Where can you find a Thunderegg?

If you're a rock hound looking for Thundereggs, head to Eastern Oregon's Richardson Rock Ranch. 

We discovered Richardson Rock Ranch during a recent vacation to nearby Kahneeta Warm Springs Indian Reservation. 

Kahneeta is our base camp for taking day trips to the surrounding areas for activities such as horse rides, kayaking or rafting down the Deschutes, exploring caves,

 

and recently, hunting for Agates and Thundereggs at Richardson Rock Ranch.

The world famous Ranch is located 11 miles North of the little town of Madras Oregon.

It is a working cattle ranch that offers rockhounds the opportunity to hunt for hidden treasures in the rich agate and opal beds that lie within the ranch.

Upon entering the ranch, you're greeted by beautiful Peacocks waiting to dazzle you with their feathers.

A stop at the Rock Shop to pick up maps, digging instructions and tools then you're on your way to finding buried treasure!

The digging sites are located at the end of a bumpy 8 mile dirt road.

Fresh digging sites are created by bulldozers to make rock hunting and digging easier for visitors.

The day was very hot so my family only spent only 45 minutes digging. We found 3 thundereggs. This is what they looked like on the outside. Can you see the small parts of agate on the exterior? That gives a clue to what's inside! 

Back at the Rock Shop our Thundereggs were weighed and cut for a small fee: $1.00/lb., and only 25 cents/square inch for cutting.

The suspense of waiting to see what was inside was both painful and exciting. In the end, we were thrilled at what we saw!

Thundereggs make great souvenirs to take home and provide an ongoing opportunity to learn about geology, mother nature and the formation of our planet.

Richardson Rock Ranch is open weather permitting. During the summer bring plenty of water to drink and plan to get dirty.

Multnomah Falls - A great afternoon hike near Portland

Here in Portland, you don't need to travel far to see breathtaking scenery.

Drive 26 miles east to the Columbia River Gorge and you'll find spectacular views of Mother Nature's Artistry.

This past weekend, I took a hike in the Columbia Gorge to the top of Multnomah falls with my daughter and our dog.

The 1.5 miles vertical incline was a great workout. To distract ourselves from tiring muscles, we snapped photos. Maidenhair and Sword ferns grew abundantly along the eleven switchbacks to the top of the falls.

Once we reached the top, we were greeted by a rambling river of melted snow from Mt. Hood.  

The crystal clear pools are shallow and provided refreshing relief for our tired feet. Huge boulders gave us a place to sit and soak in the surrounding beauty.

A short walk further gave us a scary vantage point where the water spills over the edge to create Multnomah Falls. We realized how high up we were by how small the cars looked in the parking lot below.

After the hike down, we purchased a cold drink and ice cream from the lodge. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful afternoon.

How to treat a burned tongue...and other interesting uses for common Household ingredients

Did you know that peanut butter can be used to remove scratches from DVD's and C'D's? Or Koolaid to clean your toilet? I wonder who figured THAT out? Read on for more fascinating uses for common ingredients. You might be amazed.

1. Budweiser beer or any other, conditions the hair 
2. Pam cooking spray will dry finger nail polish 
3. Cool whip will condition your hair in 15 minutes 
4. Mayonnaise will KILL LICE, it will also condition your hair 
5. Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead skin and blackheads, if any. 

6. Shiny Hair - use brewed Lipton Tea 
7. Sunburn - empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water 
8. Minor burn - Colgate or Crest toothpaste 
9. Burn your tongue? Put sugar on it! 
10. Arthritis? WD-40 Spray and rub in, kill insect stings too 

11 Bee stings - meat tenderiser 
12. Chigger bite - Preparation H 
13. Puffy eyes - Preparation H 
14. Paper cut - crazy glue or chap stick (glue is used instead of sutures at most hospitals) 
15. Stinky feet - Jello ! 

