Green Cleaning

I'm a day late with this post. I just hate it when life interferes! Well, anyway, here it is.

So many, maybe all, of the conventional cleaners we use contain toxic chemicals. They cause respitory problems and are dangerous to kids and pets. Did you know that vinegar is just as powerful a disinfectant as bleach? But unlike bleach, it won't ruin your clothes and is not harsh like bleach. It's safe for kids and pets and the environment. Vinegar has hundreds of uses. In your laundry, it's a fabric softener and a whitener and brightener. It also nuetralized and eliminates organic odors, such as urine. Spray your pets with apple cider vinegar and fleas will be eliminated. Also add it to their food or water (I've found food works better) for the same result. If you Google "uses for vinegar" you will find many more uses and health benefits for pets. I use it on my counters, tables, floors, in my laundry, sinks, and toilet.

Baking soda is also powerful on odors. We all know to add a box to the refrigerator and freezer to absorb odors. Did you know you can use it instead of the popular and conventional scouring powders? Baking soda works wonders on burned on food on pots and pans, faucets, in the laundry, on toilets..... Google "uses for baking soda" and again, you will find many surprising uses.

Lemon is phenomemol on soap scum and can be used to polish brass and copper. http://housekeeping.ask.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm is a website that can tell you more about how to use lemon. This is something I have not tried yet but will be soon. I am very excited to see how it will work at my house.

I have replaced my laundry detergent. It also contains many chemicals and things that are harmful, not to mention the packaging! I discovered soap nuts. They don't get all sudsy like conventional detergent but my clothes look and smell clean. It is much cheaper than the conventional detergents as well. You can buy them at http://www.buysoapnuts.com.

These are the best cleaning methods I've learned of lately and really there isn't much else you could need. I saw something on green dishwashing soap. I will be looking more into that for next time!

Finally! It's green!

Since I started this blog I have not really known what I wanted to do with it. I thought I would write my poetry and that sort of thing here but no real theme. Now it is clear. I want to talk about green and healthy living. Now this is more than just using green products for cleaning and reduce, reuse, and recycle. I mean all around green and healthiness. I actually started with my dogs and cats.

My dogs and cats eat raw meat, organs, bones, pureed fruit and vegetables, eggs, yogurt, etc. I started the raw meat probably a year ago but have only really been doing it right in the last week. Before, my dog, Ebony, a black lab/American Eskimo Dog mix, devoured everything. I don't believe she ever actually tasted anything. Eddie, a Parson Terrier/Rat Terrier mix, was almost as bad. But in the last week I have been feeding them ground raw meat and organs with the bones ground in with it and the first thing I have noticed is that they are now both taking their time and actually tasting their food for probably the first time ever. Today I started adding apple cider vinegar again and will be adding garlic tomorrow in hopes of getting rid of the fleas. Since it's winter, the flea population isn't horrendous as it has been during the summer months but I know they are still there. Today I will spray the dogs and cats down with the apple cider vinegar in addition to adding it to their food and hopefully get a head start on eliminating them. Tomorrow I also hope to reintroduce the produce and eggs.

There are many benefits to feeding this way. They will have soft and shiny coats, clear eyes, clean teeth, much better smelling breath, smaller and firmer poop (because their bodies use more of the food), and healthier skin. And those are just the obvious benefits. There should also be positive behavioral changes as well because the animals will just plain feel better. And they love it. And with an animal that feels better, there are less vet bills. The down side is that it does cost more to feed this way but there may be ways to keep the costs down. I read about a lady who went to the local farmer's market. The vendors there would give her anything that was wilted or bruised too badly to sell. If there is a slaughter house nearby, they may give deals on their waste. There is a family of vegetarian farmers that live here. They recently lost a sheep. We also have a nurse that feeds her animals raw (she is actually my raw-feeding teacher). She received the legs from the sheep and others were given the meat. Local meat stores may also have something they can sell for cheap. For the most part, my supplier is Hare Today Gone Tomorrow. They sell ground mixes and whole carcasses in addition to eggs and goat milk and they have a variety of animals. They ship frozen in three days or less and many things are less than what you pay at the store. Some are not but probably well worth the price, especially since they are not available in the stores. There are certainly other places to buy. Some require pick up. I know of one in Minnesota and you have to buy a month's supply at a time and it can only be picked on a certain day of the month. My work schedule changes so eratically and with my kids and driving distance, it doesn't work well plus I don't have the freezer space for that so home delivery a week at a time works well for me. For more information on feeding your animals in this manner try http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/health/nutritionarticle14.htm. The health benefits are explained there much better than I can do. Googling "BARF diet" or "holistic diet" may help find other sites.

