When guests, expected or unexpected, arrive at your home do not apologize for the appearance of the home. Not only does it immediately set you against your best, and most positive house, it may very well alert your guest to a situation that to them was otherwise very pleasant. Homes are meant to be lived in not displayed in a magazine.
On any average day your home will have some clutter or misplaced items. If they are so bothersome to you, remove them quietly while engaging your guest in polite conversation. People feel more at ease when they are welcomed with warm words than with excuses. Your home is where you ought to be most comfortable, so share that warmth with your guest.
If the untidiness of your home is so very bothersome to the guest that they feel a need to remove themselves from your home, you have easily identified someone who is not of your metal can easily put them on your list of pleasant aquaitances and not close friends. The truest friend of the deepest cast dye will recognize the irregular state of your house and sense your unease and immediately begin to helping to tidy things up as you visit. After all, house call ought to be useful as well as pleasant.
In speaking of being useful, when making calls, plan to do something with your host, offering to help with the task they were in the middle of, rather than just inconvience the flow of their daily projects. Just as the socialization will help the soul, the busy hands can help the home.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Simplified Cleaning
Reduce the amount of household cleaners you use in your regular cleaning routine. If broken down to basics, all cleaning could be efficiently preformed by two basic substances; vinegar and baking soda. Whereas some people are not yet prepared to leave behind the isles of sparkling white chemicals claiming to clean tar off a cashmere sweater without harming the fabric or the environment, might I suggest at least downsizing.
Select two cleaners for your bathroom; one to clean the toilet the other for the other surfaces in the bathroom, sinks, tub, counters, outside of toilet, etc. Use old t-shirts as bathroom rags. Don't be shy around the toliet. Once flushed, the bowl is filled with clean water, the same as comes from the tap, so dig in and scrub away!
The same surface cleaner used can be used in the rest of the house. Make sure it has some disinfectant properties and it will be your kitchen counters' best friend.
You will need only two other cleaners for the rest of the house: a solution to clean hard floors (tile, linoleum, wood) and one to clean glass. Remember, generic brands have the same ingredients and the expensive ones, most of the cost is wrapped in advertising for name brands.
In all, you should have 4 cleaners for your whole home. Add a vacuum and some old rags to the mix and you have just simplified your whole household cleaning routine. Not to mention the drastic reduction of toxic chemicals available for accidental consumption by children. If you do feel brave enough to move strictly to baking soda and vinegar, there will be no toxic chemical.
When possible, by earth friendly brands, those solvents absent of bleach or ammonia. Bleach and ammonia are both powerful, but they can easily be subsituted by the power of natural herbs and essential oils. A wise housewife will pick cleaners that are biodegrable so that when she is ready to recycle her own water (gray water systems) she can easily dispose of any waste water on her property without harming her yard.
Select two cleaners for your bathroom; one to clean the toilet the other for the other surfaces in the bathroom, sinks, tub, counters, outside of toilet, etc. Use old t-shirts as bathroom rags. Don't be shy around the toliet. Once flushed, the bowl is filled with clean water, the same as comes from the tap, so dig in and scrub away!
The same surface cleaner used can be used in the rest of the house. Make sure it has some disinfectant properties and it will be your kitchen counters' best friend.
You will need only two other cleaners for the rest of the house: a solution to clean hard floors (tile, linoleum, wood) and one to clean glass. Remember, generic brands have the same ingredients and the expensive ones, most of the cost is wrapped in advertising for name brands.
In all, you should have 4 cleaners for your whole home. Add a vacuum and some old rags to the mix and you have just simplified your whole household cleaning routine. Not to mention the drastic reduction of toxic chemicals available for accidental consumption by children. If you do feel brave enough to move strictly to baking soda and vinegar, there will be no toxic chemical.
When possible, by earth friendly brands, those solvents absent of bleach or ammonia. Bleach and ammonia are both powerful, but they can easily be subsituted by the power of natural herbs and essential oils. A wise housewife will pick cleaners that are biodegrable so that when she is ready to recycle her own water (gray water systems) she can easily dispose of any waste water on her property without harming her yard.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Define 'Organic'
"Buy your woollen yarn in quantities from some one in the country, whom you can trust. The thread-stores make profits upon it of course"
With a whole new isle in every supermarket devoted to it, an awesome campaign call for wearing it, and whole cleaning companies changing the color of their labels just to include one little word, it is worth a look; organic.
