Is newer really better?

Pictured is our Kelvinator refrigerator and rotary-dial telephone.

We got a notice in the mail the other day informing us that our cell phone was going to be obsolete come this next February because it is not digital. That’s a shame because it is a great phone and we like it. The analog style actually has more power than some of the newer phones and can make calls where other phones can’t. Of course it doesn’t take pictures, text message or play videos, but all those things are beside the point of a phone anyway.

Our household phone recently went bad. The cord kept falling out and when we pushed the buttons on the keypad they would not always work. We were going to get another one, but remembered an old phone collecting dust in the bottom of the closet. It was left there by the previous owners of our house. But does it work? We got it out and plugged it in and it did work! We haven’t used a rotary phone for years, but it works fine and beats putting out money for a new one.

In our opinion, the rush to newer and fancier stuff is just a little over-rated. Not only can one tie up a lot of money with all the new gadgets, but many of them don’t work as well as some of the older things. For example, we were in a used book store recently looking at an old National Geographic – the March 1958 edition. The colors on the photos were outstanding – the reds, blues and greens were brilliant. Compared to newer books and magazines the old photos were far superior.

After coming back from a week of vacation a few years back, we found our refrigerator had died, so we got a new one. Today that refrigerator is on its last legs. The door seals are going out, the ice maker doesn’t work and the insulation is breaking down. It still does keep the food cold, more or less. Awhile back we acquired a Kelvinator refrigerator that is over 50 years old and it still runs fine. It does need defrosting once in a while, but the door seal is as tight as the day it was made and the insulation hasn’t broken down. They don’t build them like that anymore.

We got a new clothes washer a few years ago, but didn’t keep it long. It was one of those super energy efficient kinds that used less water and was electronically controlled. We had no end of trouble with it and had to have it serviced several times. It did use less water, but it did not clean the clothes until they were run through two wash cycles each. We finally just sent it back to the store and got a standard mechanical washer. Now our clothes come out clean after one wash cycle and the machine keeps working load after load.

Our vehicles are older but less complicated than new ones. One is a 1989 and the other one is a 1978. We like them because they are easier to work on than the new cars. Many parts in the newer vehicles are no longer serviceable by the home mechanic, or they at least require expensive test equipment. We can do almost all of our own repairs on both vehicles, the 1978 in particular.

On the news the other evening we heard our television will not be usable after 2009. That is one item we will probably not replace. We do like new things, but now we take longer to evaluate the positives and negatives of an item before making a purchase. We try to make the technology work for us, not the other way around.

More decorating ideas

Pictured are wedding bells made of 2 1/2 by 3 inch Styrofoam bells covered with decorative trims glued on with craft glue. They can be hung on the walls of the reception hall along with the fans pictured in our column. Also is a basket of three candy kisses that can be placed about the room for decoration. Other ideas are silk flowers and plants, live plants and cut flowers. The planning and work will continue until the chosen day.

Wedding decoration ideas

The summer wedding season will soon be here and this year our son and his fiancée are planning to be married. With their wedding budget not being as big as their plans, they have asked us to help with decorating ideas that are low or no cost.

The colors they have chosen are green, silver and white. We have started going through our craft supplies that we have collected over the years and putting all possible materials into a large box. Collecting crafts and craft supplies seems to be one of our hobbies, more on that in another column.

After looking through past ideas and the craft supplies on hand we came up with several ideas to start with. The first was large fans made out of wallpaper and decorated with ribbons, flowers, lace and trims. These can be hung on the walls of the reception hall along with other decorations, such as paper lace heart-shaped doilies and garland.

The partial roll of wallpaper we have on hand from the last time we made these fans is white, silver and light pink. This wallpaper roll is 21 inches wide. To make a fan we folded the paper back and forth, making the folds about 1-inch wide. It took about 56 inches to make a fan. There was enough on this roll to do three at this size. About 5 inches from the bottom we wrapped a twist tie to separate the upper and lower portions.

With the leftover we made one smaller fan, folding the paper the same as the large fans and then folding it in the middle. We lightly spattered green paint on the fans to make them have all the wedding colors. Along the top of each fan we hot glued silver trim. Ribbons, greenery and flowers complete the desired look.

To have enough fans to balance the look around the room we decided we needed at least three more fans. On our next trip to town we visited several thrift stores to look for another suitable roll of wallpaper. At our second stop there was one for $2.50. It was an unopened roll with a background of white and light green with silver and tan embossed leaves. We spattered it with green and silver paint to complete the look we wanted.

The next project idea was favors for the wedding guests. We came up with candy kiss roses with a note attached thanking the guests for sharing in the special day.

Each rose is made with two candy kisses bottom to bottom, wrapped in cellophane with a 9-inch floral wire stem. To hold it all together, it is wrapped with floral tape. A leaf is added to the stem as it is wrapped. Just below the leaf we tied a ribbon bow, some with silver ribbon and some with white. Below the bow is the “thank you” note.

The colors of our roses are silver kisses with clear cellophane. The leaves we had on hand are light yellow, white, dark and light green.