I think that will be enough for today. Tomorrow we can talk about housecleaning supplies! This is a slow process for me. I am far from completing the journey to a green and healthy life. I have a lot to learn. Take the journey with me. It's a long one.

Autumn is here!

Every season has smells that we all recognize. We feel them as well as smell them. When I smell lilacs, I feel the warm sun of spring. The smell of rain brings a feeling of cool muggy air. Apples, cinnamon, pumpkin, and nutmeg bring feelings of cool air and warm layers of clothes, which brings us to the present feelings around us this time of year- at least those of us who live where the trees turn colors before snow blankets our world. The leaves are just barely starting to change and it's only been below 70 for about a week but I am already looking forward to buds on the trees and the snow (which hasn't even arrived yet) to fully melt away. I do love the smell of apples baking and pumpkin pie. I also love fall decorating with colored leaves, scarecrows, and pumpkins. Halloween is okay and Thanksgiving is very nice. The cold, however, makes me wonder why I have stayed in Wisconsin all these years. We all make changes this time of year. The most apparent is our change in wardrobe. Then there is a change in decor for those who decorate seasonally. Then the changing of candles or whatever we use to fragrance our homes (and this may just be in cooking, baking, dehydrating, etc, whatever we do that brings about the seasonal smells we love so much). This year my whole household is changing. We will have new routines to make things run more smoothly as well as making changes in our physical house such as badly needed repairs and paint and anything else we find necessary to do. When these things are done, I will be ready to take on a new career in writing. I love my CNA job but I don't feel it is what I'm called to do. Right now I'm just learning how to get it started so that I can quit my job sooner.

So tell me what do you love about autumn? What do you do to bring about your favorite autumn smells? What changes, if any, are you inspired to make?

Slipping

She is slipping,
slowly slipping,
into the darkness,
into the abyss
of nothingness.
I reach for her
wanting to pull her up,
back onto solid ground.
She looks at me tenderly.
Smiling at me from her doom,
As though oblivious to her plight.
Her arms remain at her sides
unreceiving of the help
she doesn't seem to know
she needs so much.
Pain swells inside me,
taking over my heart.
Rain falls from the dark clouds
forming in my eyes.
How does she not see?
She is letting him win.
He that we never see.
He never sees her
and yet if he saw her now
if he saw her secret life
he'd grin his evil grin
because he'd know
he had taken everything from her
putting her in the ground
because she was not strong enough
to fight the feelings of loss
and too blind to see
that she is worth everything.
Nothing consumes her.
She is being consumed by nothing.

I Cried Today

I cried today.
I cried for someone
I never met--
for someone who
never existed,
except in imagination--
the imagination of
the writer, the actor, the director.
I cried for her past
and for her present.
I cried for her
yet I cannot cry for me.
I cannot cry my own pain.
I cannot heal my own aches,
the pain I feel--
resentment
anger
bitterness
all for the one
who was supposed to love me.

Anger Burns

I left him behind
But he still finds his way.
Eighteen years of anger
has built up inside of me.
Eighteen years of anger
no one has ever seen.
Though he's not been here
in five blessed years
he still finds ways
to add fuel to the flame
and still my anger burns on.
Old anger and new anger
burning through my soul.
Tears cannot quench
for he taught me well not to cry.
And so in my desert heart
the fire rages on.

Mom's Dead

My nose is stuffy.
My thoat is sore.
My head hurts
all the more.
My eyes burn.
My muscles are heavy.
There is no concern
for me as I lie in bed
exhausted and aching
from my foot to my head.
Forsaken and forlorn
Alone in bed waiting
for those I've borne
to recall the years
I cared for them
through sickness and tears.
But alas, they still demand
though I'm weak and tired
standing firm as quick sand.
So I cover my head,
close my eyes,
and tell them I'm dead.