Not only can this un-clutter your workspace, it can also simplify tasks for you by placing all of your reminders, to-do lists, and other items in one place.

Happy list-making! (or note-taking, reminding, whatever you use these little pieces of paper for!)

Today’s Tech KNOW Tuesday is about having a little bit of fun. I have friends that have begun brewing their own ales, experimenting with different tastes and combinations. This new website allows brew masters to create unique, custom labels for their brews and print them out, for FREE! I love free stuff, so this was right up my alley. The website, www.labeley.com, let’s you choose your label shape, color, font, and clip art. You can even upload custom images (as long as they are your own)!

These labels are fun and easy to design and you can really put them on just about anything – wine, soda, beer, the fridge, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Once you are complete, you can download or share the label with others. You can even create these wonders on your ipad, iphone or android devices.

For more information, you can visit www.lostintechnology.com or go straight to creating your own beer label at www.labeley.com ( I did…)

The key is to use a password(s) that you can remember but that no one else could figure out.  Don’t use your birthday, some part of your name or your kids’ names or anything else that someone could figure out.

Here are some other tips on creating passwords:

• Don’t use actual words in your password. Make up words or put different ones together.
• Never use the default password. Always change the passwords when it gives you the chance to.
• Your password is your own- not anyone else’s! Never give out your password unless in person and only if you honestly trust the person.
• Include non-alphanumeric symbols (like $, #, %, etc).
• Refrain from divulging personal information such as your mother’s maiden name or your elementary school. Try to answer questions such as your favorite book or school teacher.

Passwords are very sensitive material, so keep them that way. For more ways to keep your password personal, visit www.lostintechnology.com and check out “9 Guidelines for Creating Strong Passwords.”

To take a screen shot:

Open the window, program, or document that you’d like to take a screen shot of. Make sure it is full screen, or hide whatever you do not want others to see. At the top right of your keyboard is a key labeled “Print Scrn.” Once you’ve pressed this button, you may paste it into a word document or an email by holding down the “Ctrl” button and pressing “V.” This will paste your screen shot into an email or word document.

If you would like to edit or crop the screen shot you took, you must paste it into a word document (Office 2007). Once pasted, there will be a Format tab at the top of the page. Click on this tab (with the screen shot selected) and you are able to crop the picture using the crop tool at the top right.

Try it out and happy screen shots!

Makes: 1 cocktail

• 1 oz, St. Germaine’s Elderflower Liquor

• 2 oz. vodka

 • Solah of Lemon Juice

• 1 oz. Simple Syrup

• Strawberries

• Sparkling Wine

What to do:

Muddle a strawberry in a shaker. Pour in elderflower liquor, vodka, splash of lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake and pour into a tall glass over ice. Top with a shot of sparkling wine and strawberry slices.

Ratatouille

Cook Time: 30 minutes

• 6 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 pound yellow onion, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 pound zucchini, chopped

• 1 pound yellow squash, chopped

• 1 pound green pepper; 1/2 pound red bell pepper; and 1/2 pound yellow bell pepper, all chopped in  1/2-inch cubes

• 1 whole bay leaf

• 3/4 cup tomato juice

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

•  1 teaspoon dried basil

•  Salt and pepper to taste

•  1 pound ripe tomato, seeded, skinned and chopped.

What to do:

In one large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté onions for 5 minutes. Add garlic, reduce heat to low. In another large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, sauté zucchini until brown. Add browned zucchini to skillet with onions and garlic, toss. In empty skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, sauté all remaining vegetables and add to pan, except tomatoes. When vegetables are done and in same skillet, increase heat to high. Add spices and tomato juice and stir. Cook  for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 10 minutes. Stir and serve. LOL

Say “back to the basics” and my mind starts churning on other things, though, like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson’s song “Luckenbach, Texas.”  While they might not be feeling any pain in Luckenbach, its residents (all three of them) don’t have much choice but to stick with the basics.

