Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that the days are getting shorter.
It
was light at 9 p.m. it seems such a short time ago and now as 7 o’clock
rolls around it starts to get dusk and each and every day the weather
person keeps telling us how many minutes there are in daylight and each
day it shortens by a minute. I don’t know about you, but I would just as
soon not know.
It seems as if the sooner it gets dark, the less active we become.
Summer evenings find me out doing things that I can’t when it gets dark so early.
You
can get the lawn mowed, work in your garden, do a little repair work to
the house perhaps, you often see folks taking bike rides, the whole
family enjoying the time together after a workday.
When the daylight saving time leaves you - there are no light hours after you get home from work.
Then the chores outside that have to be done are left until Saturday or the entire weekend.
I tend to go shopping after the supper hour when it is still daylight and I come home before dark.
When
you get home from work and it’s dark then, it is cold, might be
storming, icy roads, do you find that you like to hibernate?
It’s
too much bother to get dressed to go out again, heavy coat, scarf, hat,
boots and gloves. I tend to stay in the house even on sunny days, it’s
too cold outside to travel.
Move to a warmer climate? Getting older and can’t take the cold?
I find that I was like that right out of high school, so it isn’t age.
Talk
to one of your teenage friends. They aren’t that crazy about the cold
either, unless they ski, snowmobile, snowboard or ice fish.
I
like New York state, so I just clench my chattering teeth and bear it. I
try to put all of my list of things together and make one trip to get
them all done so I don’t have to go out again real soon.
And that
makes me happy because I don’t have to put on all of those winter togs
so often. I’m semi-retired so I don’t have to go out every day.
I
do, however, have to bundle up and go out to clean the snow off the
porches and sidewalk, unless my good neighbor gets to it before I do. He
has a snowblower, I only have a shovel. .
The summer was hot, but I’m not complaining. I love the warm weather especially if it isn’t humid.
One of my California friends who was here recently complained about the humidity.
Where she lives there are hardly ever humid days. Not so in Florida!
You can enjoy the warm weather outside and go into the air conditioning and enjoy the cool temperature.
Most
people would say you can have the same in the winter only in reverse -
but when the thermometer drops near zero somehow it just isn’t quite the
same with me as when the temperature is climbing to 90 degrees.
That’s life - everyone can’t be pleased and we certainly can’t control the weather.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Water woes
By Carol Weimer
Canastota Corner
It seems so many are water conscious these days. Either folks have too much and they are bailing it out of the cellars or the plants and fields are drying up and people are bringing water to their homes by truck or tank.
This summer as well as last in 2010, we had a spell of drought and ponds and pools were getting dangerously low. This year was almost as bad and many folks who had vegetable and flower gardens were watering them each evening to keep them healthy.
Scientists say we are in drought times, but many of us are inclined not to take these people too seriously.
Nevertheless, when we do have dry spells we realize they just may be right and get a taste of what it would be like if it really happened. This always makes us more frugal with our water supply, trying to see just how much we can save or how long we can get along with a short supply. It is with this in mind that we pass along the following.
Just how much water does a steak dinner cost, anyhow? Of all the water used in the United States, about 6 percent is for residential purposes, 14 percent for industrial use, and a whopping 80 percent for agricultural consumption.
In perspective, here’s what it costs, in terms of gallons of water, to produce a typical American meal:
An eight-ounce baked potato “costs” about 12 gallons of water. Put a single pat of butter on it and you’ve “spent” another 100 gallons. If you’re having chicken, add 408 gallons, plus 18 gallons for green beans, and six gallons for salad, not counting dressing. Dinner rolls at 26 gallons and another 100 gallon pat of butter come up to a grand total of 670 gallons of water for the entire meal.
A meal cheaper in price sometimes costs more in water. For instance, a quarter-pound hamburger, bun, fries and a Coke will cost 1,427 gallons of water — used to manufacture and distribute the packaging materials involved.
However, if you want to go first class and order steak instead of chicken or hamburger, well, one steak costs about 2,607 gallons of our precious water for every single steak serving.
