Off-Season Property Improvements

Developing our land has been a slow and tedious process. The location is remote, and the terrain is very rocky and steep. But one of our main priorities was to have a water source developed, be it a well, or a pond. We checked into the cost of both, and found a pond to be the most cost effective and offer more of a natural resource. People will argue that a pond may draw mosquitoes, snakes, and be a danger if you have children – and although all of these things are a concern, we believe the benefits far outweigh the potential drawbacks. A healthy fish population will generally moderate the mosquitoe population, snakes are a normal part of rural life (pond or no), and children need to be taught safety – not abstinence from risk.

The first task was to determine where the best location for holding water would be. Some companies suggest you have a “perk test” – the same water rate absorption test commonly done for sewer systems – in order to see if your location is viable. These tests can be quite expensive, and considering the depth we planned to reach – we had doubts on it’s validity as well. Instead, we chose the common sense way of looking for a naturally low and wet spot on the property. If an area tends to hold moisture naturally, it should certainly hold water if walled off.

The next task was to decide on the design we wanted. There’s two basic ways to build a pond, either by pushing dirt up to form high retaining walls – or digging a hole down in order to form a bowl. We chose to do a little of both. Because we live in the South and August can be so harsh, ponds do tend to go stagnant here if there’s no inflow and outflow of water. We decided to go the “watershed” route and center our pond over a natural drain off ditch coming down the ridge. Heavy rains come down the hill and right into the pond, effectively cleaning it out as they swirl around the retaining wall and flow out the other side. This also created a natural “drain off” for times when the pond gets really full.

And the last task was to price shop. There are companies that specifically build ponds, and some of them offer guarantees and the like that your finished pond will hold water. This sounded good, until they shot me the quote – low end being over $2400! My next move was to call private dozier operators. In the spring and summer I was getting quotes in the range of $1800 to $2000. So I bided my time and waited until November. Arkansas doesn’t really have a harsh winter, but November is prone to be wet and muddy – and cause the cancellation of construction work. Sure enough, the dozier guy I called was experiencing his “off season” and willing to negotiate price! We got the entire pond put in for the amazingly low price of $1100!

The entire pond was constructed with this dozier, and took about 8 hours one day and 4 the next to complete.

As you can see, the pond is quite large and deep! Over 12 feet at the low end.

This is a picture after it filled, and I’m standing by the run off ditch that flows into the pond, the run off is just to the left of here.

 

Bottle Kitties

Last Spring my husband found a cardboard box on the ground by our gate. At first, he assumed it was a package that UPS had dropped off. After walking over to it, he soon realized this was no “package”… something had been dumped on us. Inside were 6 tiny baby kittens. On the internet you can find very detailed information for raising abandoned or orphaned kittens, and I recommend you read some of these resources. You can also call an animal shelter or rescue in your local area and get information on where you can take the kittens if you’re not capable of raising them yourself. Of course, it’s always recommended that you conference with a Veterinarian, and get any recommendations he/she may have. I’m sharing this story in case this ever happens to you and you’re forced into immediate – uneducated – action, as I was.

I was so unprepared for the sight of a box of baby kittens that I forgot all of the aforementioned advice – and jumped right into the role of caregiver! The kittens had been in the box for so long one had already died. The remaining 5 seemed slow to respond and listless. I knew they were probably dehydrated, and past the point of hungry. I didn’t have a rabbit or kitten bottle on hand, but I did have a baby bottle I’d been feeding goats with. I also had powdered multi-animal replacement milk on hand. There was no directions for mixing it for a kitten, but I figured a rabbit’s mix would be close enough. The kittens were way too small to nurse from the bottle, but with some patience and lots of dry towels – I was able to give them all enough milk to fill their little bellies and put some life back into them. I continued to do this until the next day when my husband was finally able to go into town and get a kitten nurser and some kitten formula.

The most important thing to remember with baby kittens is that they need help eliminating their waste. A mother cat would help them do this, and you can simulate the process with a warm wet wash rag. Simply wash and rub their little bums until they relieve themselves. You may be amazed at how much urine such a small kitten can produce! So have plenty of paper towel on hand. I can’t vouch for every kitten in the world, but my little guys were fed on demand, and it averaged about every 2 hours for the first week or so. I let them nurse until they fell away from the nipple on their own. I used the wet rag trick to relieve them before and after each feeding. I didn’t stop doing this until I noticed wetness and elimination in their box.

