Social Media Monday

I posted on Facebook this link about a large number of bees found dead. The article was connecting the bee deaths with pesticide (which isn't really surprising, is it?) and with an already declining bee population, it made me sad. I wondered what I could do. My initial reaction was to call a local organic lawn company, so I'm not hiring someone to care for our lawn that is just bringing harmful chemicals. Still researching, but might have one I like. I don't spray my apple trees, either. My apples are eaten by bugs each year and we don't get any of their harvest, but we have several bees who come and pollinate. I also noticed, when I went to trim off the growth of my basil plants, that they were full of bees before I could trim the flowers off them. Hoping to help them in my yard, at least. We need them!
Here is an article from PBS about how we can help the bees.
This article is 5 Ways we can help from the Mother Nature Network.
Last, here is the News Tribune's article on how you can help.
Take a look at one or all of these articles, and do what you can to help our bees! Have a great week, Reader!

Dogs

This summer my husband took our aging dogs to the vet, as he usually does. Our biggest dog still has his LARGE fatty deposit, bigger than a basketball, now. The vet insinuated that we were just "keeping him comfortable" now... although last summer they didn't think he'd last the year, but here he is, following me around. The little dog's odd lumps are growing as well. Both dogs still get around and are still on their schedules, eating, barking, loving. However, if the doorbell rings, they don't hear it and when new people come in they don't often react, well, they look at me, see if I'm happy to see that person and then go back to sleep. They are like old people who nap all day. :) I know their times are coming and it saddens me. The house is already so quiet...

Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls has always been a show my girls and I enjoy. The series begins with a high school girl and, I think it's early fourth season, she heads off to college. My oldest daughter's roommate and her mom came, joining my two girls and I, and we watched the "night before college" episode: "Ballrooms and Biscotti" and the episode where they move her in to college: "Loralei's First Day at Yale". They are two of the best episodes ever, in my opinion. They display the town's affection for the ladies, the strong bond and friendship between the mother and daughter and the real-to-life emotion of having a teenager growing up. :) We had a nice evening watching them before we got our own girls off to college... and yes, I needed a tissue. ;) In case you, Reader, would like a complete list of episodes, you can find it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gilmore_Girls_episodes

Recipes I've Tried This Week

I thought I'd also try a series on new recipes I have tried this week! Although, then you, Reader, can see how poorly I've eaten this week!

• On Saturday we had our oldest daughter home, and we were ready to watch my favorite college football team, so we made some snack foods. We had some "tried and true" recipes like Buffalo Chicken Dip, portioning off some of the sauce without the chicken and adding tuna for our vegetarian daughter. 
• French Onion Dip, which my husband makes and it is delicious. He usually uses his own "recipe" but it is similar to this. 
• Fresh vegetables and fruits 
• And the new recipe I tried was these tortilla pinwheel appetizers. You will find it a little below halfway down the page. I didn't have ranch dressing powder so I added ranch dressing and it was delicious.
• I also saw this recipe for brownie bites and thought I had enough oreos left from when the cross country runners were here, but when I got them out I saw someone has been nibbling them. We were down to just three, so I made a variety of brownie bites. I made them in a muffin tin, so three held oreos inside, three held snickers mini bars (we only had three of those, also), two had peppermint patties (just two of those in the pantry!) and a couple with a dollop of peanut butter and peanuts in the middle. Three were plain. It worked great! 
• Sunday my husband's parents and sister & brother in law came for fish tacos. I was in charge of sangria. I looked for some in the store and saw one on clearance but I didn't like the looks of it with some type of sediment in the bottom. I found Bobby Flay's recipe and made it, minus the syrup (I bought the sweet brandy so it didn't need sweetening) and pomegranate seeds. It was good. My in-laws, who like red wine more than I do, really liked it!

Thursday's Helpful Apps #1

I decided to try posting a weekly segment about apps I use on my phone. Today I'm starting with the basics. I have an iphone5. I didn't have an iphone before this, but when we upgraded the girls' phones we upgraded mine, as well. I didn't think I needed a phone this "fancy", but I sure do appreciate all it does, now! In the weeks ahead I will visit topics such as photography, social media, health, music, etc. Today, the basics:
*Phone: I use the phone-yes, I actually call and talk to people. ;)
*I use mail-I can connect to my gmail and retrieve all my email at once. I used to have gmail for my school email and received it on my phone, as well, which was nice to have it all in one location.
*I use "Messages" for texting. It is so nice to be able to text my family. Silly, I know, but for my daughter to text and say "Practice is over, please come get me" or "Ready" instead of finding a pay phone, calling collect using the name "I'm ready for a ride". ;)
*I use the "camera" tool. I use it a lot! :)
*I use "settings". This enables me to set the many options my phone offers, such as ring tones, notifications, and wallpaper.
*There is a "notes" app that was on my phone when I bought it that looks like a yellow legal pad. It is just a quick way place to jot down thoughts to come back to later.
*Clock-I use this a lot. I can set alarms with it, naturally, but I also use it for a timer or stopwatch. Very simple to use.
*Calendar-I also have this set to my home calendar and can see all my upcoming appointments. I receive notifications as things are about to show up, as well.
 *There is an "App Store", as well. Not only can you download items from there, as well as purchase them, this notifies me when a new update is available, such as when a company has a bug fix for an app you use. Those are all my "basics" they are apps or tools that came on my phone that I use regularly. Check in next week for others!