembering those tacky solar power, very dim, lights people place along their exterior path ways made me think about getting some. But what was the cost? After all they are dim and not bright at all. Well a little looking after the power came back on, and I found solar powered lights that were quite bright. 12 Lumens in fact! Yes LED (Light emitting diode for those who do not know and call them led lights) stick in the ground path way or spot lights. They are completely solar powered and positionable. I bought a few to see how they worked. They stay on almost all night with total brightness after being fully charged. I have been up early a few times and see that they have gotten dim by around 4 am. All in all they really are nice.
I am always trying to reduce or eliminate my energy usage because of the cost, so I found new ways of using these lights to benefit me if I need in the future. First things first. I DID NOT place them along my pathway like some kind of landing strip to guide planes to. I am cheap but have some sort of taste, hopefully good. I placed three in the front yard:
-One was placed by the mail box to light my walk way. Remember it is movable so I aimed it at the steps and the walk way and it looks great.
-I positioned the second in the garden aimed down the other path to the rear door. Fantastic!
-The third light lights up the full front of the house so none will be able to trip and fall going from front to back.
They look like professional lights on the house (how Jersey) and do a great job at illuminating my walk ways. I loved them so much I bought 4 more to light the back patio. I also positioned them in the gardens to aim on the walking area and give the whole place a lit, bright, welcoming feel.
These light do not necessarily have to be stuck in the ground as utilitarian lights like they are intended. Get creative and you'll find other uses for them.
1. Buy the fancy ones and place 5 or 7 of them in a bucket or planter pot to make a bouquet table light.
2. Add flowers or a potted plant and you have a lighted party planter to enjoy year round.
3. Bring them inside to make a funny cute light bouquet in the house when the power goes out or to illuminate a dark stairwell.
They need sun or daylight to charge fully so remember to bring it back out they next day to recharge. The cost savings will add up. Last night we were outside and I felt happy with the way the house looked and was proud of my small investment that saves me big. To check out my savings, I found a website that estimates our cost per kilowatt hour in cents and for NJ it was 15.93 cents per kWh. Check it out on line at [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Kilowatts-Used-by-Light-Bulbs] for the amount you will use or just look on the back of a light bulb package. In terms of LED light bulbs, 40 watts is 450 lumens, so buying LED bulbs will take a little education. I figure I save about $40 per year just leaving off two bulbs one in front and one in back. Not a lot of money but every little bit ads up and these look so cool. I am investigating other solar powered things on line an have found so many cool toys. But like anything my frugal sense stops me from buy gadgets I really don't need. What I did buy, the other family members are using and loving. And they are of course EATING THEIR WORDS about how ridiculous I was buying "stupid" stuff. They can also eat their words in the dark if so needed. lol.
Love to all.
Suz
for information on where I purchase my items, write to suztheadvicelady@gmail.com :)
My Metal Recycling
Good Morning!
I have been busy growing my vegetable garden which is coming along nicely, and clearing out the old in my home to make room for the new. It feels good to dispose of items that, for some reason, we hang on to, but never use. I am not sure why we keep stuff, but, well, I cleaned house. Both mentally and physically. I got together all the junk I did not want. Over a week of cleaning, and organizing then suddenly the fridge in the music studio dies. "NO!" No running motor, not getting cold, but the light is on. DANG! Well now what? Brainstorm.... I said to my Tom, "Let's see if some one will come take it." So we went to Freecycle.org to find a person wanting some old appliances. As we did so Tom says "Call Blewett's." (**a local metal scrap yard) I replied, "They don't take refrigerators, only clean metal." So, Tom called a man who advertised that he takes old refrigerators and other appliances. Well just as he was talking on the phone to that person, it occurred to me that Tom is most likely right and that we should call the scrap metal place to see if they do in fact take refrigerators. Guess what? They Do! "Any metal" said the lady at the scrap recycling place.
$$ Kaching! $$. So, here we go! We are looking around the house and yard to make this trip worth every penny. We stuff the old fridge in the van and our neighbor comes to help. (We love Fred and all our neighbors. Salt of the earth they are. God blessed us with these neighbors.) So Fred says "What are you doing with this?" "It's broke" we said. "we are taking it to Blewett's." Fred replies, "So now you will have "beer" money." "I also have aluminum chairs you can take if they can fit." We laughed at the reference to the amount of money we will likely make from our "scrap metal". As it turns out, I have lots of scrap. No kidding! I found old metal pipes, a broken ladder, a lamp, wine rack, disk break pads, chairs from Fred's, and so forth.
