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Conveniently located along I-80 in Newton, Iowa.

Ten Things Tuesday- Plans

Some of us are planners and some of us aren't.
I am a planner.
Not so much out of choice.
More out of necessity.

Years ago, Honeyman and I were spontaneous.
Than life threw us a curve.
Plans had to be made.
Always.

No plan and it didn't happen.
Sometimes even with plans, it didn't happen.

This week's ten things Tuesday is about life and planning.

1. Hell was paved with good intentions.
     My mom used to say this all the time. You can mean to do one thing- you have a plan- and it just goes horribly wrong.

2. " Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans."- John Lennon
     This is one of my favorite quotes. No matter what, you can't plan everything. Too many variables. I didn't plan a lot of things in my life, but there they are.

3. The best laid plans...
     You can think you have all your bases covered. But, something can always happen.

4. Plan on it.
     That's what you tell people when they ask you to do something with them.

5. Plan B
     This is what you do when Plan A doesn't work. Try to always have a fallback.
Also, the name of an album by Huey Lewis and the News. And I think it's a contraceptive for those times when you didn't plan ahead.

6. Simple Plan
     Cause, who wants complicated? And it's a band.


7. It threw me a curve.
     Something came out of nowhere and screwed everything up. Ain't life grand?

8. Menu plan
     That's what I should do. But, I don't. An hour before supper, I say " Is there anything special you'd like?" I used to plan meals. Now, it's what is in the house that I can put together.

9. My being productive in the morning plan
      I am not a morning person. But, summer comes and Kiddo has to return her laptop to school so it is back to one computer. Since she is a teen and sleeps pretty late, I decided I would do all my blogging in the morning so she can have the computer later. I have brain function problems early in the day so it's not really working according to plan.

10. The budget
     It's a plan of what to spend how much on what. But, it's hard to stay on track. We get a bill paid off so I should be able to put that extra money toward paying off another bill. That doesn't work. The gas budget and food budget had to be revised. It is indeed a quandary. I hate budgets!

Are you are a planner or do you just go with the flow?
Does it work well?
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Have a great Tuesday!

Just Call Me Queen R

I have decided too many people in this world could benefit from my control guidance.
Therefore, I should share my expertise in life skills.

I shall forthwith be known as  Queen R., the one to rule them all.

I need to teach people to once again use commonsense.
To know what it means to think for oneself without the need of "experts".

For the people that live in another plane of existence that seems to have no basis in reality,
I will give them a much needed reality check.

For the ones submerged "up to here" in reality,
I propose a couple weeks to get away from it.

Even though reality can suck,
you can't escape it forever.
Sorry!

For the morality challenged,
I am gonna stick them in the muck where they belong.

For the ones that work hard and play by the rules.
I will give them their just due.

I could go after the corporations and corruption and greed.
But, the way I figure, if I help the people out by doing all the other stuff this part gets taken care of.

I could go after governments.
But, since I am now Queen R.
I run things.
No other government needed.

Pimping Out the Sis

 My oldest sister is a very creative person.
She has always wanted to be a writer and finally published her own ebook on kindle and paperback.

Go here to check it out. That link is to the kindle book. For some reason they didn't upload together so to check out the paperback click this link.

The book is a short story and is in the fantasy genre.
If this is well received, she plans to offer a compilation of short stories.

She also makes jewelry and has her own business. Stone Circle Designs is a great place to get handmade jewelry for you or for a good gift for someone else.

She has even nicer items pictured on her website. Link above. Stone Circle Designs is also on Facebook.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to give her a little exposure.

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Apparently she got the books linked together now so either link will take you to both editions.

The Dreaded Whirlygig

Sure, it looks innocent enough, sitting all by itself in the grass. But, don't let it fool you. It wants to take over the world, leaving nothing in it's wake except for maple trees.


Remember Bob, my barking squirrel? He does his best, eating the ones that fall into the garage gutters. But, there are just too many.

This is what they do.
They show up every spring and wait for just the right time to make their move.
All they need to some wind and they are off.

Next they need a good spot to land, preferably moist, bare earth.
Than, they do their thing.

They sprout little baby maple trees.

 Now, this year has been a great year for the whirlygig. The plan is working.

The perfect storm for them-
Lots of wind from storms going just the right direction.
Lots of rain to make the earth moist.
Lots of fertile bare earth in which to sprout.

This is my garden, full of little trees.

It is too wet to till and too wet to hoe much.
When it starts to dry out to get in, it rains again.

Where all the little trees are is where my sweetcorn is supposed to be.

I will not be overrun!
Those trees are going down!

Ten Things Tuesday- Got It Goin' On

Lots of things have been going on around here.
Thought I'd take this opportunity to share.
Plus, I can't think of a theme today.

