Easy Greeting Cards

     These won't win a Hallmark greeting card contest (check out the 10/5/12 blog entry), but they might make the tech aware person on the receiving end crack a smile.  Insert some card stock into the printer.  Using a card making program, type your greeting.  Print.  Couldn't be easier.    

The inside message could be"#manyhappyreturns" or "you're what's trending now" or the inside could be left blank for a hand written message. 

I think a thank you card requires a personal message, so leave this one blank inside.

       

               

Inside message: "being without you does not compute"

#Hashtag

     Have you seen the Honda Civic commercial - the one with the #stupidcar (that's "hashtag stupid car") theme?




     I decided once and for all to find out what this hashtag thing means.  It's a label or a way to divide topics into groups.  Placing the # symbol in front of a word or phrase makes that topic easily searchable on social media sites.  Searchers can locate commentary and discussion associated with the hashtag.  In this case, searching #stupidcar leads to peoples' reaction to the TV commercial and other postings related to the advertisement.  While hashtagging (oh, geez, a new verb) came into its own with Twitter, it also works on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and a bunch of other sites.  When enough people search a specific hashtag it is said to be "trending now."  In the old days we would have called it a new fad.  The Civic commercial also shows that hashtags serve more than their original purpose.  They are a way to inject some humor into a situation.  For example, "Why can't people pick up after their dogs #steppedinit?"
     So, check out the chick in this commercial.  She dresses like a high school kid from 1968.  Ditto on the hairdo #whatgoesaroundcomesaround.
     

New Jersey Wineries

     It's no secret.  I have a weakness for the fruit of the vine, and I like to go wine tasting.  There was a time when Renault was the only game in town.  Renault was established in 1864 and has operated continuously ever since.  Strict prohibition era laws limited the number of wineries in New Jersey, but all that changed in 1981 with the passage of the New Jersey Farm Winery Act.  This act exempted low volume, family owned wineries from restrictions, and allowed the farmers to create outlet stores. There are more than 45 wineries in New Jersey today.  That's a lot of tasting!
     I spent some time Friday at Terhune Orchards in Princeton.  The first thing I noticed was the pick-your-own signs.  Strawberries, asparagus, and cherries are over until next year.  You can pick blueberries and blackberries now.  Peaches, apples, and pumpkins are on the way.
     You can shop at the farm store.  There are organically grown fresh herbs and a multitude of fruits and vegetables, including heirloom varieties.

They have black heirloom cherry tomatoes.

They sell donut peaches. 

 

Try some yellow pear heirloom tomatoes.

      Besides produce, you can buy local honey, locally made preserves, fresh breads, and cookies.  They sell pies that are to-die-for and apple cider donuts.  On a hot day, you shouldn't leave without an apple cider slushy, made from Terhune cider, of course.
     The winery is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Tasting is free on Friday.  You have to pay on Saturday and Sunday - $5 for five samples/ $8 if you want to keep the glass.  Besides the whites and reds, they make apple wine, Harvest Blue (apple wine with blueberry flavor), and Just Peachy (apple wine with peach).  I'm adding some seltzer and fruit to my peach wine to make some Just Peachy sangria.
     There are lots of activities at the farm.  Besides the festivals and wagon rides, they offer classes about growing herbs, preserving food, and pruning fruit trees.  Kids can attend farm camp for a week in the summer.
     So take a ride to Terhune Orchards.  Support your local farmer and suck down some of those free samples of grape juice (on Fridays)!

http://www.terhuneorchards.com/index.html          

Repainting

     The entry from 12/14/12 was about painting.  Well, I'm at it again.  I'm sure I have the perfect color this time.  It's been such a hard job that I have sworn never, ever to paint the living room again.  Ever!
     As I finished up today, I wondered, "Who invented the paint roller?"  According to Wikipedia, a Canadian named Norman Breakey came up with the basic design in 1940.  Before he could mass produce the device (and make a killing), others improved upon the design.  Richard Adams held the first U.S. patent for the paint roller.  He said, during his off hours from his job at Sherwin-Williams, he developed the roller in his basement workshop.
     The really interesting thing about all this is that paint rollers could have been inspired by science fiction comic books.  Edward Elmer Smith (E. E. "Doc" Smith) was a food engineer and later a science fiction author.  In one of his books, published in 1931, a roller was used to spread paste on the outside of a space ship.  From paste to paint, it's not a far leap.  I wonder if Breakey or Adams read science fiction.
     Watch how paint rollers are manufactured -
   
 

   

Kwality Ice Cream, Medford, NJ

   
6/14/15 UPDATE - I have not gone to the door and knocked, but it appears that Kwality Ice Cream has closed.  The parking lot is always empty, and the phone number has been assigned to someone else.  The Facebook page has been taken down.


