Removing Oxidation from Swamp Cooler - Polishing and Protecting with TEAK OIL

I think I may have overdone it the past few weeks as I now have strep and feel so horrible. It is hard to rest when I have so much I want to get done because I haven't been able to do as much as I used to being tired all the time. 

Sunday night I told Princess Five that my throat felt "funny" but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then Monday, I felt fine. Tuesday night I felt like someone took a zapper and took any energy I had left and replaced it with aches and my throat started to hurt like strep. 

I was supposed to head on a road trip with my sister to pick up some things for the project I am working on and support her son in attending one of our church's temples for the first time but even after taking all sorts of vitamins, GSE, etc, I woke all night long with a sore throat. I called her early and canceled going with her and went back to sleep and woke about 2 p.m. 

I still felt horrible and have taken all sorts of things including oregano, silver, Thieves oil, vitamin C etc and I now have pain in both my ears and my throat still hurts. Of course, I have so much to do in the next week before Princess Four comes home and our family reunion, that I took stuff and ran errands and then pulled out the mower, got gas in the fuel can and mowed the front grass but it was dark by the time I would be getting to the back. I then stained 9 large pieces of wood for the family history project and it took forever and now it is 1:30 a.m. and I can hardly breath. 

I feel like I am having an allergy attack from the grass but also the chemicals I was using to stain the boards spilled on me. I ache all over and I know I was probably stupid to push myself but I don't have time to be sick! 

I pray I feel better tomorrow so I can mow and work on the family reunion project. I am going to take some stuff and pray I get some sleep. I also hope I can breath better after taking stuff or it is going to be a long night. 

WOW, that had nothing to do with a swamp cooler! lol I am sorry! Basically, after I used the teak oil on the grill the other day, I thought it would probably work wonders for the swamp cooler as it is painted metal like the garage door and trailer and of course, it worked great and I wanted to share it with you. 

If your swamp cooler has lots of minerals on it, use some CLR and get the minerals off before using the teak oil on it as the teak will seal in any dirt or minerals that are on the unit. Then, just wipe it on using a soft cotton cloth! I would suggest doing a few coats a day or two apart to allow good coverage and protection. It couldn't hurt to just wipe some on each year.... Easy way to keep it protected and shiny. 

Thanks for watching. Have a Blessed Day! 

Sprucing Up the Old Grill By Using TEAK OIL - I Should Have Known

Over the years, I have shared about using Teak Oil for many things. 

I shared in one post near the beginning that a homeless looking man came up to me while I was on the phone at a second hand store looking at a buffer. He interrupted my call to ask what I was going to "buff" and I told him I needed to wax a trailer. 

He told me about TEAK OIL saying he had a boat and used teak oil on it for years. I have given gratitude for that many MANY times in my life as it has worked on SO many things.... 

I was cleaning up the back yard and cleaning out some things when I had the thought that the Grill was a metal and I have used the teak oil on all sorts of metal and it has worked SO well on them that I thought I should try it on the cast iron grill as it was super dirty and oxidized looking. 

I pulled out the teak oil and started wiping away and WOW the results were amazing! I took a video towards the beginning and then wen all out using it on the complete outside of the grill and it worked like a charm! 

I just did one coat that day and used the grill over the weekend and then took a picture today so it has been about 2 weeks since I polished it up but it still looks fairly good and I think I am going to put another coat on it in the next few weeks when my life calms down a bit. 

I also used a little olive oil brushed on to keep the rust down on the grill racks and I used the "totally awesome Grill Cleaner" from the dollar store on the inside of the grill and then use a hose to spray out the gunk that builds up on the inside. I use the metal brush to scrape off the racks and the burn off all the chemicals before cooking on it. It is fast and easy.

I wish I had thought of using Teak Oil on it sooner frankly, as it looks SO much better.... So, once again I am giving gratitude for the homeless looking man that had the courage to interrupt a phone call and share that gem of advice with me. I think I will put a few links to the other times I have used teak oil on things. 

