Showing posts with label
Do It Yourself and Save Money.
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Showing posts with label
Do It Yourself and Save Money.
Show all posts
It has been one month since I sent my Poinsettia plants to 'treatment' to turn them red for Christmas. I thought I would provide an update on how they are doing. (If you want to read the original post, you can see that here.)
Some are doing quite well and others need more time in the darkness. It takes a few days to remember to consistently open the blinds in the morning and then shut them (as well as the door to the room) at night. I have been so busy in the garden that for the first two weeks, my application of their 'treatment' was spotty to say the least! I ended up putting a note on my refrigerator to remind myself both in the morning and at night. It has worked, and the last two weeks of the month I was much more consistent with the 'treatment'.
So this is what my plants look like now. These two plants are older. (This isn't their first time at the rodeo.) They 'get' what they are supposed to do; so (for me) older plants are always much easier to turn.
These three are baby plants from 4 inch pots last Christmas. I re-potted them this summer and they grew like weeds! It is their first time 'turning' in a home environment. They are still confused and don't quite understand what they are supposed to do (yet).
I am sure by November 15th or so, they too will start to turn red!
Do you throw out your Christmas Poinsettia plants each January? It isn't necessary, and purchasing new ones each year costs a lot of money. Also, they are not a short lived gift plant. Instead, they will last years and years if treated like a normal house plant. I have some that are years and years old. I also have some that are as young as three years old.
The red leaves will last until about May if the plant is kept in bright light. I love the look of Poinsettia plants and enjoy looking at their red leaves all winter and spring. When the days get longer in late spring/early summer, the red leaves will drop off and the plant will start to grow new stems. (You can transplant into a bigger pot at this time if you wish.) Since this is the time the plant will grow, it will need fertilizer through the end of September. Here is one of mine. I transplanted it into a new pot in May and it lives in my bathroom.
Here is another one. This one did not loose all of it's red leaves this summer. It is in the same pot from last year.
I want them to be red for Christmas this year. So, to turn these red myself, I will 'treat' them with a forced dark period. It is super easy to do! It takes approximately one minute per day. If you do some research on the internet, you will find that most articles will say you only need to treat them to a forced dark period for two weeks to get them to turn red. That may be true if you own a greenhouse with computerized light switches that allow you complete control over the light. When treating them in a home environment, my experience over the years is this treatment needs to continue for 60 days. However, since it only takes 1 minute per day, it is not a big effort at all.
So the first thing I do is move them to a room that will not be used at night. This is the hard part. Who wants to live in a house with rooms that are closed off at night? So, if like me, you don't really have a spot that meets that requirement, use a room that gets the least amount of use after the sun goes down. I put my plants in my guest bedroom.
Treatment takes 30 seconds at night and another 30 seconds in the morning. When the sun goes down, turn off all lights in the room and close the blinds. Shutting the blinds is necessary so the moon and/or streetlights do not shine on the plants all night. Then, as you exit the room, shut the door. This is also necessary to block the lights in the rest of the house from reaching the plants. If you need to go into that room and turn on the light later in the evening, so be it. Just be sure to turn off the light and shut the door when you leave. These 'interruptions' of light during the dark treatment is why it takes 60 days to turn the plants red in a home environment. If you can be really disciplined and completely block off a room that will not be used at night, you can reduce the number of days the plants needs the forced dark treatment.
I have noticed over the years, that the red Poinsettias are the easiest to turn. White, pink and other variations, don't do as well for me. If I want a Poinsettia plant that is another color, I will purchase a little one at Christmas time to enjoy that color. I still keep it for a few years and give it my forced dark treatment, but my results have been less then satisfactory in getting them to turn colors. Those plants I tend to eventually toss out.
When Christmas time come this year, consider keeping your Poinsettias as full time houseplants. Turning them red for the next year, is definitely doable! No special skills or equipment needed!
I will be sure to post updates as we get closer to Christmas so you can see the results!
A few weeks ago, I spray washed the patio and the patio furniture. (Spray washing is a must in the south, both the patio and the patio furniture get mold on them. Spray washing with a power washer is the only way to remove it.) I don't find it necessary to spray wash the patio every year, every other year seems to do fine. Same with the patio furniture. However, this year was the year to do both.
My patio furniture is wood. It has also been a bit rickety for the past few years. I wasn't sure it was going to survive the spray washing! When I finished, this is what I had for one of the chairs.
Two of the slats that formed the seat fell off! In addition, the front piece disintegrated in front of me! Well, it is to be expected, wood doesn't last a long time in the humidity here. And, these chairs are 21 years old. (They have been repaired and repainted a few times over those 21 years.) Is it finally time to purchase new ones? Well, I was thinking it was (and getting excited about having new furniture!) That is, until I went back out an inspected both chairs after they dried. If repaired and repainted again, they could last another two to three years. I could hear my great- grandmothers saying to me "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without!" As much as I wanted new furniture, I resisted and decided to repair what I had instead.