Why am I telling you all of this? The above facts were gathered sometime in the 1980s excerpted from an article by a U.S. Representative from California and published in the Professional Nutritionist.
Something to boggle the mind or just set it to thinking. If it was to set us to thinking way back then, one wonders what percentage of water we use today, some 20 to 25 years now?
Back in the days when folks’ water came from wells — as it does also in many country homes today — water appreciation was one of the things they had to keep in mind. When there is a drought or shortage of water, they are the ones who have to be mindful sooner than those who are on the water lines who receive their water from water authorities.
On the farm, grandmother used to throw her dish water out the back door off the porch steps where her flowers grew and her garden was always a beauty to be seen. Families don’t take as many showers each day, the family car doesn’t get as many baths. In today’s family, there are generally more than one car, and sometimes as many as four or five, depending on how many children are now old enough to drive and have their license. Well owners sometimes have to frequent the laundromat instead of doing the wash at home, trying to save on use of water.
We are a nation that doesn’t much pay attention to the use of our commodities until we either find a shortage or in the case of gasoline, the price per gallon and sometimes that doesn’t even cause us to conserve.
Canastota Corner
It seems so many are water conscious these days. Either folks have too much and they are bailing it out of the cellars or the plants and fields are drying up and people are bringing water to their homes by truck or tank.
This summer as well as last in 2010, we had a spell of drought and ponds and pools were getting dangerously low. This year was almost as bad and many folks who had vegetable and flower gardens were watering them each evening to keep them healthy.
Scientists say we are in drought times, but many of us are inclined not to take these people too seriously.
Nevertheless, when we do have dry spells we realize they just may be right and get a taste of what it would be like if it really happened. This always makes us more frugal with our water supply, trying to see just how much we can save or how long we can get along with a short supply. It is with this in mind that we pass along the following.
Just how much water does a steak dinner cost, anyhow? Of all the water used in the United States, about 6 percent is for residential purposes, 14 percent for industrial use, and a whopping 80 percent for agricultural consumption.
In perspective, here’s what it costs, in terms of gallons of water, to produce a typical American meal:
An eight-ounce baked potato “costs” about 12 gallons of water. Put a single pat of butter on it and you’ve “spent” another 100 gallons. If you’re having chicken, add 408 gallons, plus 18 gallons for green beans, and six gallons for salad, not counting dressing. Dinner rolls at 26 gallons and another 100 gallon pat of butter come up to a grand total of 670 gallons of water for the entire meal.
A meal cheaper in price sometimes costs more in water. For instance, a quarter-pound hamburger, bun, fries and a Coke will cost 1,427 gallons of water — used to manufacture and distribute the packaging materials involved.
However, if you want to go first class and order steak instead of chicken or hamburger, well, one steak costs about 2,607 gallons of our precious water for every single steak serving.
Why am I telling you all of this? The above facts were gathered sometime in the 1980s excerpted from an article by a U.S. Representative from California and published in the Professional Nutritionist.
Something to boggle the mind or just set it to thinking. If it was to set us to thinking way back then, one wonders what percentage of water we use today, some 20 to 25 years now?
Back in the days when folks’ water came from wells — as it does also in many country homes today — water appreciation was one of the things they had to keep in mind. When there is a drought or shortage of water, they are the ones who have to be mindful sooner than those who are on the water lines who receive their water from water authorities.
On the farm, grandmother used to throw her dish water out the back door off the porch steps where her flowers grew and her garden was always a beauty to be seen. Families don’t take as many showers each day, the family car doesn’t get as many baths. In today’s family, there are generally more than one car, and sometimes as many as four or five, depending on how many children are now old enough to drive and have their license. Well owners sometimes have to frequent the laundromat instead of doing the wash at home, trying to save on use of water.
We are a nation that doesn’t much pay attention to the use of our commodities until we either find a shortage or in the case of gasoline, the price per gallon and sometimes that doesn’t even cause us to conserve.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Stairway full of memories
I bought a broom the other day, we really needed it.
Generally, the old one goes on our back porch to be used for the porch, steps and cleaning the grass off of the sidewalk after mowing.
