Giving Thanks, Laundry soap changing weather

Its been nice and warm for late November, but with the warm, we have had no rain since August. There are so many fires burning in the south, right here in our area we have had one on Neddy Mountain, about 10 miles away that left us gasping with the smoke and setting off smoke alarms. This morning the first firefighter fatality was reported. We are blessed to have only had smoke, and woke to a light rain this am. Hope it does some good. Yesterday 22 new fires started, some folk already leaving their homes for safer places. It would be great to see all this end, and sadly, many of these fires were set, I never come to grips with people who purposely set out to hurt others. Not why we are here. As usual, I have so much to be grateful for, starting with my family, and of course a home I love, is paid for and suits me. We woke to a light rain this am, hope it does some good for the fires. The temps will be dropping all day, into the 20s tonight and for the next few nights, but then warming up to more seasonal levels. Hard to believe we have left summer behind and are now into the holiday season. I have been using a laundry soap that works well, smells nice and is super cheap. If you are tired of clogged plumbing and high prices, you might want to try this. In the laundry section of your store, find a 4 pound box of washing soda, and 4 pound box of Borax, each about $2.00. Then look for a bar of Fels Naptha soap. Mix the powders, and grate the bar of soap into them, stirring well. Store in a covered container and use a heaping tablespoon full for each load. Costs about 7 cents per load, should last about a year for small families. I made a half batch for myself, I don't wash that much. Want to make your carpet smell like the holidays? Mix up 1/2 cup of cornstarch, 2 cups of baking soda, 1 T or more of ground cloves, 1 bay leaf crunched, in a shaker can. I used to buy Parmesan cheese in big jars, and saved all those. They make excellent shakers. Don't buy them now as research shows they are stretched by adding sawdust to them. Better to buy a chunk and grate your own. It's dark and gloomy this morning but we do need rain so no complaints. The Earth now comes into her sleeping, restoring time, Not fond of winter but at least it's shorter here than a lot of places. I do hope you and your family have a lot of reasons to be grateful this year and will spend time with them. Happy Holidays and Good health to you all. s

My Blessed Life, and some good recipes for around the house

I was sitting here drinking my coffee a few days ago, looking up the mountain at the beautiful fall colors and thinking how lucky I am. Then I realized its not luck. I have been blessed from birth to today. The Bible says we are conceived by God before our parents conceived us. I was born into a Christian family, went to church from likely a few weeks old and lived among all my close relatives from the beginning. My grandad died the day I was due from pneumonia, I never got to know him sadly, I am sure he was a very special man. Mom and dad married and had moved in with her mom, so when I was born, I had 3 people to hug and cuddle and read to me. When mom's sister married, she and her hubby lived at Gram's too. Always a lap, a playmate and lots of love. We moved when my second sis was on the was and we ran out of room. But always close. We could walk to Great Grams, assorted cousins etc and when there was need in the family they were always there to help out. When I had polio, cousins Claude and Genevieve were first to come and help set up the bed and equipment I needed. Hospitals were full due to the epidemic. To this day, I am grateful for the life I have lived, places I have been and seen and the family I have. My kids have all turned out to be loving caring people, could not be prouder of them. And I have such wonderful grand-kids and even 2 great grand kids that are the best. One of those grandsons, Paul, put Pat's name on a wall at Wrigley field after the Cubs finally won this year, Pat would have loved that, he wanted that win all his life. Oh yes, I fell out of grace at times, when I was young and foolish but always came back and cling to what I hold dear in life. And yes I am opinionated about a lot of things. My upbringing taught me the Bible is always right, and we don't change God's word. So the things we are told we MUST accept are not what we were taught. I accept people for what they are, but the sins I do not. I do not watch shows on tv that use bad language, mom always said people that cussed had no skills with words and did not know better, and she was a teacher. I do not like blood and guts and violence, we are teaching our kids way too much of that. If I watch tv, its the stations that run the old stuff, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, McHales Nave, Designing Women, and the few stations that carry family things, like Inspiration and Hallmark. Most of the time I have music playing, it calms and soothes and I love it. Have a good library of CDs, oldies and classical. I am very happy on this quiet Mountain, once again I have been led to a place I love. On another subject, I had some nasty scratches in my table legs and cabinets, hit them with my wheel chair a lot. So here is a great way to fix them. In a glass jar put 3/4 cup of oil, I use sunflower as it's not sprayed, and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. Shake. Use a paper towel to wipe onto the damaged areas, do not wipe off but do not apply too heavy, it soaks in and hides the bad spots. Can not believe how well it worked. I also made my first round of laundry detergent this week, a big box, 4 lbs, of washing soda, a big box of borax and a bar of grated Fels Naptha soap. Smells nice, works well, easy on plumbing and cheap, about 7 cents per load, use one heaping tablespoon unless very soiled , then maybe a tad more. It is much cooler now, think the days of 80s and 90s are over for a time. Looking forward to holing up and keeping warm for a spell. Socking up on beans, rice and shelf stable stuff in case we get stuck inside for a while. Hope you are well, and enjoying the changing seasons, be well.