Cloth diapers - The Saga Continues

Hello Cloth Diapers!

I did a post a while back about cloth diapers and the learning curve. Well......We're back to that. Because I've been one frustrated momma again!

After all that time, research, sweat, and tears, those stinkin' microfiber diapers stopped absorbing again! After a frustrated growl and very loud WHAT NOW!!! I went back to the inter-webz to look at what might be causing all the seepage. I couldn't find anything that would help. SO I start seriously scrutinizing my already nit-picked over diaper routine.

I found something....something so common place as to seem insignificant that I had never even thought to consider it.

Dryer balls.....(and yes I took this opportunity to say balls as a curse word)

Wool dryer balls, lovingly wound, felted, and gifted by my mother-in-law, and very happily received by me.

Those innocuous, common place, helpful little balls were completely derailing my attempts to successfully use my cloth diapers!

You see, sheep naturally produce this stuff called lanolin. It helps them shed water, and helps keep their wool from felting. I have a strong sensitivity to this stuff, but the dryer balls weren't putting enough onto my clothes to have a reaction so I never thought about it. But apparently there was enough of a coating coming off those balls to repel the liquid the diapers were meant to absorb.

I stopped using the dryer balls with the diapers, and washed and dried like I was prepping them for the first time. AHHH much better!

But then I noticed they still had a faint smell after being washed. I had remembered some detergents used Epsom salts to act as a water softener, and surfactant, so I added that to my diaper detergent concoction. Now the recipe reads as follows:

1 part baking soda
1 part washing soda
1 part oxy
1 part Epsom salts

Use: 1 scoop per load (scoop came from old oxy container that I store diaper detergent in)

I also started washing the diapers differently after reading even more about how H.E. washers work

Rinse and spin on warm
Wash once on warm with cold rinse
Wash again on warm with cold rinse
Rinse and spin on cold
Rinse and spin on cold

Yes that makes three rinse cycles after all is said and done. I did try to add extra rinse at the end of the wash cycle but it just didn't seem to work as well for whatever reason.

Little A's bum is happier, I'm happier, and we are loving life. Now pardon me while I stop her from pulling all the laundry out of the hamper......again.

Making the switch, for good!

SO a while ago I posted that I was switching to baking soda and vinegar for my hair care routine and I would post back about how it works. I wanted to wait a few months because my hair has a tendency to react wonderfully to new stuff, then all of a sudden freak out a few months later. So far

I'M LOVING IT!

Not only is it cheaper, it's actually easier as i no longer have to fight with a farting bottle to get enough conditioner, my shower is less cluttered (or it will be once I take the unused bottles out) and I have noticed the two times I've used store bought shampoo and conditioner since switching, I've had a migraine the next day. Possible trigger? Who knows, but just not using it again sounds good to me.

So here is what I do:

I pre measure two tablespoons each baking soda and apple cider vinegar while the water is warming up. Then while in the shower I mix the baking soda with about 2 cups of water in a tupperware cup (because I'm clumsy and baking soda water is surprisingly slippery and that does not mix well with a Mason jar) and dump it on my head while rubbing it in. It was weird at first, not feeling any lather, and it didn't really FEEL clean like I was used to. I do not work the baking soda into the ends, they get clean just by it running over them. Then rinse the cup and hair well

Then I  mix the ACV and water in the cup, and let my ends soak in it for a minute, while I switch that shower head to a massaging spray and let my back relax. Hey why shouldn't a momma take a chance to relax? Just don't relax too much and forget that cup isn't holding a heavenly momma friendly drink! Don't ask why you need that warning......

Any-who, then I pour the remaining ACV water over the rest of my hair and let it soak while I go about other normal showerly duties like wiping down the shower walls (hey I'm a multi-tasker!) then rinse like normal.

Once my hair is dry some time the next day, I rub a tiny bit of coconut oil on the ends and brush thoroughly. Brushing I have found is the secret to this. The more I brush my hair the happier it is. I picked up this random brush at the grocery store because it combined two of my favorite types of brushes in one. It has the longer wider spaced de-tangling bristles and packed around those are little boar bristles to distribute the oil/shine.  If I brush my hair twice a day, it stays nice longer, and the oil travels down my hair keeping it healthy, shiny, less tangled, and less frizzy!

All in all, it's cheaper, healthier for me and the environment, more convenient, and makes my hair feel amazing!

This is definitely something that gets the #LissaSmiles

Cloth diapers and the learning curve.

So since darling A turned 1, we switched her over to cloth diapers. I love my Grovia hybrids. I wasn't a big fan of stuffing pocket diapers, and I didn't like how long the all in ones took to dry, or how much room they took up. So the Grovia hybrids seemed like the perfect balance of everything I wanted. Snaps make it harder for my little houdini to break free, the soaker liners snap in and out easily and quickly during diaper changes, the flushable liners made dealing with the poopie diapers a breeze, and they are simple enough for a Grandma to use when they have time with her.

Like many mom's who decide to cloth diaper I have spent hours and hours reading, researching, and chatting with people about tips, tricks, successes and failures. I thought I had it figured out. Things were cruising along wonderfully....then the smells started, and ammonia irritated her little bottom, then the leaking and the whole house smelling like pee because she scooted around with a wet bum, leaving little bum shaped plop-prints up and down the floor.

