Little Goals

School will soon be starting, and we have been working very hard to declutter and clean. However because of the emotions involved, going through one small box or moving a few items here and there seem like a monumental task.  Sunday I woke up with a predetermined goal.  I wanted the garage cleaned out so I could even think about working on our family room.

Before I could even begin going through dad's things on the scale that I wanted, we had to first start by  cleaning out our own garage so that we could put anything away that goes out there and not have piles in front of the garage door waiting for the day we cleaned it out.   Usually we do this twice a year.  I set donations in the garage and random items end up in there that we aren't sure what to do with and before we know it, the garage is not user friendly for what we need.  Now we have everything at least on the shelves leaving the middle open.  The goal for the garage was to clear out the middle to set up the treadmill and park our bikes.  I am very happy that our goal was reached!  Now to keep it that way through the winter by donating items as we have them instead of setting them in the garage.

Yesterday, my goal when I woke up was to clear out our family room to start with.  I wanted to get our house back to our standard of normal as much as possible before school started.  Normal for us is clear, clean, clutter free surfaces.  With the exception of my sewing room/office because I am always working on a project in there.

When we brought my dad's things home after cleaning out his house, our house turned  into a literal storage facility.  I had paths and random items carried by hand from the truck ALL over my home.  Six hours of my time was spent going through paperwork of my dad's that were in huge drum liners and trash bags stacked randomly around my family room.  File boxes full of files, and cardboard boxes as well.

I have more work to do, but you can see the scope of the project below.  I hesitate to post these photo's because I do not want to mislead anyone into thinking that I have decluttered my own belongings etc.  This is from moving my dad's house into our house almost a month ago.

After about twelve hours later, our sofa and floor at least on one half of the room is clear and clean.  Sorting paperwork was a process that yielded small results but lifted a huge weight from me personally.  I knew that it would be a very time consuming process but so important.  Once those papers are gone they cannot be replaced.  It was just a matter of determining what was important to keep and what could be burned.  I only have a few small file boxes to sort through at a later time and that big job is done.

After some appointments today, I will return home to hopefully finish clearing things out in the family room and if I have time I will work on the dining room.  If I stop now, in my experience clutter is a magnet and more will grow and build on what is left.  It's getting there!

I hope everyone joining Rhonda's decluttering for August is able to reduce a few items here and there and are feeling relaxed and enjoying their space as they reduce what they do not need.  I enjoy open space very much and in a small home, open space is a luxury!

The Gift of Corn

Today my friend stopped by with a surprise.  We were given the opportunity to go pick corn!!!  What an amazingly generous offer.  We went with our youngest children and though it was really hot and humid, we had a good time.  While picking a few ears on the outside of the field, we discovered that several exposed ears of corn had Japanese Beetles on them.  Not just one or two but many!

Upon returning home, I began to shuck the corn with our youngest dd helping me.  While shucking we came across several "baby" corn in the husk next to the mature corn in the husk.  We opened one up and I took a picture to share.  Just in case you do not know...  the tassels or corn silks at the end of an ear of corn are attached to each individual kernel of corn.  Each tassel must be pollinated in order for that kernel to develop into what we enjoy eating! Nature is amazing!  I took this picture because it was a great example of this process, the tassels are still attached to the individual kernels growing in the husk in this underdeveloped ear of corn.  How neat!

I felt really blessed to have this opportunity and was very happy that we now have fresh corn frozen for our family in the freezer.  Everyone helped in the process of preparing the corn.  While our youngest dd was helping me pick corn, my husband and our oldest dd were blanching, peeling, slicing, and freezing peaches  that our neighbor brought us last week from the orchard.  Today was a great freezer day in our house!

On the decluttering front.  I shared yesterday how I love blessing others.  Well, my favorite is when I know where things are going.  I just love that.  Today I was able to pass on several bags of clothes and linens to a family that needs them!  That made me really happy.

DH and I worked on our bedroom today and decluttered several area's.  It feels so much more peaceful in our room.  I am always happy to reduce and  recycle to others what we do not need.  It felt especially good today to pass on so many bags of things that could be used.

Season of Loss and using a Decluttering Challenge to Heal?

