Cone Flattening Calculator

Calculates the measurements for the pattern to construct a frustum of a cone.

Diameter A OR Circumference A

Diameter B OR Circumference B

Height

---

Arc Angle = _ (degrees)

Radius 1 = _ OR Diameter = _

Radius 2 = _ OR Diameter = _

---

Small dog bed pattern

WHAT YOU NEED
      32-inches 54" wide fabric OR 54-inches 34"-45" fabric
      26-inches 5/8-3/4" wide velcro
      Thread
      Stuffing

CUTTING
   See the patterns at the bottom of this post.

1. Cut two 25" circles. (TOP & BOTTOM)
2. Cut two 26" x 3 3/4" rectangles. (SIDE CLOSURES)
3. Cut one 5 1/4" x 54" rectangle. (SIDE)

SEWING

1. With right side up, fold 1 1/8" of long sides of SIDE CLOSURES under (as shown on cutting diagram) and iron creases.

2. Sew a 26" length of Velcro to the right side of one SIDE CLOSURE, aligning the Velcro with the folded edges.

4. Sew a 26" length of Velcro to the wrong(bad) side of the other SIDE CLOSURE, one edge on the fold.

5. Put the Velcro together, securing it closed. You should now have a 5 1/4" x 26" piece with Velcro closure running down the middle.

6. Wrong sides together, sew the 5 1/4" ends of the SIDE CLOSURE  piece to the SIDES to form a 78" circle.

7. Wrong sides together, pin one SIDE CLOSURE edge to TOP, sew.

8. Wrong sides together, pin one SIDE CLOSURE edge to BOTTOM, sew.

Hold that gator!

We had a very good day yesterday. Most of you know we like to go mini golfing. We went to Congo River yesterday with Judy and Larry. There was a new addition to our favorite mini golf place..."Hold an alligator". Had to do it! Here's the proof...

Puptruck

Here is a picture of my adult tricycle as I it was when I bought it from a lady earlier this year. I bought it so Noriko could ride in the back.

Lucet patterns

While doing some research on making friendship bracelets I ran across a link for making cordage with a lucet. I have done this in the past and still have a small lucet. I did not find many patterns to cut a lucet so I made some up for the public at large.
What is a lucet you say? It is a wood, bone, plastic forked tool to make decorative cord, for clothes for decoration, to use an bracelets, etc.

You will need to click the image to get a full size picture to print. I put a few measurements on the image to help you size it as needed.

GARLIC WARNING!

Warning: Garlic oil is a non-selective insecticide, which means that it will kill beneficial insects (such as lady bugs, who are natural predators of aphids) just as well as it kills bad bugs. It's best to keep as many beneficials around as possible. This spray should only be used if you haven't seen any beneficial bugs in your garden. A nightshade recipe, won't harm beneficials, so you should use that if you have some beneficials in your garden.

Hard Water and Insecticidal Soap

Here's an interesting fact I came upon while researching homemade insecticidal soaps, but probably also applies to commercial insecticidal soaps also.

The minerals in hard water react with the soap and create soap scum instead of insecticide. Just like in your shower, if you have hard water. So always use pure water to mix with your insecticidal soap. I saw somewhere that Calgon™ or similar product could be used to soften the water. I would think distilled water would also work well.

Green Anole

I found this guy about a week ago at Maria's house while I was mowing. I made a half hearted attempt to catch him and did. He was skinny and sluggish. Since then he has resided in our screened in porch and gets fed meal worms twice a day. He seems to be doing well and hangs out in the bamboo.
Common names for this lizard are Green Anole, Carolina Anole, American Chameleon(although it is not related to true chameleons). He will grow to about 6 or 8 inches and live about 7 years and can change color from green to dark brown.

Carolina anole - Wikipedia
Anole Care Guide

Gecko!

Last night while letting a corn spider loose I spotted a lizard on the bricks that cover the front of the house. It is a weird behavior for the anole lizards, so I went to check it out and I found this guy.

Click to enlarge

He looks pretty much like an anole, but the eyes are a bit bigger, the toe pads are larger and his tail is flatter. Really cool find! We think it is probably a Common House Gecko. Active mostly at sunrise and sunset.

UPDATE: Here is a link to bigger picture.

