A Total Waste of Time...

...but it's addictive!

http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf

Be sure to ask for a fresh sheet before you leave -- you'll see why.

Another Great Source for Deals and Bargains

The sun is shining (not necessarily a good thing), and my poorly-neglected garden is beggin' for a good digging. But I had to mention this first...

I've yammered on about http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ , an excellent place to find coupons, bargains and freebies for everything from laundry detergent to ice cream cones.

Lo and behold, this morning I stumbled onto another winner, walletpop.com!
Take a look at their 'daily deal' here:

http://www.walletpop.com/category/daily-deal/

They also have categories for freebies, bargains...and even reports on scams. Well worth making a daily pitstop here.

Now I have to go out and dig iris, before the ground forms solid concrete around their roots... we have had some horrendous storms lately, with amazing clouds, high winds (including tornados) -- and sadly, very little rain. Too bad. We need it.

Swimsuits...and Candiru

Robyn at Lentils and Rice has gotten a new 'modest' swimsuit...

http://lentilsandrice.blogspot.com/2008/06/modest-swimwear.html

Her new outfit looks like a long-sleeved culottes set... and I keep thinking, won't she sink with all that fabric clogging up every stroke?

She wants a modest look. I can understand that, having jumped into the Amazon, feeling like half the crew was standing there watching. (They weren't, but such is the feeling when you're one of a bare handful of women on board, accompanied by a whole passel of guys. And it was a one-piece tank suit, in case you're wondering.)

Swimming in the Amazon -- or, in this case, in one of its connected lakes (Region of the Lakes) was an interesting experience. The guys on the boat had many interesting conversations about the "conjadue," actually spelled 'candiru,' a thin Brazilian fish (actually a freshwater catfish) that has an interesting habit of inserting itself inside fish gills when they open them to breathe.

The candiru has also been known to follow a stream of fresh urine, and try to insert itself into human orifices...especially guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru

The obvious response here is 'well, don't pee in the water.' But that seemed irrelevant to the Male Contingent on Board.

This whole situation was not helped by a documentary on parasites that aired on the Discovery Channel, shortly before we left for Brazil. It featured, in excruciating detail, some poor man's encounter with the 'candiru.' The man won in the end, but had to endure the fish being taken out in rotting bits and pieces out of HIS bits and pieces.

Add to this the ever-present knowledge that alligators and caimans enjoyed hanging out in the water (though mostly closer to shore) and piranhas were around. (Though they seemed to cause the most trouble also closer to shore, and closer to dry season -- we were there in the rainy season.)

I kept remembering how often I'd seen the ship's crew in the water, especially when we were hacking our way down the creek. I kept thinking there was no way they would allow us to go swimming, if it was that dangerous. (In fact, we had two swim times!) Granted, Boyd kept one or two crew members on lookout at all times, and they did throw out those silly life-preserver doughnuts -- one per customer.

The first swim time, a few guys went bravely out. (And jumped off the top of the boat, totally nuts...) The second time, all of the teenagers went out, along with yours truly and one of the men. After all that sweating and heat, the water seemed like a lukewarm bathtub. I had a great time, paddling around and watching those silly teenagers grab each other, yell and thrash around. They were making so much delighted racket that I figured any self-respecting alligator would grab them first!

It was delicious, 'immodest' swimsuit and all.

And no candirus, either.

Fishy Dreams...DIYW Tuna Casserole

Frugal Upstate ( http://www.frugalupstate.blogspot.com/ ) is hosting a weekly Frugal food series that seems especially helpful right now. Grocery prices have visibly gone up here in the Denver, CO area...horribly up. Most stuff seems to have had a 20% increase at least, making the stockpiling I've done of things like spaghetti sauce, soup, etc. become doubly valuable.

Oops. I digress. Frugal Upstate's theme this week is tuna, and I thought I'd mention my Do-It-Your-Way Tuna Casserole:

DIYW TUNA CASSEROLE

1 can tuna in spring water
1 can soup (mushroom or celery are the traditional favorites)
1 soup can milk
1 pound noodles
1 can (or pkg) peas
some kind of garnish

Cook the noodles; throw the peas in during, say, the last three minutes. Drain all. Drain tuna, then add it to the noodles/peas, along with the soup and milk. Let this mixture heat on the stove top for a few minutes, and serve -- OR top with a garnish, like potato chips, bread crumbs and let bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serves 4 generously -- or up to 6 with side dishes.

Now here's the fun part. This casserole LOVES substitutions! It's also a great way to get rid of bits and pieces, dribs and drabs from previous meals.

The tuna is pretty basic. You can also use a small can of boned chicken; leftover cubed chicken; leftover cubed pork; small cans of seafood, like crab or shrimp. The only meat item I have not translate successfully is beef -- otherwise, the sky's the limit. Or scrap the meat altogether, and add a cup or two of a heftier vegetable, like zucchini or squash, sliced or chopped bite-sized.