First, I want to express my sincere thanks to all of my readers and friends who have, and continue to offer sympathy, kind words, and love.  Your thoughts and messages in this painful season of my life are so comforting and very appreciated.  I sincerely thank each and every one of you for reaching out to me.

I am fully aware that this season will be long for me, it will take time, I think the grieving process is extremely important but I am also aware that for those that have not experienced grief or have gone through it themselves it is hard to comprehend and understand the depths and layers of the grieving process.  I will still touch on how I am doing here and there, but am struggling yet trying very hard to move forward.  Bear with me, as my blog will not be turning into my journey with grief, but I will be me and comment honestly and openly about my feelings as I move forward.  We are all in different seasons of life and it is important in this journey of life to understand one another.  I remember listening to friends in their season of loss, tucking thoughts they shared away.  Now that I am again in my own season of loss, these thoughts and feelings make even more sense and I understand their journey so much more clearly and what they were trying to convey.  I first experienced death of a loved one at a very early age.  I remember vividly the pain and feelings, the questions and the struggle.  I took from that complete and total empathy and understanding and shared love and kindness with others when their season of loss came.  Through my sadness, I tried so very hard to help comfort those that felt the same pain I felt first so long ago.  I listened and I was just there to comfort and support.  From that first loss, at such a young age, I am able to completely relate and comfort my own young girls as they grieve.  I had no idea all those years ago that when my daughters were the same age as I was then, that they would be experiencing grief unimaginable all these years later.  I am so thankful that I can be here for them.

Dad's apartment numbers outside his door.

As I work through this season, one immediate obstacle was the abrupt clearing out of my dad's apartment.  To quote my mother "Life is what happens while you are busy planning it" I am sure she heard that somewhere, but she says it all the time and one year a while ago it "clicked" for my husband and I.  It is a true statement.  In death as in life, no matter how much you plan, what happens despite your best laid plans is life.  You have to deal with things as they come.  My father was renting a small two bedroom apartment that we did not have the luxury of renting indefinitely, or purchasing.  After what seemed like a whirlwind, we  realized we had a little over a week until his rental month was up and we would need to have his belonging moved from his apartment.  Still in complete shock and overcome with grief, the first thing we did was take as many pictures of everything just as Dad had left them.  We wanted to capture things before they were sorted and moved and disturbed.  We knew once we touched anything that his "presence" would be gone forever.  Since we did not have the luxury of going to his apartment and just sitting any time we missed him or wanted to feel closer to him, the next best thing was to take pictures and remember how things were.  We all took pictures, the grown ups, the children, everybody took all the pictures they wanted, and then we started the sorting and packing process.  It was long, exhausting, and all consuming.  We donated what we immediately knew we would like to be donated and packed the rest and moved it all to my house.  Yes, you read that correctly.  As I type this it is ALL in my family  room, dinning room, study/sewing room, and trickling to other rooms as well.

A small stack of Dad's files and boxes to be sorted through.  One of several stacks, in several rooms.

I could have rented a storage unit for his belongings, but realized from previous and current conversations with others that in this situation most everyone I spoke with, no matter how many years later STILL had a storage unit full of their loved ones belongings that they couldn't bring themselves to sort through and were still paying on that said unit. I decided no matter how difficult I wanted to move his things home and I would slowly sort, and go through the things I was unable to decide on in the comfort of my own home.  Just a few days before my Dad passed, I was planning on cleaning my garage out...again.  A task that is done often twice a year here spring and fall.  So putting things in my garage was out and it all was placed in our home.

Beautiful dried flowers from an arrangement sent to our family.