The first step was to replace what was missing. My husband cut some replacement pieces from extra wood we had left over from another project. These were simple straight cuts, nothing fancy or hard. While he was doing that, I decided the two slats that fell off when washing, could still be used. I used new finishing nails to reattached them back onto the chair. I am not sure they are sturdy enough to last three years, but if needed we will cut additional pieces at a later date and replace them. For now, the chairs are no longer rickety, the new pieces eliminated that. So, here is what we ended up with before painting.
It was now time to paint. (I had to paint the chairs in the garage because thunderstorms were forecasted for that evening. As you can see in the background, Molly was helping me.) I had some redwood stain that I purchased a few years ago at the home improvement store and never used. It was on sale and I knew I would use it some time in the future! Everything on our patio is wood and it all needs to be repainted every few years. I try very hard to have everything we need on hand for everyday living. When you determine the time to purchase items, you can wait until they go on sale. With just a bit of planning, you should never have to pay full price for anything! Anyway, here is what I purchased.
Two coats later, here are the wood chairs.
I also repainted the table between the chairs. That didn't need any repair, just repainting. That table is 20 years old. Next up is the steps to the hot tub. One of the sets of legs fell apart when I spray washed it!
Would I really like new patio furniture? Yes, I would! While I do want new furniture, spending money to purchase it pains me! I simply can't do it while the furniture I have can be repaired to last just a few more years. Being frugal over the long term is more important then the few weeks of gratification you will get from the new furniture. As Dave Ramsey often says, "If you live like no one else, then later, you can live like no one else!"
One of the ways we save money at our house is to not pay for any services we can do ourselves. Let me also state that we are just ordinary people - we don't have any special repair skills. The good news is, most home repair jobs don't need special skills. All you really need is a bit of information!
I have a lot of home repair jobs I plan to work on this summer. Most of them are jobs people think are too technical or too difficult to accomplish by themselves. Hence, a new topic is born! I will show you just how simple it is to do things for yourself that you may never have thought possible. I hope the posts under this new topic will give you the encouragement to try some basic repairs around your house too! I am confident that you too can do it yourself and save money!
The first post under this topic was a repair that became necessary when my computer broke. While I do not have my computer back yet, (it is still at the manufacturer's facility getting repaired), my husband and I decided to try our hand at fixing another computer we had that was out of warranty. This computer screen broke about a year ago, rendering the computer unusable. We tried attaching it to a separate monitor but didn't have any success at that.
The first thing we did was to call a few computer repair centers to ask how much a new screen replacement would cost. Most quotes were around $215 to $225. Unbelievable! There is no way we were going to spend that much money to repair a machine that was three years old!
While researching our options, we came across the website, LapTopScreen.com. This site sells computer screens and provides instructions on how to replace them yourself. (There are also many YouTube videos on how to replace computer screens.) My husband ordered a new screen for less than $100. I really thought successfully changing out a computer screen would be way too technical for non-computer geeks like us to accomplish. Not so! Let me show you how easy it was!
My husband was going to do the repair entirely by himself and my job was going to be taking pictures for the blog. However, the screws holding the screen in place are quite small and required smaller hands to handle so I ended up doing some of it as well. The website recommended a magnetic screwdriver to make it easier to handle the screws. We didn't have one. I held the screws with tweezers instead.
The computer we are working on is an HP. Your brand of computer may be different from ours so be sure to watch the instructional video for your brand/model on the website before starting your repair job. Since static electricity can ruin the sensitive electronics in a computer, be careful not to accidentally discharge static electricity onto the computer when making repairs.
To start, you will need to remove the screen frame. The screen frame on our HP is secured by two tiny screws below the hinges. They are black screws on a black frame so they are not easy to see in this picture. They were also placed at such an angle that removing them was the most difficult part of the whole operation.
After the screws are out, the frame snaps out. We did have to gently pry it out with a flat knife in a few spots. Be careful prying it out. The frame is made of light plastic. If you apply too much pressure the frame might break. Our computer also had a few strips of adhesive holding the frame to the computer. The knife was really helpful in releasing the adhesive.
The screen is secured in a bracket that runs down the sides and top/bottom of it to make a support. The screen bracket is secured to the laptop with two two screws located in the upper corners. Those two screws come out next.
Next remove the screws that attach the screen to the screen bracket. The HP has four screws here, two on each side. Be careful not to drop the screws. They are hard to see and very easy to lose.
Since the screws are so tiny, I decided to place them in bowls so we wouldn't lose them. The screws for each step went into separate bowls so they didn't get mixed up.
The last step to remove the screen is to disconnect it from the computer. It is a simple plug connection located on the back of the screen. It's held down by a piece of adhesive-like tape. To remove it, gently pull the tape up, off the point of connection. (Leave it on the plug itself because you will secure it to the new screen.) Then unplug the connection. Be careful not to pull too hard or you might damage the pins on the connector. In this picture, my husband is pointing to the plug.
Here are all the pieces removed. The new screen is in the package at the top of the picture behind the computer.
To install the new screen, repeat the steps in reverse order.
And we're done!
The final test is to turn it on and make sure it works!
Success!
Since it was our first time, it took about one hour to complete. That included time to search for one of the screws I dropped! I imagine the staff at any computer repair shop can probably complete a screen change in about 15 minutes!
It truly was super easy and we saved a lot of money by doing it ourselves!
