Byrne's Bytes: October 2008

October 2008

Philadelphia - The Gables Bed and Breakfast

Trick or Treater

MATERIALS:
2 dowels, each 24 inches long and 1 inch in diameter (or use pieces of an old broom handle--just be sure it's not your best flying broom!)
1 pair of old children's sneakers (size 12 or larger)
Electric drill and drill bit
Two 3/4-inch screws
1 pair of tube socks
Sand
Duct tape
1 pair of child's pants (size 4 or larger)
1 shoe box
Ribbon (optional)
Stapler
7-inch lightweight ball
Circle of white material, about 40 inches in diameter. Buy fabric or recycle an old sheet, tablecloth, or ghost. Use a double layer if fabric is see-through.
Black permanent marker
Paper bag with handle (for goody bag)
Binder clip (optional)
Time needed: About 2 to 3 Hours

1. Fit a dowel inside and up against the center back of one sneaker. Drill through the back of the sneaker into the dowel to make a screw hole. Screw the sneaker and the dowel together. Repeat to make the other leg. 2. Fill each tube sock with enough sand to fill the shoe and knot the top. Stuff the sand-filled socks deep into the shoes and tie the shoes tightly. Duct-tape the tops of the socks to the dowel legs. 3. Fit the pants over the tops of the dowel legs and let them rest at the ankles. 4. Tape a shoe box between the dowel legs so that the tops of the legs are about halfway up the sides of the box. Pull up the pants and secure them with staples, tape, or a ribbon strung through the belt loops and knotted. 5. Tape the ball to the top of the shoe box as shown. Drape the circle of white material over the ball and secure it by stapling the cloth to the pants in back. 6. Use the marker to draw black eyes and a mouth on the fabric. Decorate the goody bag if you like, then staple the material around the handle or fasten it with a binder clip so it looks as though the Little Trick-or-Treater is holding the bag.

Planning for DaffodilsAfter winter we are all ready for the wonders of spring. One of the cheeriest sights are the bright yellow faces of the Daffodils. However, late summer and early fall is the time we need to be planting and nurturing our jonquils to make sure they are bright and healthy later.
Large daffodil varieties will need 5-6 inches of space between bulbs, and the miniatures will need just 1-3 inches.
The bulbs will be planted at a depth of 3 to 4 times their height
A few things to remember as you are planning:
In the spring, you will be letting the leaves wilt on their own and dry up. They shouldn't be cut because the sunshine needs to replenish them!
If you mix short, tall and medium daffodils make sure they are planted with the taller ones in back so the little ones are not hidden.
They must have lots of sun in the spring, even if that spot is shady later in the summer.
If your bed in just bulbs right now, plan on planting other summer flowers when they fade.

Make sure the soil is loose and humus-rich. If the soil seems dry or a little hard, then add peat and/or manure you can purchase at the garden center.
Mix it in the soil until it's loose and rich looking. Read the instructions on each bulb and plant at that depth. Dig your hole, place in your bulb and fill the hole back up with the soil. After your bed in planted, water well and place about a two inch layer of mulch over the area. Mulch can be leaves that have been sitting and are moist and starting to decompose, wood chips or shredded wood, even grass clippings can be used! If you have a dry fall, it would help the flower bed if you would water now and then when it hasn't rained

Nail Maintenance
Warm a cup of whole milk in the microwave until warm but comfortable to the touch (about 30 sec). Soak your hands for five minutes to strengthen nails and hydrate skin. Milk is loaded with lactic acid, a natural alpha-hydroxy acid that gently exfoliates dead skin, and its high calcium content will strengthen fragile nails.
Cuticle Care1) Soak cuticles in a solution of strong chamomile tea. Chamomile calms irritated skin.2) Clean ragged cuticles by mixing two teaspoons pineapple juice, one egg yolk, and 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Soak nails for twenty minutes before pushing back cuticles with an orange stick. Rub equal parts odorless castor oil and white iodine into your cuticles nightly.

