Universal language?

Have you ever tried to figure out those funny symbols on the bottom of dishes and containers?  Today we were trying to figure out whether one of the baby's dishes could go in the dishwasher. It had all these little diagrams that took us way to long to decipher.

It seems that in recent years, manufacturers think symbols are a more universal language than the written word. On the surface it seems to make perfect sense - after all - many of our items are made in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Germany, Mexico, and yes, even China.

At first when you see those little pictures you might think "Oh, that's a good idea because no matter what language you speak, you'll still know that this symbol means a dish is dishwasher safe."

Except that, in many countries, most homes don't have dishwashers. Like China, Mexico, Sri Lanka. So then what?  Do people from those countries give that symbol another meaning that make sense to them?

There's really no substitute for the written word. True, not everyone speaks English. And you can't really put a message in several languages on the bottom of a baby dish. So what's the solution?

If manufacturers want us all to know what symbols mean, someone is going to have to launch an education program through marketing, much like someone did to get us all to recognize this symbol.
Can you name it?


Below are some symbols and their explanation. You might see one of these symbols on something you purchase. You may already have something in your house and had no idea what those pictures meant. Now you will.

These symbols are all supposed to mean something is freezer safe.

Keep in mind that context is important. We're talking here about containers found in the kitchen, not the dashboard of your car.


 Freezer Safe

 


This batch of symbols means that a container is made for food use (as opposed to garden use?)
Imagine buying a set of plates and seeing this symbol on the bottom. What else would they be made for?

Food Use







These all tell you it's OK to put your item in the dishwasher.
Sometimes the one with the raindrops is supposed to mean "Dishwasher safe: top rack only."
Now how am I supposed to figure that one out?

 Dishwasher Safe





This last one means your dish isn't likely to melt if you use it in the microwave.

 Microwave Safe




Yikes. That's a lot of pictures to remember. And I didn't so well in art appreciation.

Ginger Ale?

Are you a Ginger Ale lover?  I am. But it's very difficult to find a Ginger Ale that doesn't have caramel coloring - a nasty gluten product that I have to avoid.

So, being a Ginger lover, I decided to make my own ginger ale drink. That way I know the ingredients.

If you want to try it here are the instructions. The order of how you add things is important.

First, I took some ginger and grated about 2 Tablespoons full. Then I got a 2 liter bottle.

The first thing you must do is get a funnel and pour into the bottle 1 cup of sugar.
Then add 1/4 teaspoon of Active Dry Yeast (the kind you use to make bread)

Shake that around to mix well.
Then grate one lemon and add the lemon juice to the sugar.

Add the Ginger through the strainer. I pressed mine down with a chopstick. Don't worry if it gets stuck, you're going to add water next.

Fill the bottle with water to about 1/4 full. Put the lid on and shake it really well, to dissolve the sugar as best you can. Then fill the bottle up with more water, leaving an inch or so of air.

Set the bottle on the counter and leave it for 24 to 48 hours. DON'T open it to check. The only way you need to check it is squeeze the bottle. When the bottle becomes rock hard, put it in the refrigerator - and still DO NOT OPEN IT until after it's been chilled.


I left mine on the counter only 24 hours. I used the Quick Rise Active Yeast and figured that would be enough.

Chill for at least 6 or 8 hours, then open VERY slowly. The first time I opened one I released, then closed, released then closed a number of times before completely taking off the lid. It's going to be VERY frothy, so open over a sink.

It's far better than real Ginger Ale. When you serve it, pour through a strainer so you don't get bits of Ginger in your glass.

Just one tip though, any time you go to drink Ginger Ale, don't breathe in when your face is in the glass or it's going to make you cough. It's just the way Ginger Ale works.

PS. I did not shake it before opening. There's no need. It will do this all by itself and be totally carbonated.

Rooty goodness

I really love a hot drink. Sometimes though, Chamomile tea just doesn't do much for me with its mild, bland taste. Not even with honey. That's when I get out the butcher knife, the cutting board and a good hunk of root. Ginger root.
Ginger makes the most wonderful, decaffeinated hot drink that will clear your head, tingle your throat, and make you want another cup.

Technically I guess the brew made by boiling Ginger isn't really a tea, even though we call it that.
When I make it I use my biggest spaghetti pot, filling it to the brim. It only takes a few pieces of root with about 3/4 to 1 cup of dark brown suger (or sometimes Sugar in the Raw). I let that boil a while, then add a little more water to make sure my pot is good and full. The longer you boil it, the spicier it gets.

