Like a Flame to a Moth

OK. This photo shows almost the actual size of a massive moth that was on my porch the other night. I got the key in the door and was hoping the moth would still be there when I returned with my camera. I've never, ever seen a moth this big! It was about 4" long with substantial, velvety legs and a football hemlet-ed head. I dared not poke it, for fear that it would fly at me...which would make me scream or fall backwards off the porch. Instead, I told it to stay put, I took some pix and went inside to Google "huge orange moth."

Regal Moth, Royal Walnut Moth...Citheronia Regalis. This moth is not uncommon (!) and can be found mid-summer in Southern states. It is mid-summer and I live in a Southern state. The larvae burrow underground and live there for up to two years. I think they come out to eat the dill --and apparently just the dill--in my herb planter. I saw some fat, brightly colored caterpillars this summer and last. 

It's the largest moth north of Mexico.

Wikipedia's got a pretty interesting entry with pix that will ensure that you wear flip flops, at the VERY least, while padding around or digging in the yard.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Larva grows to 6 inches. Yikes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citheronia_regalis



DIY!

At long last, a project!

My to-do list is pretty short, but "Take Map to Framer" has been on there for a few months, and hasn't gotten crossed off.

I saw this big, old school map at a neighborhood tag sale, and it caught my attention. First, I love graphic elements. Second, it's a cool French Political Map from 1968! Third, I like the colors and I decided that it would fit great on the blank wall above the washer and dryer. Why not?! It's big--about 3' wide and 4' tall. The husband said, "$20 but I can't go lower than $15." The wife said, "We'll take $10." Maybe it was a project he never got around to, and she was tired of looking at it. There was a sticker on the back showing that the map was sold by the State of South Carolina Disposal Property Office, for $15 last July. His $5 loss was my gain!

I googled the manufacturer, Cartocraft Denoyer-Geppert, and I was happily surprised! Regional maps in poor condition go for $175, fair condition for $375 and excellent condition $650-$1000. Wow. I'd say this one is in good condition (no tears, just lumpy from being rolled up)...but I'm not going to try to sell it. Sometimes a good garage sale item is just that.

It sat rolled up in a corner for a few months and I thought I'd bring it to the framer, so he could properly deal with the canvas that was shredded and had come out of the split lower dowel.

I took a look at the map this past weekend and I decided to wing it, and go "DIY." Using an old ice pick that I got an another tag sale for 50 cents (!) I removed the old staples.

I cut off the excess, ripped canvas along the bottom, pried open the dowel, ran a thin bead of glue, and stapled the map onto one half of the split dowel.

The old interior staples/holes still lined up, and it was easy to sandwich it all together. I used chip-bag clips from the kitchen drawer to hold the dowel together---they worked great!

For the top of the map, I cut off the excess canvas there as well. I weighed the map down with some books to flatten it, placed the dowel on top of the map, and just glued it down. The dowels created a "frame." 

I like the slogan on the top dowel, "We Believe In Using Good Rollers On Good Maps."

Made in Chicago, with pride!

The laundry room has become the resting place for some art I had in my home office in New York. The subject matter is decidedly urban (a subway poster from the MTA shop in Grand Central Station, in the shape of a whale, and two oil paintings of "views of Manhattan from a Brooklyn rooftop" that I won in a silent auction at a gallery for $25 each.) I'm not usually drawn to the color orange, but the pieces found their way to me over time. The window valance and the map of France have some orange, so this room has come together seamlessly! Got the chandelier from some random catalog and re-used the black shades that I had in my NY bedroom. I prefer calm surroundings for the fun of folding, and the drudgery of ironing. 

I hung the map up with a few nails, where the canvas meets the wood. It looks small in the photo, but the map is substantial and really fills the space nicely!

Next on the to-do list...drill holes into the bottoms of the garbage bins. The garbagemen leave the lids open, and rainwater gets in there. Not blog-worthy, but it's on the short list ;-)

La vie est belle. Level & Plumb.

July 31 UPDATE to this posting!!!

The August issue of Ballard Designs catalog arrived today. I have collected some Ballard pieces over the years (armoire, queen bed, guest room day bed, and 2 bedside tables), and now that my house is "done" I just like to flip through the catalog to see what's trending. Wellll....I'm feeling pretty proud of my-DIY-self right about now. I'm trending!

The maps caught my eye, then all the orange accents!

 

 

The catalog denotes the "1937 World Maps Giclee Prints" as an exclusive SK (Suzanne Kasler) design. These grandly scaled world map prints were reproduced from actual 1937 maps used in American classrooms to teach geography. Digitally printed on gallery wrapped canvas and hand finished with a crackle glaze for an authentic vintage look. Europe, Africa or North America 50" x 40". $299 each (plus tax) + $80 for truck delivery  

Suzanne, welcome to my laundry room! $10 for the map + a few squirts of Gorilla glue + drying time and 4 nails.

