The Stuff I Like

After 10 years of marriage and three kids I have done pretty well narrowing down the products I use in my home.  I used to be really bad.  I would fall for a fancy wrapper, or a classy bottle like a giddy school girl.  Lately, I just want what is cheap and what works.  That can apply to anything home related.  Cooking, cleaning, laundry, car care.  Whatev!

These are my most commonly used products:

1.  Coconut Oil

I am discovering new uses for this stuff by the day.  It is truly amazing.  From cooking, to personal products, it is wonderful.  Find out more about coconut oil here.  Please don't pay an arm and a leg for it either.  A great source that I have found is Mountain Rose Herbs.  Their prices are great and it is a company that makes you feel like you are purchasing from a store just around the corner.  I love em! (I buy a gallon at a time.)


2.  Dr. Bronner's Castile Soaps 

This is a hemp and coconut oil based soap.  It also is a multi-purpose product.  My little Levi has had terrible break outs, and rosy red cheeks since he was a wee babe.  Dr. Bronner's is the only soap that has kept his skin issues at bay.  There are recipes all over the internet for hair wash, laundry soaps and tooth soaps all containing or simply using Dr. Bronner's.  One of the best recipes I have is a the multipurpose household cleaner that I got from GroceryShrink.  It costs pennies to make, and if you sign up for her site, she will email you the recipes for free.  Tell her I sent you, and I will blush!



3.  Baking Soda 

Also, very multi purpose and frugalicious.


 


4.  Apple Cider Vinegar

This took some getting used to.  Now, when I smell it I associate it with clean, clean, clean.  I like apple cider vinegar because it is a little less offensive and salad like than white vinegar.  Whatever vinegar you choose, just make sure it comes from a natural source.  Here are some tips on using apple cider vinegar.  I have tried to take it internally.  Ick.  Not quite there yet. I highly recommend it for a personal care product or for cleaning.



5.  20 Mule Team Borax

I use this along with Super Washing Soda and Castile Soap bars to make my homemade laundry soap.  I found it on the Duggar's website.  If you follow the link, scroll down, it's there.  Very easy to make.  One five gallon bucket lasts about six months in our house.  The cost is less that three dollars.  Very economical.  I would suggest washing your whites in something else.  They tend to become a little greyish.  But colors and jeans do quite well.


6.  Super Washing Soda

A little tough to find.  So if you can, stock up.  It can also be ordered online.  Or, during the summer go to the pool section in WalMart.  There you can find PH balancing Sodium Carbonate powder.  Same thing.  Remember Sodium Carbonate not BiCarbonate (Baking Soda).  When I run out of dish detergent I use a little of this, Borax and course salt in the dishwasher.  It can be used regularly but I find that after awhile it clouds up my glasses.


7.  Lemon Juice

Lemon juice has natural bleaching and antibacterial properties.  I mix it with a little olive oil to make a furniture cleaner.  Love the smell of lemons.  Way better than vinegar.  Lemons are expensive though.  Dang!  Time to get a tree!



8.  Olive Oil

Olive oil just rocks.  Try out some of these tips on this site.



9.  Essential Oils

My fave is Tea Tree Oil. The healing and antiseptic properties make it a great choice for moms who have to treat lots of cuts and bruises.  Once again Mountain Rose Herbs is a great place to find many essential oils.


Well, I better make this a top ten so here goes...

10.  Chocolate

Ahhhhhhh yeah.  (Can't get enough of your love baby!!)

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Down on PawPaw's Farm

Today I will lead you on a tour of PawPaw Clements' farm.  This is where we are currently residing.  I hope by the end of this you will not judge me too harshly.  For my environmentalist friends I have a stern warning:  This is not for the faint of heart.  If a trashy beach made the Indian cry, this will make him tear off his garments and shave his head.  Now that we have settled that, let us brave folks move forward.  Let the healing begin.

This is the house.  Well, it's the part I find amazing.  This chimney is HUGE.  Jon's dad did all rock work on the house.  This picture does not convey the cute country charm.  Jon had to patch up the wide open holes on the side of the house with what we had available during the snow storm.  Hence, the metal, towels and bricks.  I forgot to snap a picture of the house, so I used this one.  It's also the only angle that doesn't show all of our crap that's still on the porch.

