A Kitchen Adventure

    It seems like fall is finally coming. Last night I had to close all the windows in the house before I went to bed. And this morning, I had to break out my felted slippers. For some reason, today I felt like making more laundry sauce.


    It's probably because yesterday my son's girlfriend stopped by for a visit on her way home from work. She spied the second jar of my laundry sauce on the kitchen counter, so I told her all about it. She knew, because she reads my blog. She took it home with her, I'm pretty sure it will work well on smelly karate uniforms.


    So today I thought I'd make some more. This time, I took some photos as I went along. Now, I know that last time I posted about this subject, so too many of you were impressed. I don't care. It really excited me, so I have to share.


First, I used my cheese grater and grated up the bar of Fels Naptha.

Here is a photo of my pot of water, heating up, with the other ingredients ready to go:

 

 

I couldn't take any photos of the next step, as I was busy stirring. But here's what the jars looked like after pouring in the mixture and turning them upside down:

 

 

    And lastly, the separation that occurred after only 10 minutes. This time I was watching!

     I successfully whipped both jars up, without getting too much overflow this time. Now I just have to make labels for them.


    This stuff is really cool. I'm sorry if you don't think it's awesome, but it makes me feel like a sort of pioneer who had to make everything herself. Except I have never made my own biscuits.  One thing at a time.

A purchase for future Grandbaby

    Last week when I was shopping with Sara in Target, I spotted something. The first thing I saw was this adorable face:

I went right over, and there was the cutest little three piece set, in newborn size. I fell in love with it! It comes with two onesies, a short sleeve one:

 

 

     I thought this was appropriate, since her hubs Mike is in a rock band. He plays the drums. Then there's the long sleeve onesie:

    It was so perfect, I threw it right in the basket and bought it. It's OK if I show it here, Sara saw me with it in the store. But she can't have it yet. It's mine to play with!


    On a different note, I somehow managed to fix the problems I was having with my laptop. Even the USB ports are working now, hence the photos! In desperation, I was looking around in the programs in there, and found a free trial version of one of those "cleaner upper" programs. I ran it, and it fixed the problems! I'll worry about it again in two more years.


    This means I can now show you the photo of my home made laundry detergent, when they were turned upside down, and it separated after twenty minutes:

 

     TAH DAH! There it is! One more thing, then I'll not tell you about the detergent any more. I used it again today when I washed our sheets and pillowcases. It worked very well, I'm convinced. And that's the last you'll hear of it.                                                                               

 

 

A random literary story and more

    I have been rereading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series on my nook. All of them, in order. Yesterday I finished #3. I am having trouble getting #4 to load on my nook. But that's not the point.


    I've been living in this woman's world for a long, long time. I love these books, they are like old and dear friends. Anyway, any man in Anita's life knows that she is always armed, and never to walk on her right side, or hold her right hand. That's the hand she needs to draw her pistol from her shoulder holster.


    Well the other night, Hubs and I went to our favorite BBQ joint, Billy Bob's BBQ, in Poughkeepsie. There is no parking lot there, so you park a ways away and walk to it. We enjoyed our food, and as we left we were walking down the sidewalk hand in hand. As we were walking, I thought that he should be walking on my right side, since I'm left handed and would need my left hand free to pull my pistol from my shoulder holster. That is how immersed in Anita's world I can get. 


    P.S. The laundry detergent works pretty good! I am officially pleased. I did another load yesterday. Also yesterday my Hubs did some work on my Jeep and used it as a hand cleaner. He said it worked better than the store bought kinds. YAY! If at some future time I become disenchanted with this stuff, I will be sure to let you know. I think I have an idea of what some people are getting for Christmas....


    Now if you will excuse me, I need to call the 800 number that keeps appearing on my nook screen, "if this problem continues".

Laundry detergent and knitting

    Bright and early this morning after my first cup of coffee, I began the Great Laundry Detergent Experiment. I followed the directions on the website, and it worked! The solid stuff melted, the grainy stuff absorbed, it all got poured into the mason jars, and after twenty minutes, it was separated just like in the photos on the website.


    And in only an hour and a half more, I will be screwing the mixer blades onto the first mason jar and whipping the crap out of it. Then it will officially be finished. I can't wait to do my first load of laundry with it!


    I took a photo of the jars to show the separation, but for some reason the USB ports in my laptop have stopped working. I had intended to photograph the whole process, but forgot to get the camera. I wouldn't have had time to take any photos anyway, once you get started, you can't stop stirring.


    During the four hours I have to wait, I went to the store, took two bags of bottles and cans back, and now I'm knitting to pass the time. I'm still working on the super secret knitting project, and it's still almost one quarter done.

And now for something completely different....

    This morning while trolling on facebook, I came across a recipe for home made laundry detergent. I read through it completely, and was instantly fascinated. I thought I might try to make it.


    I made a list of the ingredients and since I had to make a supermarket run anyway, I thought I would see if they had what I needed. And they had everything! Well, except the canning jars. But I know of a local drug store that carries that kind of stuff year round, so I stopped there on my way home. I had to buy a dozen jars when I only need two but I can give the rest to a friend who cans.


    The last obstacle was a working blender. I have one that for sure doesn't work, and one I wasn't sure about. I just got it down, plugged it in and tried it. IT WORKS! So tomorrow I will be making the laundry detergent as shown in this link...

http://www.budget101.com/myo-household-items/whipped-cream-super-laundry-soap-3993.html


    It doesn't seem very difficult. If I didn't have a working blender I was going to follow the alternate instructions. It sure will save some money! Look for a future report on how it well it works. We have some clothing in this house that seems permanently stained. This new stuff could take care of that..... I will definitely let you know.