The Magnolia Walker Ezine
The Magnolia Walker Ezine
Friday July 25, 2003
Vol 1 Issue 11
Publisher: Janet Bullard
magnoliawalker@aol.com
(c) 2003 All Rights Reserved
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This is an opt-in newsletter only! THIS IS NOT SPAM! If you wish
to know how you were subscribed, please email me at:
"mailto:publisheratMWE@aol.com?subject=How-was-I-subscribed-?
we keep files for each subscriber and will be glad to send you the
information. If you would like to be removed
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made available to other companies or individuals. Every subscriber's
privacy is valued and respected.
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Hello,
Welcome old and new subscribers, alike, to the Magnolia Walker Ezine.
Thank you for your kindness. Hopefully you can help us.
The web site for The Magnolia Walker is being revamped. As soon as I have them live I will
let you know.
Janet Bullard
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
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" The only difference between a success
and a failure is that the successful
person is willing to do what the failure
is not willing to do."
- J.R. Ridinger
" True motivation comes from within -
from the willingness to see a dream fulfilled -
from the desire to leave the world better
than you found it."
- Steve Brunkhorst
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In Today's Issue:
* Quote of the Day
* Top Sponsor Ads
* Business Opportunities
* Article
* Resources
* Tech Tips
* Helping Hand at Home
* Guest Article
* Gardening Tips
* Suggestions and Comments
* Contest
* Ad Code
* Kids Corner
* Ezine Ads
* Subscriber Ads
* Viral Marketing
* Recipies
* Parents Corner
* Pets Corner
* Herb Tips
* Health Tips
* Subscribe/Unsubscribe Instructions
and Legal Stuff
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TOP SPONSOR ADS
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None today
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BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
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None today
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GUEST ARTICLE: Make The Write Impression
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Make The Write Impression
By Larry Parr
If you're trying to sell something - I don't care WHAT
you're trying to sell - what is the most BASIC, most
FUNDAMENTAL thing you need?
Is it a killer product? Is it a dazzling web site?
Those things are important, no doubt about it.
But those things are NOT at the fundamental CORE of
marketing, whether marketing on the Internet or from
behind bricks and mortar.
The cornerstone of ALL marketing is COMMUNICATION.
I'm talking about WORDS. You need the RIGHT words, in
the right order, communicating effectively what you
want to say.
If your use of words, your written language skills,
are not what they should be, if your grammar and
spelling skills are not absolutely perfect, then be
honest with yourself about it and get some help.
Remember: you only have one chance to make a first
impression.
I suggest you do everything possible to make it a good
one!
Just the other day I received an unsolicited email
from a company that wanted me to buy their services to
improve my web presence. Read the very first
"sentence" of their sales letter and tell me if you'd
trust your future to these people:
You are receiving this message as a webmaster we have
had contact with in the past this email is so that you
can choose to either say with us as a contact or..
There's no need to read further. It doesn't get any
better.
Would you have ANY confidence at all in this company's
ability to make you look good on the web - or anywhere
else, for that matter?
My curiosity got the better of me and I actually went
to this company's web site. I went there for the same
reason that people slow down to stare at car wrecks.
They had a great logo design. Very professional. For
just a brief moment I thought perhaps their sales
letter was a fluke and they really were on the ball.
Then I started reading the copy on their site. As a
professional editor and writer it made me want to grab
them by the lapels and shake them very hard. I
couldn't find ONE sentence that didn't have a typo, a
misspelled word, or that wasn't a run-on sentence.
Many sentences were so garbled they didn't make any
sense at all.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
It doesn't matter how much "marketing" these people
do, I doubt seriously that they are getting a very
good response from their sales letters or from their
web site.
Writing isn't easy. What's even more difficult is
reading over your own work and finding all of your own
typos and mistakes.
The problem is, you know what you MEANT to write.
Therefore, when you read your own words your mind
"sees" what it EXPECTS to see - not what is on the
page.