Teak Oil on the trailer to take off oxidation and dirt and shine it up.
Teak Oil on the garage door to shine it up.
Teak Oil on the vinyl siding window frames
Teak Oil on my kitchen and cupboard cabinets
Teak Oil on knife handles.


As you can see by the list of links above, I have used Teak oil MANY time in my life and it makes things look so good if you take the time to view the links and pictures.... 

This bottom picture is the one from today after a week or two. I think doing another coat or two will have it staying shiny and looking good all season.

Have a Blessed and Shiny Day! 

I Think She Is Going To Miss Japan - Princess Four

Hello to all you Beautiful souls out there! Thanks for enduring to the end with me! I don't know what to say besides miracles. So lets talk about them! 

Wel
,l let's start off with CHURCH! Guess how many investigations/ eikaiwa students/investigators family members came to church this week. Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, but 6. SIX! 2 Eikawa students. Their English names are yellow and Madonna. They are fun, and one of the elders investigators came. But for kobay shimai and I, Yamam san, the husband of a less active that we started to teach, said he would come if it rained. It didn't rain. But he did come! He works outside, so when it rains he cant work, but he said he would work fast so that he could come. Our other new investigator, yama san, told us that his brother wanted to meet us. So they both came to church! I spoke on Sunday, and we sang as missionaries, but both the yama brothers, and the Yamam couple both missed my talk.... The Yamam did make it in time for the song though. They missed the most important part, the sacrament, but the brothers stayed for a class before leaving. It was such a tender mercy. I don't think I've ever seen so many non members come to church before in one day. God is TOO good. It was a happy day! 

We planned on dropping an investigator. We were a little worried about it, but when we showed up for dinner he told us the reasons why he didn't want to meet with us anymore.... He dropped himself!!! It was SUCH a tender mercy. We have to drop another investigator this week, so God was very kind to us, and we are grateful for it! He also gave me some special rocks. He is a nice man.

Ummmmm. Oh cute story. Me, or possibly my companion, might have mixed up the trains, and we went the wrong way.... this is the second time this has happened... trains are more scarce out here... so we had to wait a longgg time for the next train. Plus a 30 minute wait at the big station, plus walking to our appointments house... we were 2 hours late. But it all worked out! They came to church. So SHUKUFUKU!!

We had a relief society activity, and an investigator came, and a few less actives. God is good. We also had a less active of 3 years come to church. I started up a conversation, and she said that she didn't feel joy, so she decided to come back to church, and that she doesn't want to leave again. She helped convert a lot of her family when she was baptized. It's so good to know that nobody is ever to far from God to return!

We were able to visit a lot of members this week! Members are jus the best! I love them! One was the bishops family. We had dinner. The dinner consisted of spilled peach juice, changing their sons clothes 3 times because he cries if they get wet, and lots and lots of listening to Japanese Children.... It was the dream! I LOVE THE GOSPEL! 

It is the weirdest thing getting ready to go back to America. I don't want to talk about it.... so I won't. 

Oh. While I was giving my final talk here in japan. I told everyone that God created a map for us. And that this map is commandments. When we follow this map, we will feel joy! But when I said that a lot of people laughed. Turns out instead of saying Chizu. I said Chiizu. The difference is in the I's. Instead of saying map, Chizu, with two syllables, I said Chiizu, Cheese, with 3 syllables. When we follow Gods cheese we will feel joy. This cheese is commandments. He created this cheese for us... you get the idea. Luckily the gift of tongues is real, and so is the gift of understanding my many Japanese mistakes. I couldn't mess up this work if I tried. God is too powerful for that! So just remember. Everybody makes mistakes. But if you do your best to follow Gods Commandments (cheese if you will) you will feel joy! 

Sitting in the sushi shop YMCA came on in Japanese -

just a little ditty, we heard at the sushi shop. Don't worry. We left singing I am a child of God, but now you know that the YMCA is not just for Americans. 

