The most satisfying thing to clean- The Washing Machine!

The Washing Machine. I mean wow, how lame to consider cleaning a cleaning machine an enjoyable Sunday pass-time, but it was. And I have some pictures to prove it. Since we bought this newer washer from a yard-sale a few months back, I've yet to really clean it other than run a bleach cycle through. In an effort to keep spring cleaning momentum going, I decided cleaning the washing machine before my husband needed to wash his uniforms before work tomorrow would be the perfect time.... for some reason. I have a bottle of CLR I got to desperately attempt to clean our shower door's orange hard water stains. It helped very little. I read on their website about using it for washing machines, too. The chemical smell is very strong with it & the instructions weren't that great- so I Googled for other options... and found many other sites using all-natural cleaning methods like lemon juice, baking soda, and white vinegar.

Right up my alley! I used Anna's technique found here.

I filled the washer to the largest setting with hot water & dumped in (eyeballed it) 2 cups of white vinegar. I let it agitate for a bit & then turned the machine off so I could do some detail work. I used some q-tips, toothpicks, and a old t-shirt rag. I used my trusty half & half white vinegar & filtered water in a spray bottle to clean the exterior of the machine and to soak some tough spots. Tough spots like the hinges, the bleach dispenser (which carefully wiped with only water bcz you don't want that mixing with vinegar, is my understanding), and the outer tub's... crevice? Not sure what you'd call it- but there was a lip that just seemed to collect water & lint nastiness. Good thing I have small hands, though I still couldn't get out all the goop. After the tun did the spin cycle, I stopped it again to get in there with a toothbrush, sponge & baking soda, to help scour the agitator and tub of any remaining residue- which there really wasn't much left in there. Then I reset it to a new cycle so it would fill twice to rinse out anything left in there.

And bonus- came across Anna's part 2, cleaning the fabric softener dispenser. This is were things got interesting disgusting.

(note: pictures 1 & 2 will make you want to gag)

Added ick factor: all of that can't be just ours- the previous owners

must not of known about the secret cleaning area, either.

But here's the after pic!

Yay for a clean fabric-softener-dispenser! Needless to say, I am going to stop using the blue crap.

I barely used it anyway, plenty of sites have talked about the benefits of using vinegar in it's place

(and no it won't smell once the laundry is done). Added plus- the washing machine will get

that clean kick from vinegar being in the tub anyway!

I detailed the dryer, too. the seal on the door had a lot of dust particles stuck in there, smoothly ran

a toothpick in that & it cleared right up. Wiped down the (what I assume is from Bounce dryer sheets) residue with my trusty spray. Tackled the dryer vent, which we keep clean anyway... but still have some dried

on lint to peel off. Now- the only thing I have yet to do is the dryer vent system.... though I don't have the great tool, yet- will be getting one from Menards or Amazon soon, soon. The Lint Eater Jr. was recommended

from an article on About.com. Lots of instructional pictures, and I love pictures.

Which I would have taken more in my quest today....

Springtime

We have been enjoying extremely nice, unseasonably warm weather the past few weeks here. I looked at a picture from last year in April & there was snow on the ground! Glad we can wear t-shirts & flip flops. The grass is started to green up & there are birds & dakrats (as there are known here) all over!

Unfortunately, or should I say- a learned lesson for next time- the square foot garden I built last summer is just out of the sun's reach. I planned the spot for last year well, however did not anticipate the sun being so low in the sky during most of the day in early spring, when I especially need it to warm the soil in the bed. Oops- if anything, I can use that for mostly summer plants that we must wait to plant for a few months, and by then the sun will be higher in the sky & they will have little/no shade. Which will be great for tomatoes, bell peppers (which Nick wants to try a hand at), flowers (especially marigolds), winter squash (tho this is vining & will need something to climb), basil, maybe eggplant, corn & beans.

There are a lot of opportunities. There is also a lot of planning and possible disappointments. I learned last year of one particular bug to watch out for- the cabbage worm- which matures into a white little butterfly. White cute, it will attack the leaves of broccoli & cauliflower plants. Not sure just yet what to try for controlling this... possibly a type of netting that is very small I can lay other a bamboo-stake tripod.... I don't want to use any chemical insecticides.

2 weekends ago I started some cat grass seed, soaked them, followed the instructions for planting & it took off! I took some pieces off & gave them to the dog & cats, they enjoyed it! Now it's tall enough they can munch away on the grass right from it's container- and no one has threw up from it- yay! It's in the kitchen window... which the sill is just a bit too small for that container, and for the container I plant the celery 'cut end' in.

