My Experience with Homemade Detergent

Again, if you're interested in gorgeous photos, go to my pinterest page. There are over 11,800 photos on there with almost 9,500 followers. So you know there are gorgeous things to see. I doubt you'll be disappointed. Just enjoy looking at them as I doubt I'll ever get all of them on this blog. Plus I post daily!
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A while back I was lamenting over the state of clean clothes and detergents. I then received comments on making my own detergent. So I decided to give it a try. To my dismay it ended with a blender almost catching fire—smoking—and my trusty old blender died. Hubby saw it in the garage when he got home that day and didn't even ask; he's used to these sort of things, but I explained anyway. I finished making the detergent—the kind with 3 ingredients—and promises of cleaner clothes. Well, getting past the smell of Borax, Washing Soda and Fels Naptha was a challenge. I did indeed try it. My results: not only did it NOT clean any better, but it left me with a rash all over my body: legs, arms, torso. I had to rewash all the things I had washed in that stuff. I'm guessing it was fine for most people and I'm really not sensitive to too many things at all, plus it was cheap and used only a tablespoon per wash load, but money wasn't and isn't a factor for me, clean clothes are. So I'll just have to accept that our white undergarments are a bit dingy, but at least they're clean when I put them on my body and I don't get a rash. So beware if you are thinking of making your own soap. It might not be worth it to you.
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I'll always love this kind of slip-covered sofa. I have a slipcover for my old sofa but I don't have it on right now. Just liking the change for a while.

Can you believe this is soap? I'd like this in my guest bathroom with its pink color and design on top.

I'll always love Green Gate tins, just wish they would have an outlet here in the U.S. so we didn't have to receive them from Denmark. Postage is a lot from there to here!

I love the arrangement of this living room. I'd paint the walls pink however. Gorgeous furniture.

Another pretty bottle. Love the girly look of it.

Right now I'm doing fine without any candy but there are times on this diet I'd kill ya for chocolate! This looks very tempting.

I love this chair and its color. I'd prefer pink but the blue is gorgeous.

I just love kitchens like this that display eye candy colors. Look at that stack of tumblers and bowls. Colorful!

Fancy cupcakes.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have this as your headboard?

Pretty arrangements of linens always delight my eye.

What is this flower? It's gorgeous. Wish I could find one for my garden.

I also love beautiful hanging lamps and have some in my home, with and without lights.

Another room I love. I do like the high tables but I don't think it would go well in my small living room.

Just colorful window boxes, shutters and canopies in some beautiful European country.

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Just Rambling Again Today 10/3/2013

Get ready for my great-grandma brag here. Yes, it's my blog and I can brag about my great granddaughters if I want to.

Miss Juliette is a sweet-tempered angel who will be one year old at Thanksgiving. Her dark hair is curling now like her sister's hair, Miss Caroline. Here are the two of them on a recent camping trip with my daughter—their grandmother and the girls' parents in our daughter's RV. They were all up in Washington at a camp park.

 

Miss Caroline is a gorgeous curly-headed pistol! We love them both enormously! Here are a few recent comments by Miss Caroline. 

As her mum dropped her off the other day at pre-school she said: I look so posh today. She's been saying things like this for a little while. The teachers told her mum that she's the most auditory child they've ever had. She never, ever forgets something. It amazes us to no end. She's 3 years old now but even earlier she would retain things and never forgot them, much to her parent's dismay. Here are a few more things she's said lately.

"You must have some of this exquisite pizza, darling."  Darling???
"Juliette is having a dilemma."
"I need more accessories." ????
I think we've created a queen here!
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It's becoming the season for red cinnamon apples and caramel apples. That's one of my favorite things to look at this time of year. FOOD! I also love the snuggle-type weather where we hunker down and wait for the snows to drift down from heaven and leave it so quiet you can hear it snow.

I do love this living room: the arrangement, the colors, the roses, the windows, the fireplace, just about everything about this room.

This has to be in another country from the architecture. I'm guessing a northern European clime. Just gorgeous.