From a chemist stand-point, to be 'organic' simply means to be carbon based.
From a marketing stand-point, to be 'organic' means making so many people feel less guilty about their consumption because a large enough percentage of their product is carbon based that it can be labeled 'organic.'
Is the term confusing? Yes. Most often misleading. If you want to dig deeper into the subject, go ahead, and I suggest you look at the people who make the rules as to what now gets the privelage of being labeled 'organic' or not for the store.
For our purpose, Mrs Child's and I, let's stick more with the chemical standpoint. No, more specifically, the local standpoint. There are two main points here:
"Buy your woollen yarn in quantities from some one in the country, whom you can trust. The thread-stores make profits upon it of course"
Some one in the country: This is, in modern terms, go local. Mrs Child, a am assured, got 100% organic wool to knit with. She probably could have seen it come of the sheep her self. She didn't worry if the wool she got has been fluffed with some sort of syntetic thread, or put a filler in. She got it from the country and from someone she new.
whom you can trust: If perhaps Mrs Child had been disappointed with the quality of wool, she would have talked with provider. If she still felt disatisfied after her inspection, she would find another friend she could trust to give her the product.
Yes, we live in a different type of culture. No, the practice is not outdated. When buying products, if you want to be sure, buy from who you know. Perhaps you can't get it personally from a farmer (although the prevelance of Community Supported Agriculture in most all states now would give you a fantastic chance at doing so), you can still find a company that you can trust. In most cases, this means buying local.
Don't be fooled, this does not mean that you need to pay a higher price for your goods because they are domestic. The difference in price, if any, will be in the transporation of that mass produced product versus the small pick-it-up-yourself scale of products. Usually they balance themselves out. I find in house products of quality I can trust equal if not of less price to those produced by some fancy name company across the ocean. It is not as hard to find locally produced anything as you might think, once you tap into a few sources, they lead you to the rest. From my research and experience, most locals are happy to sheel out the name of some one they know who does something homemade and great (and with a bottomed out economy you will find more popping up too!). So do some research, find some friends you can trust to provide you with what you need. It is a dazzling experience and one you will be grateful for.
With a whole new isle in every supermarket devoted to it, an awesome campaign call for wearing it, and whole cleaning companies changing the color of their labels just to include one little word, it is worth a look; organic.
From a chemist stand-point, to be 'organic' simply means to be carbon based.
From a marketing stand-point, to be 'organic' means making so many people feel less guilty about their consumption because a large enough percentage of their product is carbon based that it can be labeled 'organic.'
Is the term confusing? Yes. Most often misleading. If you want to dig deeper into the subject, go ahead, and I suggest you look at the people who make the rules as to what now gets the privelage of being labeled 'organic' or not for the store.
For our purpose, Mrs Child's and I, let's stick more with the chemical standpoint. No, more specifically, the local standpoint. There are two main points here:
"Buy your woollen yarn in quantities from some one in the country, whom you can trust. The thread-stores make profits upon it of course"
Some one in the country: This is, in modern terms, go local. Mrs Child, a am assured, got 100% organic wool to knit with. She probably could have seen it come of the sheep her self. She didn't worry if the wool she got has been fluffed with some sort of syntetic thread, or put a filler in. She got it from the country and from someone she new.
whom you can trust: If perhaps Mrs Child had been disappointed with the quality of wool, she would have talked with provider. If she still felt disatisfied after her inspection, she would find another friend she could trust to give her the product.
Yes, we live in a different type of culture. No, the practice is not outdated. When buying products, if you want to be sure, buy from who you know. Perhaps you can't get it personally from a farmer (although the prevelance of Community Supported Agriculture in most all states now would give you a fantastic chance at doing so), you can still find a company that you can trust. In most cases, this means buying local.
