ReneeP's blog

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I like having a garden, but I'm no expert.  That's why I love the resources available from the UF/IFAS Extension office.

One of my favorites is their Florida Gardening Calendar - a month by month guide to what I should be planting and doing each month.

They also offer a wealth of general information like which plants grow best in our area, when to plant, gardening techniques for lazy gardeners (who, me?), pest control and so much more. 

Face the Cookie. Defying Gravity. Dizzy Mummy. They're all games seen on NBC's Minute to Win It. You've watched the TV show, now it's your turn! Practice now at NBC's Minute to Win It website and start brushing up on your mad skills for our upcoming Minute to Win It program!  

We'll see you Friday, Jan. 31 @ 3:30 pm

here are a couple resources for you.

Check with the IRS for a searchable online listing of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.

For more consumer guides to charities check out the Federal Trade Commission's resources.

If you haven't decided on a charity yet, the Better Business Bureau has a search as well. From their site, you can see how the charity spends the monies they receive - for instance the percentage of their funds spent on Programs, Fund Raising, and Administrative costs.

Thinking about learning a new skill next year?

Making a resolution to get out of the house more?

Come join our crafters!

The Crafter's Circle meets every Monday afternoon at 1:00 at the High Springs Library, and is open to all.  We've had crafters of all ages, guys and gals.  Bring a project you're working on, or come to learn. 

Some attendees work on personal projects.  Some are so gifted (and quick) that they also create a number of beautiful items that are donated to Hospice, Shands Pediatric Cancer Center, our troops and other needful organizations in the area.  This year they've donated 1131 items!

We had a great time creating our masterpiece bracelets out of popsicle sticks.

Join us for our next Teen Crafternoon on Tuesday, December 20 at 4pm to Create With Duct Tape.

The holiday season officially arrives this week - are you ready! 

Did you know the Pilgrims were not the first to hold a Thanksgiving celebration in the New World? Check out a brief history of the holiday to learn who else was celebrating.

Cooking for the holidays? Are you up to date on holiday food safety suggestions?

Looking for a new way to cook your turkey?  How about in a garbage can?  It frees up room in the oven and gets the men (or whoever's put in charge of the turkey) out of the house and out of your hair. They are quite tasty cooked this way!

High Springs Branch is hosting a series of events for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November.

NaNoWriMo is for everyone who has considered writing a novel.

"Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."

The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Now we just need some angry birds to knock them down!

This afternoon at 4pm, we'll be making Angry Birds for a live action version of the popular game.

Come on out and test your launching skills!

Teens - bring your chop sticks and your sweet-tooth for candy sushi roll-ups.

No raw fish here!

Make your own candy sushi roll.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 4:00pm

High Springs Branch Library

I love a great source of reliable information, and one of my favorite sources for consumer information is the Federal Citizen Information Center out of Pueblo, CO.

"For more than 40 years, the Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) has been a trusted one-stop source for answers to questions about consumer problems and government services. Consumers can get the information they need in four ways: by calling toll-free 1 (800) FED-INFO, through printed publications and online through various social media channels and FCIC's family of websites:"

Visit Challenge.gov where you'll find a listing of contests and challenges where you can share your ideas and solve problems together with your government - and win prizes!

Some contests require specific knowledge and skill sets, like NASA's Centennial Challenge for super-strong materials.  If you can create a tether that exceeds the strength of the best available commercial tether by 50 percent with no increase in mass, you could win the $2 million prize.

Are the arts more your thing?  Create orginial music, a video, or try the National Natural Landmarks Program Photo Contest.

Are you an anime and manga fan? If so, join us on the first Tuesday of each month at 4:00 for Animanga! Hang out with other teens who love Japanese entertainment. Chat about your favorite manga and watch anime. Check out our cartoon, manga, and graphic novel materials. Create your own art and comics, and treat yourself to Japanese snacks. For more information call: 386-454-2515

New to manga, and wondering where to go for more information and reviews?  Visit this website for manga reviews and here for more information.

Did you know you can earn a doctoratein Manga?

A common reference question at the library is "I need information about 'X' career."

My favorite site for questions about careers is the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. 

Or, a bit simpler – the OOH. 

You can search different careers to find out:

• The training and education needed
• Earnings
• Expected job prospects
• What workers do on the job
• Working conditions

 If you don’t have a specific career in mind, you can browse the career listings for information.

You’ve likely noticed that prices at the stores are rising while contents are shrinking.  Does the total when you reach the register make you wince? Do you look at your bags of groceries and wonder how so little could cost so much?

There are ways to make those register totals shrink – even to leave the store with more money than when you entered.  Yes, sometimes a store will even pay you to shop!  Sound too good to be true? 

It can be done, and The Coupon Gator will show you how.

Our general theme this month was ‘books set during the War years’

B. read The Pearl Harbor Murders by Max Allan Collins, an author known for novels that merge history and fiction. In this book, the main character is Edgar Rice Burroughs, living in Hawaii in December of 1941. When he finds a murdered Japanese woman on the beach, he and his son Hurly investigate. B. found the interweaving of the historical details and the fictional mystery to be an interesting read.

Alas, I’ve had far too many such moments. In elementary school, I loved the Nancy Drew mysteries – where Nancy was always ‘detter-mined’ to solve the case. I still remember the day the word came up in reading class and I saw the word ‘determined’ and heard it pronounced correctly at the same time. It was a light bulb moment.  :)

A friend once told me she’d meet me at the ‘rin-dez-vus.’ It took a couple moments to figure out that she actually meant the ‘rendezvous.’

Another friend’s daughter competed in a spelling bee recently. A family member was going to help her study by calling out the words, but found he couldn’t pronounce most of them. After all, how often do you use the word ‘ululate’ in a sentence?

I'll freely admit it - I love magazines.   I like to see complex information condensed or simple information expanded to fit that one or two page spread.   "Fifty Years of Nuclear Physics!"  p. 51-52.  "Why Orange is the New Brown!"  p. 23-24.  I like to read the new recipes I'll probably never cook, look at home decorating ideas I'll never use,  and be inspired by pictures of beautiful gardens.

For the past month, there’s been a note on our staff board that says “weeding October 22.”  Several of our volunteers have asked about this.  Are we going to be working on the grounds that day?  No, we are, in fact, ‘weeding’ our collection. 

A friend’s car died recently, which reminded me to check the maintenance schedule on my own vehicle.  It’s closing in on 70,000 miles, and I’m hoping to make it well over 200,000.   To help make sure that happens, I try to keep an eye on the recommended maintenance schedule. I'd rather spend a small sum to replace a belt now than have to buy a new vehicle because a worn out belt broke and ruined the engine.

There’s a maintenance schedule in my manual, but sometimes I want a look at one without having to go dig it out of the glove compartment.