Ahhh Tea Tree Oil

http://www.jason-natural.com/products/tea_tree.php

Tea Tree Oil is my go to oil when I get an insect bite.  Today while working in the garden, I got munched on by a mosquito.  Tea Tree Oil to the rescue! It instantly soothes the itching.  Tea Tree Oil has so many great uses.  I use it because of its antibacterial properties.  Check out all of the uses and great things about Tea Tree Oil  here

I use tea tree oil on my ears when they get infected from wearing earrings. You can use tea tree to treat acne, bites, burns.  My family uses tea tree when giving the dogs a bath to help with any skin irritations and to help keep fleas away.  I have even put it on stubby (our chicken) when the others had pecked a spot raw on her back.

I use tea tree oil in my dishwasher detergent.  I add it to my all purpose cleaner.  I have added it to the rinse cycle of my washing machine to help kill germs.  It's less harmful than bleach.  Tea Tree Oil is one oil I make sure to take when we travel and always have on hand.  Although the fragrance isn't the best, the results outweigh it.

My Latest Bargain~ Princess House Orchard Medley Dishes

This is my latest bargain.  The items were listed as a set for $30 on the local facebook for sale page.  The set includes items not pictured such as dinner plates, salad bowls, and cereal bowls, salt and pepper shakers, a cheese shaker and a spoon rest.  The plates and bowls weren't in the best of shape, which didn't really matter to me.  I wanted the set for the tea pot and pitcher.  The other items were a bonus.  The large bowl is called a pasta bowl, however, the pitcher fits inside nicely just like an old fashioned pitcher and bowl set would.
   

When I did some research I noticed the tea pot alone was selling for anywhere between $20 and $60.  The same with the pitcher, bowl and platter.  I paid $25 for the entire set and am pretty happy with my find.  The ensemble goes well in my dining room. 

Platter along with the sugar and creamer set

 Although there are pieces that aren't in the best shape, I have already found uses for them.  The larger salad bowls are being used to hold fruit in the kitchen.  The cereal bowls and dinner plates are being used for chicken food.  In the future I can glue one of the bowls to a plate and make a bird feeder.  Recycling items for another purpose is one of the things I enjoy.  It brings out my creative side.

Beating the Heat with a Toaster Oven

During the warm weather I don't like to heat up the house by using the oven.  Several years ago for Christmas I received a toaster oven.  It was great when my son was younger to fix quick meals for him without turning on the big oven. 

We use the toaster oven mainly for toast and heating up frozen foods on occasion.  With the heat I decided to make an easy meal that I could put into the toaster oven so I wouldn't heat up the house.  I found a Pyrex glass baking dish that would fit into the oven before I started.  Luckily I had one that fit perfectly.  I baked a tater tot casserole which everyone enjoyed.

Tater Tot Casserole
1 pound ground beef
1/3 packet of onion soup mix. 
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 can of milk
3/4 package of tater tots

Mix ground beef, onion soup mix, soup and milk.  Cover top with tater tots pushing them into the mixture and adding more to cover the top.  I sprayed the Pyrex dish with non-stick cooking spray before adding the ingredients.  It helps to keep the food from sticking to the pan. 
Bake 350 degrees 45-60 minutes.  Or until tater tots are golden brown and casserole is bubbling.

A "Chevy Chase" Vacation

Our yearly vacation was not going to happen this year.  Normally we take the RV and camp on my father-in-laws property located between Cheyenne and Laramie in Wyoming for a couple weeks.  

This year we made a last minute decision to go for the weekend and make it a quick trip.  We didn't take the RV, due to the additional gas expense and time in preparing it for the trip.  Instead we packed suit cases and a cooler for drinks in the back of our jeep and headed west.  No reservations to stay anywhere nor did we have any idea where we were going to stay.  My husband's way of traveling.  Not mine!  He could easily live like a gypsy.

It was an interesting trip to say the least.  We had an extremely hard time finding lodging.  We joked that it was our "National Lampoon/ Chevy Chase" vacation.  Yep, we saw it, back in the car and on the road again. 