The soup can change to any kind of cream-based one you want. Or use that scraping of chicken noodle soup leftover from lunch! A few spoonfuls of clam chowder are great. Cheese soup is wonderful -- or use that leftover cheese or salsa dip!
Or don't use soup at all. Make up a basic white sauce, or substitute sour cream. Salad dressing substitutes well here -- ranch dressing, yum! (Use it instead of milk to thin the soup.)

The milk can change to sour cream. Or cottage cheese. Or water. (The latter isn't my favorite, but it will work.) Dry milk mixed with water works just fine. For a different taste, try salsa or tomato sauce.

The noodles can change to spaghetti, any kind of pasta -- or rice. Just cook them before you mix everything together.

The peas can change to any kind of veggie you wish, from carrots to broccoli, spinach to red peppers. Just chop it into bite-sized pieces and add just before the noodles/pasta/rice are done cooking. Or mix in a few tablespoons of that leftover salad. (Yes, green salad! Looks like spinach.) I also like to add a few teaspoons of chopped herbs, like chives, dill, thyme or marjoram.

The garnish can be any leftover dried bread. Or crackers. Or leftover cereal. Or corn chips. Or smashed pretzels. Just make sure it's on the 'salty' side -- not sweet. About 1/4 cup should do it.

See? Whatever you've got -- it will work. And it's fast, too -- your total prep time, including waiting for the noodles/rice/whatever to cook, can be less than 30 min. I keep a few cans of tuna in the pantry, just in case Dave gets a yen for this casserole.

(Not) Keeping Up with Your Parents

BeingFrugal has been doing a series on '(Not) Keeping Up with Your Parents,' arguing that basically this is a myth...or we shouldn't be trying to do this in the first place!

http://beingfrugal.net/

This seems a tad bit amusing to me...what about those of us who didn't have much to keep up with in the first place?

My folks -- and I love 'em -- have been small farmers all their lives. They bought their 37-acre property in 1960 for $10,000. (Which at the time was a small fortune to them -- my dad was horrified when we paid $72,000 for a house in Colorado decades later.)

They scraped and figured and plotted just to keep food on the table (much of which we grew anyways) and clothes on our backs. Any extras, from trombones to football, had to be carefully planned for -- and much of that was paid by my brother's and my afterschool jobs. (He worked at the local tractor repair place, and I was a clerk at the hardware store through high school.) They finally paid the farm off not long before I graduated from high school, in 1976. (Yes, 15-plus years, for a $10,000 debt. Hey, farmers -- especially small-time ones -- make big bucks!)

Yet they've been happy, have helped many people, and today are debt-free and more than taking care of themselves. Even with my dad's cancer, they still insist on doing everything they can on their own.

If I can keep up with that, hey, I'll be a content woman.

Plugging Away

...why does getting back to 'normal' feel so strange??

The e-mails have been trudged through. I have a few extra things to do about them, some contracts and supply lists to send out -- a few new gigs to arrange.

The website has been updated. We finally figured out the problem with the monthly freebie, and a new crochet pattern is in place. (A darling little ruffled cap)

Orders finished off. (A few to go) Piles are slowly being put away.

And at Casa Brick, clothes are in the wash and meals on the table. Not fancy ones...and thanks to our Brazilian laundry lady (who accidentally included oily rags in several washerloads), most of our Brazil clothes have a few stains here and there. I'll soak them and hope for the best.

I've even put in some perennials, and begun hacking out the weeds. Buck, our oldest dog, loves to dig...and did his part by destroying my largest tomato plant. Which had been flourishing in a planter for all the time we were gone in Brazil. And was just getting ready to flower. I could have cried when I saw the limp remains...

But time and effort go on. Maybe I can find a replacement tomato -- at least I have one plant left. They just don't do very good here, what with our 6250 elevation and cooler nights. It makes for better sleeping...but tomatoes like the heat all the time. I planted tomatoes #1 and #2 in black plastic planters, reasoning that might keep them cozier, and so far, it seems to be working.

Until a crazed Weimaraner gets his paws on them, that is.

Back from Brazil!

...and boy, am I tired.

More than 700 e-mails were waiting...some phone calls needed to be returned...and I had to hustle to get some things done at the last minute. Putting out fires isn't fun, but it's necessary.

I comforted myself by buying a bunch of potentilla plants from Wallymart -- discounted at $4.50 each, at least in Colorado, and a steal by perennial standards. They'll go in the ground I happily dug around in this evening.

The business is resting some right now -- it always does right around this time of year. Most people aren't thinking much about quilting, knitting or crochet. But give it a month -- they will! There are enough orders to keep a few of us busy, and let other staffers take some time off.

They're probably digging in their gardens, too.

I want to post some on the Brazil Amazon trip, which was amazing: hard, easy, exciting, boring, sweaty, breezy -- practically everything rolled into one. I'm so glad we went.

Until I can, though, you can access what our boat leader, Boyd, thought about us and the trip -- look for references to the 'Colorado group.'

http://www.amor-brazil.org/blog/default.aspx