Everyone else, however, sees what's on the page.
This is why it is VITAL that you have someone else
proofread every single word you write, without
exception.
Just as you insist that a trained mechanic look at
your car when it's not working properly, you should
also insist on having a professional writer and/or
editor look over your writing. A professional editor
can spot more than simple glaring typos and run-on
sentences.
For example, do you always know when to use the word
"than" and when to use "then"? Confusing these two
words is one of the biggest mistakes I see every day.
What about "it's" and "its"?
Do you know what's wrong with the following sentence:
"Our new ice cream has less calories!" Evidently
neither did the copywriter for the national ice cream
chain running that ad.
(In case you're wondering, the grammatically correct
sentence the ice cream company was looking for is:
"Our new ice cream has FEWER calories!").
Obviously not every misused word is going to cause you
to lose sales. Only an English professor or a fanatic
would think that.
There are times when a misused word can HELP get your
point across. But you need to take great care in
breaking the rules; a good copy editor knows HOW and
WHEN to break the rules for the best effect.
Don't allow your newsletter, your web site, your sales
letters, or your ezine to join the ranks of the
illiterate. To do so would be the biggest business
mistake you could make.
_____________________________________________________
Larry Parr is a professional editor and writer who has
been writing for kids and families most of his
professional life. His free newsletter, THE KID &
FAMILY SITE REVIEW, is filled with in-depth reviews of
sites you and your kids will want to visit, contests,
trivia, jokes, homework help, and fun stuff for kids
and families just like YOURS. Get your FREE copy today
at:
http://www.kidsitereview.com, and possibly WIN an
original hand-drawn piece of animation artwork!
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RESOURCES
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All of these are fr--, if you are building your own page here is some help.
http://freewebtemplates.com
http://www.htmlgoodies.com
http://www.free-graphics.com
http://www.commercialnetworks.com/FormBuilder/formbuilder.cgi
http://www.internetseer.com
http://www.web-animator.com
http://www.flamingtext.com/
http://coolgraphics.com/
http://www.free-web-space-finder.com
http://www.free-webhosts.com
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/
http://www.htmlgoodies.com
http://www.freesitetemplates.com
http://www.javascripts.com
http://www.swishzone.com
http://www.netmechanic.com
http://www.bignosebird.com
http://www.gotlogos.com
http://www.xav.com/scripts/axs/index.html
http://www.freedback.com
Free Search Engine Submission Pages
http://www.ah-ha.com/list/list_addurl.asp
http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php
http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/addurl
http://www.dogpile.com/t/help/addurl
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
http://hotbot.lycos.com/addurl.asp
http://listings.looksmart.com/info/msn_free_submit.jhtml
http://www.nationaldirectory.com/addurl/
http://www.northernlight.com/docs/regurl_help.html
http://dmoz.org/add.html
http://www.scrubtheweb.com/addurl.html
http://www.voila.fr/Informations/Moteur_guide/submit.html
Additional advertising opportunities:
http://www.ShoppingWithWomen.com
http://www.theExpoConnection.com
http://www.MomPack.com
http://www.MoneyMakingMommy.com
"http://www.InternetBasedMoms.com
http://www.UnitedWAHMsOfAmerica.com
http://www.aworkathomemom.com
http://www.mothersworkathome.com
http://www.BakingABusiness.com
http://www.wahm.com
http://www.motherlist.com
http://www.digital-women.com
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TECH TIPS
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HTML Tips
a.) Meta tags are used to give detailed instructions in regard
to a web page to the Search Engines and browsers. Instead of
deleting pages within your web site, use a META refresh tag to
redirect your visitor to another location. Your refresh tag
might look something like this: META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh"
CONTENT="4; URL=http://www.yourdomain.com/
b.) You can create a mouseover text description, similar to an
image alt tag, that will be viewed when your mouse is placed
over the text link. Place "title="your text description" within
your HTML link code.
