Homemade Alcohol

I got a wild hair to start making my own wine not too long ago and so I researched and read and went down to the not so local home brew store and bought my basic equipment.  I decided to start with apple and then went on to white grape cherry and white grape pomegrante. All turned out very well, I am proud to say.

Then my husband found out about a meadery that was a little out of town but an easy drive so we headed down there.  The man was happy to give us a taste of all types of mead. Dry, semi-sweet and sweet, melomel and metheglin and a few others.  He gave us some tips on making mead and so we bought some honey and some wonderful honey pecan jelly and headed home to start out batch.

We got our single gallon of mead started and it is fermenting nicely.  We've nearly finished the mead we purchased that day and mores the pity because we, and all of our friends that have had it, have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm very much looking forward to this new batch!

Whew!

Did I mention being unemployed can really give you a lot of time to work on those projects you didn't have time for before? I have been working on my garden, disheartening as it may be that I don't have a job at the moment, but I've been working on it. We put up the gazebo, built a raised bed, I've done a lot of container gardening, too. I've done a lot of herbs and they are doing so well. My main problem has been pest management because, again, it rains for three days and then we have three days of nice skies, then it rains for three days again. I've been really on top of getting the DE on the plants and keeping it on them. But I'm still seeing the signs of my leaves being eaten. Worse, slugs and snails have moved in. I've been battling that.

But we're counter balancing. I put the bird feeders near the garden and I'm seeing a sharp decrease in insects. The ground squirrels are entertaining as they forage through the little existing bed the bird feeder sits in. The bed is very old but the soil in it is actually pretty good.  I've got some things planted but I don't think they are going to do anything. There is a huge tree shading that spot so I'm going to be getting some shade loving flowers instead.

I've been doing a lot of research into aquaculture the past three weeks and this guy:



is amazing.  He has built a system in a greenhouse, wrote software to monitor it and has it almost completely automated.  Wow.

I'd love to build one.  But for now, I'm going to keep on with my cucumbers and onions with broccoli and herbs.  My cat is evil as she destroyed the okra, cauliflower, and tomato.  Ahh well, there is always next year and indoor gardening.

Into the Raised Bed

Velvet, the vicious attack cat, had decided that since she refuses to use a litter box inside the house and wants to go outside the house to do her business that she wants to use my raised bed.  Grr.  It's been an up hill battle to keep her out and I have near anxiety attacks when I go out in the morning to check my bed.  She managed to dig up my cauliflower.  The one thing my husband was very enthusiastic about.  And she nearly killed the okra.  So, garden fence went up around the bed because she is killing our veggie garden.  The little rat.  I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to get another cauliflower out there before it's too late.  But I'm still going to give it a shot.  The worst thing that can happen is it will fail and we'll have to do it again this fall.

I'm discovering that absolute joys of homemade bread in the bread machine.  The garlic herb bread and the wheat bread I made were great and made really awesome sandwiches.  While I make homemade bread by hand, the bread machine has afforded me more time to do other things and I'm guilty becoming spoiled by it.  Fresh hot loaves of bread for dinner and then for toast for breakfast make all the difference.

I suppose the bread machine opens up time to fight with my youngest over his new contact lenses.  He has a lazy left eye and the doctor wants him to use the contacts to wake his eye up and get his brain to acknowledge the fact that it can function.  Getting them out was hard, to the point where we had to go through several sessions of me pushing and prodding his eye and him wincing when my finger hit eye instead of lens.  And putting them in.. oh my.. what a battle.

I have no need to contacts so this is new territory for me and he is being as brave as he can and is accepting all the poking and prodding to his eyes with as much grace as a hyper six year old can muster.  I'm proud of him for this fact.  He doesn't want the contacts and already had the frames picked out for his glasses before his eye exam even started.  He wants the glasses and not the contacts but I'm just not sure glasses will be as helpful as the contacts.  After we got the contacts in, he was able to actually read two lines further down from the SECOND line where he stopped before we put them in.  He could see the big letter in the line of three and that was it.  Poor kid.  The school caught this and I'm glad they did, too much longer and his brain might not want to register that the left eye is functional.  So now it's a routine of cover the right eye and work the left.  He is taking that pretty good, too.

I will get pictures up.  I will get pictures up.  I will get pictures up.

Vinegar in Various Areas

Use vinegar in the steam cleaner to reduce soap bubbles.




Mix vinegar with lind seed oil and use it to clean your wood.



Clean eyeglasses by wiping each lens with a drop of vinegar.



Soak new wicks for several hours in white vinegar and let them dry before inserting. Propane lanterns will burn longer and brighter on the same amount of fuel.



Deodorize the air. Vinegar is a natural air freshener when sprayed in a room.



Turn a chicken bone into rubber by soaking it in a glass of vinegar for three days. It will bend like rubber.



Deodorize a room filled with cigarette smoke or paint fumes. Place a small bowl of vinegar in

the room.



Remove decals or bumper stickers by soaking a cloth in Vinegar and cover the decal or bumper sticker for several minutes until the vinegar soaks in. The decals and bumper stickers should peel off easily.



Cleaning windows by using undiluted Vinegar in a spray bottle. Dry off with newspaper.



Prevent patching plaster from drying by adding one tablespoon vinegar to the water when mixing to slow the drying time.



