Have You Heard of tsū?

It's a new social media site that is much like FB but where you can potentially make a little money while you post, share and like things. As you can see from my profile pic, I have made a whopping .67 so far. From what I understand you can cash out when you reach $100. 

I don't really think anyone is thinking about all the money they will be making but more of the fact that unlike FB things aren't based on weird algorithms as to who's posts you see, you see them all. So if you are like me and wanting to get in on the next big thing...you can sign up here.  

If you've already signed up, send me a friend request. :) 

Review: Ramini Brands Tea Cup Silicone Cup Cake Molds

After getting my silicone cup cake molds I made coffee cake cupcakes. I think these tea cup silicone molds are really cute. 

I filled the silicone molds with the coffee cake batter and topped them with a cinnamon crumb topping and placed them on a baking sheet to bake. 

They came out so good! They kept their shape, didn't burn, didn't tip over and worked really well. This is the first time I've tried any sort of silicone baking products so I wasn't sure what to expect. 

My first attempt at getting the cupcake out of the silicone mold didn't go well and I broke my cupcake in half but I know it's only because this is a new to me product and it took me a minute to get the hang of getting the cupcake out but my second attempt went really well.

I would probably just serve the cupcakes in the silicone molds if I had company over since they come with the little saucers to serve them with but I wanted to see how easy it was to get them out and after just two tries, I can honestly say that I was able to get it out in one piece fairly easily. 

The only thing I want to know is why only 4 of them in the set? I would love to see these silicone molds come in sets of 8 or 12. But I definitely love the 4 that I have. 

** Disclaimer, I was given this product for free or at a discounted price in exchange for my honest review. 

Poise Microliners Review

I was recently given these Poise Microliners for free in exchange for a review. If you watch tv you've probably seen those commercials for Poise and the reference to SAM. SAM stands for Super Absorbent Material and all Poise pads and liners now come with SAM for those occasional light bladder leaks- LBL. 

The liners are thin, absorbent and very discreet. Very good for anyone who experiences LBL or the occasional leak. It's very common for small leaks to happen as we get older and menstrual pads are not meant for this type of leakage. These Poise Microliners are specifically made for LBL. 

Disclaimer: I was given free samples of this product to share and test in exchange for an honest review. 

Rats 101: What is Buck Grease

*Lucky*

Buck Grease also called Sebum is an oily secretion from the sebaceous gland which helps to preserve the flexibility of the hair. Male rats (Bucks) will get an orange colored oily film on their skin which can become thick if they are sick and cannot groom themselves.

What Causes Buck Grease?
Many things can cause buck grease or sebum and not all male rats will get it. Just like with human teens, some get bad acne while other don't, the same analogy can be applied to the buck grease on rats. Most rats groom themselves many times a day which can lessen the amount of buck grease on their skin and fur, but if a rat is in pain, has hind leg degeneration or is just old, they will not groom as much and the buck grease can thicken on their skin. Some teenage rats get more buck grease when their hormones kick in but most times the amount of buck grease will diminish over time as their hormones even out.

How To Reduce The Amount of Buck Grease
While bathing might seem like the first thing to do, unless your rat is really dirty or smelly, bathing them can actually make their skin produce more buck grease or dry out their skin. If your rat is sick or has hind leg degeneration then you may have to bathe or wipe him down with a wet wash cloth if he cannot clean himself.

Two of my older male rats had a greasy back due to buck grease but they also had hind leg degeneration which made it harder for them to clean their back. I ended up taking a warm, wet cloth and wiping them down once a week which seemed to help keep the amount of buck grease down.

Sometimes the only sign of buck grease a ratty parent will notice is the skin on the back of their rat has taken on a slightly orange color, this is perfectly normal.

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click pictures to enlarge*

Review: Vampires Never Cry Wolf by Sara Humphreys

Blurb from Amazon:

Vampires are nothing but trouble...

