by Winding Pathways | Dec 30, 2016 | Wonderment
A guest Blog by Larry Paulsen of Ogden and Adams:
“I have a unique story I’d like to share. This happened just a month ago. I own a lumberyard here in Cedar Rapids and I do most of the buying of the materials we sell. I have gained some great friendships over the many years that I’ve owned the business and several of the suppliers have become close friends. One morning, around Thanksgiving this year, one of my suppliers called me and told me something he had done the day before. My friend is a very thoughtful, caring, and religious guy.
“He had to spend the night away from home and being an early riser was one of the only customers at a mom and pop restaurant for breakfast. Since it wasn’t busy, he struck up a conversation with the waitress. She was a single mom raising three kids on her own without much help from the kids’ father. With Christmas coming they talked about how commercial Christmas had become and she told him her son really wanted a pair of tennis shoes that were priced at $130. She said she had to tell him that they couldn’t afford gifts like that. The waitress wasn’t complaining or feeling sorry for herself. It was just part of the conversation. My friend said when he left the restaurant he left her a $100 tip. He told me he couldn’t afford to leave a tip like that but she needed the money worse than he did and it made him feel good to do it.
“That same afternoon, a good customer of mine stopped in and I told her the story. I asked her if she knew anyone who was struggling and could use that $100. She thought for a moment and couldn’t come up with anyone. About two hours after she left the phone rang. It was her. She said she had been thinking a lot about my question and she remembered a lady who she deals with, was divorced with three children, and recently remarried a guy who was terminated from his job because he was injured. Not only had they not had an income for two weeks but also the company denied him his past sick leave and vacation pay even though he had 120 hours of earned pay they owed him. It didn’t look like they would have much of a Christmas. She said he was now looking for work and really needed the money.
“As it was, I had been looking for a new truck driver/yard worker with little luck. The job requires outside work, good driving record, being physically fit, and ability to pass random drug testing. It’s hard to find people with all those qualities these days. I asked my friend if he might be interested and if so, he could stop in and talk to me the next day. Well, I’m pleased to say that because of the generosity of a friend to a waitress in need and who inspired me, I now have a great new friend and employee. Everything has worked out great.”
Editor’s note: We do make a difference in people’s lives. May that difference be positive. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year to all.
by Winding Pathways | Dec 30, 2016 | Chickens
Mid-winter is a perfect time to order baby chicks to arrive in the mail as the weather warms in spring. Homeowners can create an international flock of six hens that will be fun to keep and produce many delicious eggs.
Many hatcheries allow customers to order a mixture of breeds, but often they require buying 25 birds so the chicks stay warm during shipment. Winter is a perfect time to get together with other families who keep chickens to place a joint order to meet the minimum. Stores that stock chicks will usually sell as few as six, but their breed selection is normally limited.
Winding Pathways encourages folks to start browsing catalogs and on-line sites now and order soon to make sure desired breeds are in stock.
We’ve been keeping chickens of many breeds for decades at Winding Pathways. Both our children, now adults living in distant states, grew up tending our small flock. We love our fresh eggs and also appreciate the personalities and characteristics of our favorite breeds.
It’s easy to create an international flock. Here’s how we’d choose breeds for a six-bird flock that come from many places, are fun to be around, and lay plenty of eggs.
One Buff Orpingtons. This is a golden hen developed in England. Large, fluffy, and gentle. Orpingtons are so-so layers but absolutely beautiful, fun to be around, and easy to care for. A young chick enthusiast named ours “The Golden Hens”.
One Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire Red. We like having a “Yankee” chicken in our flock. Rhode Islands are dark reddish in color and are outstanding layers. New Hampshires are a lighter red and good layers, although perhaps not quite as good as Rhode Islands.
One Barred Rock. Sometimes called Plymouth Rock, there are several colors of the rock breed and all are good. Not quite as friendly as the Orpingtons but a better layer. This is another “Yankee” breed either named for Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts or developed by a breeder in Plymouth, NH, depending on the source of information.
One Americana. People love the blueish/greenish eggs this breed lays. They are good layers that originated in South America.
One Maran. This French breed lays very dark brown eggs. Marans come in various feather colors that children love to gather. We sometimes collect feathers and give them to our fly-fishing son-in-law who ties his own flies.
