Frugal Fabric Softener

I have been looking to get rid of all the toxic chemical cleaners in my house for a long time. I have asthma and it would always kick in whenever I used anything like Windex or other harsh chemicals to clean with.

Another thing I wanted to get rid of is fabric softener. I have always hated the slimy feeling it left on my clothes. The smell was nice, but was over powering at times. Dryer sheets were the same.

I started out by just using half a dryer sheet at a time in the dryer. It worked well and left less of a slimy film on my clothes. But it was still not want I wanted to use.

 I spent some time on Pinterest checking out what others have done. Most just use fabric softener liquid but in less amounts on a face cloth or a sponge and keep using them over and over. Not what I want. Another I saw used hair conditioner and water. I knew how conditioner felt on my hair and did not want that on my clothes. Finally I saw where some people used vinegar. I have that in my house and use it for my cleaning recipes. Only drawback was that I could smell the vinegar on my clothes even after washing and drying. I hate the smell of vinegar and honestly, who wants to smell like it.

I saw some people add essential oils into the vinegar and decided to try that. I have quite a few oils and picked lavender to try it out.

I filled a quart jar with vinegar and added about 15 drops of the lavender oil to it. Put on the jar cap and swish it to gently mix the vinegar and essential oil a bit. That's it. No chemical smell, No asthma attacks, not to mention it is eco friendly.

To use it, I just add it to the fill line in the fabric softener spot on my washer. I do swish the vinegar around a bit to make sure the oils are mixed in and not just sitting on the top of the vinegar. My house smells really nice while the washer is going.

I do smell the lavender on my clothes when they are wet but once they are dried, I don't smell it, but I also don't smell the vinegar. I have also noticed that the vinegar makes my clothes soft and it has stripped off that yucky film left over from the dryer sheets and commercial liquid fabric softener.

There are times when the vinegar/oil fabric softener does not get rid of the static cling though. It gets very dry here in the winter so I need a little something extra. I bought (or you can make) some wool balls. I love the Woolzie brand. So does my cat Abby, she keeps taking them if I don't leave them closed in the dryer.

These do a great job getting rid of the static cling and they fluff up the clothes. Not to mention that they help dry the clothes faster. I use three balls at a time. I bought a six ball pack, not knowing how many balls to use at once or how long they last. They last a long long long time.

Now to get the hubby to get me a nice umbrella clothes dryer for outside so I can save the electricity from the dryer in the warmer months. Not to mention the heat that it gives off to make the house hotter in the summer. I miss having an outside dryer.

Weekend snow

I hope you are all well and warm. I haven't left the house today, don't want to really.

Yesterday I took Matt out to find some nice warm coveralls to keep him toasty warm while snow blowing and shoveling out us and some of the neighbors. Took forever to find something. We managed to find some overalls by Carhartt, the brand I was planning on getting him anyway. Matt freaked out over the cost of them, but I honestly expected to pay more. I want him to be warm and know this brand will do the job.

He's been making some pretty nice money for a 14 year old. Snow is keeping the hubby busy too. He's been making nice cash money too. However, I do miss spending time with him. He's out pretty much every day. He's out right now as I type. His short days turn into 10+ hour days. Some days he doesn't get home until 10 pm after going in at 7 am. Poor guy is so tired when he gets home.

I took some pictures on my phone of Matt in the snow to show a friend of mine in Louisiana how much we have. Matt is at least my height if not a little taller now. I am 5'6" to give you an idea of all the snow we have. He is also standing on top of like 10 inches.

I was standing in the doorway with Abby, who normally tries to make a run for it. She touched the snow, backed away and meowed at me as if she was saying "Aww hell no". Guess both the cats won't try to make a run for it until the spring time.

He was trying to stand on top of the snow. This last storm gave us light and fluffy snow. 18+ inches of it.

Playing around in the snow. You can see my neighbors truck, behind Matt. Well sort of. It's buried in the snow. As is most of the neighborhood.

Snow snow and more snow

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. After the storm last week, we got another 3 feet of snow. We have close to six feet of snow on the ground right now. We are running out of places to put it all. I am grateful that we don't live where we use to in MA however. There was no place to put the snow in the city. Here, we at least have two empty lots across the street that the park owner has been putting the piles of snow.

The hubby has been working for his cousin doing snow removal, because he can't do it real job. He drives a concrete truck and you can't very well pour concrete when there is 6 feet of snow on the ground. It's nice money too.

We got another 4 more inches yesterday and am expected to get another 12+ inches Saturday into Sunday. Matt had a Boy Scout indoor pool party for Sunday, but it was canceled due to the snow. Another scout event for tomorrow was also canceled.

Thankfully we are fully ready. Matt fixed a cable on the snow blower so it won't run in just high gear now. I have plans to make some more bread crumbs and bake some bread for bread pudding and some banana bread as well. Anything to keep the house warmer. Going to be very cold the next few days. I am so ready for warmer weather.

Blizzard of 2015

This past week has been crazy. First over the weekend we got about 7 inches of snow. During that little storm, we taught Matt how to use the snow blower. Not that we needed the snow blower to move the snow, a shovel was more than enough, but we wanted him to practice in a smaller amount of snow first.

