Again, this is a WIPE test, NOT a flush test. Do not flush TP-Alternatives
AND: WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS!!
And now for our 3rd contestant
NORTH 40 flier
I can't find a picture of a flier from there but it's like a farm-n-fleet sort of store. They send me a weekly sale flier. Or maybe it's monthly. Doesn't matter. You know what I mean.
PREP:
Bit slick..that's not promising. In trying to soften it up, it broke apart into smaller chunks of paper...hmmm.
SCRATCH FACTOR: 2/5
Not soft, but not scratchy. Similar to the grocery store flier.
EASE OF USE: 2/5
Breaking apart in my hands during prep made it harder to keep it in a coherent wad for use.
PAPER-CUT SAFETY: 2.5/5
I don't THINK anyone will get cut, but there are lots more edges than other things thus far tested due to the breakage during the prep phase.
ABSORBENCY: 2/5
Not great. It WILL absorb liquid...but slowly.
CLEANSING POWER: 3/5
Bit rough, it will clean with some effort.
AVAILABILITY: 2/5
You only get one a week, or is it a month, and it is a sizable flyer with several pages. Maybe 6 wipes from that flier by separating the sheets. But, barely worth it I think. At least not now while I have other options and those mullein leaves are growing.
Bold Name of Tested Product COMPOSITE SCORE: 13.5/30
Suggestions...anyone? Anyone?
Beuller? Beuller?
Monday, March 30, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
Will It Wipe? Testing Grocery Store Weekly Fliers
The store may not have actual TP, butt (ha!) perhaps they can supply your wiping needs anyway and for free.
Grocery store weekly fliers show up in my mailbox and normally I just chuck them out.
Again...this is a wipe test, NOT a flush test. Do not flush grocery store fliers.
AND: WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS!!
Thank you to the commenter who suggested mullein leaves. Right now the mullein on my property is too small but as soon as it is of a reasonable size, I will run the test! More suggestions welcome. comments are moderated so be patient and it will show up, if it's not gross or obscene.
And now for our second contestant
Grocery Store Weekly Flier saved from the burn box.
This isn't from my store, it's just to give you an idea.
PREP:
Not terribly slick, but also not absorbent feeling in my hand. So, you'll want to rub it around a bit to get the nap up for more cleansing/soaking power.
SCRATCH FACTOR: 2/5
Not as good as the xmas tissue paper. Bit rough on the hide so proceed gently.
EASE OF USE: 4/5
Took a bit more prep than the xmas tissue, but still easy.
PAPER-CUT SAFETY: 3/5
I don't THINK anyone will get cut, but the edges can be sharp so keep an eye...or whatever...out for any dangerous looking portions of the paper.
ABSORBENCY: 4/5
Quite good! But go slow, it isn't as thirsty as TP. Holds up better than tissue though.
CLEANSING POWER: 5/5
Bit rough, but you will be clean. Unless you consider brightly colored ink on your bum dirty, in that case, you'll be cleaner than you started out, but not like after a shower or with real TP.
AVAILABILITY: 2/5
You only get one a week and at best you get 4 wipes from that flier by separating the sheets and tearing them in half.
Grocery Store Weekly Flier COMPOSITE SCORE: 20/30
So, more suggestions please.
Or perhaps someone disagrees with my assessment?
Grocery store weekly fliers show up in my mailbox and normally I just chuck them out.
Again...this is a wipe test, NOT a flush test. Do not flush grocery store fliers.
AND: WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS!!
Thank you to the commenter who suggested mullein leaves. Right now the mullein on my property is too small but as soon as it is of a reasonable size, I will run the test! More suggestions welcome. comments are moderated so be patient and it will show up, if it's not gross or obscene.
And now for our second contestant
Grocery Store Weekly Flier saved from the burn box.
This isn't from my store, it's just to give you an idea.
PREP:
Not terribly slick, but also not absorbent feeling in my hand. So, you'll want to rub it around a bit to get the nap up for more cleansing/soaking power.