Where do you keep your kitchen broom or vacuum? You may be fortunate and have a broom closet.
We don’t, so it hangs on the wall of the cellar stairs.
When I got the new broom home, I realized the handle wasn’t wooden like all of the others we have had.
To hang it I always drilled a hole in the top of the handle, strung wire through it and it was ready to hang.
It’s important that a broom hangs rather than just standing on the floor, because that ruins the the bristles. I tried using my electric drill on the plastic handle, and it just slipped right off.
Frustration. I called my cousin to help me.
The cellarway has a whole story of items that have at one time been used for every day, others that still are used. and those that hung there and still do because of all the memories connected with them.
For instance there is the wooden stool that we placed at the backdoor window so our Siamese cat could look out on winter days when it was too cold to go outside. She would sit there for hours watching birds and squirrels.
There is a tennis racket we use if a bird or bat gets into the house and my straw beach hat that I wore on the muck when topping onions and now in the garden when the sun is really hot.
There is my dad’s hat he always hung when he came into the house.
No reason to eliminate it just because he is gone. Sentimental, yes.
There’s a pancake griddle we use when there is company and we need a large one.
There is an assortment of pans and tubs.
Grandma used to soak her feet; we now use it to soak clothes that need special attention before going into the washer.
A shelf holds a scale for weighing veggies or fruit when we’re canning and a brown jug we used to fill with molasses from a barrel in the store.
A wooden cupboard above the shelf has a door with a porcelain knob.
It was built for an unusual reason.
If you read my columns you have read my mention of old houses that have nooks and crannies that are intriguing to me.
This cupboard was built solely to cover the chimney and there is no room for anything inside.
Look around your own house with fresh eyes.
It’s amazing what you encounter every day and don’t really “see” until you think about it or actually “look” at it.
Generally, the old one goes on our back porch to be used for the porch, steps and cleaning the grass off of the sidewalk after mowing.
Where do you keep your kitchen broom or vacuum? You may be fortunate and have a broom closet.
We don’t, so it hangs on the wall of the cellar stairs.
When I got the new broom home, I realized the handle wasn’t wooden like all of the others we have had.
To hang it I always drilled a hole in the top of the handle, strung wire through it and it was ready to hang.
It’s important that a broom hangs rather than just standing on the floor, because that ruins the the bristles. I tried using my electric drill on the plastic handle, and it just slipped right off.
Frustration. I called my cousin to help me.
The cellarway has a whole story of items that have at one time been used for every day, others that still are used. and those that hung there and still do because of all the memories connected with them.
For instance there is the wooden stool that we placed at the backdoor window so our Siamese cat could look out on winter days when it was too cold to go outside. She would sit there for hours watching birds and squirrels.
There is a tennis racket we use if a bird or bat gets into the house and my straw beach hat that I wore on the muck when topping onions and now in the garden when the sun is really hot.
There is my dad’s hat he always hung when he came into the house.
No reason to eliminate it just because he is gone. Sentimental, yes.
There’s a pancake griddle we use when there is company and we need a large one.
There is an assortment of pans and tubs.
Grandma used to soak her feet; we now use it to soak clothes that need special attention before going into the washer.
A shelf holds a scale for weighing veggies or fruit when we’re canning and a brown jug we used to fill with molasses from a barrel in the store.
A wooden cupboard above the shelf has a door with a porcelain knob.
It was built for an unusual reason.
If you read my columns you have read my mention of old houses that have nooks and crannies that are intriguing to me.
This cupboard was built solely to cover the chimney and there is no room for anything inside.
Look around your own house with fresh eyes.
It’s amazing what you encounter every day and don’t really “see” until you think about it or actually “look” at it.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
I love my old house
The old house received another coat of paint this summer and I wondered to myself when it was being put on how many times the house had been painted.
The color has remained the same since I was just a little girl old enough to remember the color.
At one time perhaps 70 or 80 years ago when my dad first purchased the house it must have been painted yellow because every so often if the paint is scraped down to the bare wood you see yellow.
