Green Stuff Update

Ok, so my homemade bug repellant tested great last night!! We were outside til 8:30 last night and didn't get one bite! The mosquitoes literally hovered over us and then ran away! Also, my furniture polish works wonderfully too!

I couldn't find the essential oils at Walgreen's, except for tea tree oil, but I did find all I needed at a health food store....remember that they are small, but VERY concentrated...I spent a total of $27 for lavender, lemon, and citronella, which will all last a very long time. I bought the lemon to add to my furniture polish, because I think it would enhance the smell of it and I can use the lemon oil in my all purpose cleaner, too. I added lavender and citronella oils along with my tea tree oil and witch hazel to make the bug spray. I wanted to add peppermint as well, but they were out.

On an entirely different note--I love living in the country and only here will you see the following picture (you may have to click on it to see it well)



Yes, there is a horse and buggy with four people just out for a drive with a truck following close behind which I had to crop so you could see the buggy....this on the road next to our house. Cooper just waved and waved as they passed.

Green Stuff

Ok, so I am recently inspired to live simpler and greener...I just feel really called to simplify everything I do, beginning with small things.

I began with using the reusable bags when shopping (at least 95% of the time) and using a homemade multi-purpose cleaner made from--1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar in a spray bottle & 4-5 drops of tea tree oil (I found it at Walgreen's, it is the disinfectant part) mix all in, shake it up and you are ready to clean away. (Thank you, Morgan!)We also began recycling, which doesn't sound like a big deal to those who have curbside recycle bins, but in the country we have no such thing, so I sack it up til Wednesday and take it to the recycle center that is open at Unarco (the place where they make shopping carts here in Wagoner), which take about everything recyclable 1-4 every Wednesday.

So, this week, I am going to get a few things to make homemade bug repellant and also a homemade furniture polish. After much Googling, I found recipes I am willing to try. I actually have bought a natural bug repellant in the past that worked great, but it's pricey, so want to try my own.It was great for Cooper and it smelled nice, too, not to mention it had no scary chemicals in it. I found some very interesting sites by just searching "homemade bug repellant" and for the other, "homemade furniture polish". I just don't like the spray polishes that well and want to be cheap.

Here are the things I am going to try in the next week to see how they work for us:
#1 Bug Repellant (this is supposed to work for most pesky biting things!)
Witch hazel with a few drops of tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint oil- mixed in a spray bottle, shaken well before each use. You apparently don't have to use all of the oils, you can pick one, but these are the ones I thought would make the most pleasant smell since I'll be wearing it.

#2 Furniture Polish (for wood)
4 Tbsp. Lemon juice, 2 tsp. Olive oil, 3 Tbsp water- mixed all in a spray bottle, shake well before each use. I won't mix up a lot of this at one time, because I think a little will go a long way. I also found that you can use jojoba oil, but I have all of these ingredients already in my kitchen so want to test it out.

The essential oils seem a bit expensive (or at least tea tree oil was), but after using the tea tree oil cleaner already, I've found they last for a long time......stay tuned for my results and feel free to try it with me!!