Fall has arrived, recipes for fall cleaning, thoughts and hopes

 It's official! This morning is crisp and cool, second pot of coffee morning. But oh so nice for sleeping in past normal time. The sun is shining, it''s a beautiful day, and the leaves have red tinges and yellow showing on some. What a great time of the year to get out and see the beauty painted just for our eyes.  It's been a mixed bag week, my daughter in law is battling some health issues, hope she is on the up side now, she gave us a scare.   I have already begun the fall cleaning, have bags of clothes for the Goodwill or someone, and every closet cleaned out.  The rest of the house needs a good vacuuming, my belt broke and I have not been to town to get a new one yet, sure will be glad to get it fixed again. And the light in the frig burned out, never realized how dark it is in there, even with the door open. Time to change batteries in the smoke alarms too, so glad my son can do that for me. Otherwise, I am just doing my regular cleaning, and have some ideas to share.  If you still think it takes clorox or harsh cleaners, nope. Here is a total disinfecting cleaner.  For about a buck at the store you can buy a big empty spray bottle. Wash it well, then put 2 cups of water, 1 cup of white vinegar, 25 drops of rosemary essential oil and 25 drops of fir essential oil  in the bottle , shake, spray and clean any surface.,  I would sub tea tree oil for the fir oil, as I keep it on hand and know it is a disinfecting agent.  Okay, now you can do bathroom and kitchen surfaces with no fumes or harmful stuff.   My grandson used to sell Kirby vacuums, he told his mom that to get even tough stains (pet, icky stuff) off carpets,  make a solution of 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol and 1 teaspoon of Dawn,  spray, let settle in, brush lightly then let dry, or if you are cleaning carpets, go ahead and clean, , spots should all be gone.   I am  a very old fashioned person, brought up in an era of being respectful of others, holding my tongue  a good share of the time and following my religious upbringing. It is so painful to see the "United" States being so divided.  While I did not vote for Trump, he is our president and should be respected. The riots, fighting, shootings are horrific and if we don;t learn to co-exist in better harmony, we may end up with a civil war right here in our own country.  We are meant to be our brothers keeper, and reach out a hand to help anyone, no matter, race, religion or political views.  The more we push this aside, the more  bad things keep happening. Earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, rock slides,  it seems more and more horrific things occur on a daily basis.  It would be so nice to see people try and care for one another, instead of what we do see these days.  Football players disrespecting our country and it's flag, politicians using our bucks for travel, maybe even the president doing that, come on, we can do better. What has happened to honesty, ethics, morals?  Ok, no more soap box, just wanted to put in my two cents worth. I hope you are having a wonderful,fall,  complete with corn mazes, pumpkins, pie etc. Fill your home and heart with warm scents and feelings.  And love. Til next time, peace.