When I saw this on the internet I gasped. It is one of the prettiest paintings I've ever seen of flowers. Looks simple but I'm betting it took a lot of work to get it right. Beautiful!!!

My front door is also red but nothing as beautiful as these doors.

Another stunning bottle.

Sit and have a cup of tea while reading. Love the red cup and saucer and how it reflects the red of the tea.

Hmmmm. Seems to be a red day, huh?!

This looks beautiful with the colors of red, white and blue. A traditional living room with our country's colors.

What stands out in this living room? The coffee table because it contrasts harshly with the white. While the room is gorgeous in white, the table takes center stage here. I'd have put a much prettier table there than a plain dark one. Looks out of place to me.

Soothing vignette.

Okay, okay, I'm thinking of food again! But aren't these delightful to look at as well as to eat? ;-)

These drizzled caramel apples are divine to look at also.

I think this homeowner did a fantastic job on creating a mantle vignette with several different kinds of glass but bringing them together with paint and flowers. This is very creative and one of the most beautiful vignettes I've ever seen.

See this. Not all bathrooms have to be boring with white porcelain sinks. Sweet and original.

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Living Life and Random Thoughts 10/1/2013

Reminder to visit Pinterest. I now have over 11,700 photos on my pinterest and 9,400 followers. Visit there to see all the glorious images. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
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If you wait until you have enough money to decorate and make your home your own it will never happen. If you wait to buy everything new you are missing the point. It is the old, the new, the made, the hand-me-down, the collected, the worn (but loved) things in your home that make it your own. Quote from Alexandra Stoddard. My sentiments exactly. It's how I decorate, but live my life also.
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One of my favorite kitchens. I don't like or need a formal dining room, but this beautiful dining area off the kitchen would be perfect in my eyes. Plus I love the mix of white with light cabinetry. My perfect kitchen would be pink and white however. While my walls are pink, the cabinets are ash—light, not dark, but I'm still going to paint them—or have them painted I should say—at some point. Maybe just the top ones and leave the bottom ones the wood look, giving hubby a say in the process. ;-) A friend of mine has dark cabinets and wouldn't dream of painting them. I told her she thinks like a man! I see nothing sacrosanct about cabinets that a coat of paint wouldn't make them look better. I don't particularly like the wood look on most things.

The ceiling looks like this could be a loft somewhere in the city, but I love the openness of the shower. I wouldn't like to look at the grungy pipes and ceiling however.

Yeah, yeah, I'm having a fit for chocolate about now. This does look yummy.

Lovin' what the owner did to this little bottle. Absolutely stunning!

I've looked around the import stores for some good lemonade in pretty bottles. However, while I buy it simply for the cute bottles, the lemonades are usually not very good. And the sparkling lemonade goes flat pretty quickly. At least I have the pretty bottles left to decorate.

This room has a segreto finish on it. Segreto finishes are done by artists and can be very expensive. I've done some in an old house we had in California, but it's very labor intensive. I wouldn't try it now as my arms couldn't hold up.

Beautiful peonies.

I love the layout of this room. It's perfect for conversations with friends and not for watching television. I think the television takes priority in most homes and conversation is becoming a lost art. Not in my home however.

You couldn't miss this restaurant if you tried! Love the bright red exterior.

Another lovely bouquet of roses and little wildflowers.

I simply cannot get enough of flowers. They soothe my heart and soul.

And this! I wish I had the recipe. It looks so yummy with caramel drizzled over it. I may try to duplicate it when I'm not dieting. Right now though...NOPE.

These are soaps. Aren't they gorgeous?

I found an old laundry hamper like this at a garage sale about 10 years ago for a dollar or so and bought it. I stripped off the liner and made a frou-frou one and sold it on eBay. I'll never do it again. It was such a hassle mailing it to the buyer, plus it was a LOT of work to duplicate it. It was, however, darling.

I'm partial to magnets. I love these sweet ones. I have some on our fridge to hold a calender and messages but they're beautiful and not what most people hang on their refrigerators. I told you: everything in my home is lovely, even my magnets. :-)

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Linking up with Pink Saturday.