I had been using the cloth diapers for close to two months, no leaks, no worries, happy momma. Now, a very frustrated, ready to cry momma because we were back full time on disposable diapers, and those things aren't cheap! I try to be frugal in many places in our lives, finding ways to save money without sacrificing simplicity, or comfort too much. Which is why I wanted to cloth diaper in the first place (not to mention it's better to not throw all those diapers away) and couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the fancy laundry detergent specifically for diapers. So I just used what I already made.

BIG MISTAKE!!

Like I said, at first it was fine. Then we started getting the ammonia smell that wouldn't go away, so I started researching and changed my wash routine. Since I have a wonderful HE Front loader, I started doing a rinse cycle, then washing with pre-wash, doubled the detergent, and heavy soil with extra water. Smell was gone, but now her bum was constantly irritated, so back to the internet I went. Maybe it was too much detergent? But when I backed it back down, it was getting ammonia smell again. So back up, and added an extra rinse to the end of the wash cycle. All seemed to be back to smooth sailing.

After a few weeks of diapering happiness, I started to notice that leg of her pants was wet, but when I went to change her, the diaper was barely damp. I thought it might be a fit issue, so I started playing with the sizing, After peeing through every diaper, and changing the shells every diaper change I had had it.

I started looking up troubleshooting guides, even contacting the company itself. It basically came down to, either the fit is wrong due to sizing or failing elastic, or the diapers are not absorbing like they should. Well that's an easy test. Using warm water I poured a little on a clean dry diaper....

NOTHING.
It just sat there, mocking me.

So I pressed with my fingers to simulate the pressure from little A's body and the water just rolled off the side. I found my problem. I had a build up of something on the diaper.

SO I started looking at detergent for diapers, to see what was in them. The brand Grovia recommends is Tiny Bubbles and at .22 cents a load, it was nearly three times as expensive as my homemade laundry detergent which works up to roughly .08 cents per load. If you don't have any desire to make your own, Pinstripes and Polkadots has done a wonderful job compiling a list of detergents and how well they work on cloth diapers.

Tiny Bubbles brand has the Ingredients: Sodium carbonate, Sodium sulfate, Sodium percarbonate, natural chelating agents, Sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate, Linear alcohol ethoxylate  

These ingredients sure sounded familiar....I checked my tub of 7th Generation Oxy, and lo and behold....

Sodium carbonate (washing soda), sodium percarbonate (mineral-based oxygen stain removal that works by breaking down in water to peroxide and oxygen), sodium sulfate, sodium silicate.

So I guess I'll use that as my base for diaper detergent. WHat's missing from Tiny bubbles still is the natural chelating agents, Sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate, and  Linear alcohol ethoxylate. Just what are these?

Natural chelating agents are mineral transporters that grab on to minerals like ammonia crystals that can build up on pee diapers.  A natural chelating agent is citric acid, although I have no clue what is in Tiny Bubbles. I have Citric acid on hand for canning,

Sodium alkyl aryl sulfonate, and  Linear alcohol ethoxylate are surfactants, that help to remove dirt.

So for my surfactant, I decided on baking soda. So I mixed up equal parts, baking soda, washing soda, and 7th generations oxy. After 5 washes, I still couldn't get water to absorb, so I broke down and scrubbed the diapers with Dawn dishsoap, rinsed well and washed again.

FINALLY! They adsorbed water almost instantly!

Now to use and test my new mix for detergent. If I find it lacking, I will add some citric acid in small amounts and test.

My biggest take away from this, is that just like any other aspect of parenting you learn as you go, and sometimes that learning curve is a steep climb, but it's always well worth it.

Happy diapering!

I am not affiliated with any of the companies or products mentioned in this post, and get no money for mentioning them.

Birthday's, Hair, and Welcome Home

Hi all, I know I haven't been blogging like I would like to, but life has been VERY full. My little girl is almost a year old now (OMG I can't believe it!) and I am full swing planning a very cute lady bug birthday party for her. I'm planning on getting lots of pictures of everything and sharing them later.

Also planning a 60th party for my mom, but not sure what I'm doing with that yet. More to come.

A very dear friend of ours is home from serving overseas in Kuwait and Afghanistan. I know I'm not the only one, but I missed him. A LOT. I'm so happy and relieved he's home. I'm the type of person that if I let myself think about something like someone I love being over there, in some of the places he was, it would consume me, and I'd be a mess of nothing resembeling a productive person. So now that he's home, I've been able to let myself think about it, and cry for his safety, and celebrate his return. There are no words to accurately express how I feel, and how all those who have people they care for deployed to dangerous areas. I'm just glad it's done, and proud of him for doing it.

Now on to the topic that spurred me to even write in here again. My hair. Deep Breath, it's ok, you can do this.....

I'm experimenting.

Those of you that know me, (and my hair, because let's face it, it's an entity in and of it's own right) that is HUGE. My hair is the kind of hair that everyone says they wish they had. Long, thick, wavy/curly, and typically pretty. However what most people don't know, is that it is a monster. It eats hair ties for fun, and has been known to take bites out of combs, brushes, and hair sticks too. My friend K normally trims my hair for me. It bites her. It fights back. It does not listen.