Another idea came from an ivy plant we have. We trimmed it and placed the cuttings in small jars of water to root. After roots formed we planted them in small pots, placing about five or six cuttings in each pot. We ended up with eight plants. They have a little over three months to grow and fill out.

This is just the start of our ideas and plans. We are on the lookout for more ideas as we also need to plan decorations for the church.

More on games

We couldn’t cover every game we have played in our column so here are a few more of our favorites. First off, we confess that most of our games were bought from a thrift store. All but a few of them are still available from retailers or online, but almost all of what we have we collected from the thrifts. Many games which retail for $20 or more can be had for as little as 99 cents. Of course, thrift stores only have a limited selection at any one time, but hunting for them is a sport in itself.

Everyone in our family liked “Rally Sport,” a race car game. In it, players first have to “buy” their car. This is done by spending the first several turns working at a gas station. Movement is along a track full of hazards like tacks that give flat tires, icy roads, out of gas, etc. At the end of the track, near the finish line, is a clear plastic square that overlays the movement track. A die roll rotates the square a quarter turn, which moves all the cars that are on it so that the one in first place is now third and third maybe is now in first. It’s a novel idea we have not seen in other games. “Rally Sport” is available online at aaabcuz.com.

A game that is good for children is “Bonkers.” It can accommodate up to six players at a time. Players have to follow a track around the board by the roll of dice. The unusual feature is that the directions next to the spaces on the track can be changed by the players. So it is possible to set traps for following players or better position yourself for advantage.

We played a number of card games while the children were young, and still do today. “Cribbage” is a classic game that teaches strategy and counting. “Phase 10” is a good one for several people to play. Players have to be the first to build collections of various cards, which becomes more difficult as the game progresses. The game is played in 10 rounds, thus the name.

One game that we actually bought for full price was called “Take off.” In it, players maneuver their airplane token around the world on a large roll-up map. There are many ways to go and the players have to choose their route based on their die roll and strategy. Cards come up occasionally (based on the die roll) which may order the player to go to a certain location, usually out of their way. We played this game a lot. We liked it because it is full of action, moves quickly, and teaches children about world geography.

“Nectar Collector” is a game we played when the children were small. Players have to play the part of a honey bee and collect honey, in the form of amber beads, on their way around the board. It’s harder than it sounds, and everyone learns a lot about honey bees.

We had a lot of fun with all the games we played. Of all the ones we dragged home from the thrift stores, only a few were of lasting value. Most of them we played a couple of times and then quit. Many of those ended up going back to the thrifts as donations some time later. The important thing is to make time for each other and have fun!

Games are fun

Game playing is a favorite family activity for us. When the children were little we started games like “Chutes and Ladders” and card games like “Crazy 8’s.” It didn’t take us long to lose interest in those types of games. So we switched to games like “Mousetrap.” There is nothing like watching the Rube Goldberg devices work, finally catching the mouse. The great thing about games like this is that the children learn how things work; what you can do with levers, balls and springs. “Monopoly” was a game we played often, a classic that teaches the basics of handling money.

When the children got a little older, about 8 or 10, we started bringing out strategy games that we had gathered over the years. One we enjoyed playing was called the “Farming Game.” It teaches, in a general sense, the risks and rewards of farming. Players move on a track which represents an entire year, broken up into spaces of one or two weeks each. They have to plant and then harvest crops, while dealing with hazards from muddy corrals to Mt. Saint Helens exploding.

One strategy game we played for a long time was “Axis & Allies.” This game represents the entire world at the time of WWII. Up to five players can play at once. Each player takes control of one of the major combatants during the war (US, Japan, etc). They have to come up with a strategy to out-maneuver their opponents.

“Civilization” is our favorite strategy game. Players begin the game with only one piece representing their chosen historical people; Egypt, Greece, Babylonia, etc. Each turn players double the number pieces they have on the board – 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and so on. The object of the game is to establish cities, accumulate trade goods and develop various technologies, arts, and culture in order to be the first to build a civilization.

We played a lot of geography-type games, such as “National Geographic’s Global Pursuit,” “Mission: Survival” and “World Dash.” One that we really like is “Empire Builder.” The goal for this game is to connect various cities in the United States with a railroad. It’s expensive to build track so players have to carry freight and passengers to earn money to can keep building their line. These games all teach names and locations of cities and countries, as well as physical landmarks such as rivers and mountains.

Detective games are always fun. “Clue” of course is the classic, and there are several related spin-offs, such as “Clue: Museum Caper” and “Clue Jr.” Other detective games are “Whodunnit” and “Scotland Yard.”

We have some games made for groups too. One of our favorite is Balderdash. Players are asked to define a very difficult word. They then write down a definition they hope others will believe. The definitions are collected and read along with the real definition. Each player votes for the one they think is the correct one. If a player votes for the definition another player made up, that player gets a point. Those who vote for the real definition also get points. After going around as many times as desired, the points are added up and the highest score wins.

