Fwd: Simple Times - 04/20/08 - Trash to treasures; planning a nature walk

April 22, 2008

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Simple Times

________________________________

Vol. 10, No. 9 -- April 20th, 2008

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

debi

ISSN: 1527-1269

________________________________

Subscribe: join-simple-times

Un: leave-simple-times

________________________________

Celebrating 10+ years of saving your time, money and sanity!

________________________________

IN THIS ISSUE:

-- " Dear Readers "

-- Simple Living Quote

-- Planning a Nature Walk

-- Trash to Treasures: Tips for a Successful Yard Sale

-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips

-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)

________________________________

< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > >

" What the heck ... I'll give it a try! "

" I have to say I'm so glad I purchased your DebtIntoWealth

System! I was skeptical at first, so I went to the website.

It sounded good, so I figured " what the heck, " I'll give it a

try. My goal was to pay off $5000 in credit card debt and a

car loan so I could buy a new home, and get me and my 4

girls out of our 2-bedroom apartment. It worked! It's now 9

months later and ALL of my debt is paid off, and I just

signed a contract on a new 5-bedroom house! There is no

better feeling than to have NO debts, and a savings account

too! Thanks to your system, my family is going to have a

better life by not being enslaved to debt. "

--Katrina S. in Houston, TX

What the heck ... Give DebtIntoWealth a try, today!

Click: http://www.debtintowealth.com/simpletimes.html

________________________________

Dear Readers,

We've had the strangest weather here the past week or so.

Supposedly we're well into springtime, but it keeps snowing

here in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Not just an occasional flake

mixed in with hail or rain, but SNOWING ... sticking on the

ground snow, huge beautiful flakes.

Our local weatherman said on the news over the weekend,

" If you want warm Spring weather, go anywhere besides the

Pacific Northwest. " So I'm assuming everyone who lives

elsewhere and is reading this is probably thinking, " Snow?

In late April? Oh, I don't think so. "

I'll definitely be ready for real spring weather when it arrives

this year. Assuming, of course, that it's actually going to

head our direction this year. lol ;-)

Simply Yours,

Debi

(Deborah Taylor-Hough)

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

--Author of the popular 'Frozen Assets' series; 'A Simple Choice: A

practical guide for saving your time, money & sanity'; and 'Frugal

Living for Dummies®

--Editor, Simple Times, Solo Parents, and Bright-Kids email newsletters

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

http://dsimple.wordpress.com

________________________________

SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE

" A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout

your life. "

--Winston Churchill

________________________________

PLANNING A NATURE WALK

Copyright Sheila Carroll

http://livingbookscurriculum.com

Once a month. I conduct a nature walk for families in my area. Each

time we meet at a different spot and have something special to watch

for during the walk. All the families who participate look forward to

getting out into natural surroundings -- moms and kids alike.

It's been fun to plan the walks as well. At first I planned most of

them. Now, moms are making suggestions and offering to help. The

idea of walking each time in a different place has made us all look

at our area with new eyes.

We've uncovered many little known corners of our county, some

with lovely gardens, or a small stream or even land held by the local

Nature Conservancy. In the depths of winter in Michigan, we make

arrangements to go someplace indoors. One trip to the University

greenhouse revived our spirits remarkably; another trip took us to

the herpetology lab (lots of snakes and lizards!).

The all-time favorite was an early spring froggin’ expedition. We

found a large pond swarming with tadpoles. Donning our rubber

boots and with strainers in hand we waded in. There were lots of

soakers and laughing. It was a perfect time to have a lesson on

keeping and releasing frogs.

During our November walk, we focused on identifying the four

basic types of evergreens. All the leaves were off the trees and it

was just right time for seeing the evergreens. To prepare, I typed

a description of the four types of evergreens (see below), and had

a copy for each family and a small sack in which to collect the

samples. This particular walk was good for the young ones because

they were able to see a large green tree easily.

After everyone had collected a small sample, we went back and

did a rubbing of each type and labeled it. The finished piece then

went into each child’s nature notebook.