As far as beautiful vampire Sadie Pemberton is concerned, werewolves shouldn't be sticking their noses into New York's supernatural politics. They don't know jack about running a city-not even that hot-as-sin new vampire-werewolf liaison who's just arrived in town.

Werewolves are too sexy for their own good...

The last thing Killian Bane wanted was to end up in New York City playing nice with vampires. Unfortunately, he's on a mission, and when he encounters the sexiest, most stubborn female vamp he's ever met, he's going to have to turn on a little of that wolfish charm...and Sadie's going to learn a thing or two about what it means to have a wild side...

My Review: 

Sadie is a two hundred year old vampire and the new owner of the club called Coven. The only club in town where paranormal creatures as well as unsuspecting humans go to hang out. 

Killian Bane is a werewolf but not just any werewolf he is a werewolf prince and he knows Maya's secret that she could turn a werewolf into a human. He's kept her secret because the other werewolves aren't hunting her down to kill her but when he comes to the bar where she works, she gets nervous and do does Sadie. 

Killian would assume the throne on his 30th birthday as long as he had a mate and he had his eyes set on the sexy vampire who ran Club Coven, Sadie. 

But of course just when things seem to be going in the right direction for a couple just getting to know each other, there's a big stumbling block that gets thrown in their way. This stumbling block just happens to be a she-wolf who has her eyes set on being Killian's mate and the next queen. 

This story had some really funny moments in it but I think one of the funniest things I read was when Trixie said, "Holy crab cakes" when she was very surprised by something that had happened. That might just be my new favorite expression. 

There are  a few twists and turns along this story and I really liked not knowing what might happen next. But when a werewolf and a vampire get together, you know there's going to be some fireworks.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

This book will be released on March 3rd of 2015 but you can pre-order it now on Amazon. 

I was given a free digital copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Review: Jason by Laurell K Hamilton

Blurb From The Back Of The Book...

"Enjoying pain with your pleasure is something you either get, or you don't. If you get it, then you don't really need it explained, because you know how good it feels, and if you don't get it then no amount of talking is going to convince you it makes sense."

But sometimes you have to explain the unexplainable, especially if the love of your life needs to understand, or she'll leave you. Jason Schuyler is one of Anita Blake's best friends and favorite werewolves, with benefits. J.J. is his lady love, an old flame from childhood who dances at one of the top ballet companies in New York. She's accomplished, beautiful, and she's crazy about him, too. Neither of them wants to be monogamous, so what could go wrong?

J.J. is enthusiastically bisexual, with an emphasis on the female side of things. She plans to keep sleeping with women, because Jason can't meet that need, just like she can't meet Jason's need for rough sex and bondage. J.J. doesn't understand why Jason isn't content to go elsewhere for a need she can’t fulfill, so Jason asks Anita to help him explain.

Anita is having her own relationship growing pains with her only female lover ever, Jade. Jason suggests that J.J. might be able to help Anita with her girl problem, while she helps him with his kinky explanations. With some encouragement from a few other lovers in Anita's life she reluctantly agrees, and J. J. makes plans to fly into town for an experience that none of them will ever forget.

My Review: 

It seems like I've been reading this series for many years, because I have and I still love it! If you haven't read the books in the series before this one you might be a little lost as to who is who and what's going on so I would highly recommend starting with the first book and going from there. 

Jason has always been one of my favorite characters, he's sweet, naughty and just the right amount of fun. He loves to make funny remarks that don't always go over well because he says them at the wrong times but I think he does that to get a rise out of people. 

In this book, Hamilton reminds us why we love this series and why we keep reading her books. This novella doesn't bring in all of the characters that most of the longer books in this series do because this novella focused on Anita, Jason, J.J, Jade and Nathaniel. So we get to focus on them with a little bit of the other characters in the background. Now if you're a fan of Richard's *I'm not* then this novella might get you riled up because there's a fair amount of Richard bashing but c'mon, he's totally earned it. I wanted to like Richard but I just don't and I think all the bashing that is done on him is totally deserved. 

