Natural habitat at the Bruce Compound
By MARCELLA BRUCE
Contributing writer
Nature was closer at hand last week as I watched Sir Drake and his lady duck waddle up the driveway every morning to share in the spillage of seed from bird feeders at the Skip and Lois Bruce "compound" just at the east boundary of Pratt.
The week also included the first (to their knowledge) visit of a wild turkey and her young chick. They also enjoyed the available food. I've heard about a "turkey strut" but that must be the tom that "struts." Mama hens are more deliberate in their gait which I would describe as plodding.
Another of their regulars is a tortoise (or is it turtle?) that appears daily. There is also a snapping turtle down by the pond that Skip says is laying eggs and covering them with dirt.
And rabbits! They move quickly playing "tag" or whatever game they play and their bobbing cotton tails are fun to watch.
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"Spartanizing" to take off the extra pounds that were such fun to acquire, Lois made one of our favorite "edibles" — a Polynesian salad. She is so organized that all the ingredients were prepared and when we were ready to enjoy, it only took minutes to mix and serve on a bed of shredded lettuce. It includes such good things as chicken, pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges, chutney, cashews, banana, and flaked coconut. Yum!
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Middle age has been described as the time you begin to exchange emotions for symptoms.
Since old age is more fitting for my category, I like what Bernard Baruch said: "To me, old age is always 15 years older than me."
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Maybe this housekeeping hint is "old hat" to many women, but it was new to me. For sparkling windows — kerosene!
My source says take a small plastic container and pour a quart of very warm water into it. Add one-half cup of kerosene (which she says can be purchased at a filling station). The kerosene will float on top of the water. Take an old but clean wash rag, dip it in the mixture, and gently squeeze it out — but not too much. Just enough to keep it from dripping. Gently wipe (no energy required) your windows in a circular motion. Watch the soil loosen.
After the window is washed, take a clean bath towel and just wipe over it. Don't try to use an old piece of sheet; the towel absorbs the dirt and carbon. She ways you don't even have to rub hard.
The first time you wipe the window with the towel you might see a few residuals. The second time you wipe they will all be gone. I'm hoping it will also dissolve hard water spots.
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Some envious man probably wrote this in the Detroit Free Press. "Summer is the time of year when all the women who aren't at the beach get undressed anyway and go to the supermarket."
