Birthday...

Today is my birthday. I know I'm old and my kids remind me of it each day. :) Not on purpose, mind you, but they are too full of energy to do anything other. :)

Anyway, we're having part of the family over for grilled marinaded steak, garlic mashed potatoes, pasta salad, fruit salad, and cheesecake with fresh cut strawberries in homemade simple syrup. :) I'm making the steak, potatoes, and prepping the strawberries. My brother-in-law is making the pasta salad and the other brother-in-law is making the fruit salad. The cheesecake itself came from a local supermarket bakery.

I also had a chance to go outside and do some yard work. :) Please be aware that I LIKE getting outside and doing yard work. It feels like when I grew up. :)

Hopefully it'll be fun. :)

P.S. The Queen is an evil lady. If you're here because she sent you, please return to her blog and comment with raspberries. :) I know that's what I'm doing right now.

This post was brought to you be the letters D, O, B, and the number 100. :)

Outdoor Sportsman's Playhouse

If you're an outdoors man or woman, be sure to check out the 5.11 Tactical Pants and other items that are available at www.lapolicegesr.com. You might think it's a little odd to go there for sportsman gear, but think of it this way. What better place to get really good quality, rugged gear, than at a place where tactical teams go to get their equipment. You have to think the gear gets used in much the same way, right?

Anyway, go check them out and see what you think. I'm personally going to take a closer look at the pants I mentioned earlier.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, E, A, R, and the number 4.

Lettuce and Spinach!

We planted lettuce and spinach in the garden today. I figure that by the time they are close to germination, we'll be completely free and clear of frost danger. If not, then I've managed to waste some time playing in the dirt. :)

The garden is coming along pretty nicely. We have 3 rows each of lettuce and spinach and 4 rows of peas. The next things I plan to put into the garden is 1 hill of cucumbers, 1 hill of zucchini, 1 pumpkin plant, about 6 tomato plants, about 4 pepper plants, and a row or 2 of corn. None of the rest of this will be done before the middle of May. We'll be able to harvest something from the garden in late June if all goes well. :)

Anyway, I'll have to get some pictures when things start to come up.

This post was brought to you by the letters V, E, G, and the number 3.

Firearm Equipment

I have several friends who target practice with handguns. I've also had several friends in school over the years who have gone into the military and possibly into law enforcement. Any of these friends may be familiar with safariland holsters and would be able to tell you a lot more about them. I've always had tremendous respect for the people who protect us and uphold the law. It looks as if I have a chance to look at some of the equipment they use in order to complete their assigned tasks.

Take a look at what www.lapolicegear.com has to offer our law enforcement/military protectors and be sure to thank the next military service member or law enforcement officer you meet for a job well done.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, U, N, S, and the number 4.

Spring has Sprung?

Guess what? It's 80 degrees outside! Wow! I love it! Unfortunately, my little princesses are outside blatently violating the Queen's rules about Christmas Music. According to her rules, it shouldn't be sung except between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Other than that. It's BANNED! Silly girls.

This post was brought to you by the letters H, O, T, and the number 80.

Paintballin'!

I've always wanted to go paintballing, but have never had the opportunity. I'm still interested and I'm planning on looking for someone out here to play with. You know of anyone? If you're interested, please let me know. If you're really into the game, I know where you can get some good paintball equipment. Go check out the folks at www.pntball.com and check out their selection of Tippmann guns, Smart Parts guns, spyder guns, and more. There's a whole laundry list of other equipment from Empire, Gen-X, VForce, Draxxus, and others.

Whether you're looking for a new mask, a nice extra capacity hopper, a new elbow, or a new barrel, or even a complete kit, www.pntball.com is the place to go. Hopefully, I can get a group of people together this spring and summer and we'll be able to go paintballing.

This post was brought to you by the letters F, U, N, and the number 4.

Landscape LED Lighting

I just read about Landscape LED Lighting and I'm excited about the possibilities. I've mentioned before that I'd like to look into using LEDs all around my home.

Another possibility with LED Landscape Lighting is that it's possible to use solar panels to recharge the system and cut costs even more since LEDs require low voltage. It's not that you'd need to worry about the costs of using LEDs as they are up to 90% more efficient than standard lighting.

With creative use of up-lighting, back lighting, and indirect lighting, you can really make your landscaping POP! Take a look at the low voltage landscape lighting options at LizardLighting.com for more specifics.

I'll keep it in mind when I start planning out our landscape lighting.

Can we replace all our lighting with LEDs? It sounds like a good idea to me.

This post was brought to you by the letters L, O, W, V, O, L, T, and the number 90.

Decorative LED Lighting

Recently, the Queen told you that I expressed an interest in replacing out Christmas lighting with efficient LED lighting. I am indeed interested in replacing all our lights with LEDs. LED light strings can burn for 50000 hours or more! That's a lot of years of use.

They can be used year round if you're just a bit clever on your use. They can be used on the edge of a deck or in flower beds as accent lighting. They can be used along walks to provide some ambient lighting to avoid tripping hazards. When arranged appropriately, they can provide nearly any type of lighting you could want.

These lights are also extremely efficient. When a string of 2000 LEDs is used for 8 hours a day everyday of the year, they cost just $50 a year to operate. That's a lot more efficient that standard lighting. Please view the Christmas lights they have to offer at HolidayLEDs.com for more information.

I'm likely to use them for hidden lighting on the deck I'll be working on this spring and summer. That way I can make much better use of my deck well into the night.

This post was brought to you by the letters L, E, D, and the number 2000.