Ginger tea helps prevent colds and aids digestion. It's a home remedy for nausea and sore throats. It also has a remedial effect on diarrhea [eek!] and stomach ache. Ginger also aids blood circulation and even raises body temperature. It helps lower cholesterol.

That doesn't mean you can keep eating those biscuits and lard with three eggs and bacon for breakfast, it just means ginger will help, especially if you're prone to higher bad cholesterol. After all, it can't do magic. Only Hogwarts and Phy genes can produce that.

It's easy to drink up half a pot of Ginger tea in one evening, watching TV or reading a book. It doesn't keep me awake, make me jittery, or produce any other bad side effects. In fact, Ginger is full of healthy benefits, some of which really surprised me when I started researching it.

Below are some of the known ginger tea benefits:

• Relieves nausea
• Combats motion sickness (Tea, not Ginger snaps)
• Aids digestive processes
• Combats inflammation (same as aspirin does, but without gastrointestinal distress)
• Reduces dizziness
• Ginger tea limits flatulence (no comment)
• Ginger tea controls chronic pain (again, like aspirin)
• Increases body temperature.
• Eases the pain of muscle aches and rheumatoid arthritis
• Ginger tea minimizes symptoms of the common cold, allergies, and other respiratory conditions
• Inhibits breast and ovarian cancers
• Cataract prevention
• Increases intracellular calcium concentration
• Increases adrenaline
• Acts as a general anticancer agent
• Protects against radiation poisoning (provided you don't visit area 51 too often)
• Improves heart function
• Inhibits/neutralizes unsaturated fatty acids

But don't take it from me. While I did review a few medical articles myself, the George Mateljan Foundation has collected even more. Read and review the references yourself if you're skeptical.

Even if Ginger didn't offer these benefits, it tastes fabulous and is caffeine free, so right there it's already on my "A" list of hot evening drinks. Maybe you'll try it. Just don't be surprised when it gives you a little "zing" on your first swallow. That's my favorite part about it!

References [PubMed]
--Food Chem Toxicol. 2007 May;45(5):683-90. Epub 2006 Nov 12.

--Nutr Neurosci. 2006 Jun-Aug;9(3-4):169-78.

--Thromb Res. 2001 Sep 1;103(5):387-97.--Mol Carcinog. 2008 March. Lee SH, Cekanova M, Baek SJ. The Laboratory of Environmental Carcinogenesis, Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-4542, USA.

Bye bye babies

The goats love going out back and eating all the brambles and fallen branches. It's funny to see them all freak out when they realize they've been left behind.  The babies have all gotten so big, but their little voices are still funny when they call out for us.


It's hard to believe 8 weeks has already passed and our babies are ready to leave their mommas.  They weigh almost 40 lbs. now. Today we sold the first two from our spring batch. Our twin boys, Corey and Casey went to a happy home in Parsons.
They're the light headed ones in the pictures.

 
Charlie (the one on my lap) will be next to go, he's the lap baby. You can see how he seems to think he's a dog or baby person, the way he likes to be held.

Another storm, another tree, or two

Yesterday I got an email from CoCoRahs (the weather service collaborative) warning of another storm with extra-high winds. The storm that came last night was nothing compared to the one two weeks ago, yet it did have an impact.

Growing up in Michigan, I'm familiar with thunderstorms and tornadoes, but I've never heard of something called "straight-line winds." That term refers to winds higher than 58 mph, coming out of a storm already classified as "severe" by the National Weather service. The CoCoRahs email specifically warned about imminent straight-line winds, and named our county as one of the highest potential areas for damage.

The power went out around 10 pm. I lit the candles and continued my nightly routines, waiting for power to be restored. When it didn't happen, I went to bed around 1:30. There were a few loud thunder cracks, winds trying to blow the doors open, and finally a loud crashing noise near the house. Michelle got up very early this morning in order to see what actually fell down this time.

When she came back in to tell William what happened, his response was "NO, I just fixed that fence!"

Once outside, we noticed another tree down on the other side of the pasture. That took out a section of wire fence. Luckily no wood to repair on this side.

After removing the branches and debris near the house, we discovered the damage really isn't so bad.

Easy for me to say, I'm not the one fixing the fence.

