BEARS

illustrated by Arthur Rackham

The BEAR League is a completely volunteer, community based, not-for-profit organization in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Truckee and beyond,committed to keeping bears safeand wild in their natural habitat.

https://www.savebears.org/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/SaveTahoeBears

Great Bear Foundation

https://www.facebook.com/greatbearfnd

https://greatbear.org/

BUFFALO (animal)

InterTribal Buffalo Council

https://itbcbuffalonation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/ITBCouncil/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterTribal_Buffalo_Council

https://www.youtube.com/@intertribalbuffalocouncil1109

Blackfeet Nation Buffalo Program

https://www.facebook.com/BlackfeetBuffalo

Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya

https://www.redfordcenter.org/films/bring-them-home/

Charity Navigator

 I wanted to know which is the best water charity (mission is for clean water) so I went to Charity Navigator, which is the only place I know where they evaluate charities. I think they do a pretty good job? I used filters: water, environment, 4 stars (their highest rating) and largest charities - over 50 million budget - I chose this filter because I want a charity that has a worldwide scope. This is what I got:

Rocky Mountain Institute

https://rmi.org/

https://www.facebook.com/RockyMtnInst/

https://www.youtube.com/user/RockyMtnInstitute

https://www.instagram.com/rockymtninst/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMI_(energy_organization)

Southern Environmental Law Center

their focus is the US South

https://www.southernenvironment.org/

charity: water

https://www.charitywater.org/

https://www.facebook.com/charitywater/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity:_Water

Environmental Defense Fund

https://www.edf.org/

https://www.facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund

https://www.instagram.com/environmental_defense_fund

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Defense_Fund

YouTube many hour ambient videos

 Found the most beautiful ambient video to cool off in summer : Morning to Night in French Polynesia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11GbY-ttqMQ

These are some of my favorite YouTube videos for sleep or meditation

Escape Stress with Virtual Fireplace & Crackling Sounds by Beautiful Relaxation. This is my favorite, it is just as effective as meditation for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTHHsWcx7Wc

This is the one that got me started on walking tours:

Walk in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, Provence, One of the most beautiful French Villages, South of France

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is1Q9D_T0o4

Some of my favorite walking tours:

Inside Louvre Museum Paris, Mona Lisa (Part 1) 🇫🇷 France [4K HDR] Walking Tour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vuFh6NNa70

Inside Louvre Museum Paris, Napoleon Apartments (Part 2) - 🇫🇷 France [4K HDR] Walking Tour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRmvCQM-XGU

Central Park, New York Walking Tour 4K60fps with Captions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AU9_H47w7k

I've also heard that "space station", "European Blizzard" and waterfall are good searches but I haven't looked for my favorites there yet.

I've done walking tours of every major city. They are all good. I think I liked Mexico City the best.

I also like to search "grocery stores" and see what grocery stores are like in other countries.

Startpages

 RefDesk

https://www.refdesk.com/

Arts & Letters Daily

https://www.aldaily.com/

MOLD

 I know, mold is such a difficult problem. I don't think there is a real reliable test for mold. Also, there is mold everywhere naturally.

One of the problems is it is very hard to get good plumbing and roofing work done where I live, where most of us live, and that is really the source of mold problems - leaking roofs, leaking around chimneys and plumbing vents, bad roofing work...

I found a Reddit where people can talk about mold. But I'm really trying to look at the big picture (more support for people entering the roofing and plumbing trades for starters). Well, I will post the Reddit link here but over time try to update when things get better...

https://www.reddit.com/r/ToxicMoldExposure/

Some diy and handyman, Handy woman resources

 

"Young girl learning to fix her new car" by rich701 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Reddit r/diy

https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/

Facebook Handy Women 672k members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/482778602305573

Facebook Handy Women Northwest 6k members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/handywomennorthwest

The Michael J Schulte Living Trust Forest Project

 This is where I will be updating on The Michael J Schulte Forest Project.

I did it. I have protected Mike's property forever by filing a deed restriction. more details later...