One beautiful and unusual bird. Look at the photos in printed hatchery catalogs and on websites and choose an interesting and colorful brown egg layer. Often these ornamental breeds aren’t great egg layers, but they are interesting and colorful. Some possibilities include Wyandottes, good layers developed in New York; Brahmas, perhaps from India; Cochin, not so good layers but named for Cochin China – near the mouth of the Mekong River in Vietnam; Sussex, a good layer from England; Jersey Giants from New Jersey; or Buckeyes from Ohio.
In recent years we’ve purchased our chicks from Hoovers Hatchery but we’ve also bought them from McMurray Hatchery. The following three hatcheries have interesting websites and provide outstanding chicks of many breeds: Cackle Hatchery; Murray McMurray Hatchery; Hoovers Hatchery.
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A variety of chickens lay beautiful and nutritious eggs.
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Newly arrived chicks.
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Chickens grind up garden residue.
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Enjoying greenery.
by Winding Pathways | Dec 28, 2016 | Wonderment
Guest blog by Jacqueline Hull about a Christmas gift in the southwest. “… told me this experience she had just before Christmas.
I hope you enjoy the story…. Sometimes life, its quirks, and inhabitants surprise us in the most delightful ways.”
$26: A Christmas Story:
“This is a short sketch about a Christmas incident that occurred in Sun City, Arizona, to a retired Air Force Vietnam Veteran Nurse. She has disabilities, and lives quietly at a senior residence. Each day is a challenge for her both physically and emotionally.
“On this particular day before Christmas the retired nurse went to the grocery store to purchase baking items so that she could make goodies for some of her friends at the residence where she lives. She always carries her money in a small change purse so that she can grasp it easily and store in her pocket.
“After collecting all the needed ingredients in a grocery cart, she proceeded to the checkout counter. The clerk rang up the cost and the nurse opened her change purse giving the clerk some bills. The clerk returned the change and the nurse put the coins in the purse. Without thinking, she left the bills on the counter and went home with her groceries.
“Upon arriving home she put away all the baking items and decided to check her purse. She realized that she didn’t have the bills. She knew that there should have been the coins but also a $20 bill and six $1.00 bills. But, they weren’t there! The nurse became quite flustered and anxious. Back to the store she went to inquire of management if anyone had turned in the above bills.
“The store manager noticed her coming into the grocery section and noted that she seemed upset. So the manager asked if she could help. Tears brimmed in the nurse’s eyes as she explained what she thought had happened – that she had inadvertently left the bills at the checkout and that she really needed to find them. The manager went to a register and as she opened it, she pulled out exactly a $20 bill and six $1.00 bills. The nurse wanted to know if someone had found it. The manager let her know that it was a gift and Merry Christmas.
“Peace on earth and good will towards everyone.”
Jacqueline Hull, guest blogger
by Winding Pathways | Dec 20, 2016 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Preparedness
We keep an array of hand tools for small projects around the home and yard.
Our home at Winding Pathways shares needs familiar to every homeowner or renter. Things break, new items need to be assembled and pictures need to be hung. A basic set of household tools makes common tasks easy, even for people not particularly handy.
We have dozens of tools. Many are specialized, and only occasionally used but our list of frequently used tools are ones that will prove useful in every home. *Here are our favorites:
Pliers. Three types. One is a simple pair of gripping pliers used whenever something needs to be held tightly. A second is needle nosed (or long nosed) pliers used to grab and hold small items. They make fishing small items that fall into crevices easy. The third is a pair of locking pliers, often called “Vice Grips”. They make it easy to tightly grip something using only one hand, leaving the other free to do work.
Screwdrivers: A quality, old fashioned slotted screwdriver is invaluable around the house. We use ours for all sorts of things that have nothing to do with driving a screw. Prying and scraping are only two of dozens of uses. A few years ago we bought a much more useful screwdriver for inserting and removing screws. It’s actually a multi screwdriver all-in-one tool. If you have ever climbed up a ladder to remove a screw only to discover that the screw’s head is different from the screwdriver in hand, you will find this tool the best! Our new one has six different bits, all designed to fit different types of screw. Various bits are stored in the handle, making it almost certain the tool will work no matter what type screw is encountered.