I like sex in a story, I like BDSM in a story and I don't mind a poly relationship in a story at all. When the story has all of those things with characters that I like, a story line or side story that helps the series along, then I like it even more. I think it's nice to find a book that focused on BDSM sex play that was safe, consensual and fun. Too many times authors want to throw a BDSM scene in a book and make it all about punishment and pain and thankfully this was not one of those books. 

This novella is all about relationship building, a little look into the relationship between Anita and a couple her friends *with benefits*. There's a lot of sex in this book, so if that's something that bothers you this might not be the book for you to read but if you love the LKH books and have been reading this series then you already know that there's usually quite a bit of sex in them so if you're still reading them, you probably don't mind that. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for sure. 

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

A book I won from SOS Aloha *Thank you, Kim.* Real Vampires Know Size Matters by Gerry Bartlett

I also got Jason by Laurell K. Hamilton for free by using my No Rush Shipping credits from Amazon Prime.

Dial Acne Control Face Wash
Unwash Bio Cleansing Conditioner, Anti Residue Rinse and Hydrating Masque
A Sample of Butterfly pads for anal leakage *yes, you read that right* I think I can just use them as regular panty liners.

Samples of Pantene Shampoo and Condition
Sample of Dove Body Wash

Did you receive any samples or freebies this week?

A Rescue Tale: How a Tiny Rat We Named Lucky Came into Our Lives

*Lucky when he was a baby*

I've had many rats and other small animal over the past twenty years and most of them have been given to me by their owners who for whatever reason could no longer care for them. My daughter's friends know that if I am able I will take in and care for the animals they no longer can take care of. I don't usually advocate buying pets from pet stores because I think adopting from reputable breeders, rescues and shelters are a much better place to find a forever pet but this was a special case.

How I First Heard About Lucky
Right after Christmas of 2012 my daughter got a call from a friend who worked in a pet store and told my daughter that they had a tiny disabled rat that the store was refusing to sell because he only had three legs. So if no one came in to adopt him (for free) in the next couple of days they were going to euthanize him or use him as snake food.

My daughter called me and asked me if I could take in another rat and after she told me his story I happily agreed. My daughter and her boyfriend went down to the pet store a couple of days later when the store would allow him to be adopted and she signed the papers to get him for me on January 2nd, 2013.

When my daughter brought him to me I could see he was barely weaned and so tiny he could have been a mouse. I had a cage all set up for him and we gave him a day to get used to his new surroundings.

*Lucky at age 4 months*

At first he ran away from our hands and would not let us pick him up. We have no idea how he was treated in the pet store but he was not used to humans at all. After giving him some treats and allowing him to sniff our hands we picked him up and put him on the couch with us so he could get used to us. After a few days he would jump in our hands as soon as we came close to him and he always loved coming out to play.

*Lucky at 16 months old*

He lived to be almost 2 years old and he was the sweetest, most friendly rat I've ever had.  He ran, jumped, climbed and his disability didn't slow him down at all.

*When Lucky was a year old we had a birthday party for him*

Lucky was my heart rat, meaning we just clicked and I loved him very much. He was always so affectionate to everyone and gave kisses every single time he saw us. He loved coming out and being held by us while we watched tv so when he unexpectedly had a stoke and lost his eye sight and went down hill as fast as he did, I was completely heartbroken when he passed away. 

I am so happy we rescued him and that he was in our lives for almost 2 years, I'm very happy to have been his human. 

The next time you find yourself looking for a pet to adopt, don't pass over the 'special' pets. Animals with special needs and disabilities need and deserve forever homes too and a lot of times aren't anymore work to care for than an animal who doesn't have special needs.

Review: Smart Weigh Pro Pocket Digital Scale

I've always wanted a digital scale because some recipes call for 4oz of beef, or 2-3 ozs of this or that and it can be hard to judge how much an ounce or two of meat or vegetables if that's what the recipe calls for. 

But not only is this great for cooking, it's also great for this time of year when I am sending out mail that I have to figure out how much postage to put on if we don't want to stand in line at the post office to have them weight the envelope and put the right amount of postage on it. 