Vwah-lah--dee-da.

Conde Nast-y

Aside from the news, I like to watch a little HGTV and the Cooking Channel, some Fall football for background noise, and Mad Men. I don't watch very much network TV, because frankly the envelope's been pushed too far for my taste. Despite some funny lines and good cast chemistry, for the most part subtle humor and gentle innuendo have all but disappeared. If I'm doing a "did I just hear that on TV?" double take at age 50, parents of impressionable children really have their hands full.

Anyhoo, every couple of weeks I like to relax with my stack of shelter mags. Nothing like a rainy day to settle in with a pile of Bon Appetit, Southern Living, Better Homes, Country Living, Garden & Gun....and Conde Nast Traveler. The pix and stories whisk me away from in-your-face media, the LMFAO's and WTF's.

The August issue is here! I flipped through the stories on Barcelona, Ocean and River Cruising, Thai Temples, The "Fab Four" Balearic Islands, then went back to read the article on Alaska's southeast coast. Alaska's high up on my travel list.

Gorgeous photographs accompany Alison Humes' article about her travels up the coast with her 15 year old son, Aidan. The story unfolded and I started to feel transported. Then, I did a double take when I read the caption...

Really, Mom-of-a-15 yr old? Really, Conde Nast?

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, but to me, there is a time and a place, many levels, etc...for certain words. Some responsibility ought to be attached and I think Conde Nast overlooked the audience on this one.

Don'cha think "Do Not Mess With The Bears" would have sent the same message?

Am I crazy? Is it just me?

Pipe Cleaners

Most mornings I rev up the blender to make a smoothie from an Atkins shake, 1/2 a banana and some frozen fruit. If I'm commuting, it lasts for my 30 minute drive.

I leave the cup behind and after a day in the car....

..it's pretty gunky.

The straw defies the dishwasher's potscrubbing abilities. I stood one upright in the cutlery basket, and it melted. Sideways on the top rack, the water doesn't get inside the straw. I tried handwashing, but the bottle brush I have is too big to get into crevices.

I went to the supermarket and asked for pipe cleaners. The checkout girl (20ish) looked at me blankly. Is it my NY accent? Growing up, I remember pipe cleaners hanging on a cardboard display near the register, along with those eyeglass repair kits that you never have with you when the teensy screw falls out. My mom would keep pipecleaners around for us to use for school projects.

I had no luck at the supermarket, so off I went to Michael's craft store, and again I was met with a blank stare. Am I saying something wrong? After describing a "thing that looks like a long caterpillar, on a bendy wire" I was led to the aisle where the Chenille Stems hung in multi colors. Chenille Stems?? They're pipe cleaners, people! Walmart calls them "Fuzzy Sticks" and you can get a bag of 100 for under $2. They're in the fabric crafts aisle, with the other "affordable family fun" items like googly eyes and crayons.

I got a bag of white ones so I can see how clean I'm getting the inside of a dark colored plastic straw. I hold the straw upright under running water, squirt a little liquid detergent, and thread the pipe cleaner through. It does the trick!

Curiosity usually gets the better of me, and that's what Google is for. The Wikipedia entry states: "A pipe cleaner or chenille stem is a type of brush originally intended for cleaning dottle from smoking pipes. Besides cleaning pipes, they can be used for any application that calls for cleaning out small bores or tight places."

Dottle? That's a new scrabble word for me! It's the wet and sour-smelling mass of unburned tobacco found at the bottom of a tobacco pipe. Ewww. This might be T.M.I. (too much information) but, in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Sherlock had a habit of drying out all the dottles from the day's pipes on a corner of his mantelpiece to be smoked the following morning. Sherlock Holmes, that's nasty.

Anyway, add chenille stems to your list of thing to have "just in case" or on the offchance you'll need to clean out a tight spot. And pick up an eyeglass repair kit, too...ya never know.

Life is good. Level & Plumb.



Saturday Farmer's Market

Are you getting tired of my veggie and food photos? I hope not. I used to have more DIY blogposts, but now I'm in a 10 yr old home, not a 135 yr old home. I'm thrilled to have redirected my energies to things I like to do, rather than to things I have to fix.

Each time I go to the market, I learn something new. Saturday's trip was to the Yorkmont Market near the airport. It's a mix of veggies, baked goods, organic meat, eggs, crafty stuff, the hot brat and kettle corn guys and horticulture vendors. I can get gorgeous fresh flowers for $10 a bunch and I get to sample local food. Most tastes are yummy and prompt me to buy, and other times they turn me away. Case in point, I tried a sliver of a Union County cantaloupe and I knew it was bland before getting it home and being disappointed. I wanted it to be so much better! (On that note..I've been much happier with Trader Joe's sweet Tuscan cantaloupes than with supermarket and sadly, with many local melons. They are just so tasteless. )

Courtesy of dulcinea.com


But, I digress!!