Cordless Electric drill: The only power tool on our list is an amazingly versatile tool. Drilling holes is only one of many tasks it completes with ease. In addition to a case of drill bits of various diameters other bits are actually screwdriver tips or sockets. They make fast work installing or removing screws, nuts, and bolts. Many other attachments fit on a drill, including buffing and sanding wheels. We can’t imagine not having this tool. Corded drills need to be plugged in, making them much less convenient. Cordless models come with rechargeable batteries that provide much power before needing to be put back on the charger.
Ear Muffs: Loud noises lead to gradual hearing loss. We wear muffs whenever we are around loud machine noises – blenders, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, power tools, and this time of year snow blowers!
Utility Knife: Useful for cutting cardboard boxes and most anything else. Most hold spare sharp blades in the handle.
Adjustable Wrench: These come in many sizes but we’ve found the eight inch models best for common household uses. The tool adjusts to fit nuts of various sizes.
Level: A small compact torpedo type level is amazingly useful for hanging pictures, or leveling a table or desk.
Hammer: Hammers aren’t really obsolete. We use ours to drive nails but also to tap the screwdriver when prying or scraping and for many other tasks around the house. Years ago, Marion’s mom standing at a towering 4’9” willed her tiny hammer to us that works amazing well for light projects.
Scissors: These aren’t office scissors but heavy duty shears that easily cut through heavy packaging materials, thin metal, and cardboard.
Black Tape: Sometimes called electricians tape, this isn’t strictly a tool but it’s amazingly useful in holding things together or temporarily patching a dripping pipe or exposed wire.
HOW TO ACQUIRE TOOLS
Quality hand tools are a joy to use and so durable they can last for generations. We are using wrenches, screwdrivers, and a hammer that are as functional today as they were to our grandfathers purchased them 80-some years ago. New quality hand tools can be purchased today – but beware! Many poorly made models are on the market and sold mostly in discount and big box stores. They are less expensive than good ones but aren’t as reliable and probably won’t be around to pass on to the next generation.
We buy our tools in two places – garage and estate sales that often include vintage hand tools. They may be a bit rusty, but we’ve bought quality tools for pennies. After refurbishing they are as good as new. When in the market for new tools we head for a specialty tool store. These are where professional carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other craft people buy their tools and equipment.
Our favorite store in Cedar Rapids is Acme Tools. They only sell quality tools made by many manufacturers and we’ve never been unhappy with any tool purchased there. In recent years we’ve been purchasing Milwaukee brand tools at Acme and have found them top notch. “We only sell high quality tools, and our sales people are experts always happy to help customers select the right tool for their needs and show them how to safely use it,” said John Guidinger, General Manager.
Quality tools are more than just tools. They are well designed and crafted instruments that feel good in your hands and help making tasks a pleasant experience.
*Blogger Note: These are independent, unpaid reviews.
by Winding Pathways | Dec 10, 2016 | Wonderment
Reading by a cozy woodstove.
Although electronics minded people often claim that paper books are either dead or dying, we disagree.
Few things are as pleasant as spending winter hours curled in a comfortable chair by the wood stove reading a real book.
Even better is sharing a book with a child or grandchild. A new sharing book is Walking With Bigfoot, a Beginners Guide to the Common Trees of North America by Sharen and Mark Mellicker. It can be ordered online.
Many years ago nature study was just that. Naturalists urged people to learn outdoor specifics, such as how to identify trees, fish, rocks, birds, or some other object. Later came a movement where specific knowledge was de-emphasized and considered less important than just going outside and absorbing nature. In recent years there’s been a blend of the two. Often having some specific knowledge of aspects of nature helps create understanding of our environment.
Walking With Bigfoot is a children’s book well suited to winter reading. It helps kids learn specific tree species and various details about each one while enjoying the travels of Bigfoot through forests. It’s a fact filled story book that will pique the interest of folks of all ages in trees.
Another favorite is Emily M. Stone’s Natural Connections, Exploring Northwoods Nature Through Science and Your Senses. It can be ordered online from the Cable Natural History Museum.
Iowa native Emily Stone is Education Director at the Cable Natural History Museum in Wisconsin. Her book follows north woods nature through the four seasons. The book, from her columns, is filled with reflections, facts, and illustrations of plants, insects, birds and more drawn by children.
Winding Pathways encourages you to don warm clothes and go outside and play during cold winter months. Then, come inside to enjoy a cup of cocoa and the fireplace or furnace’s warmth while reading a truly enjoyable book.
