Painting hint: I am a terrible slob when I get to painting and end up with enough paint on my hands to cover part of the wall. Until a friend showed up one day when I was painting the kitchen and she noticed my hands and arms. She said to put hand lotion all over my hands and arms before I start to paint. The paint won’t soak into my skin and it is a lot easier to just rinse off.
Rug slip and slide prevention: I had trouble with scatter rugs slipping under my feet in the entrance of my home even though they had the “non-slip” backing. A friend of mine showed up with two bath mats she had gotten for 25 cents each at a yard sale. She put them under the scatter rugs and they don’t slip nearly like they did and I feel a lot safer now.
The rugs are easy to pick up and shake out and the bath mats are some kind of rubbery stuff so they can be rinsed off in the sink if they get dirt on them. It was a cheap way to prevent a fall.
Laundry hint—“sheet sacks”: When my girls and I fold the sheets and pillowcases after doing laundry, we’ve started putting them together in an old pillowcase. It works really well and the girls enjoy making up their beds because “everything matches.”
Bird feeder filling ease: We buy birdseed in 50-pound bags and put it into recycled gallon milk jugs for ease in filling the feeders.
In pot watering aid: Before you pot up that new plant for the front porch, put a new disposable diaper in the bottom (spread it open). Then put in some potting soil and your posy—water well. The diaper will absorb the water and hold it for the plant to use. The lady said that this works well if you have to be gone for a day or two as the diaper holds a lot of water so you don’t have to worry about the plant dying.
Yet another idea—take a clear plastic water bottle (suggestion used a 2 liter) and fill it with water, cap and freeze. When your plant needs water, just uncap a bottle, flip it upside down and push it into the dirt. The ice will melt and water your plants. The plant has time to absorb the water instead of any extra just running out of the bottom of the pot.
If you have hints or ideas to share, send them to PennyWise, Box 518, Kadoka, South Dakota 57543; or email them to [email protected]. If you send me your name and address, I’ll send you a free copy of the PennyWise Newsletter. Please mention High Plains Journal when you write.
