Few things are more irritating and than the incesant cry of a squeaking door, especially when you're trying to sleep. You just about drift off and then someone opens the door or it's caught by the wind and SQUEAK! you're suddenly wide awake.
WD-40 is an often used remedy to fix squeaking doors, but my sister recently found a trick that works even better. The squeaky door remedy is as close as the kitchen cupboard: Pam. I'm sure any such cooking oil would fine, we just happen to have Pam in our cupboard, so that's what we used. And since it comes in a spray-can, it works great.
Just spray both sides of the hinges (taking care not to get the spray on the walls or the wood of the door) and let it go. It'll seep into the hinges and silence the squeaks. We've done it to almost every door in our house and they're so much quieter now. And as an added bonus, since Pam is used for cooking, we don't have to worry about it being poisonous, making it a bit more kid and pet friendly. If the cat licks the Pam off the door hinges, it is not going kill them or make them sick like WD-40 would.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Peaches
Well, it looks like our plan to beat the squirrels really did work. We are currently enjoying luscious, juicy peaches from our tree. The simple solution of plastic bags did the trick. We have more peaches this year than we've ever had. Nice when something so simple works so well!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Homemade, chemical-free shampoo
I decided to try a little a experiment this week after stumbling across an idea for homemade shampoo.
For the most part I use commercial shampoo that's on the organic/natural end of the spectrum with as few of the nasty shampoo toxins as possible (no SLS!). Even so, basically every commerically bought shampoo has a few unwanted chemicals, if only to preserve shelf life. I used to use the Beauty Without Cruelty shampoo, but Wegman's stopped carrying it for whatever reason, and there aren't many brands I like as well as that one, so I decided to try the all natural route this week.
I'd heard before that hair could be washed with baking soda, followed by a vinegar rinse, so I decided to give it a go. To make the baking soda shampoo mix a few spoonfuls of baking soda with a cup of water (if your hair is short, you can lessen the recipie). Make sure it's all stirred in well.
The hardest part to get used to is the fact that the mixture is so thin when you're used to using thick shampoos. The second thing is that is feels like you're washing your hair with sticky sand. That's where the vinegar rinse comes in. Mix two spoonfuls of vinegar with a cup of water (again if your hair is short, you may need less).
Like the baking soda, the vinegar rinse is thinner than any shampoo, but once you get used to that, it does get rid of the stickiness left behind by the baking soda.
This homemade shampoo works fine, but it does have one odd characteristic. The hair is clean, the hair looks clean, but the hair doesn't feel clean. It has a heavier weight due to the fact that the natural hair oils aren't being stripped away as they are with commercial shampoo. That means even though it is clean, and looks clean, it doesn't have that light, squeaky-clean feeling.
This may take some getting used to (or I may just decide to run back to my bottle of chemical shampoo.)
For the most part I use commercial shampoo that's on the organic/natural end of the spectrum with as few of the nasty shampoo toxins as possible (no SLS!). Even so, basically every commerically bought shampoo has a few unwanted chemicals, if only to preserve shelf life. I used to use the Beauty Without Cruelty shampoo, but Wegman's stopped carrying it for whatever reason, and there aren't many brands I like as well as that one, so I decided to try the all natural route this week.
I'd heard before that hair could be washed with baking soda, followed by a vinegar rinse, so I decided to give it a go. To make the baking soda shampoo mix a few spoonfuls of baking soda with a cup of water (if your hair is short, you can lessen the recipie). Make sure it's all stirred in well.
The hardest part to get used to is the fact that the mixture is so thin when you're used to using thick shampoos. The second thing is that is feels like you're washing your hair with sticky sand. That's where the vinegar rinse comes in. Mix two spoonfuls of vinegar with a cup of water (again if your hair is short, you may need less).
Like the baking soda, the vinegar rinse is thinner than any shampoo, but once you get used to that, it does get rid of the stickiness left behind by the baking soda.
This homemade shampoo works fine, but it does have one odd characteristic. The hair is clean, the hair looks clean, but the hair doesn't feel clean. It has a heavier weight due to the fact that the natural hair oils aren't being stripped away as they are with commercial shampoo. That means even though it is clean, and looks clean, it doesn't have that light, squeaky-clean feeling.
