SOLON & BEYOND: 4-H’ers provide fruit trays to elderly

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club met on Saturday, February 10, with Cooper Dellarma presiding.

The members taking foods and nutrition are planning to meet with Mrs. Burbank during the February vacation.

Mrs. Pooler did a demonstration on how to make chocolate chip bars. This was to show the members how to do a demonstration.

Plans were made to do a food sale to benefit the Solon Food Cupboard and a dinner to benefit the club. on Saturday, March 3, which is town meeting day.

After the meeting the members put together 20 food and fruit trays for the elderly. This was one of their community services for the year.

The next meeting will be on Saturday, March 10, at 9:30 a.m., at the fire station. Last years members will be doing demonstrations.

The Solon Congregational Church will be having a bake bean and casserole supper from 5 – 6 p.m., on Saturday, February 17, at the Solon Masonic Hall.

Last week I wrote about the e-mail I had received from the Somerset Woods Trustees about them wanting pictures of ” the most creative, exotic, or elaborate ice shacks” that they will post them on their Facebook page! Another statement on that e-mail read, “Love your forests? Do you want to leave your land to your family but not sure how? There is a video provided by the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine.

The other item in this e-mail starts with, “Are you curious about owls? Owls are now calling to find mates so this is an excellent opportunity to learn their calls. Do you know the call of a barred owl? By mimicking their call, I can attract one or more to my deck!” The person who sent this e-mail, stressed that owls are magnificent birds (but keep your cats inside night AND day)

Speaking of birds Lief and I really enjoy all our little visitors at our bird feeders. This year, for the first time, we have some cardinals, there are three of them, a male, a female and we can’t figure out what the third one is, it has the colors of a female’s body, but it’s head is red. (Can anyone out there explain this?)

A few weeks back I wrote about the 10 commandments for good manners and didn’t have room for all of them and said I would write more when space allowed, so this week I’m printing another of them; Thou shalt speak with kindness: Before speaking to others, consider what effect your words will have. Pause and weigh your words carefully and say them with a quality of softness. A slip of the tongue can inflict needless hurt. Also, remember the language of the body (your posture and your mannerisms) is as important as the language of words. (I have a real hard time with that one, because I have been told by friends and family that my face gives me away every time!)

I would like to thank the Solon Pine Tree 4-H members and their leader, Eleanor Pooler, for the wonderful plate of cookies etc., that was delivered to our door by one of the members recently. Lief and I greatly appreciate being given this gift of love.

And so for Percy’s memoir entitled, The Meaning of True Love: “It is sharing and caring, Giving and forgiving, Loving and being loved, Walking hand in hand, Talking heart to heart, Seeing through each other’s eyes, Laughing together, Weeping together, Praying together, And always trusting And believing and thanking God For each other… For love that is shared is a beautiful thing — It enriches the soul and makes the heart sing!” (Words by Helen Steiner Rice.)

Hope all of you had a wonderful Valentines Day!

INside the OUTside: Ski dumping grounds at area ski resorts

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Skis and poles spread out all over the snow while the owners take a hot chocolate break. Photo by Dan Cassidy

by Dan Cassidy

This has been an up and down year for skiers and riders so far. It began with great snow and weather conditions, then rain and freezing temps made conditions challenging for snowmakers and groomers.

All in all, Maine ski resorts have found ways to make the best snow and the grooming has been about as good as it gets.

I’ve noticed in my travels this season how many skiers and riders seem to just plop their skis, poles and snowboards down on the snow as they head into a lodge for a hot chocolate or a bite to eat.

Skis and snowboards don’t come cheap these days and I’m amazed at just how people seem oblivious as they just walk over and around equipment just abandoned on the snow.

I especially wonder how people who rent skis and poles find them if they’re mixed in with other skier’s and rider’s equipment.

Skiing recently with two colleagues from New York State, they were amazed at seeing the yard-sale appearance of all the equipment just lying around. They told me that equipment is not left around at their ski areas.

I noticed that some skier’s and riders coming in for a break have skied right over skis and poles left on the snow. That not only damages the abandoned skis, but the ones that are skiing over them.

As for the ski racks that are placed nearby, in most cases were more than half empty.

Ski and ride safely. Use your head and don’t forget to wear a helmet.

ERIC’S TECH TALK – Fake news: coming to a town near you

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Honest, open, accountable journalism needs help to continue

by Eric W. Austin
Technical Advisor

In Lewiston, fake news is taking over the town.

