i am still kickin'

i knew keeping up with a blog would be challenging for me, but whew! i guess my summer was just a little too distracting. i thought about blogging often, but had a hard time sitting down long enough to dedicate some serious time to it.

i only got 2 squash, but they are huge!

so, i am back and hopefully will be able to keep up on a semi-regular basis. i may not be able to put all my thoughts and ideas into well crafted prose, but i will try to post a picture here and there about my valiant effort into more real food, less consumerism, & inching my way towards self-sustainability.

my number one "to do" right now is getting rid of the mice that have decided that my vegetable garden makes a great home. two down, who knows how many to go. any suggestions?

happy herbs! basil, thyme, parsley, tarragon, & oregano.

i did make my own laundry soap this summer, which has worked out pretty good so far. (commenting about it on a recently discovered blog was kind of the kick-in-the-pants to get me going again, so thanks jesse at bizz & boo boo!)
from my post on jesse's blog (plus extra notes):

"when i was ready to make my own laundry soap, i researched all the options out there including soap nuts and the recipe you posted. since i didn’t want to spend the time with all the boiling and i don’t mind powder detergent i went with this dry version:

1 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha — note: these all contain animal tallow, if that is an issue for you)
1 cup of borax
1 cup of washing soda
mix thoroughly
use 1 Tbsp per average size load
literally took me less than 10 minutes!

i used fels naptha (but next time will use dr bronner’s or something else with no animal fat) and grated it with a cheese grater. i bought all the ingredients at kroger and none were in plastic packaging!
my clothes seem as clean as when i was using any other brand of store bought powder detergent.

next: how i spent my summer