Tips by Shelley Lowery, webmaster of Web-Source.net
http://www.web-source.net
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INTERNET TIP
CGI and Forms for your website
by
Stuart Reid
Are you making the most of interactive features for your web
site? Almost all browsers now support various scripts and data
entry methods. They are not hard to use, and can spur a browser
to do *something*. JavaScript and Java plugins can work in any
web page. CGI tools will usually require access to your
`cgi-bin` and an ability to set permissions, unless the tool is
remotely hosted.
Note: If you are reading this online and the "pre" tags show up
ignore them. They are to stop the examples executing.
Forms
If you include a form on your website you can use e-mail from
the server to do lots of useful things. You can include a
feedback form, which will send you a note to your personal
e-mail address. You can use a sign-up form that does the same
thing but sends the details to your autoresponder or newsletter
tool. You can even use a refer-a-friend script that will send
your link to inputted e-mail addresses.
All these help to promote your site and give something back to
the user. An empty input box or a flashing cursor is screaming
to be used! It is much more efficient than a `mailto:` link.
Forms are simple to implement. You need to place some HTML in
your page and you need to use a script on your site. Most
hosting packages come with an e-mail form script, if not use one
the links at the end of this article. As you can see from the
example below, which goes in the body of your page somewhere,
it's just a list of inputs for name and e-mail, plus a submit
and a clear button. The rest is just standard HTML codes.
<FORM ACTION="scriptname.cgi" METHOD="post">
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="recipient"
VALUE="your.email@whatever.com">
Name: <INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="name" SIZE=10 MAXLENGTH=20> <br>
E-Mail: <INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="email" SIZE=10 MAXLENGTH=30>
<br>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Send!"> <br>
<INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Clear">
</FORM>
Obviously change scriptname.cgi to your script, and recipipent
to your e-mail address. Script names are usually something like
/cgi-bin/fmail.cgi or /cgi-bin/formmail.cgi
Pop-Ups
Pop-Ups are a simple line of JavaScript that will open another
browser window. They can be misused, so keep it to one per site.
Pop-Unders are similar but they are loaded behind the main
window and are not seen until that main window is closed. Exit
Pop-Ups will only appear when the main window is closed. They
are all great advertising tools. Use them along with the next
suggestion!
This next part is placed in the <HEAD> section of your HTML
page. Where it says htmlfile insert the name of the page you
want popped-up. Where it says myWin that's the window title.
Hopefully the rest is self explanatory.
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--hide
function OpenPopup()
{
window.open("htmlfile", "myWin", "status=no,scrollbars=yes,width=
400,height=300");
window.event.cancelBubble = true;
window.event.returnValue = false;
}
//stop hiding-->
</script>
Then change your <BODY> tag <BODY onLoad="OpenPopup()">
Page Rotators
These are used a lot for those running start-page exchanges, to
maximise hits from various programs. You can also use them (and
more effectively) with a Pop-Up to show different ads for each
window that appears. They are also useful as a home page to show
random ads, banners, etc on the site.
Here is a good page-rotator script. It's too long to put here.
Find it at
http://hop.clickbank.net/?webhosts/hithog
Forums
There a few good forum systems available for free. These are a
well developed messageboard for your website and can help to
create a community. In practice it can take a while to set up
but if you are reasonably competent on your PC it shouldn't be
no problem. You can get forums remotely hosted so you only need
to provide a link from your site, but this is probably a last
resort as reliability can't be assured and the external site
will take people away from your own pages.
A good forum system is from Discus. Get it at
http://www.discusware.com/
FFAs, Classifieds, etc
Worth hosting on your site, but probably not worth using
yourself. All they are good for is harvesting e-mails and these
are usually fake, junk, or autoresponders anyway. If you
moderate your links page well and only allow posting from the
page itself it can be useful to your visitors.
