Rucy's Profile

BTW, if you print the vintage diner signs on transparencies (instead of paper), it'll act like a low-budget version of window film and let most of the light still shine through. If you don't have access to print those, send them to a local FedEx/Kinko's as a .pdf attachment, they'll print them for you for very low cost.

My cat brought in a vole, it was contained to one room, I finally announced out loud - if you'll just get into this tangerine plastic produce container I solemnly promise I'll get you outside safely - I baited my homemade trap with bread and with peanut butter. Then I put them within reach of where I could sit and watched like a cat. To my utter amazement about 15 minutes later the vole walked into the "trap", sat down without going for the food, let me get close enough to shut the lid and take it outside. Never give up cross-species communication I suppose?

As for cleaning, I pick up any loose droppings using a damp paper towel which I quickly discard, I do it this way because a vacuum cleaner will came the droppings to break up and potentially pulverize the droppings (and my concern is any getting into the air where I can breathe in the dust). Then thoroughly treat with an antiseptic solution. As for your dishes, you can wash them with regular soap, if you use bleach in the water (which is something we do in quake/mudslide country) make sure it's no more than a tiny amount (a teaspoon or two for a sink-full of water) and that the dishes are rinsed thoroughly in clear water twice.

Make sure to completely check for any entry points - you can fill those with steel pot scrubbers and/or caulk.

Mason jars are a better bet than the foil option (the flimsy foil ones can sometimes buckle). Also ice cream scoops come in various sizes and help in filling the jars quickly. I'd use jellyroll pans (cookie sheets with an edge on all 4 sides) to ease getting great quantities in/out of the oven easily & safely.

This method never fails me for stovetop rice cooking of white rices and so I've never bought a rice cooker:

Twice as much water as rice
Put the pot onto boil
Butter or flavorings optional (I like to toss in some herbs or kaffir lime leaves)
When it boils cover it and turn the heat to the lowest setting possible
Cook for 15 minutes
Turn off the heat
Let steam for another 5 minutes
During that entire 20 minutes NEVER lift the lid
At the end of the 20 minutes lift the lid, fluff, serve

Towel, scoop up, take them outside, unfurl the towel so they have an opening, stand back and let them find their way back to the sky.

I've just adopted a stray cat, who brought a bird into the house the other day, I thought it was dead and went to pick it up when it moved and flew around the room, I screamed then realized I traumatized the poor bird by standing over it and screaming, poor thing was bashing itself against the window when I said Stop! It looked up at me and I pointed to the open window and it looked at me again and walked to the window very calmly and flew out. So maybe we have better powers of interspecies communication than I originally thought? Who knows. I was just glad it was OK and OUT.

Why would I want to do this when I can have another obscenely expensive and rather useless single-purpose kitchen gadget?

Hmmm?

*g*

Love it and THIS is the kind of thing kids remember... (I know I do from my own childhood).

I'd add:

- cleaning the dryer vent once a year! Lots of home fires start because there's dryer lint backed up in the vent pipe leading from the dryer to the outdoors.
- changing fire & monoxide alarm detector batteries (not just once a year but twice is the new recommendation).

Loved this story. One of my favorite vacations was with Outward Bound where it wasn't oriented toward cooking as a vacation (sailing instead) but we had a challenge to forage as much food as we could find and made a meal of mussels with greens, berries for dessert, rose hips and rose petals that we used to make tea.

Platform bed, with storage underneath, which takes the place of the dresser. Then along one long wall either floating shelves, with things in beautiful baskets or containers (which can get pricey), or IKEA's tall closed closet units with a dresser under the window.