SCRATCH FACTOR: 2/5
Not as good as the xmas tissue paper. Bit rough on the hide so proceed gently.
EASE OF USE: 4/5
Took a bit more prep than the xmas tissue, but still easy.
PAPER-CUT SAFETY: 3/5
I don't THINK anyone will get cut, but the edges can be sharp so keep an eye...or whatever...out for any dangerous looking portions of the paper.
ABSORBENCY: 4/5
Quite good! But go slow, it isn't as thirsty as TP. Holds up better than tissue though.
CLEANSING POWER: 5/5
Bit rough, but you will be clean. Unless you consider brightly colored ink on your bum dirty, in that case, you'll be cleaner than you started out, but not like after a shower or with real TP.
AVAILABILITY: 2/5
You only get one a week and at best you get 4 wipes from that flier by separating the sheets and tearing them in half.
Grocery Store Weekly Flier COMPOSITE SCORE: 20/30
So, more suggestions please.
Or perhaps someone disagrees with my assessment?
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
They're ALIVE!!!
My bees are not dead yet. Both hives were out flying the other day when it was warm.
The saskatraz hive, the stronger one going in to winter, looks to be doing quite well.
The re-queened italian breed hive (re-queened with a saskatraz brood frame) is barely alive, but struggling along.
The italians had a mouse in the hive a few weeks ago. I noticed that all the dead bees I pulled out of the bottom of the hive had their heads bitten off and I thought, "What the hell?"
I couldn't here anything going on in the hive even with a new medical grade stethoscope, so I popped the top of and there...on top of the bag of sugar (winter emergency feed is a couple of bags of sugar) was a little mouse nest. DAMN and BLAST! I took that out and lifted a set of frames but a few bees were moving so I quickly put the whole thing back together. I figured they'd be dead by now.
But, they, like Gloria Gaynor thought:
We'll see how much longer they make it.
The community garden had HopGuard, a miticide (mite killer) available so I went and picked some up. Yay!!!
The saskatraz were flying all over. Quite a few bees out and about and a healthy loud "buzz" going on in the hive. I saw one bee carrying out a dead bee and flying away to drop it further from the hive.
Bees from both hives were coming and going with pollen, orange and yellow, in their thigh bags.
I see pollen on my alders but don't know where they were getting the 2nd type. Still, it was cool.
The saskatraz hive, the stronger one going in to winter, looks to be doing quite well.
The re-queened italian breed hive (re-queened with a saskatraz brood frame) is barely alive, but struggling along.
The italians had a mouse in the hive a few weeks ago. I noticed that all the dead bees I pulled out of the bottom of the hive had their heads bitten off and I thought, "What the hell?"
I couldn't here anything going on in the hive even with a new medical grade stethoscope, so I popped the top of and there...on top of the bag of sugar (winter emergency feed is a couple of bags of sugar) was a little mouse nest. DAMN and BLAST! I took that out and lifted a set of frames but a few bees were moving so I quickly put the whole thing back together. I figured they'd be dead by now.
But, they, like Gloria Gaynor thought:
We'll see how much longer they make it.
The community garden had HopGuard, a miticide (mite killer) available so I went and picked some up. Yay!!!
The saskatraz were flying all over. Quite a few bees out and about and a healthy loud "buzz" going on in the hive. I saw one bee carrying out a dead bee and flying away to drop it further from the hive.
Bees from both hives were coming and going with pollen, orange and yellow, in their thigh bags.
I see pollen on my alders but don't know where they were getting the 2nd type. Still, it was cool.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Will It Wipe?: A New Series for the Crapocalypse
So, the TP...really people?
I know you need a focus for your fears but TP and ammo may not be the best foci. Especially the TP. If you use the ammo to shoot a squirrel you can probably get enough hide and a tail and wipe your butt like 2 or 3 times after poorly prepared squirrel meat gives you diarrhea. TP is a one and done.
Anyway, here's the deal. Since I do have the compost turlet facility, I can safely test a variety of TP alternatives. So I will...sorry Mom!