FFA from
http://www.submitad.com/
Classifieds from
http://www.becanada.com/
Ad Trackers
Not really part of your site but useful for your own ads. A lot
of things you *pay* for can be had for free with a little
know-how or perseverance. Why use ROIBot or similar if you can
have it tracked from your own URL? eg:
"
http://mysite.com/track. cgi?link1"
Look for all kinds of scripts from:
http://www.bignosebird.com/
http://www.scriptarchive.com/
http://www.free-scripts.net/
http://javascript.internet.com/
http://freecode.com/
There are scripts for everything out there. If you have the
ability to use them then do! You can even get complete referral
scripts, affiliate program scripts, shopping basket
applications, remote-management scripts and more. Not all are
free, but compared to the cost of a subscription service well
worth considering.
--------------------
Stuart Reid is the publisher of Netpreneur News and
webmaster of Netpreneur Now! Visit us for weekly
tips, reviews, recommendations and more. Sign up for
a free ad and 12 free e-books.
mailto:signup@netpreneurnow.com
http://www.netpreneurnow.com/
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HELPING HAND AT HOME
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Kitchen uses for Baking Soda:
Did you burn your favorite pan?
Put 1/2 cup of baking soda in the pan and fill it 1/2 full with water. Set the pan on the stove,
and let boil, till the burnt particles float to the top! That's what I call a self cleaning pan! :)
Do you have coffee, tea or cigarette burns on your china and ceramic ware?
Just rub the stained sections with a damp cloth that has been dipped in baking soda!
Have stuck food on your casserole dishes?
Fill with boiling water and add 3 tablespoons of baking soda or salt and let sit for an hour.
Have a drain in your sink that is clogged? Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda over the drain, and then
pour a cup of vinegar over it. Let set for a minute till it foams, then run your hot water or pour boiling
water down the drain! You may need to repeat the process. Works in most simple clogs.
Have silver?
Polish it to a shine with a soft cloth and some dampened baking soda placed on the cloth.
Counters or stove have stuck on grease splatters or dried food?
Sprinkle baking soda on the areas, and then rub with a wet sponge. Rinse with clean sponge.
I find this also works for a countertop that has grape juice or other fruit stains, too! Like before, you
sometimes need to do two applications.
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GUEST ARTICLE:
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5 Effective Ways to Promote Your Website For Free Online"
By Ben Chapi
------------------------------------------------------------
1. Generate Targeted Traffic from Online Discussion Forums.
Online discussion forums provide an excellent way to promote your
website without paying any money. Nowadays, you don't even have
to lurk around before you begin to post. Just browse the messages
and you can start posting. There are basically three different ways
to participate. You can ask questions, respond to requests for help
or just post any useful information that fits with the general topic of
that discussion forum. To promote your site in online discussion forums,
all you have to do is enter your website address or ad in your signature
line at the bottom of each message. Every time you post or respond to
questions your ad will be displayed. If you post good content, people
who read your threads will also check out your website. This is an
excellent way to drive targeted traffic to your website at no cost to you.
You can take this type of site promotion a step further by identifying the
active members in each forum and contacting them for joint venture
arrangements.
2. Write Articles or Free reports for other webmasters to publish.
Another effective way to promote your website is to write articles or free
reports for ezine publishers and webmasters to use. If you write good
content, your articles will be published and many readers who like your
article will go on to visit your website. You can also write simple research
based articles and allow others to publish these freely on their websites.
The traffic from these free articles will come from your byline. The 'byline' is
the short paragraph that goes at the bottom of each article and describes who
the author is and what they do. The good thing about writing this type of content
is that it establishes you as the expert and therefore increases the chances of
people visiting your website and signing up for whatever you're offering.
3. Do Joint Ventures with List owners and Webmasters.
If done correctly, joint venture marketing is one of the most effective ways to
promote a product or service. A Joint venture can take many forms but it's
generally an agreement for some kind of partnership between one or more
parties working together to their mutual benefit. It allows you to leverage highly
targeted lists or traffic with no risk. Joint ventures are excellent for new product
or service announcements because they allow you to reach a wide customer
base very quickly.
