Dear Mindy Just start your own blog! It's childishly easy if you go to http://wordpress.com. They provide everything for free, even the hosting!
Once you get started, people will chime in with their findings, grateful that you provide a forum or soap box for them. You will be surprised how fast it takes off!
Don't forget to add some gas prices. That will really crank local traffic to your blog.
Once you have decent traffic, you can offer small ad spots to local businesses for their specials, and make a very noticeable contribution to your budget.
Try the 5 minute cake! 4 tbsp flour 4 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp cocoa 1 egg 3 tbsp milk 3 tbsp oil 1 tbsp chocolate chips (optional) A small splash of vanilla or almond extract
1. Add flour, sugar and cocoa to 4-cup or larger Pyrex measuring cup, mix well. 2. Add egg and mix some more. 3. Pour in milk and oil and mix well. 4. Add chocolate chips and vanilla. Mix again. 5. Put mug into the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at high power.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but that's OK! It won't make a mess in the microwave, and it will shrink as it cools.
6. Allow to cool, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
That's enough for one adolescent or two seniors.
Type of flour is not critical, even rye flour works fine.
Instead of chocolate chips you can use pre-soaked raisins or pre-soaked dried apple, apricot, even chopped pumpkin seeds.
I usually use water instead of milk, and it still turns out fine. It's a very flexible recipe.
If the green color re-appears when the cleaned area dries, it is not from fresh water, but old, embedded stuff. On valuable antiques it is worthwhile to draw it out with reverse electroplating, but in your case I would try to draw it out with cucumber slices. They also work on hard mineralization build-ups.
No change in the recipe, just boil them a smidgen longer. The pressure cooker saves you electricity by letting the contents reach bacteria killing conditions a bit faster and at a lower temperature, but does not affect the taste of potatoes at all.
If the pressure cooker is good old cast aluminum and has gotten "out of round", you can easily true it up again with a lead shot filled rubber hammer. The aluminum has to be cold or cool for that, not hot! Just light but firm tapping and frequent trying of the fit will get it fixed in a minute or two.
The technical part is easy. Just go to http://wordpress.com, fill in your particulars, and they will set it up for you. Start posting whatever you think your fans will be interested in. As you get comfortable, you can get fancy and pretty it up.
Your blog will be hosted there at wordpress.com. There will be some ads to pay for that, but that is no big deal while you are learning and getting comfortable.
If you want to make money yourself, and not just make money for others, you will need a domain of your own. Brainstorm with an expert (you need to have Skype installed for that) or with friends for a good name, get it registered and choose a web host.
For your first web host, don't pick the cheapest one! You will wind up arguing with auto-responders and get very frustrated. Select a host who includes friendly coaching. Once your site is set up, goof around with HTML. Yes, just play and learn the basics. It is actually very simple and a lot of fun, if you have a coach to ask questions.
Put up some text about your business or future business as early as possible, so that the search engines can catalog it. The search engines don't care if your design is amateurish. They just catalog the text.
When your site starts looking presentable, go to http://wordpress.ORG (not .com) and download the blog software from there. Upload it to your site. Now you have a more professional and more versatile blog, that is still quite similar to operate as the beginner blog.
Continue posting and increasing the daily readership. Don't expect that to happen overnight, even if you have extremely scandalous news!
Once you have earned the trust of loyal readers, you can start recommending items you have for sale or that you promote as an affiliate. Keep in mind that it takes time to get a big enough number of fans to make a blog cost effective compared to the same time spent elsewhere.
Most people realize income quicker with a newsletter, and use their blogs just as a back-up. Start a newsletter, register it with http://Ezinefinder.com to get free publicity and at the same time test the responsiveness of your audience. If they don't even vote for you, they probably won't buy from or through you either. Posting your newsletter content to your blog only takes a minute at most, and gives you additional exposure.