To keep them warm, clean, and dry, I used a large sized Rubbermaid container, and I lined it with old rags and towels. I left plenty of “hidey holes” and crawl spaces for them in the folds of the material, so they could snuggle down for warmth. As they grew, they began to want out of the box, but I didn’t turn them completely loose until all 4 could climb out on their own. I’d let them out after a feeding to run and play, then put them back in until the next feeding. Once all 4 could get out on their own, I took their bedding from the box and moved it to an area inside the laundry room. This gave them the protection and warmth they needed – and allowed me to line the immediate area with newspaper to catch their eliminations, and a door to close in case I had to leave. Very seldom did one wander off the paper. By the time this became an issue – they were old enough to begin box training. Soon they were also eating solid foods. I started them on canned food of course, but slowly switched them over to dry by soaking it in their kitten milk at first.

Of the 5, we kept the males and found homes for the 3 females. Grayson and Honkey Cat (named after the Elton John song) are now full grown (and spoiled!) Toms. And living proof that you can successfully raise baby kittens – even if you have NO idea what you’re doing! This is the pair when they were about half grown.

 

Freecycle Network

The Freecycle Network is a great grass roots organization who’s primary goal is to keep useable waste from our landfills. What is useable waste? Well, have you ever heard the saying – “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” By creating groups on the local level, Freecycle has been able to bring people together where they can offer their unwanted or unused items to other members free of charge or obligation. Most of these groups on set up on Yahoo! Groups, and finding one in your local area is as easy as visiting the Freecycle Network homepage and typing in your location.

These groups are ran by volunteers, and some have implemented an enrollment process in order to cut down on spam and undesirable traffic to the group boards. This is a very simple process in which you’re asked to read all of the terms and conditions of the group and verify your location. Once accepted, you will receive access to the group board and email notifications of new postings if you choose. The boards are moderated, and all attempts are made to keep them local and in accordance to the Freecycle Network rules and guidelines.

If you have something that is no longer of use to you, but still a usable item – it’s the perfect thing to offer on a group board! If you’re in need of a particular item, you might be surprised at what you can find as well. When you give the gift of a useable item to another person, you’re not only helping someone else – you’re helping the whole planet by keeping these items from landfills. Almost all of us have something laying around that’s no longer of use to us. Instead of tossing these items into our landfills, why not give them to another person? By both the act of giving and receiving – we can all work toward a cleaner planet, one item at a time.

 

Miracle Copper Polish

(Disclaimer, in case I need one!) I’m no chemist, years of clinical research did not take place on this, and for all I know it might cause you to sprout an additional head or your unborn child to look like Elvis. So if you try this, you’re on your own!

My copper cookware was atrocious. I tried everything – I mean everything – copper polish, all of the homemade tarnish removers suggested on the internet, you name it. No matter what I tried, it all came down to hand buffing the tarnish away. Nothing was a “miracle” tarnish remover. I’d all but given up on having shiny copper cookware, then one day my son ask me to help him shine some pennies.

You know how kids are – if they want something, they want it right now. So when I explained that we’d have to rub all those pennies on a cloth until the tarnish was buffed away – this simply wasn’t acceptable! I’d been wanting to try my own hand at a tarnish removal concoction, and he only had about .32 cents worth of pennies – so I figured if worse case scenario happened and I blackened them instead of cleaning them, I could always hand him a dollar and he’d be good with that.

In a plastic container with a secure lid, mix the following…

3 Tspoons toothpaste (I don’t think the brand matters, but use paste – not gel)
2 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup automatic dishwashing detergent (I used Palmolive brand)
2 cups water

The mixture will foam up when you first mix it, so don’t put your lid on until the foaming action looks like it’s stopped. Then put the lid on and shake baby shake! The goal is to dissolve the clumps of toothpaste. Once you don’t see floating toothpaste anymore, the concoction is ready.

Pour this mixture into a plastic bowl or pan and immerse your cookware in it. Use a rag to spread the mixture around until the entire surface of your cookware is wet inside and out. You may have to do this several times – but within only a couple minutes you’ll start to see a remarkable difference! By 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the amount of tarnish – your cookware will look brand new! The stuff is amazing! I washed mine on November 7th and this is January 11th, and so far I have zero new tarnish… so I’m curious to see just how long this sheen will last.

 

$2.00 Apple Brown Bubbly

This is so cheap and easy to make! And the possibilities are limitless, you can use a cake mix like I did – or biscuit/crescent dough. Canned apples, fresh apples – about any fruit you want to. Add raisins, nuts – you name it! This cake can be made for less than $2.00 and serves 4.

