Homemade cleaners

I've posted about homemade cleaners before, but thought I'd give a rundown of what I'm using now:

Laundry Detergent
You can get more recipes and info here:
http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

Fabric Softener
I add about half a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Dishwasher rinse
I always add white vinegar to the dishwasher's rinse compartment. One person suggested putting a bowl of half a cup in the lower rack and says that works better. Haven't tried that yet, but so far it's working okay the way I've been doing it.

All-purpose cleaner and shower spray
I mostly just spray white vinegar onto countertops straight. It works well for daily wipe-ups.

All-purpose cleaning scrub
Make a paste of baking soda and some water for a basic cleaning scrub. I find that this mix works okay for most things like countertops and the bathroom, but it doesn't work on my toaster oven, which has some baked on gunk on the inside of its door. So I made the paste with some cooking oil and scrubbed the door with a toothbrush and now it looks as good as new! It's funny to think you can use oil to clean up oily spots, but it works! I just saw another recipe where the person uses baking soda and peroxide to make a paste and supposedly, it works wonders! I'm going to try that recipe next. My big oven needs some serious work!

Carpet stain remover
I didn't think this would work at first, and it does require some elbow grease. Basically, wet the carpet stain with a little water and work the baking soda into the stain with a toothbrush. Really scrub it in and then add vinegar. Continue to scrub and repeat a few times until the stain comes out. I used this on some stains in our bedroom that was there before we moved it. Those stains didn't come out even after we used the carpet washer thingy on it, so I'm very happy this worked!

Dust Cloths
Soak some rags in a solution of half vinegar and half water with a several drops of olive oil and lemon oil. I keep a container of this stuff with rags soaking in it and pull out rags to dust dusty surfaces when needed.

Non-Bleach Stain Remover
Soak the stain-ridden clothing in a mix of water, washing soda and peroxide. I never measure. I just fill the washer with water, throw the stuff in and sprinkle in the washing soda and peroxide depending on how much needs to be washed and how soiled the stuff is. The truth is, some stains will never come out, but in my experience, this technique works really well.

Towel refresher
I use the prewash cycle to wash the towels with a sprinkling of borax and hot water. Then I let it drain and do a regular wash on the hottest setting with a cup of vinegar. I do a second rinse with some more vinegar. Usually after this, the towels come out very soft and as absorbent as I remember they used to be.

Drain declogger
Pour up to a half or a full cup of baking soda into the drain. I use a tiny bit of water to get some of the baking soda further down and I also try to work it in with my fingers. Then I pour vinegar into it and close the drain before it can bubble out. My favorite part is watching the bubbles and listening to them foaming. When the sounds die down, I pour more in vinegar and close it again. Once most of the baking soda has bubbled away, I pour a cup or two of boiling water down the drain. If the drain is still a little clogged, I repeat the process.

Destaining the sink
We have an enamel sink that was stained before we moved it. Although this didn't take out the stains entirely, it did brighten things up a bit. I made a paste of borax and lemon juice and scrubbed it into the sink with a toothbrush. After working it in for a few minutes, I rinsed the paste away and repeated the process once more. At this point, if the stain didn't come out, I doubt it ever will.

... and that's it! That's all I got so far. Going forward, I'd like to try making my own dishwasher detergent.

Oil cleansing method

I had heard about this oil cleansing method a while back, but I never got into it. I had my favorite cleanser for my face and I was happy with it. The cleanser didn't take off stubborn makeup, but it worked well for days without makeup, which is most days. So not having a need for change, I didn't bother changing my routine.

Lately, I've been using makeup more. I don't know why, but lately, I feel like I would like to not look dowdy all the time. At the very least, I'd like my face to look less splotchy. So these days, I've been using BB cream every morning. BB cream is the latest makeup fad because it moisturizes, primes and evens out skin tone at the same time. Most also contain anti-aging stuff and ingredients that are supposed to be nourishing for your skin. I originally bought an American BB cream, and though I liked it, it was more like a tinted moisturizer and didn't give me the coverage I needed on some days. So I switched to a Korean brand and though still light on my face, does seem to have a bit more coverage. I also only buy BB creams that have SPF using titanium or zinc oxide as its sunblocking ingredient.

So now that I have makeup on my face, I really would rather not have to remove the makeup and then wash my face with a cleanser, which is what I used to do. I want that whole deal to be a one step process. Enter the oil cleansing method. I've already been using extra virgin olive oil on my face to remove makeup. Why not just use it as an every day cleanser? The method is easy. I just rub olive oil into my face, massaging the skin and making sure to get it onto any eye makeup without getting it into my eyes. After a minute or so of that, I wet a soft face cloth with hot water and place it over my face until it cools. Then I gently wipe the stuff off my face. If I didn't get everything the first time, I'll rinse the cloth with hot water, place it over my face again until it cools and wipe. Then I wash my face cloth and hang it dry. All done!

There are a couple of nice things about this method. First, it cleanses and removes makeup in one step. Second, it actually moisturizes the face enough that you don't have to put on extra lotion before bed. You still can if you want to, as I do when I have an eczema patch to take care of, but if my face is feeling healthy, I don't bother with lotion.