Sticking to the horticultural basics is a good idea, even if you live where there are three Super Walmarts in easy driving distance (cue the “Moving On Up” theme song from the 1970s sitcom The Jeffersons). People who are touted to have a “green thumb” are well-versed in these foundations of good gardening — choosing plants that work in the macro and microclimates, preparing the soil well and not killing your plants with too much care and kindness.

Terms like macro and microclimate may sound like we’re trying to keep up with the Joneses but they are straightforward concepts.

The macro or larger climate is what we think about with cold-hardiness zones.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the latest update to this map in 1990.  The Cape Fear Region is either 7b or 8a referring to minimum temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees F.  Cold hardiness is only part of the equation. While that lilac (Syringa vulgaris) might survive the ravages of a New England winter, it doesn’t fare too well in our long, hot summers. Beware of plants that list cold hardiness to zones 3 to 5. They usually will do about as well as the aforementioned lilac.

The microclimate — the specific area in the garden where the plant is growing — is even more important.  Make a misstep here and you will definitely have “blue eyes cryin’ in the rain.”  Think about sun, shade, drainage, soils and frost pockets.  The shady north side of the house is great for camellias and fatsia but won’t provide the blazing heat and all-day sun to keep a crape myrtle blooming all summer.

You’ve probably already figured this out, but our native soils are highly variable and not particularly fertile. Some are high pH that won’t support traditional southern favorites such as the azalea, gardenia and camellia.  Others are coarse sands that turkey oaks and longleaf pines find acceptable, but not much of anything else. And, surprising for many new transplants to the area, there are plenty of mucky, poorly drained clays that create some of our largest horticultural challenges.

Opinions about ways to improve soil may have you feuding with your significant other like the Hatfields and McCoys. The simple answer for those coarse sands that need more water and nutrient-holding capacity is organic matter. Amazingly, organic matter is also the best amendment for improving aeration and drainage in heavy clays.  While it might seem logical to add sand to a clay soil to improve drainage, it is the absolute wrong thing to do. Composts, manures and shredded leaves work. If your soil pH is already high, avoid hardwood mulch and composts from hardwood sources.

Your plants will have a successful life without all the feudin’ if you keep these basic things in mind. And, with all of that work of figuring out the right plant, taking soil samples, amending with organic matter and rototilling until you think your shoulders are sure to pop out of their sockets, a little bit of water, light fertilization and minor corrective pruning are all that’s required to ensure a long and happy life for your plants. LOL

Al Hight is the Cooperative Extension Director for Brunswick County.

Even if you’re currently in good health, you can’t guarantee that it’ll continue in your later years. Not being prepared can be very expensive. According to AARP, the average cost is $5,566 a month for a semi-private room in a nursing home, and $6,266 a month for a private room. At that rate, it wouldn’t take long to put a sizable dent in the most solid of nest eggs.

Most people think of long-term care as nursing-home care, but, in fact, most of the people who need long-term care need it in their own homes or in assisted living. This means that nursing homes are only one part of the picture. About 60 percent of the population over age 75 will need long-term care for approximately three years, whether in a nursing home, assisted-living facility or at home. The latter two alternatives — while usually less expensive than nursing-home care — are by no means cheap. Care in an assisted living unit costs $2,968 a month on average, according to AARP. Round-the-clock care at home can also add up fast.

Insuring Against the Cost

Long-term care insurance policies are designed to defray the cost of nursing-home, assisted-living and at-home care — costs that are not covered by Medicare except in very limited circumstances. Today’s policies typically offer the same daily benefit for each level of care. Eligibility kicks in when an individual is unable to perform two out of six “activities of daily living.” These include toileting, bathing and being ambulatory.

If you have $10 million in assets, you may not need long-term care insurance. But $5 million may not be enough, as comfortable as it seems, especially if half of those assets are locked up in illiquid assets such as real estate or if you want to leave as much of your estate as possible to your heirs. The government adds an incentive in terms of partially tax-deductible premiums. For 2009, the yearly maximum deductible amount of $280 for those under age 41 rises to $3,530 for those over age 70.

