I have two Top Ranked Pages on the Web! I am so Excited!

Today I have two webpages in the top 100 on Squidoo! I am so very excited about this accomplishment. Why, you might ask. Well, there are well over 1 million pages that are published on this web-hosting site and to have 2, yes, two articles I have written to be ranked in the top 100 is amazing.

My "Easy Book Repairs" (aka: Book Care and Repair), www.squidoo.com/BookRepair, has been in the top 100 since January 2011. Now its "sister" page, Repurpose, Recycle or Upcycle Old Books has joined her. (The image here is of a wreath made with paper that I took with an iPhone.)

Festive Uses for Old Books

If you have a book that is beyond repair, you could use it to decorate for the upcoming holidays.

I have a page on Squidoo about re-purposing old books. There is a section on that page listing festive uses for old books.

Today I put on a new project that seems like a lovely use for an old hynmal. Go check it out by clicking the "festive" link above.

 

Happy Caramel Apple Day!

Google Halloween--I was absolutely enthralled with this Halloween creation from Google! I know you will enjoy it too!

However, I would be remiss if I did not tell you that today is National Caramel Apple Day. So go and Celebrate the Caramel Apple why don't you!

My own book Pivate Eye!

As I age gracefully, I find that I have trouble remembering stuff. That fact becomes the most aggravating to me when I am trying to find a book that I want to read or another book just like one I have read. Well, today while exploring my virtual world, I discovered a handy tool. It is the Book Sleuth from AbeBooks. This page in their "community" promises that it will help you find those books if you can remember the plot, the name of a character, or even what the front cover looks like. You just post what you can remember on the forum, and a member will probably know exactly what book/author you are looking for!

AbeBooks even gives you other Book Sleuthing Websites! With all that help, I am sure that I can find that mystery book with the long legged fly in the title!

Growing Tomatoes In Containers - The Tasteful Garden

Growing Tomatoes In Containers - The Tasteful Garden

Great comprehensive article about growing vegetables in Containers. I must emphasize that you use a potting MIX and not potting SOIL in your containers. The mix is specially formulated for container gardening, the soil is just that, soil.

Has anyone tried worm casings? I must do that. I have seen them for sale at Pepper Place. I try to be as organic as I can, but sometimes one just has to use manufactured chemicals and fertilizers.

I do wish I had the land to grow really good vegetables. Fusarium wilt struck big time in my raised bed garden this summer and I lost two beautiful tomato plants almost over night. I just might stick to growing herbs and flowers from now on. With so many trips planned this year and the drought that has hit our area so soon this year, nurturing my veggies is almost a lost cause. It would be easier to go to the farmer's market and buy my produce.

In case you have to harvest your tomatoes before they ripen on the vine (like when the wilt strikes) I have assembled a few green tomato recipes. I have made the green tomato sauce and the casserole many times and have gotten rave reviews from friends and family.

Hope your life is going well today.

How to Make Garden Paving Stones with Your Kids | DoItYourself.com

Found this project that looks like a good one for gardening with the grand-kids.

How to Make Garden Paving Stones with Your Kids | DoItYourself.com

A Supercell Storm Broke the Heart of Dixie

I have spent the last few days following updates about the Alabama 2011 tornado. I am overwhelmed by the amount of information on the internet. There are literally hundreds of videos of the storm that raced across the state of Alabama from Mississippi to Georgia. The number of images is staggering. One cannot possibly see them all. Some of the images are so sad that one cannot bear to look at them. I saw one yesterday on Facebook of a dog standing over the body of a German Shepherd. Cannot look--but on the same page is an image that warms the heart as well!

This note was found pinned to an article of clothing that had been donated to disaster relief. I am sure that it expresses the thoughts of so many who have been thinking and praying for my beloved state.

Keep the injured, homeless and grieving people in your prayers.

If you have time, please visit my article on Squidoo about April 27, 2011.The Broken Heart of Dixie.

Candies that are Less Than 100 calories!

This information makes my day!

One Reese's Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs 1.2 oz has only 90 calories! I do not know why, but the egg shaped peanut butter cup just seems to taste better than a round peanut butter cup. This "Easter" candy has been around for a long time--this must be so because I remember the Bunny bringing them to my children who are now 33 and 30!

Another favorite candy found in Easter Baskets is not so easy on the diet; three Robin's Eggs are 100 calories. Three, not four, three.

