Newspaper Page Text
Laundry: How to put this tedious task in perspective
Everybody has one: that
one chore, though neces
sary, that just makes you
sigh with deeply felt dread.
For me, that would be
laundry. Not that I am particu
larly fond of loading and
unloading the dishwasher, or
scrubbing the toilet either, but
there is something about the
laundry that has just always
gotten to me. Could it be the
neverendingness of it all?
Possibly. And it is not so
much the doing of the laundry
that is so bad it is the fold
ing and putting away that real
ly can cause angst.
My husband and I bought
our first washer and dryer
when we were newlyweds. We
bought a middle of the road
set General Electric.
At the time, I did not con
sider the life expectancy of
our machines. Now I believe
our washing machine belongs
When dreams come true, don’t forget the people behind them
PIGEON FORGE, TENN
- The luxury touring bus
edged slowly, cautiously
around the winding mountain
roads of East Tennessee as the
star entertainer chatted ani
matedly with her visitors.
Pretty and lively, she pointed
out the various features of the
new bus, which include satel
lite, granite counters, mirrored
panels and sleek lighting. It is
what the entertainment indus
try likes to call “state-of-the
art.”
“Olivia Newton John used
this bus on her last tour,” she
explained as a casual after
thought, not one meant to
boast.
I looked around and
laughed. “This is bigger than
our first apartment!”
That girlish giggle that I
know so well, the one that
always reveals her giddy fasci
nation with life, rang merrily.
“It is, isn’t it?” The silliness
turned to a pensive smile.
How to choose the best
fertilizer, eliminate weeds
By Shay Smith
For the Forsyth County News
Q: Does pelletized lime
work as well as powdered
lime?
A: Lime is applied to raise
the soil pH. Pelletized lime is
just as effective as powdered
lime, as long as you use it
according to label recommen
dations.
Pelletized lime contains
finely ground dolomitic lime
bound in pellet form. When
they contact water, the pel
lets disintegrate and release
the enclosed lime.
Pelletized lime is more
expensive but easier and less
messy to apply than pow
dered lime.
To many homeowners, it
is well worth the extra cost.
Remember that it is best to
apply lime about 3 months
prior to planting time.
Q: Which are better:
organic or mineral fertiliz
ers?
A: To plants, nutrients
are the same regardless of
their origin. Nutrients in
“organic” fertilizers must be
converted to an “inorganic”
state before plants can utilize
them. Equivalent amounts of
nutrients will provide the
same nutritional value to
plants.
One major advantage of
organic fertilizers is that
when you use them, you are
adding organic matter to the
soil.
The added organic matter
provides many benefits to
the physical, chemical and
microbiological environment
of the soil.
Also, organic sources
contain sulfur and/or
micronutrients that may not
be present in an inorganic
fertilizer.
If you had your soil test
ed by the UGA Soil Test
Lab, your results came back
to you recommending only
inorganic fertilizers.
home
matters
by Adlen
W.
Robinson
for the
Forsyth
County
News
|l
in the appliance hall of fame. I
wish I could include our dryer,
but it died a few years ago
of course we replaced it with
another GE.
Like the Energizer bunny,
my washer keeps going and
going. My husband and I did a
calculation of how many loads
of laundry I had done over the
past 14 years (please note that
Dixie
by I
Ronda Rich M
for the Ml
Forsyth Mjg
County S
News e ■
“But you know, those were
some of the happiest days of
my life.”
Mine, too. Karen Peck and
I were merely youngsters, our
college days not far enough
behind us to be categorized as
memories when we moved
into a duplex together and
started our adult lives.
In our hearts, we both nur
tured dreams that we had car
ried since childhood. I wanted
If you
prefer to use
organic fer
tilizers, go to
the publica
tion titled:
How to
Convert an
Inorganic
Fertilizer
Recommen
dation to an
I « t -* t l
r > '-■
L—L __J
Smith
Organic One (www.ces.-
uga.edu-/pubcd/C853).
Q: Last year, I had a
terrible problem with
weeds in my garden. What
can I do this year from the
very beginning to eliminate
them?
Completely eliminating
weeds from your garden is
almost impossible. But all
weeds, no matter what their
life cycles, are easier to con
trol as small, immature
plants.
The first key to successful
weed control is controlling
them by some form of hoe
ing, you need to keep watch
and hoe as often as needed to
keep the emerging weeds
down before they go to seed.
Once they go to seed, you
will have a million weeds,
whereas you only had two
before.
Besides hoeing, another
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I said “I” had done) and the
numbers are quite astound- (
ing.
The final figure we
arrived at is right around
11,250 loads of laundry
so far. This number is fluid,
of course. The machine is
running as I write.
GE should pay me for
this endorsement, but they
have not as of this writing.
Now that you have that
astonishing figure, you can
better understand why I do not
enjoy laundry. Nevertheless,
after dreading and complain
ing about laundry for years, I
discovered away to make it
more bearable. Are you on
pins and needles?
