Peonies- my absolute favorite flower. By some miracle, they return each year to my garden.
This is my only flower this year and I smile every time I see it! How dreamy it would be to have bushes full of them...
The weather here has been unbelievably gorgeous since the horrible storms passed. It feels like God is saying, "All will be well, dear ones."
My newest mission (do you have them, too?) is to eliminate some chemicals from our everyday life. Sooo... the first item on my list was to make homemade laundry detergent. Never thought I'd attempt this but... it was FUN!
Here's what we did- just in case you want to try it, too!
Step 1: Get our your cheese grater (Thanks, Alicia!)
Step 2: Pull out your ingredients- 20 Mule Team Borax, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, 1 bar of natural soap and Baking Soda (not pictured).
Ivory soap is fine but we decided to splurge and purchase Dr. Bronner's. They come in yummy scents of Peppermint, Almond, Lavender, etc. We bought it at Fresh Market.
Grate the bar of soap. Note: I was SO worried that my sweet pea would grate her finger. (Insert lecture here.) She did great (sorry for the pun!) and didn't get nicked even once!
The combination is as follows:
1 part grated soap
2 parts Super Washing Soda
2 parts Borax
a few teaspoons of baking soda
Mix/Shake together in your container (We used a Tupperware cereal container) and you're done! 1/8 to 1/4 of a cup is all you need for a load of laundry.
**Note: We used 3 cups of grated soap, 6 cups of Borax and 6 cups of Washing Soda.**
Later in the day, chalk made an appearance. My driveway has never been happier!
Ah, the little artists at work. I wonder if pilots can see this when they are taking off/landing? Betcha they smile.:)
Became fast friends because they have the same first and middle names. And, not only that, they are both ballerinas. It was destiny.;)
Every year I think I should just trash this collection of bits and pieces. And then we have days like today and I'm so glad I didn't.
Ruby does love apples. It's no easy feat eating an apple that keeps rolling away from you! She looks a bit deadly here, don't you think?
Oops. Her apple rolled into the chalk and had to get rinsed off. Look at that face! I do believe she loves food more than I do.:)
I've wanted to try to make my own for a long time and n er got brave enough. Do you ha e exact measurements as to how much your (parts) equal out to be? I would love to hear how well you like it! I love lavendar but also the scent of downy. I guess you can add some scented essential oils to mix? I am so happy to see Miss Ruby!! She looks beautiful as always! Please give her a hug and kiss for me! :-) It looks like you have a huge backyard! Do you garden Lori? We've got ours going...it is so therapeutic! And lastly....I LOVE your grater!! Adorable :-) Love you Lori! Hugs
ReplyDeleteJerelene- I've added the exact measurements in my post, dear friend.:) You should try making some- It's really fun! I'll let you know how it washes once we do our first load.;) I bet you could use essential oils, too. I'll absolutely give Ruby a hug and a kiss from you! <3 I don't garden very much, although we've planted some veggies for the summer- can't wait to enjoy them! I know you have an amazing garden and I'm so jealous! Happy for you, though! Lori
ReplyDeletewe make our own soap also..sadly t-a turned up getting hives from it so we just use it on daddys farm clothes but it does work!!! it has streaked a few of his shirts though!!
ReplyDeleteHi Lori, I loved seeing the Katie twins chalking on your driveway. Jessica used to love doing this at my mum's house and she loved 'painting' with water too. Your peonies are gorgeous and that's the cutest grater I have ever seen! Have a lovely weekend dear sister. Lindsay x
ReplyDelete