Salt, Lemons, Vinegar, and Baking Soda

Oh can you feel it? Can you smell it? Spring is finally here! My little crocus's are in full bloom with my brilliantly yellow daffodils just about to blossom into a bright and cheery array of colour.

This last week I've been doing a lot of spring cleaning. It feels so great to open the windows, hang out the floor mats and get rid of all the stuff that has somehow found it's way into the corners of my house.

I've taken on a few small painting projects that include a mirror, end table, and my big kitchen table. Joel was cool with all of it except the big table, oops, he thinks it's too contrasty, I think he'll get used to it!

So today I was in Chapters and I stumbled upon this gem of a book called Salt, Lemons, Vinegar, and Baking Soda. This book is filled with ways to use these products to clean our houses! So I though it would be fun for me to post everyday for the next two weeks, different ways to use these fab four products!

So for today I thought I would start with

Long Life Flower Water

1 quart of warm water

3 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP vinegar

This little recipe will keep your flowers beautiful and healthy for longer!

much love

larajane

Back to reality

Well not quite I suppose since we are only half way through spring break.

I spent a lovely time over on Pender Island last week with my mom, the kiddos and my sister-in- law-to-be! Unfortunately I came home sick and haven't slept much, but I'm holding out hope for tonight!

I am loving the longer days and can't wait to get out in my garden. Next week my mom and I have planned a trip to Devon Nursery to stock up on some plants and flowers. I am craving colour in my yard!

Here are some pics from last week on the island.

Connor ready for the beach!

Mom doing the limbo during the "party" in the cottage.

Dominika and I
Time for mani's and pedi's!
El on the beach

Connor relaxing with Boo.

Confession time...again

I like to think of myself as somewhat of an ecoholic.

I plant my own vegetable garden, I try to buy organically and locally as much as possible. I use cloth shopping bags often, okay, when I remember them, I compost, as well as a few other eco friendly things. But when it comes to laundry, I just can't seem to go green.

I have a love/hate relationship with laundry. Mostly hate, but I do love fresh smelling, warm out of the dryer clothes. I also love Tide laundry detergent. I've tried the Eco friendly stuff from Costco, but nothing beats the fresh scent of Tide. I am also in love with Downy fabric softener. I've bought the dryer balls, but it's just not the same! My kiddos now play games with them. I also love washing my clothes in warm water, not cold. Sometimes, even hot water.

I did however, purchase a new high efficiency washer and dryer this past fall. And I. love. them.

When the weather warms up I do plan on putting up my clothes line again, despite what my neighbours think. There, I feel better already.

Happy spring break!

There is something special

about this guy.

He caught my eye when I was in grade eight. We were at the Aldergrove ice rink. He had a Minnesota North Stars hockey jersey on , I donned a Chicago Blackhawks jersey. He was tall and had the cutest dimple when he smiled. He was also much older than I, or at least that is how it seemed to a 13 year old. I remember him skating up to me

and questioning my choice of jersey. I questioned his.

Four years later, after he had graduated high school, he asked me out while we were sitting in his '76 Mustang in my driveway. I was elated.

We have been married for nearly 13 years now, and although we have had our bumps along the way, my love for him grows a little bit more with each passing day. He gets me. He gets my quirks. We laugh a lot and come up with crazy little nicknames for each other.

He is also an amazing father, a strong leader in our

church, and I can now say the top consulting engineer in BC. He is so hard working and dedicated to all that he does.

I am so blessed.

what have I done?

This thought process all began around two months ago when Joel and I were very seriously considering putting our house up for sale. What we thought at the time was a great opportunity, turned out to be something that in the end, really wasn't our dream. It's all good. We are very happy to be staying where we are. For now.

With that being said, I began to think of the possibility of "what if"? What if our dream house happens to go up for sale and we want it? Is our house ready to go on the market? For the most part it is. But as we began to think about this we realized there were a few things that needed to be done. One of which, is filling the dings in our walls on the main floor and touching up the paint. Last week I filled everything in, sanded down, and yesterday proceeded to go ahead and buy the same colour paint (straw hat from Benjamin Moore, if anyone is interested) as I had 6 years ago.

My goal was to go around and touch up all the areas that needed it. So that is what I spent my afternoon doing. By dinner, it became glaringly obvious that the straw hat I was using to touch up, was a bit darker than the straw hat I had painted 6 years ago. My little touch up job has turned into something much larger.

So as I sit here, looking over my main floor that has been turned upside down with drop cloths, pictures that have been taken off the walls, and a ladder, I am left feeling a little overwhelmed. I never thought being in a bit of a mess would bother me, since I lived liked that when my kids were younger, but it does seem to cause me a bit of distress. I suppose I am much more like my mom in that way than I thought :-)

Happy Wednesday.

much love,

larajane