WARNING: THIS IS WIPE, not flush. PUT TP ALTERNATIVES IN A TRASH CAN OR BAG. At last, a use for the 17, 032 grocery bags under your kitchen sink. You can use paper bags, plastic bags, trash cans, old boxes, empty facial tissue boxes, bins...anything.
I use paper lunch sacks. A friend years ago had a touchy septic system and TP had to go in a paper grocery bag by the turlet. I asked her if she then bagged it and hauled to the dump...no home trash service. Nope, it's excellent kindling. I have a smaller stove, so smaller bag.
AND: WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS. No amount of paper will save you from e-coli. Just wash your damn hands.
And now, our first contestant:
Left over tissue paper saved from Xmas and other gifts or if you bought a nice shirt in 1972 (they came in a box and the shirt was wrapped in tissue paper).
It won't be all flat and tidy like this if it's my left over paper, but you get the idea.
I had white and tan available, not bright colors. Make your own choices on that.
PREP:
It's a bit slick, but not shiny so you'll want to scrub it around between your hands a bit to rough it up. This increases absorbency and decreases the paper-cut potential.
I'll be testing on #1 for the most part since ...well, we'll just leave it at that.
Assessment Parameters:
SCRATCH FACTOR: 3/5
Not bad. Not super soft, but not horrible.
EASE OF USE: 4.5/5
Excellent! Only TP on the roll is easier. I suppose I could roll it and make fake TP with old TP tubes but really...I just grabbed it out of the fire-starter-supplies pile near the kindling.
PAPER-CUT SAFETY: 4/5
Very unlikely. Keep the edges folded in and under and soften it up a bit and you'll be fine.
ABSORBENCY:
Pretty good! 4/5. Again, scrubbing it between your hands before use helps up the absorbency and use a bit more than you think you'll need as tissue paper soaks through quickly.
CLEANSING POWER: 5/5
Good! Again, testing on #1s, but I'm going to predict it as good since it was not at all "slick". Individual results may vary.
AVAILABILITY: 3/5
This will be based on your propensity to save bits of things like gift wrap. I do, so it's pretty available to me.
Left over tissue paper COMPOSITE SCORE: 23.5/30
In the comments feel free to offer suggestions for possible TP substitutes. I won't test them all, but if I do test your suggestion...well, then I do. No shout-outs promised, no give-aways, nothing. Nada. Deal with it people.
I know you need a focus for your fears but TP and ammo may not be the best foci. Especially the TP. If you use the ammo to shoot a squirrel you can probably get enough hide and a tail and wipe your butt like 2 or 3 times after poorly prepared squirrel meat gives you diarrhea. TP is a one and done.
Anyway, here's the deal. Since I do have the compost turlet facility, I can safely test a variety of TP alternatives. So I will...sorry Mom!
WARNING: THIS IS WIPE, not flush. PUT TP ALTERNATIVES IN A TRASH CAN OR BAG. At last, a use for the 17, 032 grocery bags under your kitchen sink. You can use paper bags, plastic bags, trash cans, old boxes, empty facial tissue boxes, bins...anything.
I use paper lunch sacks. A friend years ago had a touchy septic system and TP had to go in a paper grocery bag by the turlet. I asked her if she then bagged it and hauled to the dump...no home trash service. Nope, it's excellent kindling. I have a smaller stove, so smaller bag.
AND: WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS. No amount of paper will save you from e-coli. Just wash your damn hands.
And now, our first contestant:
Left over tissue paper saved from Xmas and other gifts or if you bought a nice shirt in 1972 (they came in a box and the shirt was wrapped in tissue paper).
It won't be all flat and tidy like this if it's my left over paper, but you get the idea.
I had white and tan available, not bright colors. Make your own choices on that.
PREP:
It's a bit slick, but not shiny so you'll want to scrub it around between your hands a bit to rough it up. This increases absorbency and decreases the paper-cut potential.
I'll be testing on #1 for the most part since ...well, we'll just leave it at that.
Assessment Parameters:
SCRATCH FACTOR: 3/5
Not bad. Not super soft, but not horrible.