We head over to Blewett's metal recycling and pull in. From the front all you see is a fence with a sign that says "Drive up". Tom knew what to do so he told me to pull forward onto the scale. We did and were weighed. Then we were directed to the drop off area. It was a very busy place. People from all over the area were there doing the same thing. Driving all around back and forth dropping off metal. I have never had such an experience before. Men with pickup trucks dumping old chairs, car parts, TV's along with every other metal object they could scrounge up. It looked like mayhem but it was infact a well functioning yard. Then, I saw this big backhoe with a car body stuck to the front. The driver is driving all over the place with it. I was confused as to what to do because everyone seemed to be going in every direction. Trucks are parked dropping off stuff, then driving around you as you pull in, then backing up really fast toward you only to turn around and drive out. After a few minutes of unloading our "scrap" I realized that the backhoe driver with the car stuck to the front actually had a purpose. He was using the car body as a broom! Holy moly! He backed up then pushed the scrap piles to one bigger pile across the lot. Over and over he did this to create one giant pile of metal for crushing. The other people, who seemingly are driving aimlessly in every direction, are used to this place and know exactly what to do because they have done it a billion times before. It was just my perception that this was mayhem. But it wasn't. We then got to the area where you drop off aluminum and brass. You get more if you sort your metal's. We wait on line, then back in when it's our turn. We get a ticket for those metal's, then get weighed again. Tom parks the van in the lot and goes in to the office to get paid. Within 4 minutes he comes out with a receipt detailing our metals and weight of the scrap, along with a few dollars. "Well, we got beer money." "$40."
All smiles we headed home with a new experience together and a great understanding of how people make money with scrap metal. How useful John Blewett's place is in keeping our landfills free of useful waste. Many others will benefit from this scrap metal yard too. From the people who collect it, to the people who buy it from Blewett's. What a great memory we will share and a fabulous experience in recycling.
Need Money? Two words. Scrap Metal.
Peace.
Suzanne
**It is my understanding that the metal from Blewett's is sorted by type, crushed, cubed, and sold to companies who will melt it down and manufacture something useful.
I have been busy growing my vegetable garden which is coming along nicely, and clearing out the old in my home to make room for the new. It feels good to dispose of items that, for some reason, we hang on to, but never use. I am not sure why we keep stuff, but, well, I cleaned house. Both mentally and physically. I got together all the junk I did not want. Over a week of cleaning, and organizing then suddenly the fridge in the music studio dies. "NO!" No running motor, not getting cold, but the light is on. DANG! Well now what? Brainstorm.... I said to my Tom, "Let's see if some one will come take it." So we went to Freecycle.org to find a person wanting some old appliances. As we did so Tom says "Call Blewett's." (**a local metal scrap yard) I replied, "They don't take refrigerators, only clean metal." So, Tom called a man who advertised that he takes old refrigerators and other appliances. Well just as he was talking on the phone to that person, it occurred to me that Tom is most likely right and that we should call the scrap metal place to see if they do in fact take refrigerators. Guess what? They Do! "Any metal" said the lady at the scrap recycling place.
$$ Kaching! $$. So, here we go! We are looking around the house and yard to make this trip worth every penny. We stuff the old fridge in the van and our neighbor comes to help. (We love Fred and all our neighbors. Salt of the earth they are. God blessed us with these neighbors.) So Fred says "What are you doing with this?" "It's broke" we said. "we are taking it to Blewett's." Fred replies, "So now you will have "beer" money." "I also have aluminum chairs you can take if they can fit." We laughed at the reference to the amount of money we will likely make from our "scrap metal". As it turns out, I have lots of scrap. No kidding! I found old metal pipes, a broken ladder, a lamp, wine rack, disk break pads, chairs from Fred's, and so forth.