I have tried so many different things to keep my hair from being a monster, but short of sending it to boot camp (which I doubt would even work if it were possible) I've yet to get it to be truly wonderful and  something I'm happy with. The frizz, the knots and tangles that never go away, the flyaways, and always the fighting.

I keep my hair long. It's just easier to manage for me and I like how it looks on me much more than short hair. I put it in a bun with a single hair stick to avoid all the broken and short hairs stickingg out eeverywhere. I have dropped down to washing it only every few days and using minimal products, and I haven't used a blow dryer on my hair in more years than I can remember. All this has added up to the best hair I've had yet, but it's still not quite where I want it to be.

So I'm trying to switch to the baking soda and apple cider vinegar method of cleaning and conditioning my hair. ACV is amazing stuff, and I love it. I clean nearly everything with vinegar and baking  soda.  So why not my hair too?

Time to take to the internet and search. I looked through dozens of articles on 'No Poo' and natural hair remedies. I don't know that I could do the no shampoo thing. That would just be too weird after years of lathering my locks. But switching out my usual product for baking soda and acv, that seemed mmore palatable (even if it does remind me of a salad bar).

So after reading a post on TreeHugger I decided to give her method a try.  So tonight I  tried  it.  The oddest part, was the lack of that lather that I've always looked for to tell me my hair was getting clean. I felt a difference between when I started  and when the baking soda rinse started to work.. My hair felt and sounded squeaky clean. Then the ACV rinse. That one I wasn't too sure about. Myhair felt  greasy after rinsing. But I resisted the urge  to grab my shampoo  and  'fix' it. Once my hair got to more damp than wet, I rubbed a dime size drop of warm coconut oil on the ends.  Brushed and brushed to distribute the  the oil, and waited. And waited. And waited. Did I mention I have thick hair? It takes hours to dry. Finally the top of my hair was dry. It felt amazing! It was silky smooth, and light without being fluffy/frizzy. I'm looking forward to seeing how the ends look tomorrow after drying the rest of the way. 

Taco Pizza

So last night I was really in the mood for taco pizza from east of Chicago.  Sadly, they didn't deliver where we were. R talked me into going shopping and making our own and I think we nailed it!

Shopping:
Pizza crust
Mild salsa
Morning star crumbles (want to try with ground beef)
A packet of taco seasoning
Onion
Iceberg lettuce
Colby jack shredded cheese (finely shredded)
sour cream

Prep:
Cook about half lb meat but use full packet of seasoning
Finely dice the onion
Shred the lettuce

Assemble:
On crust spoon out salsa and spread out like you would pizza sauce. Then add the meat and top with about 3/4 of the cheese and 1/2 of onion

Bake according to crust package directions

Top with sour cream (we put ours in a baggie, snipped off a corner and drizzled it on) lettuce, remaining onion and cheese.

Wait about 5-10 minutes for pizza to cool enough to eat and let rest of cheese melt.

East of Chicago also adds diced tomatoes and sliced olives but we omitted those due to taste preferences. 

I'll add pictures next time we make it!

Kathrine's grandmother's dishcloth

I had the opportunity recently to help a very nice lady recreate a dishcloth her grandmother made for her a long time ago.
I must say I'm pretty happy with the results!

Thank you Katherine for allowing me to share this.

Cast on 15 using left thumb loop method

Row 1 (and all ws rows) knit
Row 2: k3, yo, k11 (one stitch remains unworked)
Row 4: k3, yo, k11 (two stitches remain unworked)
Row 6: k3, yo, k11 (three stitches remain unworked)
Row 8: co 3, k10 (continue leaving one more stitch unworked each rs row)
Rows 10, 12, 14: k3, yo, k7
Row 16: co 3, k6
Rows 18, 20, 22: k3, yo, k3
Row 24: co 3, knit all stitches previously left unworked (will look like stockinette row after first three knitted stitches)

Repeat rows 1-24 6 more times for seven repeats.  Co all stitches loosely and sew together edges, picking up and sewing closed the middle circle as well.

When casting off the three stitches on rows 8, 16, & 24 the process I used was knit 2, pass first stitch over and off needle, knit 1, pass first stitch over and off needle,  knit 1, pass first stitch over and off needle again. Three stitches will have been cast off and remaining worked stitch will now be first stitch of the row.

Life is a rollercoaster ride!

So, it's been a long time since I've written anything on here. My computer took a nose dive to the land of confusion and can't decide if it wants to start or turn off. I also found out I'm pregnant and have been riding that rollercoaster. 

R and I are very happy and looking forward to meeting our little one. I didn't anticipate how tiring growing a new life is. I am finally seeming to move past the morning sickness and exhaustion so I'm planning on being around the world of the conscious again.

It's also baking season and I'm hoping to experiment with some gluten free cookies, as well as more savory baking. I'm looking forward to being back in the game and providing all kinds of yummy updates for you! In so far as my phone will let me post!

Take care and see you soon!

Kitchen Experimenting

Once again I'm getting creative in the kitchen.

Ok not too terribly creative....and for once my exploits have yielded something decently healthy for frequent consumption.

