what a beautiful sink....sort of

So, I'm going to show you something horrible; my sink.

In my defense, it is a rental. Anyone who has ever rented knows that you inherit lots of fun problems when you rent. Last Friday I made this miracle cleaner and I felt it worked really well for stains on clothes. The website says it works for all sorts of wonderfulness, and I tend to believe them. I am definitely making it a staple in my house. I put it in this cute blue spray bottle.

Anyhow, somehow it ended up on the floor. (I don't know how anything stays where it belongs in this house) The lid came loose and it was making a mess. I was in the middle of something (who me? NEVER!) and just picked it up and threw it in my sink, and that is that very, very white mark in the otherwise disgusting sink. Well, it hit me like a ton of bricks: Peroxide is the answer! I suppose I should have known this already. However, I used everything on the market on this sink trying to make it look not so "dingy". Sometimes things that might otherwise be common sense have to maul me over before I get it. Soooooo......I started with my amazing miracle cleaner and then scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed. As I stood there, admiring my handy work, I thought, "heck!! Why don't I just dump the rest of the bottle of peroxide in there with a stopper?" So that's just what I did.

Then, every half an hour or so, I went in and gave it all a really good scrub. The solution got gross.

Finally, after about six hours, I drained it and voila!! It looks MILES better than it did before. I'm definitely going to do this again soon and see if I can get the rest of it. I'll probably use a baking soda paste and scrub it in and let it sit. It's definitely in the future.

Starting a Garden Book

Book? Journal? Collection? Yeah. I think collection works better. I have to admit something about me: I am very ambitious with very little actual completion. I tend to start things, big, ambitious things, and never finish them. Or I just don't start at all and talk, and talk, and talk about how I'm going to do *blank*. Don't throw that away! It's going to become *blank* as soon as I have time. Seriously? Right. When am I ever going to have time. Well, I suppose we make time for the important things. I am doing just that: making time.

I want to grow our food. My reasons are countless. As soon as I list them, there is another reason to add. To save money, to eat more naturally, to teach my kids the importance of nurturing something, to learn one more skill that will save us from the zombies. You can see how it goes.

The big problem is that I have a lot of information. Why is that a problem? It is all over the place. It's in books, on Pinterest, and straight from the mouths of other, well weathered gardeners. My experience is growing, as well, and I really need somewhere to record that also. I have decided to collect it all in a book.

my chaotically organized list

First, I made a list of everything I'm interested in growing, either now or later down the road. Next, I alphabetized them. I cut a strip of average office labels in half to make tabs.

I am using a standard sketch pad. Why? I like the thicker pages and I think they will hold up better after a lot of use. Not just that, but I want to be able to glue or tape pictures to the pages. I think this will be helpful to identify pests or show different stages of growth of the plant.

Gathering Information

Once I had everything together I started to compile my information. This will be an ongoing project that I am hoping I can keep up with. I will be adding more everyday until I have information on all of the fruits and vegetables on my list. I plan to leave extra room/pages to add pictures and other information as I find it.

Garden Book

Dealing With Behavior Issues

My five year old son is my easy child in school. I've been telling myself this for years this kid is smart as a whip, loves to learn, and has a vocabulary that rivals most teenagers. Imagine my surprise when he had problems the first day. And then the next. And then the next, and the next. Are you starting to see the problem?

Well, I've been communicating with his teacher and she is telling me (personally) everyday how he did. I made a chart to track his progress, and at the end of the week, if he was good everyday, he gets to pick out a toy at the dollar store.

I made the chart in OpenOffice using cute fonts, colors, and charts.

I bought a frame and stickers at the dollar store and voila!!! For roughly two dollars I have a chart that helps him visualize his progress and help keep motivated!!

A Birthday and a No Flour Cake

Today my oldest son turns fourteen. Yes, I am that old. lol (this is where I say that I remember the day he was born.....*sniff sniff*) As with any respectable birthday, there was cake and ice cream. We had So Delicious coconut milk ice cream with our decadent cake.

I was short on supplies with no desire to go to the store, so I cruised Pinterest for an easy cake recipe that would use the ingredients I had on hand. Did you know that if you put the word easy in front of a cake recipe the whole world thinks that it should start with a box of cake mix? Well, that might be an exaggeration, but not by much.

I found this wonderful recipe for a very rich cake that has no flour in it. I was a little worried at first, but wow! It was great and was it ever rich?!? Goodness! I couldn't finish my small slice. I will definitely make this again. As I said, easy peasy and very yummy. You should give it a try. The recipe is near the bottom, but give the rest a read. I found it to be entertaining.