We head over to Blewett's metal recycling and pull in. From the front all you see is a fence with a sign that says "Drive up". Tom knew what to do so he told me to pull forward onto the scale. We did and were weighed. Then we were directed to the drop off area. It was a very busy place. People from all over the area were there doing the same thing. Driving all around back and forth dropping off metal. I have never had such an experience before. Men with pickup trucks dumping old chairs, car parts, TV's along with every other metal object they could scrounge up. It looked like mayhem but it was infact a well functioning yard. Then, I saw this big backhoe with a car body stuck to the front. The driver is driving all over the place with it. I was confused as to what to do because everyone seemed to be going in every direction. Trucks are parked dropping off stuff, then driving around you as you pull in, then backing up really fast toward you only to turn around and drive out. After a few minutes of unloading our "scrap" I realized that the backhoe driver with the car stuck to the front actually had a purpose. He was using the car body as a broom! Holy moly! He backed up then pushed the scrap piles to one bigger pile across the lot. Over and over he did this to create one giant pile of metal for crushing. The other people, who seemingly are driving aimlessly in every direction, are used to this place and know exactly what to do because they have done it a billion times before. It was just my perception that this was mayhem. But it wasn't. We then got to the area where you drop off aluminum and brass. You get more if you sort your metal's. We wait on line, then back in when it's our turn. We get a ticket for those metal's, then get weighed again. Tom parks the van in the lot and goes in to the office to get paid. Within 4 minutes he comes out with a receipt detailing our metals and weight of the scrap, along with a few dollars. "Well, we got beer money." "$40."
All smiles we headed home with a new experience together and a great understanding of how people make money with scrap metal. How useful John Blewett's place is in keeping our landfills free of useful waste. Many others will benefit from this scrap metal yard too. From the people who collect it, to the people who buy it from Blewett's. What a great memory we will share and a fabulous experience in recycling.
Need Money? Two words. Scrap Metal.
Peace.
Suzanne
**It is my understanding that the metal from Blewett's is sorted by type, crushed, cubed, and sold to companies who will melt it down and manufacture something useful.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Cleaning: What your Mother never told you
Good Morning Friends:
I have been working on some new ideas for cleaning and have found the information I'm about to write here to be very valuable.
My mother was an excellent housekeeper. In her older years she had some one come do the work for her but to her specifications. Her house always looked organized and clean. The only thing I noticed was amount of different cleaning products. She had ten or twelve different cleaning products to clean every different surface in her home. It occurred to me that perhaps we could use only four basic ingredients to conquer the same tasks, so I went on a mission. Here's what I have found.
1. Vinegar is more useful than we estimate
2. Hydrogen Peroxide is great for blood
3. Soap and water clean most everything
4. Ammonia is the single best grease cutter and crud cutter on the planet
If you use these four basic ingredients you have an arsenal of cleaning power for only a few dollars and they do every job you can imagine. Here's what I mean.
Vinegar can be used as a disinfectant, grease cutter, drain de-clogger, window cleaner, and laundry aide. I use vinegar for all these things but find it most useful as my fabric softener. I love the way it works. It measures the same as my downy but costs a fraction to use. No my clothes do not smell like vinegar. Next is peroxide. This lil' wonder removes so many stains I can't begin to name them all. I heard from my mom that is cleans out blood. So I got my feminine stained panties from the wash and went to work on the blood with straight peroxide. I let it sit in a wash tub with a little on the stain, then rubbed and viola! Wash as usual and gone! I also use it in place of the oxide cleaner for the laundry and found peroxide to work just as well. I buy it in large bottles at a buying club to save on money. It also will whiten yellowed whites if washed the dried in the sun. I no longer use bleach unless its really tough. It is also good to rinse your mouth with after brushing. Use a little peroxide mixed with water to kill all the germs in your mouth, but DO NOT SWALLOW! Peroxides could be lethal.
Soap and water obviously clean what we already know, however, rinsing is the most important part. If you do not thoroughly rinse the soap you will see the dirt reappear. Make certain you have rinsed till no bubbles can be seen, and wring out if possible. Never use it on a carpet because the stain will show again where you scrubbed. Instead on carpets use vinegar.
Ammonia is awful smelling but, with a little tolerance you can cut tough grease in the kitchen in no time. Also use it on windows cut with water 10 - 1. I also use it to clean my gold jewelry and gemstones. I mix half water and half ammonia in a small plastic cup and swish. No more dirt and they gleam too!
I have many more cleaning solutions. Share this information with your friends and email me if you need help getting a spot out. I may have a solution you never thought of.
Peace,
Suzanne Richards
Suztheadvicelady@gmail.com
I have been working on some new ideas for cleaning and have found the information I'm about to write here to be very valuable.
My mother was an excellent housekeeper. In her older years she had some one come do the work for her but to her specifications. Her house always looked organized and clean. The only thing I noticed was amount of different cleaning products. She had ten or twelve different cleaning products to clean every different surface in her home. It occurred to me that perhaps we could use only four basic ingredients to conquer the same tasks, so I went on a mission. Here's what I have found.