The first night we were able to find a motel.  However, the bedding hadn't been changed.  The sheets were wrinkled not to mention the hair in the beds.  It was disgusting.  We were moved to another room.  The second night we ended up staying in a dive of a motel even worse than the first.  We wore flip flops in the shower if that gives you any idea how nasty it was.  To top it all off the third night we could not find any place to stay,.  We opted to start driving home and sleep in the vehicle.  Not the best time but we were glad we went.  We were very happy to be home and sleep in our own bed once again.  Not to mention a clean place where we could cook our own food.  Those are the things I missed most about not taking the RV. 

My father-in-laws property is actually the old ghost town of Sherman, Wyoming.  There is a lot of interesting history in the area.  Very little of the town remains.  There is still a cemetery with one grave marker.  Most of the bodies were moved as indicated on the stone.

The property is located adjacent to the Ames Monument. 

We enjoy the peace and quiet along with getting away.  We usually haul our dirt bikes along so we can ride the mountain trails and explore into Colorado. 

We always make a point to attend Cheyenne Frontier Days.

On one of our trips we came across this old log home.  Although my goal is to live a more simple life, I don't think I could handle one this simple.

And the Heat is Back.....

We had a short break from the heat with the rain the other day, however, it's back and more humid than before.  The garden isn't looking very good.  I have moths swarming my brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, and kale all day long.  I put bird netting over the beds, but they can still get in.  It's a constant struggle to keep up with removing their eggs and caterpillars.  I am afraid it has become a loosing battle.

With the extreme heat, very few of the plants are producing as they should.  My tomatoes are not growing very well.  I have gotten a few small grape tomatoes from the volunteer plants that popped up unexpectedly.  How sad is that when your volunteer plants do better than the ones you actually planted?  The only zucchini I had growing rotted on the vine before it was large enough to pick and no others seem to be taking its place.
I had one cucumber on the vine yesterday I was leaving to get bigger and today it's gone!  I am guessing one of the many rabbits that frequent our yard enjoyed it.  We may have to try some rabbit stew this winter! 

With the heat I haven't been baking, so my family is having cookie withdrawals.  If it would cool off I'm sure we would all feel like doing more.  The heat is wearing us out.  Even the chickens don't want to do anything but sit in the dirt and try to keep cool.  The lowest high this week so far appears to be 87 degrees and that isn't until Friday.  Looks like it's going to be another long week.

It's Raining! My Rain Barrels are Getting Filled!

 Finally we have rain!  No watering the garden for two days straight.  Yesterday it rained just enough that I didn't have to water and today we are getting even more.  I am so excited to have my rain barrels full again.  With this dry spell I am thinking I need more to get me through times like these. 

 The original down spout had to be removed and replaced with this flex tube.

 

This is the second year of use for our rain barrels.  We have them set up behind our garage to collect the water that runs off of the roof.

They are set each one lower than the next to allow over flow to go into the next barrel.

 We bought the containers at True Value for just under $20 each.  We picked up the hardware at Tractor Supply and Wal-Mart for very little money.  Most rain barrels sell for at least $60 a piece. My son did the rest. Including drilling the holes for the spouts.  He is so creative!

This is screen to catch debris from going into the barrels.

 He also made holes in the lid of a milk jug for us to use for watering.  We saved several and would fill them with water so we had an additional supply of water.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I was motivated by a friend’s trial of homemade dishwasher detergent to do some research for a recipe.

After doing a little searching, several comments I read indicated that homemade versions can cause a dull film residue to be left on your dishes.  Some claims were made that by adding citric acid to the recipe it helped to eliminate the issue. While looking through several sites, I came across this recipe that includes citric acid. 

I made my first batch of dishwasher detergent last night and have now run two loads using it.  It works great!

