Monday Miscellany
Hello, hello! We're gonna take a little tour through some randomness from my brain. 😉
I don't get a spring break
I realized that the eight-week class schedule does not have any room for a spring break. BOO.
So, my first spring class ends this coming Sunday, and the next class starts on Monday.
However, I have almost finished my last bit of work for this class, so I'm kinda DIY-ing a spring break this week. 😉
I got a 20/20 on that paper I rewrote
You know how I lost my paper and had to rewrite the entire thing? That was annoying, but my hard work did pay off because I got a 20/20. Yay!
I have almost no green clothes
I work tomorrow, and since it's St. Patrick's Day, I know everyone will be pulling out their bright green scrubs.
Unfortunately, I own none! The best I can do is this hospital t-shirt that I modified a while back, and it's not quite the right green for St. Patrick's Day.
Oh well!
I'm making some overnight oats this week
The last two weeks, I've made egg bites for my work breakfast, but this week I'm gonna prep some overnight oats, just to switch things up a bit.
I'm trying this raspberry one, and I might make a peanut butter variety as well.
Whenever I don't prep my breakfasts, I regret it. And when I do prep them, I feel so grateful to pre-work Kristen. My work mornings go way better when I don't have to cook breakfast!
For work lunches, I'm going to make a big pot of chicken noodle soup and then pack that for my lunch main dish.
I'm 2/2 for cantaloupes
I bought a cantaloupe at Aldi, and then my Hungry Harvest box included one as well. Both of them have been juicy and wonderful.
Did you know cantaloupes are climacteric, which means they continue to ripen off the vine?
For this reason, I let mine sit on the counter for a few days to ripen, especially if they don't seem particularly aromatic yet.
I fixed some thumbnails
I still have tweaking to do from the new theme that I switched to, but I did at least fix one thing. The categories that show on the homepage didn't have thumbnail images, so I worked on fixing them.
So tidy now!
Since I'm the only person who works here, it's slow going to get things done. Ha.
Why is dishwasher powder so hard to find??
I remember when it was very easy to find inexpensive containers of powdered dishwasher soap, and now it's nigh onto impossible. The stores are all stocked with pods, and I do not prefer to use those.
Grocery stores, warehouse clubs...most of what they have is pods, with a few liquid options.
I usually can't even find Cascade powder, let alone a store brand, so I finally resorted to ordering some online.
Kristen....I am with you on the dishwasher detergent powder. But, I generally get mine at Target. I am in the Midwest, not sure if they carry different products regionally though....
I bought myself a little sewing machine. I need curtains for the kitchen/dining area, and I've looked for some, but I have a specific look in mind. I bought regular curtains and will modify them. I could have borrowed one or had someone else do it for me, but I thought, why not? I have everything else related to sewing. It wasn't super expensive, and I'm going to try to replace a few zippers later, after I practice my skills. I haven't touched one in over 40 years, but I set it up yesterday to give it a try. It wasn't too bad.
Now, I must go and finish up a few things before I start sewing! (Don't worry, I'll have some help cutting the panels).
Sam,
Good for you getting back into sewing. I was big into home dec and crafts with my Husqvarna Rose with and embroidery arm 25 years ago. It was the last fancy machine before computers took over the world. I dabbled after having my son and now I am trying to get back into it
I wanted to invest in a fancy new machine with ( drum roll, please, ) automatic thread cutting but farmer hubby and I are in a season of penny pinching. I have really enjoyed getting to know my dinosaur again and it works beautifully. I just took down three terrible, ill fitted, dusty mini blinds. I am replacing with a couple of different versions of cafe curtains. I found a set of Pottery Barn silk curtains for $30. That will finish one room. I bought one panel from Ikea and that will finish another. I can't buy fabric for those prices. I will modify all.
Mary Ann, if I needed to sew curtains, I’d look for bargain sheets!
I thought of that but I just picked up the panel. It is lined. So basically, for $15.00 I have to just sew one hem. However I did have to stop at Ikea which I don't really like doing. It was too crowded on a Monday, though. I picked up a $2.00 decorative pillow case though for the cabin. So, it was worth it.
One of the biggest frugal fails ever in our family was when we traded in a little secondhand basic Singer sewing machine circa 1930s or 40s for a super fancy 2969 model that was so complicated, it was a major understanding just to thread its needle. That dang thing sat in the corner gathering dust for years because it was too difficult to use. Wish we still had the little black metal Sanger machine!
