Hello, everyone!

Nothing makes my joints ache quite like a cold winter’s day, so last weekend, I whipped up one of my favorite arthritis remedies: gin-soaked raisins. To make ‘em, put a box of golden raisins in a bowl, and add just enough gin to cover them completely. Let them sit, uncovered, at room temperature until there is no standing liquid left in the bowl. Transfer the raisins to a container that you can close tightly, and eat nine of them every day.

I try to use my indoor winter days to tend to those often-neglected chores that I somehow overlook when the sun’s shining outside. This weekend, I cleared up a few scratches on my favorite wooden desk. To do it, I mixed equal parts lemon juice and vegetable oil, and rubbed the mix into the scratches with a soft cloth. After a few treatments, that table was as good as new.
This time of year, don’t forget about the birds! Keep ‘em fat and happy with this terrific treat: mix 4 parts peanut butter, 4 parts oatmeal, 1 part peanuts (raw or roasted), and 1 part slivered almonds in a deep bowl, and mold into balls. Stuff one in a pantyhose sack and hang it from a tree, or set a couple out on a tray feeder. This’ll attract chickadees, woodpeckers, nutchatches, and just about any other hungry feathered friend who flies by!