Karen

The Bees Were Eating My House!

WE noticed the bees on the porch a couple of weeks ago. Actually, it was my grandson, Owen, who first noticed them. My son and his family were staying with us for a week after he retired from the Air Force. Owen was pointing to the bees and saying they were going in the hole.

We didn’t think much of it, because surely they weren’t nesting in there, right? Wrong. Today, Fabgrandpa moved a box in the bedroom, and saw bees in there, literally coming out of the woodwork.

The bees were coming out of the baseboard.

They were making a mess in there. Worse than that, they were IN MY BEDROOM. I do not want to sleep with bees in my bedroom, buzzing around. A fly is bad enough, but these things, they sting!.

So, right away I got on the phone and called Price Pest Control in Bremen. James said he would be right out, in about 2 hours. He was there quicker than that.

The pest control guy was here really fast.

This guy is fearless. He did not put on a “bee suit” or anything, except for rubber gloves. He started off spraying a powder on the bees that were buzzing around outside the hole. Then, he sprayed the stuff inside the hole. When he did that, boy, howdy! Did the beez start coming out! He was just swatting at them with a towel. I stayed in the house.

pest control for bees — The pest control guy spraying the bees.

Yes, my window is that dirty. And no, I did not wash them today either. The pest control guy then came in the house and sprayed some bee killer stuff into the little hole in the bedroom wall. He said all the bees, or yellow jackets actually, should be dead in three or four days. I hope so. I do not like yellow jackets.

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Today Is National Waffle Day & I Am Celebrating With A Van’s Gluten Free Waffle Giveaway!

Karen · 8 Comments

This article is brought to you by Van’s Natural Foods

Today, Sunday August 24, is National Waffle Day. I didn’t even know a day for waffles existed, because I thought every day was Waffle Day! It also just happens to be the anniversary of the day the waffle iron was patented in the US. Well now that we have all learned a bit about waffle history, how about a new way to eat waffles. Ok, this is not new for ME, but it might be for you!

I like to make sandwiches with my Van’s Natural Foods Gluten Free Waffles, and my favorite sandwich to make is Peanut Butter and Banana. It is so easy to make and tastes so good and is gluten free. Just toast two waffles, spread both with peanut butter, add banana slices, and you are done! It can be a good breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack,depending on when you eat it. What do you think? When would you enjoy a Peanut Butter Banana Waffle Sandwich?

Two lucky Fabgrandma readers will each win (5) five coupons good for free Van’s Natural Foods Waffles and a Van’s tote bag. Just use the Giveaway Tools entry form to enter.

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Friday Product Roundup

Karen · 20 Comments

Today’s roundup includes several products that you need in summer. Bubbles for the kids, anti-itch cream, bug repellant, and a snack or two. I received samples of these products to try.

Mary’s Gone Crackers

If you eat gluten free by choice or for medical reasons, you will be interested in the new Everything Pretzels from Mary’s Gone Crackers. These pretzels are crunchy and have a savory flavor due to all the things in them. They are full of exotic whole grains including brown rice, quinoa, amaranth and millet, as well as tasty and nutritious seeds including flax, sesame and chia.

Flavored with things such as onion, garlic, sea salt and herbs, the Everything Pretzels are organic, gluten free, non-GMO, soy free, vegan and provide omega-3s, fiber and protein. Wow! What a snack! Mary’s Gone Crackers Everything Pretzels retail for $4.99 for a 7.5 oz bag. Available on Mary’s Gone Crackers or in a food store near you.

Noosa Yoghurt

Noosa Finest Yoghurt is introducing two new flavors just right for summer: Noosa Coconut and Noosa Pineapple. I’ve tried both of them, and love them! I like that the coconut flavor has real shredded coconut in it. Add some fresh fruit and you have the perfect summer lunch.

Noosa Finest Yoghurt is made daily in small batches on-site at Morning Fresh Dairy Farm in Colorado, and is free of artificial ingredients of any kind. Noosa Yoghurts are also gluten-free and made from the milk of happy cows from local Colorado farms that are never treated with rBGH growth hormone.

