aundry day at the cottage yesterday. I finally got a good day to hang out a couple of loads of sheets and towels. The weather was nice with temperatures in the 40s and a nice breeze. I couldn't wait to jump into bed last night. There is nothing to compare to the smell and feel of line dried bed linens. I haven't been happy with my laundry detergent for quite some time. Everything I buy is too highly scented. I don't like many scents except citrus, spice, and vanilla. I am especially not fond of floral smelling anything except flowers themselves. I finally used up a tub of powdered stuff from Costco that literally took my breath away when I took off the lid. And it didn't get my gardening clothes clean either. I got some liquid from Costco last trip and it is even smellier though it did a pretty good job of cleaning. I am taking it back. I read a bunch of recipes online for a simple homemade natural detergent and this is what I made. I grated one bar of Octagon soap with the big side of my box grater. Then I put these shavings in my food processor and buzzed until I had tiny pellets. (This step was my idea and it worked perfectly.) I dumped these pellets in a stainless steel mixing bowl and added one cup of Borax and one cup of Washing Soda. I mixed it all together and then transferred the mixture to an airtight container. It smelled fresh, that's all. I have a front-loading washing machine that requires low-sudsing HE detergent. The blogger who wrote this recipe (altered a bit by me) said this would work well in such a machine. And would you believe you only need 2 Tablespoons for an entire load? When I took the clothes out, guess what they smelled like? NOTHING. Perfect. After a day on the line the bedding smelled like sunshine and wind. The photo was taken yesterday just to prove that we can still have nice weather and blue skies with white puffy clouds in January. I am going to do a dark load or two today. xxoo Rosemary
This is a photo of my finished product. I put it in a tall glass jar that once held dry roasted peanuts. It's perfect. I can roll it around and mix everything up to evenly distribute all the ingredients before every load. I have darks in the washer right now. So happy!
Recipe and short article from The New York Times. This is great bread using only 4 ingredients. All-purpose flour, yeast (the instant variety), salt, and water. You stir it all up and let it sit. Watch the video and you'll be a pro in no time. This recipe has been around for quite a long time, since 2006. This is for those of you who haven't tried it yet. Winter is the perfect time for some nice crusty bread fresh from the oven. Enjoy, Rosemary.
My Dog's Brain by Stephen Huneck. My dust jacket is somewhat skuffed but the interior is perfect. It's full of wonderful illustrations about a dog's life by the very talented Vermont artist who passed away less than 2 weeks ago. The image can be enlarged so you can more clearly see what's on Sally's mind. Yes, the black labrador dog's name is Sally. 
I don't know when I've been so entertained by a book on birding. Actually this is the first one I've ever read and I am only on page 181 of 268. This was the top book at the free book exchange at my local Post Office one day last week and I snatched it up immediately. I was thrilled that the upcoming long weekend would be the perfect time to sit down with it. It is wonderful. THE BIG YEAR, A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. I really can't put it down but I had to this morning because I had a real estate showing. 
Today was a great day for me. I stayed in my pajamas all day and read, watched movies and had a lovely time. It was dark, gloomy and rainy outside anyway so there was no guilt. I looked through old photos and was reminded of last spring when I photographed new leaves just beginning to appear on my Sassafras tree. It's not unusual to see three different leaf shapes on one branch. I love it. Enjoy the rest of your long weekend. Rosemary
ll of this firewood that was cut on May 29th last year is almost gone. I hope I will get buttercups in this same spot again. They were so beautiful. You can never tell where they will pop up since they like to jump around from year to year. I had a very busy day yesterday with real estate customers, both buyers and sellers. I think this will be a good year.