This past weekend, I found stackfuls of one-piece infant potties at IKEA for $3.99 but were on sale for $1.99!!! They looked stable and easy to clean. I’m glad to see how readily available they are now, about four years too late for me. Maybe they’ve been around for awhile but I just don’t find [...]

If you’re wondering about my absence from the virtual world lately, it’s because I’ve been knee deep in my garden. The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous! In many ways, I much prefer to garden in the Fall than in the Spring. It is the best time to:

get your plants in and/or [...]

If I didn’t already have plans this weekend, I would be dragging my family to the 7th Annual Garden Festival of Roses at the Antique Rose Emporium in San Antonio. By the way, it was from the owner Mike Shoup’s rose book, Landscaping with Antique Roses (no longer in print) where I (re)discovered my [...]

Borrowing another great restaurant idea: oil cloth (vinyl) tablecloths. Primary reason? Easy to clean. You can purchase the fabric by the yard from Fabric.com and simply sew fitted tablecloths so that your tots can’t easily pull them off!

I just love that we can have blooming roses in the Fall! It makes the record high summer heat followed by unusually wet month followed by lots of bugs and insect bites worthwhile, I guess. Here are my two favorite pinks: the lighter ones are Baronne Henriette de Snoy and the slightly darker [...]

Posts in this series on microbes: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV
And now, I’m going to explain why I brought up the subject of microbes.
A large portion of my posts are dedicated to homemade, do-it-yourself crafts and necessities. I do it mostly to save money without sacrificing quality, the trade-off [...]

Preservatives, like disinfectants, inhibit microbrial growth. But their main purpose is to extend a product’s shelf life. In our fast-paced, industrialized world where we as consumers expect to get what we want and when we want with minimal effort, it seems reasonable that so many of our products contain preservatives. But just [...]

We hear a lot about the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The medical community has done well in informing both medical health professionals AND patients. We know that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics lead to drug resistance and newer drugs must be developed to keep up. But what about non-medical, everyday [...]

Yesterday marked the first day of Autumn, at least for us in the Northern Hemisphere. The back-to-school/end-of-summer frenzy has quieted down and everyone has settled into their Fall routine. Now, the focus has shifted to the cold and flu season and keeping our home and family safe and healthy. We begin this [...]

Oh I just love the smell of fresh sun-dried laundry! After years of using a rope concoction in my backyard, I finally broke down and bought a rotary clothesline. I’ve used it for about six months now and I’m happy to report that I’m very pleased with it. After researching all the [...]