If you have oily skin, you can add castor oil. A good blend to start with is 80% olive oil and 20% castor oil. You can also try substituting olive oil for sunflower seed oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil or sweet almond oil. Some experimentation might be involved to find the oil combination you like best. You can even add aloe water or aloe juice to your blend. Just shake the bottle well before applying.

For me personally, I don't mind making a cleansing oil blend and getting creative. However, the truth is that I'm lazy and I want to keep things simple. What's easier than simply pouring olive oil into a small bottle? I always have olive oil in the house so there's no need to specially buy something for my face, and there's no measuring or mixing. Just pour the oil into a small bottle and place in the bathroom. Can't get much simpler than that!

Taxis light remote airstrip for emergency take-off

http://www.emirates247.com/offbeat/crazy-world/taxis-light-remote-airstrip-for-emergency-take-off-2013-04-08-1.501737

Ruth Stout's no-work garden

I love the concept of a no-work garden. Ruth Stout popularized this technique and became the queen of mulch. Basically, you have a perpetual layer of mulch in your garden. The bottom layers break down into rich soil while the top layers smother weeds. We don't have enough of a garden plot to do this, but it's a wonderful idea to try out if I ever get some actual garden space. You can read more about her system here:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2004-02-01/Ruth-Stouts-System.aspx

For now, I will have to content myself with a garden of many containers and one tiny strip of soil in my mostly-concrete back yard. No mulching necessary in that case. One of the advantages of container gardens is that weeding is incredibly easy, if you need to do it at all.

This weekend, I plan to get some more rich soil from my local garden center. We have some extra containers to fill up and that strip of soil in the yard needs a bit of amending. I also want to start hardening off my seedlings and it is now that I realize a cold frame of some kind would be useful.

The problem I have is that you're supposed to expose the seedlings to the outside environment with good sunlight slowly. So you start with putting the plants one or two hours outside and then increase the time outside every day. Once acclimated, you can reduce transplant shock when you finally do plant them outside. Unfortunately, I am not around at home during enough daylight hours to do this. In the morning, I am rushing out so I'll have no time to put the plants out, wait an hour or two and the bring them back in. In the evenings, it's often already dark when I get home or there's only an hour left of the setting sun. A cold frame would allow you to put the plants outside but still protect them from harsh elements and frost.

There is one other way to harden off plants, which is to withhold water from them until they show signs of wilt and then water them. Do this repeatedly for two to three weeks and they'll be ready for the outside. However, I am loathe to try this as I can't stand to see my seedlings wilt.

So for now, I put a few of the lettuce seedlings inside a deep, empty planter outside in a relatively sunny spot. It's not covered at the top, but the plants are protected on all sides. I am considering getting a clear covering for the planter and this will serve as a makeshift cold frame for now. If they plants in this setup doesn't die in the next few days, I arrange for more seedlings to be place outside in covered planters.

Hospital errors now accessible

This is kind of spiffy:

http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/health/Hospital-mistake-reports-now-available-online-201130651.html

Hand cranked camera

I'm sure this is totally not practical, but I think it's cool nonetheless:

http://www.acgears.com/photography/digital-cameras/suncloud-solarpowered-selfgenerating-digital-camera

Luffa seedlings

This is a picture of my lovely luffas. I may have to get rid of one soon as it is getting crowded in the container and it is still too cold to transplant them to the yard. In retrospect, I probably should have started them indoors earlier and in a bigger pot. Luffas need 150 to 200 days to maturity and it can't stand cold weather or any kind of frost. I am happy to see that they're doing well so far. As you can see, it is growing another leaf right now and it looks different from the first two. I can't wait to see it opened!

Poor tomato plant

Yesterday, in a cloud of enthusiasm and clumsiness, I accidentally killed one of my tomato seedlings. :-(

I don't think it's too late to start another seedling, but I think I'll pass on that. I still have 2 seedlings and if they die, then I'll just buy a plant from the green market once they're back. It's not the end of the world. Just a reminder that I do indeed have a black thumb.

Here is my track record so far:

Planted:
2 Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach
None sprouted as seeds were too old and crummy.

2 Little Gem Lettuce
None sprouted as seeds were too old and crummy

1 Little Gem Lettuce
New seed packet with a few planted in one small pot this past weekend

3 Lincoln Peas
1 Sprouted and looks very healthy!

3 Brandywine tomatoes
2 Still surviving, but looks sad and weak

1 Small Wonder Spaghetti Squash
1 Sprouted - took a long while, but I spied a tiny seedling curling up just last night!

4 Angels' Trumpet flowers
2 Sprouted

6 Lilac Petunia flowers
3 Sprouted. These have been really hard to not kill!

1 Thai Hot Pepper
Just planted this past weekend

2 Large Leaf Italian Basil
1 Sprouted. No luck on the other pot

6 Garlic Chives
Just planted this past weekend in one pot

So it looks like my success rate is a little under 50 percent.