This is building number one.  It doesn't have a name.  "You know the little cement block building that's full of canned goods"  That's what we call it.  Boy, is it full of canned goods.  Why are they called canned goods when it's all in jars?  Hmmmmm.

This is the dinner bell.  At least I think it is.  It may have been the bell that called the cows home, I don't know.  The string is our effort to work the post back up to a straight position.  Not working.  I want to have it sandblasted and restore it to its former glory.  Okay-I just want to ring it at dinner time, I confess.

This is shed number one.  Cars and trucks are supposed to go in here, but it is full of junk.  Crazy junk.

Like this....

....and this.  That is just a glimpse of what fills every corner of the shed.  Not kid friendly.  Not pet friendly.  We'll get to the pet friendly part next.

Oh!  Here is where Fatman went!!  Play horsie on this big 'un and you might get an unexpected trip to the moon!

This is the Honey House.  This could easily be converted into a small home.  It is the most efficiently built item on the farm.  PawPaw kept bees. This was the newest building to house all the jars of honey.  Currently it houses lots of junk, canned food, pool tables, furniture that no longer fits in the house, and rats.  Lots of rats.  (The former owner's did not believe in owning cats.  But they were okay with living with rats, and rat poo.)  I would take you in there for a tour, but the last time I went in there, there was a near tragedy.  This is the pet friendly area I was talking about. Sarcasm intended.  I went in to look through the wood scraps for some crown moulding.  My dog Sampson followed me in and promptly ate rat poison.  Yeah, I steer clear of the Honey House now.  It's no sweet thing to me.

You can see next to the Honey House is the black walnut orchard.  I love orchards.  I'm an orchard girl!!!!

This is shed number two.  I have no idea what it's official title is.  Lawnmower Shed seems the most logical choice, since there is a Dixie Chopper in there.

 But what about this?

Or this???  Bad Fuel?  If it's bad-why is it here?????

;

How bout starting a jug band?  I got the jug...oh never mind.

Up next?  The Chicken Coop.  At one time this had actual chickens in it.  Now it has bee keeping supplies, mattress springs, briefcases, and

Grandma's clothes? More canned goods? 

A TV?  Maybe the person who drank the crate of booze broke it.  Sad face.


Moving on...

This bee-yoot is the former honey house.  Honey Trailer? Now it just sits here for effect and mood.  Jon says his dad was inside it once when a tornado hit. Sounds fun.
In the corner of the shot is my hubands broke down Cadillac.  You might be a redneck if you find a Cadillac on your farm.  Along with several trucks stashed about. 

Here is shed number three.  This one is ready to come down in my humble opinion.  Poor thing.

But if you need some Bananex, Shed Three is THE place to go.

Or Super #3000...

I have no idea.

This is the Pump House.  Next to it is another trailer full of bee keeping supplies.  The pump house holds the only hose that I have seen on the property.  It's no fun to go trekkin to the pump house to wash a paint brush.  No fun.

Off yonder...(tee hee) is the Hog House.  No hogs have been harmed here for a long time.  Like the other buildings, it's packed with beekeeping stuff.

No horses have been in this pig for awhile either.

Interior shot of the long Chicken House.  Guess what???  No frickin chickin!!!  It's full of scrap wood.  PawPaw was a woodcutter.  Cap'n.... There be wood here!  Oh and another truck!

Holy Moly!!!

A grain silo used to stand in this very spot.  No one can tell me what happened to it and why it was replaced with this work of art.  I went around this thing four times before I found a door.  (Its a piece of the metal with a latch.)  When opened I found bodies hanging in it with mystical writing on the walls.  I kid, I kid.  It had more bee stuff.  Top to bottom: and it almost made the door almost impossible to open.

Here is what happens to stuff that has no place in a shed, or building. It gets burned.  I keep telling Jon to fish out the heavy bag.  This does explain the mattress springs that are propped up in the Chicken Coop.  Really?  They keep em after they burn em?  For what???

Now that I have brought the ugly out into the light, I can't help but leave you with a little beauty.  Sure it's rough and dangerous, but it's also peaceful....

...and shiny.

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