16. Athletes feet - cornstarch 
17. Fungus on toenails or fingernails - Vicks vapor rub
18. Kool aid to clean dishwasher pipes. Just put in the detergent section and run a cycle, it will also clean a toilet. (Wow, and we drink this stuff) 
19. Kool Aid can be used as a dye in paint also Kool Aid in Dannon plain yogurt as a finger paint, your kids will love it and it won't hurt them if they eat it! 
20. Peanut butter - will get scratches out of CD's! Wipe off with a coffee filter paper 

21. Sticking bicycle chain - Pam no-stick cooking spray 
22. Pam will also remove paint, and grease from your hands! Keep a can in your garage for your hubby 
23. Peanut butter will remove ink from the face of dolls 
24. When the doll clothes are hard to put on, sprinkle with corn starch and watch them slide on 
25. Heavy dandruff - pour on the vinegar ! 

26. Body paint - Crisco mixed with food coloring. Heat the Crisco in the microwave, pour in to an empty film container and mix with the food color of your choice! 
27 Tie Dye T-shirt - mix a solution of Kool Aid in a container, tie a rubber band around a section of the T-shirt and soak 
28. Preserving a newspaper clipping - large bottle ofclub soda and cup of milk of magnesia , soak for 20 min. And let dry, will last for many years! 
29. A Slinky will hold toast and CD's! 
30. To keep goggles and glasses from fogging, coat with Colgate toothpaste 

31. Wine stains, pour on the Morton salt and watch it absorb into the salt. 
32. To remove wax - Take a paper towel and iron it over the wax stain, it will absorb into the towel. 
33. Remove labels off glassware etc. Rub with Peanut butter! 
34. Baked on food - fill container with water, get aBounce paper softener and the static from the Bounce towel will cause the baked on food to adhere to it. Soak overnight. Also; you can use 2 Efferdent tablets , soak overnight! 
35. Crayon on the wall - Colgate toothpaste and brush it! 

36. Dirty grout - Listerine 
37. Stains on clothes - Colgate toothpaste
38. Grass stains - Karo Syrup 
39. Grease Stains - Coca Cola , it will also remove grease stains from the driveway overnight. We know it will take corrosion from car batteries! 
40. Fleas in your carpet? 20 Mule Team Borax- sprinkle and let stand for 24 hours. Maybe this will work if you get them back again. 
41. To keep FRESH FLOWERS longer Add a littleClorox , or 2 Bayer aspirin , or just use 7-up instead of water. 

42. When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you 'squeeze' for freshness or softness?

Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week?

 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie. 
They are: 
Monday = Blue
Tuesday = Green 
Thursday = Red 
Friday = White 
Saturday = Yellow. 
So, if today was Thursday, you would want a red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)!

The colors go alphabetically by colour Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very easy to remember.

I thought this was interesting.

I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors.

You learn something new everyday!

Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping. 

Don't forget Gatorade for Migraine Headaches.

PowerAde won't work.

Thanks Mom for sending this. Think I'll try the Slinky idea!

Cement Stepping Stone Walk of Fame

You don't have to be a Hollywood Movie Star to be part of a memorable "Walk of Fame."

By leaving your hand or footprint in a wet cement stepping stone, you'll make an impression that will last forever in your own garden! This is a project I have done every summer with my children since they were quite young. It literally takes only 20 minutes to mix and form (plus overnight for cure time) and the memories last forever. My children enjoy strolling through their personal walk of fame again and again. They like checking to see how much they've grown. We always include the footprints of our pets - Gerbils, Guinea Pigs, and for the first time this year, a dog!

You will need the following supplies, available at most craft stores such as Micheals or Joann Fabrics and Crafts

• One box of Portland Cement. I prefer Milestone brand.
  
