New York Renovator

Have you been checking out Buy.com’s Weekly Deals sale page? I have been, finding lots of deals, and here’s another spectacular deal: an Acer 22″ Widescreen LCD monitor. I’ve been getting some Acer products, and I am very impressed with the brand. I think Acer exceeds HP (and I used to be a die-hard HP fan). I have an Acer computer that I love, and it has been extremely reliable.

This Acer monitor is selling at Buy.com for $149.99, and it includes free shipping. For such a large name-brand monitor, I think the price is phenomenal! I’m trying to weed out my old CRT energy-sucker monitors (we have lots of computers and therefore lots of monitors, and therefore a scathing energy bill every month– this IS New York State, after all). So anyway back to Buy.com, lol, I have noticed that deals like this go fast, believe me. I once saw a great deal, but procrastinated, and two days later, the product was sold out. So if you see something you like, try to get it then.

Buy.com doesn’t just offer electronics– they have appliances, too– including large appliances. They also sell microwaves, cookware, grills, patio accessories, outdoor lighting, garden and landscaping materials and accessories– loads and loads of stuff! You have got to check them out. I never buy anything online without checking out Buy.com forst. And in many cases, Buy.com offers free shipping. This with their superb customer service and easy check-out makes them my favorite online store.

So…. what have I been doing?

NOTHING! I’m a SLACKER!

Well, we did clean out the garage and the shed, making the traditional switch from winter stuff to spring stuff (exchanging places with the snowblower, shovels, and sleds to the lawn mower, rakes, and garden tools). Nothing exciting worth blogging about, though.

And that’s about it!

While cleaning out the garage, I peered inside several boxes of my electrical supplies. *sigh* Half the house is still unwired… and I can’t wire the house without gutting it. And gutting the house seems like Mission: Impossible. At least right now. Plus, I just don’t have the time to devote to anything like that right now. I wonder if this house will EVER get finished?! At least maybe get electricity? Or the holes in the walls patched up? :S

So I’m in the doldrums right now. But the home renovation season has just begun, so there’s always hope.

But that’s why I’ve had no scintillating posts about renovating anything! It’s awful to have a home remodeling blog and not be doing any remodeling.

I only have 3 or 4 flowers blooming right now. But my garden beds are filling with weeds already. Isn’t it amazing how quickly those nasty weeds grow?! And our temperatures here have hardly broken 45 degrees and already the bugs and spiders are comng out of the woodwork. I’ve already seen flies, spiders, ticks, and ants! Unbelievable.

We have a massive ant problem here, inside and outside. We have carpenter ants in the house’s interiorr walls, smaller black ants and red ants in mounds outside, and the tiny little “grease ants” that have been streaming into my kitchen. Their arrivals seem a bit early this year, if you ask me. In the past, I’ve bought those little ant traps– they look like black plastic tents. I don’t think they’ve been terribly successful; the ants are either populating like mad or the ant bait traps are useless. I’ve been doing a bit of reading on getting rid of such pests, and came across several online articles about the effectiveness of borate, or boric acid.

Borate is not toxic to humans and animals (although it should still be avoided from touching, ingesting, and inhaling). But what this stuff does is it acts a stomach poison (not an appetite suppressant, but they ingest the borate and it kills them); and in some cases the borate pierces the insects’ exoskeleton, and dries the critter up. You can mix the borate with something like sugar or jelly and set it out for the bugs to discover. They’ll take it back to the nest with them, eat the stuff, and they’re toast. It’s very effective for eliminating cockroaches, ants, potato bugs, silverfish, and waterbugs. And it’s odorless. I think it’s much better than those toxic chemical sprays and liquids, that are horribly toxic to people and pets as well as bugs. There’s a good post about insect control here.

We’ve tried putting some borate in the kitchen, along the countertop behind the sink, and I haven’t seen any ants since! I’ve heard that borate treatments are effective but slow to act… I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for any more ants, but I haven’t seen any since applying the borate powder.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

If you missed my other post called Find the Kitty, click the link. Every once in a while, my little Tabby Point Siamese kitten finds a little hiding place in our house. I think it’s so cute, so I snap photos. Then I blog about it, making you suffer, too. Hehehe! Well, she IS a very cute kitty. So it’s not too painful enduring another cat post. It’s better than hearing another commercial for top rated auto insurance, though!

Without further adieu, Find the Kitty.

Yeah, well, she made it easy on us this time.

I bought her a little kitty cube to hide in when company comes (Siamese are notoriously one-family critters). She never really used it much until I tucked it under my work desk, where I sit most of the day, working (I’m a WAHM). Now, she loves it. She’s still my baby… gotta be close to the mommy, I guess.

Oops, she’s waking up. She’s very familiar with the sound of the camera shutter.

Streeeetch. Look at those claws. Imagine our agony…

She crawled out and plopped onto the carpet. Isn’t she purdy??

Tabby Point Siamese are gorgeous cats, and they have the best of both breeds– they’re pretty like the Tabby, and elegant and sleek and personable like the Siamese. I love this baby to bits. She talks to us, too. I have got to compile a video of it, it’s hilarious!

OK, so there’s the cat post!

As much as I hate to call gardens a “trend” (I think they should be more a “lifestyle”), the Victory Garden of the 1940s is having a comeback. The nice thing about dirt is that it’s everywhere. And where’s dirt, there can be a garden!

Some call them “recession gardens.”

Others label them revivals of the Victory Gardens, an early 1940s campaign that helped people put more food on the table during hard economic times.

Whatever the label, one fact is known _ people are growing more of their own vegetables this year.