I'm a huge fan of the Amy's Tofu Scramble breakfast burrito. I'm not so huge a fan of the price. So I decided I was going to figure out how to make one myself

I grabbed a few containers of a great tofu, by Cleveland Tofu, and looked up a few dozen recipes online, and took a little of what I liked from each. 

I came up with a vegan breakfast scramble, that I can make into a burrito, and I actually like it better than the Amy's version. 

Tofu Scramble

4 servings

1 lb extra firm, non silken tofu

1 medium onion

½ green bell pepper

½ tsp granulated garlic

½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp tumeric

½ cup water

1 TBS olive oil

Fresh cracked black pepper

1. Drain tofu over night, or press for 1 hour

2. Crumble tofu into large skillet on medium heat

3. Combine garlic, salt, and tumeric until evenly mixed, and no clumps

4. Sprinkle spices over tofu, and stir, slowly adding water until a uniform color

5. Dice onion and green pepper, add to skillet and drizzle with olive oil

6. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently until onions are translucent and peppers are tender

7. Add pepper to taste and enjoy

Goes very well wrapped in a tortilla for a to go breakfast snack.

Can make and freeze wraps ahead of time:

Make wrap, be sure to warm tortilla first so it rolls nicely and doesn't crack apart.

put about ½ cup scramble in the middle of an 8 inch wrap, and roll up

Place on cookie sheet so not touching and let cool completely

Once cool place in freeze. Once frozen, wrap individually and store in airtight container in freezer.

The hardest part about this is not eating it all!

I plugged this into a few food calculators online, and as far as nutrition goes:
Per serving:
~135 Calories
~8 g carbs
~9 g fat
~9 g protein

Honeymoon in Scotland

A few people have been asking me to get some of our pictures from our honeymoon up. Well, here are a few.

On our third day we drove down to Loch Lomond, and stayed a cute little place called the Oak Tree Inn. Not too far away from there was Balloch Castle, a small castle, I think we actually have houses here bigger than it. Behind the castle was this nice paved path. We started to follow it, even though it start drizzling.

Balloch Castle path

 After a short while, we went off the paved path, and onto a well used dirt path. That dirt path kept narrowing, and narrowing until it practically disappeared!

Balloch Castle path

After a short ways of not really knowing if we were on the path or not, we came to this beauty! It was a perfect example of a babbling brook. I could have sat and listened to the melody of the stream, and forest around me, and watching the water play over the rocks as it tumbled it's way downstream for hours.

babbling brook beside the trail around Loch Lomond

I came to realize how people could have been considered kidnapped by the Fae, as mesmerizing as this bit of nature was, to have seen it 200 years ago or more, I can only imagine how entranced, and ensorcelled people may have been by it's beauty

Plus we found this stump. I have named it as being a gnome home. Standing there long enough, you could almost swear you saw something darting in and out of the leaves, dodging rain drops, and human eyes. 

After a while of following this stream, we rounded a group of trees to see Loch Lomond. In all it's glory, a foggy, over cast day, with a slightly misty rain. I was amazed at how clear the water was!

I don't think I have ever been moved so much by what I've seen as to say that it moved me to tears. Until this. Looking out over the loch, seeing the hills in the distance, standing with my husband behind me, holding me. I started crying. I still cry when I see this. I truly felt at peace, at home, and it's a feeling I will never forget.

After we left Loch Lomond, we traveled up A82 and made our way to Inverness. The picture below is what we saw that was just so perfect, we had to stop and take a picture.

Ah yes, the petrol station, with the most animated lady I've ever met! We stopped to gas, and to grab a bite to eat, they had a little carnival cart outside the station to buy hot food from. We were just going to get some chips and be on our way, but a group of construction workers came up to order their lunch. These were three young strapping lads, and one of them ordered black pudding.

I asked "What is black pudding?" and this lady looked at me completed flabbergasted! Her eyes grew round and wide as saucers, and with a cry of incredulity she asked, dumbfounded "Ye've ne'er 'ad black puddin?" in her beautiful brogue.

"We'll no, I haven't" I said, trying not to laugh at her amazement. "They don't exactly offer it where I'm from". 

"Och, weel I'll just have ta fix that up now won't I? I'll make you and your darlin' a wee sample to try" As she set about making her 'wee sample' she chatted with the construction lads, and told them about a special for next week. One of the lads said they wouldn't be there next week and that their project was done and they were heading back to another part of the country. To this, the lady said "Och, weel, ye'll just ha to come back wi'out yer clothes on" and kept on cooking. After about 10 seconds of the construction guys, my hubby and myself looking at each other shocked, she stopped dead in her tracks, spun around to face them with her eyes huge and her mouth hanging open slack at the realization of what she said. "I didnae mean it like that! I meant wi'out yer work clothes, in yer normal clothes!"

The laughter that ensued had me crying, and clutching my sides. She was by far the most animated lady I've ever met. If I ever go back, I WILL be going there again. She handed us our 'wee sample' of black pudding, she had made a sandwich out of it, and gave us a whole piece to split for free. It was very good! No, you don't want to know what's in it. We got back in our car, and kept traveling north, continuing to laugh randomly at the little lady from the Glencoe petrol station.

Ok, that's all for now, need to go make some bread!

Minion Birthday

So, my friend K's little girl turned two yesterday. Cutest little kiddo ever. She's using her manners, with a little prompting, she enjoys helping in the garden and around the house (I can't tell you how many times I've turned around to find her 'sweeping' the kitchen floor, or 'dusting' something), and will talk up a storm for you.

This adorable little blue eyed, blond curls of a little American Girl doll also LOVES minions. Like OMG every other word it seems is Minion. So for the birthday girl, her Momma and I decided I would make Minion cupcakes. I was super stoked, plus it gave me an excuse to buy a mini cupcake tin (everyone needs one those right?)

I looked up a few ideas online, and found pictures of people using Twinkies, and marshmallows, all sorts of different frostings, or fondant, and some painted on eyes, or used Smarties, or something else. I finally settled on how I wanted to put everything together, and took inventory for what I already had, and K and I headed off to the store.

I used a basic butter cream frosting, and about a half batch of the batter I used for K's birthday cupcakes last December. Plus, marshmallows, chocolate, candy eyes, black painting icing and sprinkles.

I started off by melting the chocolate, but of course I couldn't use my double boiler, because I used it with all sorts of fragrances and other things making lotions and candles last year, and yea well, didn't wanna risk it. No worries, we'll make this work the way my Momma taught me. A pan, and a bowl.

*DISCLAIMER* I don't really consider these candies as chocolates, but I can never get white chocolate to melt properly so I went with these.

Anywhoo....once it was all melted down, I added a splash of oil, and a pinch of vanilla, and started prepping the marshmallows. I found that if you just stick a toothpick in them, they pull off and get stuck in the chocolate, so I dipped the toothpick into the chocolate a little, then shoved it into my marshmallow, let it cool, and THEN dipped the marshmallow. Also...don't cover the whole marshmallow, because you'll have nothing to hold later without melting chocolate, and it makes it tricky getting the tooth pic out. Unless you want an excuse to eat half of your minions...then go ahead.

I used a styrofoam circle to hold the minions while they were cooling and drying, popping them in the fridge to hurry the process along since I'm not all THAT patient of a person.

How minions are born

Once I had all my Minions dipped, eyed, and haired, I started making cupcakes, and icing. I used Wilton Royal blue coloring to get the batter and icing as close to the shade of blue as their overalls and I could. 

Yay! First batch in mini cupcake tray!!!

After everything had cooled, and I took a break for dinner, I sat down and tried to draw the goggles and mouths on with a food writer pen. Thanks to the waxy nature of the chocolate, the pen tip just gummed up and didn't work for more than a tiny little mark that was REALLY faint any way. 

I tried to Google home made edible ink...and kept finding all these really cool ideas for making ink out of beets, and dryer lint, and walnuts, and all sorts of things, but not really what I was I going for. So I thought, well I have the black Wilton gel coloring, but it's too thick to paint on, so I'll try to water it down. Well that didn't work well, because the waxy-ness of the chocolate just had the water beading up and not drying. In the words of the minions "well, poop". 

I'm not sure what made me think of it, but I tried mixing some powdered sugar into the black water until it was about the consistency of an acrylic paint. Found my detail paint brush that I bought because I wanted to paint stemware, but never got around to it. I proceeded to paint, every minion's goggles, and mouths by hand, and assemble the cupcakes, while watching an outrageous comedy about a haunted house. 

MINIONS!!!!

WOW did they turn out pretty well! Some of them were a little wonky, some looked a little messed up, but overall, I had my own army of minions sitting on my coffee table.

The birthday girl, was so excited when she saw the minions that it didn't take her more than 5 minutes to snag one (after being told to wait) when no one was looking. K and I were in her kitchen getting dishes ready to set out and heard her say "I ate it". K and I looked at each other wondering what she was eating, and go into the other room to see this:

One very happy, Minion demolishing, birthday girl. Guess which one she snagged? The one I made with little piped stars on it so we could put her star candles in it for her to blow out....So we had to put the candles in a different one, but thankfully I had more cupcakes than minions.

Now that I've seen Despicable Me 2, I'm going to have to figure out how to do the new minions. Thinking, of cotton candy for the hair, and coconut for the teeth. If I ever actually make them, that is. I think I'm slightly minion-ed out for the time being. But we had one happy little birthday girl!

Motivation

We've all heard it at some point I'm sure. One of the ways to build motivation, and self confidence is to tell yourself the positives, normally while looking in a mirror. Kind of like this girl.

No I don't know this girl, this is a video I found on YouTube. Wish I did know her, she seems like an amazing, spunky little spit-fire.

I personally can't seem to bring myself to put on this kind of display, even when I'm home alone. To me, the whole "You're an amazing person, you can do this" pep talk in the mirror was cheesy as, well the best southern mac and cheese comfort dish you can dream up. Which when you're trying to live and eat better, that's not the best dream (*drools)....um yeah, side tracked by the gooey goodness there, Sorry. 

Some people do the whole post it note on the mirror, the door, the fridge, whatever. Well, post it notes are kind of like my will power, great for short bursts, but with only so much sticking power, they soon release their hold and flutter away, to fall and hide under some nearly immovable object....like the fridge, or stove.

So what's a creative girl to do? I realized when I walked in the bathroom earlier, that I already had the answer, I just wasn't using it to it's fullest possibility! 

And you can do this almost anywhere in the house!

What you need:

Dry or Wet erase Markers (here is one place you can get them)

A mirror or a Wall-pop 

Some self affirming sayings, or something that puts you in the right state of mind. 

If you use a wall pop, make sure the wall is really good and clean!

Then you can write what means something to you, Something that will help you get through what ever it is you need to get through. 

If you use a mirror, make sure you use a marker that you can read against the reflection. 

If you're dieting, put one on the fridge, and write your next weight goal, and what you're going to reward yourself with. See if that doesn't help you close the door and walk away!

If you need to remind yourself to not take things so seriously write something like "Smile at the clouds, Dance in the rain, Life's too short, not to have fun!"

If you have a white fridge, you can you use that too. That's what we did for the longest time. Works REALLY great for jotting down those "Oh,we need ___!" things when you remember because you reach for it and it's not there. Then when you go shopping, there's less of the "What on earth was it I said we needed??" moments. 

Please test it out first! Some fridges like ours, have little weird wriggely groves in the whole surface, that the dry erase ink can sink into, and it takes a lot of scrubbing to get it out. Some colors are also harder to complete erase than others. Green being one of them in my experience.

How do you motivate yourself? What tricks do you use to help make yourself feel better?

Summer Garden, Goals, and Ideas

Well, it's summer here in my part of the world. With the exception of the last week or so, it's been relatively mild and comfortable, hanging in the 70's but the humidity can't seem to make up it's mind. But all this means is my garden is THRIVING!

Small orange rose bush rescued from the mint

Acorn Squash

K and I have now planted carrots, onions, tomatoes, basil, eggplant, acorn squash, green beans, corn, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, spinach, beets, radishes, green peppers, spicy peppers, zucchini, cucumber, spaghetti squash, and ambrosia melon. The carrots are just about ready to be pulled, and I'm impatiently waiting. We've got garlic growing all over the yard, and also waiting to harvest it. As well as mint....tons and tons of mint growing wild through my roses. So much, that I think I'll have enough to do everything from HappySimpleLiving's blog, and still have plenty left for a Mojito or two (*ahem* dozen) over the course of the summer.

Corn and green beans reaching for the sky!

I've read a lot that things like cabbage, and broccoli don't do too well with warm summer sun on them, so K and I strung up some string and cheesecloth to make a bit of a sun shade for our cold loving veggie bed, and it seems to be working OK. I just have to be careful when watering, and make sure to check it after a rain to make sure the cheesecloth isn't trying to push the plants back into the ground.

Happy Tomatoes and basil

Surprise! Apparently tomatoes will grow just about anywhere.

K and I planted about five tomatoes when we started seeds this spring. Now we have 25 plants. When the big garden was tilled by our husbands, apparently a tomato or two got tilled in, and they sprouted. We also found a volunteer growing out of a barrel where we dumped all the tiny rocks from the onion and carrot patch. So we now have a few varieties of what appear to be heirloom, beefsteak, roma, cherry, and a few unidentified tomatoes.

We also found a few pepper plants that popped up in the tilled ground, so those got transplanted as well.

The Ambrosia Melon we are growing is an experiment. Not sure how it's going to turn out, but since the plant cost me like $2 I'm not complaining. It looks like it's something like a cantaloupe, but it is supposed to be super sweet.

This past week we had a bit of a heat wave, getting up into the upper 80's but with high humidity it felt more like 90's. Our air conditioning is out, so we ended up spending about a week at my mother-in-law's house, taking advantage of her cool air. During this time, I ended up teaching her how to knit a dish cloth. She had one she loved that has just about reached the end of its useful life, so it was time for a new one. I ended up picking some thread for a few wash cloths for myself (I just can't bring myself to use such pretty things on dirty dishes) and worked right along side her while she made her first dish cloth. I must say, for her first time knitting in several years, she got right back into the swing of things very quickly. She picked a skein of red/blue/grey mix that when I looked at it on the shelf, I wasn't too much of a fan, but after she started knitting with it, it pulled a transformer on me and ended up looking pretty kick-ass! Enough that I'm planning on making a few out of the same stuff. 

A nice bright and cheery wash cloth!

I am now into my second batch of home made laundry soap, and I am loving it! Some stains that I thought were there for good have magically disappeared, and it rinses out so well there isn't anything left to irritate sensitive skin. Bonus - It works beautifully in my H.E. front loading washer. Next time I make a batch, I'll have to put up a tutorial on it. 

While reading around online for something...I think ideas for more wash cloths since I get bored pretty quickly, I stumbled across something I haven't thought about in a few years. Hot Process Soap.....but in a crock pot! Sign. Me. Up!

I love homemade soap, especially the kind with herbs and flowers in it. I stumbled across the blog Little House in the Suburbs and have been browsing through the wonderful entries there, getting my creative ideas flowing. So of course now I'm reading up on making soap in a crock pot, and the ratios, and what to do if it doesn't work, and how to tell if it's not working before waiting for it to set up. 

I'm hoping to have my first batch of crock pot soap in the next few weeks, (seriously, not standing over a hot pot of soap stirring away in summer, umm yes please), now I just have to decide if I'm going to make plain old soap, or if I'm going to do something fancy, like oatmeal and honey, or lavender chamomile, or even a mint and lemon. This is especially exciting for me, because I'm always looking to find ways to pamper myself, without spending all the extra money at the store. Also because this year I'm really trying to cut back on our seeming dependence on store bought items, and be more proactive incorporating nature into our lives. What more wonderfully pampering way to incorporate some of our summer garden into our winter lives than including some of the herbs and flowers in the soap we will use all winter? Add to that the scrumptious wash cloths, maybe some homemade candles, and hey, who needs the spa?

Well, that's all for now folks. Need to get off of here before I get any more ideas and try to do too much at once!

Faith, spirit, and nature

Some days, things just fall into place. You feel whole, connected. Your body seems to hum with an energy that is but isn't there. Something so beautiful and perfect you feel your eyes tear up, your heart swells, and an overwhelming sense of peace settles around your shoulders like a favorite warm blanket. 

Yesterday, the air reminded me of Scotland, humid, but cool and breezy. Scotland was the first place I truly felt this overwhelming surety of who I am, and what it means to be me. To the point my soul cried "This is home, I am home!". The sense that my spirit, my body, and my mind were in sync, and for a brief moment, even the stars and time could move nothing unless I willed it. I felt what I have long believed, in so profound of a moment, that it no longer was a belief, but became a soul deep knowledge. 

Yesterday, I had a similar feeling, not as strong, but an echo of what I had felt before. Even if we hadn't already planned it, I would have found myself outside and in the garden, or the woods. Barefoot, bare hands, sinking into the damp ground, with the breeze a gentle brush against the face. 

K came over, and we got the side bed weeded and planted. We were able to put corn, green beans, acorn squash, tomatoes, basil, carrots and onions in the ground. We will be putting some eggplant in as well in the side garden. The carrots, tomatoes, and basil are all showing, but nothing else will sprout for a while yet. I am looking forward to dinners made with freshly picked food, shared with loved ones. 

Some people may wonder why go through the trouble of doing all this when you can just buy it. Well, there's many reasons, but only a few are very important to me.

The most important is that for me, working in the garden is very spiritual. Some people pray, some people meditate, some dance, or use rhythm and find that solace the soul is looking for. Gardens, nearby woodlands, and rivers have always been my solace. There is a sense of wonder, a sense of peace when in nature. It's where we came from, before there were cities, before there were modern conveniences, we lived in and with nature. There is a harmony that I have not found elsewhere. When you let nature set the pace of life, life is more full. There's less stress, and it's easier to accept that what will happen will happen, and we can't control everything, as much as some of us may want to. 

Part of the spiritual aspect is all of the sensory input, that when I focus on it, or simply sit surrounded by it creates a very humbling feeling. As humans, we tend to forget how important the earth around us is and that in one way or another we all depend on nature. Getting my hands into the soil, knowing that what I have my hands in provides life to the plants that will be put there, and thus to me. The scent of the plants is to me the scent of life. The sound of the breeze, and the air around me that carries the sound of leaves rustling, or birds singing, lifts my spirit. 

Another reason this is so special to me, is that working with the earth reminds me of loved ones, and cherished memories. Memories that come bursting through the misty reaches of my mind to stand bold, front and center when I'm in nature. Remembering my mother, and my grandmother taking walks and pointing out different plants, with my mother sometimes explaining a medicinal use of the plant if she knew it. Memories of my grandfather carefully saving and cataloging seeds from his favorite plants, or taking the time and care to paint leaves of prized plants one at a time to protect them from some pest, or blight. Friends that I remember talking to their plants, encouraging them grow, and thrive, and the excited phone calls when a bloom appeared. 

http://tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com/2012/01/triskel-plant.html

Another is it fills a special part in my heart. My faith. My belief that life is sacred, and deserving of reverence. As a Druid, there is so much more than simply having a spiritual connection, there is an underlying, fundamental belief, in love, wisdom, and creativity, all of which I find in the garden. The proof that our lives are more connected than they appear on the surface. The peace that is present when all is in harmony. In my experience, some of the most wonderful moments of freeing the soul have been found setting roots into the soil.

All of this sums up to the fact that I do this because it's who I am. 

Gardening, Family, Life, and Feeding the birds

OK, so this post has been in the works for over two months now, so it'll be a long one. Some info and pictures are at least two months old, but still worth adding.

In one of my earlier posts "Reflections, A New Year, and New Experiments, I mentioned something about goals I had for the year. One of those was growing and canning more of our own food. To that end, we have been working on getting some vegetable beds ready to grow yummy tomatoes, and corn, and squash, and green beans among many other things.

Since our lives are fairly busy right now, and we have friends who want to grow their own veggies too, we've been sharing the work. K and her daughter have been coming over and helping clear out rocks....lots and lots of rocks, and plant seedlings, all while teaching her adorable little lady bug about playing in the dirt, playing in the water from the hose, and splashing in the puddles made by the hose.

Dirty bottom, and playing in the hose water :)

One of the delays in working in the garden was the cracking, and spewing forth of water from our 75 gallon fish tank on April 26th. Probably about 45 minutes or so after my husband left for work, and after I had been asleep about 4 hours. Thinking back now, it was rather comical. To my sleeping brain, the first crack sounded like the linen cupboard door being closed, so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Some time later, probably about 5 or 10 minutes, I heard another crack, groaned and rolled over wondering what on earth he was getting in the cupboard for again, then I heard the sound of liquid running and splashing....and it didn't stop. I yelled out "Please tell me that's you going to the bathroom?!" silence....well (random string of expletives).

So I get up and check the bathroom and nothing, head out to living room and as I'm walking down the hall I realize my cat is sitting on the arm of the couch staring raptly at the fish tank. As I walk past the tank I feel cold, wet, squishy carpet, and look down to see 5 streams of water coming out of the bottom back of the tank! Hence the comical running around trying to figure out what to do save the water, the fish and the floor, which at this point splashed when I stepped on it, since about 1/4 of the water was on the floor.

The crack going from bottom right to the top of the tank. Still have the pretty backing on.

I managed to grab one of those 5 gallon buckets and catch one stream of water that was wicking around and out the side, but I had to figure out a way to channel the water that was still pouring out the back, right towards the power outlets. First thing I saw...was a gallon ziplock bag....don't know why I thought that would work, but after standing there for about a minute trying to figure out how to get it to stay, I decided that was BS. I went to the kitchen and grabbed our small cutting board and managed to wedge that between the tank and the wall and redirect the water into the bucket, which was filling up really fast. So while that was filling I called the hubby to get him to come home. Then called K and the conversation went something like this...

K: Hi (cautiously because I normally don't call that early)
Me: Do you have towels (Duh...they wouldn't)
K: Yeah, I have a lot of towels. Why?
Me: My fish tank sprung a leak....
K: What!? Ok I'll grab my towels, and I have this little green that I can grab and suck water out of the floor
Me: That sounds great...

So our day that Friday revolved around sucking fish water out of the tank, and the floor. Well, at least the floor got a good scrubbing, courtesy of A bringing a brand spankin new carpet cleaner over, and the  fish tank got a thorough cleaning. We got a new tank, and actually got pretty lucky. We got a new 75 gallon tank, stand, lid and light for about $500.00 from a local pet store. Still a hefty chunk to have to drop like that, but we had to put the fish somewhere, and the tub wasn't an option!

New tank, still a little cloudy after transferring all the fish and decorations over. The guy below is our bottom feeder....aptly named Moby in the old tank. Yes, he takes up over half of the 23 inches of the tank from top to bottom. Probably closer to 20 when you count the pebbles on the bottom.

We've managed to chisel and scrounge out two beds. A small one between our driveway and a larger one at the back of our house. We realized that the one at the back of the house actually ends up in the shade by about 2:30 right now. Our neighbor's trees are hugely tall, and without the leaves, we didn't notice how far the shadows are thrown.  I'm confident that as we get further into summer, and the sun shifts, it'll be more in the sun.

So, we got both beds tilled, fertilized, and some peat moss turned in to the soil in an effort to break up the clay, and add some nutrients. The side bed is going to be home to some corn, and tomatoes, and green beans, and squash. The back bed pictured above is going to be home to lots of stuff, including zucchini, cucumbers, herbs, onions, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, spaghetti squash, and more that I can't think of at the moment.

Fast forward about a month, life continues to throw curve balls our way, including finding out we need to completely replace our AC unit (which if you notice is in the middle of the vegetable bed against the house.....yeah anyone else see tender young plants getting squashed by the workmen? Not intentionally of course!

Of course during all of this, I had a wish granted, and in the manner of wishes, not in a way I expected. Mid March I ended up taking over watching A's boys while she was at work. Not a week or so before I was thinking, "I'd really love to spend more time with A and her two kids". Yea...be careful what you wish for!

One week, we went to a local park and fed the birds! Both the boys and I ended up with little birds on our hands pecking seeds up! It was one of those rare, magical moments that just resonates with a hidden place in your soul. 

For as much as those kids push, and try to get what they want (what kid doesn't?) I love them. There were definitely the 'Aww' moments, sporadic at first, but with increasing frequency towards the end. Last Monday, the youngest practically marched up to me and said "We (his brother and himself) should do the chores so you guys can rest". Mom's voice popped into my head "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" (What does that really mean any way??) so I jumped on the chance. They came up with a list of chores they could do. This listed included:

Run the vacuum

Clean the cat liter box

Clean off table after dinner

Take out trash/recyclables

Help with laundry

Water the plants

Pick up and organize the shoes by the front door

Help with dishes

Set the table

sweep the kitchen

pick up trash

pick  up toys

read a book

pick up and put back pillows and blankets on couch

Well I added the read the book one ;). What we did was make a chore cup, printed out the chores and cut them up. Then the boys would each pull a chore out of the cup, do it, and race to see who got done first, then pull the next one out until they were all done! I also made little lucky stars for them to transfer, along with the completed chore to the completed cup. The rule was that if they did all their chores, all week, and without complaining, they would be allowed to play video games on the weekend. We did this all week and it worked wonderfully. A is continuing this even though I'm not watching them anymore. 

Sorry this took so long to get up, but here it is in all it's un-edited glory! I'll be working on another post shortly about the garden, and how it's progressing.

Dreams are one of the driving factors of life. Dreams of the future, unfulfilled dreams, even nightmares, all drive us in one direction or another. It's up to us to choose which dreams to chase, and which need to be left behind.