1. Rain
     Too much. I didn't get half my garden in and my sweetcorn didn't come up. Too wet to replant and by the time it ever dries out enough it will be too late.

2. Kiddo got her 2nd Dan in taekwondo.
     That's a second degree black belt. She tested Sunday and she did amazing.

3. Made a pie
     I love pie. I haven't successfully made one since I gave up wheat. I tried a rhubarb pie and while I need practice rolling out a gluten free crust, I still have pie. I love pie!

4. Picking asparagus

     I am still growing my patch, but in a couple years I may be bartering or selling my asparagus.

5. Harvesting rhubarb

     The stalks got plenty big this year. I love rhubarb!

6. Finding ticks
     I usually never have a problem with them. I've found them on me, but never been bitten. Til this year. I found it right after it bit and it gave me a nice red mark for a few days, but it's all good. No lyme disease. I know you were concerned.

7. Still helping Honeyman on his weight loss journey
     He has lost 35 pounds since January. He is doing good there.

8. Nursing my tomato plant back to life

     It is doing well. Somehow it busted off at the ground. Since it had a cage around it, I am not sure what happened. But, it's looking pretty good.

9. Planting
     In between days of rain, I did get some plants in the ground. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, basil, and oregano. Oh and the corn that didn't come up. Or the watermelon or pumpkin that also didn't come up.

10. Questioning my still watching the news
      Reporters asking really stupid questions is getting to me, the repeated typos( I may typo here, but I don't get paid to get it right), and the complete lack of simple math skills is pathetic. Last night my local news said that 56% of people approved of the government listening to our phone calls and 46% disapprove. How can you ask everyone, which is 100%, and come up with over 100 %? They not only read it, but put it up big on the screen. Two weeks ago another news said that the CDC announced that 20% of children had a mental disorder, but only 1 in 5 were getting treatment. Huh?I guess that lady from the IRS isn't the only one not goof with math.

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Have a great Tuesday!

Drawing a Line

Sometimes that is what you gotta do.
Over the last few weeks I have become increasing frustrated with doing surveys.

They are paying less.
They are starting to implement fees to pay me.
They are sending less surveys.

The less surveys I get.
The paying less to do longer surveys is not kosher.
The charging of fees on top of that is just...
Enough is enough.

Now some sites are "improving" things.
Translation= it is going to suck for you, but deal with it.

I have decided to change things.
The surveys helped out for a long time.

But, it taking too much time for what I am getting now.

Trying to make money with that is taking time away from the ebook I started.
It got messed up so I have to start over.

I decided to take more time on my blogs, which have gotten very neglected lately.
Blogging is my outlet and I need that.

I did make a facebook page for Ruth's Yummy Stuff. I also gave that blog it's own domain. If you want to check out my blog, click the link above.
If you'd like to check Ruth's Yummy Stuff on facebook, you can do that by clicking here.
I don't have much on there yet.

Making the decision to phaseout doing surveys has been tough.
But, in other ways I feel better.

What's really going to suck is to have to shell out money for things instead of just using the amazon gift money in my account.

Ten Things Tuesday- Fun Facts

I collect little tidbits of information that I like to call fun facts.
So, for this week's Ten Things Tuesday, I am going to share some with you.

1. Only 50% of people can smell asparagus pee.
     Those people have the required gene to do so. Does the lucky person have the gene or not?

2. The CDC says that 20% of children have some type of mental problems but only 1 in 5 gets treatment.
     Why is this fun? 1 in 5 is 20%. Saw this scroll on the ticker of the news. Not sure if it was a typo or if the CDC doesn't know math.

3. In Iowa, fireworks are illegal to shoot off.
     However, you can buy fireworks and sit around and look at them as long as you don't set them off.

4.  The singer Eddie Money used to be Officer Mahoney.
     Before he became a singer Edward Mahoney was a police officer. I find this funny because Officer Mahoney was the name of a character in Police Academy.

5. There are 5,000 cults operating in the US today.
     They collectively bring in $70 BILLION a year. Maybe I should start a cult.

6. Ground meat used to be the priciest.
     Now, it's the cheapest. Figure that one out.

7. Gelatin comes from cooking animal bones, connective tissue, etc.
     When the broth is cooled, you get a jelly like substance. To make jello, it is powdered, flavored, colored, and stuck in a box. Who wants jell-o?

8. Rubbing fresh basil over an insect bite will make it quit itching.
     It works. I have tried it. Just don't rub too hard or it doesn't last.

9. Twizzlers are made with wheat.
     About a year ago, Honeyman bought some and I read the ingredients list. Wheat. What the crap? In candy? It's everywhere.

10.  Xmas comes from the Greek X or Chi which is the beginning of the word  Χριστός  which translates to Christ in English. The mas part comes from mass, of course.
     It is NOT meant to take Christ out of Christmas.

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Have a great Tuesday!