I will have to post some pictures & also a chart/spreadsheet/something to track germinating/planting seeds & transplants to the yard. Also you must consider companion planting, what does best next to what. Some combos are healthy for both, others are no so great. More to come!

my house is a wreck 95% of the time

Um- I'd like a maid service to clean my house for my birthday gift this year- there is too much fur, everywhere. And I can't stand cleaning floors. And dh has yet to do his 1 chore of cleaning our shower. Being that I don't wear my glasses or contacts in our shower, I really don't see how bad it is, which isn't that bad- but the bottom of the door frame catches the VERY hard water & I can't figure out how to get those orange deposits off it. It's nasty. If maid service could do something about the clutter- that'd be helpful too- expect then I probably wouldn't find anything again. MY kitchen is a catch all. What about laundry?... doing it, folding, putting it away. Where do I start? Our basement floor is one big laundry pile, not sorted, not in baskets, just a pile of random materials on cement, that we step on going to the machine to wash the necessities- socks, undies, uniforms, and sheets and towels. But not pants:

source

Everything else is just- other clothes... we don't go out, so we don't hardly wear these "other" clothes, or it's too cold to anyway. As just as I hate to admit it, we are both hoarders. He says he "collects" things, movies, games, pre-order gaming crap, posters, figurines, xboxs. I, keep stuff to sort & get rid of. I can't stand useful/non-broken things being thrown away in the garbage. It's the new American way, the I <3 Organizers way, the individual packaged way, the "just toss it out if you haven't used it in 6 months!" So wasteful to the planet, and people in need who could use that whatever. So i have a stash of tp rolls, packing peanuts and bubble-wrap, an old emptied, cleaned spinning spice rack, cleaned 2 liter bottles & gallon water bottles. All these things that can up-cycled into something useful. So my house is a wreck. Also, I have clothes I don't want to part with bcz I may fit into them again, whether they are too big or too small now.

On a side note, I don't think I'll be having kids.

Ughh.

Ribbon Upcycle Tree

"Look what I can do!"
Basically, I do not like Styrofoam & did not want to buy it. So I figured out a way to
create a tree form & use some trash recycle.

Yea- that was a Starbucks cup. I had a Pumpkin Latte & it was good.
And thanks, Kohl's for the paper ad, as if the emailed ones were enough
of a reminder of the 15% off sale, that you run all the time.

So I basically just wrapped the ad in a cone(head) shape & taped it to the
upside down cup. Add ribbon I got from Joann's & Alene's Tacky Glue.

Cat reminding me why we do not have an actualy Christmas tree up yet.
(they cannot resist fake plants)

See? What a mess!
It wasn't that bad, considering the ribbon I thought was made of tinsel was more like glitter.
Basically I start at the bottom & glued a strip of glitter ribbon around the bottom base of the cup. Then cut ~1.5" pieces of 2 other green ribbons. I used 2 diff designs, but they came on the same spool- so same width. Then I curled the bottom half of each ribbon & glued the still flat part just above the glittery ribbon. Repeat- another sideways glitter ribbon, then alternating shiny green ribbons. You do need to allow some time in between for the tacky glue to be tacky, then dry some. Otherwise the ribbon pieces will want to fall off.

I'd like to make more of these, but frankly, it took a while. Maybe if all the ribbon was
pre-cut & I used some messy, sticky, burny crap hot glue, it'd be easier.
Course, you can find ribbon fringe trees so cheap, makes you wonder why I went thru all the trouble to make one myself..... I wonder why, too.

Today is Beef Stew, & Garbage Day

Felt I needed a common in there.....

So bcz I am working the evening shift, and hubby is in class at night, it works out to prepare at noon, eat at 8. Plus it's just that kind of weather here, 20 degrees out, snow on the ground, garbage day. Basically I had a chance to go thru the fridge & pantry, lol.


McCormick Beef Stew Slow Cooker mix, beef, a can of beef broth,
some carrots, some potatoes, some garlic bits, and some large onion chunks.
Why does it look like a flower arrangement in there?
2 reasons, unless you count artistic factors.
DH does not like/eat onions.
My crockpot likes to burn things that touch the edge.
I probably won't eat them bcz they will be charred, but it's for the flavor anyways, right?


Oh yea, forgot to mention, I had some green bell pepper from fajitas the other night, so why not? I may add some bacon bits before we eat it, cuz it's the sprinkles of meat.


So here's my new little project, a 8x8 shadow box frame from Joann's on black Friday.
I thought it'd be cute to put 3D displays in there for diff holidays or seasons.
I used stuff i already had on hand.


cute, right?

And this is atop the fridge, one place the cats will leave alone, unless they see my put something up there they can't resist- then they wait til they think we're asleep & go crazy. I hope that doesn't happen, I love that snowman cookie jar from Hobby Lobby, and at 50% off- even the sweeter! Oh- the santa/hat beard combo is for Callaway to wear.
I made the ribbon tree on the left; tute here.

K- I should prolly go wash my hair, or something.
I need a haircut, like, bad.

Thanksgiving Day, 2011

Question:
www.nataliedee.com

.....mine is the head ^_^

I told my husband, earlier today- Thanksgiving is like a sporting event for women.

