An Update

Well, my blogging time has really slowed down since I went to work. However, I wanted to catch everyone up on what has been going on here and how we all are. The animals are doing good. I found a home for the mama dog that I was hoping to get rid of and my husband found a great dog that is going to be his buddy as he enjoys riding in the back of the truck. His name is Bandit and he is half Austrailian Shepherd and half Blue Heeler. He is really sweet and I am excited to have him on the farm!
School is going good here. We have chosen a new name for the school and we are now Heavenly Horse Homeschool. We knew that we needed something with a horse involved with it. We are working on a History fair project on Betsy Ross and it will be a lot of fun to do, I think. I believe that Bridget has decided that she wants to even dress the part for the day. We are also looking into possibly getting some colonial period food that we might be able to incorporate into the display as well.
She will also be doing a science fair and so it should be a lot of fun as well. Not sure what the project will be yet, but we must get busy. It is a couple of months away, but after attending our first Horse and Pony club meeting I realize just how busy we will soon be. Projects are going to be really exciting this year and I am already getting excited about the fair.
Well, will close for now.

Laundry Ideas and Recipes

For several years now, I have made my own laundry soap to save us money and to make our soap a little more environmentally friendly. I personally really like the detergent that I make and I think that it is just as good if not a little better than the detergent that I used to purchase at the store. I also have found a much "greener" solution for fabric softner.
I am not sure of where I first seen the recipe for the laundry soap, but I know that it is on the Duggar Family website. Here is the recipe that I use and I have changed it a little bit to what is published on the web in many other places.

LAUNDRY SOAP RECIPE
1 bar of Ivory Soap , grated
1/2 bar of Fels Naptha soap, grated
1/2 cup Borax powder
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

Combine these ingredients into a medium pan and add about 4 cups of water. Boil for about 10 minutes stirring constantly. Pour this into a 5 gallon bucket and fill bucket with cool water. Stir a few times and let set for 24 hours. Stir again. Pour into empty laundry soap jugs or empty, cleaned gallon milk jugs.
This recipe will allow you to make 5 gallons of detergent for about $1.80- $2.00. This is much cheaper than buying laundry detergent. It works as well as Tide or any other store bought detergent.

Another laundry aid is vinegar. I have found that vinegar works well as a fabric softener when added to the washer. I have used this for several months and my clothes are soft and free of static, and do not smell like vinegar. Also, a great "green" addition to laundry can be adding a little baking soda or vanilla extract to your water to aid with odors that might be on the clothing.

Each of these ideas is a fairly cheaper idea and works well with other fabrics. Neither of these are hard to prepare and will not harm your clothing or your budget.