4. Leverage the power of your email Signature.
One of the quickest and effective ways to start driving traffic to your website at
no extra cost is to add your ad or website address to your email signature.
This way, every time you send an email, you'll be advertising your website. You
can take this a step further by asking your friends and associates to put your
website address in their email signature. Most people don't use their email
signature facility in their email program so you can easily get 10 or more people
to agree to do this. If you and your 10 friends each send out 10 emails per day,
that's 110 exposures of your ad every day without any extra effort on your part.
5. Exchange Links with Other Webmasters.
This is another effective strategy for generating targeted traffic to your website for
free. It involves contacting other webmasters for a possible link exchange partnership.
All you have to do is locate websites that are related to yours but that are not in direct competition and contact the webmaster to swap links. There are various free ebooks
and articles available online on this topic.
--
© Copyright, All Rights Reserved. Ben Chapi is the webmaster of Venister
Home Business and Affiliate Program Classifieds at http://www.venister.org/.
He is also webmaster for Best Debt Consolidation Loans and
Home Equity Loans UK
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GARDENING:
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How To Draw A Landscape Map
http://doityourself.com/garden/
Before you design or improve your landscape, the first step is to inventory what you have. The best way to do
that is to draw a base map of the site, accurately recording the size and location of permanent features.
Draw a rough map. On a large notepad, sketch out your yard, including buildings, large trees and shrubs, property
lines, fences, utility lines, paved areas, patios, pools, and other permanent features. Don't worry about accuracy yet.
Using a compass, find the direction of north and mark it on the map.
Measure permanent objects. Measure the features, such as house and pool dimensions, tree drip lines, spreads of
shrubs, and lengths of fences. Add the measurements to the rough map. Also measure and locate windows and doors,
as well as outside faucets, lights, and electrical receptacles.
Establish accurate locations. Using stakes and string, mark a straight line along a property boundary, starting at
one corner. Keeping the tape measure at a 90§ angle from the boundary, measure the distance from the boundary
to the nearest corners of the house, trees, and other objects on your map. Measure from other boundaries, too,
to confirm accuracy.
Transfer measurements to graph paper. With a ruler and pencil, transfer your measurements accurately to graph
paper. Use 1 inch to represent 4 feet for small yards, 1 inch to 20 feet for larger sites.
Make tracing paper overlays. Tape the base map to a table or board. Lay sheets of tracing paper over it and make
additional maps, each with a different theme, such as sun and shade patterns, slopes, views, gardens, and traffic
patterns.
Each map becomes a layer that adds detail to the base map but remains separate for clarity.
Tools and materials
Notepad or paper, at least 8« by 11 inches
Pencil and eraser
Ruler
Compass
Tape measure, at least 50 feet
Wooden stakes and string
Mallet to drive stakes
Protractor or steel carpenter's square
Graph paper, 11 x 14 inches or larger, 1/4 inch grid
Masking tape
Tracing paper, available in rolls
Soft pencil
Tips
Use tracing paper overlays and a soft pencil to sketch new landscape ideas and plans over your base map. Start
with loose scribbles and add accuracy as your plans take shape.
Make small circles, called registration marks, in the corners of your base map. So that the base map and overlays
can be accurately aligned, add corresponding marks on each sheet of tracing paper.
For more home improvement articles and how to's, click here for a FREE issue of
The Family Handyman Magazine.
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SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS
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None today.
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CONTEST INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name the first 10 vice-presidents.
The first to email me with the correct answer will receive a free "Top Sponsor" ad.
magnoliawalker@aol.com?subject=contest0715
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AD CODE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This weeks AD CODE: July25
mailto:magnoliawalker@aol.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KIDS CORNER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magic
http://www.lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vshdini.html
http://www.dcopperfield.com
http://www.allmagicfinder.com
http://www.magictricks.com/directory
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The number one thing you must do to succeed on the Internet
"Build your own List" Here's how and why
Building Your List: an Interactive Tutorial
You've heard how important it is to build a list for your online
business activities. But how? What should you focus on?
