Monday, October 19, 2009

IDC

A friend asked for my laundry detergent recipe, which I got from littlehouseinthesuburbs.com. It’s cheap, smells good, works great, and seems to last a long time: what’s not to love!

Homemade “Liquid” Laundry Detergent
2 cups finely grated soap (I use Ivory)
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
HOT water

1. Add soap and a couple cups of hot water to a pot and melt soap over medium heat. (This takes a while for me. I use a whisk and end up making lots of bubbles. :/)
2. Once the soap is dissolved, remove from heat and mix the washing soda and borax in until dissolved. (I use the whisk for this, too.)
3. After everything is dissolved, pour into a bucket.
4. Add enough HOT water to make 1 gallon.
5. Let set overnight.
6. The next day, you’ll have a gallon of laundry detergent. Mine usually comes out as a thick gel consistency. Like, REALLY thick. I just stick my hand in the bucket and squish it around until it loosens up before I dump it into my detergent container. You have to experiment with how much to use. I get good results using between 1/4 and 1/3 cup.

Yesterday, mom took me and the girls to the fairgrounds to drop off our submissions for the fair competitions. Mom entered about a half-dozen jars of various things; I entered preserves and jelly; and the 5 y/o entered a drawing. Then we checked out the chickens, turkeys and ducks … FUN!

My favorite kid conversation of the week:
On the way to the grocery store, we pass by a thrift store that also sells small wood sheds/barns.
Her: We’ve been to that store before.
Me: Yep, we sure have.
Her: I sure would like to have one of those.
Me: One what?
Her: A barn. We could put chickens in it!
Me: I’d like to have one, too, but I’d put the chicken FEED in it, and hay and stuff.
Her: *long pause* You know, you could get me one for my next birthday.
Me: Really?
Her: Yeah! You could cover it with sheets, so it would be a surprise …
Me: Let me make sure I understand. Are you asking for a BARN for your 6th birthday?
Her: I TOLD you I wanted to be a farmer.
The next day, we’re doing some random activity and she asks me, “Mommy, when I’m old enough to take care of myself, do you think you could help me get my own farm?” I love my kids so dang much. :D

Okay … here’s my IDC update:

Plant: Nada

Harvest: tomatoes, peppers, eggs, basil

Preserve: nothing this week

Waste Not: nothing unusual

Want Not/Prep/Store: Sorted through the kids’ clothes and made notes of what I need to fill in.

Community Food System: Nothing new.

Eat the Food: Ate from the pantry, mostly, with some fresh herbs and eggs thrown in.

2 comments:

  1. Hooray for the barn story. That was great.

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  2. Thanks! She is SERIOUS about farming. I kind of thought of it as cute at first (which it is) but I'm very embarrassed to admit I kind of blew off her determination to plant her own garden, help with the haying, etc. I finally realized that I was being really disrespectful to her. Not cool. Not to mention, I'm not doing her any favors by postponing her *farming* education until it's more convenient for me. So, I've had an attitude adjustment about the whole thing, and dang it, she might just GET a barn for her birthday. :D

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