Plastic can be cleaned and made anti-static by wiping down with a solution of 1 tablespoon of

distilled vinegar to 1 gallon of water. This will cut down on the plastics' tendency to attract dust.



The colors in carpets and rugs will often look like they have taken a new lease on life if they

are brushed with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar in a gallon of water.



A mixture of one teaspoon of liquid detergent and 1 teaspoon of distilled vinegar in a pint of

lukewarm water will remove non-oily stains from carpets. Apply it to the stain with a soft brush or towel and rub gently. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer. This should be done as soon as the stain is discovered.



Spots caused by cola-based soft drinks can be removed from 100 percent cotton, cotton polyester and permanent press fabrics if done so with in 24 hours. To do it, sponge distilled vinegar directly onto the stain and rub away the spots. Then clean according to the directions on the manufacturer's care tag.



Sponging away grease and dirt with a sponge dipped in distilled vinegar will keep exhaust fan grills, air-conditioner blades and grills dust free.



Leather articles can be cleaned with a mixture of distilled vinegar and linseed oil. Rub the mixture into the leather and then polish with a soft cloth.



To loosen old glue around rungs and joints of tables and chairs under repair, apply distilled

vinegar with a small oil can.



Soak a paint brush in hot vinegar, then wash out with warm, sudsy water to soften it up.



Patent leather will shine better if wiped with a soft cloth which has been moisten with distilled

vinegar.



To add a pleasant scent to a room while at the same time removing an unpleasant odor, add

cardamom or other fragrant spice to a bowl of distilled vinegar and place in the warmest corner of the room.



Varnished wood often takes on a cloudy appearance. If the cloudiness hasn't gone through to the wood, the cloudiness can be removed by rubbing the wood with a soft lintless cloth wrung out from a solution of 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar in a quart of luke-warm water. Complete the job by wiping the surface with a soft dry cloth.



Dirt and grime can be easily removed from woodwork with a solution of 1 cup of ammonia, 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar, and 1/4 cup of baking soda in a cup of warm water. This solution will not dull the finish or leave streaks.



Stubborn rings resulting from wet glasses being placed on wood furniture may be removed by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub with the grain and polish for the best results.



Wood paneling may be cleaned with a mixture of 1 ounce of olive oil and 2 ounces of distilled

vinegar in 1 quart of warm water. Moisten a soft cloth with the solution and wipe the paneling.

The yellowing is then removed by wiping with a soft, dry cloth.

Vinegar for Health and Beauty

Dampen your appetite. Sprinkle a little vinegar on prepared food to take the edge off your appetite.

Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot or douse the irritated area with vinegar and relieve itching.

Remedy for acne skin conditions when diluted 50:50 with water and used as a toner. Careful around the eyes.

If you can take it, put a cotton bud or cotton square with appe cider vinegar and dab all over your face. It’s safer and so much cheaper than any store-bought ‘alpha hydroxy’ products to sloth off flaky skin.

Relieve itching by using a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with Vinegar straight
from the bottle.

Relieve sunburn by lightly rubbing it with vinegar. You may have to reapply.

Take 1 cup of vinegar and warm water into a large glass and use to rinse your hair after
you shampoo. Vinegar adds highlights to brunette hair, restores the acid mantel, and removes
soap film and sebum oil.

When you eat something too spicy hot (habenero, jalepeno, wasabi) you can quickly get rid of the burn by dabbing your tounge with vinegar.

You take 1 tablespoon full and swallow when you have the hiccups. It stops them instantly.

Relieve dry and itchy skin. Add 2 tablespoons to bath water.

Fight dandruff, by rinsing with vinegar and 2 cups of warm water, after shampooing.

Soothe a sore throat. Put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle, then swallow.

Cure for colds. Mix one-quarter cup Apple Cider Vinegar with one-quarter cup honey.
Take one tablespoon six to eight times daily.

Treat sinus infections and chest colds. Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer.

Feel good recipe. A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, with a bit of honey added for flavor, will take the edge off your appetite and give you an overall healthy feeling.

Remove fruit stains from hands. Rub with vinegar.

Remove warts by applying a lotion of half cider vinegar and half glycerin. Apply daily to warts until they dissolve.

Relieve arthritis. Before each meal, drink a glass of water containing two teaspoons
Apple Cider Vinegar. Give it at least three weeks to start working.

Remove corns by making a poultice of one crumbled piece of bread soaked in one-quarter cup Vinegar. Let poultice sit for one-half hour, then apply to the corn and tape in place overnight. If corn does not peel off by morning, reapply the poultice for several consecutive nights.

Cure an upset stomach by drinking two teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar in one cup water.

Prevent yeast infections. Douche with one tablespoon vinegar to one quart warm water, to adjust the pH balance in the vagina.

Clean dentures by soaking them overnight in vinegar, then brush away tartar with a toothbrush.

Relieve cough by mixing one-half cup Apple Cider Vinegar, one-half cup water, one teaspoon cayenne pepper, and four teaspoons honey. Take one tablespoon when cough acts up. Take another tablespoon at bedtime.

Dissolves whatever glue lice use to lay eggs on the hair shaft. Comb your hair and rinse it with equal parts water and vinegar.

Dip a cotton bud into pure vinegar and dab onto affected areas for ear infections.

Treat athlete's foot by dabbing full strength vinegar to effected areas.