Five candidates faced off in the town’s mayoral race back in November. According to local election rules, if no candidate cracks the majority with at least 50 percent, there is a second, run-off race between the top two candidates the following month. Ben Chin, a Democrat, was the clear favorite with 40 percent of the vote coming out of the November contest. His opponent, in second place with 29 percent, was Republican Shane Bouchard. The remaining 31 percent of the vote was split between the other three candidates. With no one achieving the required 50 percent majority, a run-off election was planned for early December.

Ben Chin

Chin, a progressive activist backed by the most popular politician in the country, Bernie Sanders, held a comfortable lead in initial polling. But in early December, something changed. News stories started popping up on social media that painted the Democrat in an unflattering light. One claimed Chin had allegedly called Lewiston voters a “bunch of racists” based on a series of leaked emails. Another reported his car had been towed because of “years of unpaid parking tickets.” All of the stories originated from a hitherto unknown Maine news website called the Maine Examiner.

It didn’t matter that the stories were misleading and inaccurate. As soon as a new article was uploaded to the website, links got posted to Facebook by various members of the Maine Republican Party. From there, the stories swiftly propagated through social media, as anything negative and partisan inevitably does.

In the end, Chin lost to Bouchard by 145 votes. It was all very dramatic, and inevitably led to questions about this new website that was suddenly breaking such startling scoops in the middle of a Lewiston mayoral election.

Shane Bouchard

Just who was the Maine Examiner? The Lewiston Sun Journal, the Boston Globe and others, in a bit of old-fashioned investigative journalism, decided to find out. The Journal has run a series of stories in the months since, from which much of this article is based, and they have found some very interesting information.

First was the problem that nobody seemed to know who ran the website or wrote the articles. The site uses a registration-masking service which hides the true identity of the owners — a reasonable privacy precaution for an individual, but curious practice for a business or news agency. Then there was the fact that none of the articles contain any bylines. They are simply credited to the generic moniker “Administrator.” The site’s “About Us” page lists no editor, no writers and no owners. It’s all very mysterious.

Recently, a big clue popped up from an unlikely source. A web developer in California, Tony Perry, heard about the controversy and decided to investigate. Perry did something very simple yet ingenious. He downloaded a bunch of the photos posted with the stories in question. Then he took a look at the pictures’ meta-data. This is invisible information that is stored with every computer file, and often contains things like owner name and the date of a file’s creation. Perry found that a number of the photos were created by someone named Jason Savage. Further, he found that one of these pictures had been uploaded to the Maine Examiner website just 14 minutes after it had been created by ‘Jason Savage.’ This suggested a close collusion between whoever Jason Savage was and the Maine Examiner website.

Then in late January, The Maine Beacon, a publication of the Maine People’s Alliance, published their own investigation into the mystery. Looking at publicly-accessible error logs for the Maine Examiner website revealed internal server addresses containing the username ‘jasonsavage207.’

Additionally, the website template used for the Maine Examiner was downloaded from a website on which was found a public profile for someone listed as ‘jasonsavage207,’ and this profile indicated the user’s account was last active on the same day that such a template was installed on the Maine Examiner’s website.

The evidence was in, and it was pretty damning. It was clear Jason Savage was intimately connected to the Maine Examiner website, but who exactly was Jason Savage?

A quick Google search points to one particular Maine resident who also happens to be the executive director of the Maine Republican Party. This conclusion is inescapable once you learn that his Instagram handle is ‘jasonsavage207’ and his Twitter name is ‘jsavage207.’

The latest wrinkle to this developing story came a few weeks ago when the Maine Democratic Party formally filed an ethics complaint against the Maine Republican Party.

But this debacle cannot be blamed entirely on unethical political partisans. It is a symptom of a larger problem affecting America and the world. Newspapers are closing their doors everywhere. The advertising dollars that used to fund them are moving instead to internet platforms like Google, Facebook and Twitter. But these platforms don’t do journalism. They are simply information warehouses.

That means America’s free press is shrinking. And with smaller newspapers across the country going out of business as their revenue dries up, something must fill the void they leave behind. More and more, what has come to fill that void are pseudo-news websites like the Maine Examiner. Such sites masquerade as news sources but are nothing but partisan propaganda.

