What's New?
Kitty Kitty
While we will never live this down with family and friends, we have been adopted by a cat! Ken has given his sister a really bad time for years because she is a cat person, we are dog people. Ken has had a dog almost his entire life and I had a wonderful dog when I was growing up. We lost our beloved Ginger of 17 years last year and said that we would not get another dog. We have too much going on and gone too much to keep a dog.
A couple of weeks ago this stray cat showed up at our sliding door looking very skinny and cold. Being lovers of all creatures we gave it some tuna and that was the beginning. She seems to have come from a home because she asks to go out and has not made any messes, yet ;-) We've asked around the neighborhood and no one has any idea about her. We think that someone that moved from a rental house in the area dumped her.
So we have taken her to the vet to be checked out and gotten a license. She appears to now be a part of the family although like all cats she's awfully independent! Ken can't get use to a pet that doesn't come when you call it. I guess it's all those years of dog training.
By the way her name is Kitty Kitty, how original is that? We called her that because when she first started coming around we didn't know if she was male or female. The name is silly but sort of stuck and now were stuck ;-)
DigiTalk
We're fast approaching the season where you'll be taking lots of photographs. Obviously digital cameras are the way to go. We've been asked many times about what camera is best for me? Wow, that's like saying which car is best for me? There are dozens of cameras to choose from and they all have many of the same features. Again, it's sort of like a car, most of them have tires, head lights, power windows, power steering, power brakes and air conditioning.
But what if you have five kids or no kids or two dogs, maybe even a cat ;-) That would determine what size car you might need. In cameras you need to decide what size pictures you are going to need. Are you going to mostly crop them down and send them in an email or use them on a web site? Then maybe you don't need a lot pixels. Are you going to be publishing your pictures in a magazine or printing them out for mounting or posters?
In that case you'll need a much larger pixel camera.
How about added features. Do you need seat heaters, digital GPS, power doors and a voice activated system on your car? You have to decide what features beyond the basics you really need. Do you do a lot of close up work? Then you will need a camera with a good macro. Do you photograph wildlife? A good telephoto lens would be in order along with stabilization to help keep the shot steady on long shots.
Once you figure out what you are going to do with your camera make a list and take it with you to a good camera shop. Tell them what the camera will be used for and don't let them talk you into a whole bunch of other features. Once you narrow it down pick up each camera and see how it feels in your hands.
To me this is the most important step. If it doesn't feel right and the controls are hard to find and work then you will be less likely to use it. Try all the features along with the salesman so you really understand how the camera works. If it doesn't feel good put it down and try another one.
Lastly check out the pricing for the camera you've selected at camera stores and on the web. Remember when you compare pricing include the shipping and handling for an ordered camera and the tax on a local purchase. Now get that new camera and start taking lots of pictures. Since there is no film to buy or processing you can shoot hundreds of pictures to get use to it. Just dump the ones you don't want and keep the best.
SITE OF THE MONTH
Since we are only coming to you once a month we decided to give you a couple of interesting web sites to check out.
Have you heard of global warming? If no then you have to be living under a rock! There is a lot of varying view points on the subject and we found a site that covers the subject pretty well. The Marina Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences has put together a fascinating web site on global warming.
There are many interactive things to do and tons of information. If you have children or grand children doing a report on global warming this would be a great addition to their data base. Just go to www.koshlandsciencemuseum.org/exhibitgcc/index.jsp and increase your knowledge.
Secondly, with the days getting shorter you will have less time to take pictures with the new digital camera you just bought. Not to worry though, night time can be a great time to take pictures if you know what you are doing. This web site is focused on nocturnal photography and there are hundreds of phenomenal photographs.
You'll find instructions for helping to make you night shots come out better and will see many examples that will give you ideas for your own creative photo art. Plan to spend some time at this site and if you are interested in photography we think you'll come back to it often. Got to www.thenocturnes.com and enjoy!
MARILYN'S CORNER
Gourd Bird Feeder
It's getting cold and the birdies are getting hungry. Here's a really pretty bird feeder that is sure to make them happy.
Here's what you'll need:
- Gourd
- Pencil
- Drill
- Small Jig Saw
- Wood Burner
- Acrylic Paints
- Clear Sealer
- Wire Hanger
- Bird Seed or Suet
The first thing you need to do is prepare the gourd. If you have a farm fresh gourd it should be properly prepared first. If you have a squeaky clean store bought gourd then you should be good to go.
Scrub the outside of the gourd in cold soapy water with a stiff brush.
Rinse in a bleach/water solution.
Let dry.
Draw your own design using a pencil.
Drill small drain holes in the bottom to let water run through but not the bird seed.
Drill a small hole near your design to insert your saw blade into.
Drill two small holes on each side of the neck near the top for a wire hanger.
With a small jig saw cut out your design.
Using a wood burner, outline your design.
Paint your design with acrylic paints.
Spray with clear sealer. Apply at least two coats.