Here are some pix from Saturday morning's outing with Juli and Lisa. I shop the stalls that fly the NC Farmer flag. The flag distinguishes local farmers from the bigger distributors there. McBee SC peaches, Union County tomatoes, garlic and corn...all so good!

$22.00 worth and a free copy of  the inaugural issue of "edible Charlotte"

French Filet Beans, or Purple Haricots Vert!
Something I've never seen...

...a purple bean with an inside that's green.

...and the purple disappeared as I grilled them!



Garlic grown in Union County

Tony the garlic farmer, separating, peeling and snipping the stems.

Pretty.

"Like lollipops!" Tony suggests roasting the bulbs, then hold each by the stem and spread the garlic onto toasted crostini. He gave me a bunch gratis (!) to try. I'll do that this week!

Dinner. Grilled haricots vert, grilled corn with my homemade pesto, grilled pork with fennel seeds.


A trip to the farmer's market is a great way to kick off the weekend. I usually wander off to snap pix, but we all meet up and it's fun to see what we've all bought and to chat about what we learned.

Life is good. Level & Plumb!



Pricing Strategies

I've developed a system to save money on things that I buy consistently. There are plenty of tricks to really beat the retail shopping game, but I haven't devoted time to learning all the ins and outs. I'm not coupon-crazy, nor to I buy clothes only to return them the following week to get a further discount. I do stash away Bed Bath & Beyond coupons for my once-a-quarter excursion because they are forever appearing in my mailbox and in magazines. They never expire and you can use the whole stack on one shopping trip, for some decent savings.

I wouldn't call myself frugal, or a recessionista, but I enjoy saving money on items I think should not be priced as high as they are in some stores. I don't drive all over town looking for bargains, but I plan my errands in a thoughtful way, to hit the stores in order.

I flip through the circulars and inserts that weigh down the Sunday paper, and I get an idea of who's selling what and for how much. This week at Walgreen's, Purex laundry detergent (33 loads) is "Buy one get 1 free" at $5.99. CVS has Tide or Gain (48-64 loads) for $11.99. I'll go with the Purex...though I'm never going to COUNT to make sure I got 66 loads, I'm still saving a few bucks.

It bugs me that high volume stores that have huge buying power don't often pass the savings along to customers. Harris Teeter is guilty, and WalMart can be overpriced on some items as well.

My favorite stores for good prices are:

Aldi: (89 cent avocados, where they are 2 for $4 at Harris Teeter and $1.39 ea at Trader Joe's.) Aldi also has lower prices on mozzarella cheese ($2.50 versus $6 at Harris T), goat cheese (when I don't want to use super premium Bosky Acres in some recipes!), pork tenderloin (less than 1/2 the price of Harris T), bagged citrus, bananas, bagged baby spinach, dish detergent, toilet paper, tissues and paper towels. Seasonally, they carry interesting German chocolates and treats you can stockpile for hostess gifts. Prices are about 20% less overall than WalMart and Target, and waaaay less than Harris Teeter.

Aldi is the parent company of Trader Joe's and I notice that in both stores, "special buy" items come and go...usually once I'm getting hooked. It's a minor quibble, but I guess they are testing the market for interest and how fast items move.

Trader Joe's: Interesting items (private label, but still less than the national brands, even with the fun TJ's packaging), low priced wines and cheeses, shelled fresh edamame, Ezekiel bread for $2 less per loaf than Harris Teeter, good frozen veggies like "Soyccotash" for when I'm feeling lazy. Great for party fixin's.

Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Dollar General: I say, "Holla for the Dolla!"

Look at the ingredients on popular brands. We've known forever that the generic versions are exactly the same, for as much as 50-75% lower cost. Why do people choose the brand over the ingredients? Jingles, branding, a false sense of value? Lots of drugstores and superstores place the national brand right next to their store brand so you can choose, but you can do even better at the Dolla.

Natural White "Sensitive" toothpaste (UK based Lornamead manufactures and distributes this out of Tonawanda, NY)...is $1.00 for 4.5 oz, compared to Glaxo Smith Kline's "Sensodyne" which is $4.72 for 4 oz!)  Is "sensitive" toothpaste better for sensitivity than my old standby, "Pepsodent?" I don't really know, but I save money either way and  I just brush with warmer water.