Some Thoughts Today 9/26/2013

I realize I've not been posting a lot lately but a lot of things are requiring my mostly undivided attention. Blogging served a very high priority in my life a while back, not so much now. But I'm not giving it up so keep watching for new posts.

Now, Pinterest is holding my attention and I love posting there. It's fast, easy and I don't tell stories about my daily life. ;-) Anyway, for those interested in viewing the 11,600+ photos on my pinterest and the 9,300+ followers who deem the images worthy enough, you might like to view them also. There are only the gorgeous images I've collected from the internet. All beautiful and "eye candy." I don't think I'll ever be able to get them all on this blog, but putting them on there is so easy. Visit it and see what I'm talking about. You can just sit back and dream while viewing them. I do!
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I had a friend several years ago who was a psychologist. She invited hubby and me over to her house for dinner one night. Now, her house is entirely different from mine. Actually, she had a lovely condominium and it was furnished rather starkly. And we all know I do not do "starkly" in my decorating. Her home was lovely though.

We were over there to also watch a video conference of our Church since we don't have a television and usually watch it the day after when we can view it on one of our computers. Her television was on a plant shelf so we had to look up...to the ceiling. My neck ached so badly from watching it I never would go back to watch television with her ever again.

Then she and her hubby had a "sandbox" in the traditional Japanese style in her home. He told me to take the miniature rake and make any design I wanted. Well, I'm not into those sort of things and being kind of shy about doing such things, I felt very intimidated. I made a few strokes and that was it. I just wasn't comfortable. We've lost touch but I did get a wonderful recipe from her for a salad dressing. I doubt I would pick up the rake again and make a fool of myself though. Very nice people however.
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I'm always watching hubby's speed when he's driving my car as it doesn't have radar in it as his truck does. I bought that for him so it would be a reminder to watch his speed. He always goes over the posted speed by about 3 MPH and sometimes more, mostly just forgetfulness on his part. Plus he doesn't have cruise control in his truck either. But he's gotten 4 or 5 tickets in the past 5 or 6 years and I haven't had one in many, many years. I go the posted limits but will occasionally catch myself.

So on the way to Southern California recently I reminded him to watch his speed. He said, "I'm not speeding." He was going over the limit, but I simply said, "Tell that to the cop that stops you and see how far it gets you." He was silent. I think he probably was thinking of throwing me out the door at that point! I can smell that territorial bloom of testosterone. ;-) But I did shut my mouth up at that point.  It doesn't take me long to figure out when to stop. Sigh.
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Oh, one more thing: I've lost 32 pounds on my diet in the last 2 months. I'm beyond thrilled!
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Love this little sign. Wish I could fine out where it came from and I'd buy it!

Another room I love.

This is a sink in a bathroom. Designer sinks are becoming very popular with a lot of homeowners.

A lovely garden vignette.

And a gorgeous turquoise pool in Asia, I believe. I can't remember where some of the places are that I find in photos. Forgive me!

A comfy French chair.

A lovely small pendant probably handmade by an artisan. This metal working is becoming very popular among Etsy sellers and home crafts people. I don't need another thing to do so I'm not even pursuing it. ;-)

Another gorgeous vintage table surrounded with more modern French chairs.

The one thing I do love is to redecorate old lamps I have found at thrift stores. However, there is only so much room in this house for lamps and I think I need to give it up until I get tired of the lamps I have now. Then I might refurbish them again. It never ends in this house!

I love these curtains. Exquisite lace with a silk ribbon threaded though for a thoroughly unique look.

Our peonies did beautifully this year.

A clever little window dressing for privacy from peekers but still allows a lot of sun to shine through. Of course, you know I love the colors.

Put a pink flower in a stunning bowl and what do you get? A gorgeous vignette for a photo shoot!

Truly, what more could you want in a beautiful relaxing room like this?

This is in another country and it's a beautiful kitchen. They mostly have open cabinets, no doors. I love the look but think of the dust. I prefer doors on my cabinets in the kitchen.

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Linking up with Pink Saturday.