Back in action!

Ok, so it's been a crazy couple years. We sold our stuff, bought land, moved 1700 miles away, and live off grid. Yeah. Big changes. More updates and pics soon!

Camping Lantern by Lit-Path (Product Review)

Camping Lantern by Lit-Path (Product Review)

This is a great little light from Lit-Path. As you can see, it has multiple settings. The first few engage the outer ring lights, cycling through a very bright white, then a medium, but the lightest one shifts to a soft red. After that, it shifts to an SOS emergency signal. If you hold the button down after that, the light changes to only use the bulb in the middle of the ring. These settings are simply bright, medium, and light.

You can not only charge this via USB, but you can use this light to charge your other items, which is a handy feature and was a decent part of why I bought it. We all need to charge items and for whatever reason are away from a wall outlet. The power indicators on this are reliable and the blue is easy on the eyes. As I said in the video, I've been using it for hours a day and it's still going strong at full power.

My apologies for the utterly laid back manner in this video! I am recovering from surgery and basically I'm living in this recliner for a few days. My side table has a lamp but no bulb, so I've been using the soft red setting to sit here and read or crochet. You can check the lantern out for yourself below.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077XNFYM5

Two-Pack Silicone Funnels by Deiss (Review)

Hi everybody. I have to set of 2 silicone funnels. They are made by #Deiss. They collapse to a nearly flat size. This makes them easy to store in your #kitchen, which is great if you have a lack of storage or cabinets. These would also be perfect for tiny house living as well.

I got these because my previous one from a different brand, the silicone is so thin you can actually see through the folds. These two though are much thicker and more durable. One is black and has a squared off end; the yellow one has a very small rounded tip. My husband uses a CPAP machine and uses a funnel to pour the water into the tank. It is also great for pouring drink mixes into small-mouthed containers. I also use them for refilling my #cooking spices into their little glass bottles. The other one I keep with my lantern oil and lanterns. I wanted one so it could stay with the oil all the time and be designated as not for food use. Lanterns can be difficult to pour oil into so having one of these little guys is ideal.

These are FDA-approved, BPA free, and of course #food safe. They're supposed to be heat resistant but personally I haven't used them for anything that would expose them to a very hot temperature. I wash them by hand but they are dishwasher safe. I am sure one of these days I will be too tired or lazy to do it by hand and I'm glad to know I can just pop it into the dishwasher and not worry about it. I definitely recommend this two pack because there are so many uses and they simply don't take up hardly any space at all. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GVSQQ3G

4 Gallon Trash Bags by Forid (Product Review)

I got this pack of 4 gallon Trash Bags to take with us on our camping trip last week. Our 5 gallon bucket was in use at home so we brought a 4 gallon bucket from a donut shop. This bucket serves as our camp toilet.

It was windy on our trip so we put a couple large rocks in the bucket, then used one of the bags to line the toilet. Every time we visit our Toilet Tent, we remove the bag afterward; it's easy to just spin the bag and tie it off. We immediately put a new bag in for the next person making a trip to the potty, as common courtesy since they may be in a hurry!

We did have a hard time determining how to get the first bag open. Once we realized how they were sealed, it was easy from then on. A couple times on the first day the bag stretched and tore a tiny bit, but that wasn't a quality issue. Four gallon buckets are a touch wider at the top than your typical standard five gallon, so a 4 gallon bag for a 4 gallon bucket is a tight fit. The biggest test last week was seeing if any bags leaked the toilet contents, either into the bucket or on us as we escorted tied bags to the master trash container. I am very happy and grateful to report we didn't have any leakages whatsoever the entire week!