EASE OF USE: 4.5/5
Excellent! Only TP on the roll is easier. I suppose I could roll it and make fake TP with old TP tubes but really...I just grabbed it out of the fire-starter-supplies pile near the kindling.
PAPER-CUT SAFETY: 4/5
Very unlikely. Keep the edges folded in and under and soften it up a bit and you'll be fine.
ABSORBENCY:
Pretty good! 4/5. Again, scrubbing it between your hands before use helps up the absorbency and use a bit more than you think you'll need as tissue paper soaks through quickly.
CLEANSING POWER: 5/5
Good! Again, testing on #1s, but I'm going to predict it as good since it was not at all "slick". Individual results may vary.
AVAILABILITY: 3/5
This will be based on your propensity to save bits of things like gift wrap. I do, so it's pretty available to me.
Left over tissue paper COMPOSITE SCORE: 23.5/30
In the comments feel free to offer suggestions for possible TP substitutes. I won't test them all, but if I do test your suggestion...well, then I do. No shout-outs promised, no give-aways, nothing. Nada. Deal with it people.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Thank A Janitor Day!!!
How about not a "day" but rather just do that always.
Janitors, housecleaners, maids, custodians, orderlies, homemakers, ANYONE who cleans stuff.
THANK YOU. Thank you always and especially now. If anyone is an "essential worker" in a health crisis it is your local cleaning professional.
So, there you have it.
These folks are on the frontlines of health EVERY DAY all the time and especially now.
I have been a janitor and a hotel maid (there must be a better phrase for that...something not sexist because half of us working there were dudes). It's not easy and people assume you are stupid or a loser or poor. I was cleaning a "motel no-tell" type establishment when I was working on my Ph.D. Sure, I may have been a loser, but not uneducated. People staying there would not talk to me like a human. Please do that.
Last time I was at a hotel, a decent one, even though it wasn't all that clean, I thanked the cleaners (a man and a woman) when I saw them in the hall. I told them I'd had that job, it's not easy, and I appreciate it. I assume that the lack of super-clean-ness is more a lack of pay and people who will work for that pay rate than lack of wish to do a good job, Hotels on the off season tend to cut staff. Sometimes I had 10 minutes per room for weeks on end. I can change sheets and do a bathroom in that amount of time, and maybe vacuum the traffic areas. Mopping, hitting the baseboards, etc...not happeneing. Getting paid minimum wage and very very few people knowing to tip each day (different cleaner may hit your room each day and they will not know how long you've been there and what other staff cleaned your room, and CERTAINLY they do not have the time to get together in a group and figure out who all cleaned that room or brought your damn extra towels over the time you were there and then divvy up the cash...how could they for every occupied room?). Remember too that the cleaners do the halls, lobby and breakfast rooms, shovel the snow, wash the sheets and towels, and are generally treated like crap by management. A tip and a note are encouraging and appreciated.
Anyway...the folks I thanked were surprised and pleased to be acknowledged.
I also thank the janitors at the gym. The gym here is CLEAN. More bleach than I would ever use at home, but this isn't home. It's the gym used by elders, people with immune issues, and people with athlete's foot. So I thank them and wait for them to finish cleaning a shower or toilet before I barge in. They too seem surprised to be thanked.
I've also thanked the cleaners at the local casino. Haven't found a way to tip them but I'm working on it. The toilets near and "all you can eat" buffet can NOT be a treat to clean. That casino funds half my wages and many important things in the community and is the biggest employer around. If that place looks dirty, the whole community loses.
Cleaners are the plankton of the economy...the whole chain rests on them. How many businesses do you avoid because they are dirty? I pay more for laundry because I go to the clean laundromat. I thank the people cleaning it (who are also the owners and are frankly, quite wealthy...not just from the laundromat...they are also in realestate. I respect a wealthy real estate agent who also cleans toilets and mops floors)
So, take a moment now and always to thank anyone you see cleaning.
Again:
Janitors, housecleaners, maids, custodians, orderlies, homemakers, ANYONE who cleans stuff.
