The Shark...Vacuum, that is.

The Turkish Mother scores again!

We love Sharks at our house, but The Self loves this one even more.

Any good hostess will want her house to look nice,
and inviting when One is entertaining.

This machine makes fluff out of the dirt stuff.

I could like, do military gun maneuvers with all the parts.

It's lightweight,

has powerful adjustable suction, 

bag-less,

swivels,

Basically I can knock out my whole house,
in an average of 30 mins,
and that includes using the hose for baseboards and doorways.

It breaks down into various formations
to make any cleaning a breeze.

It also came with accessories for cleaning pet hair
{with 3 cats and hardwood floors: yeah, we need that}
and this spiffy
Dust away Attachment
ooooh Faaaancy~ 
which is really just an electric dust mop.

I use mine everyday, sometimes twice.
It is worth every penny The Turkish Mother spent,
and of course it's worth it to Me,
cause, it's mine!

HeLLs Yeah.

chompa chomp chomp...

Citrusy Fresh Laundry Wash

 

 I've been completely in LoVe with the whole homemade detergent

{HOMEMADE, hoOkers!}

for a few years now.

When I don't have time to make a whole batch of it,

I will just shave off a thin slice using a cheese grater thingy,
and toss that in the wash.

But thanks to a fellow Betty Blogger, I'm going alll the way this time.

 The biggie ~ she added a bar of Dr. Bronner's to her mix.

Talk about Potions and Notions.

What a great idea.

I chose the Citrus, well, because, the cover is Yellow
and I love the scent of Citrus.
Actually, I was thinking, besides the great scent,
the Citrus might even help brighten a little more.
I'm no chemist {I prefer Mixologist, if you please}, just guessing.

Let's get to Mixologing:

Ingredients:
*************
Box of Borax
Box of Baking Soda
Zote soap
Dr. Bronner's Citrus soap
Moderate sized Container
Food Processor with Grater attachment
Cheese grater
Big Bowl
Great Outdoors

Using the Slice side of my Cheese Grater, I grated both bars of soap.

Then put them in the Food Processor to finely grate.

Then add half a box of Baking Soda to the food processor.
Maybe add the whole box later.

{I want to make sure it doesn't leave a film on my clothes first}

Dump this into your big mixing bowl, add box of Borax.

Then run the complete mixture through the food processor 

till completely mixed and a fine texture.
I used a small bowl to scoop it out and put in the processor.

Place in container and voila!

You have Citrusy Fresh Laundry Wash

Most recommendations average 2 TBL of Laundry Wash to the washing.

I add a spoonful extra to my towels.

I love this kind of stuff.

My grandma would be proud!

Here's My Bit of Earth's version:

http://www.mybitofearth.net/2011/06/laundry-soap.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mybitofearth%2FNffc+%28My+Bit+of+Earth%29

Shiny Ass Clean WindoWs

 Sitting here on the Sunday before Giving of Thanks Day,

the weather all driZZLy, Grey, and Cold,

I decide.........

Let's clean the WindoWs.

Well it had to be done, 

I was bored,

so, why not?

I started with the outside, finished in the inside.

and Magico! 

Not only did I have Shiny Ass Clean windows,

But the Sun came out.

 

Everybody is haPPy.

The Couch parrrrrt 2

So.
Here We Are.
All the piLLows have been Washed and Dried.
The Slipcovers are Clean and Fresh Smelling.
Its time to power up the LittLe Mean Green Steam cleaner.
Fortunate for Me, it didn't take very long to clean the arms of the couch, which were, by far, the worst due to all the wear on it. 
Lucky for Me, after the steam cleaning it was like New.

A quick go over on the bottom edge and the back, and it was over.
My Couch is now like Brand New.

The thought was more painful than the actual experience!

The Couch

Home repairs and House cleaning are all a part of the Holiday HoHo Scene.
This is especially important, if You plan on doing some entertaining at Your humble abode.





These kinds of jobs can feel overwhelming and it's easy to put them off,


......again,
 and again,
 and again.


Seeing as We are having Thanksgiving Celebratories at Our house this year,
it was time to Shake it, Stir it, Whip it up. Get this house in order
So, I began, with........

The Couch.

Our Couch has been There and Back.
After 4 years of wear and tear, it was time for Make Up and Make Over.

With The Man, being out of town for the wEEk, I found the perfect Opportunity and Time, to sit down and get it done.
I dug out the Sewing Machine, Thread, Extra Needles & Pliers, Steam Machine, and Warned the Washer.

First things First: Toss pillows to side.

Slipping off the slip covers for the big cushions I dropped them in the washer and put them through a Hot Tub SeSSion.

I proceeded to dump the Couch upside down, and fed up with ripped torn undercovers, I removed them.
Completely.
Doing this also makes it easier to keep the inside of the Couch clean because the Couch droppings, (hahaha) end up on the floor making it easy to just vacuum up.
That Couch got cleaned in places neither one of new existed, Inside and Out!

Next, I sat down on the floor, and using both Hands and one Foot, stitched the PiLLows back together.
It was much like watching a Frog who's a SeamStreSS.
I would grip the Edging with my Hands, place the Edge under the fOOt and nEEdLe, and then using myFoot, press the pedal to make the machine get up and go. At one point I even pressed the Reverse Button with my big toe, the pedal with my foot, and hands on the pillow guiding it through!
Honestly, it took about an hour, hour and a half (ok, two at my house, due to dealing with the womb fruits) to sew the six pillows (also removing any broken through plastic tubing), vacuum the couch, and wash/stitch repair the slipcovers.
Once all that was done, I began washing the pillows individually. One at a time, cause that is all that would fit in my washer.
That was it for tonight.
Tomorrow, I steam clean the arms and look for any minor repairs that need to be done, that i missed the night before.

Progress people, progress....

Clean Up, Clean Up, its time to Clean Up

As my daughter sings!

Today was clean up.
Took all the Halloween Decorations down,
Cleaned them up,
Packed them away.

We left the Jack O Lanterns out for Nature to take over.
We also had a PumPkin left over, sooooooooo........

I'm thinking ~ PumPkin preserve.
For PumPkin Pie.