Redd Hudson

Everything I know about humans I learned from my chickens.

Do vegan burgers taste like chicken? Everything thing else seems too.

Grumpy people live longer than angry people. My theory... Grumpy people rumble along, angry people explode.

I have the best conversations with my dog. She's a good judge of character.

I run my house hold like a business with invested shareholders. The dog has the most shares....But the chickens are plotting a take over.

My truck is older than my oldest grand child, the washing machine is older then the truck. I should see if the washer can collect social security, it has enough work credits.

My husband gets annoyed about people who stand on the one side of the grocery store isle and stare at the shelves on the other side. But he married me anyway.

Until we in the US stop listening to the media beast shaming politicians who compromise or learn now things and change their mind, we will continue to watch Congress p in each other's Cheerios.

Speaking of Congress, has anyone figured out what they were really doing while pretending to circle the drain over Barry Bonds Baseball Steroids?

It's very powerful to not lose your temper when someone is else is losing their's at you. Next time someone is telling you off, smile and say "I hear your words" and then, just stare. The dog told me this works.

You can be right without having to make sure everyone knows it.

Most people are focused on just getting through their day. They need lots of forgiveness and space, about 10 feet should be enough.

No one knows how to drive. No one

Litter bugs....

Directions (to assemble anything) that only use pictures. And have 240 tiny screws with 240 tiny washers(still attached to the plastic) that must go on said screws prior to assembly.

Being nice to someone you don't like burns more calories than flipping compost.

Some guy told me that I could build a better world on my backyard instead of being angry at the bad guys...I wish I could remember who that was...

I love all of this information, thank you!

My friends and I made soap together, about 10 years ago. We stood around my stove suited up like mad scientists, terrified about the lye. 🧑‍🔬

We had a good time and sadly never did it again. But I still have the mold (made from a narrow refrigerator bin, with plastic dividers made from some piece of something) and lye.

I read somewhere if you unwrap soap bars they harden up more and last longer. Seems to be true.

I travel for work and take home the bars of soap I've opened from the hotel.

I have a volunteer pumpkin this year, it is producing hugh pumpkins. It's amazing because I am in zone 8a. It should not be as happy as it is given it's almost 100 f daily..

On another note, the national center for home food preservation states you should not puree pumpkin (or squash in general) for canning. They recommend cubes.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-vegetables-and-vegetable-products/pumpkins-and-winter-squash-cubed/

The science behind this is based on the physics of heat transfer. Puree creates a thick mass that the convection process of heat transfer cannot properly and evenly penetrate the mass. Which is a fancy way of saying the middle of the puree doesn't get hot enough to kill bacteria.

I have had the make a mix cookbook for so long the pages are falling out. My grand daughter can't believe people dressed like that!

I have adapted several of the recipes to use my freeze dried eggs. It's basicly a one to one ratio of water to egg.

I adjusted the cornbread and quick bread recipes to add dried milk and my freeze dried eggs

Some of the recipes have too much salt for me and some use cream of... Soup which I don't use. But the idea of batch cooked meat looks handy.

I have meals in a jar... Somewhere. I liked using it with my dehydrated foods.

Before the age of instant banking, ATMs and plastic spending, I had a check register. And like everyone everywhere with a checkings account received the monthly bank statement.

Unfortunately, being deslyix, I am not good at math. (Deslyics of the world UNTIE!)

I could never reconcile my register with the bank statement. But I KNeW MY register was RIGHT, I still have checks!

This broke my accountant Mother's number crunching heart. Then, Dad suggested that I round up the check entries.

And The World Changed.  He said at the end of the month put the difference between the bank and the register into the savings account.  

He also confirmed that the bank was very likely right.

I still do this. Not the rounding up, but putting whatever is left over at the end of the month in savings. Having emergency savings is important and a huge stress reducer.

Having a budget is really important. But don't try to account for every penny (round up!). Plan on saving. This used to be called paying yourself first. Put it in your budget.

If you are still on grid, see if the electric company offers budget billing. This gives you a bill you can plan on.

Turn off lights
Insulate to reduce heat and cooling costs.
Wear more clothes in full winter. Turn the thermostat down.
Raise the AC in the summer. I live in the deep south, wearing less clothes in the full summer is likely illegal. At least outside...
Always run a full load of wash. And if you buy laundry soap, buy powder. And use less soap.
I buy ammonia to sanitize laundry.
Line dry your clothes if you can. Indoors or outside clothes lines are handy. I hang bath towels and when almost dry put them in the dryer. I like fluffy towels. Same with jeans.
Dont waste leftovers. Consider cooking a roast for Sunday and using it in different ways through the week for dinners. Meatloaf to spaghetti to chili, to pizza.
Convince is expensive. Time is valuable. If you have more time than money, make it. Even if you don't, make it. Good health is valuable. Hand made is joyous.
Check for free activities offered by library or parks department. The parks department here has free movie nights. Civics organizations often have fun things to do for free.
Borrow before you buy. Or rent before you buy. This is a great way to get a job done AND figure out if that 'thing' is as great as you thought it would be.
Double and triple check prices. I have an instant cart account. I don't order. But I can search for a item to see what store has the best price.
Keep a price book for shipping. This book helps you to really know if the sale price is really a markdown. Start with listing 3 things you always buy. My 3 are Milk, butter, coffee. Jot down the cost every time you buy. You'll see the buy cycle patterns after a few weeks.