Pictures-The Yama family!!! Look at the baby! .... Mom sorry. I'm never leaving Japan.

This is me as a five year old named Riko. Kobay is one lucky missionary to have such a good companion.

 We felt prompted to go into a flower shop to share the gospel.... The owner wasn't interested, but would you look at these Glorious that I bought! yes that is the real name. Ohhhhh It's glorious! @davidarchuletta

Oh. This is just some stuff I ate today. Mama datta, demo Ebi ga daisuki no de daijoubu deshita.

Replacing Outside Vent Covers/ Hood from Clothes Dryers or Bathroom Vents

I have been in my home for 21 years now. Over the years, I have replaced a few things on the outside vents. Due to the sun wear or the heat coming out, the little plastic covers or "hoods" that are on the outside of the vents will get brittle and break.

My dryer vent is not in the sun but over time, the heat from the dyer makes the plastic flaps brittle and so I have purchased a new cover and just replaced the little flaps and left the outside vent cover on so it was super easy to replace.

A few years back, I had some workers come and vent the bathroom vents to the outside as when they built the house, they only vented them into the attic so for health reasons, I had them vent it to the outside. Those vents are directly in the sun for most of the day so they have only been in for a few years but as I was headed onto the roof to scrape and repaint the attic vent, I noticed that the plastic cover on one of the vent covers had a break in it and left a hole that a bird could fly in and make a nest. 

I had a friend that had a bird make a nest in her vent and a bird died due to the heat coming out and it was difficult to get the nest and bird out. Being spring / summer, that could happen so I went out and bought a new cover. 

I was hoping that I would be able to just replace the little flaps on the cover but within the week it took me to buy the new flap and get back up there, the corner had broken off as well so I had to replace the entire thing. It cost about $6 for the new cover and I purchased the "ACE" brand but laughed when I took it out of the bag and it was made by the same company that sells the name brand covers that I was replacing. I guess they make them for everyone and just market them for different companies. 

It took me a minute to figure out how to get the old cover off as I thought at first you just unscrewed it but then thought you had to push the little plastic tabs on the inside of the metal tube in, but in reality, you have to put a little screw driver inside between the plastic and metal and then pull the metal towards the inside of the tube and it will pull off the plastic releasing it to come out. 

Be careful taking off the little flaps in order to get to the tabs on the inside of the vent. You have to slightly bend the flaps towards the middle so that you can pull out the flaps. I have broken off the little tips that are at the top of the flaps to insert them into the cover so be aware that you need to be careful. 

I show it on my video, but since I was on the roof, I didn't know I would need a screwdriver so I used the paint can opening tool and it worked great to get into the space and pry the metal in and release the old broken cover. 

Hopefully the video will answer all your question and you will be able to replace yours if needed without problems, but if you do have a question, feel free to ask.... It was WELL worth doing to save me having a bird in my vents. I have had them make nests in my chimney and on my picture window frame in the past and I don't want to have to deal with the mess they make again. 

Have a Blessed Day!

Humanitarian Groups - Multi-Congregational Church Groups Coming Together in Service

For many years, there has been a group of women and men in our community that have gotten together two days a week and make items that are needed for charity around the world. 

If someone sees a need, or has a need for something, they let this group know and then the volunteers get into action and work together to figure out a way to get the group going on the project for the needed item and within a short amount of time, the group makes, gets donated, or a combination of both and the need is filled and the items are shipped off, dropped off, or picked up and into the hands of those that need them. 

I know in my world wide church, service is a big draw and we learn that when you are in the service of your fellow man, you are in the service of your God!

This group has been going for many years now and a few years back, we took our exchange student over to show her the group and we worked on tying a quilt which she had never done before. 