 

Dishwasher Powder
1 cup Borax
1 cup baking soda 

1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid

I used the recipe as written with a few exceptions.  I didn't add the essential oils to the mixture. I use 1 Tablespoon in each of the two dispensers my dishwasher has.  In the first dispenser, I add a few drops of tea tree essential oil for its disinfecting properties.  In the second dispenser, I add a citrus essential oil.  I also use ¼ cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle to help eliminate water spots.  

I have now placed the powdered detergent into a plastic bag for storage.  The citric acid, when mixed with the other ingredients, tends to clump or harden.  By putting it in a plastic bag it is easier to break up and mix before use.

More recipes can be found on these following pages:
http://www.diynatural.com
http://www.stain-removal-101.com

You can design the recipe to fit your needs and wants.  I like the way the dishes came clean.  They weren't left with a greasy or cloudy residue. The ingredients needed were easily obtained.  The amount of money the home made version will save, versus the name brand dishwasher detergents, is going to be immense.  I am not sure I will ever have to buy dishwasher detergent again!

The citric acid may be hard to find in local stores.  You may be able to find it in the vitamin isle if you look.  I know Now Foods sells it as a supplement. I purchase mine in bulk from Frontier Coop.  I get a 1 pound package for just over $5 with tax.  A little goes a long way.  It can also be used as "fruit fresh" to keep your fruit from turning brown when you dehydrate it.

I use essential oils in many aspects of cleaning and every day well being.  When purchasing essential oils, be sure to do your research.  Some are not true oils.  I like Aura Cacia the best.  I purchase them from Frontiercoop.com.  You can easily shop online.  If you purchase quite a bit, it is worth the $10 to become a wholesale member.  You get to purchase items at wholesale cost.  If your order is $250, shipping is free.  I join together each month with a few others to place an order so we can get free shipping.  By placing an order each month we can also take advantage of the monthly sales. 

Heartache and the Heat

Stubby, our spunky girl.

 The extreme heat we have been experiencing is making for a stressful time.  Tuesday, Stubby, one of our older girls, succumb to heat exhaustion.  The run was left open so the girls could get out of the coop early.  They all appeared to be foraging when I returned from taking my son detasseling after 5:30 in the morning.  When I got home from picking him up again at 10:00 I went out to check on them.  I noticed Stubby was too still.  She was already gone.  She was still soft so she had just recently passed.  She looked as if she was sleeping.  Poor girl, I couldn’t bear to remove her from the run until I was able to grasp the reality of it all.  I let the other girls out to play in the yard while I watered the garden.  

Since my husband was at work, I knew I had to take care of her. I took her out and placed her beside our back door.  Living in town, you can’t just dig a hole to bury a pet like you can in the country.  Thankfully my parents came in later in the day.  They brought a dog kennel for us to use to bring the others in the house if we had to.  Dad took her home to lay her to rest.  She will be missed.  

Stubby was named because of her lack of tail feathers.  She had them sheared off when the dogs attacked our coop last fall and they never grew back.  She always had a bald spot on her back side and just a few tail feathers.  She was our spunkiest girl.  My husband liked to call her Speed Racer.  She was the fastest chicken we had.  If she didn’t want to go inside, she would make you chase her around the coop several times before you finally gave up and tried to trick her into going back inside.  She was also the only bird that would try to fly out of your hands each time you went to pick her up.  She didn’t want to be contained.  

Miss Tail Feathers

I’m not sure if it was her breed, but the other Silver Laced Wyandotte seemed hotter than the other two as well.  I brought Miss Tail Feathers (our prettiest girl), in and gave her a bath to cool her off.  I ended up keeping her in the basement the rest of the day and over night.  The other two got misted down several times and seemed to be doing alright.   

That evening my husband put up a tarp for more shade and I made use of a cotton shower curtain given to me by a friend.  I cut it off, hemmed it, and we hung in on the other side of the coop.  It gives them a little extra shade while still allowing the breeze to blow into the run. It tye dyed in color so it just looks cool, NOT.   I really need to find some nice outdoor material to make some curtains to hang that can be moved on a rod to open and close them  periodically.  I also hooked up their fan inside the coop.  They seem to like to sit in front of it at night.

