Suzy Q Homemaker

When Mom Select sent me a bottle of new Sun Burst Clean & Fresh to try, I was nervous. Read more…

See that?  That’s my dryer and reason number one why I’m upset I didn’t get picked to be a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom.  For the past couple of months, the dryer has been making this god-awful banging noise.  And it takes at least two hours to dry a large load of clothes.

Thank the sweet baby Jesus that Jamie’s uncle fixes stuff.  He’s picking up some parts today and will hopefully get this giant piece of crap working again.  We really don’t use it a lot unless the weather is bad or I’m just feeling too lazy to hang the clothes on the line.  But still.  It’s nice to know we can use the dryer, even if it is 20 years old, completely energy INefficient, and sounds like we’re drying an entire load of tennis balls.

Cause this just isn’t sexy:

It has been an ongoing struggle to find laundry products that are a good fit for my family.  For a long time, I made my own laundry soap with Fels Naptha, borax, & washing soda.  With our well water, it just wasn’t effective.  So, we switched to whatever “free” (of dyes & perfumes) laundry detergent we could find in the store.  Those work OK, but I always keep my eye out for something better. Read more…

So I’m going to have to start doing laundry for SIX people in about a month and the thought of that seriously frightens me.  I mean, it’s not just the clothes I’m concerned about, it’s all the diapers, burp cloths, baby clothes, spit-upon shirts, etc.  If I could save a little bit of green by washing a few of those small loads without electricity (oh, you heard me), I would. Read more…

Yesterday I was looking up teacup Yorkies on the internet and Jamie was asking me what I was doing. I said, “Oh just messing around.” Then he said, “Weren’t you ‘just messing around’ with knitting a few months ago?”

I stopped looking up teacup Yorkies (even though I really want one at some point in my life).

I finished two things yesterday: Simon’s new shorties and a knitted toy. I’ll post pictures later because I don’t feel like taking them right now. Jamie says he’s going to look at me accusingly if I start another project before I finish his frog. I got one of Jean Greenhowe’s booklets and started a frog, but I’m having a hard time finishing it since it requires seaming. I was able to do the arms and legs on DPNs but didn’t have the patience to adapt the body to knitting-in-the-round. All I have left to do is the eyes and the embroidery. Perhaps that will be my project for the day.

In laundry news, the pile in my hallway has been reduced to a small hill. I devised a system for sorting laundry that may actually stick this time. We have four laundry baskets in the laundry room that are labeled thusly: Pants, Shirts, Linens, and Socks & Underwear. Think that’ll work? I hope so. Only time will tell…

This laundry talk reminds me that I need to make another batch of detergent. Would you believe I’ve almost used five gallons since the last time I made some? That’s what happens when you are doing laundry for five people and four of them are BOYS. Aiden especially likes to get as much dirt on his clothing as possible.

I’ve been working on a mental list of knitting things I want for my birthday. They aren’t things I necessarily need–just nice things I’d like to have. I’ll post the list another time when I don’t have a Simon in my lap.

That being said, it’s hard to type one-handed. So long for now!