Seed specialists like Burpee report vegetable seed sales are up 25 to 30 percent, and local garden centers support that claim.

Seeds can be an economic way to begin a garden but National Gardening Association experts advise gardeners to be realistic about their expectations. A $70 investment in a garden yields about $600 in produce for the year _ not thousands like some seed companies claim.

Gardening is a lot of work, don’t be fooled. But it is WORTH it. And it has many more benefits than eating fresh veggies. It teaches science and botany to the kids, it gets everyone out and exercising, it saves money, there are fewer chemicals and toxins placed in the ground, and eating veggies is much more slimming than ingesting those weight loss pills.

I have my “seed stash” all set this year. I bought extra seeds, too, for emergency planting if necessary. I just don’t trust the government or the food supply (those nasty CAFOs) anymore. I’m a long way off having a bomb shelter, but I really believe we need to prepare for the worst (at any time, really), and it’s high time to get off relying on the government and their Big Business Buddies for our food and basic needs.

Another thing to think of is that gardens and local food supplies can benefit the entire community– you can always trade your freshly-grown cantaloupe with your neighbor, for his eggs from his chickens, or your other neighbor’s apples from their fruit trees.

I can’t see anything but good that can come with independent gardening: good for the gardeners, good for the community, good for the nation!

Here in Upstate New York, we remain rather skeptical of spring until at least Tax Day. I mean, snow in April is not a complete anomaly around here. And we really can’t set out any plants, safe from the threat of frost, until after Mother’s Day. Even so, last year in the first week of June we has frost. And then, there’s MY yard. There’s a microclimate here in my yard, at the base of two sloping hills perpendicular to each other. All plants in my yard bloom a good 2-3 weeks AFTER my neighbors’ plants do. I have no idea why this is so– it’s no Stratosphere hotel here to be sure…. maybe because it is so wet here? Or cooler than the other yards? But all my plants, year after year, bloom later than everyone else’s. It figures that I would have such a weird yard. Sigh.

Anyway… look! My peonies are starting to pop up! I love these plants, even though the flowers plop over each other when in bloom. They smell heavenly.

My Grape Hyacinths are back. I did not plant these– they were one of the very few pretty plants growing here when we moved in (the previous owners were real brown thumbs– besides a front bed full of boring, overgrown hostas, the only other plants here were 5 yews and a huge Stinging Nettle Bush).

My lovely lilac tree is budding. AT LAST. The shrub is now about 7 feet tall. I am eagerly waiting for it to tower over this area of the yard, to shield the ugly parking lot next door.

And look! A REAL BLOSSOM! One daffodil, yippeee!

I won’t talk about the other plants that were eaten over the winter, by the STUPID DEER. I hate deer. They chewed through my Privet bushes, my Weeping Willow, my Spirea, my Yuccas, my grapevine, my Iris… GRRRRRR! But I can’t think about them today. They will ruin a perfectly happy, sunny day. But I can still plot my revenge…. heh heh. More to come.

Here’s a sale alert for all Frugal Hacks! I saw this at the Buy.com weekly sale page and thought it too good to keep to myself: The Weather Channel EZ Crank Extreme Emergency Radio and Flashlight. Retail is usually $30, but at Buy.com the price is $19.99. Free shipping, too! Limit is 10 per customer, and things like these go pretty fast, so my advice is not to delay if you’ve been looking for something like this. Also at a good price is The Weather Channel Excalibur Car Starter, too, see here.

This is the perfect time gear up for emergency kit and camping gear. I’ve been watching and waiting for emergency radios to go on sale. Because this is a Weather Channel brand, and it has a flashlight combo/cell phone charger capability with it, it’s a GREAT deal. I love Buy.com! They always have to best stuff, and a lot of times there’s free shipping. Be sure to bookmark the weeky sales page and check every week. Various items go on sale at various times.

Buy.com is probably known for their competitive electronics prices, but I have found that they also sell tons of other stuff: housewares, small appliances, garden and outdoor tools and supplies, apparel, toys, jewelry, and more. Their customer service is superb, too! I recommend Buy.com. Check them out for other great deals. But beware– sometimes stuff sells out pretty fast. Nab it while you can.

I discovered a great YouTube page, stocked with videos, from a local organization, CNY Open House. It’s a local home improvement TV show here in Central New York (CNY), but since I don’t have TV, I have never seen the programs. So the website of videos showing clips of the TV shows is a great resource for me. I especially liked this video, showing the basic in’s and out’s of waterproofing a basement.

We have a LOT of water here in Central New York, because this area is the lowest geographic point in the state– one great big valley between the Adirondacks and Allegheny/Catskills. I have suffered flooding on my property for years. I found this video to be very enlightening.

The stuff at the CNY website isn’t just for New Yorkers– you folks in other states may glean a lot of good information and learn some new techniques. I suggest you check it out! I know that I’ll be busy for the rest of the afternoon, watching all the videos!

AKA, “Tips For Guys.” Especially when it comes to jewelry. Guys, don’t just grope in the dark, finding fine frippery for your female. (hee hee, that was fun, typing that). Seriously, there’s a very nice website that just doesn’t throw expensive rings in your face– they give you advice on finding that perfect gem for your gal– BellaTrue.com. Look for the Tips for Guys section. They have a very enlightening (and very sweet) collection of short articles on what to get, when to get, how to get, and the best times to get those special keepsakes for your woman. I really liked the Anniversary Guide (OMG I’m coming up on the Yellow Diamond, Emerald year!!!). The What to Give, When article is so nice, too!

“Cultivate the power of the small gesture,” it says.
Isn’t that dreamy??