I am a very tidy, usually uncluttered person and though I have sentimental things in our home, I try very hard to work on keeping clutter to a minimum.  This month has been difficult at best all considering, but to have every spare spot including my dinning table and kitchen island stacked has been challenging to say the least.  On the same coin, in an odd way, being surrounded, and I mean completely surrounded by my Dad's things has been a comfort.  I have been looking at his things, clothing, pictures, books, and other items and they have brought comfort.  I think mainly because they are all around me, and I feel almost like he is all around because of these things that belonged to him.  I also feel ready to sort and donate because I have grown so used to his things all around me, I am ok with it.  Of course it will be difficult time to time when I come across an item that brings back a special memory, but because I am not opening the door on a storage unit and feeling overwhelmed about grabbing a box or tote and having to make an impulse decision. I feel very calm and ok with the process.  I have been thinking about it and as I was getting ready to start and had began to sort a few boxes my friend Rhonda, at Down to Earth posted a De-cluttering Challenge on her blog.   What perfect timing.  So this month I will be working on sorting both my own personal items, and my Dad's belongings, and you can tune in on Rhonda's blog as she talks about Decluttering and gives encouragement and keeps the motivations going.  The people that have committed to decluttering are making great strides and working really hard to make their homes a haven for themselves and their family and I am really proud of them.  There is also a thread about the challenge on the forum at Down to Earth here; Rhonda's August Decluttering Challenge .

Taking time to enjoy beauty and life around us, even when we don't feel like it!  It cheers the spirit and helps heal.

 I invite you to join with me as I work along with many many others on Rhonda's blog, or the forum as we declutter in August!  Anyone that has followed my blog for a little while remembers that I love to declutter and donate the extra stuff to bless others.  I am especially excited to be able to bless others with things that came from dad's and our home.  My dad was an amazingly giving selfless man.  Literally the most selfless man I know, so I know he would be excited to have things that do not have a significant memory attached donated for the good of others.  I cannot think of a better way to help heal in this season of loss than to honor his memory by blessing others!

Clean the Microwave and make Tea too!

First, I would like to say a warm thank you for all of your heartfelt and kind comments regarding my post yesterday.  I appreciate your gentle words of encouragement.  Keeping life and the foods we eat in balance is key and the gentle reminders and encouragement when I felt such deep frustration where very touching to me.  Thank you sincerely to each and every one of you. 

Today was a rainy day, one of my favorite days!  I have a weird quirk in that when it is raining I love to clean.  I like a very tidy house anyway, but maybe it's the threat of loosing power or something but I have a nesting instinct that kicks in like crazy and I happily clean lol   After doing some housework, I resumed some garden plans, which led to thinking about spring and one of my favorite beverages, iced tea.  I try to avoid soda as much as possible for a variety of reasons and prefer unsweetened iced tea.  I am still careful to drink plenty of water as tea can be dehydrating.

 As I went about preparing to boil my water for tea in the microwave, I was also thinking that it (the microwave) needed a good scrub.  A light bulb  moment occurred.  The process for cleaning the microwave is no different than boiling my water except I add tea bags after it is boiled.  I filled my large four cup measuring glass with water, microwaved it for three minutes, removed it, placed in my tea bags to steep and while the tea was steeping proceeded to wipe out the freshly steamed microwave.  I added the water to the tea pitcher and poured myself a freshly brewed glass of iced tea, and enjoyed looking at my clean microwave.  In essentially the time it took to make tea I had a clean microwave. Ahhh :)

( I will insert pictures later when blogger has this up and running soon :)

One Thing Leads to Another...and Another

The time I notice things the most, is while I am vacuuming the house.  I can make a whole "to do" list in my mind while going through.  If I remember when I finish vacuuming I am lucky.  This time one thing that stuck out in my mind, was how dirty my doily was in the dinning room.  It is white and it doesn't take long to get dusty and dirty looking.  I don't mind antique but I do mind dirty!

When I went to remove the doily I saw another that needed a good wash and bleach as well.  They are both pictured here.  I gently washed them to remove the loose dirt.  I typically do not like bleach but  have some left over from our old pool so I have been using it occasionally.  When I run out I will use peroxide.  I decided to add some bleach to the water to brighten this poor dingy doily back up.  You can see how nice and bright it is getting.  That led to something else.... on  my way over to wipe off the treadle sewing machine the doily adorns, I decided this time it needed more than wiping off it was time for a facelift.  I bought the treadle this way many years ago and decided it was time to be freshened up!  It was looking more than antique, it was getting down right grubby looking on the top.  I searched through my paint cans and found a trim color and got to work.

