Backyard pallet oasis

We are redoing our little back yard into a little oasis where you can sit and read or just take a nap. I love what a little paint will do. It is still a work in progress but it is already become the favorite place to sit and visit with friends now.
UPDATE The back yard is getting better and better, with the help of friends it is quick work also. We can now have a little fire in the evenings and it is becoming a magical place where everyone wants to hang :-) Our next move it to put a little cover over the bed area. Right over that area is a place the birds love to sit, and shit, over us. Have a bird poo on me yesterday LOL

Leftover yarn into colorful crocheted blanket

My good friend Edith brings me yarn from thrift stores all the time. I have known her for over 16 years and decided to take some of the left over yarn that she has given me over the years and crochet a blanket for her. She is stopping by after work today and has no idea why. I just told her I have something to give her and when I do the only thing I am gonna tell her is "Thank you for being my friend" 

SMALL space indoor veggie garden

Welcome to my SMALL space veggie garden. All the plants you see were started from either seeds or clippings. All my containers are made from recycled things. I have spaghetti squash, pole beans, wax beans, corn, swiss chard, basil, dill, parsley, scallions, lettuce, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, cilantro, cabbage, and I am sure a few things I am forgetting. All these plants are either on the WIDE sunny window bench Mike made or in our 55 gall. aquatic garden  I love spending a few hours working on my small space indoor veggie garden on a cold winters day 

Never lose your remote again

This might sound crazy to many, but if you have ever lost your remotes to watch TV, this 

works  Nothing like coming up with a solution with an old pair of pants and sweater. We 

have had it on our couch for about 2 weeks now and it has worked AMAZING well 

Produce bag scrubbie

 Here are pictures of the plastic mesh bags I get quite a bit of my produce in. I could bring myself to just throw them out. So I decided to recycled them, and saw an episode of Extreme Cheapsakes and realized a man in one of the episodes that answered my question.
First I remove the food inside, and cut any tags off and get the knot out of the top of the bag, except for one.
Now take a few of the mesh bags you have saved in a can, under the sink, and stuff them inside the one with the knot still in it.  

Now scrub away. We use these scrubbies on non-stick pans, cast iron pans, sinks, counters, tubs, grout, etc etc etc. The possibilities are ENDLESS. We use them inside and outside. Since they are a soft plastic we have found it does not scratch things :-) Seriously once you have tried this you will find it hard to spend ANYTHING on scrubbies for your sink, and many will run at least $5 EACH. Another bonus is once they get yucky just throw them in the dishwasher utensil basket and start using it again :-) It also does not absorb water so they don't get yucky if you rinse them well after each use. REALLY GO TRY IT then write to me and let me know what you have used your new scrubbie for :-)

Paralyzed weiner dog VS a closed coffee can

Our paralyzed dachshund. Slinky, is to smart for his own good. He wants to play fetch at least 12 hours a day. Since he is small, this is done by throwing his ball down the hallway ALL DAY LONG!!!!!! So as a joke we started putting his ball in an open coffee can, but withing a few days he realized if he can pick it up the ball drops out. So then we upgraded to putting the lid on the can. By the next day, this is what he can do with the can now LOL in the video.
I am thinking about freezing the ball in some water, in the can, with the lid on, this summer for a great outside toy for him.
Any ideas on his next toy?

CD case mini green house

I started sprouting some seeds in tp tubes. I wrote on each tube what kind of seed I planted. Everything was going OK until the real cold set in, that happens quickly in Tahoe. So I remembered that I had put some old CD cases aside after seeing a picture of something like this. I figured it will be the perfect thing to trap in some of the warmth that comes in through the window during the day. Once the plants are big enough they will get transplanted into a 55 gallon tank I converted into an indoor garden. Once they plants are big enough in there they make their journey to our neighbors house who just happens to have a big sun room that will be perfect to start our plants early enough, we hope for a great summer harvest.

UPDATE": The pea plants have gotten so tall they are now in the bigger 55 gal tank garden. Soon they will be in a planter in a friends greenhouse. The corn, lettuce, spinach and parsley are almost to tall, so I might be transplanting my little plants sooner then later. I am ready with recycled planters.