Category: Lifehacks

Happenings Around the Homestead

Work and a special photography project I have been working on have kept me busy enough lately that there hasn’t been too much activity from me around the homestead outside of the chickens (more on that tomorrow), but some things of note have happened.

  1. Cicadas!  Wow, these things came out in force this past week!  I don’t ever recall seeing so many that they were on car tires, grass blades, small plants, and anything else they could latch onto.  Wow, this is a bumper crop this year.  😀
  2. Sweet Potatoes – despite not putting much of a garden out this year, I am putting out sweet potato slips.  They arrive this past week, and I neglected to get them out over the weekend.  I’ll try to do that Tuesday of this week.  This year I have purple, white, and orange.  Hopefully some will grow this time.
  3. Volunteers – Again, despite not putting out a garden this year, the leftover seeds in the compost had a different idea.  We have at least three volunteer tomatoes growing that we will let continue to grow.
  4. Grass – We have a buch of grass peeking its head through our new woodchip covering on our garden.  Time to move the chicken pen to let them take care of it.

Finally, I ran across a good article about Ten Things We Can Learn From Old Homesteads.  I really liked this list.  Is there anything you would add?

Egg Hacks

I love eggs, and hardly a day goes by that I don’t eat at least four of them.  Needless to say, I love egg hacks, and while I knew some of them in the video on this page, I didn’t know them all.  Just a tip though – don’t use a bowl of water to crack your eggs.  It is much easier in a drinking glass.  😀  I also find two eggs in the glass does better than one.

How to Remember Everything

Memory is something that has always fascinated me, and I am always excited to learn new ways to better my memory.  I even have a book I keep meaning to read on ways to better your memory, but sadly, I keep forgetting to read it.  I know that sounds like I am trying to be funny, but I am not.  When I get to a place where I have time to read the book, it is the furthest thing from my mind.  🙂

I thought this article shared a really easy step that we can all use which adds to our ability to remember.  In fact, I can speak to this a little, as I have used this some without really realizing what I was doing.  Now to remember to use it more often. 😉

How to Remember Everything

Dehydrating with Solar Power

I am always interested in alternative forms of energy, and this is never more true than when I am speaking of food preservation.  Dehydrating and canning add a tremendous amount of heat to the house in the summer, running up the electric bill.  I have been checking out solar dehydrators for a while, and this one is a plan I hope to use.  Be sure to read through the article – it is pretty amazing how this has been designed.

 

 

Dairy Tips

I ran across this video of money-saving tips a week or two ago, and I thought it was worth sharing here. I especially like the one regarding eggs, since there is such a reduction in egg production in the winter.

How to Peel Egg

I am always fascinated by the videos and tutorials on how to peel eggs better.  Yes, I am easily humored, I know.  Seriously though, the OCD in me goes nuts when an egg doesn’t peel well.  I have read in more than one place that fresh eggs would not peel as well as older eggs, but I am not finding that to be the case.  Since I have been cooking fresh eggs, I have found the eggs are peeling significantly better.  I can’t help but to wonder why that is.  Even so, I am still always on the lookout for a better way to peel eggs, and this one intrigues me.  In fact, I plan on giving it a try this morning.  I’ll report back here before this post goes live.

How to peel an egg.

So the results are in – this works!  It isn’t quite as smooth as the video seems to indicate, but it does work without tearing the egg up.  I’ll be using this method going forward, at least until something better comes along.

Fifty Lifehacks for a More Productive Life

I absolutely LOVE lifehacker articles: ways to make your life more efficient and easy with simple changes or everyday objects.  This list is no different.  My favorites of the list:

#1 – Sadly, I am just now learning this in my life.

#3 – Have been doing this for years – LOVE IT.

#6 – Not ready for this yet.  Are you?  😉

Good grief, I like them all.  Other notables are 11, 20, 24, 32, 35, and 38.  Number 50 pretty much takes the cake though.  That is what makes work not a job anymore.

https://beatrixapp.com/blog/50-amazing-lifehacks-for-productivity.html

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