A suggestion about collecting samples: children need instruction

on how to take evergreen samples without harming the tree. In fact,

a lesson on how to gather (or not to gather) plant matter without

harming the surroundings is an important one.

Here’s the description of the four types of evergreens for your

nature walk…

NEEDLE KNOWLEDGE

--If the needles are pointed and growing in bunches with each

group stuck together at the bottom by a little papery strip you

are looking at a pine. Only pine trees grow needles in clusters.

--If the needles are stiff and sharp and growing all around the

branch, it’s a spruce tree. Spruce needles actually have four

sides.

--If the needles are flat and short with rounded ends and are

growing opposite each other on the branch it’s either a fir tree

or a hemlock tree. But now look at the trees top. If it is straight

and pointed like a big spear you found a fir tree. If the top is

sort of droopy looking the tree is a hemlock.

--If the needles are actually branches or twigs covered by tiny

flat green triangular leaves, the tree is either a cedar or a cypress.

(Nature Crafts for Kids: Fifty Fantastic Things to Make with

Mother Nature’s Help, Gwen Diehn. Sterling Publishing, 1992)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806983736/simplepleasuresp/

For those of you who would like to have a group nature walk in

your area, here is the wording I use in my flyer:

Nature Walk: A once a month a " nature walk " is planned for any

families interested. It is the second Thursday of each month

(except where noted) 2-4 pm. The goal is to allow children to really

look at nature. No teaching, just looking and sharing a bit. Children

of all ages are welcome. This is an amble through the woods not a

power walk. In severe weather (wind, hail, snowstorm, you get the

idea) we would cancel. However, some mild weather (such as rain)

can be a time to look as well. I will send an email reminder with

directions before each walk.”

If you do plan a walk in your area, would you let me know? It would

bless me to know others are enjoying something similar. Email me

at info

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Sheila Carroll is founder of Living Books Curriculum, a literature

rich, complete curriculum growing from the work of Charlotte Mason.

This article previously appeared in Parent's Journal, the e-newsletter

of Living Books Curriculum. Visit Sheila online at:

http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com

________________________________

O.U.R. S.P.O.N.S.O.R.

Learn the Rules for Becoming a More Effective Parent

Bestselling author Richard Templar offers his tips to be the

best parent you can be:

-Relax (Rule 1) - Really good parents expect their children

to be noisy, messy, bouncy, squabbly, whiny and mud-covered.

-Don't Try To Do Everything (Rule 5) - Yes, they're allowed

to drop ballet if they hate it, even if the teacher did say

she thought they had real talent.

-All Your Actions Speak Louder Than Words (Rule 88) - Your

kids will watch how you cope in difficult situations, and they

will take that as their cue.

Buy your copy of 'The Rules of Parenting' by Richard Templar

Save 32% at Amazon.com on this book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013713259X/

________________________________

TRASH TO TREASURES: TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL YARD SALE

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Spring cleaning is a wonderful accomplishment. Everything's

fresh and clean. Doesn’t it feel great? But what do you do with

all those odds and ends unearthed from your closets and the

back recesses of the garage?

Making a few extra pennies by holding a Garage/Yard Sale

could be just the ticket. After a number of successful sales

over the years, here are some of my favorite tips for making

the most of your time and effort:

1) When choosing what to sell, don't sort things out according

to what you think will sell. Try to sell everything. One person's

junk is another's treasure. Even broken appliances can be sold

for parts.

2) Don't throw out your old magazines -- stick them all in a box

and sell them for a quarter a piece.

3) Think " store " when you're setting up. Try to think how traffic

patterns of browsing customers would walk around your garage

or driveway.

4) Arrange your tables according to categories: all kitchen stuff

on one table, bedding on another, clothing on another, gift items

grouped together, jewelry displayed next to a mirror, etc. Decide

in advance which categories you have, and then sort accordingly.

5) Rather than pricing each piece of clothing individually, put a

big easy-to-read sign over the table. Something like: " All clothing

50 cents each, or 3 for $1 (unless otherwise marked). "

6) Play background music while people shop. You want your

customers to relax ... shop ... take their time ... enjoy the process.