5 Jordan Almonds are 90 calories. If you can eat all five without breaking a tooth, that is wonderful news for me. Five is better than three pieces. However, the Peanut Butter Egg is still looking like the best choice.

Whoa nelly, 6 Cadbury Mini Eggs are 95 calories! Now that is what I am talking about! These little eggs are so pretty I love having them around the house in pretty little bowls. I would enjoy that 95 calorie snack!

The image above is from Amazon

Diet Tip #3--Keep a Food Journal--No kidding!

To stay focused and keep losing weight, one must keep a Diet Journal.

What is a diet journal, you ask? Well, it is some form of written (or typed) documentation of what you ate during the day.

When I did Weight Watchers many years ago, we had to keep track in a booklet. Doing this journal is very instructive, indeed. I was surprised at the amount that I was eating. I was also surprised that I was not eating well -- not enough meat (protein) and fruit.

In today's electronic world, there are numerous sources for an online journal. I am using myfitnesspal.com. No bells and whistles here to distract you. No menus are suggested. I like it because I can easily enter a recipe and have the calorie count figured up. What I do not like is that everyone can enter in a food to the data bank and sometimes there are too many choices in a category. For example, when I was looking for sliced deli chicken, there were about 20 choices. I could not find the ONE that I needed, so I put in my own. Now there are about 21 choices. It just takes more time to enter one's calories when there are so many choices.

For the past two days, I have been gaining weight. Not a lot, just a half pound here and there. Why? I have not been keeping track of what I have been eating. (I have not been exercising, either!) If a dieter just enters in what was eaten on myfitnesspal.com, the journal for that day will tell you how many more calories you have to eat that day. It will also give you an idea of what you need to eat to have a balanced day, nutrition-wise.

Today I will be entering my food intake again. Let's hope I can burn some calories doing it.

Free Valentine Downloads from "Skip To My Lou"

Here is a link to Printable Valentines at Skip To My Lou. This "Blog" constantly surprises me with what can be found that is free and fun to create on the web.

With Valentines Day just around the corner (and everyone's budget tight) the free designs and downloads are a blessing to all of us. The Valentine Box (pictured below) is only one of the craft ideas you will find on Skip To My Lou.

Diet Tip # 2: Do Not Add Velveeta to Your Spaghetti Sauce

Do not add the southern basic, processed cheese food (aka: Velveeta) to any sauce if you want to loose weight.

It adds calories, fat and lots of salt (especially if salt is already an ingredient in your recipe) that is a diet killer.

My dad is famous for his spaghetti. When I was a child, he used to cook spaghetti for church fundraisers. I do not remember it being as salty way back then. It was that original spaghetti that made his recipe "famous". Today, he is famous for making the saltiest spaghetti. We all go in the kitchen to ask him to cut down on the salt in the recipe. He replies with a grin, "This is a one cook kitchen." We suspect that he then proceeds to add more salt. Our "Pop" is a hard-headed man who is now "famous" for not taking anyone's advice--especially if you are one of his children or are married to him.

Today, my husband and I are having corned beef and cabbage with him and Freda (my wonderfully patient step-mother who I am daily grateful to God for her marrying my widowed Daddy). I am sure that he will be putting an extra handful of salt in the recipe. Hopefully, he is out of Velveeta.

FYI: as of yesterday, I have lost 2 pounds. Only 8 more to go to meet the "Scale Back Alabama" goal.

(the image of the processed cheese unwrapped was found on the blog Red Ravine)

Diet Tip #1

This past week my husband and I signed up for the "Scale Back Alabama" weight loss program. We have a team of 4 and we are to lose 10 pounds each in 10 weeks. This is a doable thing. I have lost weight before using Weight Watchers and earned my "lifetime" pin. Time and food have not been kind since I earned my status with that diet program. I did learn a lot and I use the skills WW taught me. I just have a problem with portions.

In honor of joining the SBA, I am posting a diet tip. I will try to post new tips as I find them. Here is the first:

The little pieces at the bottom of a chip bag DO NOT have fewer calories.

Memorable Chocolate Covered Cherries

I had such fun making chocolate covered cherries this past holiday season. I even created a page on Squidoo about my experience.