Fill it with bird seed or suet and hang.
These would make beautiful Christmas presents. Make one for yourself as practice and then make several for presents!
We hope you enjoy Marilyn's Corner and look forward to all the fun things she brings you each week. If you have a fun project that would be suitable for our newsletter we'd love to share it with our readers. Just contact marilyn@runnerduck.com and we'll do the rest.
Remember we have all of our past projects archived on our web site at www.runnerduck.com. Just click on the Projects or Kids Only Eggs.
Kids Stuff
It's never been easier to save with the Big Toy Book! Start shopping now and enjoy great deals on action figures, dolls, Christmas presents, games, and more. Plus, get free shipping on thousands of select toys when you spend $49 or more.
The Tempos
News and CD of the Week
Here's another musician joke from our friend Jeff F. in Texas.
The sign says, "Old Timer's Bar - ALL DRINKS 10 CENTS!"
These four guys look at each other, then go in. On the inside, they realize in this case, they should not judge the 'book by its cover.'
The old bartender says in a voice that carries across the room, "Come on in and let me pour one for you! What'll it be, Gentlemen?"
There seems to be a fully-stocked bar, so the men all ask for a martini. In short order, the bartender serves up 4 iced martinis - shaken, not stirred - and says, "That'll be 10 cents each, please."
The four men stare at the bartender for a moment then look at each other. They can't believe their good luck. They pay the 40 cents, finish their martinis, and order another round.
Again, four excellent martinis are produced with the bartender again saying, "That's 40 more cents, please." They pay the 40 cents, but their curiosity is more than they can stand. They've each had two martinis, and so far they've spent less than a dollar.
Finally one of the men says, "How can you afford to serve martinis as good as these for a dime apiece?"
The bartender says, "I'm a retired tailor from Brooklyn, and I always wanted to own a bar. Last year I hit the lottery for $25 million and decided to open this place. Every drink costs a dime, wine, liquor, beer, all the same."
"Wow, that's quite a story," says one of the men.
The four of them sipped at their martinis and couldn't help but notice three other guys at the end of the bar who didn't have a drink in front of them, and hadn't ordered anything the whole time they were there.
One man gestures at the three at the end of the bar without drinks and asks the bartender, "What's with them?"
The bartender replies, "Oh, they're all musicians...they're waiting for happy hour."
The Tempos big swing band is available for hire. If you have a special event that could use the wonderful music of a classic sixteen piece big band be sure to contact thetempos@runnerduck.com. We perform all over the Seattle area for all sorts of events.
Album Pick of the Week
"The Capitol Albums Vol. 1" [BOX SET]
The Beetles
The holidays are coming and it's time to start thinking about what to get your music friends. I'm sure many of them are Beetle fans and this new CD set would make the perfect gift. It will be released November 16th and you can preorder it today.
The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 box set includes the first four US released Beetles records: Meet The Beetles, The Beetles' Second Album, Something New, and Beetles '65, PLUS a Special 60-page booklet written by famed Beetles historian Mark Lewison. Each CD contains both stereo and mono versions of the original Capitol albums. Remastered using custom valve playback electronics and 24 bit digital conversion.
CLICK!
Be sure and visit the
RunnerDuck Music Store for great savings on just about anything.
NEW!!
DOWNLOADABLE & MAIL-DIRECT
WOODWORKING PLANS
Download WOOD Store® woodworking plans directly to your computer and start building in just minutes! OR, we'll mail them to you, your choice!
CLICK!
JOKE OF THE MONTH
Since we've gone to a monthly newsletter we are doing things a little differently. Below is the Joke of the Month but we have posted a bunch more on our web site. To see all the jokes for November go to www.runnerduck.com/nov04_jokes.htm and have fun! There's an especially funny one if you are an English teacher.
This came to us from Rita.
A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly
the husband burst into the kitchen.
"Be careful ....... CAREFUL!"
"Put in some more butter!"
"Oh, my GOD! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY!"
"Turn them! TURN THEM, NOW!"
"We need more butter. Oh, my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER?"
"They're going to STICK! Careful ..... CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL!"
"You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never!"
"Turn them! Hurry up!"
"Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind?"
"Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"
The wife stared at him "What in the heck is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?" The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like while I'm driving with you in the car."
Do you have any good jokes, or maybe not so good jokes? Please send them to us we love to get jokes! Send them to jokes@runnerduck.com with a subject of "RunnerDuck... Jokes".
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THIS WEEK'S FREE RECIPE
Saucy Turkey Manicotti
We're going to be celebrating Thanksgiving here in the United States toward the end of the month and that means turkey! It also means that you will probably have some left over turkey. Here's a great recipe for some of those left over's.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 Cup Chopped Onion
- 3 ounces Cream Cheese
- 1 Envelope Sour Cream Sauce Mix
- 1/4 Cup Milk
- 3 ounce Can Chopped Mushrooms, drained
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/8 teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Cups Diced Cooked Turkey
- Manicotti Shells, uncooked
- 1 Envelope Cheese Sauce Mix
- Parmesan Cheese
Mix all the ingredients together except for the Manicotti, Cheese Sauce and Parmesan Cheese.
