Ladies spray your Brooms!  by Deborah Dolen Those cinnamon brooms really "throw" in a room huh? For at least a good week anyway.  For brooms, I do make my own refresher spray.  After you spray your old broom OUTSIDE, buy a new bow and tie it around the neck.  I happen to have two brooms so I whipped them out, sprayed the wahzoo out of them and secured orange Gingham bows around the neck.  Orange gingham is pretty!  Cassia Essential Oil is a form of cinnamon oil and is what I use.  You cannot get this near your eyes or on your fingers.   Also do not spray around pets.  Their sense of smell is 100X or more than ours.  I would dilute 50% Cassia into 50% Everclear to make it easy to spray.  The alcohol really brings out what  cinnaminimum is still left on the broom.   You can also spray with other scents in the spice family such as Harvest or Apple Spice. 

Click here for a great article on making several gift items with a few bottles of fragrance oils!  You can make a reed diffuser set, a room spray, a sanitizer solution with a few bottles of FO and still have scent left over for warmers, bath salts and more!

I did my own testimony below for 2008 and received a SLEW of them back!  People are "getting it" and that is wonderful.  I will find a place to post the incoming thoughts and Judeo-Christian strategies.  We "ARE" our brothers keeper!

What am I handing out?  I will repeat this all from last year! It was sew much fun!  2007 notes:  I am totally hung over from eating all the Halloween candy--and we have one more day to Halloween.  I may give the kids the wrappers as the "trick."  I wanted to do something different this year, so it will be a "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme at my place.  In the Christmas isle, I found gold and silver foil wrapped coins, so I am making them the "treasure."  Christmas candy is out and  not yet costing a fortune--and the coins did not look branded to Xmas.   I also bought some other color foils that look like "gems."   I downloaded the themes off YouTube to blast in the house Halloween night.   Sound tracks from Pirates of Halloween, and Disney's Pirates ride.  While I was in YouTube, (pillaging) I grabbed Disney's Haunted Mansion & Ghosts and Halloween II sound tracks.  You can play these on your PC and "loop" them.  If you save them, and check box real Player or Quick Time to loop.  Ringo, my Golden Retriever will be dressed like Johnny Depp.  As long as he gets petted, he will do anything I want.   Witch photo courtesy of my cousin Patricia Butler at Cornell U.   :) BOO

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Long Lasting Autumn Flowers

Pick orange lily's as the main flower, purple Statice or snap dragons as the accent flowers/color and yellow "anything" as a filler flower.  They are all long lasting picks.  A few yellow lily's could accentuate also. If you can find orange roses that would be endearing with orange lily's.  From this point most designers would move into browns, I would move into creams and throw a few fuchsia accent flowers in!  Fuchsia does "work" and is an unexpected surprise!  Always ask the seller to show you the most recent shipment.  Some are five days old and you do not want them.  Buy flowers like you would buy milk.

Designing your own fresh flowers gives you many extra flowers for tiny arrangements and you save a LOT of money!  If you plan to throw candles in, choose off white tapers so they can work into a different theme for Christmas and any holiday for that matter.

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My Testimony

Mabel cut extra staff last year and it was OK because they were all retired.  I KNEW we were in precarious times and wrote about it.  People shunned me when I wrote about it-although I stayed objective from events in my life.  So unwelcome were my thoughts, I deleted most of what I wrote on how to be "aware" and how to "prep" and just stayed positive in my writing.  I do not lead by fear-I try to lead by "awareness" and prevention.  Buy extra canned food each week to have an emergency supply-I said.  Maybe $20 extra of tuna, canned chicken, and proteins.  Stuff you would really eat. By now you would have 260 cans of stuff!  Just buying 5 extra cans of food a week.  This would help GREATLY for unplanned job losses, weather like IKE that knocked us out a week (and we LOVED having food handy!)  You can start now and that WILL help ease the most humiliating thing when transition strikes- hunger.  I know-I went hungry when I was sick and never told anyone.  Keep an eye on those who do not talk-they probably need too.