I allowed the top, and doily's to dry overnight. I gently laid the doily's out on a large bath towel to dry being careful not to distort their shape.   In the morning I pressed the doily's and put them back in their place.  I have a few repairs to do on the large doily but I don't mind, I have had it for many years and with a little upkeep here and there plan on having both the doily's and the treadle for many years.  I love how fresh and clean the treadle looks!

Much better :)

Laundry Blues

Today my package I have eagerly awaited arrived.  I previously had been making my own laundry soap but seemed to have problems with our white's turning a bit off white.  While watching a film where they were using laundry bluing in the wash I realized that this might help my problem with my own laundry soap.  I temporarily stopped using my home made version until I could find a solution.  Traditional bluing is a chalk like substance that is actually very fine blue iron powder.  I was only able to find it in a liquid form and ordered a bottle to add to my 4.5 gallon container of laundry concentrate.  My DH helped me calculate how much I needed to add and we added it in.  Stirred it up and it turned this lovely blue color.

Beautiful isn't it!  I was really excited to use it and using a hand pump pumped the concentrate amount into my laundry container and filled the rest with water and commenced doing laundry.  A while later when we went back into the kitchen it had turned a strange green color.  Another hour later a light greenish yellow.  And now it is this disgusting yellow!

It is so strange.  DH thinks  there is some sort of chemical reaction between the liquid bluing and the soap.  The base for the home made laundry soap is a Fels-Naptha laundry bar which is a yellowish color.  Not this dark though.  I will say this, the clothes are much softer when washed in the home made laundry soap.  As long as it is not harming our clothes I will continue to use the home made until we run out and either not use the bluing again or will be trying another laundry recipe.  The other option is to add a few drops of bluing to each load I wash of whites to brighten them.  I will keep you posted :)

At the moment I am working on machine quilting the baby quilt and hope to post an update on the quilt tomorrow!

Busy as a Bee at the Pace of a Turtle

I have been making progress today on the garage.  Not fast progress but DD1 said she could tell I had gotten a lot done.  Coming from a teen that was a huge compliment :)  I am hoping to finish the organization of tools tomorrow.  I do not know if I will be able to paint the garage floor.  I might wait until spring for that.  I was thinking that perhaps that might be better suited for a hot weather project where the humidity off the floor will evaporate quickly and dry well after pressure washing the floor.  I'm afraid that with the cool in the air the floor will not dry properly and the paint may not adhere correctly.  I do not want that mess!

The heat and air workers came today and found the problem and have a part ordered and will call when it arrives to replace it.  We are closer to having the heat fixed and once again I am very thankful for both back up heating should we need it and mild weather.

For dinner we had a delicious pizza made at home.  This is not the finished pizza but I just loved how the pepperoni's looked like a big flower with many petals in the pain.

  I thought it was pretty in a food sort of way :)  DD1 thought it was a bit silly but I explained to her that life is short, find joy in the little things and that was my little bit of joy for the moment :)

To List or Not List

I used to be a list maker.  I am by nature extremely organized and like order.  Lists were a way to remember what I needed and wanted to do when my poor brain just couldn't.  I felt it kept me organized.  I decided a little while ago to do away with lists unless it is extremely important.  To keep important dates such as appointments and meetings they are in my phone.  Housework?  No more lists.  I have adopted a do what you see approach.  Within reason as I am going through the house and I see that something needs done then I stop and do it.  Obviously I'm not going to drop a load of laundry to start organizing books etc. but when I finish a task and see that something needs done I stop and do it.  If you are a list maker.. you know that it is very satisfying to cross things off the list.  On the same token it is frustrating and stressful to have things on the list that keep getting transferred over to new lists because they don't get done.  I can live without the satisfaction of crossing off to eliminate the stress off transferring things over.  Sound a bit obsessive?  Well it's not lol it's just the ramblings of a naturally organized person and this is how our brains function :)  Everything has it's place and if not ugh.  Since the no list trial I have found I have more satisfaction and sense of accomplishment out of walking through the house and enjoying what is done.  I don't look for things to do, please note if you are not a person who notices when things need done say a dirty bathroom, cluttered surface, full trashes, dusty surfaces etc. then this may not be the best way to go about your chores but for me it has been a new stress free way to keep my home.