We also taught her how to make knit hats using the easy "hat looms" so she could whip them up rather quickly. We also took home some projects from the humanitarian center and stuffed some "hospital dolls" that are used by the surgeons so he can draw on the doll and show the child what he will be doing during the surgery and then the child can take the doll home. 

Over the years, I have worked on a few different projects at home and several others at church meetings or going to the one or two days a week service hours that the center is open during the week. The organized it so that one half of the towns churchs go on one day and the other half of the towns congregations can go the other but anyone is welcome to go either day and many do work both days a week giving that service to others. 

Any person can unite churches and get this type of service going. I think even people at homeless shelters can pick up "hat looms" rather quickly and can be taught to spend time in service while sitting. I think it is important that people give service no matter what their situation. Even if they just make a hat for themselves using the colors of yarn they enjoy could be a rewarding experience and give them a sense of accomplishment.

I know that the elderly and retired people live longer if they do service as has been show by research. I know that most of the people that volunteer as retired and find joy and accomplishment in serving at the centers. 

I know that many community needs have been met through the group. If someone needs something, they can go to the group and ask for items that may be needed. 

I am on the board of the local food bank and several times I have asked the group for donated hats, scarves, toiletry bags, canvas bags for the homeless to take canned food in as the plastic bags rip after a few cans are in them and the homeless that pass through our food bank can't take any perishable items so they take mostly cans but then they can only carry a few plastic bags but the canvas bags allow them to carry many more canned items in a better way. 

I know that a friend of mine traveled to India where her son's family live as ambassadors and she found a need and asked the group to provide the items and was able to take many suitcases with her full of the items needed. 

It amazes me what a group of like minded people can do when they set out to do good. So many peoples lives have been impacted through service but I always find that when I think I am going to help someone, I end up being blessed through the service. It happens over and over. 

I am including a video of the way it is set up and showing the rooms of the donated basement in a church where the church gives the rooms to store items and supplies and they pay the electric bill. 

I show pictures of many of the cute items and at Christmas time they invite all the different denominations in town and allow the church leaders to pick items they think would help families in their congregations for Christmas. 

They always have Christmas stockings, towels and a quilt for each family member but then they have toys, clothes, bedding and other items they can choose to meet individual needs of families. 

I am grateful to live in a community where people are always so willing to help and serve others. It is wonderful that a small town can make a difference in the big world.


Have a Blessed Day! 

Gathering Barn Wood For a Family Reunion Project - My Sweet Sister

I am so blessed to have a sister that is supportive. 

I was remembering back to when I was going through my divorce and she showed up at one court date with a little homemade necklace for me with a Millstone on it. It was a private joke which took the stress out of the situation but over and over I laugh about that one thoughtful act to lighten my load. 

Just this week, I was reading the scriptures which go along with that joke and I laughed at the memory again. 

Flash back two years ago, she was my only sibling of 7 to help me get my mothers estate laid out. She was by my side the entire time.

She made Princess One's wedding bouquet and helped make the invitations for her wedding. 

When I really need her, she is there. I try not to call on her or her family very often, but she is so creative and such a hard worker that I know she will be there when needed. 

Today, she met me in a small town to pull down barn wood for a family reunion project and then was up late until after midnight with her husband helping me design what we could do with items to make it cute for the reunion. In the end, we may not even be using the barn wood but she is SUPER creative so I know she would find a use for it but the fact that she is willing to help means so much to me.

When I had my mother living with me, she would "mother sit" for me so I could have time away from the 24 /7 care my mother needed at the end. She also stuck "thank you" encouragement notes all over the house that I found even after my mothers death. 

I am so blessed to have such wonderful and supportive people in my family. 

I took a few cute pictures of her pulling down wood today and even a short video of her going after a few boards that were high up. The ones that were facing the sun has such a beautiful patina on them that we wanted all we could get from that side of the barn and she was serious about it even bringing a few ladders and a crow bar.

I am exhausted as it is now 4 a.m. and I have had a NON-stop day! I hope you have a NON-Stop Blessed day!