Please Wait Quietly

I went with someone to a doctor's appointment and noticed these signs in the waiting room. 

Hydro Flask Warranty

This is the inside of a Hydro Flask that had been forgotten and left in the car for a long time.  (It wasn't me, BTW). 



Not sure what caused the corrosion. 

The outside of the rim had gotten a bit rusty too. 


Granted, the flask had been neglected and small-kine misused, but I thought that it still shouldn't have corroded like it did. I decided to try and see if Hydro Flask would honor its lifetime warranty. I went online and filled out a claim form here: Hydro Flask warranty.


A couple of days later I received an email with instructions on how to return the flask. The email also included a shipping label for me to use. It said to stick the label directly onto the flask. No need box it or anything. Easy! It cost me $7.15 (including USPS tracking) to mail the flask back.


While I waited, I received two emails from Hydro Flask notifying me of the progress. One said that they received the damaged flask and another email a few days later said that they were shipping out the replacement. In no time, I received this box in the mail.


Very, very awesome, Hydro Flask!!

Wendell's Jambalaya

Wendell made this a couple of weeks ago.  It calls for andouille sausage, but Wendell used some homemade sausage that he got from a friend and some portuguese sausage instead. Yummy!!

You can find the recipe here.

From Backpack to Tote

I bought this backpack at a garage sale a few months ago.  It looked in good shape and was selling for only $1 or $2 so I got it. 

I actually forgot about it until last week.  I found it in the closet and thought . . . hmmmmmm . . . how can I refurbish this?  I studied it. 


Hmmmmm. I even took it to work with me so that I could study it while I worked.  Hmmmm. A plan was forming.


This is what I did.


My sewing machine could barely handle the thick canvas-type material so the stitching is not that nice looking. I even had to go back and forth in some of the thicker areas to make sure that it was reinforced well. And the handles are small-kine uneven.


I do like the pink lining.


I turned the top flap portion into a separate pouch.


Anybody want um? I washed um. Let me know. First person can have it.  JalnaA@aol.com


I'll update this post if/when it goes. UPDATE:  I have a taker!! I'm so happy!

Recycling Boxes

I like to recycle sturdy boxes.  They come in handy . . . mostly as trash cans.  

I use this one when I'm lazy to walk to the real trash can.


This one is by my sewing machine. It's tall and slim and barely takes up any room.


This one is next to my computer.


This one is in the living room.


This box holds my scrap material.


And this one holds Kona's toys.


I bought this printer before I went to Japan.  The box has become a table. 

Senior Citizen Discount at Don Quijote

Tuesday is Senior Citizen discount day at Don Quijote.  I think it's 5%. And I think you gotta be over 60. The discount is only on certain items, and sale items don't count. 



Hoo hoo. Every bit helps. Thanks Don Q.

Tote Bag

I'd been thinking of trying to make a tote bag for awhile, but somehow never got around to starting one. 

I was in Marukai the other day and I saw a small tote bag that was selling for around $8.00. There was nothing really special about it except that it had a recessed zipper. I thought that was cool. 

It was my inspiration. I took this photo to help me remember what it looked like.


I dug out some fabric that I got at the swap meet for $1. Since I was totally guesstimating the design, and I was pretty sure I'd muck it up, I didn't wanna waste any good material.

I was so happy when the zipper portion turned out okay.  What  a surprise!  I wish I had taken step-by-step pictures.  I'm not even sure I could duplicate it again. 


I made an inside pocket with the leftover material.


Cute hah? Who woulda thought?


If any of you are interesting in making a tote, there are instructions here (but without my nifty recessed zipper):  Make It and Love It Farmer's Market Bag

Peanuts!

Some of you might know that when I get interested in something I sometimes can go overboard. Like the time around five years ago when I discovered only-can-be-found-on-Kauai Taro Ko chips. I called Dale the owner/only operator of the company and he agreed to ship them to me. For awhile I would order boxes and boxes of um.



Well, lately I've been low-carb dieting again. Peanuts are a good low-carb snack, and Wendell makes good boiled peanuts, but we've never been able to find big-like-Ruger-Market peanuts.

Until now. I found out that you can get HAYUGE peanuts from Koha Oriental Foods. But they're wholesalers and I wasn't sure if they would sell to regular people. Wendell called me yesterday and said, "I can buy the peanuts from Koha. They're cheap . . . only $2/pound." I said, "Holy moly, that's great!!" He said, "Only thing - we gotta buy 50 pounds." I said, "That's okay. Buy um, buy um, buy um!!"  He repeated, "50 pounds!" I said, "I'll give you the money!!" So he bought um.


Well, it turns out that raw peanuts are actually kinda light, and 50 pounds of raw peanuts IS A LOT of peanuts!!

But . . . not to worry, the shelf life is long (9 months in pantry, 1 year refrigerated) . . . and I've already given away/sold off a good amount so everything's under control. For real.


Wendell uses the recipe from What Hawaii Likes to Eat.

2 pounds raw peanuts in shell
1/2 cup Hawaiian salt
2 to 3 whole star anise
1 tbs. sugar
(Wendell also adds some orange peel and cinnamon stick. He uses 3 tbs. sugar for a double recipe.)

Place peanuts in a large pot. Add salt, star anise and sugar. Cover with water.


Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until peanuts are tender but firm.  Add more water as necessary to keep peanuts covered with water. Adjust seasoning as necessary.  Cool and drain. (Wendell checked the pot every 1/2 hour to replenish the water.  He said that his double recipe took 2 hours, 45 minutes to cook.)


Yeehaw!!

Valedictorian!

Ryan is my coworker Noreen's son and the St. Louis High School's Class of 2015 valedictorian. Howzdat, huh!

Wendell's Salmon with Shrimp and Mushrooms

Here's another dish that Wendell made using a recipe from a doctor's office magazine. It was gooooood.



Only thing with the recipe . . . I couldn't find it online.  But this picture is good enough. Right?