THANK YOU. Thank you always and especially now. If anyone is an "essential worker" in a health crisis it is your local cleaning professional.
So, there you have it.
These folks are on the frontlines of health EVERY DAY all the time and especially now.
I have been a janitor and a hotel maid (there must be a better phrase for that...something not sexist because half of us working there were dudes). It's not easy and people assume you are stupid or a loser or poor. I was cleaning a "motel no-tell" type establishment when I was working on my Ph.D. Sure, I may have been a loser, but not uneducated. People staying there would not talk to me like a human. Please do that.
Last time I was at a hotel, a decent one, even though it wasn't all that clean, I thanked the cleaners (a man and a woman) when I saw them in the hall. I told them I'd had that job, it's not easy, and I appreciate it. I assume that the lack of super-clean-ness is more a lack of pay and people who will work for that pay rate than lack of wish to do a good job, Hotels on the off season tend to cut staff. Sometimes I had 10 minutes per room for weeks on end. I can change sheets and do a bathroom in that amount of time, and maybe vacuum the traffic areas. Mopping, hitting the baseboards, etc...not happeneing. Getting paid minimum wage and very very few people knowing to tip each day (different cleaner may hit your room each day and they will not know how long you've been there and what other staff cleaned your room, and CERTAINLY they do not have the time to get together in a group and figure out who all cleaned that room or brought your damn extra towels over the time you were there and then divvy up the cash...how could they for every occupied room?). Remember too that the cleaners do the halls, lobby and breakfast rooms, shovel the snow, wash the sheets and towels, and are generally treated like crap by management. A tip and a note are encouraging and appreciated.
Anyway...the folks I thanked were surprised and pleased to be acknowledged.
I also thank the janitors at the gym. The gym here is CLEAN. More bleach than I would ever use at home, but this isn't home. It's the gym used by elders, people with immune issues, and people with athlete's foot. So I thank them and wait for them to finish cleaning a shower or toilet before I barge in. They too seem surprised to be thanked.
I've also thanked the cleaners at the local casino. Haven't found a way to tip them but I'm working on it. The toilets near and "all you can eat" buffet can NOT be a treat to clean. That casino funds half my wages and many important things in the community and is the biggest employer around. If that place looks dirty, the whole community loses.
Cleaners are the plankton of the economy...the whole chain rests on them. How many businesses do you avoid because they are dirty? I pay more for laundry because I go to the clean laundromat. I thank the people cleaning it (who are also the owners and are frankly, quite wealthy...not just from the laundromat...they are also in realestate. I respect a wealthy real estate agent who also cleans toilets and mops floors)
So, take a moment now and always to thank anyone you see cleaning.
Again:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Mid and Longer Term Things to Do: This Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
So, work is shutting down but I'm the office point person. I volunteered. It makes sense. With schools and daycares closed, those who were not as careful with the birth control have childcare and often elder care issues. I solved that second bit with what is known as the "geographic fix" in the anonymous type organizations. I moved. (Sorry Sher!) (Sorrier Pam!)
Anyway, rather than beating people up for the last sheet of toilet paper, perhaps we could do things that might really work. Remember: you can wipe your butt with anything, just don't flush it.
With a humanure bucket toilet (which might be a good idea to start...and which I thought I had blogged but can't find a post so maybe a blog on that) I don't have to worry about clogs so as long as I'm not using plastic bags to do the job, my wiper can go in the system.
If you're rich, get a composting toilet and paper that decomposes easily should work.
I ran into this video on one of my favorite YouTube channels. The lady has passed away and her advice is still good. With so many people off work without benefits and the congress busy gutting the benefits bill, frugality NOW will help you both be and feel more in control of your finances from here on out. (I hear that that "feeling" bit is important to some people. Not my bag but whatever. I'd rather be in control than feel in control.)