If you mean the classic blue steamer trunks with brass corners and latch, they used sheet metal that was tinned, then coated with a linseed oil based spar varnish colored with Prussian Blue, before the sheet metal was cut. You will not be able to spot match that quality, durability and look with modern paints.
You get pretty close if you strip or burn the paint off, wash it with Naval Jelly, rinse and dry, then spray paint it with "Brite Zink" to make it look like smooth chrome, and finish it off with a thin coat of Royal Blue Candy-Apple paint.
The easy way out is to take the fittings off, Mac-Tac it with an old oak look textured vinyl, and slap the fittings back on. They will cover the seams, just like they cover the seams on the old tin. However, I would still wash the tin with Naval jelly to permanently eliminate any rust, before putting the vinyl on.
Traditionally the best method for that is to store them in an unheated basement room that does NOT have concrete, but a dirt floor.
A concrete walk in the center is OK, but the sides, where the wooden potato bins are, should be dirt floor with some loose wood to keep the bins from touching the dirt.
There should be a window a crack open, so that you don't get "dead air".
If you do it this way, the potatoes won't rot and will have well developed eyes at planting time.
However, if the potatoes are store-bought and have been in refrigerated storage and then gas "finished", all bets are off. In that case they will probably sprout in 3 weeks, no matter what you do.
The good news is that they probably have lots of the same potatoes in refrigerated storage, and will continue "finishing" batches every week. In that case, just get some bags of them in spring.
Best is spar varnish, the same stuff as they mop onto the decks of ocean going sail boats. If that is too slick for you, use an oil based porch and floor paint. NOT a latex paint. Latex paints are initially cheaper, but can't handle the abuse, that a proper oil based paint can.
For the really high traffic areas, for example the entrance from the garden to the deck, or around the BBQ, you can mix a bit of PolyFilla into the paint. (NOT any similar wall patching product!) That makes it as hard and durable as a counter top.
Forget that leash. Use a thick, fuzzy curtain cord instead, and eventually replace that with a chain that has wool of the same color threaded through the links. When I had sled dogs, I used to use a straw broom to herd the puppies out of the way. No matter how cute they are, that enthusiastic herd of fan and groupies do get in the way of work and need to be sent away and/or disciplined occasionally. The broom never hurt them, but always became a life long terror inspiring symbol.
Even a 15 year old senior working dog, that could pull the bumper of a pick-up without noticing it, always instantly stopped barking or fighting and slunk away with the tail tucked between the legs, if I showed the broom or slapped the broom onto the ground. The absolute worst punishment, that elicited the most pitiful kayeying was hitting HIS tree with the broom.
So, simply realize that the pup has been beaten with a leash and now equates it with the hyroglyphic for terror, and will for the rest of his life. Silly tricks to get him to tolerate or like the "symbol for terror" will just warp him. Curtain cords, house-coat belts, anything soft and fuzzy will work just fine as a substitute.
I have done it for 20 years in the Yukon. Unless you are too far from the grid, alternate electricity is an expensive hobby. It is a lot of fun for a tinkerer, but it will NOT pay for itself in your lifetime.
Noise is not a problem with a decent windmill. They make about the same wind noise as a tall tree. The problem is storage, same as with solar. "Enough batteries" is a myth, and "almost enough" is an expensive nuisance. And you will still need a Diesel for back-up and heavy chores.
What does pay off is water heating and intelligent design. Same as with electricity, the key is storage. For example, if you have rock, brick or concrete walls, put the insulation on the OUTSIDE, and use the walls for heat storage in winter and cool storage in summer.
Use a greenhouse or lean-to greenhouse and vent the hot air from the gable through a truck radiator into a chimney, or use a solar panel to power a circulating fan. You will have as much or more usable heated water as an expensive roof panel installation at a tiny fraction of the cost. The greenhouse or lean-to does not need glass. Cheap bubble-wrap works just fine. Fresh lettuce and tomatoes are a fringe benefit.