He did a good job and we allowed him to use it during the blizzard to get us and neighbors out. He made 50.00 and got some food as a payment as well.

I took this picture of my backyard last Saturday. I fell hard right after I took it and have been super sore since. I bruised my tailbone really bad and hit my head hard so I had headaches for a few days. Nothing broken and no concussion. That's why I have been absent from here.

The snow started Monday afternoon for us here. I live about 20 minutes inland off the coast of southern NH. We started out with ocean effect snow showers.

Tuesday morning I attempted to open the backdoor to see how bad it was out. I didn't go outside until today. I hate the cold and I was super sore from both my fall and my RA. There are about 4 or 5 stairs hidden under all the snow.

Matt and Steve digging out the cars during the height of the blizzard. Both of them went out several times during the two days of the storm to keep our driveway sort of clear. Our neighbor had to dig our door out Tuesday morning after he crawled out his window. Matt snow blowed the end of his driveway for him as a thanks.

The blizzard was finally over Wednesday and both Matt and Steve again spent the day outside cleaning up. Matt mostly. He had to shovel out the shed door (we have a chest freezer in there) and the backdoor (where I was standing to take this picture).

Icicles above the backdoor. I ended up knocking them off. The sky was so pretty too.

Bigger collection of icicles coming off our metal roof. I need to take them off before they fall off and brake that window.

Remember that picture I took of my backyard before the blizzard, right before my fall? Well here is the yard once again, only full of all the snow and Matt's snow fort. He has been working on that thing for days. Notice the table. You can just make out the top of it.

Part of my garden. These are my snap pea trellis. They come up to my neck (I am 5'6"). Lots of snow back there. We had to dig out part of our oil tank so that we can get to it to get more oil. Something we will need soon I am thinking.

The path from the driveway to the backyard. It may not look like a lot of snow here because it was light and fluffy snow and blew all over the place. Now that storm is over, we are getting more tomorrow. They are estimating another 6-8 inches. Winter has finally arrived.

Our Homeschool Week

I figured I might as well keep a log of what we do weekly here on my blog, that way I have something else to show (besides written work and pictures of projects) when we have our portfolio evaluated at the end of the school year.

This past week was nothing very exciting. Matt worked on his math, science and language arts through Easy Peasy online. He doesn't complain much about doing these subjects this way. He seems to enjoy them and it is easier on me. I do have to have him do the work with me right next to him or he will lie about doing it. I caught him in this lie yesterday when I asked him what he learned about in science and asked about his language arts.

Matt chose what he wanted to learn about in history this year. What I had planned for him to use did not work out. It ended up being very dry and boring. So, we scrapped the curriculum and let him choose some topics. He has been working on a Cold War note pack and reading about the Cuban Missile Crisis. All I remember from the Cold War was the Berlin Wall coming down, but had no idea why or what the wall was for. We never learned about it in school. So I am learning along with Matt. Something I enjoy about homeschooling. We start WWII in two weeks. Again, a topic he choose.

 This past Monday would have been Edgar Allan Poe's birthday. I have always enjoyed his works and figured Matt and I would read some of his short stories and poems. We read A Valentine and figured out who the poem was addressed to. Clues are in the poem itself. We also listened to The Raven. My all time favorite. I had it memorized at one time but now all I can remember is the first paragraph. Here is the video that we listened to for the Raven. I love Christopher Lee's voice.

We also read A Tell Tale Heart. Again, another one of my favorites. I also found a video on Youtube that acts out the story. I remember seeing a play at a high school that had A Tell Tale Heart in it and loved it. This is the video we watched:

I love Youtube and have been using it more and more in our studies. It makes learning easier for me and seems to make things stick for Matt.

Matt also had an archery class, something he enjoys. I just need to talk him into competing like a few of the other kids have been. Matt is good and can do well in competitions.

I had a doctor's appointment and some physical therapy as well as some errands to run this week. Matt decided to stay home so I got things done relatively quick. The errand day was also the day Matt said he did his work when he didn't. He will be in a world of hurt next year when he is dual enrolled in some online classes if he doesn't do his work. He is only going to take math online, other subjects will be done by me.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

I usually only make these around Thanksgiving time, but Matt loves them so much, that he has been asking for them more often. I've used cinnamon in place of the pumpkin pie spice and the cookies taste just as yummy.


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin (I use canned)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat sheet.

2. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, pie spices and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, mixing well. Add flour mixture slowly, mixing well.

4. Drop by rounded tbps onto baking sheets. I use a scoop.

5. Bake 14-16 minutes or until lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love Chocolate Chip Cookies? It is my husbands favorite cookie and has to beg me to make them. I have made them so often, that I have memorized the recipe. I made a batch last night and so far I have only had 4 of them. Here is the recipe that I follow.

2 sticks of butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F .

2. Mix the butter and both sugars until creamy. 

3. Add eggs, one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add vanilla and mix.

4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking soda together.

5. Slowly add half of the flour mixture to butter mixture and mix. Add remaining flour and mix well.

6. Add chocolate chips to bowl and mix well by hand. 

7. Scoop onto parchment (or Silpat) lined cookie sheets and cook for 10 minutes.

8. Cool a couple of minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack.

Enjoy!