The Tale of the Grimy Grout

This is not a sponsored post, just a post sharing an amazing homemade cleaner that I found. My friend Kriste posted something on her facebook wall that led me to her Pinterest account and the "Why Didn't I Think Of That" board.  There I found a link to a grout cleaner that was supposed to work very well.  I had all the ingredients on hand, so I wrote down the mixture to make up later.  Well, I have finally made it.

Now my house is over a decade old.  I, having never had tile before, unwisely chose a lovely eggshell color for the grout through the house.  Never do that.  Never. We sealed it. It was labor-intensive and it really didn't protect it for very long.  I gave up on trying to keep the grout white.  I have children to enjoy!  They won't remember the color of the grout when I am laying on my deathbed.  They'll remember the fun we have together.

However, it always bothered me. I'd wipe it down with a Magic Clean eraser every week or so, but it never STAYED clean.  I think this new cleaner may be the answer to my grout problems.

I tried it first on my kitchen grout.  I was happy.  I decided to tackle my entryway. I photodocumented the following experience.

Here's the before picture of the evenly dirty grout in front of our door. I could pretend it was SUPPOSED to be that color....but it wasn't.

Here's after a spray of the solution and a wipe of a wet cotton rag.

Here's the perpendicular line done.

 This is a wide shot.  The cross shape that I cleaned above is near the rag.  Big difference, huh?

Finally, here's the finished floor.

The original link recommended spraying on the cleaner, letting it sit for a while, then scrubbing it with a grout brush and wiping with a clean cloth.  I don't have time for that.  I sprayed all the grout lines and let it sit just while I was doing that. I don't have a grout brush, so I just scrubbed with the cotton rag and elbow grease. Only a little elbow grease, though. I haven't a lot to spare anymore!  This entire floor took about a half hour. If I had followed directions as written, maybe it would have come a little cleaner, but this is wonderfully acceptable to me!  It is, after all, the floor, not the table. It will have many, many feet tromping over it tomorrow and every day that follows.

I can't say how long the grout will stay light colored, but I do know that I can spare a half hour once in a while to bring it back to this shade.

After doing the floor, I was inspired to try cleaning a section of a grimy corner of our painted wall.  Mr. Clean Eraser works wonderfully, but did so by removing the paint.  A plain washrag didn't cut it, and neither did the other cleaners I had on hand.

A small amount of this solution on the cloth and the paint came clean, even in the deeper parts of the texture. I tried it first on a small section that was hidden, of course, in case it took the paint with it as I rubbed.  It did not.  I cleaned my entire Four Corners area in just a few minutes, again, using just the cloth and a little elbow grease.

I am so thankful that Kriste posted the link that day. The "maid" portion of my life just got MUCH easier!

Grout Cleaner

*never add bleach to this. Bleach and ammonia create toxic fumes that WILL sicken or kill you!*

3 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup baking soda
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp ammonia (I used lemon-scented)
2 Tbsp white vinegar

Mix together in a large bowl. There will be a reaction when you pour in the vinegar.  Using a funnel, fill a spray bottle.  Give a shake before use.

The original recipe has you making this IN the spray bottle. If I had, I think it would have fizzed out when I poured in the vinegar.  I'm glad I did it in a bowl instead.

Happiness is a Choice

Happiness is not a state of being, it's a choice!  The joy of the Lord is my strength, Psalm 28:7! Because I am saved, I know the Lord has me in the palm of His hand always. Isaiah 49: 15-16 promises that to me.  Focus on the Lord and joy will undoubtedly follow.  Today I am happy and thankful for several things, including Renee, whose post today inspired this one.

1. My husband, who works very hard so I can be home with the children.  He's so selfless in this desire.  I couldn't have asked for a better man with whom to spend my life. I thank the Lord for him daily.

2. I have plenty of food to share amongst my children and the neighborhood children.  We know not want or gnawing hunger.  I pray that this continues to be the case in our nation.

3. Sunshine and plenty of it!  Since moving to CA, I understand SAD.  I need my sunshine!

4. Fresh food. The farmer's market never closes here, but I love the variety and flavors of spring and summer.  Freshly harvested asparagus is amazing.  Honey is starting to come available again and I will be getting a bucket. I've missed honey.

5.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We are the freest people of the world and I pray that out nation resists the forces that hope to change that.  Regardless, evil will never triumph over the will of the Lord and HE wins in the end! Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father!

Spring Updates

Spring is here in Central California!  The temperatures are warming and the winter hoodies have been packed away.  Flip flops and Vibrams are back in action!!

We are nearing our last few weeks of formal school.  Just six weeks to go!

