Harley-Davidsons Invade Milwaukee

Visiting Milwaukee Saturday was a bit of a blast as millions and trillions and zillions of cycles, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and others, were in town for the 105th Anniversary of the Harley. Hundreds of Harleys lined up for a parade. Though most parades have floats and marching bands, this parade only featured motorcycles and lots of them, roaring through town. Really roaring. For the faint of heart, factory tours of Harley-Davidson are available anytime and include the history of the Harley and a place to sit and get a bite to eat, inside and air conditioned. All Milwaukee city ordinances regulating noise were off for the weekend, so motorcycles blasted through the streets, waking up patrons living along the lake, whether at street level or on the 21st floor. Nothing like bikers and sleep deprived city folk, mixing at the local watering shed -- hopefully most bikers attended the Bruce Springsteen concert Saturday night, leaving a few silent hours for apartment dwellers could catch some zzzzz's. This too shall pass. Sleeping tonight should be wonderful!

Photo attribution: Harley Davidson

White Hydragenas

This is the perfect time to take advantage of the flowers growing in your carefully nurtured and maintained garden. The flowers in this almost all white and green arrangement are two types of hydrangeas that grow through the summer in partial shade in my front yard. A few purple mums are thrown in for a surprise of color as well as a few stalks of flowering oregano.

To make this arrangement, start with two shades of white flowers, one snowy white, and the other with a slight green tint. Both would be available at the flower mart or farmers' market in your area. A large white Italian pot is used as the base to highlight the various shades of white. The flowers are held in place by floral foam, also called oasis, a green spongy block of material used at the base of floral arrangements to support the flower stems and hold them in place. Before using the floral foam, soak it for a few minutes in water, then place it in the bottom of the pot. Add water, then start arranging the flowers.

Remember the basic rules of flower arranging: use an odd number of flowers (5, 7 9, etc.), vary the height of the flowers, and provide additional height as needed, in this case the purple flowers of the oregano plants are used to provide height and interest on the far top left and right. Wipe any water from the bottom of the pot, and place the arrangement in an area where it will be enjoyed, even if only for a few days.

Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus

Hard Soles - Away With You!

After a summer of sandals, beaches, pool concrete and going barefoot, hard soles can be a problem for many. What to do? Pedicures are only part of the answer, as rough calloused skin in smoothed away at the spa, only to return far too quickly. CalleX to the rescue.

According to the manufacturer, CalleX Ointment thins and softens hardened skin and exfoliates dry, cracked heels. Its patented, natural enzymes selectively exfoliate only dry, cracked, thickened and scaly skin while its petrolatum base retains natural skin moisture. There are no magic ingredients, only Petrolatum, U.S.P., protease (subtilisin), aminopeptidase, natural peppermint oil.

Easy to use and low priced, $15 for a two month supply, CalleX Ointment is applied to rough and hardened skin twice daily after bathing, or rubbing the skin with a wet washcloth. Always a skeptic, buying the product was the hard part, using it was simple. Take shower, rough up feet with a cloth or towel, apply CalleX. Wait to see what happens.

What happened is this: the feet feel smoother almost immediately but also somewhat greasy, so place a few sheets of toilet paper (4 sheets will do per foot) on the floor, then put the newly greased foot on the TP, being sure it is long enough to tuck the edges in between the toes to anchor it. This will prevent the CalleX from staining carpets or any floor surface. This also works if the ointment is applied before bedtime, and keeps the sheets from appearing stained. But why do feet get so dry, you wonder? Feet have fewer oil glands than any other part of the body, allowing feet of all ages to dry out quickly in the summer. As one gets older, skin becomes naturally drier, permitting feet to dry out super quickly, until now. CalleX works wonders and is one of my all time favorite beauty picks that will be used consistently over the next several months. Available at Walgreen's and CVS Pharmacies, this is one ointment everyone should be using as a way of improving the feet of America.

Photo attribution: CalleX Ointment

Apartment Switch

Every parent knows they have to pitch in and help their children move, regardless the age of the child. Recently an adult child moved from a one bedroom into a two bedroom apartment with a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan. Parents and friends from afar helped with the heavy lifting and in a few hours the kitchen was in order and the bed was made. Even books were arranged on book shelves. The living room features floor to ceiling bay windows large enough to house two chairs and a small table, beckoning one to sit and enjoy the view.