1969, not 2969.
Thank you. The last time I used a sewing machine, I was in grade nine. I had a C in that part of home ec. My mother and sister are all amazing with the sewing machine. Me, not so much. I figured out yesterday that my natural inclination is to use it left handed. I did finish 2 of the curtains up. Now 2 more to do. 🙂
I still have my mom's "portable" (!) Singer. It's actually a refurbished treadle machine put into a newer case. It's probably the best sewing machine I've ever used! It just goes and goes. I have a buttonholer attachment and a ruffler attachment. They are very "steam punk" looking - no exterior case - just the works. You can see all the cogs and gears going, and they are LOUD - CLACKETY-CLACKETY-CLACKETY-CLACK!!! Hahaha.
I'm still seeing with my nearly 50 year old Singer machine I bought when I was in highschool from a family friend who was getting a new one. It was 5 years old.
I made the cutest valances for my kitchen windows a few years ago from kitchen towels I found at Dollar Tree. They had big graphic tea cups on them with a teabag hanging out. I had to go to every area Dollar Tree to find enough towels, but they turned out adorable. I recently made some new kitchen valances with fat quarters with herbs in them that I found at Hobby Lobby.
I don't know if you have Menards where you are but that is where I find my Cascade powder.
Kristen, I hear you on the dishwasher powder! I recently decided to convert back to powder from the dishwasher tabs in plastic. The powder was not in my two main stores, Aldi and Costco. I had some cleaning products I needed to get at a “regular” grocery store (this plus Barkeepers Friend and Murphy’s oil soap), so I but the bullet and went to a Wegmans that’s near my Costco.
Enjoy your self appointed and well deserved Spring break!
in nyc target has barkeepers friend as does home depot.
I do not prefer pods, but I typically get the Cascade gel at Sam's. Our dishwasher (Bosch) recommends not using pods with the quick wash cycle (which is what I almost always use since it's just two of us here!) because they do not completely dissolve.
Also, you could wear orange for St Patrick's Day! Irish Catholics wear green, and Irish Protestants wear orange! (That is, if you don't mind being associated with William the Orange and considered loyal to the British crown. And running the risk of getting pinched!)
Hi Julia, just to clarify - only a Protestant from Northern Ireland would wear orange on St Patrick's Day! Those of us who live in the Republic would never dream of it!
I don't live in Ireland, I'm just going by what my mom's family (all Irish) always did! I do understand why you wouldn't dream of it, of course! Happy St Patrick's Day!
Haha, well, I don't have any orange scrubs either!
And Bosch recommends Finish not Cascade. I don't see anything in my "papers" re: not using pods in my Bosch.
Didn't you get a packet of little holiday earrings awhile back? No shamrocks in there?
I buy dishwasher powder online in bulk, mostly because I want unscented powder, and that just doesn't exist at the stores I go to.
I have to go to my daughter's First Communion class tomorrow, which is mostly little boys, so I'd better make sure I have something green on. I just know those boys are going to be going around all day looking for someone to pinch. Actually, my daughter probably will, too. 🙂
I have green eyes, which I have used to my advantage on St. Patrick's Day when I forgot to wear something green. I always have green on. It is kind of cheating, though.
We are slaughtering our two wethers (castrated male sheep) today, and I really wish we could have done it yesterday as planned. It was way too windy yesterday, but now it's just going to be me and my husband here since the kids will be at school. We have to do it today, though, to take advantage of what will probably be the last cold weather for hanging the carcasses. I much prefer to delegate these sorts of things to my children now. Oh well. We must ensure our Easter leg of lamb, I guess.
It's supposed to be almost 90 degrees all next weekend. My children are excited about this. I am not, not being a huge fan of hot weather. And now I'm a bit worried that we're going to have an unusually hot summer. We do not have air conditioning, so this makes a big difference in my levels of crankiness.
My husband has started painting watercolors, and his main subject is flowers. Now that we have spring flowers, he's been painting the tulips and daffodils from our gardens. I'm waiting until he's done at least four nice ones (he likes to paint smaller sizes), and then I'm going to frame them and put them up in a group on the wall. It's amazing to me how good he is at this having just started and being entirely self-taught, as art is not one of my strengths.
