Aloe in aquarium

I found this aloe vera on the street. 

Nessie reveals herself - black saddlebags skimmer

In the third week of November I spotted Nessie (my dragonfly nymph) resting on the roots of peace lily.

The origin of Myour

The origin of Myour

Michael Langerman for Eric

Edited by Anastasia

Printable Go board and stones

My 6 years old son wants to make a printable Go board and play it with his friends. 

It would be a nice project to make together. 

And here we Go!

Go board DIY

It is simple and easy to make go board out of cardboard. 

Though, I have an empty wooden wine case! 

Dragonfly larva in aquarium

It's very hard to spot a dragonfly larva. 

I don't see her for days and weeks. 

And then she shows up. 

How to secure wallet

Supplies: a wallet and about 1 meter cord (string or shoelace).

I am going to use tri-fold wallet with two holes as an example to show how to secure almost any type of wallets. We can use any appropriate length cord or string. Even a shoelace will do. The lace I use in this example is about 1 meter long. The cord I use to secure my wallet is about 90 cm long. You may use a longer piece of the cord.

We can attach the cord to the wallet in different ways. We can pull the cord through the hole in the wallet, if your wallet comes with the hole. I think it is the best and the most convenient way. Hold both ends of the cord together. Make a loop closer to the ends of the cord. Pull both ends of the cord through the loop. Tighten up the knot close to the ends of the cord. Now we can attach the wallet to the pants.

In this example I am going to attach my wallet to the jeans I am wearing. We can attach the cord to the belt loop on the front, or the side of the pants. I like to attach it to the side - it gives me access to either of pockets! Pull the cord half way through the belt loop. Hold the wallet on the cord in one hand. Hold the other end of the cord in the other hand. Pull the wallet through the loop of the cord on the other hand. The wallet is securely attached to the pants! You can place the wallet in the front pocket or in the rear pocket. You can always pull the wallet out of the pocket to get easy access to whatever you keep in your wallet without untying the wallet.

This solution prevents accidental loss of your wallet. It also makes you more aware of your wallet whereabouts serving only partially as anti-theft device.

To detach the cord from your pants you have to work the cord in reverse. Loose the knot making the loop wide enough for the wallet to go through it. Pull the wallet through the loop. Pull the cord from the belt loop.

The following method can be used to secure bi-fold wallet without holes. Hold both ends of the cord together. Make a loop. Pull both ends of the cord through the loop. We have made one large loop. Pull the cord half way through the belt loop. Put your hand inside of the loop. Take the cord on the other side of the belt loop. Pull your hand with the cord through the loop. We attached the cord to the pants. Put your hand (or just a couple of fingers) inside of the loop. Take the cord. Pull the cord through the loop. Make the loop on your hand wide enough to pull the wallet through it. Unfold your wallet. Place the open wallet inside of the loop. Tighten up the loop fitting it in the crease of the wallet. Now you can place the wallet in the pocket. With this method we still can get access to almost every slot of the wallet without untying the cord. Also, this method is less secure than the previously described. The loop around the wallet may get loose while you walk with wallet inside of your pocket. However, it would hold the wallet because the loop is resting inside of the fold. You will get alerted any time you accidentally drop your wallet. To fully release the wallet you have to work the cord in reverse. Pull the knot away from the wallet to loose the loop. And then remove your wallet from the loop.

The following method can be used to secure any wallet without hole. Note, this method is the least secure among all described in this post. In all examples I use the same type of knot to secure the wallet and to attach the cord to the pants! Attach the cord to the pants. Make a loop. Putt the wallet in the loop. Tighten up the loop. Put the wallet in your pocket.
You can use the same methods to prevent accidental loss of any items in your pockets.

Have fun and secure your wallet :)

What bug is that in my fish tank?

I give my fish tank a thoughtful clean up at the beginning of each season (every 3 months). To my surprise, during the last cleaning I found some kind of water bug hiding at the bottom of the tank. It's green. It has big yellow eyes. It has 6 legs. And it has a pair of something on its back that looks like short wings. An under water bug with wings? 

Seaweed fish food

I've been feeding my fish all the time with commercially available fish food. My fish deserve some home made fish food! What ingredients are good to make fish food? There is an abundance of seaweed in oceans, lakes and rivers. I will give it a try!

Collect fresh seaweed from the water.

Rinse seaweed under running water.

Spread thin layer of seaweed on a clean flat surface.

Let it dry while you are having fun on the beach.

The dry seaweed is still too tough for my guppies. 

At home I cut the dry seaweed into small even sized pieces.

Preheat oven for about 5 - 10 minutes to 200 F (about 95 C).
Cover a baking sheet with tin foil.
Spread thin layer of seaweed on the baking sheet.
Bake the seaweed for about 3-5 minutes.
Remove the seaweed from the oven to test if it's done.
You should be able to easily grind baked seaweed between your fingers into powder.
Otherwise, bake it longer. And then test it again.
Grind the baked seaweed into powder. I do it with my hands.
Place ground seaweed in a container to keep it dry and away from light.
At the regular feeding time give some of the seaweed to your fish instead of regular food. Some of the seaweed powder will stay on the surface of the water and some may sink to the bottom of the tank. It takes about 10 minutes for my fish to consume the seaweed. Nothing left even on the bottom of the tank. Looks like my fish likes the seaweed!
I am going to feed my fish with seaweed every other feeding time or so.
Have fun and happy fish :)

Banana popsicles. How to make banana popsicles

The words "Bananiest" and "Bananier" were not in the English dictionary until my 6 years old son Eric use them to describe which banana popsicles come out better. Below you will find my recipe of the bananiest banana popsicles. You can use less or more bananas, more lemon juice and more simple syrup or even add different ingredients for your test and to make banana popsicles even bananier!

