Queen's Edge Farm: Laundry Room Project

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Laundry Room Project

I am almost too ashamed to post the before picture of my laundry room project. To preface the picture in way of an explanation, I can only offer that this room is a main thoroughfare. It is a catchall for all the muddy shoes, wet clothes, etc. After reading someone's blog last night and seeing their laundry room, it inspired me to get going on my own laundry room conversion. Oh, we had already painted it last year, and I had made a new curtain for the back door, but I never got the clutter under control. I have two washers and a dryer in the laundry room. I only use one washer now that my youngest is out of diapers, but I had one washer designated for her cloth diapers. So, enough stalling, here are two before pictures (yikes!).

See the two blue containers? They are holding my first batch of laundry soap that I made yesterday. In the process of cleaning the laundry room, I discovered a leak that my husband fixed, and the entire wall to the right of the washers was covered in black mold! I was shocked. It hadn't been there two weeks ago, when he installed the ice maker on the refrigerator. I quickly filled a pan with bleach water, and scrubbed down the wall, then opened the back door, and set a fan in the laundry room to dry it out. I think with all the rain and humidity we have been having the past few weeks, it caused the mold to start growing. We have NEVER had mold in the house until this time. It scared me....I have heard all those horror stories about the mold. I am so glad that I caught it before it ate through to the sheet rock. I will keep a constant eye on this area now. I swept a lot of trash from between the washers, and threw away about six empty soap containers. I organized the shelves above the washers, and now have two laundry baskets to the right, and on the floor, to sort clothes. I have a basket for dark, and one for everything else. The laundry room isn't big enough for any more baskets to sort it out further than that. My goal is to place shelves above the dryer for additional food storage (cans, etc.) and I'd like a shoe rack or shelf for all the shoes that will end up here. I am planning and hoping to keep it looking like this as much as possible. I also plan to purchase a shower curtain rod to go above both washers to hang clothes on hangers to dry. Okay, here are the after pictures.

I managed to wash about four loads of clothes after this, and have all my husband's and kids clothes washed for the week, and a couple of towels. Tomorrow is my normal laundry day, so I will finish up then....

I cleaned the house more again today, and did the never ending dishes. I had put spaghetti sauce in the crockpot before church, and we had that for lunch. I cleaned the kitchen, as well as, the dining room and bathroom, plus getting several yard sale items cleaned up (Taylor's potty chair and booster seat). To understand this you need to know my son recently turned 18 and is graduating from high school in a couple of weeks. Both of his sisters used these items, but I figure it's time to get rid of them. Man, I feel old.....

Baked chocolate chip cookies tonight with Hannah, while Lauren did her homework. She was a little upset that she couldn't help, but I am taking a page out of Susanna Wesley's book (the mother of the famous preacher John Wesley). She had 19 children, and she tried to devote a little one-on-one time to each of her children every week. She would spend the morning or a task with a child by his or herself. I do this by alternating turns with the kids on trips to the grocery store, picking up dinner out, and baking plus Taylor's case he gets out of school at 11:30 a.m. and is home before Lauren, so I have spent more alone time with him this year than I have for a long time.

The kids are in bed now (it's after 11 pm) and I am sitting here listening to the sound of the fan and the dryer (it rained all day, and I couldn't use the clothesline, there goes my electric bill!)

The worship service today was very thought provoking. Our pastor has urged us to spend more time in God's word and in prayer, and to lay all our anxiety's at His feet. He reminded us as went about our business this next week to remember that God cares and can handle it. So when we are in the midst of trouble, and don't know what to do, just pray and let God know that you know He cares for you, and give him the problem. Then wait and see what He will do. The scripture passage for today was 1 Peter 5. Hope you had a good weekend!

1 comment:

Homekeeper Mom said...: Your laundry room looks great!!! Inspires me to work on mine today, since I will be in there anyhow! :)

Love,
~Candi; May 7, 2007 at 8:44 AM

Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.