Noosa leads the way as one of the fastest-growing yoghurt companies in the nation with 13 varieties and a 136 percent sales increase in grocery sales in 2013. Flavors include Honey, Blueberry, Mango, Raspberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Peach, Passion Fruit, Lemon, Tart Cherry, Plain, Pineapple, Coconut, and Pumpkin, so you should be able to find your favorite.

Juggle Bubble

The Juggle Bubble kit features a no-pop solution that lets your child bounce, toss and juggle bubbles without having the bubbles pop! Juggle Bubble kits includes a bubble blower, bubble tray, unique bubble solution and pair of magic gloves to juggle, toss, and play with the bubbles they create. It is so simple to use! Just dip the wide end of the bubble blower into the special solution, then blow into the blower to create the bubble. Then, toss the bubble around or let it bounce off of your hands with the Juggle Bubbles magic gloves. The bubble solution will provide hours of entertainment for your children, inside or out.

Juggle Bubbles can be purchased for $10.00 plus shipping and handling and are available at www.jugglebubbles.com.

Mosquitno

Tired of having to spray yourself with mosquito repellant or go indoors just to escape their pesky buzzing and biting? Get some of these cute Mosquitno Bandz and Spotz and never worry about being bit by one of those West Nile Virus carrying bugs again!. These Citronella infused wristbands, called Bandz, come in a variety of colors and sizes for kids and adults. Each one repels mosquitoes for up to 150 hours! That’s time enough for a bunch of smores! They can be purchased individually for $3.99 or in a 5 pack for $17.99.

Mosquitno also comes in Spotz, which are reusable stickers that give up to 72 hours of mosquito protection. They come in a wide variety of colors and printed graphics, and start at $3.99 for a sheet of six. Shop now at Mosquitno.

TriCalm

Been out there picking blackberries or blueberries and got a chigger bite? Or worse, got into a poison oak patch? TriCalm Steroid Free Hydrogel will help soothe that itching quickly. TriCalm’s is unique in that it uses aluminum acetate, a water-soluble salt compound often used in medicine as an astringent or antiseptic, as its active ingredient. My grandson was bitten by some unknown bug one night while he was visiting me, and just one application of Tricalm eased the itching for him.

Tricalm Steroid Free Hydrogel’s unique formula reduces the sensitivity of specific nerves responsible for sending signals of itching, burning or stinging to the brain. The people at Tricalm are so sure that it will stop your itching that they have issued a Itch-Free Guarantee: If TriCalm doesn’t relieve your itch, send us the empty tube and we’ll give you a full refund. It’s as simple as that. You can not beat that! To make a purchase, find a store near you or buy at Amazon.com

Rescue TrapStik

Summer time means playing outside, and kids going in and out the door. Eventually, probably soon than later, they will let in some flies, or find a wasp nest somewhere around the house. You can trap those pesky insects without having to chase them down with a flyswatter with TrapStik from Rescue.

The TrapStik For Flies uses new VisiLure^TM technology to lure flies with appealing colors and a multi-dimensional pattern. Flies are attracted by the colors and patterns on the TrapStik^®, then get stuck to the adhesive surface. It catches common house flies, cluster flies and fruit flies. Once it is full, or the flies are all trapped, just throw it away. I love these because they get rid of the bugs with no poison and no smell.

Find a retailer where you can purchase TrapStiks. They have many different varieties designed to catch various bugs like wasps, yellow jackets, stink bugs, japanese beetles, and more. Suggested retail price is about $5.00.

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Thrifty Thursday

Karen · Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago when we were coming home from the Birmingham VA, we decided to take Highway 78 instead of going on the interstate. We stopped in at 7 Springs Ministries Thrift Store on Hwy 78 in Oxford, Alabama. They had a lot of furniture and clothing outside in the parking lot in front of the store.

