Defeated, Pampered and Waving the White Flag

I hate being sick-show me someone who likes it and I’ll show you a first grader trying to get out of a spelling bee. And I hate taking medicine. Taking medication is almost like admitting defeat to me-plus, it usually leaves me very wigged out-tired, dizzy and nauseous.

So, I do everything that I can naturally before I start to pop those pills–hot baths, eating foods like blueberries and oranges, steam inhalation, chiropractic adjustments and prayer (usually with a lot of begging involved).

But, when the coughing, hacking, mucus, and muscle aches get to be too much for me to just “tough it out”, I wave the white flag and call my doctor. His first question is usually, “WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME SOONER?!”, and I make up some lame excuse that we both know he’s not buying.

Due to some unknown infectious carrier that contaminated my otherwise holy immune system, these four items have been my BFF’s for the last week. (Well, these, my bed, hulu and my favorite yellow Ponca City t-shirt.)

The one upside to being sick is the amazing amount of clout that I have to eat my favorite snacky foods. Biceps runs to the store at the drop of a hat, so carefully I make my requests known all at once.

This is one of my favorites when my throat is scratchy and stomach is upset. My mother instilled in me that this was a miracle food (it’s not) and that it’s good for me (it’s not). But, it does make me feel better…

Oh, dear. These salty, cheesy, little whales are heaven. Add a glass of red wine and you have a classy evening ahead of you.

When my stomach is really upset, this is all that I can stand to eat…simple and good.

This is a new treat for me. I could only eat half of the can-meaning Biceps reaped all the leftover rewards. He is one lucky man.

And finally-my “vegetables”. So dang good.

I am on the upswing of whatever it was that I had, and I lovingly shared this infectious nastiness with Biceps. He is in the final days of recovery himself. The weird thing is, he never needs any “treats”. He wants to eat oatmeal, oranges and drink healthy smoothies. Doesn’t he realize this is his one chance to get out of the guilt associated with aforementioned treats? Geesh. Men….

Gross Things-(Final) Volume 4

Today will be the last installment of “Gross Things”.
(Go here for Gross Things-Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3). Most of the flooring in our home are hard surfaces-either wood, tile or concrete. With two cats, my long hair and Bicep’s penchant for cutting his hair at home, the hard surfaces are a breeding ground of grossness.

This scene is underneath my sewing cabinet in my office. Thank you Max and Bianca for spreading your white fur wherever and whenever possible.

Just one time on my desk, and I know you’ve been there, fuzzy white cats. Thank you for leaving behind these little keepsakes for me.

Just a few moments of dust mopping, and I can tell where your favorite spots in the house are. Underneath the couch, underneath my desk and underneath the stereo cabinet seem to be popular locations.

Those remnants of where you have been napping are a bit like a game of hide and seek for me.

How sweet of you to play such a fantastically furry game with me, kittens. You are so tender. And so furry.

This has been the last installment of “Gross Things-Volume 4”. Unless I find something else that’s gross and I just can’t keep it to myself….

Easy Laundry Soap

My month long challenge of slowly ridding our house of nasty chemicals began several weeks ago. My first item to replace was my face lotion. I created a Recipe for Facial Moisturizer  and secondly, I wanted to replace my dishwasher detergent DIY Organic Dishwasher Detergent. This last week, I shared a replacement for face wash with my Cheap, Organic Face Wash recipe.

I am concocting my own household replacements with little more than what I have on hand or what I can find at the organic market.

But the replacements must meet or exceed three important expectations for this frugal gal:
1. It must be easy to replace-no beakers or science lab experiments. Thank you.
2. It must be just as good or better than the current product I’m using and,
3. It must cost the same or less than the current product I’m using.

photo source unknown

If the product I create passes the final test-me using it for over two plus weeks to make sure it does its job-then I’ll be sharing it with you. I will break down the cost for you, provide you the recipe and give you my honest opinion of the final product.

I’ve seen a million recipes for laundry soap floating around the world wide web (as my mother calls it). I wanted to try one on my own, tweak it a little, test it out and compare it to what I’m already using. I also hadn’t seen an easy way to grate the soap, so I got a little crazy with my Oster blender.

I hope you enjoy my Easy Laundry Soap recipe.

With three ingredients, your store bought laundry soap can easily be replaced with a homemade version that will cost you only $.05 per load. And, you can store it in a cute jar with your own hand-written label. I think that’s pretty much a win-win.

What you’ll need to make your very own Easy Laundry Soap (this makes approx. 48 loads):

1 Bar (5.5 oz approx.) Fels-Naptha, Zote Soap or Ivory Soap
2 C Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (make sure it says “Super Washing Soda”)
2 C Borax
Blender/Food Processor

Cut the soap into manageable pieces for the food processor/blender. Use the finest chopping blade available, making the pieces as small as possible.

Add the 2 Cups of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda to the grated Zote or Ivory Soap.

Next, dump in the 2 Cups of Borax. Mix everything as much as possible with a wooden spoon.

If the pieces are large, transfer a cup at a time of the mixture back into a blender. Blend thoroughly. I have settled on using Fels-Naptha soap, which grinds down to small pieces the first time around. So, I no longer need to do this step.

The mixture should look like this when everything has been blended thoroughly.

Transfer the mixture into a cute jar or container. Add a label (I always print the recipe on the label to make it easier for refills when the time comes).

Use 1/8 Cup of the mixture for normal loads and 1/4 Cup for heavily soiled clothes.

Here’s the financial breakdown of what this recipe will make per 48 loads:

Borax $3.38 for 76 oz= 9.5 Cups
A & H $3.00 for 55 oz= 6.8 Cups
Soap $1 per 48 loads

Per 48 Loads
Borax=$.67
A & H=$.90
Soap=$1

Total=$2.57/48 loads= $.05 per load

Garden & Landscaping Preparations

It’s almost time to begin sowing those seeds, ladies! Weeks before the planting season, I request my favorite seed catalogue from “Gurney’s” and pore over it as some women do shoe advertisements.

Visions of green beans, spinach and tomatoes are dancing in my head.

I even make an excel spreadsheet of what I hope to buy, determine the planting date, harvest date and if it’s better to buy the full plant or the seeds.
It gets pretty technical, but I love a good excel spreadsheet-reminds me of my accounting days….awe…

I narrow down my needs vs. wants using a system of highlighting, page marking and price comparison shopping. Tomatoes are the most difficult thing for me to narrow down. I could plant every variety that Oklahoma allows and still not have enough.

The tabs at the top are rearranged and my poor Biceps has to hear about the latest string bean that sounds interesting over and over.

This year, I’m going to plant a cover crop. I thought I would use a winter rye-but have decided to go with a clover. A cover crop is helpful to prevent erosion over the winter/spring season and also provides green manure for next year’s garden.

Also, this year we are going to finally landscape the naked front of our house. I would love to have an almond tree, several types of grasses, lavender, and two large oak trees out front.

It would look something like this if a second grader got ahold of markers and my computer screen.
Now, to just get Biceps on board with all of this. I think a romantic dinner, a massage and a discussion of seedlings, plants and trees are in his future….