A little Cleaning Savvy

  Have you ever thought about the products used to clean your home, and if they are toxic? Or dangerous to your pets and babies? Well, today is Friday and I have been cleaning this morning so thought I would share a few of my fave tips for eco friendly cleaning.
  To make a great scouring powder, mix equal parts of table salt and baking soda and put in a shaker container. Use like any other cleanser. Add  drop of lemon or scent of your choice if you want it to smell nice. I got lucky, about the time I started making this I had just emptied a plastic container of scouring powder so soaked it and cleaned it out and refilled it with my home brew. Works great. If thats not an option, use any empty container with a tight fitting plastic lid that you can punch holes into, hot nail works well. Even one of those potato chip cans might work, but be sure the lid will stay on or you will have a big clean up.
  To clean counter tops, fridges, exterior of stove, bathroom sinks etc, mix equal parts of water, white vinegar and a few drops of tea tree oil. The tea tree oil is  antibacterial, so sanitizes.
  To make a good glass cleaner, add a few drops of lemon juice and a drop of detergent, like Dawn to a cup of water, put in spray bottle and have at.
  As I finish cleaning my kitchen or bathroom, into each drain I put 1/4 cup of baking soda followed by 1/4 cup white vinegar and let set for about a half hour, then rinse with hot water. This helps keeps drains free running and eliminates any odors. The salt and soda cleanser will do a good job on toilet bowls.
 Lastly, you likely know this but a piece of crumpled newspaper works very well in place of expensive paper towels for glass cleaning, actually makes glass shinier. I have also stopped buying those micro fiber cloths for my "dusting mop" and just bought a pack of cheap terry wash cloths, use one, pull it off and wash it. Reuseable for a very long time, and saves a lot of cash.
  Have a great weekend, we are still enjoying nice fall weather and pretty colors. It rained all night and many leaves are now on the ground. Change your clock this Saturday night.

Home made itch lotion

Hi all, its another lovely day on the mountain. Really cool this morning, 56 degrees. Feels so good after the heat. Will warm up by afternoon but the nights are lovely for sleeping now. If you are working in the yard and battling bugs and bites, minor scratches etc, try this to soothe the itches. Mix 2 Tablespoons of aloe gel( I buy it bottled but you might be able to use it from a plant if you have one) with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of water. Apply liberally to affected areas. I love the weather cooling down but hate the thought of winter so hope we have a lot of fall days ahead of us. They have late cropped the tomato fields and Doug, my son is putting out new seeds.  My eggplants which have not done well finally have a few blooms. take care, enjoy these lovely cooler days.