We're harvesting lots of lettuce and Swiss chard from the garden. Lemons and oranges are in abundance. Lemonade is often being enjoyed and Creamsicle Jelly is back in the cupboards.  Carrots, green beans and radishes are planted, with tomatoes to follow soon.

I found an amazing deal on Craig's List!!  I was able to purchase a Squeezo Strainer and an All American 915 for a very nice price.  I will be able to put up tomato sauce this year!  Woohoo!

Lillie's FSP is climbing little by little.  Her parents are working as fast as they can to get through the paperwork and get her home.  Her mommy has a really neat store set up. She handcrafts amazing Montessori toys.  Every penny of each purchase is tax-deductible and is used exclusively for Lillie's adoption costs.  Think of Easter baskets filled with useful toys rather than candy, or birthday gifts that will endure the years! My Little Sunshine Montessori Boutique is the place to go.

So, how is life for you on this first day of Spring? What projects are you undertaking? What are your goals for this season?

Catch-Up Post

We've had so much going on lately that blogging has fallen by the wayside.  Therefore, a catch-up post in in order!

Of course, I have to include the family Easter picture.

My father-in-law, sister-in-law and all three cousins came for a visit!  While the guys went to the range to shoot a while, we went to The Dizzy Park, ran around and fed the ducks and geese.  What fun! My SIL and I also made Creamsicle Jam together.

My dear Oregon in-laws are coming for their annual visit later this month and we are beyond excited.  We love this special time of year!!  It's often the first hot streak of the year while they are here, but our weather has looked like this lately, so they might get lucky. The forecast is variable, calling for temps from the mid 60's, mid-70's to low 80's for their visit, with low chances of rain, even.

I've been working on our front yard landscaping.  It's been the same for ten years and the plants were getting pretty tired looking.  On a whim, I ripped everything out one morning and began anew.  I'm making a special little spot we're calling "Shady Grove" for the little  girls who love hidden places to read and do schoolwork.  It's coming together nicely and I should be finished this week.  I haven't taken any pictures yet, though.

I am collecting items for a Sidewalk Sale at church to benefit Abbott and a least one other Reece's Rainbow child.  The announcement was in the bulletin last Sunday. Please pray that we raise local awareness of the need and also lot of money to donate!

My Honey and I took our eldest daughter EmBlem and her friend R. to Six Flags last week to celebrate Em's 16th birthday.  We had a great time.  I sure do love roller coaster-ing. Colossus is still my favorite ride, with Ninja a close second, but I rode Scream for the first time and liked it, too.  The girls even rode the bigger rides like Tatsu and X-2.  Brave things!

I am making a cute retro granny square afghan to donate to a giveaway or auction, as the Lord leads.  It's working up fast and I really like how the colors look together.

We had a swarm of bees across the street in a neighbors bush on Easter Sunday afternoon.  We really didn't want them sprayed so we called all the bee collectors in the area.  Only one would come out that day.  He was something else.  He did collect the swarm.  We got to watch the process close up. One of my girls walked up to the swarm barefoot, though, and as we were saying, 'Go put on shoes!" she stepped on a bee in the yard and got stung.  This was her first sting. She is not allergic, so yay! Her remark?  "I thought it would hurt more than that to get stung."

All in all, it's been a great spring!  What have you been up to?

Problem Solving: Bathroom Towels

We've always had a problem in the bathroom: towels on the floor.  Nobody ever puts them there, of course.  Silly little Nobody.  He does more around here than all of the children combined!

So we are attempting to fix this.  First and foremost, we let each child choose a colorful new towel.  They have been taught to keep their towel on a hanger in their own closet and bring it with them to the bathroom when they shower.  Then they take it back in their room and hang it up again after they shower. Now, if a towel is left on the floor, we will know exactly whose towel it is.

All the white(ish) towels that formerly lived in the bathroom are going to be used for swimming towels during the summer swimming season. There is a set of nice towels hanging on the shower door that are FOR SHOW OR GUESTS ONLY.  So far, believe it or not, no one has dried their hands on them or used them after a shower!  Could we have solved the 'Towel On The Floor' problem?  I sure hope so!

If you have a problem that you would like addressed, please leave it in a comment.

The Best and the Worst: Thanksgiving Edition

I'm joining with Renee at The Baker's Dozen with a Best and Worst.

The Best News of the week? Katie is home and doing well.

The Worst? There are so many others waiting. Pray, browse their stories on Reece's Rainbow and advocate for someone!

The Best Thing about driving two cars to Grandpa and Grandma's house? All my Littles slept much of the way and I got to listen to my audiobook.

The Worst? Not getting to sit next to my husband as he drove.

The Best Thing about eating gluten-free for Thanksgiving? No sugar coma or bloating after feasting.

The Worst? Not having stuffing. We visit with family and I couldn't make and bring too much. I will make this stuffing recipe for a side dish at home soon.