Don't be fooled, this does not mean that you need to pay a higher price for your goods because they are domestic. The difference in price, if any, will be in the transporation of that mass produced product versus the small pick-it-up-yourself scale of products. Usually they balance themselves out. I find in house products of quality I can trust equal if not of less price to those produced by some fancy name company across the ocean. It is not as hard to find locally produced anything as you might think, once you tap into a few sources, they lead you to the rest. From my research and experience, most locals are happy to sheel out the name of some one they know who does something homemade and great (and with a bottomed out economy you will find more popping up too!). So do some research, find some friends you can trust to provide you with what you need. It is a dazzling experience and one you will be grateful for.
Positive Progress
Currently, there is a lot of literature available about creating more healthful, natural, self-sufficient lifestyles in your home. Amongst that literature are people pushing agendas who have a tendency to dwell on the negatives things that are ruining our society/economy. This does not really help you to make positive changes. Perhaps it may educate you and open your eyes to some more political type issues, yet it generally takes time away from the positive changes you could have already made had you not read so much of the negative.
Popular example: we are so wasteful that we are creating enough trash to cover the earth by......
Point taken. However, in there I was not informed of any way that I could reduce that waste. That statement already took enough of my time, imagine reading an entire book on the subject! Facts can be fascinating, but they are fatiguing when they present no solution. Why not look for subject such as waste management, recycling within the home, better organization, reusable resources. Such a book would give you plenty of new ideas, and probably even slip in some facts in the side bars about the statistics of waste production. Yet, you do not want to focus on the waste production, we do that already, that is why you were trying to find a book to stop it.
Another popular example: Today's manufactured foods are laden with toxic chemicals that......
Disgusting! Revolting! Ugh, how could anyone eat any of that?! Well, we do and it is debatable whether we are surviving or not. You have already ingested a lot of those toxic chemicals, are still living, so best move on to a better alternative. Now don't jump right to the 'organic' left wing. Remember, what is labeled 'organic' in the store is still regulated by the companies/departments that have been feeding you chemicals for years. Let's just learn, to emphasize, LEARN how to make our own food, or buy better food, or find out where our food comes from, or even just feed our kids fruits instead of fruit snacks. I don't need to know what my child will possibly contract in the future because of the past mistakes I have made, what's done is done, and what others continue to do is their own business. What I choose to do now will not make it necessary to know about the latest Frankenstein fish on the market. Check out books of homemade recipes, how to make homemade preserves. Oh I just got a whole book full of canning recipes and I am in love! Not one page tells me how bad store bought fruit is, just pages and pages of wholesome recipes that are simple.
One last Popular Example: Our country has become so consumer based that it can no longer sustain......
What is the opposite of consumption? Well, at least in my world it is frugality. And that is where this all comes from, is it not Mrs Child? Why not learn from those who are frugal instead of being just like everyone else. Yep, those penny pinchers are odd-balls, but they sure can sustain their own lifestyle. Speaking of penny-pinching, helpful resources abound on how to maintain your own personal wealth without depending on others. I will warn that most of them go back to the same basic frugal principles that my husband sums up in his motto "If you don't have money, don't spend it." Yet, isn't it more helpful to hear that than the negative drag of an economic decline into pure depression. Just the word alone tells me I must steer clear!
In short: Find resources with positive suggestions for changes that are applicable to you (beware of those that depend on a whole society to change). This is sometimes called 'grassroots movements.' Just another term. If you want to be fancy and use it, go ahead, just don't forget that when you are applying your time to gain knowledge, make it conducive to progress.
Popular example: we are so wasteful that we are creating enough trash to cover the earth by......
Point taken. However, in there I was not informed of any way that I could reduce that waste. That statement already took enough of my time, imagine reading an entire book on the subject! Facts can be fascinating, but they are fatiguing when they present no solution. Why not look for subject such as waste management, recycling within the home, better organization, reusable resources. Such a book would give you plenty of new ideas, and probably even slip in some facts in the side bars about the statistics of waste production. Yet, you do not want to focus on the waste production, we do that already, that is why you were trying to find a book to stop it.