Her basic tips:
Family
Have a garden
Use and re-use
Make your own meals
Eat healthy
I figure "friends" count as family too as does the neighborhood. So I emailed my phone number to my across the road neighbor (she was easy to find as she is a college professor). We don't really chat because neither of us is like that. But when I was waiting on a tow truck, she hollered over asking if I needed a ride. When I go to the community band concerts where she plays the kettle drums, I say hi and chat about nothing for a minute. We're both cranky so I assume we're both effective people.
She's older than I am and may end up not allowed out. I can drop some groceries to her if need be. Or meds.
As for the garden...check. Do plant one. Lots of libraries now have "seed libraries" and may be able to get some to you even if they are closed. Stores are open and seeds are cheap. You don't need the best and brightest to get started. Cheap radishes are good. They grow fast and are tasty and pretty. Kids and old people love them. You can dice up the greens and put them in fried eggs or use them in salads. Let a few good looking early ones go to seed. Replant every week.
In my raised bed, I had lettuce coming on and a volunteer kale (not because I meant to keep seed...because I was lazy). We had a cold snap that might have killed them but it was nice to see something get started.
Lettuce is fast too. Carrots are pretty easy to get going and you can use the tops like parsely.
As for Use and Re-Use...maybe don't reuse the TP unless you've gone with butt-cloths and you wash them between uses.
As for food...buy the whole version of veggies. Carrots with tops. Celery as whole bunches. Skip the sliced and the diced and the trimmed. Cut off the carrot about an inch down from the top. Cut off the green bits (the tops) and use as parsley. THEN, put the carrot nubbin, top side up, in a shallow container of water and watch the top regrow. You can usually do this once. Sometimes twice. With celery, cut the stalks (not "stocks" as I keep seeing in stores...cripes) off about 1 inch up from the bottom. Set the bottom in a bit of water. Little celery stalks will grow up. Remember to dry the celery leaves by laying them on a bit of paper (not that precious TP). Use as a soup seasoning or in salad dressing when you don't have actual celery. There's more. Google it or tell those kids to figure it out with all their out-of-school free time.
As for the Make Your Own Meals...yes please! I just gave a co-worker a recipe for homemade egg noodles because she couldn't find macaroni and wanted some. She isn't much of a cook but has a pack of kids at home so it might be something to try with them. One of them must have a knack for cooking. Here's the video I sent her...with a note to skip the food coloring:
https://youtu.be/W2JzYzut_FE
Making your own meals is healthier and cheaper and will keep the kids busy. Kids need to do real things that really help when a family or whomever they live with is/are going through a rough time. Telling them to stare at a screen or play in the corner tells them they are ineffective and that carries through to adulthood. Helping cook, garden, regrow a carrot top, find out how to do something, help with laundry, etc...let them help; it's all good for their stress level in the moment because they are making life better for their family/group and in the long run because each kid knows that he/she CAN make things better for themselves and those around them by DOING stuff. There's research on this. Look it up.
As for Eat Healthy, well, obviously. Bingeing on sugary crap to make yourself feel better won't work. A sugary diet makes one more susceptible to infections of all kinds. Never mind the sugar-crash that can fuel bad "feelings" that so many of you find so important. I do not understand why "eating healthy" is left off of the lists of things to do during this pandemic. Worrying about not getting fastfood if you have a kitchen or even a hotpot or a wood stove and a pan (this does not apply to the homeless, destitute and others with so few resources...you get to eat whatever you can get your hands on safely), but for the majority of us, it is important. Making your own meals makes it easier to eat healthy than to eat crap.
Thanks to Clara in the first video for her tips and for her family for putting the little video out yesterday from what they'd already filmed.
Her cooking and recipe videos are excellent and fun to watch. Easy to cook along with.
Anyway, rather than beating people up for the last sheet of toilet paper, perhaps we could do things that might really work. Remember: you can wipe your butt with anything, just don't flush it.
With a humanure bucket toilet (which might be a good idea to start...and which I thought I had blogged but can't find a post so maybe a blog on that) I don't have to worry about clogs so as long as I'm not using plastic bags to do the job, my wiper can go in the system.
If you're rich, get a composting toilet and paper that decomposes easily should work.