• Plastic mold (available individually, or sold as part of a set with the cement mix)
  
• Measuring cup
  
• Bucket, or large mixing container for mixing cement
• Buck of clean water for washing feet, hands and tools
  
• Wooden paint stick for stirring
  
• Popsicle stick for writing names, or plastic letters for stamping onto wet cement
  
• Misc. charms, rocks, shells or mementos for added decoration
  

1) Set all supplies out ahead of time so that you aren't dashing around for them after you have started. The mix set's relatively quickly. You won't have time to collect what you need once you have started. I put my children on alert too - "get ready. I'm going to need you soon."

2) Following the directions on the box, pour the cement into your mixing container in a well ventilate space - preferably outside.

3) Pour 2 cups of water into the powder, then stir. If the mix is too dry, gradually add water, one tablespoon at a time. It is important to NOT to add too much water.

4) Mix the cement and water to a consistency that will hold its shape when you press your hand into it.

5) Pour the cement mix into the mold.

Shake the plastic tray until the cement has settled and leveled. Any roughness or cracks, can be smoothed with your fingers.

6) Call your children and help press their foot or hand into the wet cement.

Be sure to push their toes into the mix by pressing down gently on each one. Lift their foot STRAIGHT UP as they step out for a clean impression.

If the impression isn't to your liking, smooth it out with a little water on your fingers and try it again. You'll have about 20 minutes to work.

7) Once the impressions have been made, completely wash hands and feet in a nearby bucket of water.

8) Using the tip of a Popsicle stick, or plastic letter stamps, press names and the date into the wet cement.

9) Place the tray on a flat surface where it can cure overnight undisturbed.

10) Completely wash all the tools you have used while the cement is still wet.

After your stone has cured overnight, turn the plastic mold and cement stone gently over onto the grass so that it is face down. The plastic mold should easily pull away and release itself from the cement stone.

Lollipop Lollipop, oh Lolli Lollipop...

We think we have the best little doggie in the world.
Her name is Shyla.
We love her.
She loves us.

And she loves food.
Human Food.
It's a bad thing.
We know.
"No more food from the dinner table!"
We're learning.
Well, most of us are.

Shyla knows that anything my son eats is really, really good. She hovers by his side whenever he has food. Silently sitting and sniffing the air. She waits for the tiniest morsel to be dropped on the floor. If too much times passes with no action, she'll whimper. And then...suddenly, it happens. Something...like this:





Ohhhh. Yuck.

Too late.
She's hooked.

I dash for my camera while yelling back over my shoulder, "Son please don't put that back into YOUR mouth!" Thankfully he responds, "Mom, that would be gross."

Instinctively Shyla knows to lick a lollipop and not bite it.

I wonder what she would do with a popsickle?

NO! You didn't hear ME say that!

Adjusting your Camera Settings for the proper light source

I have a simple point and shoot digital camera (Casio Exilm 10.1 megapixels). I take tons of pictures everywhere I go because the camera is small enough to fit into my fanny pack.

I usually don't take time to read the directions for using my photo equipment but prefer to jump right in and learn as I go. I don't recommend this approach, but it's how I tend to operate. 

Recently, I decided to experiment with the various choices my camera gives me for light sources.  I wondered, "does it really make a difference? Can't I just leave my camera set to Automatic and get the best quality pictures anyway?" Well, let's take a look and find out...

Below are samples of a Gerbera Daisy photographed in my kitchen, at night. My light source is is overhead recessed can lights with fluorescent bulbs designed to simulate natural light. All of the photos are straight out of my camera and have not been altered. The light source settings on my camera are listed below each photo.

1) Camera Setting: Auto WB lighting

(Not too bad. Maybe color is a bit on the pale side.)

2) Camera Setting: Daylight

(This looks too dark.)

3) Camera Setting: Overcast

(Still too dark)

4) Camera Setting: Shade

(Waaay too dark)

5) Camera Setting: Day WHITE Fluorescent

(Not bad though a little washed out.)

6) Camera Setting: Daylight Fluorescent

(Yes! That's pretty accurate for how it looked in person.)