I was thinking of some shamrock earrings, too. Or leprechauns or something. (I'll be home in Irelnd next week so if you'd like me to stop at O'Carrolls (biggest tourist trap in the country) and get some to send you, I'd be more than happy to do that.
As for the green, don't worry about it. Green is green, doesn't have to be Irish flag green 🙂 Maybe keep your eyes out for some green socks on sale sometime and then you'll be all set for the future. Socks that you only wear once a year tend to last a very long time.
Ohhh they were Halloween earrings. But hmmm I feel like there were maybe some green studs in there. I’ll go look!
I hear you on the dishwasher powder. I found that Walmart typically carries it, so I go there for mine.
This is good to know. Thanks.
My mom buys the Walmart store brand powdered dish washer detergent most of the time because it's less expensive and works great in her dish washer
Our local Walmart has Cascade powder!
I think that is a fine shade of green!
I am not prepping breakfasts because they are already prepped. Bagel with cream cheese and fruit on the side will feature highly in this week's breakfasts. Also granola with milk and raisins. I might make at least one egg-based breakfast. And there is blueberry pancake batter in the freezer, so thawing is prepping for that!
Sorry about Spring Break. I don't get one either, but I might create one by doing things I don't usually do. I'll have to have a think on that.
Well. I feel like a stranger here. Our computer died, and I didn't like much typing comments on a tablet. Then we went alllllll the way out to Minnesota for our son's senior recital. And alllllllll the way back. (Driving.) And now we're home. And tired from all the driving.
About that driving. On the way out we were dodging tornadoes. Then we had to leave a day and a half early to make it out before the snow came. I was disappointed that I didn't get to spend that day with the boys, but there's not much that we could have done differently.
If I missed anything important announced in the comments over the last couple weeks, please fill me in so that I don't say something rude or stupid.
Also, daffodils. Yay! I hope the coming cold doesn't ruin crops or something. I feel awfully yo-yo-ish with regards to the temperatures/weather I've experienced the last week.
A green clothing discussion is how I discovered my husband can’t see specific shades of green and sees them as blue. We were discussing wearing green for St. Patrick’s Day and he very confidently told me that he doesn’t own anything green. He was wearing a green sweatshirt! We’ve identified the shade range he can’t see and have belly laughs over his “missing cones.”
Yesterday’s blizzard left everything beautiful! I love spring but the transition time between the melting snow to that lovely green haze on the trees is too long. Now we are under a blanket of beautiful snow.
I finally finished a crochet project (another thank you to the blizzard) and I’m just tickled pink over it. It didn’t turn out 100% like I envisioned, but it is done and it is still very nice.
i hope he can see the green traffic light when he drives. just curious.
A St. Patrick's day note from my Central NY city: We have what is supposed to be the only traffic light in the world with green on top and red on the bottom. A bunch of Irish kids known as the "Stone Throwers" (there's even a statue commemorating them now) threw rocks at the red-on-top traffic light in their neighborhood until the city gave in and put the green on top.
My uncle was completely color blind--he saw the world in shades of gray--and I once asked him how he knew when the traffic light was red, or green, and he said he could tell which one was lit up and that red was on the top, green was on the bottom, so that's how he knew.
My husband sees greens as brown!
I like the Great Value brand powdered detergent from Walmart.
We do not like soap pods of any kind either. It’s hard to find old school soap.
Walmart carries a store brand dishwasher powder, at least they did as of a little while ago last time I bought it!
Have you tried in-person thrift shops for scrubs - if you have a Red, White and Blue Thrift or American Thrift by you, it’s worth a shot. I see them all the time at these bigger thrift chains! So cheap compared to online second hand shops.
Around here, it is impossible to find liquid dishwasher detergent. It's pods only. I order the liquid on line.
I purchase most of my household items through Grove, an online retailer committed to sustainability. I have been able to get Seventh Generation dishwasher powder from them for years. They aren’t always necessarily the absolute cheapest option, but I have found that just staying out of stores saves me a lot of money. It’s also very convenient to have household staples appear on my doorstep once a month without a lot of work on my end. I just have to check my online cart when I get a reminder that my order will ship soon, and done!
I also use Grove for household items but have not tried the Seventh Generation dishwasher powder. does it clean as well as brands like Cascade?