There are various colors available for the bags; we got the silver & black. There are no odors, and with 6 rolls (20 bags each, equalling 120 bags total) we have enough to keep a couple rolls in our emergency kit. Now that we are home, the rest are going to be used in the rooms with smaller trash cans. https://www.amazon.com/small-garbage-bags/dp/B07DKZLPCM/ref?tag=jelenadeal-20

My husband and I went fishing yesterday to try out a new popper lure. We went to a park in Tucson; even though it is incredibly hot here right now. We didn't expect to actually catch anything since it was around 0900 and already over 90 degrees and climbing toward 103. In the past we have caught bass and trout at this lake. The lure is supposed to be good for salt water fishing as well, but given our location at the moment, we don't have any experience with that one.

This lure handles pretty nicely. It is a bit heavy toward the rear but that is actually intentional, causing it to reel in while it bobs just a bit. It casts smoothly and handled the shallow water (sludge really) near the shore perfectly.

The body is polycarbonate and there are three triple-hooks. They are very sharp (trust us both on that one)! There is a little section almost translucent so you can see the teeny bb's rattling around inside. The eyes are extra large and are 3D. The coloring is excellent, a bit color-changing even. We bought the Navy Blue UV but there are quite a few colors available to choose from.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079Q7HB49d

This is a nice little 10 milliliter bottle of essential oil. The scientific name is Melissa Oficinalis but it is also known as lemon balm. It is supposed to help improve mood, acne, and inflammation. I can't vouch for the acne or inflammation right now as I haven't had use for that. While it does not say this, I know citrus-tyoe scents often help with insect control. I use it in my bedroom diffuser and it seems to help me from being eaten alive by mosquitoes in my sleep.

I like that the bottle is glass, but what is even better is it has a built-in dropper. No pipette needed for once!

The scent is refreshing but not overwhelming. If you make your own household cleaners, this would be great to add.

My only concern has to do with packaging. I got mine off Amazon but I am not sure if they packages it, or if the company did. It arrived in a standard padded envelope and though the bottle was thankfully intact, the box was bent up a bit. It really needs to have wrapped around it in the mailer.

https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Lemon-Balm-Essential-Oil/dp/B076V3MKH8

Compact Scope by MA3TY (Product Review)

This is a 4x32 scope, made in China. We have it attached to our Airsoft rifle. It says it has a fiberoptic sight, with a 4 times magnification of a 32mm objective. It's got triple illumination (red, green, or blue). It also says it has an 8-inch pupil extension, which we have no idea what that is supposed to mean; the field of use is "7" but no clarification of what that means. The length is 5.5 inches and the weight is 15.9 ounces.

It is shock-proof, water-proof, recoil-proof and fog-proof. It is also nitrogen filled. The pre-set parallax is adjusted for 100 yards. The reticle is supposed to be grade for 100, 200, and 400 yards. Our issue with that claim is it does not say what type of ammunition it is rated for.

We tested the illumination. In the daytime the only one usable is full-on bright. In low light, the illumination is so bright, it all but obliterates your target. There is a CR2032 included, which is required for illumination. The fiberopic sight is actually just a plastic rod, and it is a bit warped at that. It does glow but only when it is really bright. The rear sight aperture is as tight as we could get it and it is still a bit loose. It is a bit sharp as well, enough to catch on your arm or your clothing. As we have not been able to go to the range with this yet, we can't say whether or not this will hold zero.

You can unscrew the caps on top and to the right to make adjustments. There are pic rails on the front of the scope. Not sure what they are for. If you mounted a laser to it, it would put you so far off your bore axis it makes it unusable past the zero point. A mounted red dot could only be placed sideways, which means your up/down, left/right, have all been switched.

It comes with three tools. Two are Allen wrenches. Two don't fit anything on this but the other can take off the rear sight, which we recommend so you won't scratch your arm or tear your clothes.

We will try it at the range but we honestly do not expect it to remain on our actual weapons. It will do just fine for Airsoft.

https://www.amazon.com/MA3TY-Tactical-Reticle-Red-Green-Blue-Illuminated/dp/B07D8V3DV2?SubscriptionId=AKIAIJKR6IY4BV5FKK7A&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07D8V3DV2/ref=sr_1_6&ie=UTF8&qid=1534351684&sr=1-6&keywords=rifle+scope