Probably an easy-listening station that plays familiar songs from

the 70's and 80's would be ideal.

7) Make people feel comfortable and welcome. I've been to so

many garage sales where the people holding the sale just sat

there and glared at you as you shopped. Smile and greet

everyone.

8) On those large colorful signs you post around town, list some

of the individual items at your sale: tools, baby gear, clothing,

housewares, collectibles, etc. And don’t forget to take your signs

down after the sale's over.

9) Stock up on bags from the grocery store so you can bag up

purchases for customers with armloads of small items.

10) If your goal is to clear out as much as possible, offer a great

deal on the afternoon of the last day such as: " Everything you can

stuff into a shopping bag for $1, " or " Half price on all items after

12 noon on Sunday. "

By thinking and planning ahead, it's possible to make your garage

sale into a high profit, sociable, and fun way to spend a sunny

springtime weekend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Deborah Taylor-Hough is the author of the bestselling Frozen

Assets series, Frugal Living For Dummies®, Mix-and-Match

Recipes, and A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving

Your Time, Money and Sanity. Debi's also edits the Simple

Times, Solo Parents, and Bright-Kids e-zines

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

________________________________

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

________________________________

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPS

We'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.

Send your simple living comments/tips to: DSimple

== Clear Contact Paper Tips ==

My tip is this: My 8-year-old daughter would forget that she

had after-school activities, and then be heartbroken when I

asked how the activity went. I made up 8 1/2 x 11 reminders

on my computer on brightly colored paper (brownies, art class,

play dates) and then covered it with clear Contact paper. It's

hard to miss when she packs her backpack at the end of the

day, and it's reusable. Clear Contact paper is also a fabulous

way to extend the life of your softcover books. My mother was

my grade school's librarian, and every paperback book was

covered in clear Contact paper. So were my schoolbooks --

I got the most when I resold them at the end of each year,

because they were basically pristine!

--Jenne, Crystal Lake IL

________________________________

SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKS

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Go to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks

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________________________________

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and the friendly folks at the Dollar Stretcher for making this

mailing list possible!

== http://www.stretcher.com/ ==

________________________________

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

________________________________

EDITOR'S BOOKS AND AUDIO RESOURCES:

Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-Hough

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

http://snurl.com/debisbooks

________________________________

DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:

Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/

Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Cooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/

Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.com

Tupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

Kids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids

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April 22, 2008

Thanks for that e-mail. I love taking walks with my DD. She is turning 4 and LOVES nature. We are always bringing home rocks, leaves, and pine cones. I can teach her about needles (something I did not know before) I bet she would love that. We go on walks often. There is a old beaver " community " near us. I would say beaver dam but its so much bigger then that. All the beaver have since moved on but its remarkable to see it. We take picnic lunches there and then walk the trails. Its a great time

On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 2:47 PM, <cyndikrall wrote:

Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos.

---------- Forwarded message ----------Simple Times <dsimple " Simple Times " <simple-times

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:02:39 -0500Simple Times - 04/20/08 - Trash to treasures; planning a nature walkSimple Times

________________________________

Vol. 10, No. 9 -- April 20th, 2008

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

debi

ISSN: 1527-1269

________________________________

Subscribe: join-simple-times

Un: leave-simple-times

________________________________

Celebrating 10+ years of saving your time, money and sanity!

________________________________

IN THIS ISSUE:

-- " Dear Readers "

-- Simple Living Quote

-- Planning a Nature Walk

-- Trash to Treasures: Tips for a Successful Yard Sale

-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips

-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)

________________________________

< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > >

" What the heck ... I'll give it a try! "

" I have to say I'm so glad I purchased your DebtIntoWealth

System! I was skeptical at first, so I went to the website.

It sounded good, so I figured " what the heck, " I'll give it a

try. My goal was to pay off $5000 in credit card debt and a

car loan so I could buy a new home, and get me and my 4

girls out of our 2-bedroom apartment. It worked! It's now 9

months later and ALL of my debt is paid off, and I just

signed a contract on a new 5-bedroom house! There is no

better feeling than to have NO debts, and a savings account

too! Thanks to your system, my family is going to have a

better life by not being enslaved to debt. "

--Katrina S. in Houston, TX

What the heck ... Give DebtIntoWealth a try, today!

