Oh goodness, Deb, I wasn't thinking of this for my pot ghetto, lol! I probably won't even get around to something like this for my patio plants! Actually, I'm rather proud of myself that my pot ghetto is finally shrinking. I've been very restrained the last few years (more or less) and I've actually *planted* some of those plants - can you believe that, lol? What a concept! And then last week I went through and weeded out all the dead ones (yes, I admit it - it was due to my neglect, and I can't even blame the heat wave because this was before it started!). I haven't counted, but I'd say I'm down to 100 pots! Whoo-hoo! :) Dee

Here are three small inexpensive item that are not only handy for trouble shooting, they can be a life saver. Get a single probe type "Voltage Detector". They look like a large ballpoint pen and when you touch the tip against any surface that is electrically energized there is an audible beeping sound and most have a flashing red tip. I have one made by Greenlee that is a bright yellow color with a red tip and can generally be found in the electrical section of Lowes or HD for about $12. It uses two or three tiny hearing aid type batteries which come prepacked in the unit ( I am not sure which because I have had it 4 yrs and have not yet needed to change batteries). They are excellent for testing a wire to see if it has power but what I have found is even more important is then when working on an unknown piece of equipment you can touch the outer housing to quickly determine if a short circuit has energized the housing. I have avoided a number of nasty electrical shocks since i acquired this tool. Another very handy item is a pocket sized Volt,Ohm, Milliamp meter commonly called a V.O.M. I got one and glued a couple strips of rubber magnet material on the back, which I salvaged from and old refrigerator door gasket. With the magnets on the back when i am working on an appliance, central furnace or AC condensing unit the meter will hang on the metal cabinet by the magnet and i have both hands free to hold the two test probes. Simple V.O.M. are available for about $15 while more elaborate ones run up to hundreds of dollars. There is also an inexpensive electrical outlet tester that looks like a 3prong plug adapter with 3 LED's on the end. You plug it into an unknown outlet and you can quickly tell if the outlet is wire correctly and if incorrect it will tall you what the problem is by the configuration of which L.E.D's light up. These run about $8 to $10

I've decided to use the 14/3 6-footers I've always used for heavier-than-a-lamp stuff. What I did was connect the refrigerator to the extension cord and then tied a pull-string to that connection so I can drag it forward to the front of the refrigerator during a power outage. Once there, I disconnect the refrig from the extension cord and plug it into the generator cord. All this to avoid moving a full refrigerator during a hurricane in semi-darkness! The string was necessary because the alcove only has room at the top and not at the sides for getting to the plug (oy!)

I wanted to chime in on this thread. I make yogurt regularly and have been for several years. Atleast 2-3 times a week. And I do not use a thermometer. I have also studied the dairy science of making yogurt professionally and despite all the math, it boils down to providing a comfortable pasturized medium for the bacteria to grow. Here is the easy recipe if you will that I wrote up for some other friends.. I usually make 1/4 gallon. But it really does not matter as you just need a longer time to "set" yogurt if you use more milk. Use ultra-pasterized organic milk (I usually pick up Horizon's or Costco or Stermicks or whatever is available on sale that week at my store). Heat the milk. If heating on stove top use a stainless steel pot with thick bottom. You can also heat in a microwave. If you are heating on stove top, use low heat and stir frequently to prevent milk from scorching and prevent the skin from forming. With a microwave, you need to eyeball it until you figure out the math for your microwave (how much milk in what casserole for how many minutes). The milk is heated enough when you can see steam arising steadily. If you put a drop of milk on your wrist, it should feel hot. Now take remove the pot from heat and let cool. You are ready to add the yogurt culture when the milk feels lukewarm (give the milk a good stir and do the wrist test again). Don't worry about specific temperature, as long as it feels luke warm and tepid, the yogurt will set. Add the culture. For the first time you can use a commmercial culture like Yogourmet (available at wholefoods for me). Use just 1 packet and follow instructions to mix the powder in a bit of milk and pour it into the pot. For subsequent times, you can save a few tbsps of the made yogurt and use it as culture for the next times. My current culture is going strong for 3 years. Mix the culture throughly and put the lid back on the pot. Keep it in a reasonably warm place. If you warmed the milk in the microwave, you can just mix the culture and leave it in there. If you live in a cooler climate, you can leave it in the oven with the ligh on. Or just cover the pot with some dish towels. Do not move/ disturb the pot too much. The yogurt will set. How long --> depends on ambient temperature (cool --> longer, warm --> sooner). Check after 3-4 hrs to see if the yogurt is set. Tilt the pot slightly to see if is liquid still or solid. You will often see a small layer of whey on top when it is set. You can put it in the fridge when it is set to stop the bacteria growth. Some Q&A: Yogurt is a bit sour Home made yogurt is not sweetened and can be a bit more sour. It will also be more sour if the milk was too warm or the place you set it is too warm (the oven or the room in summers). Just try setting it with slightly cooler milk and move it to the fridge sooner (good tip for warm summer) Yogurt takes too long to set Try with warmer milk and a more insulated area. My friend in cold canadian north uses a yogurt cosy (adapted from a tea cosy)she made to give the milk a nice ambient temperature. Why ultra pasturized organic milk Ultra pasturized basically means that the milk has been super heated to get rid of most bacteria (which explains the long shelf life of milk here). This actually makes it easier for home yogurt making as basically all you need to do is to get the milk to ambient temperature to introduce your yogurt culture/ bacteria. I usually heat it a bit more as my milk container has usually been opened and used for a couple of days. Organic is just my choice for my family. Milk and dairy products is one of the things I personally believe that it is a better choice to use organic. I NEED to know the science. This feels too "go with the flow" You asked for it. The science in yogurt making is simply to pasturize milk to kill any present microorganisms/ bacteria and then re-introduce the preferred bacteria culture that makes yogurt. When using a thermometer, heating milk to between 165 and 180 degrees Farenheit for a few minutes is basically same as ultra pasturization. This also denatures milk proteins so that they all set together as opposed to forming lumpy curds. Then the milk is cooled to 110 degrees Farenheit which is the best ambient temperature to incubate the usual yougurt bacteria (lactobacillus acidophillus, bulgaris) etc. The fermentation occurs over a period of 4-7 hrs. I want thicker yogurt Many store brands use gelatin. I don't like it as I feel it is too goopy. You can instead mix non-fat dry milk in the milk and mix it throughly (no lumps) before heating. You can start with 1/3 cup and then experiment to see how thick you want the yogurt. Also using whole milk will make thicker yogurt. Basically more solids in the milk (either fat or the solid non-fat), thicker the yogurt. Thicker yogurt will take slightly longer to set. Straining is another way to thicker after the yogurt is set. Nice but too much work IMHO. Flavored yogurt You can add pureed fruits to the mixture or jam even. I prefer to just add fresh fruit and other things like nuts, agave syrup or honey to dress the yogurt later. I usually find that the set of the yogurt sometimes gets wonky if you corrupt the milk before the culture is added. Can I use cute single serving jars This makes it a bit tricky to make sure the culture is evenly distributed and the ambient temperature is maintained for the fermentation. Results are sometimes not consistent. Suggest you try one of the yogurt makers in the market which already has the glass single serving jars. Try adding culture individually to each jar (same amount) to get consistent setting. Microwave Method please My friend simply boils milk in microwave oven till 180 to 185F (15.5mins for her corelle container in our microwave)wait it cools down to 110F to 120F. Just keep the warm innoculated milk in the oven that was pre-heated to 170 and SWITCHED OFF.