Another popular example: Today's manufactured foods are laden with toxic chemicals that......
Disgusting! Revolting! Ugh, how could anyone eat any of that?! Well, we do and it is debatable whether we are surviving or not. You have already ingested a lot of those toxic chemicals, are still living, so best move on to a better alternative. Now don't jump right to the 'organic' left wing. Remember, what is labeled 'organic' in the store is still regulated by the companies/departments that have been feeding you chemicals for years. Let's just learn, to emphasize, LEARN how to make our own food, or buy better food, or find out where our food comes from, or even just feed our kids fruits instead of fruit snacks. I don't need to know what my child will possibly contract in the future because of the past mistakes I have made, what's done is done, and what others continue to do is their own business. What I choose to do now will not make it necessary to know about the latest Frankenstein fish on the market. Check out books of homemade recipes, how to make homemade preserves. Oh I just got a whole book full of canning recipes and I am in love! Not one page tells me how bad store bought fruit is, just pages and pages of wholesome recipes that are simple.
One last Popular Example: Our country has become so consumer based that it can no longer sustain......
What is the opposite of consumption? Well, at least in my world it is frugality. And that is where this all comes from, is it not Mrs Child? Why not learn from those who are frugal instead of being just like everyone else. Yep, those penny pinchers are odd-balls, but they sure can sustain their own lifestyle. Speaking of penny-pinching, helpful resources abound on how to maintain your own personal wealth without depending on others. I will warn that most of them go back to the same basic frugal principles that my husband sums up in his motto "If you don't have money, don't spend it." Yet, isn't it more helpful to hear that than the negative drag of an economic decline into pure depression. Just the word alone tells me I must steer clear!
In short: Find resources with positive suggestions for changes that are applicable to you (beware of those that depend on a whole society to change). This is sometimes called 'grassroots movements.' Just another term. If you want to be fancy and use it, go ahead, just don't forget that when you are applying your time to gain knowledge, make it conducive to progress.
Canning Thoughts
Absolutely it has been much much too long. My wonderful thoughts have all to often been sucked away in attentions to other things, yet recently, many have been bubbling to the surface - that is the handicraft of canning.
Personally putting up your own fruits and vegetables in season is extremely rewarding. Yes, I very well know how time consuming it is to blanch, pare, peel, pit, syrup, heat, boil, wash and so forth to get one quart of fruit. In fact, I have calculated out exactly how much it takes on average for me. That is part of my busy brain process. Whoever said that an idol brain is the devils playground is absolutely right, and if I didn't know that I would have spent hours upon hours recently letting the underworld have a fairgrounds in my brain.
Instead, I have thought a great many wonderful things. I have reviewed my algebra to begin. I know how many (x) quarts of fruit can be prepared from one 40lb box. I figured out the average processing time (y) of one 40lb box of pears to become x amount of quarts. And so forth. I was reminded by my doing math of a story told in the LDS General Conference in April 2010 by an apostle that said their learning really began when they got home from school and their mother would quiz them on what they learned and then help them learn more as she went about her tasks in the kitchen.
Remembering the story reminded me that I could be learning too, thus during one of my processing breaks I sat down and printed out some of my favorite quotes from prophets that I wanted to learn and propped them up on an empty, yet to be filled, quart jar and memorized them while pear, peeling, and slipping the skins.
And yes of course, I composed a number of these chapters to this yet unborn book, feeling more brilliant all the while. Feeling confident in my frugality and a sisterhood with Mrs Child that I had left behind for a bit, despite hanging my laundry on the line daily and feeding chickens (or chasing them off of my patio). There is great joy and satisfaction in doing the old fashioned stuff - although I must clue you in, there are more modern speed ways of doing some of the great and golden secrets.