And one of the added benefits of having a digital scale is I can weigh my rats and if they start losing weight I'll know they aren't eating and something might be wrong and can monitor them more closely. 

The digital scale worked right out of the box and I was able to weigh Scribbles my rat and found out he's 159 grams. 

I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. 

Word Verification Glitch on Blogger

So a few of my readers commented to me that they had to put in the dreaded word verification captcha's even though I turned all that nonsense off, but it still showed up. I looked in the help forums and really found nothing of help but I knew if I visited enough blogs that someone would find the answer and one of my friends over at The Run Around Ranch did.

She said to go into settings and change comments to 'embedded' and that will get rid of the blogger/Google glitch and turn off the word verification. And it worked!

But I noticed in the comments of her blog that someone said another person had written a blog post about fixing this problem so I read it at Fuzzy Tales and she even had pictures as to how to fix the problem.

I hope this helps anyone who was as frustrated as I was with this.

What Happens When I Clean The Rat Cages

I usually hand wash all the smaller items like the hammocks, bunkers, cubes and cotton baby blankets. So when I pulled out the wigwam from Flowers cage, this is what I found. She has totally destroyed it. But I know she likes it so I washed it and will put a baby blanket inside it so she can curl up in it once again. 

I hand washed the baby blankets that I use to line the shelves and add into the cubes because they love having a soft blanket in their cubes that they can snuggle under. 

Flower has several hammocks, cubes, and a pouch she can snuggle into as well as some toys to play with. She destroyed the wooden bird toys I had in her cage so I added some non toxic baby teething rings to her cage and she climbs all over them, hangs upside down and chews on them.

Scribbles was looking at me like, "I really hope you're done messing with my cage now" after I replaced the baby blankets on his shelves. 

He really gave me, "the look." 

While Flower could have cared less as long as she has a Yogie to eat. 

Flower happily stayed on the bottom level of the cage while I changed the blankets and cubes on the upper level and ate her yogie and dumped over the food bowl to find all the good stuff. lol I clean it all up, fill her food bowl and she turns it over and dumps it all over the floor. 

Scribbles stayed in his cube on the upper level of his cage until I was done with the 2 bottom levels and then he came down to see what I had done, sniffing every square inch of the new blankets. 

Flower was happy with her new blankets and new cube and was ready for another treat. 

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click pictures to enlarge*

Review: PEVA Shower Curtain Liner

I received this item for a deep discount from another site I found called, No Kidding Coupons. 

I am always on the look out for shower curtain liners since they have a tendency to get dirty from hard water, or get moldy on the bottom or just not stay looking as nice as they did right out of the package. 

The other thing that I really liked is that this shower curtain had no smell. You know that funky plastic odor that is always present with most plastic or vinyl liners? This one has no weird odor because it's odorless! I didn't believe it either until I opened the package and sniffed and guess what? No weird odor. 

This Premium PEVA Shower Curtain Liner is also Non- Toxic and mildew resistant. It's a nice big liner measuring 70 x 71 inches long. It has 3 magnets on the bottom to keep the liner in place and keep the water inside the shower.  This liner is not a thin piece of plastic or vinyl, it's feels heavy duty and very durable. It also has metal grommets on the hanger holes so the plastic hangers stay on the liner without tearing it. 

I am very happy with this shower curtain liner. 

How to Help a Rat Who Has Hind Leg Degeneration

*Marbles lived to be 3.5 years old and suffered from hind leg degeneration*

Hind leg degeneration can be caused by trauma to the spinal nerve from things such as a rat jumping off something high off the ground and hurting themselves or by being dropped. It also happens quite frequently to elderly rats as they age and their spinal nerve degenerates. It's a gradual process but there are things you can do to help your rat be more comfortable when he is no longer able to move around like he did when he was younger.

Move Things Closer
Marbles and a couple of my other rats had hind leg degeneration and they didn't move as well as they used to. So I put them in a small single level cage and moved everything closer to them.