Xmas Letter 2019

Purple Pentode Radio Tube USB Flash Drive. Steampunk/Industrial style

Available at Amazon

You know I love all things vintage. Do you like this USB drive that looks like a radio tube? It lights up.

Baby Joy's Tiny Room

Last year (2014) I had a goal to get all my paperwork, family photos, and memorabilia in order. I completely failed. So I have been working on it all 2015 and I am very close to being done. More on that later. In a box of memorabilia I found a "Dear Santa" letter that my Mom must have clipped from the Chewelah Independent - they printed every kid's letter every year (I wonder if they still do that?). I was curious about Boby Joy and her tiny room which turned out to be Baby Joy's Tiny Room. I found one on eBay.

I can see why I wanted it - it came in a suitcase! You could carry it anywhere you wanted and it had 1960s flower power designs. I can't remember if I actually got it. My Mom can't remember either. It's also interesting to me that it's a tiny room and I grew up to love tiny houses. 

I would have probably seen it in the Sears catalog. When we got the Sears catalog, Christmas edition, my sister and I would sit down and go through it and if I sat on the left of her I could have anything on the left side pages I wanted and she could have anything she wanted on the right side pages. I don't know who came up with that rule.

Finding this on eBay was fun and I have been thinking it might be a fun job to find things for people from their childhood. People who are too busy to find it on their own. Is their a toy from your past you have always wanted to find again?

Images courtesy of eBay seller connectibles. Used with permission.

Star Gazer

Do you remember this astrology column in the newspaper? You had to match your numbers to the words so you would know what was going to happen to you that day. Mine: Distant affairs hold your attention perhaps vacation planning. The way that you had to work for it, with numbers, made it seem... scientific. Of course I thought it was ridiculous but we read the paper every day and if you saw in the corner of your eye a sad face for your star sign it was hard to ignore. What bad thing will happen to me today?! It was in the Spokane paper for years.

Faux Fur

Available at Fabulous Furs

I love the whole idea of how fake, faux fur can save animal's lives. This set by Donna Salyer Fabulous-Furs.

Vintage Publisher's Logos

I uploaded this vintage Simon and Schuster logo as an example for my Pinterest Branding board. Isn't it beautiful? Here are a couple more.

Plywood Floor Experiment

When I decided to put a new floor in the first thing I did was to go to a hardware store and get samples of flooring. I was really shocked. There was one group of samples that were true hardwood and that was obvious and expensive (7.19 a square foot) and then there is a whole other group of flooring that is called "hardwood" but is actually a very thin veneer of wood over something that looks like MDF to me. It is probably not MDF and it may be more water-proof than MDF, but I am sure none of these so-called hardwoods would ever be able to be refinished. The small veneer would be removed and all you would have is the MDF-like middle section. Even the cork flooring was a tiny layer of cork and then the MDF-like stuff. Don't take my word for it go get samples yourself. As you can see from the picture below, one layer of plywood is thicker than the veneer on the mid-priced "hardwood".

From top to bottom: Hardwood flooring sample ($7.19 sq. ft.), cork flooring sample, mid-priced "hardwood" flooring sample, 1/2 inch plywood.

I needed 400 square feet of new flooring. I got estimates for wood floors from several places and for what I wanted it was going to be 4 or 5 thousand dollars. I absolutely hate carpet. There is some vinyl sheeting that looks just like wood floors and I like it but I wanted something a step up from that because I will probably Airbnb this place at least a few weeks in the summer. I decided to try plywood flooring.

A price break-down

Plywood: .75 cents a square foot - $300 for 400 square feet

Real Hardwood: $7.19 a sq. ft. = $2,876 for 400 sq. ft.