7) Camera Setting: Tungsten Light

(Blek. Way too flat.)

Conclusion:

Photo 1 looks good. The camera was set on Auto for the light source.

But...Photo 6 looks the best. For this photo, I took the time to manually adjust the setting for the proper light source. It looks richer, more colorful and the most accurate representation of what my eye was actually seeing at the time I snapped the picture.

So to answer my question - Yes I can leave my camera on the Auto settings and the photos will look alright. But if I take just a moment longer to look at my light source and manually adjust the camera settings, my photo will look the best. If I decide to alter the photo later in Photoshop - for better color as an example, the end result will still look better because I started with the most accurate light source settings from the start. 

Try your own experiment with your camera. A picture is worth a thousand words in the owners manual!

How to Make Shrinky Dink Rings

I'm always thrilled to find fun blogs and websites with great tutorials on how to make things...since "Crafting is my Pashing."

Here is a great tutorial for Shrinky Dink Rings created by June Gilbank of  Planet June . Click link to read more.
And to see more great examples of Shrinky Dink Rings, Click Here.

These would be a fun project to do with children and would make totally cool party favors.

On July 8th...a cool phenomenon

On this day, July 8th, 2009, at exactly 5 minutes and 6 seconds after 4 a.m. the time and date will be:

04:05:06 07/08/09

 

 

If you get up to be part of this phenomenon, let me know how it feels. I'll most certainly still be sawing logs at that hour.

  

How well do you know the United States? Here's a fun game to test your knowledge.

Happy 4th of July!

Grab your kids and check out this fun link: Click here United States to go there. 

Have a great day!

How To: Keith Haring children's art project

Looking for a unique 4th of July table decoration to make with your kids? How about Keith Haring tablemats? 

 

For complete instructions click Education.com . This project was created by Julie Williams.

These table mat designs would be great in various color themes for other occasions like Birthday Parties. Or how about an "Arty Party" with girlfriends? The possibilities are endless.

Creamy Potato Salad

I recently dusted off my 1981 edition of Better Homes and Garden cookbook and discovered a fabulous recipe for Creamy Potato Salad.

 

This was my very first cookbook and was given to me as a wedding present nearly 26 years ago. It's seen better days – almost completely ruined when I left it on a hot stove one time. But no matter how ugly and old this cookbook is, I can't bring myself to part with it.  I have this ongoing conversation in my head: "Just toss it out. It's old, somewhat outdated. No one eats Tuna Fish Casserole anymore. Do they?" That conversation usually takes place during a random cleaning spree - when I am feeling overwhelmed, tired, disorganized, and with too much "stuff." I clean and toss in an attempt to de-clutter my my mind. It usually works wonders.

Anyway, in the case of this cookbook sentimentality has always won out and it remains on my bookshelf. I'm glad because the other day rediscovered a wonderful recipe for Creamy Potato Salad.  I whipped up a a batch and took it to a BBQ. It was a hit with both men and women.  You know a dish is a hit when the person sitting next to you doesn't know who made it and they rant and rave while devouring bite after bite. Or when someone comments, "I don't usually like Potato Salad but I love this one." Those are great moments.

I'll be making another batch of this Salad for July 4th.

I think the celery seeds are what make it great. Check it out sometime!

Creamy Potato Salad

6 medium potatoes (2 lbs)

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup chopped sweet pickle

1 1/4 cups mayonnaise

2 tsp celery seed

2 tsp vinegar

2 tsp prepared yellow mustard

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped

In a covered saucepan cook potatoes in boiling salted water for 25 - 30 minutes or till tender; drain well. Peel and cube potatoes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add celery, onion, and sweet pickle. Combine mayonnaise or salad dressing, sugar, celery seed, vinegar, prepared mustard, and salt. Add mayonnaise mixture to potatoes. Toss lightly to coat potato mixture. Carefully fold in the chopped eggs. Cover an chill thoroughly. Makes 8 servings.