An example?  How about the microwave... As I was defrosting meat I noticed that it really needed cleaned.  While the meat was browning I cleaned it out.

 Doesn't that look nice!  Notice there seems to be no top to the microwave? Well here is the full picture:

Looks a little different doesn't it!  I had to get back to making dinner, but later on after the dinner dishes were cleared away and the kitchen was tidy I had a few moments to de-clutter the top and sort out everyone's papers that were stashed on top.  In fact by taking about one minute longer I moved the microwave over and wiped under it as well!!!  That was on a to do list a couple of times but didn't happen.  Here's what it looks like now.  Much better!!! 

The purpose for the example?  Previously I would have added clean microwave to my "to do" list.  At some later time when I got to it on my list I would have thoroughly cleaned it inside and out but definitely not today.  Probably  tomorrow when I got the dreaded list of not fun stuff out.  Instead if I just tackle something when I see it and have a minute even if it's not the full blown project it's getting done and finished faster than if on a list and I am free of the guilt of seeing things not crossed off the list.  Ahhh much better :)

Work Day

Today after errands, was a work day here.  I am a very systematic person and for me I like to work from the back of my house to the front.  I feel if I start in the back bedrooms, as I work toward the front I know that behind me is completely cleaned and organized.  In front of me the family room which is the first room you enter, I take all donations and bags of (non food) trash as I'm working to the family room to deal with very last.  When I have finished cleaning and organizing and reach this room I start carrying out everything that is to be donated, and take all the trash to the bin.  When I have finished this process and cleaned the family room,  it's a really good feeling walking back through the house knowing that each room is fresh and clean and ready for our family to enjoy!

 The recent cool weather has allowed me to continue the cleaning I started and paused a few weeks ago.  What a relief to be able to open the windows and enjoy wonderful fall weather while cleaning.  I would like to get this phase done so I can start preparing to settle in with some quilting soon :)

Currently I am working especially on organizing and preparing for the installation of new counter tops in my sewing area.  I have decided I do not need this entire room to myself.  I enjoy spending time with my DH when we are both in this room so I'm only using half of it for sewing and scrap-booking.  More than enough space :)  If all goes well we will be working on this project in the next  few days.  In the mean time I am sorting through things.  I do not want to spend time organizing and keeping things that we do not need and could be donated to someone else that can use them.  When I am finished what I have left will be organized and put in it's place.  This is really key to keeping things tidy here.  I like everything to have a place and when it doesn't..... oh boy do the piles of stuff multiply!  I know for a fact that I feel better, think clearer, and relax better when my house is in tip top shape!  Off to shoo away the dust bunnies :)

Cleaning with Gumption

Today I finally had a chance to clean with my home made cleanser called Gumption.

This was posted by a lovely member of the Down to Earth Forum I belong to.
Home Made Gumption
1c. baking soda
2tsp. glycerine
2 tsp. dish soap
several drops of essential oil

I combined clove oil in mine and stirred it up.  It's very dry after stirring it up and then I added water to the mix until it had the consistency of soft scrub.

I absolutely love this mixture and have used it on my kitchen sink which is stainless steel and it's so nice looking.  I used my new citrus cleaner first then followed with the gumption  while deep cleaning the bathroom today. Everything is gleaming and smells wonderful!

This is a beautiful Lilly that my husband and daughters gave to me for mothers day last year.  It has such a beautiful bloom I had to share it with you!

Sadly my experiment with rosemary floor cleaner met it's end.  I was going to use it in my bathroom to clean my floors and had it sitting in the window sill with the citrus cleaner which I used early by the way... the rosemary cleaner had mold spore's in it.  So in answer to my own question no it does not keep, not in the window sill any way.  I will have to make up a fresh batch when I would like to try it to use the following day.

I purchased some new cotton yarn for dishcloth's today and I'm very excited about making another new cloth.  While helping at the ball field concession stand for a few minutes this evening, I was happy to see a home made  knitted dishcloth!  The lady that I was working with told me how her mother has made her tons of them and she just loves them.  It really made me smile.  I plan on making my dishcloths small this time.  I am so used to a small sponge for washing dishes the size I made feels too big to me so I'm going smaller.