They have a pretty big store. They are also building a church camp next door. It looked like they mostly have household goods like furniture; lots of clothing; and kitchen supplies.

On the day we were there they had a washing machine and a dryer, and some exercise equipment out front.

If you need a new mug or coffee cup, this is the place to go. They had bunches of them!

That's a nice table and chair set — That’s a nice table and chair set

There was a really nice curio cabinet in pine, and a pretty good black table and chair set. There was also some living room furniture for sale.

Of course, I was atrracted to the fabric and patterns. They had a lot of fabric for sale, but I only had $10 in my pocket. I got these three fabrics and a cute pattern for cowboy outfits size 2-6X. There is about a yard and a half of the plaid flannel fabric; about 5 yards of the blue cotton print; and about 1 yard of the striped fabric. That is a pretty good deal for $10.

7 Springs Thrift Shop located on Hwy 78 in Oxford, Alabama. If you are interested in volunteering, or for location and hours of operation, please contact Colonie Hughes 256-770-4089.

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Searching For Clues To My Family Origin With Ancestry.com

Karen · 4 Comments

This article is sponsored by Ancestry.com

I have often wondered exactly where my family originated. On my father’s side, one of my aunts paid a professional ancestry investigator to research the Stroud family back in the 1960’s or 7o’s. They were able to trace us back to my great great great grandfather, Yerby Stroud. He was born in 1761 in Belfast, Ireland. So, all those red beards and fair freckled skin comes from my Irish ancestors! Yerby was a hardy old guy, living to be 82 years old, but only had one child, a son. That son, though, populated the world with enough Stroud babies to carry on the name for hundreds of years: He and his two wives produced fifteen children! You can find your great greats on Ancestry.com. It’s a lot more fun way to research your family lineage.

The oldest ancestors that I knew in my lifetime were my grandfather and grandmother on my father’s side of the family, Herman and Blanch. they both lived a long time, too. Herman was 86 when he passed away, and Blanch was 89! Very impressive I would say.

While I was doing the research, looking for my kin, I decided to check out what my maiden name means. Here is what I found:

English (southern): habitational name from places in Gloucestershire and Middlesex, so named from Old English strod ‘marshy ground overgrown with brushwood’. Strood in Kent is named with the same word, and some examples of the surname are no doubt derived from this term in independent use

I think that tells me that before Yerby, the clan I call family started out somewhere in England. What do you think about that?

On my mother’s side of my family, we can only find as far back as my grandfather, William Brouch, who immigrated from Russia around 1914, He wound up in Pennsylvania after passing through Ellis Island, working for a family in Philadelphia. The young woman who became my grandmother, Mary was the governess for the same family. We “think” her last name was Havaschak, but can’t confirm that. If any of my cousins see this and have more information, please do let me know so I can set the record straight. Mary immigrated in 1914 as well, from Austria. I would love to find out more about this family line.

I wonder if we are related in some way to the ill fated Czar Nicolas? I ask, because when my daughter was in high school, her classmates found a photo of one of the Czar’s daughters, that looks so much like Becca that it is spooky!

Becca on the top, Tatiana on the bottom.

You can get a free trial membership to Ancestry.com so you can find your own stories, see if you may be related to someone famous, or find out what your last name means. You never know what you might find!

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The Saga Of My Disability Claim

Karen · 27 Comments

After my botched surgery in May of 2012, I filled out a claim for Social Security Disability. The claim was mailed off in July of 2012, before I was completely back in touch with reality. I had no idea what to put on the claim where it asks you what is wrong with you that makes you disabled. Even though all this stuff happened to ME, I was unconscious most of the time that it was happening. I knew that things weren’t right, but I did not know what to call my malady. So, when I was filling out the form, I called Social Security and talked to a nice lady on the phone, and she said “Just put whatever you think it is, and we will go from there.” So, I put the diagnosis that was on my hospital discharge summary. Although I was not real clear at that time what all that jargon meant, basically what I wrote was that I was disabled because I had a colostomy. And that is not true.