The answer came to me
one day when I had been deal
ing with sick toddlers for a
week. All mothers know what
the stomach flu does to your
current laundry load it just
to write. She wanted to sing.
So, we started what would
become a lifelong chase of
those dreams.
I landed a job as a news
paper reporter and she began
touring with one of the top
groups in southern gospel
music Rex Nelon.
In those early days of
struggle, we watched our
budget carefully and
scrapped together dollars so
that we could throw casual
spaghetti and lasagna parties
for friends who piled into the
tiny apartment and sat on the
floor with plates in their laps.
We both worked week
ends with Karen honing her
skill in front of church and
concert groups and me learn
ing my craft as a sportswriter
in press boxes across the
South. Mondays and Tues
days were our days off.
We would sleep late, then
gather on the sofa in our
pajamas to gossip over hot
way to control weeds is to
smother them.
This removes chances for
the hidden seeds to get to
light and germinate.
Covering the ground with
2 to 3 inches of any organic
mulch, such as compost,
leaves, aged sawdust or com
mercial compost, will help
keep thousands of annual
weed seedlings from coming
up.
It’s possible, too, to use
one of the weed-prevention
geotextiles made of a woven,
synthetic fiber.
These allow water and air
to penetrate but won’t allow
light to the weeds.
Put mulch on top of these
textiles for a more natural
look.
Don’t forget about the
Forsyth County Master
Gardener Free Saturday
Gardening Lectures.
The next one is Feb 21 at
Cumming Library from
10:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The topics will be:
Planning your Environmen
tally-friendly Landscape and
Native Plants for your
Landscape.
Shay Smith is county
agent for the Forsyth County
Cooperative Extension
Service.
Z VALENTINE'S Z
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My husband and I did a calculation
of how many loads of laundry I had
done over the past 14 years... The final
figure we arrived at is right around
11,250 loads of laundry...
99
about doubles it. Anyway, I
had about eight loads of clean
laundry piled in every basket
I owned in my bedroom. A
sea of laundry surrounded
me.
I was exhausted just think
ing about how long it was
going to take me to fold it all.
Suddenly I thought, “Well,
just how long WILL it take
me?”
So, I timed myself. And,
amazingly, it only took about
66
In our hearts, we both nurtured
dreams that we had carried since
childhood. I wanted to write. She
wanted to sing. So, we started what
would become a lifelong chase of
those dreams.
99
chocolate.
Many times, we knelt in
front of that sofa to pray
together.
Like all southern women,
we treasured that intimate
emotional bond between girl
friends.
Our careers took off.
Mine took me to Washington,
D.C. for a stint at USA
Today and hers took her to
Carnegie Hall.
We both won awards and
acclaim for doing something
as simple as following the
passions of our hearts.
■ Come See Us For:
• Home Mortgage Loans *
• Second Mortgage/
Home Improvement Loan
• Construction Loans
sbbhbmhHm'
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS —Sunday, February 15,2004
35 minutes to fold all that
laundry. After that, I started
timing myself whenever I had
to fold. Two baskets that’s
only 10 minutes, and so on.
Similar to “Beat the Clock”
game that I played as a child
and that I played with my
own children, this timing tac
tic made me. realize that my
dread of folding the laundry
was distorting the reality of
the time it actually took.
I shared this trick with a
Eventually, we both
declared our artistic inde
pendence as she formed her
own hit-making group, Karen
Peck and New River, and I
became a writer of best-sell
ing books.
She is one of the most
awarded female vocalists in
the history of southern
gospel music.
You will find her name in
my books and my name on
her CDs, for we have never
forgotten the importance of
those who believed in you
when few others did or those
friend of mine, whose least
favorite task is unloading the
dishwasher. She called the
next day to say it only took
her six minutes and she loved
the new timing trick.
If you have something that
must be done especially
something that you do fre
quently, try timing how long
it takes. You can see how lit
tle time it actually takes out
of your day and in so
doing, you will be more men
tally prepared to tackle the
chore.
Adlen Robinson’s “Home
Matters” column is published
in every Sunday’s Lifestyles
section of the newspaper. You
can also read her food col
umn in Friday’s newspaper.
She welcomes reader tips,
comments and suggestions!
Please email her at
a4kidz@bellsouth.net or write
to her at the newspaper.
who have shared both your
teenage laughter and adult
heartbreaks.
That afternoon, she
played to a standing room
audience in a Dollywood the
ater.
I sat in the front row and
applauded with pride.
She introduced me and
asked me to stand as she
talked of our enduring
friendship.
Before I sat down, I blew
her a kiss filled with grati
tude for the memories we’ve
shared.
A lot has changed since
those early days but one
thing has not.
We both know that a cup
of hot chocolate and a faith
ful old friend are always just
a phone call away.
Ronda Rich is the author
of “What Southern Women
Know (That Every Woman
Should)’’ and “My Life In The
Pits ”.
PAGE 7B