COME TREASURE HUNTING WITH US!
I hope our new system of having the newsletter posted online is working for you. Readers have complained that, in spite of the fact that they have Newsletter@tourthesites.com in their personal address list, they still don't get all the issues. One friend says sometimes he gets it in his main mailbox; other times it's in his spam mailbox - even though Tour the Sites is NOT spam. He has no idea why the newsletter flits about that way, and neither do I.
Also, I want to let you know that the July 1 issue of Tour the Sites (formerly Tastebud Tango newsletter) will not appear. That's because I'm going to be away at the fiftieth reunion of my Corvallis, Montana, high school class right about then. Your next issue will arrive on July 15.
We'll be in touch then.
Janette
----Table of Contents----
Share Your Videos
Share Your Photos
Manipulate Your Image
Fast-Food Calorie Counters
No, Summer Is Not Too Late . . .
Farmers' Markets
Save On Car Insurance for Young Drivers
Become a Chess Expert
Birth of a Hummingbird
Just Tell Me What to Cook!
Recipe: Lorney's Old-Time Rice Pudding
SHARE YOUR VIDEOS
Sites where you can share your home videos with friends or with the whole world are currently "in." For example, YouTube, the most popular, claims over six million visitors PER DAY! These sites offer the public a 24/7 diet of "World's Funniest Home Videos," plus some things that aren't funny. Here's a review of ten top candidates, written from the point of view of someone who wants to post a video. Please note that, since most of these sites accept whatever comes their way, they have some videos you wouldn't want your eight-year-old daughter to watch (which is my standard for deciding what's "family safe"). On the other hand, one of those sites, GOOGLE VIDEO, says, "Pornographic or obscene content is not allowed on Google Video and is a violation of our Program Policies. We perform a preliminary review of videos for compliance with respect to these policies."
You can read the video sharing reviews here:
http://www.dvguru.com/2006/04/07/ten-video-sharing-services-compared/
Or you can go directly to Google Video at
SHARE YOUR PHOTOS
You've checked out video sharing. Now check out photo sharing. FLICKR says it "is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world." Find it here:
http://flickr.com/learn_more.gne
But SMUGMUG thinks it's better. Flickr, so far as I can tell, is free. Smugmug speaks of a "free trial," which means it isn't. But, as it says, it's "elegant" and ad-free.
And then there's WEBSHOTS, which has a free basic membership and a premium membership. It allows you to "send any photo on Webshots as a photo eCard!" Neat!
But there's more you can do with your photos:
MANIPULATE YOUR IMAGE
No, we're not talking politics. We're talking gorgeous free things you can do with your photos. PC World says: "The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a freely distributed piece of software for photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. You can resize images, feather edges, erase, fill, magnify, and select portions of your images using the lasso tool. You can also create layers and add text to your images." Learn more at
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23351,00.asp
And while you're on that page of PC World, scroll down to find other programs which do amazing things - often for free!
FAST FOOD CALORIE COUNTER
This helpful site includes total calories, fat calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, and protein for many fast food chains.
http://www.calorie-counters.net/
If you want to BUY a handy fast-food calorie counter you can take with you on a trip, try CHOWBABY:
http://www.chowbaby.com/fastfood/fast_food_nutrition.asp
Chowbaby includes the same nutritional information as Calorie-Counters. And, if you like, Chowbaby will give you the scoop on individual fast foods for free, online.
NO, SUMMER IS NOT TOO LATE
to buy and plant daylilies. They are so tough they can be planted almost any time the ground isn't frozen. Our daughter Lisa Danahy is very happy with the daylilies she purchased online. She says, "I searched several websites before placing my last lily order and I was very pleased with the selection and quality of the lilies at Abundant Daylilies. Their website gives details, photos, and pricing on tons of lilies and you can order using Paypal, which makes it easy to track your order and secure your payment. They also provide very personalized customer service and even sent me 10 free lilies with my purchase." Abundant Daylilies says, "Orders are recorded year round for shipping in March-June / August-November." And here's a link to their website:
Below is another link, this one to Amador Flower Farm in California, which offers less personalized service than Abundant Daylilies but has over 800 varieties. As far as I can tell they ship all year round! So the hole you see in your flower bed today could be filled by a daylily next week, from either of these nurseries. Mind you, I'm not going to say that the daylily will bloom fifteen minutes after you plant it; it may even wait until next year. But it will be THERE growing its fresh, green leaves, and you will no longer be reproached by the remains of whatever was supposed to be there but died. (I speak with the voice of experience.)