But don’t wait to buy long-term care insurance until age 65, because premiums then could be very high. The most cost-effective purchase point is from the early 40s to the early 50s. Whenever you buy, be sure to buy a policy that increases benefits to keep pace with inflation. You can also keep costs manageable by electing a waiting period before benefits begin and by limiting the length of coverage to four or five years instead of a lifetime.

Beyond Long-Term Care

If you retire at age 65 or beyond, Medicare plus a Medicare Supplement policy should cover most of your medical expenses. If you retire earlier, however, you may want to purchase a personal health-insurance policy. Either way, it’s crucial to select coverage that matches your lifestyle. For example, if you enjoy foreign travel, you may want to consider a policy that includes coverage outside of the United States.

Long-term care insurance is designed to be flexible where you can control the costs relative to the benefits you wish to receive. Long-term care policies offer various kinds of coverage. Some offer adjustments for inflation, others pay only for a stated number of days, and others offer a life-time benefit. When deciding on a policy, you should compare the benefits of different types of policies, the limitations and exclusions, the types of facilities the policy would cover, and the cost of the premiums. LOL

Chad Porter is the president of Porter Financial Group.

Just like the commander of a military unit or the coach of a football team, you need a defined investment strategy that lights a path for you to take, which starts today and ends at some point in the future. The three most basic strategies are: growth of capital, consumption of capital or preservation of capital. Because your investment objective is unique to your personal circumstances, your strategy is likewise unique. Adapting another person’s investment strategy is effectively saying that you are exactly like that person in every way, which doesn’t make sense. Being without a defined investment strategy is like starting on a trip without a map.

What is included in a winning investment strategy?

You should commit your strategy to writing, which is important for two reasons. First, writing cleanses the thought process. Committing your strategy to writing requires you to clearly think about what you are trying to accomplish. Second, having your strategy in writing allows you to periodically review and revise it, based upon changes in your personal circumstances. Changing your strategy should not come from changes in the market. If you allow the market to alter your strategy, then you are following a market timing strategy that, in all probability, will fail over time. Keep in mind that you have no control over the market, whereas you have some control over events that occur in your life.

Can you give me some examples of basic investment strategies?

Here are three basic strategies defined for three different investors at different points in their lives:

• Young investor (under 50): My goal is to grow my portfolio 10-12 percent annually for the next 15 years (long-term, higher risk).

• Retired investor (above 50): My goal is to generate annual income of 4 percent of the value of my portfolio for the rest of my life (medium-term, moderate risk).

• Wealthy investor (any age): My goal is to preserve and protect my wealth from inflation (short-term, low risk).

Note the simplicity of these strategies — they do not have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. A complicated strategy complicates how you implement it. Keep in mind that a buy-and-hold strategy does not mean buy-and-forget. You need to periodically revisit your strategy to ensure that it accurately reflects your updated personal objectives and that you continue to have the right temperament to adhere to it.

Once I have identified my strategy, how do I implement it?

The key to implementing your strategy is discipline. I recall a USA Olympic basketball team several years ago comprised of the greatest athletes in the world being beaten by a Greek team of lesser-skilled, but more-disciplined, players. Being disciplined means that you follow a defined set of rules and that you don’t abandon those rules when they don’t produce the results you expected. Keep in mind that your expectations must be aligned with reality. You can’t have high returns without high risk. If you select a high-risk strategy, you must be mentally prepared for disappointing results that will occur — this is a fact of life. To expect a growth strategy to generate nothing but high returns over short periods of time is unrealistic. It’s like riding a roller coaster: to go up, you must first go down. Historical studies show that over time stocks have gone up more often than down, and that the longer you allow a growth strategy to work the greater the probability of success. Without volatility, you have no opportunity for growth. If you can’t stomach the volatility, don’t buy a ticket to ride the roller coaster.