RECIPES

Monster Toes

Ingredients:
Cocktail wieners6-inch tortillasKetchup or mustardToothpicks
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut a wedge into the end of each cocktail wiener to make a toenail.2. Cut the tortillas into strips about 4 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Discard the ends.3. Soften the strips in the microwave between damp paper towels for 10 to 30 seconds.4. Roll each wiener in a tortilla strip and secure with a toothpick.5. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove them from the oven, then fill the toenail with ketchup or mustard. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

Roasted Ghosts
Ingredients4 cups chopped white potatoes1/4 cup milk1 crushed garlic clove2 tablespoons cream cheese or grated cheddar cheese1/2 tsp salt1/8 tsp pepper1 19-oz can black beans, drained

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until soft. Drain the water, then add the milk, garlic, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher or beat with an electric mixer until creamy and lump-free.
Scoop the potatoes into a pastry bag without a decorator's tip. Squeeze the ghosts onto a lightly buttered cookie sheet so they stand upright. To create ghastly eyes, press two even-sized black beans (or peas) into each ghost's head.
Just before serving, warm the ghosts in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Serve on white plates and eat with forks or fingers. Makes about 24.

PC TIPS
Feel like giving your computer some room to get work done a little faster? Don't want to remove any programs or files to do it?
Similar to the Scan Disk tool, Disk Cleanup is Windows XP's tool to speed up your computer by removing temporary files that might be cluttering up your disk space. Unlike Scan Disk, Disk Cleanup doesn't require rebooting your computer, and it gives you more control over what it throws away. Before running Disk Cleanup, close all your running windows. (print this tip and close your email and web browser.)
From the Start menu, choose All Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and (finally!) Disk Cleanup. Select the drive you want to clean, which is usually the C drive. For a few moments or minutes, Disk Cleanup will assess your disk for a short time and open a window that tells you how much space you can make available by deleting different files.
I recommend unchecking "Downloaded Program Files". This folder can contain useful add-ins that you might miss in multiple programs. "Setup Log Files" is also best left undeleted in most cases.
If you scroll down within that window, you'll see "Temporary Files". Sometimes ScanDisk will incorrectly show that deleting "Temporary Files" will gain you 0 Kb because it only counts files that are less than 1-2 weeks old. Leave "Catalog Files for the Content Indexer" unchecked. Then click "OK".
Another window will appear. Under the "More Options" tab, you'll see three options with "Clean Up" buttons. Look at the third one. If your system regularly saves System Restore Points, you can delete all but the most recent restore point to reclaim some more space. Click that "Clean Up" button, then "OK".
When you're done, you might want to defragment your cleaned-up disk to make the most of your new space.

Useless Information Did you know.....

Taphephobia is the fear of being buried alive!
Reindeer like to eat bananas.
Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey Rooney, whose mother he dated forsome time.
In the United States, deaf people have safer driving records than hearing people nationally.
Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark.
Whoopi Goldberg was a mortuary cosmetologist and a bricklayer before becoming an actress.
A French Kiss is America is an English Kiss in France.

Helpful Hints Home remedies

Trash Bag Idea: Save money on trash bags by reusing plastic grocery bags. Use them in all your trash cans. To keep them from slipping down, affix a plastic, self-adhesive hook to both sides of the inside of the trash can. Hang the shopping bag from the hooks.

Stovetops: To prevent grease and grime from sticking to your stove top, making it easy to clean, rub it down with car wax on occasion.

Stuck-On Food in Pots, Pans, and Crockpots: Fill the pan with water and place a fabric softener sheet in the water. Allow the pan to soak overnight. The food will wipe right out!
Stickers, Decals, and Glue: To remove them from furniture, glass, plastic, etc. saturate with vegetable oil and rub off.
Smelly Cooking Hands: Simply rub your hands over a stainless steel utensil under running water. This works especially well for the odor of garlic, onions or fish.