Friday, September 05, 2008

Three Helpful Hints




My online friend, Anne, sent me this YouTube link to a song by Brad Paisley (Tom's favorite) which has Andy Griffith (my favorite) in it. Throughout the song, there are hints which just may save a marriage. Hence, why I'm sharing it with you.

Hint #2: Months ago while on Oprah, Julia Roberts and a friend shared a recipe for a rinse which they said would wash chemicals (at least some) off of your fruits and vegetables. Considering where my mind has been the past couple days, I thought I'd share it with you now (I've not made it myself yet, but I plan to):

1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tbs. baking soda
20 drops grapefruit seed extract.

Combine and put in a spray bottle. Spray on fruits and vegetables and leave on for 5 minutes. Rinse.

Hint #3. And here's something which I've forgotten to share at least a hundred times... Did you know that raisins are more poisonous to dogs and cats than chocolate? I saw this on Rachel Ray's show and someplace else. If either animal eats raisins (or grapes), their kidneys can shut down and even cause death (they showed a dog who, later, had to be put down because he'd gotten into some raisins...). I've heard this in only two places--but I'm wondering why haven't we been told more often, as in the chocolate thing? Sigh.

I wanted to pass that along.... Occasionally I would give Lennon a raisin or two a few years ago (he loves them) and then all of a sudden he was diagnosed with diabetes and has been on insulin ever since. I'm not saying raisins caused it, but still.... I am living with the possibility that they did. And I don't want that for you to deal with...


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Here's a page with a list of foods which should not be fed to pets.
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You might have noticed my kitchen at the top of this. :) It's coming along s-l-o-w-l-y. Finally I did more painting today and then grabbed those yard sale runners off the back porch window and put them up in the kitchen window, instead. I'm still waiting for the orange counter tops to magically fly away...


Oh, and if you enlarge the photo you can see my "God Bless Our Home" embroidery which I made 27 years ago. It's becoming an antique!

5 comments:

Cindy Swanson said...

Oh...that Brad Paisley song is so precious! My sister shared it with me several months ago, and it really touched my heart.

Anonymous said...

Hi Debra,

I'd been offline for 8 months and have been slowly catching up with your adventures. I'm so very happy for you that you've been able to move...and move to a farmette....and decorate...and be quiet...and be as organic as you can : { (re:yesterday)....and rest...and prepare for those folks who will come your way to be refreshed and revived by your colors, your choices and your wisdom.
Blessings,
Becky

Nan said...

First, I just love that kitchen corner. The window and door are very like the way our farm kitchen was when we first bought the house. We moved the window into a dark living room, and put in higher windows so a counter could go underneath. I so wish I'd had a blog all those years ago to chronicle the changes as you are doing. Photos are fine, but this is so much better, Deb.

I've fed my dogs grapes occasionally over the years - no side effects I've ever noticed. Oh, and get this - I hope I haven't already told you; I tell a lot of people - when I was a girl, my father bought a little box of buttercream chocolates each week, and gave our dog one every day as a treat. He lived to be twelve. Go figure!

Echoes From the Hill said...

I read, somewhere, that there is a paint you can use on Formica counters. A paint store, like Sherwin-Williams can probably advise you.
The kitchen looks very inviting!

Anonymous said...

Debra, raisins did NOT cause Lennon's diabetes. Stop torturing yourself with doubt. Cats are no strangers to diabetes.

Regarding grapes and raisins and dogs... Like chocolate and canines, there's a principle which states "the dose makes the poison". That is, a substance may not be a poison below a certain dose. And many factors play into that critical dose - purity of the substance, body weight, individual sensitivity, etc. So milk chocolate is not as big a problem as dark chocolate (because milk chocolate has much less of the problem ingredient in it). A German Shepherd might be able to eat a milk chocolate bar and be fine, while the same bar consumed by a Yorkshire terrier might kill it, or at least make it very sick.