Thank you to all who spent part or all of their day lifting, toting, and carrying heavy objects. Soon life will be back to normal in a neatly arranged new space.
Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus

Gary Vaynerchuk Tickets Available Online

Tickets are now available online for the upcoming special performance of Gary Vaynerchuk, appearing at the Woodstock Opera House on Saturday, September 20, 2008 previously discussed here. Gary's appearance is a benefit for the Creative Living After Dark Series of the Woodstock Fine Arts Association. Gary will be introduced by good friend and Woodstock native son, Frank Gruber of somewhatfrank and TECH cocktail. To purchase your ticket to the event, which includes a wine and cheese party with Gary and Frank, click here.

Tickets are only $50 -- which includes the wine and cheese party -- and the event begins at 8:00 p.m. on the historic Opera House stage. Only 400 tickets are available and an evening with Gary V. is work a lot more then that! Get yours asap while good seats are available. You can also call the Opera House Box Office at 815-338-5300 to order tickets. I bought my tickets last week so I'll see you there!
Photo attribution: somewhatfrank

Fly Predator Update

After smashing and mashing and crushing, as well as brushing and sweeping, most of the 5000 little fly predators are gone from this now "fly free" zone. Spalding, the vendor for Fly Predators suggested all the little creatures in the house could be vacuumed up and discarded, which has worked well so far. Since the fly predators live on manure, (as in horse manure) and as a general rule we don't have any laying around inside our home, the little fellas will die off within 24-48 hours. While yesterday was creepy, today is much better. Read about how they got away here.

Spalding Fly Predators are a terrific product created to sprinkle around outside animal manure pens, piles, and/or droppings to eliminate flys. It really works well, when used as intended and outside there are no flys, thanks to this product. To read more about the biology behind product that is available for horses, cows and dogs, click here. Spalding is sending us a free packet of the little guys to make up for the ones that got away. Thank you Spalding.
Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus

Spalding Fly Predators

No one wants bugs or flys in their house, and this Chicagoland home won't have any for quite a while, thanks to Spalding Fly Predators, an ultimate method of fly control. This morning, hundreds of tiny ant like creatures were crawling all over the white shirts on their way to the laundry service. Creeped out, I moved all the shirts, papers, etc. outside and then discovered the problem. A package of Fly Predators had apparently opened just enough for the tiny, completely biteless and stingless animals to emerge. While the advertising claims They never become a pest themselves. After they've emerged, their single minded pursuit is to reproduce by finding pest fly pupa. Because of their small size and the fact they live their entire life cycle on or near manure (where the pest fly pupae are typically found), Fly Predators go virtually unnoticed. Unless they are on the walls and/or ceiling where they are most definitely noticed.

What to do? What anyone would do, get out the bug spray and spray away. I did. They died. They dropped from the walls and ceiling, and a soapy paper towel wiped them away. Just for one's mental health, a second and then third soapy paper towel wiped the same surfaces. Why have fly predators? I have horses, and horses eat and then defecate, leaving mounds of manure which is then collected and placed, thankfully by our barn hand, into a manure pile. Each season the pile is loaded onto a huge truck and carted away to manure land, as far as I know. Manure creates flys and Spalding Fly Predators are opened and sprinkled all around the manure to stop any fly development. They work wonders outside, and I have to admit, there were no flies in the house last night.

Here's the real information about the product: There's no downside as the Fly Predators do not bother either people or animals. Equally important you stop flies before they have a chance to reproduce. A 4% survival rate means you've got around 15 new flies coming for every one you see today as each female fly can lay up to 900 eggs. That's why controlling flies by just attacking the adults with sprays, baits, traps, etc. is almost always a losing battle.

Spalding Fly Predators do work and every month a small envelope of them arrive in the larvae stage. Once they have emerged into the tiny ant like creature they become, it is time to put the entire package outside to do their work. The package is now out and doing what it is intended to do. All crawling things have been killed, and all surfaces have been wiped down, several times. I am almost over the creepy feeling I have and will be once I hit the shower, where I am going. Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus