Congratulations Kept Woman!
Congratulations and thanks to the Kept Woman for being the very first commenter on my brand new blog. You have won three lovely hemp-twine teethers which were personally handmade by me. Please email me with your details so I can send them to you. These three teethers were made using the twisted macrame knot and the decorations are small multicolored beads in the shape of farm animals and garden insects and keys.
Filed under crafts, photography | Comment (0)Did I really try that?
About 15 or 16 years ago I went on a trip to Scotland with my dad and step-mother which was their third successful home exchange with a family across the Atlantic and was my second european trip with them. My step-mother has always been big into exploring and trying new things and being that we were in Scotland we just couldn’t be allowed to pass up the experience of trying the national dish, Haggis. If you have ever eaten at any local diner in the bible belt or shopped at a grocery store there, you might have noticed something curious called livermush. I would have to compare the taste of Haggis to something like livermush. I have never tasted livermush but Haggis, I would imagine, is very much like it; a very grainy and crumbly meat. Ah, well you get the gist. I don’t think my step-mother fully explained to me what Haggis actually was until after I had tried some but I remember not wanting seconds. Also, I think this at least one of the many reasons why I chose to be vegetarian throughout high school and beyond. Slashfood has an article here about the national dish of Scotland and while scouring for a picture of this unique "camping" food, I found this hilarious picture. I wonder if vegetarians actually devour this knowing they are noshing on something designed to mimic the very essence of food they loathe to ingest?
Filed under family, food, travel | Comment (0)Funny comic
The comic For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston is often so very accurate yet makes me laugh every time.
Frosty is here
We built a pretty nice ‘lil snowman — the kids had a blast!
Filed under photography, winter | Comment (0)Natural Dishwasher Soap
So, tonight I ran out of my regular dishwasher detergent unexpectedly. I loaded the dishwasher full earlier in the day but hadn’t realized I used the last of what was left in the box the day before. I usually use Seventh Generation brand which does a good job and they do provide coupons for their products but having run out and not wanting to go to the store for just one item I searched around for a natural dishwasher soap recipe. I found just what I was looking for at Nature Moms. This recipe calls for castille soap, water, white vinegar, tea tree oil and fresh lemon juice. I just happened to have all of these ingredients on hand except for the fresh lemon juice for which I substituted lemon essential oil. I really enjoy making other household cleaners and this one might just have to stick around. CAUTION: A low-sudsing soap like castille is the ONLY soap that should be used and NOT regular dishwashing liquid as it foams up way too much and you could end up with a mess on your hands (or rather all over your floor). I found several other recipes all using borax (washing soda) and baking soda and I plan to try these as well. I had no idea that such a simple and natural alternative to commercial dishwasher detergents lay inside my cabinets all this time.
Filed under coupons, environment, homemaking | Comment (0)Plastic Canvas Calendar Craft
A long time ago, my very crafty Grandma Lucy made a plastic canvas calendar for me to match my room decor at that time. My grandmother’s crafts will show up numerous times on this site as she had a multitude of crafts that she enjoyed making. This calendar was made using two large sheets of white plastic canvas and blue plastic canvas was used for the month titles, weekday titles and numbered days. She used dark blue yarn for all the stitching. She included two little plastic bears as a decoration at the top right corner because I was a little girl at the time she made this, however, my tastes have changed over the years and since they were getting quite old, I have changed the decorations to various forms of stars which match the blue plastic canvas parts of the calendar. If you are interested in plastic canvas projects, visit AllCrafts for numerous projects and free patterns. Also, AOK Corral Craft and Gift Bazaar has some nifty how-to instructions for getting started with plastic canvas crafts.
Filed under crafts, family | Comments (6)