The roof of the shed now has tar paper in case we get some rain which is in the forecast.  It's partially sided so there is progress.  It is slow but that is ok with us.  We are not in a huge hurry and do not want to be stressed about it.  It feels good to not be stressed and still make progress.  Anxious to plant flowers though I must admit :)

Citrus Cleaner

One of the forum members on Down to Earth Forum posted a wonderful recipe for citrus cleaner.  It is so simple to make and yet another way to clean our homes with one less commercial cleaner.  Take a jar and fill it 3/4 of the way full with white vinegar.  Then you take the outer skins of any citrus fruit, no pulp... a vegetable peeler works best for this, the pulp tends to turn brown says some of the ladies on the forum.  I used orange skins and put them in the vinegar for about a month giving the vinegar time to draw out all the wonderful oils in the skins.  Then  you discard the skins or compost them leaving wonderfully smelling cleanser that you combine 1/2 and 1/2 with either water or vinegar in a spray bottle  for cleaning your home.

The second jar you see is a Rosemary tea that I am trying that another forum member posted for cleaning your floors.  I have a lovely Rosemary plant that I cut about 8, 6-7" stems from and steeped them in 4 cups of water on the stove top.  Then I allowed them to sit overnight and poured this beautiful ruby red tea in a jar to use in my mop water.  Our forum member said it has wonderful cleaning properties and she uses about two cups in her mop water.  I am not sure how well or how long it keeps so I am experimenting.  This is the beautiful Rosemary I took the cutting from.

I used to have an herb garden but it didn't do very well.  Then I read to plant your herbs in among your flowers and I tried it with this Rosemary and an Oregano plant.  The Oregano didn't make it but the Rosemary is thriving.  I plan on tucking in more herbs this summer into the flower gardens.  It's very convenient for me to run outside and pick what I want to add to our dinner dish.

This photo I captured for fun.  I just love the way this turned out.  While visiting a friend I captured these wildflowers growing around an old truck in the pasture.  I love the contrast of the blue truck against the greens and yellows.

Thank you again to all who are visiting my blog and to those that have joined thank you as well.  I really enjoy writing and sharing things with you and I love visiting the blogs of those who join mine as well.  There are so many talented and wonderful people in this world!

Battle in the Kitchen

There is a war going on in my kitchen and right now I'm not sure who is really going to win.... the dishwasher or the other dishwasher.. me!

My job growing up was to wash the dinner dishes.  There are numerous lengths I would go to to get out of this duty.  I vowed as a child to NEVER go without a dishwasher and except a few short years have always been blessed with one.

The dishwasher started having problems a week or so ago right when the holiday's were upon us.  I decided to put off calling the repair man until after New Years.  However, since I knew I couldn't just stuff the dirty dishes in the dishwasher I have kept every single one washed and as soon as they are dry they are put away.  I don't like clutter anyway so I couldn't be more pleased.  However, I have to say I am quite surprised.  Previously I would have a pot or pan waiting to be washed up and I would put it off because well I guess I still didn't care to hand wash the dishes.  If someone had asked me two weeks ago what would happen to my kitchen if my dishwasher ever broke I feel quite sure I would have said " we would have dishes piled up everywhere".  Admittedly, it's been the opposite!  It's actually been quite nice to just wash up a few dishes here and there as we use them and I am never waiting on dishes like when I used the dishwasher.  I only ran it at night which meant pulling things out to wash when needed during the day or waiting until the next day and I still had pots and pans to wash.  In the end I will most likely repair the dishwasher and run it occasionally to keep it in good repair, but for now... I think the most reliable efficient dishwasher is me!

Soap, Cookies, and Quilting

Yesterday I made up another batch of laundry soap.  I don't know why I had been putting off making it, well I do know. I cleaned out under my kitchen island and thought that the bucket the kids were making mud pies with in the back yard was my laundry soap bucket.  Turns out it was in the garage the whole time.  Anyway, I made up a new batch and this time added orange essential oil.  I have found that the Fels Naptha bar that I have been using as a base is offensive to me.  I sneeze every time I make soap with it, and last night found that my daughter also sneezes from it as well.  The orange helps but I have read that you can use any sort of bar soap as a base.  I am going to try a different one next time  so that I still have the Fels Naptha on hand if it fails.

