Gas Prices Update

At 7:00pm gas was $4.49 at the Townsend Shopping Center (Texaco) and Frank's Market (Wears Valley Rd. intersection). Townsend IGA (BP) and Parkway Grocery (Phillips 66) had it for $4.58.

Gas Prices

Friday morning gas was $3.58 a gallon here in Townsend. At 3:30 it had went up to $3.99 and by 5:00pm it was $4.58 a gallon! It's still $4.58 today, there went my Maryville trip this weekend!

Ways to save money

Cut off the cable TV, check out tapes and DVDs from the library. I have no idea what's on television anymore, we haven't watched it for 7 years.
Get rid of your clothes dryer and put up a clothesline. I haven't had a dryer for 26 years.
Pack a lunch instead of eating out.
Get rid of your air conditioner, people used to do without it. We don't have one.
Grow a garden, in pots if you have to. I've grown herbs, carrots, garlic, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in pots.
Switch from high-speed internet to dial-up.
Sell all but one car and learn how to work on it.
Don't buy new clothes. Do your shopping at flea markets, yard sales and second-hand stores. I buy all my family's clothes at Foothills Flea Market for five to ten cents a piece.
Learn to sew, use some of that used clothing for material.
Learn to cook!

Wit and Wisdom from the Hermit in the Holler

"If yer gonna be dumb, ya gotta be tough."

Nature pictures

We took a short walk around the holler today, this is what we saw:

A big hornet's nest!


Under the trees.



Fall is drawing near.



A beautiful butterfly enjoying the zinnias.


More butterflies!

Free Download Manager

Downloading a lot of files is very time consuming when you have dial-up internet. I've tried several download managers and the best one I've found is Orbit Downloader. You can download large batches of files, audio, video, streaming media, and flash. You can also pause and resume downloads without starting all over.
Orbit is freeware and you can find it here:
http://www.orbitdownloader.com/index.htm .

Excellent software, give it a try!

The Old Schoolhouse Deal of the Day

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is running a sale through the month of September. Every day one product is half price and throughout the month they are offering seven free items for one day only. There are four freebies left for the month and they're offering one today, "A Copybook of the Ten Commandments".
http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=featured_products

Subscribe to their blog and get an email of each day's offer.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DealoftheDay/

They also offer one free product a month and this month there are three, "The Schoolhouse Planner Sneak Peak" e-book, a digital back issue of "The Old Schoolhouse Magazine- Summer '07" and "Columbus" an e-book unit study.
http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=145

Don't miss out on these great deals!

Good Night Moon

Free Science Resources

Here are some great resources to enhance your science lessons.

Free experiment of the week and free science videos from "The Happy Scientist" Robert Krampf:
http://www.krampf.com/

Hands-on science activities developed by Steve Jacobs of "Jake's Attic":
http://www.mcrel.org/whelmers/

Sign up for Supercharged Science's newsletter to get free science activities and experiments:
http://www.superchargedscience.com/

Science and technology lesson plans:
http://www.ftexploring.com/

Science fair projects and experiments:
http://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects.html

Free science projects and experiments from Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab:
http://www.spartechsoftware.com/reeko/

Some of Our Birds

Bird Pictures

Library Day

We have a small (but wonderful) library in Townsend that we go to weekly and a huge county library we visit once a month, today we go to both!
Our Townsend library has an after school program twice a month from 3:15pm-4:15pm and today's guest is Frank Genova from Tennessee Valley Exotic Bird Club.
You can check out the library's web site here:
http://www.discoveret.org/metmlib/ .

If you're in the area this afternoon, come join us!

Money Saving E-book Sale

Crystal Paine over at Money Saving Mom has extended her Summer Blowout Sale, this week only you can get $100 worth of e-books and audios for $8.97!
http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/supermarket.htm

Be sure and check out her blog at
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
for some giveaways and great ways to save on your groceries.

Free Homeschooling Resource

If you all haven't heard of this site, you have to check it out! It's called Homeschool Freebie of the Day and they post a new free homeschooling resource everyday, Monday -Friday. If you sign up for their newsletter they send you a link for a bonus freebie each week. We have downloaded classic e-books, audio stories, childrens radio shows and even some classic homemaking and sewing resources.
http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

Check out their sister site Homeschool Radio Shows, too.
http://homeschoolradioshows.com/