Fall, storms, gunk cleaning recipe

T

The weather has changed. Instead of sweat and humidity, it has cooled off. Mornings are around 50 degrees, and afternoons  near 70. Love it, very comfy. Sleeping with a blanket  again is nice, and days are just right. My containers on the deck still are giving me lettuce, peppers, tomatoes and herbs. So a salad is still part of supper. It's been sad to watch the events hitting this world lately, and do you notice they are all "the worst ever" occurrences, hurricane Harvey, now Irma, the earthquake in Mexico,the fires in Oregon and Washington and California,  kind of makes me wonder what's next.  It's still calm and serene on the mountain, tho we should be getting some fallout from Irma early in the week, looks like rain, and maybe a little breeze, nothing like others have suffered through.  Some of our leaves have red edges, the hummers are tanking up on nectar right now, not sure if they are getting ready for Irma, or the cool weather has them thinking of heading south. Not a good time for that. Since I switched them to organic sugar water, I can hardly keep up with filling the feeder, they really like that stuff. I watch a dozen at a time fussing over who will get to have some. They are amazing little creatures, sad to know they are dying, like the bees and butterflies, from the stuff we spray our crops with.   Ran across a recipe to clean gunky tile, floors, shower walls etc.  The original recipe calls for 3 cups of water,, 1/2 cup  of baking soda, 1/3 cup of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of white vinegar, whisked together and put into a spray bottle or applied with a brush.  To my liking, this is way too soupy.I would go with 3/4 cup of baking soda, 2 Tablespoons each of lemon juice and white vinegar, and enough water to create a thick paste, then brushed on. Let it sit 20 minutes or more, then rinse off.   Starting a pot of chili today, the first of the season. We are expecting only 60s for highs by the first of the week, so looking for something warm , comfort food.  The last 2 weeks I have emptied out and cleaned every one of the 6 closets in my house, 3 walk in bedroom ones, a walk in linen one in the bathroom and a pantry in the kitchen. Have done some cleaning before, but not to this extent. Except for one closet, with carpet, all the others got a steam cleaning on the floors and all the shelf's wiped down.  Kind of thinking about storm windows  but hoping for some warmer weather  yet, not ready for cold.  For the first time in all the years here, I have no pears to can. Weird.  But in a way, no cramped hands from endless hours of peeling and chopping. Mixed blessing. Hope you have a good week, and no storms blow your way. Stay well.