Click: http://www.debtintowealth.com/simpletimes.html

________________________________

Dear Readers,

We've had the strangest weather here the past week or so.

Supposedly we're well into springtime, but it keeps snowing

here in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Not just an occasional flake

mixed in with hail or rain, but SNOWING ... sticking on the

ground snow, huge beautiful flakes.

Our local weatherman said on the news over the weekend,

" If you want warm Spring weather, go anywhere besides the

Pacific Northwest. " So I'm assuming everyone who lives

elsewhere and is reading this is probably thinking, " Snow?

In late April? Oh, I don't think so. "

I'll definitely be ready for real spring weather when it arrives

this year. Assuming, of course, that it's actually going to

head our direction this year. lol ;-)

Simply Yours,

Debi

(Deborah Taylor-Hough)

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

--Author of the popular 'Frozen Assets' series; 'A Simple Choice: A

practical guide for saving your time, money & sanity'; and 'Frugal

Living for Dummies®

--Editor, Simple Times, Solo Parents, and Bright-Kids email newsletters

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

http://dsimple.wordpress.com

________________________________

SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE

" A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout

your life. "

--Winston Churchill

________________________________

PLANNING A NATURE WALK

Copyright Sheila Carroll

http://livingbookscurriculum.com

Once a month. I conduct a nature walk for families in my area. Each

time we meet at a different spot and have something special to watch

for during the walk. All the families who participate look forward to

getting out into natural surroundings -- moms and kids alike.

It's been fun to plan the walks as well. At first I planned most of

them. Now, moms are making suggestions and offering to help. The

idea of walking each time in a different place has made us all look

at our area with new eyes.

We've uncovered many little known corners of our county, some

with lovely gardens, or a small stream or even land held by the local

Nature Conservancy. In the depths of winter in Michigan, we make

arrangements to go someplace indoors. One trip to the University

greenhouse revived our spirits remarkably; another trip took us to

the herpetology lab (lots of snakes and lizards!).

The all-time favorite was an early spring froggin' expedition. We

found a large pond swarming with tadpoles. Donning our rubber

boots and with strainers in hand we waded in. There were lots of

soakers and laughing. It was a perfect time to have a lesson on

keeping and releasing frogs.

During our November walk, we focused on identifying the four

basic types of evergreens. All the leaves were off the trees and it

was just right time for seeing the evergreens. To prepare, I typed

a description of the four types of evergreens (see below), and had

a copy for each family and a small sack in which to collect the

samples. This particular walk was good for the young ones because

they were able to see a large green tree easily.

After everyone had collected a small sample, we went back and

did a rubbing of each type and labeled it. The finished piece then

went into each child's nature notebook.

A suggestion about collecting samples: children need instruction

on how to take evergreen samples without harming the tree. In fact,

a lesson on how to gather (or not to gather) plant matter without

harming the surroundings is an important one.

Here's the description of the four types of evergreens for your

nature walk…

NEEDLE KNOWLEDGE

--If the needles are pointed and growing in bunches with each

group stuck together at the bottom by a little papery strip you

are looking at a pine. Only pine trees grow needles in clusters.

--If the needles are stiff and sharp and growing all around the

branch, it's a spruce tree. Spruce needles actually have four

sides.

--If the needles are flat and short with rounded ends and are

growing opposite each other on the branch it's either a fir tree

or a hemlock tree. But now look at the trees top. If it is straight

and pointed like a big spear you found a fir tree. If the top is

sort of droopy looking the tree is a hemlock.

--If the needles are actually branches or twigs covered by tiny

flat green triangular leaves, the tree is either a cedar or a cypress.

(Nature Crafts for Kids: Fifty Fantastic Things to Make with

Mother Nature's Help, Gwen Diehn. Sterling Publishing, 1992)