The Empty Cabinets of my Mind

More Girls

For the past few months we have been inundated with male cucumber flowers but girl flowers were few and far between.  However, the new year brought excitement to our hydroponic garden because suddenly, we have a whole bunch of these:

  Here she is again after what we hope has been successful hand-pollination:

If you are interested in knowing more about my method of growing these cucumber plants in water, please visit my gardening blog:

Ann's Air Gardens

Also in progress is a glossary of terms I am running across in the process of learning to grow plants dirt-free, and my grow logs will be linked to the entries therein.   I haven't gotten very far on my cucumber page yet, but at the top of each page there is a link called Glossary that takes you there, and there are about a dozen pages so far, chronicling my exeriments with different flowers, herbs, salad greens, beans, tomatoes, etc. 

I Use TrackVia for Almost Everything

When I first signed up for TrackVia's excellent online database service, they had an excellent special good for the life of my account, which will probably last longer than I will.  I am that attached to this wonderful "helper" and would encourage anyone who needs an a extra administrative assistant to check it out! 

It tracks my life! 

It is also going to make it possible for me to get rid of boxes and boxes of physical records and practically eliminate the need to do conventional filing.  Yayyyy!

What else is new?  Well, have you tried Lysol's new disinfecting wipes?   They clean up tracks on the mirrors, faucets, countertops and even the floor.  They have a scratchy side and a smooth side, you you can scrub off gunk and then wipe it up.  The disinfecting liquid evaporates off in about half a minute.  No wiping needed. 

No, this is not a paid post for Lysol.  I just think they make a killer product that people would want to know about.  Be sure to wash your hands after using them, though. 

Where are the Clouds?

Clouds are one thing we really do not get a lot of in this area, so when we look up and see something like this, we come to a screeching halt and pull out the camera right away, before it disappears.

My Next Cartoon

A few posts back I was raving about an animated Singing Santa skit, and now somebody handed me an unusual holiday.  Instead of a herd of reindeer flying through the air carrying Santa behind in a sleigh, Sant is driving a long automobile and Rudolph, we assume from the red nose, is most comfortably riding in the back seat.

I love it.  This is from the Living section of the Las Vegas Review Journal, and I am absolutely going to steal the idea for a drawing.  I will make quite a few changes, but hats off to this newspaper for giving me the idea. 

Lately I've been posting too many pictures of food I've grown or cooked and not enough drawings on my art blog:  drAnn's Art.

This will get me back on track.

No Spray and Pray Here

I learn something new every day.  This time it is an auto parts term.  The likelihood of my putting a supercharger in my favorite car is certainly not high at this point in time, but the hotrodder in me hasn't faded entirely so I like to keep on top of things. 

So every now and then I check out an online store called SuperChargerPros.com and that is where I say the self-explanatory expression "spray and pray."   They were described the manner in which they rebuild parts and making a distinction between used parts and rebuilt.   They don't sell junk.  I guess that is why all of their parts have at least a full year warranty. 

supercharger

So if you want to improve your car's horsepower and torque by forcing some air in and oxygenating that puppy, go for it! 

This is the place:  Learning Center

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A Singing Santa

Here is a holiday greeting to all my readers:

A Great Animated Santa

This fantastic song and dance animation used to be hosted on Badaboo, but that link is no longer available, so I scoured the web for a new one just for you (and me!) and if you like it as much as I do, you will want your own free download.

So here it is:

Free download of best singing Santa ever

Yeah, I usually ignore this sort of thing, but really, this one is just too good.   Just be sure your speakers are on.  Enjoy!

This one is mostly for me. 

Associated Content - Singing Santa

It is just a bookmark that links back to my Associated Content article on Santa.  But here is a news tidbit.  AC has improved their layout dramatically.  I am really starting to like that program. 

Update on TrackVia

The best online database on planet earth just got better:

Enter Promo Code TVDB10 to receive 10% off TrackVia's Online Database for Life - promotion expires Jan.12, 2009

I have been using TrackVia's affordable services to get a grip on life since last spring, and I use it to track everything from budgets and to-do lists to botanical notes related to my online gardening. 

What TrackVia offers is really too awesome to describe.  The best way to experience it is to do as I did, try the free trial.  I signed up and five minutes later knew it was a keeper. 

Fenugreek Seedlings in a Shallow Dish of Water

I have not yet discovered the best method of growing fenugreek in hydroculture:

These are happy seedlings, and after they got a bit bigger, we cut them back and served them in my favorite breakfast saute, but I need to come upon a method for growing more of them and growing them faster.

I'm have more to say on this topic, but right now, I need to run some errands.  I was working on a couple of PayPerPost opportunities and their site went down. The ensuing turmoil put me behind schedule today.    Hmmmmm.  Gotta run to the grocery store.  Will deal with this later! 

Uhhh, Santa, May I Please Have One More Thing?

I mentioned Griptilian Pink tactical knives in an earlier post, and then I saw this little item:

Columbia River Knife and Tool Guppy

I practically live in Columbia River Sandals, and OK, I know it is not the same company, but when I saw that guppy, I went nutso.

HINT:  Santa, this is a great stocking stuffer.

I first saw this item on sale at Adventure Gear, which offers the guppy at $20 off list price:

Adventure Gear

HINT:  Santa, it is on SALE!

Adventure Gear offers a whole range of outdoors items, so if I can ever tear my eyes away from that guppy, I plan to go check out some of their other gear.  It will probably be pretty easy to find enough great stocking stuffers to qualify for their free shipping on orders $75 and more.  

For instance, they have killer flashlights, radical camping electronics, cookware, bags, backpacks, and more.

One more thing about the guppy, though.  In addition to an LED and adjustable wrench, Carabiner Gate which can be used as a bottle opener, removable bit carrier and screwdriver, and money clip, it has two strong magnets, so I had better keep it away from my credit cards and smart phone.   No prob, that is why we have custom pockets on those tactical shorts.

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Christmas Has Gone to the Dogs

Usually by about now I'd be up for a trip to the mall.  Although we pretty much finished our Christmas shopping in August, we like to go out for lunch and look at all the store decorations.  

But all this gardening has kept me pretty busy (Yes, Santa brought me a whole bunch of early gardening supplies, as you may have guessed if you read my post about Petunias in December.