We prepare & look forward to this whole day cooking event each year, well some dread it I'm sure too. The first year married (2008) & living on our own up here in ND- I made anything & everything, for just us 2 -both of our families' traditions, the best I could. The year after, 2009, we were in a huge fight & therefor I did not buy anything to prepare. We ate at Perkins & watched football, lol (I can lol now that it's passed). Last year, we had another couple over for Thanksgiving Day, plus their dog.... which was nice bcz it kept our dog entertained, too. This year, Nick didn't find out his work schedule until, um last night. We decided bcz of the unknown, we'd celebrate Friday after his Best Buy trip. So not knowing what time it was "going down" he said make it whenever I wanted, he'd be off work at 1pm Thursday. One of his friends was going to join us, but then that plan changed, too.
So we are going to eat about 6 tonight, LOL.

Obligatory cute kitteh foto.

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Anyways, I wanted to document what I'm making, so if it turns out well I can do it again!

So far I put the turkey in the crock-pot- Butterball boneless white breast meat recipe followed here. My crockpot will usually burn whatever is touching the sides or bottom, (I don't know if this is normal or what) so I layed some celery stalks down on the bottom to keep the meat from laying directly: a) on the pot & b) in the chicken-stock (which is homemade, btw!)

I used 5oz of the stock, then seasoned the meat & plopped it in there, set to low for 7 hours.

I also threw a lil shallot in there for flavor.

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I also found a great recipe for homemade from scratch Green Bean Casserole-
from Martha Stewart - with a video too!
Seemed easy enough, & since it's my fav part of the meal-
I decided it was time to get serious. First up, chopping the shallots, I cried, of course.
I wasn't prepared with my candle- but after the 1st one, I lit that bad boy!

Photo-Op, Ula from Momma C. & Bob!

Then I coated in flour, shook off & dropped into hot oil, stirred a bit & waited
for them to look a lil' brown & crispy.

Be careful, hot oil hurts!

Yay!


Next was making the cream of mushroom soup- I used heavy cream bcz- the milk went bad a week ago & I didn't notice, luckily I had cream open from my creamy tomato basil soup, & also I wanted to make if nice & thick.

The sauce thickenin' up, we're ok with thickenin' up, it's winter for goodness sake!

Mixed in with the green beans & I threw some of the onions in there too, just cuz.

I think it's so pretty, all the colors melding together. Then i 8 it. You can't have any.
Fin.

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Next up was some pie. I found a recipe online thru Libby's for a Pumpkin Pecan Pie.
Normally I would just heat up a frozen pumpkin pie, but since I'm trying to eat smarter-
& I have the time-
& I'm the only one going to be eating it anyways,
I decided I'd give this a go.

(ok Callaway would totally have some too, if I let him)

I did use a ready-made graham crust, bcz I've yet to make a pie crust...
maybe at Christmas I'll try that.... with a Kitchen Aid mixer's help (hint, hint).

Mix crap together.

Layer pie & bake.

Cool & admire your work.


4 Hours remaining on the turkey- checked the temp per Butterball's suggestion- I had to reach 140 within 4 hours, it was well over 180- I guess it'll be done early, lol.

But I'm not ready yet- still enjoying some Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin Spice coffee.

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This is how the pie turned out:
It is very good! Looks a bit burnt, but I am going to assume that's because it's not fresh crust. But it's a really nice mix of pumpkin & pecan pies, duh. lol

Here is our table spread, I know, I know- nothing fancy, but wanted to document this date as we ate AT the dinning table, not even using that computer sitting over there, or the 3DS....

I plant garlic from the grocery store

.....which would normally not be advised. However, this is organic garlic- so it's super special & untreated, which I am hoping will mean in another 9 months means I have 5 bulbs to pull & let dry! I found many sources with info how to plant it, so I just kinda mashed all the advice into what I could remember to do while I was outside, with our corgi hassling me, in North Dakota, in November, when it was about 40 degrees out.

So what I did was.... rug into my raised bed & pulled any weeds/grass shoots out. I've read that garlic does not compete very well with weeds. I sprinkled in some Bison manure fertilizer mix I bought a while ago then cut a ~12"x12" piece of yard fabric & cut 5 wholes out. Laid this down & put my 5 cloves of garlic in the ground, keeping their papery-skins on. Then I put about 2" more of "dirt" (really my Mel's Mix) over top & THEN covered that with about 4" of mulched grass/leaves I'd been saving in a big yard debris bag (for good reason).

So here's hoping that in the spring I will see some green sprouts pop up & that I'll actually remembered what I plant there, probably need to put a plant-marker in that square. ^_^

Here's a great write-up I used: How To Plant Garlic.

***** Nov 24 update *****

Here is a picture of me "harvesting" the parsnip. Ok- well I think there would be one. Here's a before picture of the growth in the summer:
Now here is what I pulled today:

What the crap?!

*April 14 Garlic update*

All 5 popped up yay!

Next on my list: The Pumpkin Project. Growing pumpkins inside a pumpkin- just add soil & water!