Cleaning Tip of the Day

Washing your Cabinets   Today when I was on my kitchen floor (I don’t even know why I was on the floor, probably picking up food that my baby was throwing at me, lol) I noticed how gross my cabinets have been looking. I usually wipe them down weekly or when needed but they were pretty bad today so I got out my Basic H and went to work.  I just sprayed on the all-purpose solution and wiped off.  Before: After: Basic H2® Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate is naturally derived, supersafe, and superconcentrated formula...

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Not Your Grandma’s Quilt

Thanks to our two adoptions, I’ve ventured out of the U.S. on two occasions… Kazakhstan and Poland.  Both countries enlightened us (including our children) as to how the rest of the world lives.  Both trips got me itching for more.  I think I was born a natural gypsy.  I wouldn’t mind visiting (or even living in) a new location every year or two.  Really! India however, has always been at the top of my list.  I figure if we’re going to spend the money traveling abroad, it might as well be to a country that is...

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LA MER

Love from Southend... HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.I remember as a little kid going to beaches like this on the New Jersey shore. Well, maybe not quite like this.Fabulously honest camera work, sly editing, set to the tune La Mer by the great chanteur Charles Trénet.  Here's Charles Trénet singing his song himself later in his career. Apparently he wrote the song in 10 minutes in 1943 on toilet paper aboard a train running along the Mediterranean coast.Bobby Darin did an English-language cover called Beyond the Sea in 1959. Totally different...

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My Children’s Chore Chart

We are officially starting school this week!  I am exciting and nervous at the same time.  I have all of our books, materials and schedules ready….so why am I nervous?  Because that means I need to kick myself into high gear for the next 9 months, lol! I love that I  am going to home school my kids. We choose to do this for many reasons and I believe that it is right decision for our family at least at this time.  We will take it one year at a time.  Many people don’t know this, but I was homeschooled for 3 years. ...

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SUNDAY POETRY: "SONG"

(Photo from here.)SONG by Thomas James Merton   The bottom of the sea has come   And builded in my noiseless room   The fishes’ and the mermaids’ home, Whose it is most, most hell to be   Out of the heavy-hanging sea And in the thin, thin changeable air Or unroom sleep some other where;   But play their coral violins   Where waters most lock music in: The bottom of my room, the sea. Full of voiceless curtaindeep There mermaid somnambules come sleep   Where...

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Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

Vitamin D has been a hot topic in the news. Recent research studies show that vitamin D - the "sunshine vitamin" - offers a multitude of important benefits including supporting healthy heart function, immune and bone health. Yet, surprisingly, up to 80% of Americans may have insufficient levels. Are you getting enough Vitamin D? Get the answer with Vitamin D-ology, a new online quiz developed by Shaklee Scientists. Based on the answers to 8 simple questions, the Vitamin D quiz will quickly calculate the Shaklee Health Sciences recommended...

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Baby Tears

Several people have asked me the name of this plant sitting on our side table.  I hadn't a clue, and the only help I could offer up was that it is very hardy.  The only thing I ever do is give it a little drink when it looks thirsty.  It's lasted over three years, and in this house, that's saying a lot.  I'll never have a gardening blog.  Brooke from Velvet and Linen has come to the rescue!  She recently included some plants in a dining room makeover, and lo and behold, they were the same plants as mine! ...

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BIRTHRIGHT

BIRTHRIGHT from Sean Mullens on Vimeo.Transcendence....

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Get Clean Laundry Detergent Story

Today, I want to take a break from organizing to share an awesome testimony from a Shaklee customer.   “My daughter, Sara, wants to wear my 35 year old wedding dress for her September wedding. I had my doubts as the dress has been sitting in a trunk moved from place to place and was covered with big brown spots. I thought I needed a specialist who restores old gowns. After some internet research I send the gown to a specialist about 90 miles from my home in Greenville, SC. I talked with her when the...

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AUGUST WITH MONK SEALS

August / Agosto from Rafa Herrero on Vimeo.This lovely short film is an example of what I like about the new world we're living in. A filmmaker gets to make his or her own film. That's all. There's no one telling him or her what should go into it or be left out of it. Consequently, the ecosystem of online videos is slowly evolving to include these uniquely quiet and powerful voices. Which turns out to be a perfect compliment for this film's subject: monk seals. In particular, Mediterranean monk seals, Monachus monachus (Greek monachos:...

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How to Organize a File Cabinet System

   Since I am on a totally organizing frenzy,  I thought I would show you how I organize my files. I have an easy 3 step process. Step 1. Kitchen Drawer I put all mail, bills, paper and receipts in my bill drawer that I keep in my kitchen.  I love using a drawer so I don’t have to look and see any papers around the house.  The only paper that I want to see are my schedules are pictures that the kids drew me.  Everything else in ugly and stressful! Step 2. File in System #1 I go through everything in the drawer. ...

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Harmony Within

A home is only as beautiful as the harmony within it.  I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to live in a shack where peace abounds than in a mansion with discord. And so would our children, I’m sure of it. Some things we try to practice here (never perfectly but always striving): Everyone gives a cheerful "good morning" with a smile. It starts the day off right. "A merry heart does good like a medicine."  Laugh together.  Take pleasure!Show consideration by saying please and thank you and I’m sorry. Simple courtesies...

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TYPEWRITER MUSIC MOVIE

Quad Time from The Joy of Box on Vimeo.If I were to collect anything it would be old typewriters.That's what it would be.If I were to collect anythi...

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The First Thing You See

One thing I always try to keep in mind while decorating is the initial impression upon entering a room.  I was enthused at the thought of our vintage inspired hook being one of the focal points of the bathroom.  The lines provide a visual interest all on their own. But when those lines are covered up with a heap of hanging damp towels?  Not so much.  The hook looks much happier in its new home here: I decided that bath towels will hang on the back of the door instead.  With something like this: Which would...

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THANK YOU, TINIEST PHOTOSYNTHESIZERS

(Picoplankton, viewed by epifluorescence. Image by Daniel Vaulot, CNRS, Station Biologique de Roscoff, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)Amazingly, scientists only discovered the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on Earth—the genus Prochlorococcus—in 1986. Before then, we lacked the tools to see them.These tiniest of plants are members of the picoplankton, the drifting marine life measuring between 0.2 and 2 microns (one micron = 1 millionth of a meter).Prochlorococcus make up for their indescribably minute size with their abundance. As many as...

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How I Organize my Crafts

I really wish that I had a craft/school room in my house but for now there just isn’t the room.  I thought, “What am I supposed to with all of our crafts?”  I decided to make some of our kitchen’s butler pantry into a craft pantry.  We do most of our crafts in the kitchen anyway.  I used an upper and lower cabinet  to store all of our stuff.  I wasn’t actually sure how I was going to store so many things in such a little space.  I thought the only way was to use bins. I looked around at different stores...

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