I ran into this video on one of my favorite YouTube channels. The lady has passed away and her advice is still good. With so many people off work without benefits and the congress busy gutting the benefits bill, frugality NOW will help you both be and feel more in control of your finances from here on out. (I hear that that "feeling" bit is important to some people. Not my bag but whatever. I'd rather be in control than feel in control.)
Her basic tips:
Family
Have a garden
Use and re-use
Make your own meals
Eat healthy
I figure "friends" count as family too as does the neighborhood. So I emailed my phone number to my across the road neighbor (she was easy to find as she is a college professor). We don't really chat because neither of us is like that. But when I was waiting on a tow truck, she hollered over asking if I needed a ride. When I go to the community band concerts where she plays the kettle drums, I say hi and chat about nothing for a minute. We're both cranky so I assume we're both effective people.
She's older than I am and may end up not allowed out. I can drop some groceries to her if need be. Or meds.
As for the garden...check. Do plant one. Lots of libraries now have "seed libraries" and may be able to get some to you even if they are closed. Stores are open and seeds are cheap. You don't need the best and brightest to get started. Cheap radishes are good. They grow fast and are tasty and pretty. Kids and old people love them. You can dice up the greens and put them in fried eggs or use them in salads. Let a few good looking early ones go to seed. Replant every week.
In my raised bed, I had lettuce coming on and a volunteer kale (not because I meant to keep seed...because I was lazy). We had a cold snap that might have killed them but it was nice to see something get started.
Lettuce is fast too. Carrots are pretty easy to get going and you can use the tops like parsely.
As for Use and Re-Use...maybe don't reuse the TP unless you've gone with butt-cloths and you wash them between uses.
As for food...buy the whole version of veggies. Carrots with tops. Celery as whole bunches. Skip the sliced and the diced and the trimmed. Cut off the carrot about an inch down from the top. Cut off the green bits (the tops) and use as parsley. THEN, put the carrot nubbin, top side up, in a shallow container of water and watch the top regrow. You can usually do this once. Sometimes twice. With celery, cut the stalks (not "stocks" as I keep seeing in stores...cripes) off about 1 inch up from the bottom. Set the bottom in a bit of water. Little celery stalks will grow up. Remember to dry the celery leaves by laying them on a bit of paper (not that precious TP). Use as a soup seasoning or in salad dressing when you don't have actual celery. There's more. Google it or tell those kids to figure it out with all their out-of-school free time.
As for the Make Your Own Meals...yes please! I just gave a co-worker a recipe for homemade egg noodles because she couldn't find macaroni and wanted some. She isn't much of a cook but has a pack of kids at home so it might be something to try with them. One of them must have a knack for cooking. Here's the video I sent her...with a note to skip the food coloring:
https://youtu.be/W2JzYzut_FE
Making your own meals is healthier and cheaper and will keep the kids busy. Kids need to do real things that really help when a family or whomever they live with is/are going through a rough time. Telling them to stare at a screen or play in the corner tells them they are ineffective and that carries through to adulthood. Helping cook, garden, regrow a carrot top, find out how to do something, help with laundry, etc...let them help; it's all good for their stress level in the moment because they are making life better for their family/group and in the long run because each kid knows that he/she CAN make things better for themselves and those around them by DOING stuff. There's research on this. Look it up.
As for Eat Healthy, well, obviously. Bingeing on sugary crap to make yourself feel better won't work. A sugary diet makes one more susceptible to infections of all kinds. Never mind the sugar-crash that can fuel bad "feelings" that so many of you find so important. I do not understand why "eating healthy" is left off of the lists of things to do during this pandemic. Worrying about not getting fastfood if you have a kitchen or even a hotpot or a wood stove and a pan (this does not apply to the homeless, destitute and others with so few resources...you get to eat whatever you can get your hands on safely), but for the majority of us, it is important. Making your own meals makes it easier to eat healthy than to eat crap.
Thanks to Clara in the first video for her tips and for her family for putting the little video out yesterday from what they'd already filmed.
Her cooking and recipe videos are excellent and fun to watch. Easy to cook along with.
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