Cabinet play

When Michelle was little her favorite spot to play was the kitchen cabinet where I kept my large pots and Tupperware. Her daughter seems to have inherited that interest, because Bonita Rose can busy herself for an hour organizing plastics or sorting tea in the pantry.

On some days, when Baby wakes up, she runs straight to the cabinets and opens one, pulling things out and running around with her favorite item - like the mixing cup, or spoons, or the cheese grater. She also likes to play with the potatoes, but Mommy doesn't like her to play with those. She says potatoes are creepy. That's why I don't use a potato bin, Michelle's really freaked out about those. She once met an ugly potato bug in that bin and has hated potatoes ever since.

Baby also likes to help in the dishwasher. She loves to help put the silverware in, and reorder the plates. She likes to pretend she's a dog and lick the plates.

That always cracks me up, just like when she shares her mixer with him.

Her latest thing is helping with the dishes in the sink. She especially likes it when I share my bubbles with her. It's great fun to smear the bubbles all over the cabinets, or even eat them. Andy can't figure out what's so appetizing. I think it's Baby's own special secret.

I love my little helper. It's great fun to have baby working in the kitchen when we do. I think Baby thinks so, too.

Map time

Since I was very little I've loved plants. Not just flowers, but all things green. Last year I didn't get to plant anything new or tend my garden at all. This year is going to be different.

The first thing I did was to redo my pots. I've got two nice sized pots, perfect for herbs.  With several varieties of basil to choose from, I ordered my pots so I can have more than one variety in each.  I know it will be crowded but the effect will be nice, since one of those varieties are Red Rubin basil, a lovely deep purple leaf, and the other is Cinnamon basil, which has smaller leaves but pretty purplish flowers. Of course, I also planted a traditional Genovese, which tastes so great in pesto. Personally, I like to mix the basil types in my pesto, making the color a lot darker and the taste very unique.

In my other pot I put chamomile, chives, and parsley. Nothing too odd that I'll never use and not too much of one thing.

The hardest part of this planting method is remembering what I planted, and where. I draw up a little map that shows where each item lives, with notes on care of each plant. That helps me remember what I need to do, since each plant needs a little something different. I've done this for years, even with my simple flower pots. It helps me, too, to remember which seed and variety I like.

I really like making garden maps. I have a new one for my front flower bed for this year, and the next one I'll do is the vegetable garden, which William is working on now.  I've started some seedlings for that.

Planting seeds and watching them grow is so satisfying. Some things I like to start in the house. Two years ago I started in February, but I waited a bit long this year. I hope that's OK. In a couple of weeks we'll have some young plants to put outside. Baby likes reading the seed packets and helping me plant things in the dirt.

Take it down

It's odd that, in about five minutes, twenty or more trees dropped to the ground like wooden blocks with seemingly little effort during that last storm. Yet one tree, which refused to go down from the wind, continued refusing for days, even with William's brainy interventions.

First he examined the situation. The tree was cracked a good way up.

So he devised a method that he thought might coax the tree down without taking out any more trees or fence.

He climbed up and hoisted a chain around the trunk, hoping to pull the tree over enough so that he could cut it without having it fall on him or anything else.

This was a stubborn tree. Even after cutting out a giant wedge, you could hear it creaking and groaning but refusing to fall down.

After pushing and pulling and getting nowhere, William tied a rope around his waist to try something else.

That's when Michelle stepped in.

Really William, a rope?

We still aren't sure what he had in mind, but glad we didn't find out.

We're glad the tree is down, and that the fence is saved, but we're even more glad that William is in one piece. He's a lot more important than a silly old fence.






This video is pretty long, over 4 minutes, but a lot shorter than the actual time it took to make this all happen.

Not just for boys

It would appear that heavy equipment is inviting to more than just men and boys. These two groups do, after all, share a number of qualities.

The seat in this beast is pretty comfy. Several babies think so. Maybe even good enough for a nap.

PS. I did not place those babies there. This is where I found them napping in the late afternoon.

Spring garden

I really enjoy working in my garden. Last year I didn't have any time at all to work out there and the weeds nearly took over.

But this year is going to be different. I spent all day Sunday hauling dirt, trimming bushes, and reorganizing the flowers in the bed.

I even put out a new sprinkler - one Steve brought me in his suitcase. I love it!


