Next Challenge!

Okay I'm really hoping that bicarb soda is okay for you - not only am I using it as shampoo and to clean my whole house with we have been using it in our homemade toothpaste!

I cannot remember where I got the recipe from but we just use a mixture of bicarb soda and salt - six teaspoons bicarb to 2 teaspoons of salt.  It takes a little getting used to but in all honesty I think my teeth and mouth feel cleaner after using this mix.  In fact, I normally have a slightly yellow tinge to my teeth (yuck, but it's genetic I'm afraid) and I think my teeth actually look whiter after using this!

I was looking for a container at the shop the other day to keep my bicarb soda in seeing as I'm buying bigger boxes these days LOL!  It was about $6.95 to buy a glass jar from Coles that would have been a suitable size.  I decided to drop into the op-shop instead and I'm very glad I did.  I found a lovely white Maxwell Williams brand one for $3.99!  (container on right)

Although I bought it for bicarb I ended up putting my bicarb in the salt container which is kept in the cupboard and the salt in the new one as this is kept out on display.

The salt pig (I think that's what they were called!?) on the right was also from the op shop and only cost $2.99 - it is also a Maxwell Williams brand.  This is what I keep our homemade toothpaste in on the bathroom bench.  We just wet our toothbrushes and dip lightly into the mixture.

There are lots of different toothpaste recipes out there with oils, etc in them but I find this to be perfectly acceptable once you get used to it which really did not take long at all.  Happy brushing!

Worms are on the move!

I bought a Can O Worms bin today costing me a hefty $74.  The one we had set up down the side of the shed (which was free I might add) was working very well but the problem was accessing it. The bushes down there kept growing over it too fast so getting to it was a job in itself. Despite that, it was still getting too much sun and with the hot weather we have been having I was concerned what it would be doing to the worm population.  I couldn't move it to the patio area as it would be in a very visible spot and it was not a pretty thing by any means!

So I finally bought one and now it sits right out the back door.  It is located outside a window that is kept slightly open and the evap cooler blows out this window so hopefully will help keep the worm's home cool and  I don't have to fight a jungle every time I want to feed the worms.  The liquid should also be much easier to access as well.

It took two of us a good couple of hours to sit and sort through the dirt to get all the worms out and into their new home.  I was covered in dirt from head to toe and was surrounded by lots of wriggly worms - who would have believed I would ever be doing this!

Floor cleaning the enviromentally friendly and frugal way...

I really gotta stop talking about cleaning - what is the problem with me??
'But I just had to mention my one other favourite cleaning tool - my microfibre mop.

I find this to be the most environmentally friendly way to clean my floors - I use only about a cup of water to clean all my floors (and I have 'mop-able' floors throughout my house) with not a single drop of any type of chemical / cleaner and my floors always look shiny and clean.

But the very best thing, it is the most simplest and easiest and cost-effective way.
And you can't beat that!

I have had a big clean-out of my DD's rooms - sorting out outgrown clothes, school books and stationary for next year and just general junk! I often declutter their rooms and it is getting easier by doing it fairly regularly.

I'm a huge fan of de-cluttering and trying to keep the clutter down as it makes cleaning soooo much easier.

Now I need to finalise the last of my Christmas shopping and work out what I'm cooking for Christmas day so I may not be around for a while.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Night Light

My youngest daughter still likes to have a night light. Even though we have changed our globes to the more environmentally friendly ones that are supposed to cost less to run, I still wasn't happy with having to leave that light on all night.

Here is our solution:

Solar lights - they are just like the ones you have in your garden. Originally we headed off to Bunnings to buy a couple of the outdoor ones you stick in the ground. We thought we would just sit them in a pot or something when we bring them indoors, but we found this one on a nice little stand with 3 separate lights - so we can put one in the hallway, one in the toilet and one in her room if she wants.

We take it out first thing in the morning and leave it in a spot that gets sun for most of the day and then bring them in at bed time. Free light! I love it!