What type of securities is appropriate for each strategy?

Generally speaking, stocks are appropriate for a growth strategy, bonds for an income strategy, and T-bills for a preservation strategy. Within each of these asset classes are varying levels of risk. Index mutual funds, for example, present a convenient vehicle for implementing any selected strategy, since these investment vehicles are inherently diversified across multiple sectors and across multiple securities within each sector. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which are similar to traditional mutual funds except that they trade like stocks, also offer another excellent tool for implementing basic investment strategies.

Do I need a professional investment adviser to help me develop and implement my strategy?

Maybe, but not necessarily. It depends on your background, your interest in the investments field, and your emotional makeup. Many successful people are highly educated in their chosen field, but unknowledgeable about the financial world. For such people, specialization of effort — where they seek the assistance of a professional adviser — would allow them to focus their time and energy on their chosen profession. Another factor to consider is your emotional makeup. Following a gut feeling based on fear or greed is not a winning investment strategy. Instead, it is quite counterproductive. Even knowledgeable people can become overly emotional when managing their money. This is why many investors like the idea of having a professional available to act as a sounding board and to offer an informed, objective perspective. If you believe that you need the help of a professional investment adviser, do a Google search for advisers in your area and select one that is qualified to match your needs with the appropriate vehicles available in the marketplace. Most advisers today are Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs), as opposed to brokers. A previous article on the difference between the two appeared in this magazine last month.

What is the takeaway from this article?

A winning investment strategy is a written statement that is simple to understand and easy to implement. A winning strategy requires a clear understanding of your goals and identifies a roadmap for accomplishing those goals. Once created, you should revisit your strategy periodically to ensure that it stays current. A winning investment strategy should not be affected by changes in the market. Instead, it should be driven by changes in your personal circumstances such as a change in marital status, a change in employment, or a change in health. The worst possible time to make a change in your investment strategy is in the midst of a financial crisis when emotions are running high. Discipline is the key. LOL

We chose to cruise out of Charleston, S.C. for a number of reasons:

1. The trip did not require the purchase of airline tickets.

2. It was centrally located for other friends coming from Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla.

3. It was the closest place to board a ship.

4. It was inexpensive.

The embarkation was on Wednesday at noon, so we decided to drive down on Tuesday evening and spend the night in Charleston. We took our time, stopping in Murrell’s Inlet to grab a bite of one of the best burgers ever at River City Café (I swear it’s worth the drive to Murrell’s Inlet, but I hear there is one at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach, too!).

The next morning we picked up a few last minute items (because we were convinced that we were not going to see civilization for weeks), did a little shopping and sightseeing in downtown Charleston and headed for the ship.

Once aboard, we roamed the ship to get a feel for where everything was, what we wanted to experience for the next five days and how to find our way back to our stateroom (this proved helpful on a couple of particularly late nights). We soon discovered that — between the spa, the art gallery, pools, hot tubs, bars, casino, night clubs, comedy club and restaurants — choosing what to do may be difficult. So we just decided to do it all. That was before we were given our options of shore excursions that included everything from from snorkeling or swimming with dolphins to skydiving, resort passes and cooking lessons. We had some tough decisions to make.

There are lots of cruise ships, but there can’t be one with any better customer service than the Carnival Fantasy. We were amazed from the very beginning by the attention and service we received. It seemed like every crew member on the ship (and there were more than 900 of them, from 50 different nations) knew our names and went out of their way to make us feel important.

This five-day cruise included two full days at sea and port stops in Nassau and Freeport. There was a perfect mixture of relaxing time and exploring/adventure time. The days at sea afforded us the opportunity to relax by the pool, soak up some sun, explore the ship, gamble and make friends, while the days in port offered their own opportunities. There was not very much to do in Freeport. A cab driver told us the town had not recovered from Hurricane Irene.