Move the water bottle closer to your rat so they are able to get to it when they want to. Move the food dishes, treats and any toys closer to where your rat sleeps. I actually had to take out all the food bowls and pile the food in the corner so he could reach it easier. Just make sure to clean up any food from the cage floor each day so your rat isn't dragging his belly over it, which could cause scrapes and abrasions and lead to abscesses.

Acupuncture
Your Vet should be able to tell you whether or not an animal acupuncturist would be of benefit to your rat. If he is younger and in otherwise good health it is your responsibility to try all methods that could help your rat live a long healthy life.

Veterinarian care
If your rat seems to be having a hard time walking, is dragging their tails more instead of keeping it raised as they walk around, you should take your rat to a Vet and have them looked at. Your vet may prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, steroids or antibiotics. Or they may tell you to just keep them as comfortable as possible.

Grooming Help
A rat who cannot use his back legs is going to need help grooming himself and keeping clean. Because he cannot use his back feet he will need help cleaning his ears, his belly, his privates and may become incontinent so his bedding will have to be changed daily where he sleeps if he urinates on it.

You may have to check his privates for dried feces and urine and wash that off. If he isn't able to clean his private area he may develop sheath plugs which are waxy plugs in the penile sheath and need to be removed or they can cause urinary tract infections and pain.

Bedding
Because rats with hind leg degeneration mostly scoot and drag themselves through bedding and cannot walk on top of the bedding, you'll need to change the type of bedding you use. Bedding such as pine, crumbly paper bedding and any other crumbly type bedding is not suitable. You'll want to use fleece blankets or fleece material and cover the bottom of the cage so that the material is nice and flat and your rat can move around easily without getting any fleece material bunched up under him.

I use a fleece animal bed for my rats who had hind leg degeneration and a small cotton baby blanket in it for them. Rats with hind leg degeneration can live a happy life if given the extra help they need.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

From Sample Source I received:
A Sample of Nature's Path Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla cereal.
Seventh Generation Baby Wipes.
A Sample of Gevalia House Blend Coffee.
A Sample of Tums Freshers.
A Sample of Tums Chewy Delights.

From Klout I received Samples of:
Ideal Balance Chewy Naturals with Real Chicken.
Breakfast Medleys with Country Chicken and Egg.
Breakfast Medleys with Savory Trout and Cheddar.
Crunchy Naturals with Real Tuna.

*All the samples of cat food were set outside for the stray cats in the area.*

I also received a sample of Unwash Bio cleansing conditioner, Anti Residue Rinse and Hydrating Masque.

Disclosure:

I was given a free product or sample because I'm a Klout Influencer. I am under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or company. 

Product Review: Quality Source 100 ft Expandable Hose

Product Description via Amazon:

Strongest Hose Available at 100-PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) Working Pressure

300-PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) Burst Pressure

Starts Out 33 Feet and Expands to 100 Feet with Water Pressure, Release Pressure and Hose Returns to 33 Feet

Lightweight will Not Tangle, Twist, or Kink

100% Money Back Guarantee For A Risk Free Buying Experience

My Thoughts: 

Living in an apartment complex we share any hoses that management puts out for us to use. And here recently we got a new manager that took the one hose we had in our courtyard and put it away in their maintenance shop so we can't use it anymore. So when I was given the chance to get this hose for free, try it out and review it, I was very happy to do so since if we supply our own hoses the manager cannot touch them. 

My neighbor has a nice little garden right next door to me and a few people who are crate training their puppies in my courtyard were depending on the water hose to water the plants, bushes and clean off the trays from the puppy training crates and now we are able to share ours with them which was nice. 

This hose works exactly like it says it does. You've probably seen these on tv and wondered if they really do retract when you turn the water off and I can honestly say they really do at least this one did. I did it a few times just because I thought it was really cool to watch the water drain from the hose and the hose retract back into the smaller shape.

I love this because it's lightweight, can be stored in a small area and is easy to take out and use. 

I received this product for free in exchange for my honest review.