Wednesday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a good day. Things are kinda slow here. Hubby is still sick-YUCK! He has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I would appreciate your prayers for a healing for him. He does feel better today than he has in 2 weeks. I can see an improvement every day just not as fast as we would like.

Yesterday another ice storm came through. Everything was covered with ice. This morning though all is gone. YEAH! We have some sun with temperatures in the upper 30’s. We are supposed to get more snow come through Thursday and Friday. I know, though, spring is just around the corner. The birds are singing so pretty and the air just has a different feel to it.

Not much else going on here. School, laundry, housework. You know, just the usual stuff. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 27, 2013 4

Wintry Mix

We awoke this morning to a wintry mix.

Not a lot going on here this week. Grace has had a little sore throat and congestion going on this week. Hubby has been dealing with something going on with his tummy. Not exactly sure what. I think a trip to the doctor might help but he thinks for sure (today) that he is doing better. We’ll see.

Yesterday, Julie and I went to C-burg while Grace and Hubby stayed home. I was hoping to find a few twin size flat sheets at Goodwill to use as the backing for the quilts I’m working on. I did find one but I don’t think it will be for Sam’s quilt but hopefully it will work for one of the other ones. We picked up a few things at Wal-Mart, paid a few bills and came on home. I’m glad we got all that done yesterday before the storm hit. We also downloaded sheet music for Julie. The song is titled Hope’s Song by Rebecca St. James. She wants to play and sing this song at church for Easter. She’ll have to work pretty hard on it though as Easter is just around the corner.

Julie and I spotted a few of these colts foot blooming yesterday. I took this picture from an older post of mine as we did not have the camera with us yesterday. It is always so exciting when we see these starting to bloom. They are (to my knowledge) our first wild flowers to bloom in spring. YEAH!

Well, I guess that’s about it. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

February 22, 2013 4

Homemade Air Freshener Spray

DIY VANILLA AIR FRESHENER SPRAY

You will need:

1 Cup Water
3 Tablespoons Imitation Vanilla Extract
Mist Bottle

Combine the water and the vanilla extract. Place in a mist bottle. To use, spritz some of the spray up into the air as needed to add the warm cozy smell of vanilla to the room.

I got this recipe from http://www.themakeyourownzone.com

February 20, 2013 0

Homemade Furniture Dusting Spray

HOMEMADE FURNITURE DUSTING SPRAY

1-3/4 cups water
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon essential oil (about 8 to 10 drops)

Combine the ingredients in a clean spray bottle of at least a 16 oz size. Shake well to mix.

To use, spray onto wooden furniture and wipe off with a soft cloth to dust and clean the surface.

I got this recipe at http://www.themakeyourownzone.com

Youll have to keep shaking this mixture as you use it to keep the oil and water mixed together, which really isnt a big deal. You already have the bottle in your hand to spray it, just give it a shake too!

February 20, 2013 0

Spring

Friday these beautiful red winged blackbirds stopped by our feeders for a little snack. They are usually the first birds to return in the spring. They are a week earlier this year than last year. Hopefully, that means an early spring. However, this morning was no indication that spring is on its way. Wind chill temperature -10 degrees with snow on the ground. Well, the snow is gone now and the wind chill now is 5 degrees so we are warming up some.

Not much going on here. I have started work on Sam’s quilt. I have all the 5 x 5 in. squares cut out and am ready to start sewing them together. School has went well this week. Did I mention to you all about the last batch of homemade laundry soap I made using the laundry bar soap instead of fels naptha? Well, those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that in the past I have had trouble with the homemade laundry soap. My clothes seem to get a dingy look and the towels became really non-absorbent. I know, strange stuff, but strange happens a lot here. I guess it is our water that causes these problems. Well, so far I have had no problems using this batch. It is a little bit different recipe than I have tried before but I think the real difference is using homemade laundry bar soap. I will try to remember to keep you all updating as to how it is doing.

Well, I better get busy. Church tonight and the menu is baked potato bar. Sounds delicious to me. I really like baked potatoes. Enjoy your Sunday and God bless.

February 17, 2013 3

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

HOMEMADE LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP

1 Bar of Ivory Soap, Fels Naptha, or homemade laundry bar soap-grated= I use 2 cups grated homemade laundry bar soap
4 cups of Water
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
3 Gallons Warm Water

1. In a saucepan, bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the grated bar soap and stir until the soap is melted.

2. Fill a large pail or container with the 3 gallons of warm water. Add the washing soda and the borax. Stir until mixed.

3. Add the melted soapy mixture from your saucepan to the pail and stir.

4. Transfer to smaller containers, or cover your mixing container or pail with a lid, and let set for 24 hours, giving it a few stirs during that time.

4. Use 1/2 cup to 1 cup per load.

I have found that 1/2 cup does most normal loads but for heavily soiled laundry I use 3/4 to 1 cup.

I got this recipe from http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2010/10/homemade-laundry-soap-what-you-need-to-know-plus-2-recipes.html

February 16, 2013 1

Homemade Stain Remover (Shout)

Homemade Stain Remover (Shout)

2/3 cups Dawn Dishwashing Liquid

2/3 cups ammonia
6 Tblsp baking soda
2 cups warm water

Mix everything together and pour into a spray bottle.

Before you go to use itif its been sitting for awhile, shake it up. To use: spray on stains as you normally would. Then launder as usual.

I got this recipe from: onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/12/homemade-shout-stain-remover.html

February 13, 2013 2

Laundry Bar Soap

Recipe and instructions are found here http://chickensintheroad.com/house/crafts/a-laundry-bar/

Homemade Laundry Bar:

Coconut Oil & Lard Recipe
lard 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
coconut oil (76-degree melt point) 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
distilled water 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams
lye 5.191 ounces or 147.155 grams

Coconut Oil & Crisco Recipe
Crisco 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
coconut oil (76-degree melt point) 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
distilled water 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams
lye 5.134 ounces or 145.538 grams

These are two pound recipes.

February 12, 2013 0

Finished

I am finished with the quilt. This will be for Alexius (oldest granddaughter on her birthday). Next I am starting on Sam’s. His birthday is next. Last week seemed to go by quickly. We got our haircuts and enjoyed a nice afternoon with Faye and Gene. The girls and I went to Sam’s one day to get stocked up on a few things. Hubby cut wood while we were gone. Imagine that, choosing to cut wood over going shopping! On another day, we did some more electrical for our friend that is moving. And before we knew it the weekend was here.

So now, school is finished, outside chores are done, the girls have taken a walk on the tractor road and supper is in the oven. Wow, how good is that! Tonight we are having something new. I bought some marinated turkey breasts at Sam’s last week. We are baking one of them for supper. It smells awesome.

I wanted to share this picture with you all. You remember a while back when I made the comment that our pond was overflowing. Well, we finally figured out why. A duck has somehow got sucked into the drain pipe. Not pleasant, I know, but strange things do happen. Marvin told me he read somewhere that if he fell in, he had 20 min. before hypothermia set in. I told him I’d be watching and if he fell in I would let him know when his time was running out but to make sure he got the duck out while he was in the water. (lol) Anyway, they are trying to get the drain unstopped. So far, no success.

Well, I think that is about all that is going on around here. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

February 11, 2013 6