I go to whichever dollar store is in my path, as needed, for no-name post-it notes, wrapping paper, mailing envelopes, and Odor Eaters ($1.00 for a 2 pair pack.) Nope, these "Comfort Cushions" insoles don't have charcoal embedded...but I toss some baby powder in my shoes for subsequent wearings and I'm good to go. Everybody's feet and/or breath stink at some point...but why pay more to keep it under control?

 On that note, you can get a pack of 6 toothbrushes at CVS or the dollar stores for $1.00! It's marketed as a way to combat the flu--change your toothbrush and reduce germs. Compare that to the price of ONE name brand toothbrush. It's crazy cheap to get 6, for $1.00. Another way I save is on shampoo and conditioner. I will never spend $60 on Bumble & Bumble, nor will I buy products at the salon when I get my hair "did." I use Suave. No one has ever hinted that I could use a hot oil treatment. My hair looks shiny and I smell like a vacation...coconut, aloe, summer breeze...for just a couple of dollars.

Costco...Costco rakes in a ton from membership fees. What do we really get for that fee? The privilege of walking into a massive warehouse to buy way-oversized products that often come in multi-packs, and then we have to pack it ourselves because they have no bags. I won't use their broken down cardboard boxes because roaches can hitch a ride into your car and home. If a roach appeared while I was driving, it would be the last you'd ever hear of me. Off the road, screaming, into a ditch. Gone. I don't think I'll renew Costco this year. I only go there 1-2 times a year. I love their wild salmon for $13, though! I can get 6 servings out of it, and I Foodsave and freeze the portions. Everything else is too big, so it's not worth the membership fee. Their gasoline is lower priced than the surrounding stations, but I cross the state line into SC and get my gas for 20-25 cents less per gallon. Under $3 yesterday. Whoot!

WalMart: A new experience for this transplanted New Yorker. In NC and SC (so far) I've never seen the kinds of characters who've been photographed and who'll be viewed for eternity on the internet. WalMart has good prices on computer printer paper, Christmas lights, and generic "Great Value" brand health and beauty products. 64 oz bags of frozen strawberries are $7.00 versus $11.99 at Harris Teeter. Harris Teeter--what is WRONG with you?

Target: I use the "Red Card" for additional 5% savings on home office storage stuff, Rx and sales on Atkins products as I continue on my low carb plan.

If you feel like paying a little attention, and want to save some money on things you buy frequently, jot down a sampling of per unit or per pound prices over a few trips and see for yourself. You don't have to be a frugalista to be happy with having a little more money left in your wallet.

Life is good. Level & Plumb.

Stayin' Cool in the Hot Summer

The U.S. is blazing hot this summer, with temps topping 100 up the East Coast as well as down South, and wildfires are raging out West. I moved my herbs to the shady side of the yard last year, and even so, the basil is gasping. Glad I made pesto during the Spring...my plants aren't good for much more than a caprese salad at this point. Everyone's out early in the morning on weekends to get in some exercise and errands and I for one am retreating indoors for the sultry afternoons. No golf for me.

What's a girl to drink? I mean, to do? I drove over the state line to do some errands and stopped into Southern Spirits in Indian Land where bottles are a few dollars cheaper and Martha the wine manager usually has a story to tell. It's a quirky place, with a tropical ice vendor on one side of the parking lot, and Palmetto Produce on the other side. Between those guys and "Red's BBQ" truck at the gas station, you can get a lot done in two stops.

I got 2 bottles of prosecco, and Martha asked if I wanted to try something. It was after wine o'clock, so why not?

She brought out a bottle of "New Age," an Argentinian wine that's a blend of 10% Sauvignon Blanc and 90% Torrontes. It's produced by Bodega Valentin Bianchi, one of Argentina's oldest wineries. Torrontes is the only white grape indigenous to Argentina.

The portrait is on the inside of the back label. It looks like Brooke Shields or Cindy Crawford.

Martha poured some wine, added some ice and she directed me to squeeze a wedge of lime into the glass. It's a spritzer without the spritz. The drink is called a "Tincho" which is the 3rd generation winery owner's nickname. The wine is slightly effervescent, fruity, floral and dry...not as sweet as Moscato. Try it with a lemon or orange wedge, or use it for sangria. This wine would equally complement seafood or Asian dishes, or cheese 'n crax.

It's the "hottest" drink in Argentinan clubs. Well, it has been since 2009...but it takes awhile for trends to make it to the Carolinas.

My taste of Tincho was refreshing...but is best saved for a summer evening. I'm not a good daytime drinker..and in this heat, I'd be headed for a nap if I had a full glass!

When the temps plunge back to the normal mid 80's next week, my neighbors will be out and about, and it'll be time for a porch party. I'll be making the Tincho's!

Sunsets are lovely, as viewed from the rockers

A good place to set a spell.

And remember....

Life is good. Level & Plumb.