I have a lot more strategies, but I may run out of "posting" room. So I will end here

I haven't used pdf patterns for clothes, but I have used them for small items, like stuff animals. Nothing I would need to scale up.

I have 3 sewing machines.  2 are buried in a closet and 1 is jammed under a table.  We are in the 7th year of the 2 year remodel plan.

BUT when I could reach one,  I liked to experiment with sewing.

My grandmother would be deeply disappointed, but I think reverse engineering or remaking clothing is easier than decoding the symbols on the tissue patterns. .

I have enjoyed watching this woman on YouTube.  
https://youtube.com/@refashionistasheri?si=7eO6BY3n5Ud_JEHs  

She has some interesting ideas.

Happy day, everyone!

I think having pre-chopped, herbed onions tomatoes and peppers ready to go in 1 cup measures is brilliant.

As I read through the messages, I came to the regret that I donated the Tupperware hamburger maker.  Oh well.

What about using used milk or cream cartons, with the tops cut off.The "paper" ones. They are pre waxed, and proven leak proof.

You could pop out the frozen mix and store the puck (is it stiil a puck if it's square?) inside a larger milk carton. That might not make the allotted freezer foot print bigger.

Curious to know what was the final results.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I made egg salad sandwiches for lunch and was thinking about whether I should start an egg salad thread or just post here. Since someone else bubbled the thread to the top, I'll post here. I mixed in some of this stuff (about a heaping spoonful per sandwich) and it was great! I'm sure it would be great in deviled eggs, too.

What is it?

My husband came with a dog named Ayu (say hey you with a Boston accent) and a cat named Damn Cat. The vet refused to call her that and  it was DC on all of her paperwork.

Ayu was rescued by him on a dangerously cold night in the north end. He saw the 1yr old dog trying to keep warm in a pile of debris in an alley way. Husband tried to lure him into the warm with a piece of steak. Nothing doing. But a bowl of water got his attention. When husband got him home 'up north', dog sat in the corner waiting for the door to open and make his escape. Once free, dog headed west, down the middle of the ice covered country road. The plow truck was coming east on same said road. Husband chased after calling dog, every name he could think of... Fido, woofy, finally in frustration husband yelled Ay you! Dog turned around and ran back to him.

The cat got her name when she distributed crackers, dog cookies, butter wrappers (formerly butter sticks) and toilet paper (all of which had been placed out of reach above the refrigerator) all over the house in some strange game she and Ayu where playing... Husband came home, saw the disaster and exclaimed "that damn cat" to which she trotted over and smiled. Really.

I once named a cat by randomly opening the phone book - Sunborne Emerson.

Some of my hacks are:

My toilet bowl brush sits in a container. I add the last bit soap to the container, the last tiny sliver of the bar, shampoo, dish soap,. I add a bit of water if needed. Cleans the toilets just fine.

I premake "convenance" food.

Bread mixes - I make up the dry parts of recipes - biscuits, bread dough, pancake, cornbread etc. I label my jars with type and the needed wet ingredients. (I don't add the yeast to bread dough until I am ready to bake) I add the cooking temp and time to the label.

Rice and grains - I measure out grains with herbs and spices into a half pint jar, the label the jar with the wet ingredients.

Other cooking hacks I use, and probably you already know:
Spray measuring spoons with oil before measuring honey or molasses. The sticky stuff won't stick.
Wash flour off hands, and surfaces with cold water and it won't clump and get sticky.
Wear an apron. Saves clothes and cleaning.
Use a small spatula to get the last bit of yogurt, mustard, mayo etc out of the container.
Freeze butter wrappers and use then to grease cake pans and cookie sheets.
To warm cold eggs in a hurry, to make mayo or meringue, wash or place them in warm water.
Place a warm bowl over a stick of cold butter to soften quickly.

In the garden, I made up this planting tool so I don't have to bend over to plant peas, beans, corn... Works best with large seeds.

I took a PVC pipe and measured it to my height, I am 5.5 ft, so about 4 ft. I added a PVC T extension to the bottom of the pipe, so that the top of the T is in line with the pipe and the seeds can fall straight through. I added a short piece of pipe - maybe less than 2 inches - to the part of the T connector that sticks out from the pipe. To that I added an elbow connector. So now I have a long pipe with a sideways T at the end and the elbow off the T.  To use, I gentlely push the long pipe into the soil of a garden row (I use a hoe to first make the row) then drop the seed through the long pipe. The elbow marks the spacing for the next seed. I place the long pipe in the mark left by the elbow. When I have seeded the row, I use the how to push soil over the seeds and tamp down.

I use pool noodles to keep my tall boots from flopping over.

I use a large fat Webster's dictionary as a knife block.

I put wheels on my old low hutch so I could move it as needed for extra counter space for canning and other kitchen projects.

I hope these help. 😁