I’m pretty happy with it. I haven’t used a lot of other types of dishwasher detergent-I’ve been pretty committed to Seventh Generation since my kids were born, so I don’t have a ton of room for comparison. My sense is that any issues I have stem from the quality of the dishwasher more than the detergent itself.
Thanks, Rachel. I will check out Groves and see what they have. Never heard of that before.
You’re most welcome! I try to spend my money in places I feel good about (to the best of my ability), and like I said, anything that keeps me out of a physical store is probably going to save me money in the long run!
I should note, I think you can get Seventh Generation products at brick and mortar stores as well. Target used to carry it, though I don’t know if they do any more. But you could look around and try a small box if you don’t want to go through Grove.
Congrats on the paper!
I've always found it slightly weird that the US celebrates St Patrick's Day when not everyone has Irish heritage! My father's family are originally Irish (there was a lot of moving back and forth between England and Ireland) but I wouldn't consider dressing up for it, as I don't see myself as Irish.
I think I jinxed myself by saying I avoided catching a bug going round work because I think I'm getting sick 🙁
I’m an Italian American who grew up in a very Irish neighborhood, and I just kind of ignore the wearing of the green 😂
My husband was traveling on St. Patrick's Day recently and ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. They really celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It was a P-A-R-T-Y!
i always wear green on st patty's day. the principal of my elementary school did too. he said ethnic people should stick together. been to ireland twice. it is a beautiful place. i bought a new shirt this year that i will wear for the first time tom'w. thanks for the chiquita photo.
One of the strengths of American diversity is that while we are all proud of our own ethnic heritages, we can appreciate other's as well. That's why I'm happy to get to participate in St. Paddy's, Cinco de Mayo, Juneteenth, Octoberfest, Native American Heritage Day, and the list goes on and on. All of the various cultures add much to the richness of America!
What a wonderful explanation of all the celebrations and holidays which are part of the American diversity. I too love them.
I wash my dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, because it takes a while to generate enough dirty dishes to justify running it. So the dishwasher is like a drying rack, but it doesn't take up any space on the kitchen counter. If I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I run the full dishwasher on the hot water setting but without any detergent.
P.S. Does any of this qualify as a Frugal Thing for tomorrow's post? Or am I just lazy?
You might be spending more money than you're saving, actually! Modern dishwashers cost extremely little to run, even when not entirely full. So, I just run mine each night, no matter if it's full or not. 🙂 I've read that each time you run a dishwasher, it usually requires less than $0.25 of energy.
I'm not interested in saving money on this except for avoiding the replacement cost of the dishwasher, which is close to 30 years old. I'm not pressing my luck on how many useful years/daily cycles it has left.
Sounds like a holiday dinner dishwasher. Large holiday dinners were the only time that my mother ran the machine.
When I was a kid, we didn't have a dishwasher, but my mom used to joke that she had 4 dishwashers -- Joyce (me) and my siblings, Jan, Dennis and Donna. We did the dishes every night.
I LOVE my dishwasher!
I think your energy costs must be way cheaper than in Ireland! I only run the dishwasher and washing-machine when they are completely full.
My finicky old dishwasher does best with Finish tablets, the kind that are individually wrapped in a foil-type wrapper. I ordered three boxes off eBay recently as they disappeared from stores more than a year ago. I knew they'd been discontinued when a bunch showed up at Ollie's Outlet.
Shopping at Ollie's is a good way of determining which products are about to be discontinued, shrinkflated, etc. A while back, this was how I deduced that liquid Tide was being shrinkflated when a bunch of it in the old-size bottles turned up at Ollie's.
Kroger (and their family of stores) has a store-brand powdered detergent that is a Cascade knockoff.
Aw, the browser ate my comment. You know what's also become hard to find? Powdered laundry detergent. Since people switched to mostly cold water, there's less demand for powder. Tide no longer sells their Free and Clear powder in Canada, and the liquid is both more expensive and less environmentally friendly (since they're shipping water weight and it's plastic instead of a cardboard box.) I wouldn't mind dissolving powder in hot water, but it seems like companies are trying to make it easier and easier to pour in detergent (pods! sheets! capsules!) I don't get it! Pouring in the detergent is hardly the most time-consuming or difficult part of doing laundry.