While on ship, we ate dinner each night in the Celebration dining room and the staff and food were fantastic. Most nights our preferred drinks were waiting for us when we got to the table and we were greeted on the way in by the maitre d’ and (it seemed like) every member of the waitstaff. In true cruise fashion, food was the name of the game. And we’re talking steak and lobster, crème brulee, escargot and oysters Rockefeller, not your normal Tuesday night at our house fare. “You would like two appetizers, three entrées and a sample of every single dessert? Well, of course, Mr. Godbey!” It was actually a little ridiculous.

The port at Nassau is totally different from Freeport. Nassau is a vibrant, hustling and bustling town with lots to do. Our first adventure in Nassau was a snorkeling excursion on a shallow coral reef. What a fantastic experience to swim with all the fish from Finding Nemo. The water was crystal clear and the fish welcomed us like we were members of the family, playfully swimming right up to us.

On the trip back, free rum punch was the beverage of choice. After having lunch on the ship and sobering up a little, we spent the rest of the day exploring the city, shopping in the market and acting like the consummate tourists at Senior Frogs (complete with conch fritters and drinks with souvenir glasses). Then it was it was back on the ship to shove off, where we made it on board in time for a sunset dip in the hot tub on the Serenity Deck as the lights of Nassau faded into the horizon off the stern of the ship.

Our last day on board was relaxing and slow paced. We were trying to shove all the relaxation in we could before the reality of being back on land arrived. As the trip came to a close, we were relaxed, a little tired and a little more tanned than when we started. We had met new friends, experienced new things and had spent some much appreciated time together. It was a wonderful trip and we will do it again.

There are  two things to be aware of: The staterooms, though the website makes them sounds like a suite at the Ritz, are small; and the process of getting on and off the ship in the port in Charleston is SLOW. Two thousand of your closest friends are trying to get on and off the ship at the exact same time and have to go through security on the way on and customs on the way off.  Just be mentally prepared to feel a little bit like cattle during these times. Having said that, it’s totally worth it. Bon voyage, ya’ll!LOL

Carol Crow was a horticulturalist and landscape designer when one of her clients gave her some homegrown herbs. Instead of using them in a dish to serve for dinner, she decided to experiment with a soap recipe she had seen online. That particular batch made 600 bars of soap that she gave away to friends and family. “The business started in 1999 in my kitchen,” says Crow. “I took a leap of faith and sold a piece of furniture I bought in college, I think for $600. I then bought all of the soap making supplies and made up my mind I would not fail! I opened my first store in 2001.”

Out of Eden Soaps has been online since 2004 and ships nationwide. Its most popular products today are the organic and medicinal items, natural laundry detergent, pine-tar soap and lotion bar, and, last but never least, unique fragrance soaps. Wrightsville Breeze and Treehugger are currently the bestselling fragrances. Crow also adds that she loves having a couple of celebrity customers she ships to. “I tend to love and spoil my customers,” she says. “They are like my babies. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. All the soap companies out there online and they choose Out of Eden Soaps, I’m gonna treat them right and let them know how much I truly appreciate them.”

Out of Eden Soaps has been featured in Southern Living and Good Housekeeping magazines. Fishers of Men is a branch of Crow’s business that came into existence when a lady from Mt. Olive, N.C., read the Southern Living article and called Crow to ask if she would travel to Honduras to teach the native women in remote villages how to make soap. She did. Today, Fishers of Men makes its own soap and sells it to help the feeding centers in Honduras. Out of Eden also donates items for local fundraisers and gives 20 percent of its profits from all lemonade-themed products to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which fights childhood cancer. Out of Eden Soaps makes a delightful gift idea for your loved ones and is located in Wilmington at 21-A Market St., and also sells its wares at Blue Moon Gifts, 203 Racine Dr. You can also check them out online at www.outofedensoap.com or place a toll-free order by calling  888.210.0858.

