Flower Bed Resident (s)

In between all my other work, I am reclaiming the flower beds, and each time I make my weed piles a bit higher (or more of them).

One day I decided to go rake them into one large pile and guess who greeted me under one of them?

Tidbits ~ Muscle Rub Updates

I'm up bright and early, and even have my all day nutrient packed tea infusion brewing.  I do however, have to go dig through the garage to find myself a new 5 gallon bucket.  

I started to make a bucket of homemade laundry detergent (saves us a ton of money and saves us from chemicals), but the old bucket gave way.  After about 7-8 years of using it, it cracked in the bottom.  So that's first thing on my list to-do list, so I can get some laundry done.

Recipe I use is on my blog: here

Christmas mojo has returned early.  Don't worry, I just put up some fall-ish decor on the cover of my bread box.  That's about it for fall for me though.  Other than pumpkins on the porch soon.

 I'm working on a new ornament right now (in the few free seconds I have).  I've already ordered a new item for my master bath too.  Two years have gone by, and I've not gotten my white tree up.  Even after Hubby went out of his way last winter to buy a new color of ornaments for me.

Hubby and I took off on a motorcycle ride last night to clear our heads of any stress/worry/tension.  We checked out the gauze at the dollar store.  I wasn't impressed - sold by the roll, smaller and less on the roll.    I'm hoping I can downsize my bandage and not have to use an entire roll of gauze (day and night) soon.

Here's the scoop on the muscle rub....

There are many muscle rub recipes out there - in books, online, forums, etc.

I have arnica making a slow and pitiful attempt at growing in a pot, and so far, the seedlings I put outside have been drowned by the recent rain.  Not sure I'll get arnica this season.  Is arnica a "finicky" herb to grow?  Maybe it just doesn't like our climate this year? 

Feverfew, on the other hand is flourishing, even though I just planted it outdoors not long ago.  It definitely likes it's new pot.

Anyway, I made a muscle rub with what I had, and adapted a recipe.  So far it works great, but I do feel that arnica to a muscle rub would be a huge benefit.

Here is how I made mine (using all organic ingredients):

Green Tomato Cake ~ Homemade Alfredo Sauce

We are leaving tomato season with a bang!

Our once (or twice) a year green tomato cake!  

Love this!  Mmmm!  I am lucky to get enough green tomatoes to make this once this year.

Puttin' Up Peppers ~ Tomato Season Ends

Habanero peppers made their way to the freezer.  They will stay there until I have a wee bit more free time to can hot sauce or jam with them.

Deep Clean ~ Peppers ~ Wine Journal

Although canning is not over for me, the kitchen deep clean project continues.  

Everything is being removed from counter tops, disinfected, re-organized, purged, things put back where they belong (recipes removed from the fridge and filed once again), drawers cleaned out, doors wiped down, windows cleaned, light fixtures cleaned, curtains washed, baseboards scrubbed......the whole sha-bang.

Just a wee little bit every day.

Every day chores still get done too.  It's been a good week for drying everything outside.  Our bedroom smelled sooooo good last night.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I am joining up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, for today's Happy Homemaker Monday.

The weather. . .
 ~ sunny, beautiful, high of 72°F.

Right now I am. . .
 ~ taking a break from weeding the front flower beds, considering lunch options, putting more laundry out on the line....

Random Tidbits

I dug up a few potatoes for more meals, and dug up one sweet potato slip to check on it.

 They are not really big just yet.  We'll let them sit in the ground for another 3-4 weeks (or more) before digging up more.  These delicious two, will be going into a breakfast I think.

Deep clean continues in the kitchen.   I have even started to wash all my flour/sugar/coffee etc containers.  Sugar has now been washed and sanitized for the winter.

And while I am deep cleaning the kitchen, the flower beds are being reclaimed as well.  I'm using a timer, so I can do a bit of both and feel good at the end of the day.