The copper hummingbird twirls when you turn on the water, it looks spectacular in the middle of my freshly tilled flower bed.

Southern fried

What is it about fried chicken and the south?
My mom used to make fried chicken but it never tasted as good as William's.

On the way home from church Michelle and William smelled fried chicken cooking so decided to make some at home.









William's a great cook and spent hours making today's special lunch.  It was the perfect day for a patio lunch.

We had to protect baby from a grumpy dog who had no intention of sharing his chicken bone with her. Andy's been teaching baby how to growl properly.

We explained that he feels a lot like Michelle does when she's got a chicken leg - greedy and totally carnivorous.

Shopping day

I'm aware that a shopping trip isn't really news, or interesting to most, but it does happen to be what we're doing, and it gives you a break from all the goaty  posts of the past few weeks. Besides, I could spend hours and hours in Lowes. I love this store. It's way better than mall shopping and a lot more useful.
After the latest big storm we needed to make a Lowes list and shopping trip. William spent an afternoon running around, measuring broken fence posts and tallying up the number of items we needed.

We had a big list. By the time we finished gathering our items, there were three shopping carts full of project items to keep William busy for another year.

We also needed to buy a chain saw, but since everyone else in this county (and the next) needed chain saws to remove all their trees and debris, Lowes had none in stock so we had to order one for next week.

The hardest thing now will be to prioritize the tasks in order of importance and urgency. Since we have one tree that's split half way up and ready to fall on the fence, he'll probably start there, trying to bring it down before the next windy day does.

Saved from the evil dog

Yogi can be so obnoxious sometimes. For some reason, he finds the littlest goat out there and picks on her, chewing on her neck and chasing her around like mad. He got in some BIG trouble about it. He hates to be yelled at.




















Clara had a difficult start, has been sick, and is currently bottle fed because her mother just doesn't produce enough milk. It's just a supplemental bottle, which I've been giving her every 8 hours (literally - 9, 5, and midnight).

This morning when I went out to feed hay, I found that crazy mutt harassing her again. I tied him up again, only this time he couldn't get loose.

In the meantime, Clara got to come in the house. The storm was just starting and I carried her inside to get her bottle warmed up, get her dried off and make sure he hadn't hurt her any worse than a scare. She was too heavy to hold while I was working, and had to put her down a minute. Andy and the cat were confused. Poor Clara, all she wanted was to get back outside with her momma.

Which was fine because I don't want my house smelling like I do.

Such a storm

I really do love a good storm.
Today was one of the best. Or worst, depending on your outlook. Last year's flood was unique, this year it wasn't rain but high winds that caused more trouble. 

I saw the back tree come down, so as soon as the lightning stopped, I ran out to discover a whole lot more fell. The wind was so loud I never heard the close ones hit the ground. Most of the damage is just trees. It's really amazing what a little (or a lot) of wind can do. Pulled some of the biggest ones right out of the grounds, roots and all.

And this is just on our property. Luckily, hardly any damage to the house.  Except for the roof, most of it seems to have gone right around me. Looks like we lost close to 40 trees along with two good sections of wooden fence.

All the trees that fell were large ones - seems the bigger they were the more likely they were to fall. Except for the cedars. They didn't have a lot of wooded protection around them, and since cedars rely on larger trees to break the wind, many of those ended up on the ground.

Let there be light

A few years ago a good friend gave me some wonderful candles. They look like little corn cobs and they last for hours. There were 4 in the set. I used 2 some time ago. I like to save some things for very special occasions. Like when the electricity is out.

Today's storm was a whopper, leaving me disconnected and discumbuberated all day. Now I'm looking at an evening of reading my Kindle by candlelight, but thanks to gifts from Miriam (and others from Mae), I won't be totally in the dark.

Making assumptions

This post is for instructional purposes only.

If you ever plan to post anything on Craigslist, consider carefully if you want to post your phone number. I did that yesterday after deciding to list a few of my goats. I had no idea potential buyers would call anyone at 6 in the morning.

Maybe people assume, since I own goats and probably a small farm, that I'm an early riser. No one should make those kind of assumptions. Not only am I not an early riser, I am also not an early thinker. It's been said my level of coherency increases by the hour.

So if you are in the market to sell something on Craigslist, consider carefully if you really want your phone number out there for anyone to see. Especially if someone reads listings before the sun comes up.

Wings of spring