1. Vinegar is more useful than we estimate
2. Hydrogen Peroxide is great for blood
3. Soap and water clean most everything
4. Ammonia is the single best grease cutter and crud cutter on the planet
If you use these four basic ingredients you have an arsenal of cleaning power for only a few dollars and they do every job you can imagine. Here's what I mean.
Vinegar can be used as a disinfectant, grease cutter, drain de-clogger, window cleaner, and laundry aide. I use vinegar for all these things but find it most useful as my fabric softener. I love the way it works. It measures the same as my downy but costs a fraction to use. No my clothes do not smell like vinegar. Next is peroxide. This lil' wonder removes so many stains I can't begin to name them all. I heard from my mom that is cleans out blood. So I got my feminine stained panties from the wash and went to work on the blood with straight peroxide. I let it sit in a wash tub with a little on the stain, then rubbed and viola! Wash as usual and gone! I also use it in place of the oxide cleaner for the laundry and found peroxide to work just as well. I buy it in large bottles at a buying club to save on money. It also will whiten yellowed whites if washed the dried in the sun. I no longer use bleach unless its really tough. It is also good to rinse your mouth with after brushing. Use a little peroxide mixed with water to kill all the germs in your mouth, but DO NOT SWALLOW! Peroxides could be lethal.
Soap and water obviously clean what we already know, however, rinsing is the most important part. If you do not thoroughly rinse the soap you will see the dirt reappear. Make certain you have rinsed till no bubbles can be seen, and wring out if possible. Never use it on a carpet because the stain will show again where you scrubbed. Instead on carpets use vinegar.
Ammonia is awful smelling but, with a little tolerance you can cut tough grease in the kitchen in no time. Also use it on windows cut with water 10 - 1. I also use it to clean my gold jewelry and gemstones. I mix half water and half ammonia in a small plastic cup and swish. No more dirt and they gleam too!
I have many more cleaning solutions. Share this information with your friends and email me if you need help getting a spot out. I may have a solution you never thought of.
Peace,
Suzanne Richards
Suztheadvicelady@gmail.com
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Garden Delight
Morning All:
I am still working on my garden. I have learned that too many plants are no good. I have no room for the flats I bought. I gave 24 plants to my neighborhood friends and they loved my generosity. So glad to have such great friends in the neighborhood. A true blessing. I am certain God placed me in this house so I could have good happy life with my family here in Howell. Now to change one or two more significant things in my life. Then I will truly be fulfilled.
I have now planted lima and butternut squash seeds in small pots to see if they will flourish. Its been rainy and cloudy so I am hoping that this will aid in their growth. I am going to plant nothing but edibles this year. I have one or two hanging flower baskets and that is it. Alll my window boxes will be filled with edibles like lettuce and strawberries.
It seems my husband has caught the gardening bug as well. He frequently helps me turn the dirt and does the heavier work for me. He stated "Im not a farmer" but still he helps. He also enjoys my babbling on about the things that are edible in our lawn and in the woods behind our house. I love his attentiveness. :)
Soon we will be in full summer mode. I would love to have a yard that was vacation getaway like. But spending the money on such a yard is not something I want to do. I am too frugal to do all that it takes to do the yard right. We are quite happy for now. I cannot wait for the veggie harvest. I am hopeful I can maintain it through the fall to harvest as much as possible.
Time to head off to work.
Blessings to all
I am still working on my garden. I have learned that too many plants are no good. I have no room for the flats I bought. I gave 24 plants to my neighborhood friends and they loved my generosity. So glad to have such great friends in the neighborhood. A true blessing. I am certain God placed me in this house so I could have good happy life with my family here in Howell. Now to change one or two more significant things in my life. Then I will truly be fulfilled.
I have now planted lima and butternut squash seeds in small pots to see if they will flourish. Its been rainy and cloudy so I am hoping that this will aid in their growth. I am going to plant nothing but edibles this year. I have one or two hanging flower baskets and that is it. Alll my window boxes will be filled with edibles like lettuce and strawberries.
It seems my husband has caught the gardening bug as well. He frequently helps me turn the dirt and does the heavier work for me. He stated "Im not a farmer" but still he helps. He also enjoys my babbling on about the things that are edible in our lawn and in the woods behind our house. I love his attentiveness. :)
Soon we will be in full summer mode. I would love to have a yard that was vacation getaway like. But spending the money on such a yard is not something I want to do. I am too frugal to do all that it takes to do the yard right. We are quite happy for now. I cannot wait for the veggie harvest. I am hopeful I can maintain it through the fall to harvest as much as possible.
Time to head off to work.
Blessings to all
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