It's a subject that can get pretty in-depth, but most of the people
who try to teach you about it forget the basics. Like WHY you should
build a list, and what you should focus on. To help you with this,
we offer a simple (and very brief) tutorial that will show you the
most important things to consider and how to get off to the right
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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FREE AD & EBOOK. Subscribe to our newsletter
and receive FREE ad and ebook. Subscribe at
http://www.profitsquare.com/newsletter.htm
Email ad to
mailto:webmaster@profitsquare.com?subject=freeadebook
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FREE ADS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new ads today
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIRAL MARKETING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't know where to start? Well, start here.
Your first step in sending some traffic!
Build your mailing list here!
Ad to your list. Get your name up front!
Promote your site for free!
Put your site on the map!
Need your ads to stay?
Make your ads Sticky
Send Fr33 Traffic to your web page.
Eternalhits is a generator!Eternalhits is a generator!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RECIPES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Louisiana Pecan Balls
Heather Allen, Aptos, CA
PREP AND COOK TIME: About 45 minutes
About 1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped
pecans (about 4 oz.)
1. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar,
and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking powder. Add to butter mixture, stir to mix, then beat
until well blended. Stir in pecans.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 1 inch apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.
4. Bake in a 300° regular or convection oven until cookies are pale golden brown, about 25 minutes.
If baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking. Let cookies stand on
sheets until cool enough to handle.
5. Place remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll warm cookies in powdered
sugar to coat all over; discard remaining sugar. Set cookies on racks to cool completely.
Per cookie: 143 cal., 59% (85 cal.) from fat; 1.3 g protein; 9.4 g fat (4.4 g sat.); 14 g carbo (0.5 g fiber);
73 mg sodium; 18 mg chol.
More from
Sunset
The magazine of Western living
About us
Homes
Garden
Travel
Food
Books
Copyright 2001 Sunset Publishing Corporation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PARENT'S CORNER:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make Spray Glass Cleanser
To make this easy glass cleaner, use crumpled newspaper instead of paper towels for lint-free results.
Mix the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well to dissolve cornstarch.
Spray liberally onto glass surface
.
Wipe dry with a clean cloth or newspapers, buffing to a streak-free shine.
1. 1/4 cup white vinegar
2. 1 tablespoon cornstarch
3. 2 cups warm water
http://www.ivillage.com
Home Made Best Made
MAKE SILVER POLISH
MAKE OVEN CLEANSER
LEMON FURNITURE POLISH
MAKE PINE FLOOR CLEANSER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PET CORNER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keeping Honeybees
by Marla Spivak
http://doityourself.com/pets/keepinghoneybees.htm
A beehive in the garden ensures a good seed crop and fresh honey for the table Assuming you have
an interest in plants and nature -- and an absence of bee phobia -- you may have already considered
adding hives for honeybees to your garden. But the prospect can be a little daunting.
If you've never considered the possibility of raising bees, think of all the garden crops that rely upon
pollination. Even accounting for native bee pollinators, honeybees still do most of the pollinating of fruits
and vegetables in your garden. If you've ever suffered poor fruit sets of apples, cherries, cucumbers,
melons, or strawberries, the reason might be too few honeybees. And then, of course, the honey you will
harvest is your reward for keeping your garden pollinated and your bees healthy.
Small-scale beekeeping is very do able. But before you plunge too deep, a few preliminaries need to be
covered. If you're in an urban or suburban environment, check with your neighbors to see if they have
bee sting allergies. Some people have severe, even deadly, reactions to bee stings.
The other necessity is more bureaucratic: registration and fees. Some states and municipalities have them,
and some don't. Where fees exist, they are nominal. For details, contact your state apiarist through your
nearest agricultural extension office.