Today so many homes have siding that doesn’t need painting for many years, if at all.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to paint the ceiling of our front porch, which I haven’t done yet.
I still plan on doing it, but in the past several weeks I have been painting in other places.
When you live in an old house there is always something to do, those little fix-ups, paint-ups that go on from one year to the next in different places.
Our back porch is the one we sit on the most. One side of the porch needed replacing as the panels and front were decayed.
Fortunately I have a cousin, who is retired and is handy in woodworking. I encouraged him to fix my porch with the idea that I would paint his new woodwork.
I figured it was a good time to repaint the floor. I love to paint, so for some of these weeks
I have kept busy doing something I like.
However, when you paint a floor, you want to make it known that there is wet paint there. I paint with oil-based paint which dried much slower than water-based paint.
Folks arriving at the house were met with a sawhorse across the steps with a “fresh paint” sign applied to it. Other times I have used two bushel crates with a board across informing those who approach to use another entrance.
If you are a homeowner and you enjoy doing these little tasks, isn’t there a big satisfaction when you have completed your job?
Have you ever completed a job where you painted perhaps a floor and then had someone mistakenly walk on it while not entirely dry? Have you ever noticed when masons are putting in a new sidewalk, wall or whatever, someone couldn’t resist the temptation to write a name or maybe the date in the wet concrete?
On 5/23/53, I couldn’t resist when my dad was putting in a pair of steps. It was covered over with grass and forgotten until it was uncovered by a weedeater and brought back memories.
Dated, painted, scratched or engraved on so many things in a house are long-forgotten sometimes until someone discovers them.
Old houses have many interesting mysteries you may find when you acquire property.
Sometimes little doors that were built-in to get to plumbing fixtures, a hole in the wall or cut-out that you cannot fathom why it was placed in that particular spot and there is no one to ask about it. Sometimes “things” that were left in the attic that you acquire and wonder about.
Old houses can sure be interesting.
The color has remained the same since I was just a little girl old enough to remember the color.
At one time perhaps 70 or 80 years ago when my dad first purchased the house it must have been painted yellow because every so often if the paint is scraped down to the bare wood you see yellow.
Today so many homes have siding that doesn’t need painting for many years, if at all.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to paint the ceiling of our front porch, which I haven’t done yet.
I still plan on doing it, but in the past several weeks I have been painting in other places.
When you live in an old house there is always something to do, those little fix-ups, paint-ups that go on from one year to the next in different places.
Our back porch is the one we sit on the most. One side of the porch needed replacing as the panels and front were decayed.
Fortunately I have a cousin, who is retired and is handy in woodworking. I encouraged him to fix my porch with the idea that I would paint his new woodwork.
I figured it was a good time to repaint the floor. I love to paint, so for some of these weeks
I have kept busy doing something I like.
However, when you paint a floor, you want to make it known that there is wet paint there. I paint with oil-based paint which dried much slower than water-based paint.
Folks arriving at the house were met with a sawhorse across the steps with a “fresh paint” sign applied to it. Other times I have used two bushel crates with a board across informing those who approach to use another entrance.
If you are a homeowner and you enjoy doing these little tasks, isn’t there a big satisfaction when you have completed your job?
Have you ever completed a job where you painted perhaps a floor and then had someone mistakenly walk on it while not entirely dry? Have you ever noticed when masons are putting in a new sidewalk, wall or whatever, someone couldn’t resist the temptation to write a name or maybe the date in the wet concrete?
On 5/23/53, I couldn’t resist when my dad was putting in a pair of steps. It was covered over with grass and forgotten until it was uncovered by a weedeater and brought back memories.
Dated, painted, scratched or engraved on so many things in a house are long-forgotten sometimes until someone discovers them.
Old houses have many interesting mysteries you may find when you acquire property.
Sometimes little doors that were built-in to get to plumbing fixtures, a hole in the wall or cut-out that you cannot fathom why it was placed in that particular spot and there is no one to ask about it. Sometimes “things” that were left in the attic that you acquire and wonder about.
Old houses can sure be interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)