Brrrrr......!

I know I have neglected my Hints the past few days and I apologize for that. I will make up for it today...lol.  You have no idea what that means.

It was cold...and I mean bone chilling cold today.  Our high was just mid-60's and our low last night was down in the lower 40's.  I slept under my electric blanket and used the electric throw the Beast bought for me while I am here at the computer.  My feet and hands suffer because I haven't removed my fan out of the window yet.  I keep it on exhaust but it ends up pulling the cold air out of the rest of the house through my room.  But the throw keeps my feet warm and, if my hands get too cold, I tuck them under the throw for a bit.

Right now my regular electric blanket is on preheat (yeah, it has that) to warm up the bed for me.  I'm going to try to get into bed after I get this posted and take my shower.  pi

I don''t know what's going on but we have been plagued by flies since the weather started getting colder.  The Beast must have killed five or six just today and I killed three but still have one that is annoying me and won't sit still for any length of time so I can swat it.  We had no flies all summer long but I guess they don't like the cold weather either.  I could use a bug spray on him but it contaminates everything it falls down on (the spray, I mean) and the smell sticks around forever.  I would rather swat it.  p

Because it was so cold, I really didn't do anything today except read my emails and check on FB.  I love knowing what is going on with friends and family but...good grief!  It takes me a couple hours to go through and read everything they've posted.  I wouldn't change it, however.  I try to go through most of it about mid-day and then just before I am heading for bed, I read anything new and try to finish up.  Our weather is supposed to be in the upper 70's tomorrow so I should be able to get a few things done.  Hopefully, my sister Cee will come to pick up her Garmin, too, so we should be able to sit out on the deck for a bit and watch the hummingbirds feed.  I'll miss them when they migrate to warmer climes for the winter.

What's interesting when the leaves all fall off the trees, you can see their tiny nests hanging from some of the really thin portions of the branches.  If you don't know what to look for, you might not see them, they are that small.  But, after being a regular visitor to the small bird house in the San Diego zoo when we lived there, you can see their nests (most hanging from these small wires that the zoo puts up for them) so that you know what they look like.  It's really amazing.  They are so small and fragile looking.  Yet they raise one or usually two little ones in them until they can fly.  I love seeing the tiny ones feeding.  We should see a lot of them, a bit bigger now, feeding to get ready for their long flights south about now.

I had to laugh at the Beast tonight because he was doing the *one foot rag mop* to get up spots on the floor in the kitchen.  I accidentally stepped on the rag (he can throw it down but not pick it up) and said, *What is this doing here?*  When he told me, that's when I laughed.  He didn't think it was funny.

He went to bed at 8pm tonight.  He's becoming a really OLD man lately but I heard him say something about visiting his brother who happens to live in the Chicago area.  I forgot to ask him just when he planned on doing that.  If it's any time during the winter, I am NOT going with him.  Those winters just kill me.  
Time to get my hints done and then get this posted so I will close this missive for tonight.  Love you all.  Be good.  Stay warm and dry if you are in that kind of area.  If you live on the coast, please heed any warnings and evacuate if you are ordered to do so.  Be safe...not sorry.  ***Hugs***

HINT#1:  To freshen your whole house fast when it's too cold to open the windows, place a couple drops of vanilla extract on your furnace's filter.  Your house's heating system will do the rest of the work for you.  (Or, if you are not using your heating just yet, put a couple drops on an oven-proof plate in your oven and turn it on to 300 degrees with the door slightly cracked.  You can also just put a lemon in instead if you prefer....I cut it and will use the juice...or, as my girlfriend does, put an apple in.  It makes the house smell wonderful!)

HINT#2:  To light hard-to-reach wicks at the bottom of jar candles, use an uncooked strand of spaghetti.  Light the end of it, then use it like a fireplace match.

HINT#3:  Here's a trick that could save you hundreds:  If your cell phone gets wet, first take out the battery and dry it with a paper towel.  The bury the phone and the battery in a bowl of uncooked rice for 24 hours.  The rice will draw the rest of the water out of the phone, and hopefully it will be back in business again.

HINT#4:  Use a pencil eraser to wipe off the metal contacts on rechareable items such as your cordless hphone and drill and they'll get a better charge.  You can also use this trick for your cell phone, iPod, or between batteries and their contacts in electronics.

HINT#5:  If your child's or your shoelace breaks, use a ribbon as a replacement.  If often looks better than the original!