Spring, and cleaning and refreshing naturally

The winter was warm this year, only a few cold days. Now its early March and the fruit trees are blooming as are some of the ornamental trees. Bradford pears have been showing their white gowns for several weeks now. We are already in a drought, which is sad and scary as we are still recovering from the nasty fires in our area of late. At least there is a lot of cleanup going on to remove old leaves and debris that help fuel fires. Lesson learned. If you are getting ready to do some spring cleaning, here are a few easy recipes to help you out. This is a carpet refresh, does not clean but leaves the room smelling fresh. In a shaker container put 1/2 cup of cornstarch, 2 cups of baking soda, 1 T ground cloves, and 4 to 5 crushed up bay leaves. mix well, sprinkle over entire carpet and let sit one hour, then vacuum well. I keep a huge container of this on hand and use it on my mattress every few weeks. 1 cup baking soda, 1 T homemade fabric softener, mix, sprinkle over mattress, leave an hour and vacuum off. I make my own fabric softener with 3 cups white vinegar, 2 cups hair conditioner, and I like Suave, pick a nice scent, its cheap, and 6 cups of hot water mixed together. If you want to avoid the conditioner, use 1 quart of white vinegar, 25 drops of lavender oil and 1 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol, adding 1/2 cup to final rinse water.While you are cleaning to make the whole house smell nice, put a pot of water on the stove, add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary or a good handful from a jar of dried, a sliced lemon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and simmer. My new Mother Earth magazine says that thyme oil is as effective as any antibacterial you can buy, so to make a cleaner for you bathroom and kitchen surfaces take a gallon of hot water and add 1/2 cup of pure liquid castile soap plus 10 drops of thyme oil, shake and use to clean. And last today, if you are fighting spring allergies or stuffy noses, make some tea by boiling 2 cups w3ater, and adding 6 T of fresh oregano, brew 10 minutes, strain and drink as needed. Here's hoping you are having a lovely spring, enjoy the longer days.