SPEED CANNING TIPS:
My mother was very ingeunitive about utilizing the new fangled electric gadget to make the canning process smoother. Mainly, the microwave. You can boil water in the microwave.
thus:
tip 1- make all your syrups for fruit in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave! You can even use the timing of the heating to remember to blanch your fruit
tip 2 - blanch your fruit! you do not need to peel your pears and peaches by hand and stick them in water until you can get to them, just wait until they are ripe, throw them into boiling water for 20 seconds dump them into your sink in cool water and you can slip the skins right off! It is lovely. extra tidbit here: when slipping the grainy skins off pears, push with your thumb from around the bum first and then slid your whole hand up the top and it all comes off
tip 3 - get into your own groove. by getting into a groove of movement in you kitchen you maximize on the time you are there. Example: during set up and waiting for your blanching water to boil get your syrup ready and fill 7 qts one fourth full, fill the sink with cold water just as the first batch of fruit is going into the blancher, as you get to the last few pears turn the blanch pot up again and start some more syrup.....keep a fluid cycle going. It will take you a few batches to slip into your groove, but once there, enjoy it and be productive! and after awhile, maybe try one step different to see if it cuts time.
tip 4 - match the temperature of your bottles with the temperature of the water in the water bath instead of the other way around. many instructions tell you to boil your bottles and then magically put the fruit in just perfect while they are still hot then get them into the hot water bath. ouch! too hot for me. sure, it may take a little longer to bring everything up in temperature together, but you can be preparing your next batch while doing that (in the groove). And when one batch is done, you don't have to pour out the boiling water to start with some cooler already prepared jars, just throw some ice in and then slip the jars in slowly, you don't waste as much water that way.
tip 5 - for applesauce, use a Victorio Strainer! This gizmo is amazing! It is so efficient and makes the whole process super slick.
tip 6- when canning for the first time - don't do it alone! Not that it is super dangerous, but I garuntee that you will waste hours if you do not watch a veteran at her craft and work by her side at least once. You can read all you want on the internet, or from great books, but you will learn the real craft, much like a trade school, from someone who has done it before. And yes, even if you don't know someone who does it, you can find one and if you ask a perfect stranger who cans if you could work with her, she will say yes. It is part of our art.
Personally putting up your own fruits and vegetables in season is extremely rewarding. Yes, I very well know how time consuming it is to blanch, pare, peel, pit, syrup, heat, boil, wash and so forth to get one quart of fruit. In fact, I have calculated out exactly how much it takes on average for me. That is part of my busy brain process. Whoever said that an idol brain is the devils playground is absolutely right, and if I didn't know that I would have spent hours upon hours recently letting the underworld have a fairgrounds in my brain.
Instead, I have thought a great many wonderful things. I have reviewed my algebra to begin. I know how many (x) quarts of fruit can be prepared from one 40lb box. I figured out the average processing time (y) of one 40lb box of pears to become x amount of quarts. And so forth. I was reminded by my doing math of a story told in the LDS General Conference in April 2010 by an apostle that said their learning really began when they got home from school and their mother would quiz them on what they learned and then help them learn more as she went about her tasks in the kitchen.
Remembering the story reminded me that I could be learning too, thus during one of my processing breaks I sat down and printed out some of my favorite quotes from prophets that I wanted to learn and propped them up on an empty, yet to be filled, quart jar and memorized them while pear, peeling, and slipping the skins.
And yes of course, I composed a number of these chapters to this yet unborn book, feeling more brilliant all the while. Feeling confident in my frugality and a sisterhood with Mrs Child that I had left behind for a bit, despite hanging my laundry on the line daily and feeding chickens (or chasing them off of my patio). There is great joy and satisfaction in doing the old fashioned stuff - although I must clue you in, there are more modern speed ways of doing some of the great and golden secrets.
SPEED CANNING TIPS:
My mother was very ingeunitive about utilizing the new fangled electric gadget to make the canning process smoother. Mainly, the microwave. You can boil water in the microwave.
