$40?? Holy cow.
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How about making a slide show? have the globes singing and the snow shaking. Bet he would love that.
I was looking at patio umbrellas recently and saw quite a few replacement canopies. If your umbrella is a pretty standard size, then you might be able to buy just the fabric canopy and re-use the frame and pole. Sorry I don’t have any links now, but think the best buys would be at Overstock, Amazon, Walmart and Target.
I’ve never replaced a canopy because we always lost our patio umbrellas to wind damage. Whether the poles were wood or aluminum, they’d get cracked when tossed around by 50 - 90 mph wind gusts (even though the umbrellas were closed) and that happed at least once a year at our old house. I stopped buying the pricier umbrellas and started buying end of season deals for <$40 after a couple of losses.
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This is the company we’ve used to replace our gazebo canopy. They also sell exact replacement umbrella canopies based on where you originally obtained the umbrella.
https://www.gardenwinds.com/replacement-umbrella-canopy-c-141.html
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This winter – the first winter with our expensive patio umbrella – I emptied the water from the four base pieces. Otherwise the water would have expanded when it froze and cracked the plastic. And then we laid the umbrella on the ground, so the wind wouldn’t whip it around. I think it’s survived pretty well. I didn’t want to take a chance that a big gust would blow the thing into our sliding patio doors.
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I’ll check these spots out - thanks!
Nice resource. Very limited colors it seems and the price for the size I’d need seems to be equal or more than what I paid for the umbrella! My umbrella was not $40 but not an expensive one - this site would probably be very worthwhile for a more originally expensive umbrella.
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OK, Google image search was no help. We saw this bumper sticker on a car in front of us and wondered what it meant. I suspect something religious - but not my religion, apparently!
Among the wild?, Aquaculture innovation workshop?
To me, it looks like “Help! The windmill fell over!”
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It looks like one of those pictures that if you fold it a certain way it says something.
And the longer I look I think I know what it says but can’t repeat it here. lol
Try writing it out and do an accordion fold on it.
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Does anyone else think it is odd for a food pantry to ask for spice donations?
Not at all. Spices can add needed flavor to bland pantry supplied foods, and they are expensive. So I actually think it’s great they are asking for them specifically.
I often wonder when I’m grocery shopping what food items I can purchase that can be used but that they don’t get tons of ordinarily.
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Curious why you think it’s odd? I volunteer at a fresh food pantry- meat, produce and dairy are the main give always but they also have some pantry staples and provide nutritional education. Many of the recipients are patients at a low income health clinic so the idea is to not just provide food but healthy food and lifestyle information like cooking healthy recipes. Spices are sometimes handed out and always greatly appreciated.
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I have been giving canned meat, thinking because it is more expensive, it would be in short supply. They must have enough. So what shelf-stable spices would most people like?
I’m not a cook or a foodie, but here are our main staples: Italian seasoning, garlic powder, garlic salt, cinnamon. Also salt/pepper but those are pretty cheap.
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That’s a good list. Our pantry has given salt substitute, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and rosemary. I think there was paprika available once as well.
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I can see how spices would be helpful at most food banks. It would not work very well currently at the twice-monthly food bank where I volunteer because at Covid they switched to a pre-pack, drive-thru model. Contents can vary a bit depending on what past due bakery items were donated, but in general everybody gets the same cartful of stuff. (Families get 2 carts)
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Spices beyond maybe salt and pepper may not be a priority when money is tight. Do I want to buy this $2.99 little container of oregano or an extra box of cereal for my kids?
Not to mention without spices lots of cooking is BLAH. To encourage people to cook and LIKE that they are cooking spices would be a great thing to receive without paying.
I’m thinking some helpful ones might be:
Italian seasoning (so a blend of oregano, basil, etc.)
Garlic powder
Dried onion
Seasoning salt
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A multipurpose seasoning like Monterey steak seasoning or Tanjin seasoning also can be pretty versatile and add sone zest to the meals. We have used those on a variety of dishes.
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