Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/726387
Ifyou'veeverneeded to prevent children from closing a door and unwit- tingly lock- ing them- selves in the bathroom, you may know the old hand-towel trick: Throw the towel over the top of the door. That's it. No matter how hard a child tries to close it, no can do! I've always loved that handy, dandy trick. But I have to admit, I'd never thought about how to use a similar trick to keep a child from opening a door. Well, I hadn't until I heard from one of today's great readers... CREATE A DOOR JAM. My 2-year-old grandson opened the door and went outside while I was in the bathroom! I live in an apartment and am not al- lowed to install a chain or other hardware on the door. I searched for a por- table lock and found sev- eral kinds, all about $15 to $25. I finally heard of closing a folded wash- cloth in the crack be- tween the door and door jam. That effectively jams the door without harm- ing it. It takes an adult's strength to open the door and pull the cloth out. I'm so thankful for this tip be- cause it didn't cost me a thing and it really works. — Barbara USE 'EM UP TO THE LAST PEEL. Rather than throwing out overly ripe vegetables, I simmer them in water to make vegetable stock*. I keep peelings and other vegetable odds and ends — even potato cook- ing water — in a bag in the freezer until it's full, then I make the stock. — Cate *To make vegetable stock, chop the vegetables into 1-inch chunks. (Make sure they've been washed.) Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil in a soup pot. Add veg- etable scraps (onion, cel- ery, carrots, scallions, gar- lic, herbs and so forth). Cook over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring fre- quently. Add salt and wa- ter (more or less depend- ing on volume of vegeta- bles), and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain the broth, and dis- card vegetables. Store the broth in a covered con- tainer in the refrigerator or freezer. STACKED GRILLED CHEESE. My wife and I enjoyed your recent col- umn on grilled cheese sandwiches. We may just try some of your suggested variations. When we make grilled cheese, we like to include pickle slices. We typically use the pre-sliced Vlasic Stackers dill pickles. Timing is important with these. You really don't want to heat the pickle it- self, so you need to pull the sandwich apart right after it comes off the grid- dle, before the cheese sets, to insert the pickle slice. One alternative is to put a slice or two of deli ham on one of the bread slices, so that this quick action isn't needed. — John DEAR JOHN: Although I am a huge fan of pick- les, your humble columnist found this idea to be a bit off-putting, if not down- right odd. Hot, melted cheese and cold dill pick- les? But I must apologize for jumping to conclu- sions. I tried it. Oh, my! It's absolutely delicious. Next, I'm going to try Vlasic Bread and Butter Stackers. Your instructions are spot on. RETIRED, BUT NOT FINISHED YET. I have been reading your blog for years and have used so many of your fabulous tips. I would like to add one that I've never seen mentioned. For a dusting/ cleaning rag, I have found that nothing beats a good, old-fashioned cotton di- aper. I buy two dozen very clean retired dia- pers (They'll never be that white again!) from Dy-Dee Diaper Service (dy-dee. com) in Pasadena, Califor- nia, for $22.90. They last an incredibly long time, and I feel good about giv- ing the diapers a second life and keeping them out of the landfill. — Stacie DEAR STACIE: What a great idea. As I looked into this, I found that mechan- ics, contractors and oth- ers buy up retired diapers just about as fast as they become available for pur- chase. Every diaper ser- vice I contacted across the country, including Dy- Dee, sells its retired di- aper stock. Some sell by the dozen (for as low as $.50 per diaper); others by the pound (for around $3 to $5 per pound). Some companies require lo- cal pickup, but others will ship. Rather than listing com- panies here (because the pricing and pickup and de- livery options vary), if you are interested, I suggest you search online for a di- aper service in your lo- cal area and then give the company a call. Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Howtochildproof a forbidden door, plus more tips Mary Hunt NEVER GIVE UP UNTIL THEY BUCKLE UP. VISIT SAFERCAR.GOV/ KIDSBUCKLEUP VISIT SAFERCAR.GOV/ KIDSBUCKLEUP The Sacramento River Discovery Center wants to extend a large thank you to the members of the community for their sup- port of the center's Sum- mer Day Camps. The 430 participants had a wonderful time learning about things in the world of the Men- docino National Forest's Red Bluff Recreation Area. Each day they explored, created, studied, played games, ate snacks and generally had a wonder- ful time. This would not have been possible except for the generous donations of our camp sponsors. The center recognizes Rolling Hills Community Development Foundation sponsor of "Get Wet," Pa- cific Gas and Electric — for "Get Dirty," Union Pa- cific Foundation sponsored both the "Get Going" and the "Get Moving" camps and the Wulkan Founda- tion for sponsoring the "Get Rich" camp and pro- viding funding for those families that needed some financial assistance. All of this support made it pos- sible for the center to keep the camp costs to less than $100 per camper per week. Zach Whitten, camp director, was aided by Amanda Myers and Rocky Rodrigues in providing campers with some fun learning activities over the six weeks session. The campers got to build an oil pipeline; a bridge with craft sticks; learned to operate a kayak; learned about compasses and other ways of locating their posi- tion; the important skills needed for bike mainte- nance and repair; creat- ing art work using col- ored sand and many more things were explored each week. Whitten adds his ap- preciation for all the sup- port of the community in- cluding the Community Action Agency. September begins the fall schedule of activities that includes the Board of Directors meeting on Sept. 13. The Thursday Evening Program series will re- sume at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Farm Bureau Build- ing, 275 Sale Lane. Ryan Teubert, from the Te- hama County Flood Con- trol Board, will provide an update on the Groundwa- ter Management Act plans. The Federal Public Land's Day for Region V will be celebrated on Sept. 23-25 at the Red Bluff Rec- reation Area, 1000 Sale Lane. This will provide families with two activi- ties to participate in that weekend — that is also the fair weekend. The goal of this event is to introduce youth to the facilities of federal properties through- out the United States, and help them understand the diversity and beauty of the lands that are being pro- tected from development for future generations. Students in the fourth grade are invited to visit Camp Discovery from 10 a.m. to noon or from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 to learn about ways to keep plastic out of our water- ways and participants will make their own recy- cled shopping bag. At the end of the activity each student will receive a spe- cial pass that will allow the student and accompanying adults to visit other federal lands for a whole year at no charge. That would make the entrance to Lassen Na- tional Park and Whiskey- town Recreation Area free. For all of the family members not in fourth grade, the Discovery Cen- ter and Gardens will be open 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. that day. There will be special activities available. Watch for the signs and di- rections. The center thanks all of its visitors so far this year and would like to have ev- eryone come and visit the Mendocino National Forest Red Bluff Recreation Area before the end of 2016. This is a 488 acre local area with no entrance fees. It is a place where you can walk up to 4.2 miles of paved trails, have a picnic, kayak or canoe, fish, sit and read a book, or help remove in- vasive species from the Discovery Garden or "goat heads" from the area along the trails, just to name a few things you might do. For more information about the Mendocino Na- tional Forest Red Bluff Recreation Area. The headquarters in Willows can be reached at 934- 3316 or call Bobie Hughes at 527-1196 or write to sac- ramentoriverdiscoverycen- ter@gmail.com. Center hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and is located at 1000 Sale Lane, 2.2 miles past McDonald's. DISCOVERY CENTER En d- of -s um me