thus:
tip 1- make all your syrups for fruit in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave! You can even use the timing of the heating to remember to blanch your fruit
tip 2 - blanch your fruit! you do not need to peel your pears and peaches by hand and stick them in water until you can get to them, just wait until they are ripe, throw them into boiling water for 20 seconds dump them into your sink in cool water and you can slip the skins right off! It is lovely. extra tidbit here: when slipping the grainy skins off pears, push with your thumb from around the bum first and then slid your whole hand up the top and it all comes off
tip 3 - get into your own groove. by getting into a groove of movement in you kitchen you maximize on the time you are there. Example: during set up and waiting for your blanching water to boil get your syrup ready and fill 7 qts one fourth full, fill the sink with cold water just as the first batch of fruit is going into the blancher, as you get to the last few pears turn the blanch pot up again and start some more syrup.....keep a fluid cycle going. It will take you a few batches to slip into your groove, but once there, enjoy it and be productive! and after awhile, maybe try one step different to see if it cuts time.
tip 4 - match the temperature of your bottles with the temperature of the water in the water bath instead of the other way around. many instructions tell you to boil your bottles and then magically put the fruit in just perfect while they are still hot then get them into the hot water bath. ouch! too hot for me. sure, it may take a little longer to bring everything up in temperature together, but you can be preparing your next batch while doing that (in the groove). And when one batch is done, you don't have to pour out the boiling water to start with some cooler already prepared jars, just throw some ice in and then slip the jars in slowly, you don't waste as much water that way.
tip 5 - for applesauce, use a Victorio Strainer! This gizmo is amazing! It is so efficient and makes the whole process super slick.
tip 6- when canning for the first time - don't do it alone! Not that it is super dangerous, but I garuntee that you will waste hours if you do not watch a veteran at her craft and work by her side at least once. You can read all you want on the internet, or from great books, but you will learn the real craft, much like a trade school, from someone who has done it before. And yes, even if you don't know someone who does it, you can find one and if you ask a perfect stranger who cans if you could work with her, she will say yes. It is part of our art.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I prefer the pioneer way
I have been contemplating the term 'busy' recently. Our society has a bit for believing it is 'too busy' to get back to the basics. But what is busy? I would hope it was being engaged in meaningful things. Wht you term as meaningful will change from person to person. However, when one becomes too busy to maintain a health-ful life then theyare not filling their time with personally enriching activities, meaning they are sacrificing perhaps a bit too much.
In my pursuit of a sustainable house in the most frugal manner possible I have realized one thing - if you can't figure out a sustainable way to live now, think of how the pioneers did it. If the pioneers did not occupy their time doing it, then it is probably not meaningful. Perhaps many things that the pioneers did were more purposeful than full of personal meaning, but they were wholesome.
How do the two thoughts of busy and pioneers connect? In the modern society one is too busy to air dry their clothing. Too busy doing what? Are we doing something meaningful or purposeful. Our modern life is too busy? How so? In comparison to the life on the plains, managing (if not creating/building from scratch) a home and a livelihood being ultimately busy. Can you imagine making all your food from scratch, like the scratch in the dirt scratch? That keeps one fairly occupied just to put food in your belly. Women in a pioneer home were not distracted with conviences of grocery stores and laundry machines to keep them for creating a sustainable world. And don't think they were without hobbies or social activities. The main difference, most social activities and hobbies were also sustainable tasks! Barn raisings. Harvest festivals. Quilting guilds. Ladies aide societies.
What are you busy doing?
In my pursuit of a sustainable house in the most frugal manner possible I have realized one thing - if you can't figure out a sustainable way to live now, think of how the pioneers did it. If the pioneers did not occupy their time doing it, then it is probably not meaningful. Perhaps many things that the pioneers did were more purposeful than full of personal meaning, but they were wholesome.
How do the two thoughts of busy and pioneers connect? In the modern society one is too busy to air dry their clothing. Too busy doing what? Are we doing something meaningful or purposeful. Our modern life is too busy? How so? In comparison to the life on the plains, managing (if not creating/building from scratch) a home and a livelihood being ultimately busy. Can you imagine making all your food from scratch, like the scratch in the dirt scratch? That keeps one fairly occupied just to put food in your belly. Women in a pioneer home were not distracted with conviences of grocery stores and laundry machines to keep them for creating a sustainable world. And don't think they were without hobbies or social activities. The main difference, most social activities and hobbies were also sustainable tasks! Barn raisings. Harvest festivals. Quilting guilds. Ladies aide societies.
What are you busy doing?
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