Our new adventure!

My silly little dream is going to become a reality!  We are going to be a farm!  We are starting with dairy goats, yes, I am going to learn to milk a goat!  I can't wait!  I've already decided I am going to sing to them as I milk, in my mind, they will love me for this and give me more milk.  We'll see how that works out.  I am working with lots of agri peeps, so this is a great undertaking.  I love goats, and I can't wait to look out our front door and see my little herd!  Next....chickens!

Old recipes and memories

Yesterday I decided to pull out "mom's recipes", which is a book of recipes that I have been collecting over the years since I was a teenager.  This book is HUGE!  Hubby wanted chicken casserole, so I decided to "honor" him with one of my oldest recipes...I made this many times over the years, and it is a simple, yummy casserole.  When I opened the book to the recipe page, it brought back so many memories...it is typed, by me, when I was a teenager, on one of my favorite Christmas presents ever, bought by my mom.  No, it was not electric, and as you can see, there was no correction tape, either.  But the casserole recipe is on the same page as my "famous" peanut butter cookie recipe.  My youngest daughter, Lindsey, used to make these cookies at least once a week, but would always say "they just aren't as good as yours, mom!"  There are smears of peanut butter on the recipe, and the years have turned it yellow and wrinkled.  It is now in a plastic sheet protector.  Time to redo it on the computer, you think?  NEVER.  These recipes are part of my life, just like a photo album, and I love flipping through it and remembering.

a quickie....

been doing a lot of sewing...but I wanted to mention that I took a few photos of myself the other day, and was surprised to see that my face looks a lot slimmer!  The scales say I've lost another 2 pounds....it's still working!!

Update on the natural deordorant/antiperspirant

Hubby used my cornstarch/baking soda combo yesterday...then he went out and mowed our lawn in 100 degree plus weather, and came in to show me that his shirt was wet everywhere...except under his arms!  Then he went to mow another lawn (our high temp for the day was 106), and when he got home, he was a convert!  No stinky pits!

Refresh your towels!

As I was telling you before, if you have baking soda and vinegar, you can clean most anything!  (and I promise, the vinegar smell goes away)  I found this tip on how to "refresh" your towels...to remove all the detergent and softener buildup, and make them absorbent again.  By the way, in case you didn't know, you should never put fabric softener in your towels, because it makes them less absorbent.  If you think they need a little softness, put a half cup of vinegar in the rinse water.  Anyway, I digress....our towels had been suffering from stiffness, lack of absorbency, and a certain "stinkiness", a musty, sometimes sour smell that washing wasn't getting rid of.  Yesterday I washed a load in hot water with a cup of vinegar, then ran them again in hot water with a half cup of vinegar.  Hung them on the line.  Hubby came in as I was hanging them out, and could not believe I didn't use detergent, because they smelled so fresh!  This is just a refresher, normally we wash in cold water, so next time I wash them, I will try the new laundry detergent I have made...which I will share in a later post!!

Natural shampoo/conditioner

Let me just say that the recipes I have found are just not working for me.  I will continue to try to find something, because we spend a fortune on shampoos and conditioners!  The first couple of days, the baking soda shampoo worked very well, actually I think it is still working well, but the vinegar rinse is not working for me.  It makes my hair "hard"...but shiny.  I just don't like the stiff feel, so I will keep looking till I find something, and I'll post it here!  This is my hair, after the first natural wash and condition.  I blow dried the top, so I could tell if it was clean, but the back and underneath is still damp.  It looks really good, but feels weird to me.  It feels kinda like "2nd day hair".  It is clean, even the roots...no greasies!

On an interesting note, I noticed that the natural curl I used to have appears to be trying to come back after one use...here is the underneath layer which is still damp...

Chocolate/Zucchini cake

This is totally yummy!!!!  I made it this weekend when 2 of my daughters and my mom were visiting, and everyone loved it.  It is very moist and sinfully chocolately!!  and good for you.  :)