Oil for spinning wheels from the gun shop??

You find out the most wonderful things at Ravelry.com.  DakotaSkipper, one of my favorite Ravelers, recently posted that the Gun Oil, Ballistol: 

Ballistol can be used On virtually anything! It does NOT damage wood or leather, it cleans metal as it lubricates and it can spread very easily into the smallest areas. It is also biodegradable. AND it does not build up into a hard, black gooey mess either.

Cabela's !  Yea !  Any of those stores, including Bass Pro are some of my favorite places.  The one has "stuffed" animals and the other has a huge, I mean Humongous, fish tank.  There were even live wood ducks in the indoor waterfall at one years ago.  My older kids, born when DH & I were college students, would think they had gone to the zoo and the aquarium on Saturdays when we went from Cabelas to Bass Pro to Pet World, sometimes we even stopped at the animal shelter and volunteered to walk doggies and socialize with cats.  All good fun and no cost.  The kids eventually caught on and had to reconcile the differences between their classmates zoo experiences and their own. ;-)

Last fall, I went with the boys and perused the hunting caps and sweaters as they shopped.  I got some great ideas for their knitted Christmas gifts.  Got great deals on "knit in the dark" flashlights for the DDs & nieces, too.

But NONE of them has EVER bothered to clue me in on Ballistol.  And THEY have been the first to complain when a squeaky wheel disturbs their Surround Sound.  Must be because they're all the nerd/geek bow hunter photographer nature hiker woodcutter types instead of the gun toters.  It astounds me how a squeaky wheel can disturb the soundtrack of a Star Wars movie or the explosions of a Die Hard Terminator Zombie Apocalypse.

Tote Bags from Bird Feed bags

Since the subject of Bird Feeders has come up, I think it's time to mention making tote bags from Bird Feed Bags.  They looked really good at the Middle School Craft Fair.  The bags must be made of a very durable material, it takes forever for them to disintegrate if they blow away and get stuck on a barbed wire fence.  We're going to have several of them very soon at the rate these birds are eating.  Aside from the cost of the bird feed, they're "free".  By the way, name brand bird feed definitely comes in more attractive and tote-worthy bags than the generic.
One of the many pages of directions can be found here:  http://www.curbly.com/users/stephee/posts/2064-make-a-bird-seed-bag-grocery-tote

Notes that might help:  Heavy Duty Sewing Machine with Heavy Duty Needle only
Reinforce stitching based on intended use:  If you're going to carry heavy stuff, sew more lines of stitching.
Some of these can survive a machine wash, cool water, delicate cycle.  But I wouldn't throw it in with anything you don't want it to fade on.

Bird Feeders or Hanging Trash?

It's winter. 
I want to feed the birds.
Bird Feeders from the store are expensive.
So, we could make our own.  Searching on the internet results in many directions for how to make birdfeeders from household materials including:  peanut butter jars, milk jugs, detergent bottles, sticks, coat hangers, all stuff we have around the house.
So far, the three kinds I've tried are difficult to make, more difficult to refill, and, quite frankly, ugly and look like trash.