Loving the sunshine!

The weather has been so wonderful, I can't stay indoors! Baby and I have been spending a good portion of the day outside doing preps for the garden, digging weeds, mowing, walking and just enjoying spring!
Dh moved my canning stove so I can start using it again. Yes, I have a seperate canning stove. The one in the kitchen Dh bought before we where married and is a flat glasstop - the kind your not supposed to can on. So, when we married, we brought the stove from my house and put it in the basement for me to use in canning. We plan on installing a utility sink next to it so I don't have to make so many runs up and down the steps to fill the canner and wash things. That will be a great time saver! I can't wait to start using it! I have a bunch of strawberries and rhubarb in the freezer from last year I want to turn into jam. I never got them last year with my pregnancy and being so tired! Soon the new crop will be coming in, so I need to do something with last years!
I still plan on posting more on the Disposing of Disposables segment I started. I just can't stay indoors to do ANYTHING right now! The cold air and rain are to make a comeback this weekend, so that will be a good time to get back to those articles AND cleaning my house again!
The sunshine and my baby are calling me! I can't sit still any longer!

Ready to garden

I am ready to sink my hands and feet into the garden! However, the weather is not cooperating! It has been in the low 30's at night and chilly and rainy during the day. This week is supposed to be much better. I can't wait! I'm sure with all the rain we have had recently, it will still be too wet to plant or dig. This makes me sad - I have the gardening itch soo bad right now! So in the meantime, I have made my garden plans. Here they are:

tomatoes
greenbeans
sweet corn
onions
garlic
broccoli

I'm not set as to how much of each. I'm not sure how much space dh will allow me to dig up. We currently have a raised bed that we have used for the past 2 years. I use the square foot gardening method in it. I also have an area for my herbs. Currently, there are chives, oregano, hyssop and lavender in that bed. They are all growing very nicely right now.
I would love to raise enough food to cover at least 50% of our consumption. Anybody do this or more? I plan on doing more canning and drying this year to accomplish this. Can't wait to share photos of the garden and the fruits of my labor!

Disposing of Disposables- Cleaning Supplies, part 1

Swiffer-type floor dusters

Quit buying those replacement pads!! You can make them yourself!

Once again, I have found the Walmart remnant bin helpful in replacing this disposable. Go and find yourself some fleece remnants. Yes, fleece works WONDERFUL at dusting your hard floors (and everything else, more on that in a later article!).

All I did was put the fleece on the floor and place the head of the swiffy on it. Make sure you leave a little bit of fleece around the short sides of the swiffy. Pull the fleece up and over the long sides of the swiffy and give yourself enough fabric to tuck into the slots to hold it in place. Then just cut it out. Tuck the fleece into the slots and dust your hard floors to your hearts content! The fleece works wonderful at picking up dust, hair and lint. I always use both sides of the fleece before throwing it in the washer. As far as washing, just throw it in with the appropriate colors and wash like anything else. It does help to pull of any excessive lint before washing.

This is so easy, you’ll wonder why you spent so much time and money buying those boxed disposable types!

Disposing of Disposables - Napkins

Cloth Napkins vs Paper Napkins

I have sewn or bought cloth napkins for several years now. For making my own, I have used material in the remnant bins at Walmart. Super cheap way to get cloth napkins. You can make them any size you want. I currently make them 9” x 9” square. They are also 2-ply. This picture are of my most recent napkins I have made. When I have bought napkins, they have been second-hand. Another very cheap route to go! Most any consignment/thrift stores or garage sales will have cloth napkins. Most are obviously unused.

We currently have 14 napkins and this number seems to be working well for us right now (2 adults).

Most cloth napkins are so large they can be re-used at another meal. This is how we can get by with 14. Actually, up until a month ago, we only had 8 napkins and that number served us well also.

With cloth napkins, you never run out (unless you don't do your laundry regularly!) So, no more buying from the store, no more storing them somewhere until use, no more excess garbage in the landfills! And they are softer on the face than paper!

So go out, buy some fabric and whip up a few or buy some second-hand. You will be happy that you did!

Random Ramblings..

Sorry for being MIA. Baby got sick and then dh and I also did. We are all better now and it's time to get back to life!
I will be doing a little series on Disposing of Disposables. I will be going through what changes we have made in our lives to get rid of the excessive disposable products that are everywhere we look. Hope it can be of some help to others!
I have also recently been motivated to do more about emergency preparedness and self-sufficiency. It has long been a passion of mine, however certain life-moments kinda put it on the back burner for awhile. With the current economic situation, I find it is time to kick into high gear on this issue. Only now I have a 7-month old, and it feels a bit more overwhelming to accomplish and yet more important now than ever. Right now I am reading some books on the topic and doing some planning (between the nursing sessions and diaper changes and laundry and...!) I am hoping to have some posts on this issue and can't wait to hear what others are doing or planning!