Ingredients: 5 bananas, 1/2 lemon, simple syrup (1/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of water).

Let's first make the simple syrup (one part of sugar dissolved in one part of boiled water). Put 1/3 cup (about 60 grams) of sugar in a pot. Add 1/3 (about 60 ml) cup of boiled water. Place the pot on slow heating. Stir until all sugar dissolves. Remove the pot from the heating. You have made the simple syrup. Pour simple syrup in the blender. 

Squeeze juice out of half of a lemon. Remove all seeds from the juice. Add the lemon juice to the simple syrup.

Peel one banana. Cut the banana on small pieces. Add the banana to the mixture. Blend all together on slow speed until smooth.

Peel two more bananas. Cut them on small pieces. Add the bananas to the mixture. Blend all together on slow speed until smooth.

Peel two more bananas. Cut them on small pieces. Add the bananas to the mixture. Blend all together on slow speed until smooth. Blend all together on high speed for couple more minutes.

The mixture is ready! Pour the mixture in the molds and place it in a freezer for over night. It could take about 8 hours to freeze this size molds.

Or let's cool the mixture in the blender for about 30 minutes. Then blend the mixture for 1 - 2 minutes to break the ice.

Place the blender with the mixture in the freezer for about 30 more minutes. Then blend the mixture for 1 - 2 minutes to break the ice.

You can repeat couple times the steps of freezing for 20 -30 minutes and then breaking the ice. As a result, the frozen mixture will have better (finer) texture. I blend the cooled mixture on the slow and then on high speed.

Pour the cooled mixture in the molds. I also use plastic cups as molds. It takes about 3 - 4 hours to freeze mixture in half filled plastic cup of this size. Remember to put sticks in the molds!

Place all molds in the freezer. The small molds should be ready in about 3- 4 hours. The large size molds will be ready in about 8 hours.

Run hot water over the frozen mold or dip the frozen mold in the hot water to remove the popsicle from the mold.

Have fun and bananiest banana popsicles :)

Views as Money

Fish tank floating feeding frame

You will need 2 drinking straws of the same size to make the simplest floating feeding frame for your fishing tank. I use drinking straws with flexible neck in this example. Pinch and fold end of one drinking straw. Force this end of the straw inside of the second straw. Pinch and fold the other end of the second drinking straw. Force this end of the second straw inside of the first straw. Place the frame on the table to check if all four corners are in the horizontal plane. Adjust corners if necessary. Congratulations, you have made the frame!

There are a lot of floating plants in my fish tank. I blow the plants away to make some clear space for the feeder. Place the frame in the fishing tank. 
Have fun and happy fish feeding :)

Summer in NYC

Summer in New York city is the busiest time.

The official color of the city is Green.

Life flourishes in the power of Green.

It’s time for city dwellers to take a swim in Green!

Summer in the city is time to fix everything…

Don’t waste summer time waiting contractors to never arrive!

Don’t let any kid,

even the nicest one,

to swing you away from the fly.

Spread your wings and go - fly!

The very first flight may end with a hard landing.

You aren’t the first or last to feel this way.

We feel for you - neighbor.

Put yourself quickly together,

get ready to give it another try.

We wish you a good flight!

And keep in your mind that

Summer in the city is the shortest and fastest of times!

Have fun and happy Summer :)

Audio splitter DIY. How to make 3.5 mm earphone or headphone audio splitter

Often I want to watch with my son something on my laptop, smart phone or tablet. 

Usually, such  devices have only one plug for earphones! 

It's curable with 3.5 mm audio splitter.

Fixing squeaky doors DIY fun family project

Squeaky door. 

They start very subtly, almost unnoticeable. 

And then, somehow, you cannot sleep anymore...you lose your appetite...you become weaker...The squeakiness becomes unstoppable. 

It penetrates you skull and chest and pins your will down! 

It destroys you.

How to find corresponding ends of wires

We can use broken earphone cables for many DIY home projects.

 In this instruction I explain to my 6 years old son how to find corresponding ends of wires in the cable using simple flashlight as a tester.

What flower is this?

It's amusing to see blooming flowers sprouting among patches of snow. 

I asked my 6 years old to find the name of this flower. 

He did his online research and I looked it up at the same time (scientists always independently double check results). 

We got the same answers! Here are screenshots of my research. 

We found the name of this beautiful flower.

This is a Snowdrop!

The first days of Spring in New York

Winter is still holding the lakes under ice.

The last days of Winter in New York

The last days of winter in Central park of New York. The first days of Spring in New York. That's when the magical life changing transformation begins. Water gives birth to the life. Water...everywhere is water!

This video was recorded and edited with the help of my six years old son Eric for our special project.

More fun on my website
www.fewdoit.com

Winter fun with seagulls in New York

This video was recorded and edited with help of my six years old son Eric for our special project. Everything in this video are real except ... seagulls. Feeding seagulls or pigeons may be the reason for monsters to appear!

Keep gloves and hands dry DIY instant winter hack.

NY snow dog on guard 01-26-15

NY snow time! We built a snow man and his snow dog on guard.

 2 hours later the snow dog met with my dog, Gus. Have fun and happy snow time :)

Heart-shaped rolls. How to make heart shaped rolls. Heart shaped rolls recipe. Valentine's Day pastries

It's about time to get ready for Valentine's day! There is no better gift than the one you made with your hands. Today I am going to make heart shaped sweet rolls. Of course one can bake heart shaped rolls and eat them all year around - really there is no reason to make it just for a special holiday.