"Hardwood" veneer at $2.99 a sq. ft. = $1200

"$0.99 sq. ft." Internet bargains would be great but every place I looked wanted 6-700 dollars shipping

This will be the tenth floor that I have taken down to the subfloor and re-built. So I feel like I know what I'm doing at this point. That's why I decided to buy cheap vinyl flooring to use as a vapor barrier. And also to stabilize the whole thing. I could tell that the subfloor was made out of different grades of plywood. It was kind of a mish-mash of someone's old collection of wood. My idea was to use the vinyl flooring to tie everything together and make it all more stable. I was right. It does seem really stable. (As apposed to just laying the plywood planks onto the subfloor.) It cushions the planks and makes them quieter to walk on.

I bought the vinyl from Griffin's Furniture in Newport.

Now to buy the planks. I bought the planks from Albeni Falls Building Supply in Newport. I chose 1/2 inch plywood and I asked them if they could cut it in 6 8" planks 8' long. I drew a picture that i left with them just to be sure. They asked if they could do it the next day when they had time and I said I was in no hurry. They charged me a small fee per board to cut it. I was fine with that. They explained that it wouldn't be possible to make every cut EXACT. I said I was fine with that. There were just a few boards that were just slightly off and that's OK because it just adds character. In fact, when the floors were done I took a box cutter knife and trimmed a couple of boards that were so close together they looked like one board. I wanted to have some gap between boards. I did push all the boards right next to each other because although a large gap would have looked cool and farmhouse, I can't figure out how you would keep that clean. And I am all about low maintenance. Between a couple of planks there are huge gaps and I am going to put something artistic in there and then seal it (beads? sand?). 

Now to lay the boards down. I hired someone to nail the boards down because I knew that I had to rent an air compressor and rent a nail gun and I don't know how to use them and I don't want to learn. I rented all that for $90. Then I went to Home Depot to buy the nails. The guy at Home Depot said I had the wrong kind of nail gun for the job and that they had a CORDLESS stapler by Ryobi on the close-out shelf for $75! I returned the nail gun and compressor and bought the Ryobi. I had to buy a battery and charger for the Ryobi but now I am all over the One + bandwagon and I now have a One + Ryobi weed wacker and a One + camping lantern. Love them. I have used the nail gun for all sorts of things after using it for the floors. I did still have to pay my friend Christopher to nail the floors down because I had already arranged it with him but I could have done it myself with a cordless Ryobi.

Ryobi P360 18-Volt Airstrike Crown Stapler

Nails. The guys at Home Depot told me instead of finish nails (which is what I read on other plywood floor blog tutorials) I should use crown staples. That seemed odd to me but they have never steered me wrong at the Sandpoint Home Depot so I bought 1-1/4" "Narrow Crown Staples". They were easy to load in the Ryobi, they seem to really hold the planks down fine, and you really can't even see them. And I notice EVERYTHING.

Next I gave a light stain to the plywood, trying to make it look more Scandinavian because Mike loves Scandinavian style. I did this by mixing one gallon of Kilz water based primer with four gallons of water. First I just used one gallon of water that covered too much then I kept adding water because it was very difficult to see what I was doing. I wanted to get just a light stain. And I didn't know how it would dry. I probably could have gone with 3 gallons of water. It is not as white as I would like. This was the hardest part of the project - getting the right amount of white-washing. But in the end I was too tired to change it so I just went with it. The beauty of these wide plank plywood floors is if you don't like the look you could always paint them. Painted floors look great. Lots of Scandinavian painted-white wide-plank floors on Pinterest. I would use porch paint if I did that.

Then I sealed everything with Varathane Floor Finish High Traffic Satin Finish. At first I thought I would need to wear a gas mask and keep everyone out for 24 hours because of the fumes. But I guess that is for the old oil-based finish and these new water-based finishes are not so fume-y. First coat (which took one gallon for 400 square feet) I was fine until the end when I got my face up close to some plywood to see if I was getting in the cracks and some fumes got in my eyes and they were watery and a little sore for a couple hours. For the second coat I kept my eyes away from the floor and I was fine. I opened all the windows for air circulation. I ended up using two gallons - two coats and I have already spilled a latte on it and it cleaned up fine. I think I will put another coat or two on it in time because I want the floor to be very durable.

I plan to update this post in about a year to let you know how everything wears. Thanks for stopping by!