Tropic Breeze Hibiscus

We have been gardeners/landscapers/plant lovers for going on 20 years now. In California we could grow some great plants. In Washington we grew some good plants but the weather sucked so most of the gardening joy turned into a sunny day(rare) chore. But here in Florida we really can grow some FANTASTIC plants...tropical plants.
One of my favorites is the hibiscus. Here in Florida it is a bit "generic" and almost everyone has one or someone nearby has one and we tend to shy away from the norm, but this plant is great! It is super easy to propagate from cuttings and I believe it blooms all year round. And pretty!
Here are some pictures of the latest hibiscus blooms - Topic Breeze hibiscus. Our neighbor Maria found this one on sale at Lowes.

Renewed Effort

I am going to try to make a better effort to post some stuff here. I have been too busy fussing with the layout and worring more about the template that I have with the content. The main purpose of this blog is twofold. On one hand it is to let us post stuff for friends and family to see, on the other hand it also acts as a repository of information for us, so we don't have to scour the web again to find it. A lot of times I look at 10 or more sites and condense the info into just one post. It is useful for me and hopefull for someone else out there too.

I am going to be going through my photos and posting what needs to be posted. Some of it may be dated, and some may be just plain boring to some.

So just ignore what doesn't interest you and read what does.

 

TNT

Theme change

Once again I have changed the theme of this blog. I reallylike this one, it reflects how I feel here in Florida, sunny, happy, and colorful. We hope you enjoy the new look. BTW, the nice slideshow at the top there is just filled with generic pictures that came with the template, I will fill them in with relevant info and pics as soon as I can.

Our Photo Galleries

Here are links to our photos on Facebook. You should not have to have an account to view these albums.

Alligator in The Backyard
Gatorland 2011
Christmas 2011
Crawdad
Disney World 2011
Flowers in December
Pollywogs
Sulpherous caterpillar/butterfly - we hatched this guy
Monarch Butterfly - we hatched this guy too
Black Swallowtailed butterfly - yup, this one too.


Spoonbills
Unsorted Images

We're back...

Recently we have been posting stuff to our Facebook wall/page whatever and not here. I found, I hate Facebook. Not everyone we know wants to be a Facebook member, create a stupid account to view our stupid pictures, etc. So we are back to our blog. Keep checking in here to see our latest follies, whatever they may be. I am going to be posting 'back issues' here as soon as I can.

Chicken

I think this rooster lives across the street but I am not sure. Anyhow, it is pretty cool, he roams around and the neighbor says the cats are afraid of him. He likes a bit of bread....

Click to enlarge

Another caterpillar

Here is another caterpillar we found on an oleander bush. It looks almost the same as the Oct. 1st butterfly but the hairs are much longer and fuzzier.  We'll see what he turns into. It was hard to photograph him, he was moving fast and never stopped. We actually have three of these guys in the bug hut.

Butterfly

This is the butterfly from the October 1st 2011 caterpillar. He was gorgeous and we let him free in the back yard. This is the first cocoon we have done ever I believe... You can also see another, different caterpillar behind him.

Click to Enlarge

And here is the cocoon he made...

Click to Enlarge

And here is the original caterpillar

And there you have it... from caterpillar to butterfly, just amazing.

Easy Bean Dip

This recipe is reminiscent of the bean dip you get in a can made by Fritos®, but it is way cheaper! Dip your favorite tortilla chips in it and enjoy.

In a bowl, mix together:
  1-16 oz. can refried beans
  3 Tablespoons sour cream
  2 Tablepoons salsa con queso dip
  2 dashes cayenne pepper
  3 dashes chili powder

NOTE: We have a set of measuring spoons with a dash spoon which is about 1/6 teaspoon.

The Pink Flamingo

Sounds like a bad '80's movie, a gaudy bar on a Southern California beach, or a hideous trailer park decoration. Oh no...this is a fantastic wood carving that resides in the lanai. Oh yeah...we are in Florida now, it fits right in. I love this guy! He was also rescued from certain death by garbage truck. Sometime in the far future his paint will need to be touched up. This guy has been here since we moved in, just hadn't gotten around to posting the picture, in all it's glory for all to see.

Click to enlarge

Homemade Garden Recipes

UPDATE: Originally this post contained some homemade garden recipes you could easily make in your kitchen, most of them with common household ingredients. However, the post grew to larger and larger proportions, so I had to move it to a separate page. Go to the Homemade Garden Recipes Page. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.