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Idon'tknow about you, but when I learn some new and amaz- ing household tip that promises to save me time or money, well, it just makes my day. I love it! Not all of the tips I get from you, my faithful readers, are brand new. But since I am not good at keeping 20,000 or more of these delicious little tidbits cat- aloged in my mind (yes, you've sent in at least that many over the years), even the ones I know can become a new delight when you remind me of them. I hope you enjoy today's offering of great tips as much as I do. Those pesky ants. If you have ants or other bugs around the house, put 50/50 mixture of Blue Dawn dish soap and wa- ter into empty spray bot- tle and keep it handy. When you see the insects, spray them with the mix- ture. Provided you really saturate those little crit- ters, the soap actually breaks down their exo- skeletons, and they die al- most immediately. Cheap and easy cleanup, too. — Lynda F. Slippery cleanup. I en- joy baking, but don't like measuring sticky ingre- dients such as shortening or peanut butter. To avoid the mess that makes, I spray the measuring cup with a nonstick cooking spray, and the sticky in- gredient slides right out. I no longer have to spend time scraping the mea- suring cup or spoon. — Joyce R. Static cling. When traveling, pack an un- used dryer sheet, espe- cially if you're traveling to a dry, desert-like area. A few swipes with the dryer sheet will eliminate static from garments and equipment. — S.M.M. Perfect iced tea. If you want to make smooth, clear iced tea that isn't bitter, just add a pinch of baking soda to the wa- ter while brewing. I use an iced-tea maker, so I add the baking soda with the ice. It turns out fab- ulous. I prefer sweet tea, but this will work with unsweetened tea, too. — Sheryl R. Ring rid. Get rid of ring around the tub with Mr. Clean Magic Eras- ers. They are cheap, and even generic brands work well! The erasers cut right through the dirt and save hours of back pain from scrubbing with the stan- dard brush and soap. — Margie C. Re-roof, re-use. We are re-roofing our house, and we didn't want to pay the cost of having the old shingles hauled away. We have an area in our yard that we plan to landscape with decorative white rocks, and we decided to recycle the old shingles by laying them down un- der the rocks to prevent weeds from growing up through them. — Bon- nie L. Skillet restore. I burned Pam in my fa- vorite stainless steel fry- ing pan. Thankfully, I was able to remove it with Barkeepers Friend. I made a paste of Bar Keepers Friend and water and rubbed it all over the pan. I let it sit overnight and then scrubbed it with a nylon brush. It took two applications, but now my pan is sparkling clean again. — Tena F. Ceramic stovetop. My white ceramic cooktop stove is a pain to keep clean. It shows every bit of burned-on grease. I discovered that if I spray it with plain white vin- egar and then sprinkle with baking soda, it dis- solves all but the most stubborn stains. I keep my baking soda in a left- over spice jar with a shaker top for easy appli- cation. It bubbles when it contacts the vinegar, and it also provides a little scouring action for those spots that still need a lit- tle scrubbing. — Frieda MaryHuntisthefounder of www.DebtProofLiving. com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@eve- rydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheap- skate, P.O. Box 2099, Cy- press, CA 90630. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Showtheants who is the boss Mary Hunt PLEASERECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! SubmittedbyKrisLundeen.Ifyouwouldliketosubmitaphotoforconsideration,emailittoeditor@redbluffdai- lynews.com with "reader photo" in the subject line or bring it to 545 Diamond Ave. in Red Bluff during normal business hours. READER PHOTO Altacal Audubon will of- fer the following programs and field trips in December. All activities are free of cost unless otherwise indicated and are open to the public. If you have any questions or want further information about specific activities, call Wayland Augur at 530 519-4724 or send an email to wba@acm.org. Program Member's Slide Show: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8, Chico Creek Nature Center Members and friends are invited to share some pho- tos they have taken over the past year. They an- nual Members' Slide Show is a favorite program for many. There are always some great new, and some- times old, pictures to see and tales of how they were gotten, to hear. Join in and bring a few of your own photos of birds/wildlife/ nature (on disk or memory stick). There will be plenty of time