This is what the laundry soap looks like it globs together after it cools and I mix it up with a spoon and put it a clean milk jug.  I fill the jug a little less than half way full and top it off with water.  The recipe I use makes five gallons of concentrate that you dilute in half.  The container I'm using is a half gallon undersized so I cut the concentration in the jugs a bit to compensate.  It's quick and easy to make.

Here is a jug filled and ready to go.  If friends stop by while I'm making soap or pouring it into containers I send them home with a half gallon to try.  It is inexpensive enough that I do not mind and figure if they like it that will save them so much money in the long run.  Unless my memory fails me and I will come back and correct this later if I find it to be an error.  My friend and I calculated it costs a few points over 3cents for a load of laundry!  Not too bad!

I decided at lunch after I finished washing up the dishes to make a bath of Chocolate No-Bake Cookies.  They are so delicious... Oddly enough I can remember when I didn't care for  cookies!

Here is a quick photo of the circle quilt you might remember from my beginning  posts.  I am still working on it as I have time.  It is going to be rather large.  I am ready to pin and sew the next row on and will have 18 more rows to do before I can start on the next stage.

 

It is hard to see in the photo because of the intensity of the flash, but the closest edge is darker and the quilt gradually fades to lighter which will be more noticeable as the rows are added on.  I will spend the rest of the afternoon until the children arrive home sewing and getting the next row added on.  With luck I hope to get this finished before it's too cool to use it outside this fall.

Caring for Kitchen Tools

While on vacation this summer I picked up some Walnut oil.  I have many things crafted from wood in the kitchen and this oil is food safe and excellent for helping preserve the wooden items I have that get washed.  Currently I use bamboo spoons to cook with about 90% of the time.  I noticed they were getting a bit dry and set out to apply several coats of oil and let them soak overnight.

I set out an old towel and liberally applied three coats of oil and let them set overnight.  You can see the four that have received  oil and the two stacked beside the wash cloth that haven't yet received oil.  The far left spoon you can tell I use the most as it has a darker patina than the rest.  I love my spoons and are a valued tool in my kitchen.  With proper care they should last many years.  When I was finished oiling I placed my oil cloth in a resealable plastic bag to use again next time.  I keep it by the bottle of oil in my supplies.

The Absence of Water

The other morning bright and early the city office called and said that a water pipe had been broken during some road work.  They were going to have the water shut off for a large portion of the day.  I mumbled my thanks for the notification.  I had not been feeling well and decided to take advantage of the fact that I didn't have water to take a break from my morning laundry.  When I awoke some time later rested and clearer in thinking.  I discovered to my horror that not having running water was not just an inconvenience, it was literally stopping me in my tracks!  The stool has only one flush with no running water, there is no water for hand washing, there was not even a bucket of water as it had been shut off before they got to our call.  We have an automatic water dispenser in the refrigerator, that does not work or give you even the water still in the lines without the water turned on.  Since it was so early when I received the call I had not had my morning shower.  Now being noon I was wanting my shower.  I felt behind in my chores because I had could not wash up the breakfast dishes in the sink.  I could not run the washing machine.  As I looked around the house I realized even wiping off the counter tops was an impossible chore.  Aside from sweeping or dry dusting there was very little that I could do without running water!

As I stood looking around I realized that I have no back up plan in place in the case of prolonged water shortage.  I have no collection tanks outside, no jugs of water, or even bottled water.  I realized that in the case of an emergency I had no way to get water and life as we know it cannot go on long without water.  I was stunned at this discovery.  Not in a panic it's important to note because I was well aware of the fact that the water would be on before our city workers went home for the night and my father lives just up the road and had running water.  I was just stunned at how ill prepared we are for any sort of situation that would require the prolonged absence of water!  I called my dad and packed a small bag and went to his house to shower.  I cannot describe the almost euphoric feeling of standing in the shower with nice warm water running over me.  I was so thankful to have a place to take a shower and get clean and in the very same moment so very thankful and grateful to have what many of us take for granted each and every day, running water.  Ironically when I returned home of course the water was back on.  I had to turn it on and let it run to get the dirt out of the lines and was once again thankful for normally not ever having to worry about our water quality as well.  Yes, it was an inconvenience to be without water but I took from that small experience a grateful and thankful disposition for having something we consider standard.  I will not be taking it for granted.  I also came away with the keen sense of needing a backup plan in case of emergency so that our family is not without water the very next time a line is broken.  Water is important and for me I discovered just how reliant I am upon this resource.  I can barely function in our home with the absence of water!