I had some really great sewing time yesterday--I'm making myself a maternity dress out of some purple knit fabric and I spent a VERY long time inserting what was probably the tidiest neckline I've ever done...and then I serged a side seam incorrectly. I cut the front of the dress to be two overlapped pieces: an underlay that looks like a strapless dress with an elasticated top and an overlay that goes from the top to my waist; that'll allow me to nurse. And I serged it--from the sleeve hem, up the sleeve, down the side seam--with the layers reversed. ARGH! Since I was very conservative in my cutting to save fabric, I have to unpick it instead of cutting the seam off. Although, as I'm writing this, I realize I might only just unpick from the underarm to the waist, flip the over and underlay, and then serge it back up. Would save me a lot of unpicking...
I too find myself puzzled at the popularity of the pods. Pouring dishwasher or laundry soap takes so little time. It seems like a product made to meet a non-problem!
Worse for the environment as well!
I have found powdered dish detergent at Walmart. We use liquid laundry detergent at home per our machine's recommendation. The laundry detergent pods (or sheets) can be a convenient option for while traveling or for apartment/dorm living if the laundry facilities are several buildings away. Bringing a small bag/container of detergent could also work for this situation. Sometimes when traveling, I'll put a small amount of liquid laundry detergent in a well-sealed container, then in a zip bag for extra security. Allows for a little laundry on the go as needed. But you all are frugal and resourceful, so I'm guessing y'all do the same 🙂
That's exactly what I do when I travel! I fill a 500-ml water bottle with liquid Tide and put it in a zip bag.
And with powder you can use a little less than the recommended dose, a little frugal win!
Oh, it's such an argh moment to do that when sewing! My personal best was sewing the same sleeve in backwards twice in a row.
We use Arm & Hammer powdered detergent, but lately it's been available only in an alpine fresh fragrance that I don't like much. It does not seem to stay on the clothes, though. In the winter when our water is really cold coming into the house, I dissolve it a bit in some warm water.
I have a super sensitive nose and walking down the detergent aisle makes me sneeze or get a runny nose.
Oh gosh the very first pair of pyjama pants I ever made, I got it so backwards that I wound up with one enormous tube instead of a bifurcated garment. Bah!
You know, I don't think Arm and Hammer sells their powder in Canada either; it's not on their website. I also heard that Costco used to have one, but it was discontinued. Maybe Canadians really, really don't buy powdered detergent anymore. I'm with you though--I don't like to walk down the cleaning product/detergent aisle or the pet food aisle. Strong smells!
Hi Meira,
I’m in Canada.
Currently in store at Costco is the Nellie’s laundry soda. It’s powdered laundry detergent. 1100 wash loads for $99.99 .( Maybe 5 gallon?) You use a scoop supplied about 2/3 of a Tbsp. It’s made in Canada and unscented.
Online it’s slightly more expensive at $109.00. Costco delivers for free.
One of my daughters living in Ontario used to use my Costco card but could get it delivered to her address. I live in the West.
Sorry Moira this was about laundry detergent🤦🏼.
I purchase my powdered dishwashing detergent at Superstore, it’s the Finish brand.
Dang autocorrect Meira .
Me too, Ruby. I try not to have to shop that aisle, but when I do I take a huge breath of air before going down it and try to hold my breath, grab quick what I need and escape back to the non-scented regular parts of the store.
I wish stores would put all the unscented/scent free products on the end of the aisle so they are easily gotten by those of us who don't fare well breathing perfumed air
Meira, there are some really good powdered laundry soap companies in Canada. I buy mine from the Soap Lady Nova Scotia soap company , based out of Nova Scotia. It's free shipping over 97.00. I order enough for the year ( unscented and lavender). Plus the stain remover bars are a dream! Google them! It comes double bagged, and I store it in vintage style candy jars.
Yes, Meira! I am lucky we have a zero waste store near us that sells bulk items and it's where I can get commercial, fragrance free powdered laundry soap. Difficult to source nowadays, especially when attempting to be frugal.
Every time I see Cascade powder at an estate sale, I buy it. I use it once per week to clean my jetted bathtub. Bosch dishwashers recommend gel, I make a loose paste and it works well.
I used to put a colorful bow on my ponytail or at the base of my bun as we had teal, pink, red, green, yellow and sky blue awareness activities. We could only wear black and royal blue scrubs.
An 80's style scrunchie would also work!
Hyacinths and wood violets are blooming, such good smells! Have a wonderful Monday!