I suggest you use a standard size single loaf bread pan, because you need something with high sides.

1 Jiffy brand yellow cake mix – About .39 cents at Dollar General
1 can apple pie filling – Store brand runs around $1.39
1 egg (or substitute 1 teaspoon mayo)
½ cup water
3 teaspoons butter (margarine is fine)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons brown sugar

Mix the cake mix according to the box directions, ½ cup water and an egg (or mayo). Open the can of apples and pour directly into the bottom of your bread pan (no grease or flour!). Put 2 teaspoons of your butter on top of the apples, 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, and a sprinkle of your cinnamon. Now pour on the cake mix. Pop into a 350 degree oven and bake for 35 minutes. In a sauce pan, heat up the remaining butter, sugar and cinnamon to make a drizzle. Take cake out, drizzle with sauce – enjoy!

 

Maybe I Need A New Glass?

Our perception of ourselves and our environment – coupled with the choices we make – are the two largest contributing factors to our success and/or failure – in all things, all aspects of life.

Some people are disappointed that the glass is half empty, while others are thrilled that it’s still half full. This is only half of the equation. The choices we made leading up to half of the glass disappearing, and the choices we will make now that half of the glass is gone – is the other half of the equation.

How did this happen?

If we can’t define in clear terms how we ended up with half a glass, the likelihood of it happening again are very strong – we have no clue what to avoid in the future.

Can I add to my volume?

This is probably the hardest step of all, because it forces you to be brutally honest with yourself, and accept any limitations you may have. You need to ask yourself if there is anything you can do, right now, with the resources you have, to increase the volume of your glass. If so, you need to take action on these measures NOW while the resources are still available to you.

Can I survive on what I have in my glass?

Once you’ve added all that you can to your glass, and have a pretty good idea of it’s level – can you survive on this? Can you continue to live the way you’ve been living on this amount – or do you need to make changes in order for your glass to sustain you longer?

Once you’ve looked at your life in this way, changes are much easier to make and accept. Instead of feeling disappointed or as if you’ve failed in some way – you feel proactive, in charge, and as if you’re DOING something. Depression, anxiety, negativity – all creep in during the times when we feel helpless and not in control of ourselves or our lives. An easy way to think of this would be to ask yourself this simple question. Would it be easier for me to do something because I wanted to, or because someone told me I had to? For most of us, and as most psychologists would tell you – it’s always easier to do something if we WANT to, and the success rate is much higher as well. By taking control of our lives and the situations around us, we’re effectively saying – I WANT to make any changes necessary to increase the volume in my cup.

 

Gorilla Coupons

As budgets tighten, more attention is being paid to price than ever before. Using coupons has always had it’s drawbacks, but with the 3 gorilla tactics below, you can far outweigh the drawbacks with the incrediable amount of money you can save.

Increase the number of coupons you have and cut the cost of getting them.

Most stores no longer accept printed coupons due to fraud and misuse, they only honor manufacturer’s and in store coupons. Magazines, newspapers, and periodicals are a great source of coupons – however – it costs money to subscribe, and you only get a few coupons a week or month. This isn’t very cost effective! Instead, visit an online manufacturer’s coupon warehouse. The coupons themselves are FREE, but you are asked to pay a handling charge. For example, you can order 5 coupons for .75 cents off coffee creamer for .15 cents handling. Most of these warehouses have a minimum order amount in the $3.00 range. The best way to “go gorilla” here is to go in with several friends or family members who use coupons too. You can also drop your extra coupons in the coupon exchange box located in the front of most major retailers and exchange them for coupons you need.

Once armed with your coupons, the next step is to use your noodle.

Most retailers won’t honor a coupon if you try to use it on an item that they have on sale. So instead of looking for sales – use your brain and past shopping experience and ask yourself where these items are at their lowest regular price. If your $1.00 coupon is for antiperspirant, it’s generally priced for $1.00 at Dollar General and around $1.59 at Wal-Mart. Redeem your coupon at Dollar General and you get the item almost free!

Avoid the temptation of buying impulsively simply because you have a coupon!

Always make your grocery list before you look for coupons. Once you have your shopping list prepared, go in search of coupons to match the items you intended on buying. Only add an additional item if using the coupon will save you over half of the purchase price, or is a BOGO item.

A final word of caution…

No retailer is going to think it’s cool for you to ring up $24.89 at the register and hand them $23.00 worth of coupons. They automatically suspect some type of fraud. Space your coupon use out! Use common sense, don’t abuse your coupons or your local retailers coupon redemption rules.