Good journalism is not anonymous; it’s accountable. Good journalism does not celebrate partisan politics; it strives for balance and accuracy.

For the past two years, I’ve been honored to serve on the board of directors for The Town Line, and I’ve been impressed by the staff’s deep commitment to the traditional journalistic values of honesty, openness and accountability. It’s the type of attitude we should be celebrating in this world of viral, mile-a-minute news. Unfortunately, a small, free community newspaper is just the kind of institution that is suffering the most in this post-internet world.

Our Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, once wrote, “A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate.” But an informed electorate is dependent on the work of dedicated journalists committed to providing accurate information to the American public.

And the moral to this story? Support your local paper lest your town too becomes a victim of fake news.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Surprising Perks Of Your Medicare Plan

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(NAPSI)—With more than 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 each day, the number of people eligible for Medicare is growing rapidly. Medicare Open Enrollment starts Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7, a time when millions of people are evaluating their health plan options to ensure their coverage meets their retirement lifestyle.

When looking at Medicare plans, people check to make sure their physician is included in the plan’s network and prescriptions are covered, but it’s important to see which unique benefits and perks a plan offers to take full advantage of the program. There is much more than standard health care available.

Medicare plans can offer benefits including a free gym or fitness facility membership through programs such as SilverSneakers, the nation’s leading community fitness program designed specifically for older Americans. Exercise is key to helping people live their best lives as they age, maximizing their health and well-being to maintain an active lifestyle. No matter a person’s goal—from running a marathon for the first time to keeping up with grandkids—SilverSneakers members enjoy the many benefits of the program, including:

  • Membership to more than 14,000 fitness locations: SilverSneakers members have unrestricted access and unlimited visits to every fitness and wellness facility in the national network, including each location’s basic amenities, such as weights, treadmills, pools and more.
  • Specialized fitness classes: SilverSneakers offers a variety of classes in partnering locations that are designed to accommodate all fitness levels and interests. Led by certified SilverSneakers fitness instructors, classes range from SilverSneakers Classic and Splash, to SilverSneakers BOOM®, a fast-paced, higher-intensity class designed for baby boomers and active older adults.
  • Friendship and community: So much more than an exercise program, SilverSneakers helps foster new friendships with a welcoming and supportive member community that becomes one of close friends.
  • Quality of life: The program changes lives by engaging participants in physical activity to help them do more of what they love. In fact, 91 percent of members say SilverSneakers has improved their quality of life.

More than 14.5 million people are eligible for this program offered at no additional charge through the nation’s leading Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and group retiree plans. You can check your Medicare plan to see if you are eligible for the program and claim your free fitness membership at www.silversneakers.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Those messy, dirty, scavenging and annoying war heroes

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

One of the educational things I do for myself every day is read the comics in the daily newspaper. It kind of sets the tone for the rest of the day for me. I have my favorites: Peanuts, Hi and Lois, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, etc. I even like to read Mark Trail just to see what kind of adventure he sets out on, and invariably, brings to a successful and happy ending.

The one that once caught my eye was a certain theme that Doonesberry was presenting. It seemed this certain person declared himself a “birder” and was on a quest to find a certain warbler to add to the list of birds he had witnessed.

That got me thinking. Claiming myself to be an amateur birder, I wondered how many different bird varieties I have seen in my life time. So, I set out to make a list.

Once I got to about 73, I decided I was wasting too much time on this. So, the thought came to me that maybe I should single out one that was intriguing to me.

Having seen birds as small as a ruby-throated hummingbird, and as large as a Great Blue heron, it was difficult to see which one in between would get my attention. Then it dawned on me.

These particular birds are mostly envisioned as pests, vagrants, scavengers and dirty inhabitants of parking lots, churches, parks, and just about everywhere else you can go in the world, leaving behind messes and clear indications of their presence, if you know what I mean. What is more intriguing than the common Rock Dove?

Pigeons, as annoying as they can be, were once highly-decorated war heroes.

More commonly known as pigeons, rock doves vie with the domestic chicken for status as the world’s most familiar birds. They are not indigenous to the western hemisphere. They were introduced into North America from Europe long ago and are conspicuous in cities and villages throughout much of the world.

There are few visible differences between males and females, and the species is generally monogamous.

Feral pigeons have become established in cities around the world. The species is so abundant, that an estimated population of 17 to 28 million feral and wild birds exist in Europe alone.