Since these cherries would be a wonderful and thoughtful gift for Valentine's Day, I want to share the recipe with you today. Yes, February 14th is a little more than a month away, but these covered cherries need that much time to "age" and become a cordial (another term for friendly and "liqueur")eating pleasure.

There are many recipes for chocolate covered fruit on the web and I looked at most of them. It took forever! If I say so myself, I think that the recipe I used on the Memorable Chocolate Covered Cherry Recipe page on Squidoo is a really good and has all of the information one might need to make this delicious homemade candy for gift giving.

I made the candy and the picture of this chocolate cherry!

Go take a look at it and let me know what you think. You do not have to be a member of Squidoo to leave me a comment on that page. You can leave a comment here, too.

SoThisIsChristmas.wmv

A Christmas Wish from my beloved friend, Wes.

Get Free Christmas Music!

Yes, FREE.

Amazon is offering 25 Days of free music. Log on every day to find out what new free song has been added. I just found out about this offer today. Day 15! The good news is that I can download all the songs that are shown for free. I picked out a few -- well, more than a few -- and downloaded them to iTunes on my MacBook. With the down-loader offered on Amazon, this is an easy process.

Here is the link to Amazon's 25 Days of Free Holiday Music: 25 Days of Christmas

What did I download? A songs by Dan Fogelberg, Andreas Vollenweider, Chanticleer, Manheim Steamroller, Little and Ashley, Point of Grace and Fleet Foxes.

What free mp3 downloads did I not choose to put on my Christmas Music Playlist? Your Holiday Song by the Indigo Girls; Winter Games by Superchunk, Oh Come All Ye Faithful by Abandon Kansas, Auld Lang Syne by Chris Issak, Time of the Season performed by Isobel
Campbell and Mark Lanegan. Other songs not to my personal taste: Punk Rawk Christmas by MXPX and a song by Shelby Lynne. Just because I did not put them on my list, it does not mean you will not like these Holiday songs. Go give them a look and see if you can find something to get you in the Christmas Spirit.

Don't forget to check out my Holiday Gift Guides on Squidoo. Here is a link to those guides: Mickie_G's Gift Guides.

http://www.squidoo.com/great-secret-pal-gifts-ideas-under-20-dollars

Well, my sorority is having our Christmas Party this Saturday at 11 AM. I get to bring mimosas! It should be a lot of fun as we will be finding out who our "secret sister" has been for the last year. We draw names in January for a new secret "pal". This year, instead of bring a gift the month of or secret pal's birthday, we decided to have one big "birthday" party in July when everyone brings their pal a gift. Then at the Christmas party, we bring that same pal a present and tell her our name. It will be so much fun.

This year I wrote an article on Squidoo about my search for the perfect gift for my secret sister. We are only supposed to spend between $15 - $20. Please visit Secret Pal Gifts Under $20 to find out what wonderful presents I discovered.

"Unique "Chin Family" Gifts For Your Home" on Squidoo: "-

Discovered these unique gifts inspired by the National Palace Museum in Taipei while surfing the web. The "Chin Family" is just too adorable for words. If you are looking for a unique and useful gift idea this holiday season, these items just might fit the bill.

Click the above link to meet the rest of this family. You won't be sorry.

Beth Holloway is Back in Aruba

Beth Holloway is Back in Aruba

Mickie_G's Zazzle

Just created a "Showcase" on Squidoo for my Zazzle shop.

I am curious about how it will help drive traffic to my shop on Zazzle, "Always Changing".

I love vintage images -- especially those that are black and white -- and try to find unique designs to use on greeting cards, magnets, t-shirts, invitations etc....

One image that I found is from an old advertisement for diamonds. I found a way to use it for wedding products (save the date cards, t-shirts for wedding party, stickers, magnets, etc).

The first card I created used the vintage image below:

I plan on ordering this card myself to send out at Thanksgiving!


I would love for you to visit my shop and let me know what you think of the designs I have found.

PS: I also use photos that have been taken by my family.

Cole Slaw Salad--3 ways!

Coleslaw Salad-three ways!

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Labor Day BBQs looming on the near horizon, I thought I would share an article I wrote for Squidoo a few weeks ago for a RocketMoms Assignment.

My mother used to make Pineapple Coleslaw for most family gatherings at holidays. This recipe is especially good with barbecued meat of any kind. Just click the title of this post to go visit this recipe--plus two other slaw recipes that you might enjoy.

Have a safe and joyous Labor Day.