r ca mp s re po rt i ss ue d In the past two months, California has experienced a rash of large and damag- ing wildfires and in almost every single case, the fire was preventable. It's true, 95 percent of all wildfires are caused by the activity of people. Cal Fire is asking, especially with the holiday week- end, that all Californians do their part now to help prevent the next devas- tating wildfire. One Less Spark means One Less Wildfire. "As we are in the mid- dle of the fifth year of re- cord drought, we need to make sure that everyone is vigilant in preventing wildfires," said Lynne Tol- machoff, Cal Fire chief of public education. "It starts with our Ready, Set, Go Program that helps prepare resi- dents for a wildfire, and carries over to the One Less Spark, One Less Wild- fire Program that stresses how to prevent wildfires through proper care and maintenance of camp- fires, vehicles, and outdoor equipment." Outdoorpowered equipment Use powered equipment before 10 a.m. when it is cooler. Use the right equipment to cut dry grass. Lawn mowers are designed to mow lawn grass, not weeds. When using heavy equipment such as trac- tors, backhoes or harvest- ers, use caution around rocks, as metal imple- ments striking rocks can create a spark and start a fire. Ensure chainsaws, weed eaters and other portable gasoline-powered equip- ment are in good working order, which includes hav- ing a spark arrestor. When welding, make sure there is at least ten feet of clearance and a fire extinguisher or charged water hose ready to use, just in case of a fire. Campfires Campfire permits are required for all portable gas stoves and campfires; check to make sure there are no fire restrictions in the area first. Always have water or a shovel nearby. Never leave children un- attended by a campfire. Completely extin- guish campfires using the "drown, stir and feel" method. Drown the fire with wa- ter. Stir the area with a shovel to wet any remain- ing embers and ash and mix in more dirt. Lastly, feel the area with the back of your hand to make sure it's cool. If it is still hot repeat the "drown and stir" method until it is cool. Vehicles Never drive over dry grass. Vehicle maintenance is crucial in preventing wild- fires. Securing trailer chain so they don't drag on the ground. Ensure vehicle brakes and tire pressure are main- tained to prevent sparking from metal to metal con- tact. To learn more ways to prevent a wildfire visit ReadyForWildfire.org. WILDFIRES Ca l Fi re o ff er s ti ps to s ta y fi re s af e CONTRIBUTED Sacramento River Discovery Center campers digging along edge of Sacramento River. Call 877-4DAD411 or visit www.fatherhood.gov be a dad today. Take time to 530-526-9887 645 Antelope Blvd. • Suite 8 Red Bluff, Ca 96080 www.countrycaninedayspa.com info@countrycaninedayspa.com Professional Groomer for 10 years, serving Tehama County and surrounding areas Country Canine Luxury Day Spa We care for the whole dog Mon.10am-4pm•Tues.-Fri.10am-5:30pm•Sat.10am-4pm 413WalnutSt. Red Bluff 530 528-8000 www.angelsamongusall.com www.redbluffgoldexchange.com •WeBuy&SellGoldandSilverBullion • Coin & Estate Appraisals • New & Estate Jewelry • Gold Panning Supplies • Watch Batteries • Tools Guitars • Amps • Musical Accessories • TV's • Laptops • Electronics • Knifes • Vintage Games and Systems DVDs & Blue Ray Movies • Metal Detectors • Bikes • Aura Camera • Spiritual Services Bridal Jewelry & Wedding Services Color Therapy Glasses • Crystals • Drums Servin g Our Community For Over 21 Years Se Habla Español AskAboutOur Rewards Program - R E D B L U FF ' S - 5:00PM-10:00PMINDOWNTOWNREDBLUFF GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! Pre-Sale Tickets - $20.00 • Day of Event - $25 Learnmorebyvisiting www.redbluffbeefnbrew.com Wilcox Oaks Golf Club AllNew Proprietary Memberships OneTimeInitiationfee$250 Family $ 199 monthly Single $ 149 Monthly Call530-527-6680 www.WilcoxOaksGolfClub.com CALIC#778199 GERBER 385-1153 HINKLE ROOFING & CONSTRUCTION, INC Round Up Saloon Round Up Saloon 610WashingtonSt. Red Bluff Supporting Farmers Market with live music on Wednesdaynites call for dates (530) 527-9901 LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, September 13, 2016 » MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5