One Wednesday, I let all of the chickens outside for exercise.  The little ones were in the kennel with a tarp stretched over it for shade, and the others in the run.  After a while, I looked outside to check on them and noticed a strange shadow appearing in our yard.  It kept moving so I instantly looked up and saw two hawks soaring over checking out the little chickens.  They kept getting closer and closer trying to figure out how to get in and out of the kennel quickly. I don't think they would have been able to get to them with the tarp hanging over it, however, I didn't want to take any chances.  I grabbed their box and ran outside to get them in.  It was starting to get really hot again so I decided to bring the big girls into the basement to stay cool as well.   I had already made up a box for them with wood shavings and hay.  They got to spend the night inside and didn’t seem to mind.  

 I can’t wait for this heat wave to subside.  I’m sure it is causing more heartache for others as well.  Not to mention an increase in utility bills.   I can’t imagine not having central air-conditioning in times like these.  I can remember growing up sitting in front of the fan to stay cool.  We didn’t have air in our new house.  Why, I’m not sure.  Maybe because it was considered a luxury back then, where as now we find it a necessity.

I am also having a hard time keeping up with watering the garden. The ground is so dry and the heat continues to deplete any moisture you give it.   Because of the lack of rain, I have to use water from the faucet, which I know will cause and increase in our bill.  My rain barrels have been empty for over a week now.  In addition, we are taking more showers which will also add to the cost of our water bill.  The extreme heat seems to be making us very tired.  We can’t seem to accomplish as much when the temperatures become unbearable.forecasted for this evening which we desperately need.

Powdered Laundry Soap Update

I have now used almost a complete batch of homemade laundry soap.  I have learned to get over my "no suds" phobia.  It helps that I really like the smell of the fels-naptha soap. It  smells so fresh.  I also put the soap bars in my towel drawer to make my towels smell good.  That is a something my grandmother used to do.  You could count on her hand towels, wash rags, and bath towels always smelling good.

I have been using the homemade soap more often, and saving my more expensive soap for heavily soiled loads.  I still don't think the homemade version cleans as well, however, my family tends to create some tough stains to get out. 

Since it is time to make another batch of soap, I decided to try using my food processor to grate the bar instead of doing it by hand.  It worked wonderfully.  I was able to grate 3 bars in less than 30 seconds. When grating the bar by hand it took me about 20 minutes for one bar.  It actually took longer to measure the ingredients, than it did to grate the soap.  I did have to crush the soap a little with my hands to make the pieces smaller. In case some of you did not see the recipe in the previous post here it is again if you would like to try it. 


Powdered Laundry Soap
1-Bar Fels-Naptha Soap (Finely grated)
1-1/2 cups baking soda
1-1/2 cups washing soda
1-1/2 cups borax

I have an extra large capacity washing machine so I use 1/4 cup per load.  You can adjust the amount according to your washing machine's capacity.   I also use vinegar in place of fabric softener for most of my loads.

Because I like the smell of the fels-naptha soap so well, my next project is going to be making liquid soap from a bar.  I just need to locate some glycerin to try the recipe I found.  Of course I will add essential oils for their antibacterial properties.  I am excited to see how it turns out.

Recycling Packaging

One of the things I try to do is find new uses for essentially useless items that would normally be thrown away or recycled.  

They come in different sizes.  They easily stack inside each other for storage.

These containers are from our local grocery store.  They are used to package meat for "bulk" sales.  I normally try not to buy things that come with packaging like this simply because of the waste.  If I can buy directly from the meat counter, I do.  

Once in awhile meat will be on sale and the only way to get the sale price is by buying in larger quantities with the extra packaging.  I have found many uses for these plastic trays around the house and yard.  One of my favorite uses right now is gathering produce from the garden.  

 They are very sturdy and hold up well.  I can pick vegetables, cut herbs, lettuce and so on.  Carry the tray around with me as I harvest.  Once I have brought the produce inside and cleaned it, the trays are placed in the dishwasher for cleaning to be used again.