With only its flying abilities to protect it from predators, rock pigeons are a favorite almost around the world for a wide range of raptors. I remember several years ago when I kept seeing pigeon body parts strewn all over my yard. One day, when I just happened to be looking out the window, I noticed a large flock of pigeons cleaning up on the ground under my bird feeders. Like a lightning strike, I saw a broad winged hawk dive head first into the pile, and came out with his next meal. To protect the pigeons, I temporarily suspended the feeders until the hawk found a new place for his hunting grounds. That poor pigeon didn’t stand a chance.

Pigeons, though, get a bad rap. They have been falsely associated with the spread of human diseases. Contact with pigeon droppings poses a minor risk of contracting diseases, and exposure to both droppings and feathers can produce bird fancier’s lung. Pigeons are not a major concern in the spread of West Nile virus. Though they can contract it, they do not appear to be able to transmit it.

Pigeons, in fact, have been associated with humans for several thousand years. Believed to have been the first domesticated birds, they were raised for meat as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians.

Because of their powers of flight and their remarkable homing ability, pigeons have played important roles in history. A domestic pigeon taken from its home loft and released many miles away will almost invariably return. And if a message is tied to the bird’s leg, the result is a kind of air mail – a fact that humans learned to exploit many centuries ago. When Julius Caesar marched against Gaul, the news of his victories was carried back to Rome by a network of carrier pigeons. Other pigeons carried messages for Alexander the Great and for Hannibal. In modern times opposing armies in both World War I and World War II made use of thousands of carrier pigeons, also known as war pigeons. Curiously, many pigeons have received bravery awards and medals for their services in saving hundreds of human lives. A total of 32 pigeons received medallions or medals for their gallant and brave actions during World War II. And today, pigeons are still bred for their homing ability.

The next time I see a disgusting-looking pigeon on the ground, I may stand at attention, salute, and thank it for the many contributions their collective ancestors made for the human race.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

When was the last time the US Olympic men’s hockey team won the gold medal?

Answer here.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Film: Cheers for Miss Bishop; Bass singer: Feodor Chaliapin; Conductor: Simon Rattle

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Cheers for Miss Bishop

starring Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edmund Gwenn, Sterling Holloway, Sidney Blackmer, etc.; directed by Tay Garnett; United Artists, 1941, 95 minutes, DVD.

Martha Scott

William Gargan

I have seen and enjoyed this warm-hearted soap opera twice, if such a term can be employed. Martha Scott (1913-2003) portrays an English teacher, Ella Bishop, who serves for over 40 years at the college in her mid-western small town. William Gargan is a local businessman and loyal, lifelong friend, Sam, deeply in love with her forever but never having the gumption to declare it.

The story begins with Ella graduating from high school the year that the college opens. Both her character and academic work win over the president of the college, played by Edmund Gwenn with his consistent blend of understated class, to such an extent that, upon her college graduation and ambition to teach in one of the big cities, he immediately offers her a position.

Edmund Gwenn

Sterling Holloway

She wins many hearts and minds with her passionate commitment to her work over the years but her heart is broken twice by suiters. Meanwhile, she raises a daughter born out of wedlock to a younger cousin dying during childbirth. Finally, upon retirement, she is honored at a surprise and massively attended alumni banquet that includes a number of former students who have attained world fame because of her inspiration to them.

Sidney Blackmer

Every member of the cast gave A-plus performances while the film, despite a rather predictable story, was shot and paced in such a vivid, agreeable manner, as has been the case of similar movies from the ‘40s, that viewers were, and still are, drawn in.

In 1960, William Gargan, had his larynx removed due to throat cancer, had to speak through a voicebox and became an activist for helping others who had experienced laryngectomies to learn to speak again.

Borodin: Prince Igor

Recitative and Air of Prince Galitsky
Feodor Chaliapin, bass, with orchestra; Victrola- 87361; ten-inch one-sided 78 shellac, recorded 1920.

Feodor Chaliapin

Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938) is arguably considered the finest bass singer who ever lived and gives an electrifying performance of the Borodin aria listed above. But he did not achieve his fame only through singing but also as an actor; he impressed the composer Rachmaninoff, with whom he had a long friendship, and many others with the painstaking detail with which he planned every line, movement and position in the roles he performed.

Finally, he was a notorious carouser who maintained two separate families with a wife and mistress.

Most of his many 78 records are available in CD form and for listening on YouTube.

Rachmaninoff

Symphonic Dances & Vocalise
Simon Rattle conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Angel, DS 538019, recorded 10-23-1982 and 2-28-83, digital stereo LP.

Simon Rattle

Rachmaninoff completed his Symphonic Dances in October 1940, with the words, “I thank Thee, Lord!” and, due to poor health and constant fatigue, did little besides completing the final revision of his 4th Piano Concerto before his death during his 70th year in 1943. He would entrust the world premiere to the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom he left recordings of his four concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody with himself at the keyboard, and still in print on CDs.

The Symphonic Dances make for exciting listening with their very colorful rhythms and captivating melodies. Sir Simon Rattle recorded very satisfactory performances of the Dances and the beautiful short Vocalise with its haunting passage for solo violin.

SOLON & BEYOND: Questions to make winter interesting

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Was pleased, as always, to receive an e-mail from Somerset Woods Trustees and it starts out like this: “It’s Winter. Not that I needed to tell you! Here are three questions to make winter more interesting: Do you have some great pictures of ice shacks you might be willing to share? 2. Do you love the sound of owls and wish you knew more about them? 3. In this low winter light, are you enjoying the view of snow-draped firs but wondering how to pass along the forest you love to your children?

I’m going to just take up the first question in this column, because I have a wonderful story to share with you about a special ice shack. And the first question from the Somerset Woods Trustees is as follows: If you enjoy walking on frozen water and love to fish, then you may already be ice fishing. Or perhaps you are admiring ice shacks through double-paned windows. In either case, please send us pictures of the most creative, exotic, or elaborate ice shacks you see! We will post them on our Facebook page! Please give us permission to publish your photos and approval to include your name as the owner of the picture. Their mailing address is Somerset Woods Trustees, P.O. Box 833, Skowhegan, Maine 04976.

The story I am about to tell you is about what happened when two friends, Scotty Robertson and Gary Cote took part in the Wyman Derby on Wyman Lake on January, 27. They were fishing from Scotty’s ice shack, and he got first place with an almost four pound togue, and he received a beautiful trophy for that. At first it was announced that he got second prize in the splake category with the two pounder he caught. Later he was called and told a mistake was made and he got first place in that one also. His friend Gary got second place in the event with the salmon that he caught; and Scotty proudly stated, “So we placed in three spots out of my shack.”

Scotty loves the outdoors, and especially likes to go fishing.

Was also very excited when I heard about the following bit of news. The CCS Carrabec girls varsity basketball team has finished their Central Maine season undefeated. The team of eighth grade girls includes : Courtney Rollins #50, Trinity Slate #10, Brook Welch #23, Cheyenne Cahill #11, Aliyah Hupper #15, Julia Baker #3, Cassidy Smith #24, Lilly Augustine #13, Aislinn Slate #2 and coach Eric Carey whose dedicated coaching has brought the team to where they are. Congratulations on your great victory.

And now for some of the events taking place at the North Anson Congregational Church: On Friday, February 9, there will be a 6 p.m., Movie Night, “The Shack” This is a Bring Your Own Snack and comfy chair fellowship event. Come and Enjoy!

February 10, 8 a.m., Women’s Fellowship Devotional and Coffee. February 11. Church’s potluck lunch and Hearts Game following the morning Worship Service.

February 14, 7 p.m., Ash Wednesday Service at the First Congregational Church of Norridgewalk.

I would like to thank the board and staff at The Town Line newspaper for the beautiful Sympathy card, and all of the friends who have sent cards after the death of my stepfather, Clarence Jones; it meant so much.

Percy’s memoir for this week:

Measure your lifetime in blessings, Not in the years you have known…Count up the people you’ve touched, Add up the love you have shown… Measure your days in the gladness That you and your loved ones have shared… Tally the smiles on the faces of friends, Total the times you have cared… Yes, measure your lifetime in blessings, And you’ll always remain in your prime— For youth is a feeling you keep in your heart Whether seven or 79. (words by Larry Sandman.)

IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of February 8, 2018

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by Katie Ouilette

Well, WALLS, you sure know when to do the right thing! Surely our faithful readers were happy to receive your message, after our ice storm. The yards of our faithful readers may be cluttered with branches and all that goes with them, as our yard is. Now, those branches and green-things which they held are waiting as we are for Spring clean-up to begin! Actually, this column is being written on Ground Hog Day, as we went to Augusta yesterday. Yup, TV had the folks from Pennsylvania in their dress-up outfits, including tall hats, this morning showing us the ground hog of the day.