Interesting re: gel. My Bosch is at least 10 years old. So again, time to haul out the paperwork. Truly I think cleaning the filter each week is the most important.
Same with powdered laundry detergent! The variety is slim!
I get my cascade dishwasher powder on Amazon. I prefer this because it’s powder in a cardboard box, and I think it works well. The box is completely covered with ads about how I ought to be buying those dumb power tabs, so I do wonder how long they will keep making the powder.
Whaddaya mean, it's the wrong green! Any green is okay for St. Patrick's Day! Wear your green shirt with elan!
Kristen, perhaps you could use a temporary, blank name tag sticker and write: “it’s not easy being green!” Put that on your scrubs and see who enjoys the reference to Kermit.
I’ve wanted to try something different with my dishwasher detergent as well. Costco has Blueland dishwasher tabs on sale, so I decided to try them. They’re fragrance free and plastic free. My daughter shared an article that chemicals in dishwasher tablets could contribute to or exacerbate gut issues. I’m taking that with a huge grain of salt, but when one has ongoing gut issues, you tend to try anything … at least once. We’re still finishing off the current box of Cascade pods, so I haven’t tried them yet. I’ll report back once I’ve tried them. Of course, they cost more; but, sometimes, it’s worth it to be frugal with the environment.
I assume most are going with pods now since the new dishwashers typically require an enzyme cleaner rather than a dishwasher soap. I didn’t even realize there was a difference until I complained to my appliance repair man that my dishwasher wasn’t cleaning properly. (I was using regular powder.) He explained to me the difference between the two. My dishwasher says to use Cascade Platinum Plus which is an enzyme cleaner. I switched to that and it solved my problem! I order it online because I get the free and clear kind so it doesn’t over-scent my dishes.
I use powder dishwasher detergent. My dishwasher is, I don't know how old, as I've had it since about 2003-ish, and it came to me from a work colleague (boss) who was renovating his kitchen and wanted stainless steel appliances, so I bought his "old" white one for $130.00 Cdn, and I feel he had it in his house for a lot of years prior as well. HB did some modifications on the dishwasher and it still works wonderfully, though it is very loud.
My budget grocery store (No Frills for my Canadians) carries the powder detergent in 2 varieties, "Finish" brand and the "No Name" house brand. Though the pods easily take up 99% of the shelving space.
I also dislike pods, especially after reading about how they are not great for your house's plumbing. I'm still using up the backlog of Cascade pods I bought over the years (!!), and then I plan to switch to Blueland tabs.
I found out this morning that I nicked Mr. High Maintenance Lafayette's skin when I was attempting to clip some mats in his fur. :-0 DH took him to the vet today for something else, and they saw the small nick, so he's getting an antibiotic, and they will clean up his remaining mats. We have been instructed to brush him daily, which is not a problem, as he loves to be brushed. I would NEVER intentionally hurt him or any animal, but I still feel terrible about it. Apparently, deciding to stop cleaning oneself is an old cat's thing, and he is, at minimum, 10 years old (he was a stray before we adopted him 5 years ago).
We have had crazy high winds all weekend, and now it's snowing. My sister in MN endured a blizzard this weekend - fortunately, she didn't have to go anywhere. I saw an infographic on Facebook, and the weather seems bizarre all over the US!
I made some not-very-good blueberry muffins yesterday, in an attempt to use up some whole wheat pastry flour that has been languishing in my freezer. It also used up two "dead" (dark brown, very ripe) bananas from the freezer, so that's good, right? Well.....the muffins are edible, but not very sweet, to the point where they're almost bread-like. The taste is improved by a dollop of my raspberry freezer jam. Pretty much anything is improved by this freezer jam. Ha.
I have switched to less toxic forms of dishwasher products. Molly suds or blueland. Also use a nontoxic rinse aid.
I have committed to using powder laundry and dishwasher detergent. Tide I find at Target and BJs. Dishwasher powder can occasionally be found at CVS. If not, I order from online stores.
I find this to be a bit less expensive than pods in that I can vary the amount used by need.
My small step in reducing microplastics.
After having highs in the upper 80's, a winter wind whooshed back in and it was near freezing again. I worked the late shift at store and our lights kept blinking off just long enough to make us have to reset the card readers. Since few people use cash or checks anymore, this made for an interesting evening, as in the Chinese curse. (Supposedly they say "may you live in interesting times" if they want to wish you ill.)
