Chatbug Karen

Oh! Look at the picture I found over at Andrea’s blog, Torinospy. I thought it fit with my blog because of my fish theme.

Yesterday was a very productive day. I worked until noon in our store, dropped a few entrecards and gathered my sewing project to head over to my mom’s. While I dropped cards, I saw on my sister’s blog, The Sewing Mom, that she had already cast her vote for the presidential election. Well, that inspired me to do the same. I went to our courthouse and cast my vote. There were only 3 people ahead of me so the waiting time was very short. So, now it is done.

I spent all day and into the evening working on a baby quilt. You can see it on my Winding Threads blog. I have to have it finished by next Thursday.

I finished the quilt top that I made for our bed. (I was able to get the fabric I needed to finish it, Jules!)
I have to put the backing and batting with it and decide whether to hand quilt it, machine quilt it myself or hire someone to machine quilt it. I want to have my friend Sue machine quilt it but it would cost around $240 for her to do it. I probably have $200 invested in it already. Handmade quilts are an investment!

While traveling through the Wordless Wednesday entries, I ran across Meltwater Torrents entry. You have to take a look. It is so funny.

The weather has been so cold the past few days that I have not finished getting my flower beds ready for winter. I usually cut down all the dead plants so that they don’t blow all over the yard, making a mess. What started out as a small circle around a special bird feeder has turned into a large bed of perennials complete with a pond.

Yes, I think of my bird feeder as a special one. The bird feeder was a gift from an elderly gentleman who has since gone to heaven. I have repainted it a few times to try and salvage it. I am afraid that it is so old now that the wood is beginning to rot. I’ll try to get a picture so you can see how cool it is. I refer to it as an apartment or condo for birds. The friend who made it was an engineer by trade. He put a lot of detail into the feeder. It has a many windows and a roof that lifts off, making it easy to clean. I really hate to replace it but I think that the next big windstorm will be the death of it.

I have been pleased with my hummingbird feeders from Birdfeeders.com. I think my friend would be pleased that his birdhouse will be replaced with a beautiful bird feeder from Birdfeeders.com. They put the same thought into their products and have many satisfied customers. Just look at this beautiful bird feeder. I love the copper on the roof. Yes, I think my friend, Louis, would have liked this bird feeder.

The theme for this weeks Heads or Tails is Tell a Scary Story. I thought about this all day and I just cannot think of a scary story. The only thing that really ever happened to me that was scary was 34 years ago and involved my boob and the shower. I was taking a shower. My husband reached into the shower and pinched my boob. I didn’t know he was home! Let me just say that he never, ever, did that again.

I worry about anyone who relies on the mortgage and real estate industry as their means of income. Changes are going to have to be made before consumers are able to acquire loans at the capacity they once did. Real estate and mortgage professionals are looking at loan modification leads to get them through this crisis. As with every profession, change demands looking at different opportunities.

When a lender modifies a loan the borrower’s new mortgage payment, including insurance and taxes, eats up a lower percentage of their pre-tax income. This percentage, known as a debt to income ratio, topped 50% for some loans during the boom. Different strategies are used to achieve a lower payment for the consumer. Lower interest rates, extended loan life and principal deferral to the final years of the loan have made the loan modification business an attractive one.

The opportunity to change the way mortgages are repaid gives consumers and mortgage professionals hope for the future in the real estate and mortgage business. There is hope. We just have to look at different avenues and not be afraid to hold on.

A recall has been issued for foil-wrapped Pirate’s Gold chocolate coins because they contain melmine.

I checked the Snopes website and this is true!

With Halloween fast approaching comes a warning to parents and kids regarding Gold milk chocolate coins imported from China.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to eat, distribute or sell the candy.

It is sold across Canada by Costco and may also have been sold in bulk packages or individual pieces at various dollar and bulk stores.

The chocolate contains melamine which is the same chemical responsible for killing several babies in China, and sickening thousands more. Melamine combines with cyanuric acid to form melamine cyanurate, which has been implicated in the Chinese protein export contaminations.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive the Butterfly Award from Melissa over at Melissa’s Place. This award is presented to the coolest blogs she has ever known. I was listed with eight of the blogs she loves to read. How nice! Thanks Melissa.

You just never know who enjoys reading your blog.

What is a blog?
Wikipedia says:
A blog (a contraction of the term “Web log”) is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, one which consists of blogs with very short posts. As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs.[1] With the advent of video blogging, the word blog has taken on an even looser meaning — that of any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something.

I asked a friend how his computer woes were faring. He had recently recognized the need to replace his hard drive and other parts integral to updating his computer. He gave me a look that said, “don’t ask”. I am sure he needs to know that it isn’t as bad as it might seem. For as little as $39.95, he can use EzMigration – Drive Migration Software to move his boot drive. He said he plans to transfer his files but has to dig around in all his file cabinets and closets to find all his old installation disks. I know, from experience, that does not work. Besides taking hours upon hours of time to transfer all the files, his efforts will be futile without transferring the boot partition to make the new drive bootable. Is he going to want to search all over the web for updated drivers? I think not. If you are in the same predicament as my friend, I am here to tell you that there is an easy way to make the move simple and painless.

Now, before you get nervous and think this is something you should hire someone to do for you, listen to me. EzMigration – Drive Migration Software makes it easy to transfer an exact image copy of your drive to a new or larger drive. It only takes a few clicks of your mouse and it is complete. Everything is moved over through the use of the software. It partitions everything for you and your applications will run smoothly. It even makes things work better when you move to a larger drive with more space because the software includes a partition expander tool so you can utilize the full capacity of all that new space. Your copy is an “image copy” and that means everything gets transferred in the drive copy process. Can you imagine trying to do all of that one file at a time? Look at how easy EzMigration makes the process.

* Easily transfer an exact image copy of your drive to a new or larger drive.
* Duplicate a laptop or desktop drive.
* Migrate your boot drive in one quick and simple operation.
* Eliminate all the time and trouble associated with rebuilding a drive manually.
* Expand or move a partition, if necessary, with a few mouse clicks.
* Support for Windows XP/ 2000 /2003/2008/Vista/Vista 64

They even have a toll free number so you can talk to a live person about the process.

Your time is valuable isn’t it? Let EzMigration migrate your hard drive for you. Rent a movie or take the kids to the park. Think of all the headache medicine you will save by using this software.

Are you still not sure that this is going to make your file move easier? Check out the free download and give the program a test drive. Take it from me, the most non geek person ever, EzMigration – Drive Migration Software makes it so simple that even I can do it.

This is the cake I get the most requests to make. I call it my chocolate coffee cake. It is actually chocolate cake that uses a cup of coffee in the batter.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup baking cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Combine all of the dry ingredients.
Mix the following with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
After you have mixed for 2 minutes, add 1 cup of brewed coffee (cooled to room temperature).
The batter will be very thin and runny. Pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted, comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
1, 3 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk (adjust to creaminess of frosting you desire)
½ tsp vanilla
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese and the peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the sugar, milk and vanilla. Spread over the cake.
I sometimes sprinkle the cake with miniature chocolate chips.
Store the cake in the refrigerator.