And, faithful readers, do you remember WALLS telling you all about finding stuff in my stuff? Well, here is a saying that was saved a while ago. “History is not a science, but a story that happened as we call up the past.” Well, that started you thinking, for sure, WALLS. Did I say that we went to Augusta yesterday? Well, actually, Lew and I went to Togus so that his hearing aid could be adjusted. I sat in the truck, as usual, but thought about Togus and all that it has meant to so many since its inception during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.

Imagine it, faithful readers. Imagine how many have been hospitalized since the Civil War and, as I sat in our Nissan pick-up truck, I saw veterans of all ages going to what is now the outpatient offices. Some had their drivers with them, because of their conditions. Yes, Togus was a very busy place with folks walking to their office-destinations and then some walking back to their automobiles with medications in white bags that had been given to them. Y’know, faithful readers, there is so much said about the care our veterans of all ages, male and female, are given in our U.S.A., but we in Maine can be very proud that our men and women, old and young, are well taken care of in Maine.

That brings another saying that you found when you helped me sort through my stuff, WALLS. Of course, we know it already, but the saying is, “there’s a genuineness about people in Maine that is hard to find in other places.” Well, blame can be attributed to George Smith, who tells us that we are so lucky to live in Maine, but WALLS, you and I, too, know that Maine is the best place to live and do business and be neighborly.

Give Us Your Best Shot! week of February 8, 2018

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BLINKSY’S BLUE JAYS: Michael Bilinsky captured these Blue Jays in China Village.

 

CARDINAL BEAUTY: Michael Bilinsky’s camera also caught a great shot of this beautiful female cardinal.

 

REPRINT: This cicada was photographed by Jayne Winters, of China. A photo previously printed did not reproduce properly. It was a technical error.

Have you taken a photo that highlights our local beauty? Visit our Contact page or email it to us at townline@fairpoint.net!

I’m Just Curious: More ideas to share

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by Debbie Walker

Before I forget it, I have to tell you that my car was so icy this morning, every window, the mirrors and the windshield, covered with ice. Okay, so I had read about putting rubbing alcohol (91 percent) in a spray bottle and spraying the ice surfaces and you shouldn’t have to use your scraper at all, I didn’t need to. Alcohol worked great. And you can leave it in the car, it won’t freeze!

Oh, and if your home windows frost up, yes it happens, just spray the window and this may also do away with future frost. Just use the alcohol in a spray bottle.

Well, I found what follows when I was going through my notebook of good ideas. If you know these already, maybe it will just serve as a “reminder:”

You can use some buttons as a holder for pierced earrings, wires or posts.

Really handy for traveling.

Shower curtain holders work for hanging scarves.

A&D ointment (in the baby section for shopping) for cracked heels.

You know those little round paper reinforces? Cut some in half. Great for doing your own French manicure. (Used myself, works great!)

Key rings can be used as zipper pulls. You can get different sizes.

If you have trouble with your chains getting knotted at home or traveling, insert one end through a straw and hook it. No knots.

Mess from boots by the door? Get a shallow kitty litter box, possibly a cover from a storage crate, a few rocks to lift the boots to drain. Lost one of a pair of post earrings? Use it as a push pin.

Wicker spruce-up: Mix 3/4 cup of ammonia and one gallon of water, into a spray bottle then spritz. It gets into difficult spots.

Sparkle your diamond – soak in 1/2 cup of ammonia, 1/2 tsp. dish soap and one cup of warm water for 10 minutes then buff up with a cloth.

Smoke smell? Fill three bowls with ammonia and set them around anywhere you can smell it. It will neutralize the smoke.

Store cords in empty toilet paper rolls. Mark tube with info about cord.

Binder clips work to hold clothes on hangers.

On each end of a clothes hanger wrap a rubber band. It helps keep clothes from sliding off.

For whiter fingernails: Use a whitening toothpaste – scrub with tooth brush, let set five minutes and rinse.

Sticking a bag of charcoal in your basement should get rid of a musty smell.

A micro fiber cloth is more effective than a feather duster.

‘Til next week, I Am Just Curious, still. Find me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. Don’t forget, we are online too.