Over the next several months, I learned more about what had happened to me, from talking to my husband, who was mostly there when all the stuff was happening; from reading my medical records that I ordered from the hospital; and from googling terms I did not understand. I discovered that 1. I could have died on that operating table, 2. In addition to the surgery to install the colostomy, I was operated on five other times to clean out my abdominal cavity from the sepsis I developed because the repair to my intestine ruptured, 3. I developed abdominal compartment syndrome, 4. My abdomen was left open for five days while they worked to get rid of the infection there, 5. My abdomen had swelled so much during this process that the doctor could not reattach my abdominal muscles when they finally did close me up.

All of the things listed above 2-5 have worked together to cause me to have chronic pain in my abdomen, in the area where the incision was made (and we are taking about an incision about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide, not a small opening) and in my back up to my shoulder blade and to my spine on the right side. There is no muscle to support my abdomen and all the stuff that is in there like my stomach and my intestines, and my bladder and stuff like that. Because there is no muscular support, I have to wear a hernia belt 24/7. Even with wearing the hernia belt, the weight of my abdomen pulls on my body, making the pain intensify the longer I sit upright without my feet up, like in a recliner, or the longer I stand or walk. I have been taking 40 mg of percocet a day ever since I got home from Arizona in November 2012 and got to my primary care doctor.

Just for giggles, think about every movement you make during the course of your day that uses your abdominal muscles. Getting out of a chair. getting into bed, getting into and out of a car, sweeping mopping, doing laundry, washing dishes, making up the bed, sewing, gardening, and on and on. All of the things that you think about during the day that uses your abdominal muscles, those are the things that make me hurt more. And that is why I am disabled. I have to be zonked on pain meds to not be in pain just from living my everyday life. I aslo have to take an antidepressant, and a sleeping pill to help me sleep. The sleeping pill makes me sleep too much, but if I don’t take it, I lay in bed with my mind racing and my pain heckling me and I don’t sleep.

But, when I filled out my disability claim, I did not know to write all that down on that little line where they asked me what my disability was. So, three times, they denied my claim because “Having a colostomy is not a disability.” I have waited more than two years for a hearing in front of Social Security Judge. I finally went to that hearing last week. There was me, my attorney, a court reporter, the judge and an occupational therapist in the room. The judge asked me several questions, and I answered them as best I could. I heard myself say “I don’t recall” once and I nearly cringed that I said that.

After the Judge asked me his question, my attorney asked me some questions, and I answered those. Then the judge said to the occupational therapist, “Mrs. Fabgrandma can not bend at the waist, kneel, squat, crawl, walk for longer than 10 minutes, stand for longer than 10 mintues, turn from side to side at the waist, sit upright for longer than an hour, or lift anything over 5 pounds. Are there any jobs in this job market that would be able to accommodate her problems?” And the lady said, “No, your honor, there are not.”

And with that statement from the OT, the judge said he was going to approve my claim, and said he “admired my fighting spirit” which was from things he had read in my medical records from my primary care physician, and my psychiatrist.

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If It Ain’t One Thing It’s Another…

Karen · 20 Comments

As you may have noticed, I have not been writing much here in the past few months. I have wanted to but I have been so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Even though I was sleeping ten hours are night, and then taking a three hour nap during the day, every time I sat down with my lap top to write something, I fell right asleep. This has been going on since December or January. It got to where I was feeling not just tired, but completely exhausted, even though I was sleeping more than 15 hours a day. I finally went to my doctor with a long list of complaints: exhaustion, dry skin, dry mouth, hair falling out (again), itching (again), dry eyes. I have also lost 48 pounds without trying to lose weight. There was more but those were the worst.

My doctor decided to do a comprehensive blood workup. She said it seemed that I was not getting nutrients from the food I was eating, and that was not a good thing. I was not being nourished by my food, so I was showing signs of malnutrition even though I was eating a balanced diet every day.

The results of the blood tests showed that my HbA1c was 15.1! I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 2000, and ever since I got my blood sugar under control back then, I have kept my HbA1c at less than 6, which is what is recommended for diabetics to have good control. My fasting blood sugar was 378! I don’t know what happened because I have not done anything different that I have been doing. How could this be happening?

My doctor increased my metformin to take double what I have been taking for the last 13.5 years, and started me on insulin. My body has stopped making insulin, which is a hormone that helps take the sugar from your bloodstream and move it into your cells, providing them with the energy they need to function. So, since I was not getting any insulin to my blood, all the sugar from the foods that I had been eating was racing around in my veins, and my cells were dying from hunger. That explains the exhaustion.

I am not happy that I have to take insulin now, but at least that option is there for me. The type of insulin she prescribed for me is in a “pen”. Each pen holds 300 ml. Since my doctor started me out on 10 ml of insulin at bedtime, one 30 ml pen will last for a month. That’s good, because that stuff if expensive! She did give me a coupon good for the first month’s prescription for free, and is helping me fill out an application for patient assistance with the manufacturer of the insulin. Approval for their program means they would supply me with insulin for free, which is a huge relief for me.

For now, I have to use a blood glucose meter and record my fasting blood sugar for a month, then go back to the doctor with my numbers. She’ll look at them and decide whether I need to increase, decrease, or stay the same on the amount of insulin to take. So far, the number is smaller each day, but still over 200. Let’s hope we get down to 98 by the end of the month.

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Noosa Yoghurt Wants To Pay For Your Ride On Skyview Atlanta!

Karen · 3 Comments

Noosa Finest Yoghurt is “going troppo” in Atlanta with two new varieties: Noosa Coconut and Noosa Pineapple. These varieties join an already diverse Noosa Yoghurt line and are available on grocery shelves nationwide. To celebrate Aussie culture with the Atlanta community, Noosa is picking up the tab for the first 500 people to visit the Noosa flag at SkyView Atlanta between 2-6pm on Aug. 16. The Noosa Team will also give out samples and other fun summer swag.

“Australia and Atlanta are both famous for a wonderful blend of cultures, people and food,” said Koel Thomae, co-founder of Noosa Finest Yoghurt. “And we’re celebrating that connection by serving up Coconut and Pineapple bites of tropical sunshine right in the heart of downtown Atlanta.”

Noosa Coconut and Noosa Pineapple are a contrast in sweet and tangy flavor combinations. Noosa Pineapple blends creamy yogurt with tangy bites of pineapple puree to create a yogurt with flavor that’s brighter than the Sunshine Coast. Noosa Coconut is rich with sweet, shredded coconut, a delicious contrast to Noosa’s velvety texture.

Like all varieties in the Noosa family, Noosa Coconut and Noosa Pineapple are crafted daily in small batches on-site at Morning Fresh Dairy Farm in Colorado, and are free of artificial ingredients of any kind. Noosa Yoghurts are also gluten-free and made from the milk of happy cows from local Colorado farms that are never treated with rBGH growth hormone.

With interest in international style yogurts booming, Noosa continues to lead the way as one of the fastest-growing companies in the nation with 13 varieties and a 136 percent sales increase in grocery sales in 2013.

Skyview Atlanta is a 20 story Ferris Wheel in Downtown Atlanta that has climate controlled gondola’s for a comfortable ride. Guests enjoy breathtaking panorama views of the Atlanta cityscape.

If you are local to Georgia or will be visiting Georgia within the next year, I have some tickets to give away for the Skyview Atlanta Ferris Wheel. These tickets are valued at $13.50+tax each, and can be used for the Skyview Atlanta Ferris Wheel through August 6, 2015. Click here to enter this very short giveaway! And don’t forget to look for Noosa Yoghurt in your grocery store!

WIN!

4 winners will each win 4 tickets to the Skyview Atlanta Ferris Wheel Ride located in Downtown Atlanta.

1 winner will win 3 tickets to the Skyview Atlanta Ferris Wheel Ride located in Downtown Atlanta. There will be 5 winners total.

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