My staff, they loved working for Mabel so much they wanted to work for free, that was a heart breaking reaction.  We did keep it fun for years.  The owners of Mabel, my daughters and some female investors (when I was sick 2006 and was sure I was not going to make it)-are working just as hard as I am.  Simply working 12 hours instead of 8 and that is OK is this economy.  They stepped in when I was sick and unable to save my own property (home) which WAS my retirement and it was seven figures.  You know what? I am really OK with that and more stable than ever.  But it hurt-so I know the despair and hurt. 

My advice is stay close in fellowship and join a good congregation if you are not already part of one.  Love and support DO prevail-even when the years of retirement may have dissipated for the moment.  Spit out toxic people-you have NO time for drama queens, MORE SO if they claim to be religious but just aim for power, control and superiority.  Ditch that type with a quickness.  I ditched THOSE types when I was losing my retirement and they were dumb founded.  That is the time they felt they could control me best and snuggle up with their miserable lives.  Nope.  I have NO time for silly legalistic attention grabbing self entitled people.  ZIP.  I did take a lashing but I was prepared knowing Satan hates rejection. 

So, anyone I admire in my trade-did simply cut staff, like my essential oils mega supplier. I am having no problem with those whose egos are flexible and able to adapt with the socio-economic times.  You CAN excel in this market and I am proof of it.  Stay flexible, keep your eye on the ball, reduce the fear driven news you watch, and put your energy on YOU and your loved ones. Assume the heart of a child.  Speak softly [but carry a subpoena.] Or make this the time to get closer to your family.  Work is NOT everything NOR is a home.  And work can be a distraction for not knowing HOW to manage your kids.  Maybe it is time to roll of your sleeves and find activities with them. 

A mortgage payment (or lack of) does NOT make you who you are OR define you.  I felt worthless to my kids when I understood I lost my life savings.  That was a false belief about having no value.  A lot of people are taking this personally and sadly-those that have a conscience hurt the most.  I am proof it will be OK but reach out and talk to the stable minded examples in your life. After all, we are here for a reason. If the world was meant to be a nice place-we would just have been allowed to stay in heaven in the first place.

That is my testimony.  Share it with whomever you want!  I did not go through all of those troughs to just act perfect and stay silent about it.   I hit the trifecta of loss [un-insured health mega issues in 2006-2007, major home and retirement of 10 years gone] and I am still elated once I got my focus off the monetary and found self worth.  Let's have a beautiful autumn and rock and roll!  There is beauty in every day.  The part of your lawn that will grow is the part you water.  I will have a forum for ways to really save money in style.  If I was forced to have an IRA and I could pick-I would pick 10% gold, 5% copper, Kroegers and Publix Foods (if not already over valued) and BP Energy who is on top of that whole energy movement.  Anything people MUST have no matter what.  McDonalds-a lot of people who normally would not call that food SURE will in tight times.  In fact, most are low-I  would be buying ANY of that right now as long as everyone else has not piled on first-and I am NOT a stock market person. But there are some really good stoic buys out there, and I would make exception.  Any trucking company that transports food-think like that.

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Don't call My cell Phone List! Activity for You To Do!

Here is another great message from my cousin at Cornell U:

Cell Phone Numbers are now going public. All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.

.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS... It takes about 20 seconds.
 

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Honey-O-Bit Recipe

This is so good I post it every year now!  Why buy any other candy when this IS the ONE!

Be sure to spray PAM on the resting place of the product. 

1 Cup of Honey

1 Cup of Sugar

2 Cups of Dry Powdered Milk

2 Ounces of Almond Paste, or Ground Nuts of Choice!

*I have been always intimidated by candy making, it always involves reaching a high temperature. Patience was never my virtue, but I was finally patient enough to do this.  I cannot have nuts, unless totally macerated--which is what I do to the almonds.

To Make:

Melt the honey, sugar and almonds until reaching 270 degrees F, stirring constantly as not to scorch. Let cool to 180 F and then stir in dried milk powder. Allow to cool to 110 degrees F and then roll onto a cutting board. Cut into rectangular chucks. Allow to harden. Wrap in wax paper to store. This makes about 6 dozen pieces.

A Variation of this high energy treat is known as Home Made Halva.

2 cups brown sesame seeds
1/2 cup flax seeds
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons sesame oil


Finely grind all dry ingredients together and then slowly add warm honey and sesame oil. You can roll these into balls and store in the refrigerator. We like to dip ours in “dipping chocolate” and at times add pistachios to the mix.