However it was very slow so I was able to ask lots of folks if they wanted/needed free oakwood from the tree pulled down by the moving van. (See NCA blog for full details over the past week or 2). At least my crisis can be a blessing for others who may need wood. I also posted this on Craig's list as well as telling lots of folks to please come take it away. It's working bc a lot of the wood is gone. Even better, a postman/regular customer found me the company address (they refused to tell me) so I can give this info to a lawyer.
Today I met some neighbors who were picking up some wood and we got to talking. The man is a professional dog trainer and says he can train Snuggles to walk on a leash without pulling me down or running away! Very happy to learn that! I would like to regularly walk my dog again, but haven't been able to since my sweet Miss Lucy Dog got too old and sick. She's now over the Rainbow Bridge.
I'm enjoying the little gas space heater on the wall. It heats well. It's not as pretty as the gas fireplace but it is much easier to use.
I never was able to sell the fireplace but I donated it to a charity thrift store; again, my problem can become a blessing for others.
The charity benefitting from this store's sales provides care to elderly and handicapped adults. One of its clients is the grown special needs son of my handyman, and the former goes to their adult daycare. My handyman was touched that I donated to the charity that helps his son so much. Glad I could help!
Like you, I prefer powder detergent to pods for my dishes. The last time I bought it (which has been a while) I stocked up at Ollie's here in NC. Like A LOT. I know Ollie's seems to get a lot of things that are being discontinued and I wanted to prepare as much as I could.
I agree about the powder dishwasher soap. Whenever I see some I buy about six boxes - Ha!… I try to leave at least one or two on the shelf for anybody else. But I do buy as many as I can. I actually think it cleans the best. I usually buy seventh generation, a little more expensive, but it cleans well and it doesn’t leave a residue, which saves me time rinsing off dishes as I pull them out of the dishwasher. I get frustrated when sellers stop offering certain products. Usually the ones that they are replacing it with are not as good enough, and more expensive. Makes me scowl. Another product I can’t seem to find in the store. Are washer sheets for the clothes, washer. I started using those a few months ago, and oh my goodness it is so much better than lugging that heavy laundry detergent home. And I found a brand that I really like/cleans well. But I cannot buy it in the store… The store I usually go to sells it, but I have to buy it online through that store. What rigmarole.
What brand of laundry sheets do you prefer? I am ready to give up the big heavy jugs also!
Lisa
I just bought a 20 kg bag of laundry powder, that we now have to call detergent. I am very happy with a new cooking book I ordered from America. Pesach secret, perfect for a Jew with celiac. Breakfast here is homemade yogurt, with homemade granola and fruit ( homemade is 80% of my kitchen) . Beginning with the biggest house cleaning , at least the curtains of the guest bedroom get a yearly washing.
You can wear orange. The Presbyterians will appreciate it.
Powdered detergent is sold at Walmart. It's cheap there if you get the store brand. Also the Costco paks are just powder in a pack. I got those and the Walmart brand powder.
I recently went back to dishwasher powder as well. And then saw an article in the NY Times that it's actually more effective (which I had thought anyway)
Target was one place, but then found my very favorite locally owned hardware store stocks it as well. So that's my first choice! Sadly not in the big sized box Costco used to sell, so I just make sure to buy two at a time to have backup.
I get my powder dishwasher stuff from Walmart or Target.
TrulyFreeHome.com - non-toxic dishwasher soap that is a powder. You can also get it on Amazon, but I think it's cheaper through their website. They also have their own rinse aid.
Do you prefer the powder for a specific reason? I do not like the pods at all but have been using the dishwasher liquid. I'm interested in your thoughts.
Love your blog!
Lisa
I hear your frustration on the dishwasher powder. I used to use a powdered laundry detergent, and one day it was gone, gone, gone from the shelves. I found a large box at an estate sale, and then I was done. I switched to laundry sheets that dissolve in water; much better than pods. Good luck in finding a dishwasher detergent that suits you!
Kristen, I, too, have noticed powdered dishwasher detergent is hard to find. I bought some at Walmart and Kroger still carried their store brand. When I see it, I buy two boxes. I used to get it at Sam's but seems I couldn't find it there. I need to recheck. I have read that plumbers say not to use the pods as the plastic does not fully melt and they can clog your plumbing lines.