How to Add Screen to Kitchen Cabinet Doors Under Sink DIY Project

We are trying to make the cabin freeze-proof. Step one is to put screens in the cabinet doors under the sink so we don't have to leave them open to get warm air in there. We are also trying to simplify the cabin so we don't have to have pages of instructions for people to stay there. So this is how I did it.

Assemble your supplies

Drill holes for the jig saw

Let the cat inspect your work

Use a jig saw to cut out the middle

Duct tape screen in place and staple

Add molding to front to hide ugly parts. Glue in place. Paint.

FINISHED!

Update: I just found this tutorial on how to add glass to kitchen cabinet doors. It would be helpful to also read that post if you are adding glass OR screen to your kitchen cabinets.

KIND PLUS, Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew

Bought Mike some Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew Antioxidant Kind Bars for Valentine's Day.

Organizing with wire baskets

Wire basket available at Amazon

This is the basket I use most often at my house. In my kitchen, I keep apples in them and sometimes onions. But don't put them right next to each other because they will give off gases that make each other ripen too fast. So one basket on one side of the kitchen with fruit and one on the other side of the kitchen with onions and garlic works best. They look like gym lockers we had in high school and I had to get over thinking about that because they are so perfect for the job, sturdy and easy to clean. I have one for library books and one for cleaning supplies under the sink in the bathroom.

Magazine rack/fruit storage available at Amazon

File basket available at Amazon.com

I have three of these wall-mounted baskets in my office. 1. Inbox 2. Finished Projects 3. Inspirational Images or a beautiful magazine.

Antique Black Organizing Rack available at Amazon

Magazine organizer available at Amazon.com

Here's a larger version also rustic-industrial chicken wire design.

Glory & Grace Large Rustic Industrial Wall Mount Metal and Wire General Store Multi-Bin Storage Baskets

I want to get one of these for my dining room so people can grab some fruit if they are still hungry after dinner - making it more convenient to eat right.

Storage baskets available at Amazon.com

Same three-compartment storage basket - this one is vertical.

3 Tier Chain Hanging Wire Baskets available at Amazon.com 

Whenever I move this is one of the first things I buy - a three tier basket - I use them for onions and garlic. It's really the best way to store fruits and veggies because the air circulation keeps the produce from going bad as fast. You can often find them at the dollar store.

Darby Wire Basket - Oval -Set of 2

Darby Wire Basket - Rectangle -Set of 2

Ocean Heaven with Jet Li

I have a movie to recommend.  Ocean Heaven with Jet Li. Grabbed at random from the bookmobile shelf, this movie turned out to be very moving, important in understanding parents of autistic children and a view inside modern China I never expected. The acting is underplayed and spectacular. Beautiful movie.

Evernote Online Shared Notebook Kludge

Image by Heisenberg Media  Some Rights Reserved

I am working on some projects that will require sharing some Evernote notebooks online. Right away there is a problem. Although Evernote allows you to set the view (by date or title) in your notebooks, when you share them online the first view you see is defaulted to last note created at the top. So, yes, the viewer can then go to the bottom of the page and choose "view options" but who is going to know how to do that? Not about 99% of my readers. They are just going to be lost in the jumble of notes in an odd order and they are going to leave. So. Yes I have checked the message boards and no one else likes this but it will not be changed any time soon. I think most people would want it to default to either how you set it in your own offline notebook, or default to title and you would number or label each note to display how you want the viewer to see it. By the way, I don't really have time to search the forums for things like this. Evernote - please get some kind of voting system in place because I bet this would be number one change request.

My kludge is to create a note and then go into its info and change the date created to 2025. Hopefully I will remember to change that in 2025 (if I am still alive). That way when a new reader looks at my shared notebook they will see the note that I chose at the top. I also title the note "1 - Table of Contents", that way if Evernote changes the default to title or to my chosen offline view (title) - either way "1 - Table of Contents" will come up first and I won't have to change all my notebooks.

If you have a better way or if you hear they are going to change the default view policy please let me know!

Evernote Kludge #1