     I love unexpected surprises.  I'm not talking about surprise parties or let's-go-out-to dinner-you-shouldn't-cook-tonight surprises.  I mean delights you wouldn't have expected to discover in a million years - right there under your nose.  I was on the way home from ordering a new screen at Dubell Lumber when I noticed the ice cream shop on Rt. 541 had changed hands.  It was 4:00 p.m., and I had had a busy day.  One scoop wouldn't ruin my appetite for supper (and hopefully wouldn't jack up my cholesterol).  I pulled in to Kwality Ice Cream.  Suddenly it was goodbye chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry and hello 'Indian Kick."
     Yes, Indian Kick is an ice cream flavor.  Kwality Ice Cream makes ethnic ice cream catering to the Asian Indian population.  Besides cones and cups, they sell ice cream cakes and sugar free ice cream.  There are also specialty products -

     Kulfi - Indian ice cream that is denser and creamier than Western ice cream.
     Cassata - Layers of different flavors of ice cream formed in a brick shape that might also include some liqueur soaked sponge cake.  The Italians also serve this treat.
     Falooda - A concoction containing ice cream, rose syrup, basil seeds, jelly pieces, and tapioca pearls.

Some of the flavors were -

     Mango
     Pistachio
     Ferrero Rocher
     Blueberry Cheesecake
     Apple Custard
     English Toffee

And Indian Kick.  It tastes like Chai Tea - only better.
     The owner was a friendly guy who couldn't offer enough samples of the exotic flavors.  Check out their main website:

http://www.kwalityfoods.com/
   
     Also, check out the Medford store's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kwality-Ice-Cream/133845300151003

     If you are in the Medford area, stop in and taste how they do ice cream on the sub-continent.

Dead Ant, Dead Ant, Dead-Ant-Dead-Ant-Dead-Ant

     Sing this entry's title to the tune of the "Pink Panther" theme.  Or you can sing it to this guy's guitar solo:

 

     I wrote about ants in two window sills on Tuesday, July 23rd.  We baited, and they disappeared.  We continued to bait, and started to see piles of what looked like dismembered ant corpses in one sill.  We read that ants throw the deceased out of their nests.  The nest had to be around the sill, but where?
     We got the answer on Saturday.  Mike was washing the siding, so we took out the screens.  I started washing the screen from the graveyard sill, and ants began pouring out of a slot in the screen's metal frame.  I ran for the spray while Mike tap danced on the scurrying ants.  Along with the spray, I brought a screw driver.  I pried the slot apart and saw lots of ants heading for the exit and eggs coming along with them.  We filled the hole with insecticide (goodbye, Queenie), then folded the screen in quarters when there were no more signs of life.  We deposited the screen in a contractor's garbage bag that was well sprayed on the inside and around the closure.  Some might say that was overkill, but we like to err on the side of caution.  The bag is in our trash can which has been rolled away from the house (more caution).
   

  

       Needless to say, we checked out the rest of the screens - no ants, though.  I have a few specimens, and I'm calling the agriculture extension on Monday.  I'd like to identify what species of pests we have.  I also have to go shopping for a new screen.

Mind in the Gutter

     Actually, my mind is on the gutter, the rain gutters.  And the down spouts.  We replaced around half of the gutters on the back of the house.  The old ones had so many bends and connections, it looked like a game of Chutes and Ladders® up there.  In spite of almost a dozen cleanings per year, certain areas clogged and overflowed.  Mike and I are not convinced that gutter guards provide the answer.  Consumer Reports seems to back up our thinking.  http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/september/home-garden/gutter-guard/overview/index.htm  We noticed the areas that did not clog had over sized down spouts - 3' X 4" instead of the standard 2' X 3".  Leaves and wads of that stringy oak pollen washed through the gutters and down and out of the over sized spouts.  We added an additional down spout to eliminate one area prone to clogging, and we switched the standard down spouts to the larger size.  Our new gutters/down spouts handled the 2" deluge which occurred on the 7/22 - 7/23 overnight.  I know because I spent the entire storm observing the gutters.  Who could sleep through that down pour?
     There are many gutter specialists in our area.  I called three for estimates (but only two showed up!).  We chose Storm Master from Cherry Hill.  Their estimator called ahead and showed up promptly.  He listened to our concerns and made a number of valuable suggestions.  Next a crew of installers came to do the work.  We had some questions about how the job was done.  We called the office, and they sent someone out the next morning to make a small correction.  We were impressed because Storm Master couldn't do enough for us.  They stressed over and over that their goal is for us to be satisfied customers - and we are.  Storm Master is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Business with an A+ rating.  Mike and I couldn't be happier with the job.  http://www.stormmastergutters.com/