Sprog #3 sent the Damsel this link, and she can’t stop giggling. Sorry for the poor video quality, but think how many old-fashioned things you’ll have time to do if you follow these hints? (The Damsel has in fact tried the shirt folding trick. Pretty cool.)
do things faster–field trip
Jun 13th, 2011 by damsel
old school fertilizer
Jun 6th, 2011 by damsel
Curious who the manufacturer is for the Damsel’s garden fertilizer?
That’s right.
Near the Cottage by the Mountains, there is a friendly horse riding arena/stables, and the “output” is prodigious. Thanks to the law of supply and demand, a person can get an entire pickup truckload of high-quality compost from this place for only $5. ($15 to have it loaded. Worth it.)
Don’t gross out. This is nicely aged compost, so it’s nothing like sticking your hand in horse poo. It’s light, airy, and odorless, and what it does to our heavy garden soil is magic.
We get a load every year and spread this stuff throughout our garden with a liberal hand. It both feeds and lightens our soil so plants can grow like…weeds.
It’s plain that this type of fertilizer is MUCH cheaper than the stuff you buy in the bag at the home center. Plus, it’s **cough** natural. No yucky chemicals here. The Damsel suspects there may be something like this in your neck of the woods, too. It’s worth checking out.
the last week of school–old school style
Jun 1st, 2011 by damsel
Perhaps you’re curious what the last week of school was like in the olden days.
That’s pretty easy. At the Damsel’s school, we went to class. Yup. Right up to the bitter end. The Damsel has noticed a great deal of the opposite going on lately. In one of her sprog’s classes, there was nothing grade-related going on during the last two weeks. Books were turned in, grades figured. The teacher turned on videos, but most of the students didn’t bother to show up.
In the olden days, we did have field day on the last day of elementary school, which consisted of mostly races of different sorts. The most memorable part for the Damsel was that this was the one and only day she was allowed to wear pants to school. Oh, and she recalls that she never, ever won any of those races…and back in those golden times, there were winners and losers, and no trophies for “participation.”
We also received our report cards on the last day of school, with the “cruel” sort of grades they used to use: A, B, C, D, F. On the bottom of the report card the teacher wrote whether you were being promoted to the next grade or not, in a neat little square box.
There was no such thing as elementary school graduations, and especially no preschool graduations. Actually, the Damsel didn’t know anyone who went to preschool.
In junior high and high school, the last day of school was Yearbook Signing. Unlike at the sprogs’ school, EVERYONE came for this and stayed all day.
The Damsel can’t remember her parents coming to any last-week-of-school activities except her high school graduation. But don’t feel sorry for her. There weren’t any other parents there either, so she didn’t feel left out. It’s different now, of course. The parents seem as busy as the kids.
Now, the Damsel isn’t saying the old ways were better. She’s just making the observation. And never mind about whether she herself is caught up in last-week-of-school craziness. She barely has time to write this post because, err, well, uh, she’s busy.
guest post–spring cleaning
May 24th, 2011 by damsel
The Damsel is guest posting today at Mormon Mommy blogs on Spring Cleaning. Which she is not doing. Yet. Still, there’s time. Right? Please say yes.
dishwasher + knives = true love?
May 18th, 2011 by damsel
The Damsel is guest posting at Mormon Mommy Blogs today, where the discussion continues about dishwashing good knives. Check the comments section.
Should you put good knives in the dishwasher? Will there ever be peace on Earth?
how to wash windows
May 12th, 2011 by damsel
On a previous post, Make Your Own Window Cleaner, the Damsel promised a lesson on the actual method for washing windows. She always tries to keep her promises.
There are several acceptable ways. Some folks feel so strongly about their way being best that they are willing to fight about it. The Damsel admires their fierceness but admits she’s too tired to get that bothered.
So without making judgements, in this lesson, we’ll talk about the squeegee method.
1. Broom off cobwebs and dry dirt, especially if this is an outside window. Or if your inside windows are to that point. You know who you are.
2. Apply the cleaning solution. There are special applicators one can buy for this, or you can use a sponge or some such thing. Soap the window down, removing bug crud and other UFO’s as you go. No need to get the glass sopping. If the window isn’t that dirty, you can just spray the solution on and go to the next step.
3. With a cloth, wipe a strip of glass dry along the top of the window.
4. Take your squeegee in hand. Start with the squeegee in the dry strip you made and draw it down the left side, very close to the left window frame and pulling to the very bottom. Dry the edge of the squeegee with the cloth.
5. Repeat, moving over to the right, but slightly overlapping the first stroke. Keep going until you get to the far right.
6. Use the cloth to wipe the window frames dry.
Once you try the squeegee method, you’ll probably agree it’s faster. But no fighting in school about it, okay? Take it outside.
The Damsel looked for the perfect YouTube video demonstrating this process. Instead she found this and was rather hypnotized by it, so she can’t resist sharing it with you.
playing chicken
May 10th, 2011 by damsel
The Damsel suspects you are DYING for an update on how big her baby chickens are now. Ask and ye shall receive.
From this:
to this:
In this picture they are about a month old. In chicken years they’re pretty much teenagers now. After all, they’re gangly, awkward, growing like crazy, eat a ton, messy, stinky, and want to do things their own way.
Yup.
live off your own land?
May 3rd, 2011 by damsel
The Damsel is fascinated with this graphic. Even though there’s some dispute about the numbers (some say it could be done on less) it’s still an interesting thing to think about.
How self reliant could you be if you had to grow your own food?
Home Solar Power Discounts – One Block Off the Grid
happy birthday, Old School!
Apr 27th, 2011 by damsel
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been two years since the Damsel opened the doors to the little Old Schoolhouse.
So much has happened. We’ve had some fun. We’ve all learned a lot.
How about a few stats, just for the fun of it?
Since the Old School began in April 2009, there have been:
234 posts
2,738 approved comments (spammers, you don’t count. You are nothing. You are dead to the Damsel.)
130,000 times people were marked “present” in class
all-time most read post: dishwasher detergent substitute
second most read post: raspberry freezer jam (last year’s #1)
The Damsel is still working on a book of collected posts. She hopes to have news for you about that soon. In the meantime, what’s more old school than the Beatles?
guest post: Housewife MacGyver
Apr 21st, 2011 by damsel
Find the Damsel here today: Housewife Macgyver…thanks for the opportunity, Lu!
The Damsel loves being lumped in with Macgyver. No one rocks a mullet like he does.
Welcome to Old School!
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