Calm?

 Whoa!  Tried this with one of my Walmart pick up orders. 

 Thought "calm"... I could use 'calm'.  Thinking lavender, vanilla, chamomile...   Got the first two right.  Last scent?  MUSK!!!!  Bleh!  That is all you smell and it is absolutely masculine.  Softener for dudes!

 And it was so strong that even after 5 rewashing I could still smell it.  One item so badly I finally gave up and threw away.

 No thank you!  I sent it to the center for the homeless veterans.

Salt Sampling

 Getting some little nit-picky stuff done today.  Like refilling my salt grinder, I don't like the chemical taste of Morton's et al.  I used last time pink Himalayan salt.  In looking thru my spice stash I found 5 little packages of exotic salts I'd bought a while back.  Time for a salt tasting session!!

First, lime coconut from Bali.  

Second - Murry River basin from Australia.  

Third - French grey (that Julia Child loved). 

4th - Hawaiian Red.  

And 5th - Cypress Black lava.

 

Lime coconut was used in my celery-cilantro salt blend.  French grey will be used for a finishing salt... very clean taste.  Murry River and Hawaiian Red have been mixed for my table salt. 

And the black lava I'm keeping around cause it is so cool looking!

 

Back Again and Catching Up

 It's been 15 months since I've done any blogging and 12 months since I left Facebook (which I do not regret at all).  I've decided it is time to find my voice again, so to speak.  It is very much a different voice from the one 15 months ago.  I like it.

 Himself and I have been in a pretty strict Covid seclusion.  His cancer treatments have caused a low WBC meaning he could easily get sick; badly sick.  So we don't 'do' anything much outside of our home.

 My biggest Covid seclusion activity has been to work on finishing my KonMari decluttering.  I have found a couple who are Cub Scout leaders that most of their kids in the troop are from very low income families.  They have twice yearly rummage sales to make money so the kids don't have to pay for membership, uniforms, patches, or activities.  (Bless them!!)  

Since Feb I have been taking my culled things to her for the sales.  She has a spare room she stores stuff in until the next sale.  It makes it so much easier to part with things when I think about the good it will generate for the Scouts.  There have been many full load car trips to her home!

 I'm happy to say the upstairs of our home (the 'living' section) is completely decluttered.  The attic is about 60% finished.  The garage about 90% done and the shed about 80%.  My "studio" is about 90% culled. 

(Sorting journals and scrapbooks)

 A huge amount has been removed... besides the general things I've pulled, my culled art things have been given to a community group that does art programs for underprivileged kids and at the senior centers.  Fabric was given to a group who make small quilts that are given to the police & fire departments to wrap around kids who are in a traumatic situation.  "Warmie" items were donated to a group working with homeless veterans.  I even had a bag of cat food damaged by a bad Amazon delivery (so I wouldn't let Persia have it) that went to a woman who feeds some feral cats.

 I hope to be 100% done (tho you are never truly done, are you?) by the end of the year.

(My finished deep freeze)

June... gone none too soon.

No posts in June…  Well, that is because June sucked.  All month brought things breaking down – some could be repaired while others required high end new purchases (like a stove).  There were injuries and sickness (NOT Covid!).  There was (and is) surging Covid cases in state and county… while people act like it is 2019.  Salud at Whole Foods is permanently closed and is not making good on the points earned by volunteers (thanks so much Bezos – NOT!).  The art gallery I’m part of lost their building, tho thankfully we are still going on with borrowed venues until we have a new gallery home. 

Yeah, I was depressed.

But the worst thing was the sad realization that people I know are going to get sick and maybe die because they are idiots or were around idiots.  People who think it is “just a flu” or a hoax.  That wearing a mask is a violation of their civil liberties.  That social distancing is unconstitutional.

“Friends” who thought it was OK to snark and insult me because I wear a mask.  Guess they weren’t friends after all and sure aren’t any more…  I don’t care what you believe but do not think you are getting on my Facebook page and slamming me.  Seriously!

Enough of that!

In June...

The tomatoes were ripe and so delicious.

I started working on my genealogy again.

The turkey hens came back to hang out in the yard.

I like my new stove!

So June has now passed.  It's time to improve the attitude and get on with life.

... One Giant Leap...

51 years ago today!

I was 7 years old and one week old. My dad and I went out to look up. We could see the moon so it had to be a new moon phase.

You who are old enough, what do you remember?

The Silence...

Full of "Toro"

We have acquired a used Toro push mower to keep up the areas closest to the house.  I knew we needed to have some oil, as those little engines get so hot.  But I wasn't sure what to get.

So I checked at their web site and it said to use "detergent SAE 10W30".  That's it.  I assumed that meant car oil but I wasn't sure.  So I followed the web site link for info.  

It was a Facebook page.  So I messaged my question from there.  Got a immediate robo reply that they don't answer questions there (!!!) and gave an email address to send to.

OK...

On 30 April I emailed this:  

"I was given a Toro model 16775 push mower.  On your spec page it says the oil to use is “detergent SAE 10W30.  Is this the same stuff as goes in the car?"  

On 5 May I recieved this reply:  "Thank you for contacting The Toro Company.  Your machine uses a high detergent SAE 10W-30 Motor Oil, which helps resists rust, oxidation, wear, corrosion and will also fight against the creation of sludge and deposits. If you search for "Detergent SAE 10W30 oil" online, you will find various brands who make this oil. 

Hope this helps! 

Regards,  Toro Consumer Service" 

Seriously??  I contact their customer service.  They repeat what I told them... then tell me to go find my answer in a random internet search.  Then give me a chirpy little "hope this helps".  Hope WHAT helps?  

My reply was "No, this didn’t help.  You repeated what I said and said to look online.  Very lame.  BTW, the question was “Is this the same oil as used in a car?”

Methinks perhaps with 'customer service' like this, when I do purchase new lawn equipment it will NOT be Toro. 

Just saying.