Spoon the mix into uncooked Manicotti Shells.
Place into a buttered dish.
Prepare the Cheese Sauce Mix per the directions and pour over the Manicotti.
Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes.
Serve it hot with a nice green salad and you'll have a great little meal.
Remember, if you have a recipe you'd like to share please send it to marilyn@runnerduck.com. We'd be happy to post your favorite recipe on our Kitchen site or in our newsletter and give you credit. Just drop a line to marilyn@runnerduck.com.
Every month we post a new recipe on our web page. Be sure and check out the New November recipe at the RunnerDuck Kitchen Store.
COOKBOOK
SUGGESTION OF THE WEEK
"The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles"
by Cooks Illustrated
(CLICK)
As you well know Manicotti is just one of many delicious pastas. This weeks cookbook suggestion is one of the best Pasta and Noodle cookbooks available today. One person who purchased this cookbook wrote:
This has simple but really good recipes for sauces that can be made while the water is boiling along with instructions and how-to's for sophisticated recipes and techniques. I liked the approach of explaining why particular methods work or are preferred by the author rather than just being told to do it.
If I could have only two cookbooks, it would be this and Joy of Cooking. I received this book as a gift along with a pasta machine, but people compliment me on even the simplest sauces with bought pasta. They really go crazy over the homemade stuff!
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PROJECTS
Miter Saw/Planner Multi Stand
This project was inspired from an article I saw in one of my woodworking books. Unfortunately I couldn't find the book again so I made my own plans. If you have a small shop like mine then every square inch of space needs to be optimized. This miter saw/planner stand helps serve that purpose.
It will get my planer off of the bench and not take up much more area than my miter saw currently uses. It also gives me a couple of really nice drawers to store things.
Here's a list of materials you'll need to buy.
(2) 4' X 8' X ¾" shop grade plywood. I started off pricing Baltic Birch plywood and this little project would have been over $400. I opted for the birch shop grade which will do just fine.
(2) pair of drawer guides, Accuride Full Extension Box Drawer Slide
(4) 3" swivel casters with locks, Heavy Duty Shop Caster
(2) drawer handles, St. Georges Collection Pull - Satin Nickel 3"
Glue
Pipe clamps
The following patterns are laid out on 4' X 8' X 3/4" pieces of plywood. These patterns are a little hard to see in these pictures but if you click on the pictures you'll go to a bigger image on our web site. If you want to print them out it's best to set your printer to "landscape".
The dimensions for this project should be adjusted for your particular application. I've given you the dimensions for my stand but yours may vary based on the sizes of your miter saw and planner. The most important dimensions is the distance from the planner base to the table of the miter saw. Part of the idea of this stand is to have the planner work as a support for wood that you cut on the miter saw.
After you've carefully figured out your dimensions start cutting out the stand. Don't cut out the drawers until later. The joinery you use is up to you. If I remember right the stand I saw in the book used but joints, glue and screws. I used rabbet joints for the entire project and glue.
Here is a dimensional exploded view of my stand.
The complete instructions for this project is on our web site at www.runnerduck.com/pmbench.htm.
We hope you liked this project. If you build it and your friends ask where you got such a clever idea, please tell them that you got it at RunnerDuck.com.
If you have a project that you would like to share please send us an email and we'll help get it published in the RunnerDuck review. We are looking for woodworking, gardening, crafts and kids projects so send us your thoughts at projects@runnerduck.com.
CONSERVATION TIP
Save money, save the land fills and maybe even save your life! Bottled water is an emotional subject for some people and one that drives us nuts. Bottled water is now a multi-billion dollar business and is the fastest growing and most profitable segment of the entire beverage industry. Do you want to know why it's so profitable?
It's because they are bottling tap water that you and I get for free into a fancy cheap plastic bottle and selling it for more than gasoline!!! We watched a TV show one time where people were served different bottles of water each with a different fancy label. They were asked to tell the difference between each.
The responses were incredible different for each bottle. The fun thing was that each bottle was filled from the same garden hose in back of the restaurant.
On a more important note, bottled water is not controlled as tightly as your tap water is. Public water systems must issue annual "Water Quality Reports", telling customers what is in their water - the bottled water industry is not required to do so. If you feel your water isn't quite up to snuff then add a cheap water filter.
As far as the land fill goes, imagine all the millions and billions of empty water bottles that are getting tossed away. Those things never compost or go away.
It just doesn't make sense to go to the expense and inconvenience of bottled water, when we can have higher quality water on tap, in our homes, for around .002¢ per gallon!
If you have a conservation tip please send it to conservation@runnerduck.com and we'll post it in our newsletter.
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