Category Archives: home and garden

Homemade Household Cleaners – The Basics and My Top 3 List

First and foremost, I make my own household cleaners to save money and reduce the amount of products we use. Most of them are redundant anyways, just the same basic ingredients in different proportions, packaged and marketed differently. My must-have list is surprisingly short: vinegar baking soda chlorine-free laundry detergent – surfactants Unlike many homemade […]

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Cheapest Infant Potty at IKEA

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 […]

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Fall is the Best Time to Garden in Central Texas

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 plan out […]

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This Weekend: Garden Festival of Roses

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 passion […]

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Easy Clean Tablecloths

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!

Also posted in kid-friendly items, kids craft, Parenting Tips, sewing | 4 Responses

A Bouquet of Pinks

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 pink with […]

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Microbes: Conclusion and My Personal Opinions – Part IV

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 being […]

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Microbes: The Role of Preservatives – Part III

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 like disinfectants and […]

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Microbes: Resistance Happens! Part II.

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 cleaning products? Like […]

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Microbes: They’re everywhere! Resistance is Futile. Part I.

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 seasonal topic every […]

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