for all who want to participate. Also at this pro- gram will be plans for the annual Chico and Oroville Christmas Bird Counts tak- ing place over the follow- ing two weekends. Call or email Jennifer Patten, 530 345-9356 or jpchico@sb- cglobal.net, so she knows ahead of time how many will be showing photos. Field trips Feather River Parkway: Trip Leader: Matt Forster, Sunday, Dec. 14 The Feather River Park- way is the wintering grounds of many water- fowl and gulls. The group will walk the pathway in search of Common and Barrow's Goldeneye, Buf- flehead, and the occasional rarity. During last year's Oroville Christmas Bird Count a female Long-tailed Duck was seen flying down stream. The shallow water also attracts many differ- ent types of gulls. Gulls are very hard to distinguish be- tween due to the fact that they have different plum- age cycles due specifically to the age of the gull. The group will spend time talk- ing about how to distin- guish the difference be- tween California, Herring, Ring-billed, Thayer, and Mew Gulls. Anywhere with a concentration of gulls, you should always look for an out of place gull that may have drifted in from the coast due to heavy weather. The group will also travel down to the Diversion Dam to view a possible wintering Osprey and Hooded Mer- ganser. Rufous-crowned Sparrow and Phainopepla have also been seen during the winter period. Meet at Chico Park & Ride lot near- est Hwy. 99/32 at 9 a.m. Bring water, lunch and bin- oculars. Matt Forster, find- forster@yahoo.com, 619- 347-2269 Christmas Bird Counts This year Altacal Audu- bon Society will partici- pate in the annual Audu- bon Christmas Bird Count. More than 50,000 observ- ers nation-wide participate each year in this census of early-winter bird popula- tions. The results are com- piled into the longest-run- ning database in ornithol- ogy, representing over a century of unbroken data of early-winter bird popula- tions across America. And it is free. All levels of birders are welcome. Bring warm clothes, hiking shoes, lunch, bird books and binoculars. You will be assigned an area and spend the day counting birds in this area. Dec. 20, Saturday — Chico CBC complier: Mary Muchowski, 530-228-0625 or mmuchowski@earth- link.net. RSVPs encour- aged. Meet at 7:30 a.m. Chico Creek Nature Center, 1968 East 8th St. Dec. 28, Sunday — Oro- ville CBC complier: Gaylord Grams, 530-533-1624 or gg2canoe@yahoo.com. To do a half-day, contact Gay- lord Grams ahead of time. Meet at 7:30 a.m., Butte County Ag Commissioners Office, 316 Nelson Ave, Oro- ville east of Hwy 70 across from Home Depot. Jan. 3, Saturday — Red Bluff CBC complier: Karen Scheuermann, Cotton- wood, 530-347-1687 or ka- rens2020@gmail.com. Let Karen know if you plan to join the count. ALTACAL Audubon outings for December By Sue Manning The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Some silken- haired beauties are ea- ger sidekicks to motorcy- cle riders, wind whipping their thick locks as passers- by watch the wild ride with envy. That is until the slob- ber starts. These passengers are pooches — mastiffs, Lab- radors and Chihuahuas of- ten clad in goggles and tiny leather jackets that fly along in blimp-shaped buckets at- tachedtothesideofmotorcy- cles. They are set apart from other pets by speed instead of breed. They are also the stars of "Sit Stay Ride: The Story of America's Sidecar Dogs," a documentary that was largely funded by an online crowdfundingcampaignand gives a quarter of its pro- ceeds to shelters and rescues. The documentary by film- making couple Eric and Ge- neva Ristau is the unique story of 15 dogs and 18 rid- ers who spend all the time they can on three wheels. Ian Roper, 43, of Snohom- ish, Washington, and his bull mastiff Bruce love to take it easy on a slow ride. It's a departure for Roper, who said he raced cars and motorcycles for years in De- troit and Snohomish, a city northeast of Seattle, to en- joy the speed and feel of the open air. "It is much slower than a motorcycle, but it is a much more relaxed ride," Roper said. Bruce, who's nearly 4 and weighs 135 pounds, keeps it interesting on the road. When they are in the forest, the dog will react if he de- tects a deer or other wildlife. "He is tied in so he can't run off, but he'll stand up if he smells something inter- esting," Roper said. If tree branches hang over the road, "he will grab at leaves as they go by. When we get where we are going, the sidecar is half-full of leaves. It's a game to him." Things get really fun when they come to a stop sign or park at a store and a crowd gathers around. Everyone is laughing and pointing at Bruce in his sweet ride. 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