The Best Part of the beginning of the Christmas shopping season? We are already finished shopping! No Black Friday fighting for us.

The Worst? Waiting until Christmas morning to see the children's faces when they see their gifts.

I've Failed...

Failed to keep up here, that is. I've been plenty busy, just haven't been taking pictures. I've built another garden bed, canned a lot, been to a few book sales, I've been babysitting my neighbor's kids more often...I'll try to get back in the groove of taking pics throughout the day.

Making the Food Money Last

The Headmistress and the other Three Moms are blogging about food budgets this week. Even though HM mentioned most of my favorite ideas, I thought I'd share some tips anyway.

I blogged about the discovery of my favorite tip of all here. Go to farmer's market at the very end and offer to buy the perishables that will not make it to the next market day. You can often get lots of goodies. Be prepared to fix, freeze, can, share or otherwise prepare your bounty THAT day. Ripe food turns fast. I also ask different vendors for canning specials. Often they have bins of blemished fruit that they will sell inexpensively.

Learn to can! It is not inexpensive to begin, by any means, but Craig's List, garage sales and word of mouth can get you jars for little to nothing. Ask for canning supplies for your birthday, anniversary or Christmas presents. For water bath canning, all that's needed is a large pot and the basic canning tools. A pressure canner is more expensive, but priceless for making meals in a jar that will save many dollars when you need a dinner and you need it fast. I like my harvest yellow Presto canner. The new ones that you can get are flimsy and won't stand the test of time.

Put out the word that you will pick fruit trees. I have a list of folks whose trees I pick yearly. We get the surplus fruit to eat, can or bake with, they get a clean yard and don't have to watch the fruit moldering. I take canned goods to them as a thank you.

Buy meat that is marked down at the grocery store. I would love to buy organic, but I simply can't afford it. I watch for 25% and 50% off stickers and buy up as much as I can. Most goes into the freezer, some is eaten for dinner that night or the next and some shared with others. Use whole chickens rather than parts. Make your own broth. Use the bones from the meat you buy for beef stock. Collect vegetable trimmings in a freezer bag and use that for stock making rather than fresh produce.

Buy very little packaged "food". Meat, eggs, veggies, fruit. This is all we need to be healthy.

Grow a garden. It doesn't have to be more than some buckets alongside the garage. Lettuce is very easy to grow and will grow all year round in many places. Tomatoes grow like weeds in the summer. One zucchini plant supplies my entire family for most of the summer.

Make condiments from scratch. You can save SO much money, they taste ever-so-much better and have no mystery ingredients. I have many recipes here and here.

Cook your meals from scratch. Make the ingredients for your from scratch meals from scratch! For example, prepare dried beans rather than using canned (unless you canned them yourself), chop veggies rather than using frozen, cut stew meat out of an inexpensive roast rather than buying it pre-cut. You can think of many other purchased boxes and cans you can eliminate by making basic ingredients yourself.

Have a crockpot of beans prepared at all times to feed your hollow-legged teenagers. This has saved me tons of food dollars as my boys go through growing spurts.

Unwinding...

...Playmobil style. We pulled out a police set that we bought months and months ago today, just because. Squeals of happiness ensued. Most of the afternoons free time was spent adventuring with police and firefighters. What a good way to spend an afternoon!



We also did some cooking this afternoon. GirlofGod used a new recipe and made chocolate granola bars. They will be breakfast. I made Vanilla Granola, a perennial favorite. Dinner was Cubed BBQ Beef over rice, (adapted from the linked recipe) Carrot Raisin Salad and Green Salad.



Poppa and I enjoyed watching the preseason MNF game while the Lambies swam and/or played outside. A little quiet time is nice!

The Crew in Shadowland

Not the best picture, since it was taken at dusk with my phone, but I do love this picture anyway. This was taken at Morro Bay after the baptism. I love spending time with my family! Time goes way too fast even though we are together as much as possible. I can't imagine if they were off at government school being 'socialized' all day. I would not have time to get to know them! May the days be slow and long and the years even longer. Amen.

By The Content of Their Character

This is from this week's Ol' Remus' Woodpile Report. It's a very good thought.

"As Remus told you in Woodpile Report 8, nobody really judges a person solely by the color of their skin, at least nobody he'd wanna know. Martin King was right when he said we should judge people by the content of their character.

So let's do some judging.

We form entirely reasonable opinions by observing ordinary things about other people. For instance, are they considerate, courteous and pleasant or are they obnoxious, confrontational and crude? Do they dress to an acceptable standard, or wear offensive costumes? Are they thought well of, or are they habitual troublemakers?

