Day 9

Laundry

This I can say that I am pretty good on. I have a line outside and lines strung up in the basement. I haven’t had a dryer since we moved in here, that was almost 11 years ago. ( I have an electric dryer and a gas line. Never got around to either getting a gas dryer or putting in an electric line. ) I have a wash board and I have a mop bucket to wring the clothes out. Now I haven’t had to use either of these items as I still have use of my washer. I have them none the less if the need arises.

As for laundry soap, I have what I use normally about a 2 month supply. Then I have the washing soda, borax and fels naphta. That should last me another year. ( I have made before, so am use to using it. ) Then I also know the how to’s of making lye and using animal fat to make real lye soap. This I have never done but I do understand the principles behind it. So hoping that I should be fine for washing clothes!

Need to Do or Get

1. Learn to make lye
2. Learn to make soap with said lye

Yart

Sunny and Cold

Well, not really like 50's, but it is windy and so it's cold... LOL! But oh, does my laundry smell so fresh and clean. I love being able to hang it outside. Especially, since this now beings the outside season. I hit Meijer's today and got 192 new clothespins... They were on sale for $2.97 a pack ( I got 2). Over the winter I went back to using Gain for washing the clothes. The homemade stuff works ok.... But we felt that it just didn't work for the basement and winter. I will go back to making it once I use up the Gain.

I got outside yesterday and cleaned out the pots of mint. The dead from last year. I leave the growth to help protect from the winter. So far only the apple and the spearmint aren't showing any signs of life. The orange, pineapple, chocolate mint and the lemon balm are doing good. Plus, the catnip I thought I killed last year, is already up. I love pluses! I cleaned out the chives. I think this year I need to get another packet of seeds. They just don't want to fill out the planter.

More good news, my 5 type apple has real leaves on it and the 4 type pear (still in pot) is budding. The rhubarb is up and really red. I hope that I can get some this year. The last two years it went to seed on me. And by it doing that the stalks were nasty. Always room for hope!! Still waiting on the blueberries to show some sign of life. The strawberries are coming in nicely. Last year I think I got almost 2 quarts. I think I should get that much again. Every little bit is a little bit I don't have to buy.

I was going to re organize the garden this year.... But I just got one of those feelings. So I will leave it as it is for this year. I will probably be kicking myself next year for having waited. If we need to get the basement walls done (still in question) then I will have to rip it out anyways.

My tomatoe seedlings are doing really well. As are the pumpkin seedlings. Not sure what I am else I'm going to plant. Lettuce, spinach, chard, beans (teepee), maybe peas. No peppers or eggplant for this year though. They did really well for the last two years and I have more then enough frozen. Not doing potatoes or onions either. They do ok, but they take up a lot of space that I can use for other things. I will plant sunflowers again this year. And maybe the mice won't get them before I can get them to the birds. Damn garage mice!

Gotta Run,
Yart