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The Armchair Academic March Tips |
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This page was last updated on: October 8, 2001
My personal motto is: "Never put off until tomorrow what you can conceivably get done today!" |
March Tips for Being Organized I love March - spring is definitely in the air! Daffodils are blooming and the sun shines more than it has in the past few months. One of my favorite things about March is that it's time to put out the hummingbird feeder. We really enjoy the birds that visit our yard, especially the hummingbirds (and the Bewick's Wren!). Be sure to place your hummingbird feeder out of the reach of cats! You can buy nectar for hummingbirds, but why not make your own? It's simple and easy: mix 1 cup of boiling water with 1/4 cup of white sugar. Allow to cool before you put it out for the birds. I usually only put out about 1/3 of a cup at a time, and when they have sipped up most of that, I wash the feeder, and refill it. The male hummingbirds usually return to our area first, so you only need to put out small amounts of nectar. About a month after the males appear, the females will show up, so you may want to put out a bit more nectar then. I keep the unused portion of the nectar in the fridge in a small jar labeled "Hummingbird Nectar". Wash the feeder each time before you refill it to keep bacteria from growing, which can cause the birds to get sick. This is also the time to clean out your birdhouses if you have not already done so. Some books recommend washing them out. I never haveI usually just empty out last year's nest and wipe out the birdhouse with a dry cloth. Last year I didn't get around to cleaning out any of the houses, and our little Bewick's Wrens took care of the job themselves and were they funny to watch...but that's another article! Sweet Peas can be planted in March. The nice thing about Sweet Peas is that you HAVE to pick the flowers. Usually I get the evil eye for snipping off flowers to bring them in the house, but with Sweet Peas, you have to cut the flowers or the plants will stop blooming. I still had blooms into November one year. Sweet Pea seeds should be soaked in water overnight before being planted. I've found they do better if planted in a small trench, and then cover in the stems as they grow. Sweet Peas need a trellis or netting for support, and do best in full sun with frequent watering. When I've forgotten to take meat out of the freezer, or am defrosting a large item (such as a turkey), I've found that a cooler filled with cold water works well for defrosting. I don't like to use the microwave, as mine seems to defrost unevenlyone side is half-cooked while another area is still frozen. I often don't have room in the fridge, and I don't like tying up my single kitchen sink. I hope no one is defrosting meat on their counter! Meat must stay below 40 F or 4 C. Frozen meat immersed in cold water will defrost faster than just placing the meat in the fridge. I change the water in the cooler about every 34 hours. For those of us who are registered with a school that requires us to report on how our kids are doing, here's an idea I got from someone I was visiting. She keeps a small box for each child on a shelf. When the kids have done a project they are happy with, or want to share with their "teacher", they place the project in their box. When Mom needs to work on her reports, the projects are already gathered in one place, and the child has some input into what gets sent as an evidence of learning. -Marilyn Powell |
Daffodowndilly She wore her yellow sun-bonnet, She wore her greenest gown; She turned to the south wind And she curtsied up and down. She turned to the sunlight and shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbour: "Winter is dead." -A.A. Milne When we Were Very Young |