Are they dependable and honest, or untrustworthy and criminal? Are they reasonably intelligent and inquisitive, or ignorant and incurious but deviously clever? Are they sociable and cooperative, or consumed with self interest? Do they speak intelligibly, or use gang slang? Can they disagree without insults, threats or violence?

Are their kids well behaved, or foul-mouthed junior street thugs? Do they value education, or are schools just their free day care? Are they self-reliant, or does the world owe them a living? Do they take personal responsibility, or is somebody else always to blame? Do they give others the benefit of the doubt, or do they see others as cunning victimizers?

Are they truthful about their personal history, or is it a pastiche of self-serving fantasy? Do they plan for the future, or lunge at short-term payoffs? Do they earn respect, or demand it? Do they believe race is irrelevant, or do they use race to extort preferences?

King had it right, judging people by the content of their character is reasonable and just. We should do more of it."

TIMBER!

Last night, a branch on our Bradford Pear tree fell. No wind, no rain, no cause but a weak (unpruned!) tree, I guess. So today, My Honey and all of the Lambies are working on cutting the branch up and pruning the tree. I am taking pictures to document the fun and making a Big Breakfast to feed all the hard workers. I love my job!

ETA: Of course, after making, and eating, breakfast I joined the family in the work. It took several hours, but we got it mostly done. Our green can is full, it will get picked up Tuesday, and we'll fill it right away again. It will probably take a month to get all the branches and leaves hauled away. I wish we had a chipper! Then we'd have lots of free mulch rather than a pile that means an extra weekly chore.

Pizza Night

Dinner tonight was homemade pizza! I haven't made it for a while, so it was a treat for the Lambies. My recipe makes three large pizzas and there are usually only crumbs left over.

Tonight, the children didn't even finish off two of them. My big eaters were saying they were too tired to have an appetite. Well, they're all off to bed and now I have one lunch already made for the week!

Spend the Time!

I read this poem over at Larger Family Life. What a reminder! It almost brought tears to my eyes, especially in light of one of the posts I wrote on facebook tonight: "While I'd rather be stitching, Troubles is insisting that we learn everything possible about spiders THIS VERY MINUTE!"

To My Grown Up Son

My Hands were busy through the day;

I didn’t have much time to play

The little games you asked me to.

I didn’t have much time for you.

I’d Wash your clothes, I’d sew and cook,

But when you’d bring your picture book

And ask me please to share your fun

I’d say: "A little later, son."

I’d tuck you in all safe at night

and hear your prayers, turn out the lights,

Then tip toe softly to the door...

I wish I’d stayed a minute more.

For life is short, the years rush past...

A little boy grows up so fast.

No longer is he at your side

His precious secrets to confide.

The picture books are put away,

There are no longer games to play,

No good-night kiss,

No prayers to hear...

That all belongs to yesteryear

My hands, once busy, now are still,

The days are long and hard to fill,

I wish I could go back and do

The little things you asked me to.

Debra Barone

Recovering

These four have had a hard time with this illness, especially the boys! Today, though, the boys feel a little better. Trixie made a board game and they (along with me!) played a round. I'm so glad they are getting a bit better!

Breakfast du Jour

Since we are going through sick days, I wanted to make a no fuss, do-it-yourself breakfast for those who are well. I chose to make The Headmistress's Granola.

Quick, easy, not too sweet, perfect for breakfast or snack. Thanks for the recipe, HM!

Sick..

We've got the creeping cruds. Troubles is the worst, but others are dropping quickly. I'll post again when I can!

Shoe Sorting

We brought down all the shoes from the attic to sort, pair up and thin out. Favorite shoes that were 'lost' were found. Others were found to be too small. I heard groans and squeals at the same time.

Here they are all sorted. Any too small for my youngest boy and girl went to the garage sale box. I also thinned the number of any size smaller than Women's 8. How many pairs of shoes could Missy possibly need? She's the only one with reasonably sized feet around here! Every other girl in the family wears an 8 or above. Boys shoes get worn out so fast I buy every pair I can find at a decent price. I don't mind keeping more of them.

Taking Garlic

Jack had to take garlic the other day. He has chronic kidney disease and his protein count was elevated.

He's a tough kid! He just does what needs to be done.

Milk and Greek yogurt helps it go down. He's also been known to use applesauce or saltine crackers.

The milk has something in it that cuts the hotness of the garlic.

All done! His count was down to normal the next day, despite the runny nose and sore throat continuing.

Sweet Dreams!

Troubles had "bad thoughts" last night. He climbed in with us around 4 AM. That almost never happens! He had sweet dreams till 8:30 AM while Dad had to get up for work at 6 AM. Good thing he's so cute!

*Turns out the bad thoughts were a scene from a Jimmy Neutron movie we let him watch while we watched Tron. He told me he doesn't want to watch that show ever again! (Bad Momma!!)