What I'm Reading

One of the blessing of working as a school library media specialist, was that my WORK involved reading. Other teachers had papers to grade. I HAD to read children's books and novels. Believe me, it was a real "hardship." (NOT)   Once I began retirement, I gave myself a year to read anything I wanted even if it was pure "fluff" and not very good literature. I read some titles that I would recommend and some that I won't admit in public that I read from cover to cover:) 

 DH gifted me with a Nook this past Christmas.

Our public library system, Gwinnett County Public Library, is fantastic. He chose this brand of e-reader because I could request e-books from our public library. I discovered the Seaside Knitting Mystery Series through my library e-books. Sally Goldenbaum is the author of the series. Each book in the series is well-crafted with a fabulous setting, unique characters and well-developed plots.

The series begins with Death by Cashmere. 

Followed by Patterns in the Sand

 Moon Spinners

A Holiday Yarn

and the latest edition, The Wedding Shawl. I was able to read the first four in the series on my Nook. Our library does not yet have The Wedding Shawl in e-book format.  One of the blogs that I read and follow daily is Bookin' With Bingo.  This blog features wonderful reviews, author interviews and book giveaways. I was fortunate to win a copy of The Wedding Shawl from this blog. 

Another great blog for book recommendations is Books on the Knob. This blogger keeps readers informed of e-books that are on special from book publishers or one-line bookstores. The book are often free for that day. Some are reduced in price. Most of the recommendations are for books for the Kindle, but does include books for the Nook. I've downloaded many more books than I can read, but my Nook has space for these and many more. If I think I might read it someday, I download it.

I'd love to continue sharing The Wedding Shawl with other readers. Let's do a quick giveaway for this hardback copy of The Wedding Shawl. Just leave me a comment sharing the title of a book you've recently read and enjoyed. I'll do the random number "thingy" on Friday, September 16th.  Happy Reading!

Laundry Detergent

I get these "ideas" at time. They don't always make a great deal of sense, but that doesn't seem to matter.  I seem to become "obsessed" or "possessed" by an idea. One of my recent "wild ideas" was to make our laundry detergent. Several years ago,  Lori had photos on her blog of making her own laundry detergent. I had never heard of anyone doing this nor had it ever occurred to me that this could be done. So the first step was to "Google" homemade laundry detergent. The site that interested me the most was "10 Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes. " There are recipes for liquid soap and powdered soap. Liquid soap tends to make a mess all over my laundry area (couldn't be that I make the mess:) so I choose one of the powdered soap recipes. 

Powdered Laundry Detergent – Recipe #4

2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated – you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

• Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
• Use 2 tablespoons per full load.

Recipe #4 seemed to fit my needs. All three ingredients that I needed were located at my local grocery store. I wasn't able to find the Fels Naptha Soap so I substituted Ivory Soap.

We own a cheese grated, but I thought it might be a good idea to purchase one just for my soap making. I could hear my DH and son commenting that the Parmesan cheese tasted like soap:)

These are the tools that I used. The cheese grater to grate the bar of soap, the one cup measuring cup to measure the Borax and Washing Soda, the 2 cup measuring cup to measure the grated soap and a large metal mixing bowl.

Perhaps the most difficult part was finding a container for the freshly made laundry soap. This jug was originally purchased  for lemonade. When I was cleaning the basement, I purchased cat litter for the paint cans I needed to put in the trash. I purchased this one because it had such a nice bucket that I could recycle. It may work when I make bigger batches, but it was too big for the 3 batches I recently made.

Instead, I'm using it to store the opened boxes for borax and washing soda.

My "boys" have approved of our new detergent.  Our clothes are clean and smell good. I haven't done a cost analysis, but plan to the next time I purchase supplies. This "wild idea" has been a successful one for us. I most definitely will continue making our own "homemade laundry detergent."

Pets on Quilts - 2011

It's that time again! It's SewCalGal's  Pet's On Quilts quilt show.  Anyone can enter the quilt show. Here is a link to the rules and the linky box to enter your  photo. There are over 40 links listed today. I'm headed there as soon as I do my post to "view" the quilts and pets.Sponsors have generously donated many wonderful prizes for participants and visitors of the quilt show. Make show you enter to win one of these goodies. Hey, it's even ok to vote for Rusty and our LSU quilt this Saturday and Sunday for the Viewer's Choice Award.

Here is my buddy and friend, Rusty. He loves quilts, but does not like cameras.

"You want me to do what, Mom? Why can't we both lay on the sofa and look at the quilt with our eyes closed?"

"Ok. Ok. I'm stepping on the quilt."

"Are you satisfied now? I'll do it, but I won't like it:)"

Thanks, Darlene for another fun Pets on Quilts event!

Work in Progress

My sewing room has become a Work in Progress or "WIP". Last week when my media specialist and teacher friends had to report back to work, I plunged in on the next stage of work in my new sewing room/studio. There are some things that I'm good at doing, but PAINTING is not one of them. I consulted several online tutorials and videos before beginning. 

 New paint and supplies were purchased

 The walls were "prepped. The painting was almost completed when I decided to change the color on one wall. I needed to purchase another gallon of paint. The idea of doing one wall in buttery yellow tempted me to buy another color. After painting one wall, I liked it so much better than the beige I had previously applied to the walls, that I repainted the walls that had just been painted. A two day job became a three day job:) I absolutely love the new color. 

 The paint color is called Clarified Butter, but it reminds me of wild Buttercup flowers or soft creamy butter.

 Dear Son  and his good friend moved my stuff down two flights of stairs (from the second story to our basement) on Friday.

 I spent the past couple of days unpacking,arranging and organizing things.

It's wonderful to have so much space. 

 My friend Bev puts labels on most everything. This seemed like a good time to do that with my plastic drawers and plastic containers. I consulted Bev and purchased the Label Maker that she used. I'm already loving this new space. There's lots left to do. Blinds to hang, a new design wall to construct,  decisions on furniture and shelving, lighting challenges but.....

 I just had to stop and play with some fabric. I took the old flannel design wall and placed it on a wall. It's probably not even where my design wall will end up.

This is my Rottweiler project. I've made some changes so I'm back to deciding on block placement. I'm hoping to actually do a little sewing tomorrow:)

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Thanks so much for the prayers and concern about DH! He is doing better. He's receiving wonderful medical care. His medications have been changed and additional testing will occur in the next couple of weeks. Again, thank you!