Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Maye Musk, Elon's Mom

This is Maye Musk at 72 ( Elon Musk’s South African mother @mayemusk ).. I’m planning to read her book “A Woman makes a Plan” .. I watched some YouTube interviews and looked at her Instagram.. she quotes from one of her passages in the book about posture .. and how important it is to stand up straight with your shoulders back ( this weeks theme on my Instagram). 
pc: NYT

  It’s the beauty secret of being a super model at 72. And looking young and elegant at any age. She has immaculate posture. And was trained from childhood by a father who was a doctor who was very conscious of it .. he held awards for posture in his garden once a year and invited all his patients to the ceremony. I recently checked in with a brilliant physiotherapist to see how I was going.. Pilates and aqua aerobics help so much with posture because good posture comes from a strong core. I was advised to do neck exercises ( vital!) and stretch my shoulders back so they don’t curve forwards x and walk tall. Getting older is a full time job !! -- SC



pc: wikipedia

Serena C is someone I follow on IG.  She has a way of making a variety of topics interesting - thus, I like many (but not all) of her posts. As I get older, I notice posts on older women/seniors so as to have them as an example of health and attitude.  Good posture is something we can all achieve at any age.  Other than that, the Musk family members have their own character issues (the Dad of Elon & sibs, ewwww!).  The fruit does not fall far from the tree.

But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. (Psalm 3:3)







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Sunday, August 2, 2020

Home Renovation: Saving Money on Your Backsplash

In spite of Covid-19, Home Renovation season is moving forward!  It can be a major expense, so it's a good idea to look for wise ways to save money $$.  Here is a helpful article from Domino Magazine ( written by L. Geisel) on saving money on your choice of backsplash. 

pc: Naked Kitchen

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from veteran renovators, it’s that less is almost always more. Even small adjustments can make a big improvement. For instance, consider the backsplash, a critical (but surprisingly expensive) part of any kitchen remodel. It’s also a small way to save a lot of cash. What’s the difference between a low-cost kitchen job and a super-expensive one? Ten inches, give or take. 
While the standard height is usually in the 15- to 20-inch range, if you’re on a budget, the magic number is 6. When designer Jaclyn Peters was reimagining avid baker Ashley Illchuck’s space, she had good reason to scale down: Illchuck wanted to splurge on soapstone counters. The soft, stain-resistant material is roughly $150 per square foot, so to continue it up the walls would have cost nearly $3,000—not including install. Instead, Peters only continued the backsplash up the wall for 6 inches (or whatever it was)—a small change that made a big impact, and not just on her budget. Here, three more reasons kitchen renovators swear by this work-around. 

It Can Brighten Up a Sterile Space 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIA WANNER; DESIGN BY THE CHRIS AND CLAUDE CO.

You Can Put Offcuts to Work

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMANDA KIRKPATRICK; DESIGN BY HENDRICKS CHURCHILL


Add Texture to the Walls

PHOTOGRAPHY BY INGREDIENTS LDN HOMEWARES

Read the Domino Magazine article H E R E










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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

MacKenzie-Childs: In My Kitchen

M-C ran a series of contests in July 2020 to appease the multitude of Fans who were disappointed in their cancellation of the annual M-C Barn Sale ('coz of Covid-19). First contest was to post pictures of MacKenzie Childs in your kitchen. Why, don't mind if I do!


CC Cutting Board

MC 3-quart Tea Kettle

Breezy Poppy Runner Rug
Courtly Check Owl









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Sunday, July 26, 2020

Budget Meals: Using Freeze-dried Vegetables

Hubby works from home during Coronavirus season -- which usually means no OT, sigh. So, when we found cans of freeze-dried/dehydrated food, I was thrilled.  What can be cooked with these in order to save money?  We will need to work within certain limits (3 varieties in 5 cans) which might be repetitive after a while (like Manna of the OT),  but I am certain Mrs Moses found a  multitude of ways to make-do and have interesting meals. 

How To Survive On Freeze-Dried Vegetables


Have you often wondered if you could survive on freeze-dried vegetables? Do you sometimes wonder how do they taste? What do they look like? Here’s the deal, with freeze-dried foods you can literally eat most of the vegetables right out of the can.


Get A Can Opener

Be sure and get a good can opener, friendly reminder. Yep, we need to be able to open those #10 cans. I think I have ten can openers stashed throughout my emergency preparedness stockpile. If you can cook from scratch you can cook with any of the freeze-dried vegetables.
You don’t need a special food storage cookbook because these vegetables are just vegetables with the water removed. Dehydrated foods must be cooked, but I will talk about them another day. You don’t need a special cookbook for them either.

Freeze-Dried Food

You can throw the freeze-dried vegetables in any soup base if you have rehydrated them with tepid water, you just drain them and add to your pot of soup. They cook faster than dehydrated vegetables, so therefore, we would use less power or zero power if we ate them directly from the can.
If you are using a water-based soup you can just throw the veggies into the soup without having to rehydrate them in water first. If you use a cream-based soup you will want to rehydrate them or the soup may become too thick.
Either way, they are easy to use and taste as close to fresh vegetables as you can imagine once we rehydrate them. They taste a lot better than canned vegetables, plus, the variety is endless.
Let’s be honest here, they are not exactly the same as fresh vegetables, but they taste great! Let me give you some ideas on the different ones I have and use regularly. The fabulous part about these is the fact we don’t have to wash the vegetables, cut, chop or slice them!
Plus the companies like Augason Farms, Thrive Live and Honeyville freeze-dried vegetables have a shelf life of 20-25 years unopened in optimal storage conditions. Please do not store any food storage in your hot garage. I only store my food storage in my home, and it’s a small home.
Read the full article by Food Storage Moms H E R E


pc: Costco

One of the meals I make now and then is Breakfast Burrito. You can put anything in them. Eggs 
meat and cheese. You can add veggie’s or not. I get a package of tortilla wrappers and use for breakfast or lunch or supper.
I work at a convenience store and we sell Donuts, if we have any left we box up and sell the next day for cheaper. They are just as good and you can freeze them and they will last just thaw and eat.
Also I check my local Walmart for breads and sweets they bake to much of the day before. You can get a loaf of French bread that is a day old for 70 cents ( price depend on area). You can buy a few loaves and put in the freezer. People today need to realize day old doesn’t mean old, nasty, stale items. I over heard one lady customer in my store say ” Oh day old, we don’t want those” that is a bad habit to teach your kids.
Check for Buy One and get one free offers too. On the back of our receipts from some stores are coupons for meals discounted or a free item. See if your area has those. I also use Ibotta and get money back on items I buy at the Grocery store. I get to chose what Gift cards I get in return. I usually get Walmart and get more Groceries.
I learned Budget meals from my mom and Grandma. We make Macaroni and Tomato Juice. Just cook the pasta, drain and while draining add the tomato juice to the pan, add butter, salt and pepper then add sugar to cut the acid in the tomato juice. Add the pasta back in and heat till pasta is hot again. We have made meals on that or added meat to it or as a side. I have other meals but 
don’t want to write a book in a small area. -- June K. 










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