Fragrance and Cleaning

I love a clean home.  I enjoy walking in the door to a nice fresh smelling home and it recently got me to thinking about what we use in our homes.  It is very important because what we use to clean we are breathing in, walking on, sitting on, and wear!  I have recently discovered cleaning with peroxide.  I really like it and especially like that it is so much better to use in my home for places like the bathroom than commercial cleaners.  It is nice around the sink area in the kitchen, the refrigerator if you have any spills with meats, eggs, or just general cleaning in there.  I especially like how well it works in the bathroom and I don't feel overpowered by all the chemical additives in those bathroom cleaners for the shower and tub that are supposed to remove soap scum and the likes.  I simply spray on peroxide and use a soapy scrubber and the tub grout is freshened up from the peroxide, germs are gone and tub is clean and I don't feel like I have some respiratory infection pending and all the coughing.

In the laundry area I am trying to transitioning back to using vinegar instead of traditional fabric softener.  I really can not remember why I stopped using vinegar in our laundry other than the fact that my husband really dislikes the smell of vinegar and I believe at the time I was using a downy ball to distribute the vinegar in the wash and it would not release properly causing the laundry to be coated in almost fresh vinegar.  He was not happy about that!

When I went back to using fabric softener I do remember how soft the towels became again.  I have to admit I missed that the most.  I was thinking about this and wondered if laundry soap worked like window cleaner in this, when you switch from using commercial window cleaner to a vinegar water mix there is wax in the commercial cleaner and you must use soap and water on the window at first and get that wax film off or the windows will be streaky.  Is that the same with commercial laundry soap?  I was using commercial laundry soap and vinegar for my rinse and it wasn't working very well softening my clothes.  Now I am making my own laundry soap and I am wondering if it will work better.  Has anyone else had experience in this matter?  I would like to hear about your laundry observations please.  I am not happy about using store bought fabric softener because I do not want to consume more chemicals than are necessary and being reliant on yet another store bought product. I was delighted when the washer repair man suggested that I mix our softener half and half with water.  It would clog the little softener reservoir drain if I didn't.  That is when I decided to see just how far I could reduce the amount of softener needed in our laundry and make a bottle go further!  I started testing amounts and figured if I could use half and half, why not push it further.  I settled on about a one to three ratio.  The laundry is still soft and smells nice.  I have taken juice bottles and marked a softener fill line on them.  I pour softener to the line, then fill to the top with water and keep one by the washer and the others are stored away until use.  I have decided that I will use what I have remaining and then go back to the vinegar system.  My reservation in all of this is petty but it is Fragrance!  We have been conditioned with commercial cleaners our whole lives that things must smell "clean".  We associate fabric softener smell with clean clothes.  Air fresheners with clean bathrooms. Dish soap even has a smell though I don't think I have ever picked up a dish and smelt it to see if it smells clean.  Fragrance is all around us.  I am conditioned to like my laundry to smell clean or at least have a nice fragrance.  I actually do not care for laundry soap smells so I have been experimenting with adding sweet orange essential oil to my laundry soap that I make at home.  It is pleasant and I like it.  However currently I am still finishing using fabric softener so that smell is getting overpowered by some chemical version of a flower.  I am hoping when I switch to vinegar that the sweet orange smell will remain in the clothing enough to smell nice.

For about seven years now I have been using clove oil for general cleaning.  I use a steam cleaner for my floors, upholstery and in our vehicles.  When I fill the reservoir I use hot water and put several drops of clove oil in the water and small amount of dish soap.  The cloves smell wonderful in our home and leave a very nice fragrance that I now associate with clean.  The furniture smells good and our vehicles smell nice.  Clove oil is a staple oil on my cleaning shelf.  Happy Cleaning!