By far the most efficient way to deal with local rules -- not to mention the nuances of beekeeping -- is by
connecting with other, more experienced beekeepers. Virtually every state has a local association whose
members enjoy sharing information. The best place to find them is at the Web site maintained by A.I. Root Co.,
publishers of Bee Culture Magazine:
http://bee.airoot.com/beeculture/who.htm.
The next consideration is finding an appropriate site for the hives. Look for a sunny, east-facing location so
the bees will receive early light and warmth to stimulate foraging. Avoid low spots that might flood, as well
as high, exposed, or windy locations. Avoid collisions with people and animals by placing the beehive away
from walkways. A good place is near shrubbery or a fence where the foraging bees have to fly up first before
flying through your yard. Another good site is a flat roof with some shade.
Inside a Beehive
The most basic hive consists of eight parts or layers. I'll review them from the bottom up. A hive stand keeps
the hive off the ground; a bottom board provides a floor for the hive; an entrance reducer excludes mice in winter;
a brood chamber (also called deep super or brood nest) holds the comb frames where the queen lives and
lays eggs; a queen excluder prevents the queen from moving up into smaller boxes and laying eggs there; a super
(or honey super) is where worker bees store surplus honey; and at the top there is an inner cover and an outer cover.
Inside the brood nest and each super box are 9 or 10 frames for comb-containing foundation, thin sheets of beeswax
or plastic that are imprinted with a honeycomb pattern. Foundation helps the bees draw out straight combs within the
wooden frames and allows you, the beekeeper, to remove the frames for inspection and to extract the honey from the
combs without damaging them. Altogether, the hive and contents cost about $100.
Depending on your locality and flowering season, most beekeepers expand hive capacity by doubling both the brood
nest and supers. Additional supers may be needed for honey storage.
Tools You Need
Most beekeepers have complete protective gear, which includes a veil to protect the head and face, white coveralls to
protect clothes, and gloves and boots to provide some sting protection. A smoker is essential to calm bees while you
work around them, and you'll also need a hive tool -- essentially a pry bar -- to separate boxes that bees glue together.
The cost of this gear amounts to about $140.
Adding Bees
In spring, once the new hive is assembled and painted (on outside surfaces only), you add the bees. You can order
them now, but in most of the country they will be shipped in April. They arrive in a wooden and wire screen box and
include a queen within a wooden cage, a feeder can, and 2 or 3 pounds of bees (7,000 to 10,000 bees); they cost about
$40 not including shipping costs, which can add another $25 to $35.
Before adding the bees to the brood nest, remove four of the center frames and spray the bees in the package with
sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water). Bees will not fly when covered lightly with syrup, and they will enjoy the
extra food boost while cleaning each other off. Remove the feeder can and the queen cage from the package, lightly
spray the bees again, and shake the sticky bees into the hive. Carefully open the queen cage, and let the queen walk
onto a comb deep in the hive near the other bees. Gently replace the four frames, and put on the inner cover.
Until flowers in your area are producing plenty of nectar and pollen, feed your bees sugar syrup and pollen supplement.
Both are available from mail-order suppliers. If all goes well, the queen will begin laying eggs within a day or two in
new wax cells the bees carefully build on the foundation. By summer she'll be laying up to 2,000 eggs a day, and the
hive will number up to 50,000 bees.
Basic Bee Care
Care boils down to providing your bees with food, water, and sufficient hive space. Bees' food, which they collect from
flowers, is pollen for protein and nectar for carbohydrates. The bees convert the nectar to honey within the hive. If you
live where some flowers are always blooming, you simply make sure the bees are located near enough to find them. If you
live where no flowers are in bloom for periods of time, you'll have to supply supplementary food -- pollen patties and sugar
syrup -- for your bees. If you overwinter your hive, don't harvest all the honey from the hive. Again, check with local
beekeepers to determine how much honey must be left for the bees to survive on for the winter.