Our children are grown now, but they still like to play Monopoly. The cat fittingly finished off “Mousetrap,” so we don’t play that one anymore. We also played classic games, such as “Yahtzee,” “Dominoes” and “Uno.” These games are still some of our favorites today. When one of us is longing to get together, we call the rest of the family and schedule a game day.

No matter what age you are, there’s always a good game that can be played. The goal is to have some fun!

Additional necklace ideas

Pictured are a few more necklaces on a background of light and dark denim. At left is three separate strands to be worn together, center is a single strand done on a silver cord with green/yellow beads and clear beads spaced out with the cord showing between each bead, left is a single strand looped twice and below at left is a single strand of about 125 inches looped six times. Click on picture to enlarge for a closeup view.

Necklaces make great birthday gift

Making things is something we enjoy doing together as a family and also individually. Recently, it was birthday time and the brainstorm was on for what to get for our soon to be 24 year old daughter. One idea we came up with while browsing through the stores was the bead necklaces that seem to be the “in” thing to wear.

There is a variety of styles and colors made with all types of beads. Many seemed to be random patterns using a lot of seed beads. They also used other beads of glass, plastic, metal, ceramic, polished rock chips and more. The greatest part seemed to be of seed beads, with the larger beads randomly placed along the necklaces. There were necklaces that you could wear up around your neck and ones that hang down, many in multiple layers.

The creative thoughts started flowing. There were beads sitting on a shelf at home that our daughter left when she moved out. There were a lot of seed beads in two sizes, plus bugle beads and a variety of larger beads of all shapes and sizes. That was enough to start planning our own customized necklaces.

Then there was old costume jewelry that came from grandmas and great-grandmas. Nothing of great value, but they were just kept because they remind us of “grandma.” Some were broken strands of beads, some with missing stones, but all were looking like they could be taken apart and reused with other beads to make new necklaces.

We also frequent the thrift stores and so made a trip to a few of them where we found more old necklaces that looked like the beads were just right for our project. After arriving home, we gathered the beads, new and old, and the planning began.

The next step was coordinating colors, picking out the different sizes and types of beads we thought would make a good combination and then the assembly begun. Nylon fishing line became the choice material to string the beads on. When the necklaces were at the desired length we tied a square knot and put a drop of super glue on it. After the glue was dry we cut the ends off.

We started with a set of three separate necklaces that could be worn together. The main colors were greens, black and silver with some orange. The next set of three necklaces that we made were shades of blue, with black and silver beads. Each strand measured from 30 to 32 inches in length.

Even after the birthday presents were made, more combinations of beads were begging to be put together. We did longer single strands that could be worn looped two or three times around the neck, depending on the length and look desired. These strands were between 60 to 64 inches in length.

The possibilities of designs are endless. This kind of project is easy enough for every one from children through adults to make. Everyone can create a custom work of art that can be worn and enjoyed for years to come. This is also a project that groups could do together as a fundraiser or for gifts to be given for a special occasion.

Pictured at center back is three separate strands that can be worn together. The other necklaces are one strand, some looped two and three times. Other beads and old necklaces are pictured that can be used in making other necklaces.

A good breakfast is a must to begin each day

A good beginning to each day is a good breakfast. Our personal favorite is 5-minute pancakes. They are made from scratch, not a mix. They actually take longer to explain than to make!

These pancakes are filling, satisfying and last us through the morning. They have whole grains and no preservatives. We grind our own grains with a heavy-duty blender, but the grains can be purchased in the form of flour. Our favorite grains to use in this recipe are oats and brown rice, but others may be substituted.

If grinding the grains they should be ground and sifted first, then set aside to be used in the order they are called for in the recipe. The rice and oats can be ground together.

The liquid can be changed also to fit taste or diet needs. We usually use water, but sometimes milk, buttermilk or fruit juice.

When we get tired of pancakes we use the same batter to make waffles.

Toppings for our pancakes vary from molasses, fruit, homemade jam, honey, or real maple syrup. We stay away from imitation maple syrup or syrup that only is flavored with maple syrup because they are harder for the body to digest. For the jam we use cane sugar, not beet sugar, again easier to digest. Still all the toppings have calories so they are to be used in moderation.

The recipe we use makes about four servings so we make them fresh one day and put the leftovers in the refrigerator for the next day. They re-warm well in the toaster or microwave.

Additional variations include adding fruit into the batter, cinnamon or other spices. Customize them to suit your taste buds.

The batter is as follows:

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups liquid, adjust to make desired thickness

1 egg

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup uncooked brown rice or any other grain such as wheat, millet, spelt, etc. (1 cup and 3 tablespoons rice flour or other flour, ground)

1/2 cup rolled oats (1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon, ground)

Blend in order given.

Add:

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Pour batter onto hot griddle making pancakes about 4 to 5 inches in diameter, turn pancakes when bottom is slightly browned and cook other side.

Serve with topping of your choice and enjoy!

We enjoy trying new recipes, but for breakfast this is a keeper. The healthy ingredients are a great plus. Also, our chickens are laying again, so we are now adding an additional egg to the batter. It’s time to eat!