Goodness Gracie Fine Gourmet Foods

Goodness Gracie Gourmet Foods began in 1995 with a single unique recipe for toffee cookies that soon sparked enormous demand. Sallie Lynch Price had returned to Wilmington from culinary school in the Upper East Side of New York City and started her catering business in her dad’s guest cottage at Wrightsville Beach. At one particular catering event, Price inadvertently forgot a dessert for a luncheon, so she hastily used her mother’s recipe for toffee cookies and, needless to say, they were a huge success.

From there, she married her husband and business partner, Carter Price, and decided to transition from catering nights and weekends to a more family-friendly schedule. They went from the guest cottage to their personal kitchen with one oven, and today they have a 4,000-square-foot space with a large commercial oven that bakes their most popular item, the original Heavenly Toffee Cookie. This cookie consists of butter toffee sprinkled with pecan bits and continues to delight customers both near and far. Other variations of this treat include their Sensational Cinnamon Toffee Cookie and their Butter Toffee Cookie sprinkled with oatmeal on top instead of pecans. Goodness Gracie Foods later added Sinful Salted Pecans, a roasted salty delight that is great with beverages, hard or soft, and Gone Nuts, a sesame-almond cocktail snack mix that was promoted as “Snack of the Week” by Rachael Ray on her television show.

Price’s company donates its snacks and cookies to soldiers overseas with a thank you note for their sacrifices and efforts; and she calls this token, “A little taste of home.”

Despite Goodness Gracie’s rapid growth and seasonal demands (like supplying sweet treats to an Alaskan cruise ship each summer and the increased sales during Christmas), they are also working on a new global website to accommodate their expanding web business. However, their gourmet foods are still made in small batches to retain their homemade quality. Just think, The “world’s best gourmet toffee cookies” are made right here in our fair city. To learn more to grab a batch of your own, visit the website at www.goodnessgracie.com or call 910.792.0800.

South ‘n France

When was the last time you parked yourself in front of the television watching your favorite show and popped a bonbon into your mouth? It’s February, Valentine’s Day, so we’re allowed to enjoy these sinfully good nuggets of love. The name of the delicious treat bonbon stems from the French word “bon,” which means “good.” South ‘n Franceis a Wilmington-based company owned and operated by husband/wife team, Charlene Dupray and Pascal Siegler, who are experts in good goods.

Dupray and Siegler’s union is a love story perfectly suited for telling this month as we celebrate love. She is from the South, he is from France. They met while Dupray was in Paris on her way to audition for a French cabaret, only to discover that cabarets are closed on Sunday. Much to her dismay, she sauntered across the street, completely decked out in cabaret attire, into a small ice cream parlor and she struck up a conversation with a cute French guy named Pascal Siegler. Let’s just say the rest is history, and a joie de vivre way of living and working together was born.

Dupray and Siegler have both traveled all over the world and returned to Dupray’s southern roots to launch their business. As Siegler says, “In France, we have a saying that once the wine has been opened, you must drink it! When we opened our business in Wilmington, we hadn’t really considered some of the challenges we would have, like hot weather for shipping the chocolate. But, we are finding ways to make the business work despite these challenges.”

South n’ France bonbons come in seven delectable flavors and are practically impossible to describe in mere words. Mmmmm…comes closest. The company launched in 2006 at the Carolina Chocolate Festival in Morehead City. A tourist visiting the area contacted them soon after and asked if they could ship to her home in California. That first mail order shipment has progressed into a successful online business that ships nationwide and to many different countries abroad. “The beauty about doing business on the Internet is that you can live in a small town and still play on a big field,” Dupray says. “We’re proud to be at the top of Google searches for ‘bonbons’ and to have received national recognition for the quality of our product. What’s funny, though, is that many people in the area don’t even know we’re here.”

South ‘n France delicacies are a blending of ingredients from both cultures rolled into a simple, yet luxurious pleasure meant to be savored — in any language. Visit the website at www.southnfrance.com for flavor descriptions, custom packaging options and a video of Pascal Siegler making these tasty treats. Or you can visit the store, located at 22 Orange St. and take some goodness home. For more information, call 910.762.6882. LOL