This may take some getting used to (or I may just decide to run back to my bottle of chemical shampoo.)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Dragonfly: March 1996-August 2011
Today was a very sad day. Due to her eye cancer, we had to put down my beloved cow Dragonfly (a.k.a. Drags, a.k.a Draggie Babes), who is pretty much the love of my life. I raised her up from a newborn baby and she's been my best friend for 15 years. To some people it's just a cow, but to me, she's an absolute family member, and that's what I feel like I've lost.
Dragonfly always loved her special treats, whether it was apples, rotten tomatoes, corn husks, or pumpkins. She loved being brushed, especially under the neck. And she had a trademark misshapen right ear from where her brother had once taken a bite out of it to see if it was tasty.
In honor of my darling, I put together a little slideshow of some of my favorites images of my Draggie Babes. I originally had it set to Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful," but the music didn't carry over when I posted it. I guess it doesn't really matter, because she'll always be beautiful to me. Even the vet, who probably sees a hundred cows a day, once remarked what a pretty cow she was. So this is for you Drags, you are so beautiful to me. I love you.
Dragonfly always loved her special treats, whether it was apples, rotten tomatoes, corn husks, or pumpkins. She loved being brushed, especially under the neck. And she had a trademark misshapen right ear from where her brother had once taken a bite out of it to see if it was tasty.
In honor of my darling, I put together a little slideshow of some of my favorites images of my Draggie Babes. I originally had it set to Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful," but the music didn't carry over when I posted it. I guess it doesn't really matter, because she'll always be beautiful to me. Even the vet, who probably sees a hundred cows a day, once remarked what a pretty cow she was. So this is for you Drags, you are so beautiful to me. I love you.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Dried Flower Teapot
I made this little teapot flowerpot as a special request for someone at the farm market. She gave me the teapot and asked me if I could do some kind of dried flower arrangement in it.
To make this project you will need:
An empty teapot
Floral foam
Dried flowers (I used two kinds statis, strawflowers, coxcomb and goldenrod, but dried yarrow would also be a nice addition if you have any)
A piece of brightly colored ribbon
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Begin by putting the floral foam in the bottom of the pot (I glued my foam to the bottom of the pot so it wouldn't move around). Start by sticking a spring of goldenrod right in the center. This will be the base that everything else gets worked around.
Continue adding statis, strawflowers, and coxcomb to all sides of the goldenrod, sticking them firmly into the floral foam. Make sure the goldenrod remains taller than the rest of the arrangement. Keep adding flowers until the entire teapot is filled, then add a 3 or 4 springs of whispy, white statis (it looks similar to dried baby's breath), so that the stems stick of out of arrangement.
Take a thick piece of statis and coat the stem in hot glue. Slide it into the spout and hold it for a moment so the glue secures it to the inside of the teapot spout. Lastly, form a nice bow out of the ribbon and hot glue it onto the handle of the teapot.
To make this project you will need:
An empty teapot
Floral foam
Dried flowers (I used two kinds statis, strawflowers, coxcomb and goldenrod, but dried yarrow would also be a nice addition if you have any)
A piece of brightly colored ribbon
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Begin by putting the floral foam in the bottom of the pot (I glued my foam to the bottom of the pot so it wouldn't move around). Start by sticking a spring of goldenrod right in the center. This will be the base that everything else gets worked around.
Continue adding statis, strawflowers, and coxcomb to all sides of the goldenrod, sticking them firmly into the floral foam. Make sure the goldenrod remains taller than the rest of the arrangement. Keep adding flowers until the entire teapot is filled, then add a 3 or 4 springs of whispy, white statis (it looks similar to dried baby's breath), so that the stems stick of out of arrangement.
Take a thick piece of statis and coat the stem in hot glue. Slide it into the spout and hold it for a moment so the glue secures it to the inside of the teapot spout. Lastly, form a nice bow out of the ribbon and hot glue it onto the handle of the teapot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)