This:
This:
Is because of
This:
We have used 365 less in kwh less last month than the same time last year.
We are using 15 kwh less on average per day than last year.
That is $1.08 less a day that we are spending on electricity.
Not too shabby.
I make my own carpet refresher and deodorizer. I put a few drops of essential oil in some Baking soda and sprinkle it over my carpets.
I use vinegar for many 
things. I put about a cup of white vinegar in to a sink full of hot water and some essential oils and that is what I use to clean my bathrooms and kitchen with and mop my floors. I got a big squirt bottle and filled it about half way with vinegar and the rest of the way with water and some drops of essential oil and that is what the kids use to clean the bathrooms with. They just spray the counter tops and toilet and wipe it off. No harsh chemicals, no fake fragrances or dyes, and if the baby get the bottle and decides to sample it…no worries!
I do this for hand soap.
The next few things I am going to be working on is: laundry soap, dish soap and glass cleaner. I finally ran out of glass cleaner this week, so when I do my shopping I will be picking up some rubbing alcohol so I can make this recipe.
I have been experimenting with dish soap. So far this is what I do: Sprinkle some borax and washing soda in a sink full of hot water, then add some flakes of my bar soap. (Yes I make my own soap…that is another post). I use that for the dishes that don’t go in the dishwasher, and to wipe off the 
counter tops after dinner. So far I have been loving the results. I am going to try melting down the soap and adding the borax and washing soda to the hot soap, then I am going to put it in an old dish soap bottle and use it that way….we will see….like I said I am still experimenting.
Laundry soap, haven’t tried that yet but I will be soon. I have read a lot of recipes and mostly they seem to be a mixture of borax, washing soda and soap. My friend Mrs Mordecai, has a good recipe here.
Soap for my dishwasher….I have been trying a few things and I am not happy with anything. I have this obsession with sparkling glass and I have been very unsatisfied with everything I have tried.
When I buy cleaning supplies I purchase only a few things: Borax, Washing Soda, Vinegar, Rubbing Alcohol and bleach. I don’t have 50 different bottles for 50 different things. There are no harsh dangerous chemicals (excepting the bleach, and it is used sparingly) I don’t have to worry about the kids helping me clean and everything is so cheap!
Please, if any of you have any other idea share them with us!
Today was my first official wash day with my clothes line,
Here is my very first load, my whites, I thought the looked so pretty waving in the breeze.
I learned that 80 degrees and 40 mile an hour winds will dry clothes faster than an 800$ clothes dryer will. (I am so serious about he 40 miles an hour winds, by the afternoon it was that windy)
I also learned that PIC is really, really good at putting up a clothes line, one that will withstand 40 mile an hour winds.
I learned that I like scratchy towels that have been dried on the line, they are very effective at drying a person off. My family on the other hand, not so much….
I learned that it is rather pleasant to hang clothes on the line. I am out in the fresh air and sunshine, instead of squished in my laundry “closet”.
I learned that I like to stay outside and fold the clothes right there on the grass. I did this most of the morning, until the winds kicked up and make that impossible.
I learned that my kids like to come out and play next to me while I was working on the laundry. I could actually enjoy them, they weren’t in my way, like they are in the laundry room (closet).
I learned that I like to watch my daughter’s white dress sway in the breeze. It is such a pretty, carefree sort of thing.
I learned that no-wrinkle shirts are still no-wrinkle when you put them on the line.
And that a good stiff breeze will pull most of the wrinkles out of a cotton night-gown.
I learned that I could have used a little sunscreen this first time out, although even if I would have known I would end up with a little sunburn I probably wouldn’t have used it anyway. I never use sunscreen.
I learned that I needed way more clothes pins than I thought I would!
I learned that there is nothing sweeter than a row of onsies hanging on a clothes line.
This little picture is very sweet to me. There was a time I thought that I would never have a son. I am so thankful that there is a crazy little boy in our family. He sat on our little back step, or peeked out the window all day watching me hang the laundry.
I learned that I love to hang my laundry on a clothesline!
With the beautiful spring weather and warm days I was anxious to put my clothesline outside in the back yard so I could really use it. I have visions of crisp sheets waving in the summer breeze. On Saturday PIC moved the clothes line outside and I could hardly wait to use it for my Monday washing day.
Monday dawned cold and cloudy
not great weather for drying clothes!
The rain was wonderful for my flowers and veggies.
There is something that is so beautiful and refreshing about a spring rain storm
Although, the rain drops were the only thing that hung from my clothes line that day.
Oh well, there will always be another day
and so many more loads of laundry!
Here is a perfect example:
I am a very structured person, I have a hard time when my routine is interrupted, and if I get “off schedule” it is very extremely hard to get me back to where I need to be. I don’t do well with surprises. I am not a very spontaneous person. Kind of boring really.
On Monday, I do laundry, I get it all done and folded. On Tuesday I get it all put away and ironed. I do this almost every week. I dedicate my Mondays to laundry, it works for me, and it gets done.
See that big pile of laundry. That is what my living room looked like on Friday afternoon. I have all of my whites, socks, underwear, Levis and misc laundry to fold, it is Friday. I have all those hanging clothes of my girls to hang up, it is Friday. I have done zero, zip, nada, ziltch iorning…again…it is Friday.
Sigh, I just didn’t have the energy!
Oh and I dyed ALL of mine and PIC’s white “underwear” a very bright beautiful pink color! THAT is another story…!!