Daylilies grow in sun or shade and now come in delicate shades of pink and brilliant shades of red and purple. But don't let the photos fool you. My experience is that the purples all have a hint of orange, which may not sound pretty but is. Daylily lavenders and purples come in beautiful, subtle shades, but, since there is no such thing as a blue daylily, they are not quite like Amador's photos, which must have been photoed with a blue filter. The latest varieties of daylily are truly lovely, and some are even fragrant (see the fragrant section for Amador). Find Amador's sale site here:
http://deaver.web.aplus.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT
FARMERS' MARKETS
If you're in the U.S., the USDA has a list of farmers' markets in your area. And if you know of one they don't have, by all means tell them, and they'll post it. Find them here:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm
SAVE ON CAR INSURANCE FOR YOUNG DRIVERS
As you know, young drivers are more likely to have accidents, and the insurance companies really sock it to them --or, more likely, sock it to their parents. This website is by the State of Texas, but you can find helpful hints on reducing your car insurance rates, wherever you might live.
http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/columns/cc1003.html
CREATE YOUR OWN BOARD GAME
No one thinks it's going to rain on their vacation, but it does. What will you do then? Let's say your family is sitting in a tent or a cabin one evening, listening to the patter of rain on the roof, the Coleman lantern gently hissing by your side. What would you enjoy doing? If it's a board game, find them here:
And if you'd like to CREATE a game or jigsaw puzzle that's unique to your family, find the makings here:
http://boardgamecentral.com/make_your_own_board_games.html
And here's a gaming BLOG for dedicated gamers:
http://boardgamecentral.com/news/
BECOME A CHESS EXPERT
Have you always wanted to learn chess? Or maybe you know the basics but would like to get really good at it. This summer may be the time. Here's a site that gives basic instruction:
http://www.chessclub.demon.co.uk/tutorial/play_chess.htm
And here are chess secrets for beginners:
http://www.realchess.com/chesssecrets.html
And here you'll learn from chess games by the masters:
http://www.academicchess.com/learn/mastergames.shtml
And, last of all, here's a site where you can play online chess with people from all over the world! After all, a chess board speaks its own language.
http://www.letsplaychess.com/chessclubs/asplogin.asp?from=109987
BIRTH OF A HUMMINGBIRD
To appreciate the miniature wonder of these pictures, it's helpful to know from the beginning that the whole hummingbird nest had only the breadth of two pennies laid side by side.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/
JUST TELL ME WHAT TO COOK!
The author of this website says, "I'm the mom of three little boys, and on many evenings it's a challenge to get a delicious, healthy meal on the table. I remember sitting on the couch with my baby on my lap one afternoon, staring blankly into space as I wondered what on earth I could feed everyone this time. "I wouldn't mind making it," I realized, "if someone would just tell me what to cook!"
And so came this site with easy, healthy recipes, including a section on summer recipes. And one on smoothies.
http://www.healthy-quick-meals.com/
RECIPE: LORNEY'S OLD-TIME RICE PUDDING
Lynn Liddick, who introduced me to her Cousin Lorney's cookbook, says this rice pudding and Lorney's apple pie are her two favorite recipes. You already have the apple pie recipe, so here is . . .
LORNEY'S RICE PUDDING
1/2 cup raw rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup raisins
Lorney says, "I use a double boiler and put all the above ingredients in over boiling water for about 1 hour or until rice is tender. Stir occasionally, but keep covered. Serve warm, plain or with cream or ice cream. I even like leftover rice pudding cold for a bedtime snack!"
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WARNING!
If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.
Janette
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Janette Blackwell