Water is another matter. Bees need it every day. If you can't place the hive near a natural source, you'll have to provide
water, ideally from a slowly dripping faucet or a dish with a piece of screen on the water so the bees can land. You don't
want your bees crowding around a neighbor's swimming pool or garden sprinkler looking to quench their thirst.
When bees outgrow their hive space, they tend to swarm. Swarming is colony reproduction. The queen and half of the
bees fly off to begin a new hive, and the remaining bees raise a new queen and continue reproducing. Beekeepers can
prevent their colonies from swarming -- and avoid losing honey production -- by providing ample hive space. Add new
brood boxes when the first box is full of bees; add additional honey supers to encourage the bees to expand their hive
and store lots of honey.
Bee Problems
Honeybees suffer from two parasitic mites that were inadvertently introduced to this country in the 1980s from Asia,
and from occasional diseases infectious only to honeybees. Because of the mites, many bee colonies that normally lived in
trees and abandoned structures have been lost, so virtually the only honeybees existing are those owned by beekeepers.
The mites don't affect other bee pollinators, such as bumblebees and leaf-cutting bees. All bee pollinator populations are
low because of habitat destruction, pesticide use, and their own sets of parasites and diseases. You can see why beekeeping
is very important for pollination, particularly in locations where there are no other beekeepers.
To obtain up-to-date information on how to control mites and diseases, check with the state apiarist, university extension
personnel, or a local beekeeping association. Make sure the treatments you use are registered as safe, and follow label
directions exactly.
Within the research community, there is a great effort to breed bees with natural defenses or resistance to mites and diseases.
For example, bees that display "hygienic" behavior readily remove diseased and parasitized brood (immature bees) from the
hive, which prevents the spread of infection through the colony. However, to date no bees within the United States are
100 percent resistant. At some point, the bees will require treatments, so keep current on which are the safest and most effective.
Beekeeping is at once both simple and complex. Use catalogs and information sources, and check with local experts. But most
of all, get started. That's the best way to learn.
Copyright 2000, National Gardening Association. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HERB TIPS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carrot Top Facial Mask
(normal - oily skin)
By: Pioneer Thinking
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/carrotfacial.html
The Ingredients
2-3 large carrots
4 1/2 tablespoons honey
The Instructions
Cook carrots, then mash. Mix with honey. Apply gently to the skin, wait 10 minutes. Rinse off with cool water.
Did you know!
Carrots are native to Afghanistan. They were first cultivated in 500 BC in the Mediterranean regions.
In approximately the 1600's they were introduced in Europe and England; ladies used the feathery tops
as decoration for hats and wore them in their hair. Carrots grow in the wild and are more commonly known
as Queen Ann's Lace. They are very high in vitamin A and a source of vitamin C, folacin and potassium
Source: BC Vegetable Marketing Commission Honey is primarily composed of fructose, glucose and water.
It also contains other sugars as well trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Source: Honey Board
Storage: Most recipes require refrigeration since they don't contain preservatives. Shelf Life is approximately 1 week
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HEALTH TIPS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sweet Strawberry Facial Mask
(oily skin)
By: Pioneer Thinking
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/strawfacial.html
The Ingredients
8 - 9 whole strawberries
3 tablespoons honey
The Instructions
Using a fork mash strawberries into a pulp, add honey. Mix. Don't over blend or it will be runny.
Apply directly to the skin, let sit for a few minutes then rinse off.
Did you know
Strawberries - The Romans prized wild strawberries for their medicinal properties. Ounce for ounce,
strawberries have more Vitamin C than citrus fruit. According to the American Cancer Society, foods rich
in Vitamin C may lower the risk of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Source: American Cancer Society
Honey is primarily composed of fructose, glucose and water. It also contains other sugars as well trace
enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Source: Honey Board
Storage: Most recipes require refrigeration since they don't contain preservatives.
Shelf Life is approximately 1 week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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