Tip - Getting a new dishwasher? Don't throw away. . .

Getting a new dishwasher? Keep the flatware basket from your old model. It will come in handy when you have a large party or you need to clean out the flatware drawer in your kitchen.

Encyclopedia of Country Living - 40th Anniversary Edition

When I first started reading blogs about growing my own food, the book that was mentioned most frequently was The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.

As my interests expanded into raising chickens and sustainablity, people in the know were still pointing the Carla's book as a resource. Living in the 'burbs I thought that this book wasn't for me but boy was I wrong! Anyone from homesteader to apartment dweller can use the great tips and advice from Carla.

More Spices

After weeding the raised bed and cutting the grass I spent the morning organizing and labeling my bulk spices. Another project crossed off my "To Do" list.

Tackling The Pantry

With the Thanksgiving holiday over and having a long weekend to myself, I decided to catch up on some projects. Yesterday I finally tackled the pantry and labeled all of our food storage containers with my trusty P-Touch Label Maker. Getting this done was on my project list for 2008 so I am getting it in just under the wire.

We have a good size pantry for a house this small and quite a selection of Tupperware to help make the best use of the space. To "store what you use and use what you store" Tupperware is the best for long term storage IMHO. It is available in all shapes and sizes and it's designed to stack and store while taking up minimal space. Five gallon buckets and not designed to be opened and closed again and are not made to stack on each other.

I bake bread so we buy bulk items like wheat flour and whole grains from Sprouts. We're also made the switch to healthier brown rice this year to aid in our weight loss. Sprouts stocks short and long grain as well as brown arborio rice for making risotto. They have a rapid turnover so you know the bulk items are really fresh. Everything we buy goes into the freezer for a few days and then is put into Tupperware Modular Mates.

With their new labels I won't mistake pastry flour for bread flour ever again.

Next project - the office!

Cooler Weather = More Kniting!

The weather is beautiful today! Our doors are open and the porch got a much needed sweeping. Knitting and crochet projects are bought out of hiding when the weather cools off. I need to work on a scarf and maybe another tea cozy - you cannot have too many tea cozies! As you can tell, Posh appreciates a nice tea cozy too.

Whodunnit?

I couldn't figure out why there was such a mess around Chopper's cage everyday - he's really pretty neat and orderly with his toys and things. He likes to eat his hay - not toss it around.

The real culprit was caught red handed today!

We Love Our Dyson

There's a lot of chatting in my Yahoo Groups about vacuums lately. I always chime in and let eveyone know how much we love our Dyson Animal. With several furry creatures under foot everyday, we need something that can really tackle the pet hair and cat litter. Dyson does it all. DH and I still laugh about how stunned we were the first time we used it. We thought our other vacuum was good, but the Dyson picked up so much we were just blown away. As you can see from the awful cell phone picture - Chopper loves the Dyson too!

Note To Martha

The February 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living just arrived and doesn't disappoint. The Homekeeping item this month is a list of Tools Of the Trade (page 90). Author Kimberly Fusaro lists all my "must haves", such as Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, micro-fiber cloths and vinegar. However - she missed my favorite tool of all - my Shh-Mop from The Clean Team.

The Shh-Mop consists of a padded handle attached to an 8x15" pivoting base with a washable terry cloth cover. Simply wet the cover, stretch it over the base and start cleaning. When you're done, the cover can be washed with your towels or jeans.

I love my Shh-Mop and it's also great on walls, ceilings and windows. Our guest room window is behind a very large and thorny bougainvillea. The Shh-Mop is the only way to clean that window without looking like you got into a fight with one of the cats.

The Shh-Mop is well made and built to last. And best of all, unlike with a Swiffer, you're not throwing away wipes or empty bottles of chemical cleaning solutions. What could be better? (OK, yeah, a housekeeper.)