Grab Bag Thought for the Week:
“The best things in life are free. The next best things are REALLY expensive”. ~LK
Grab Bag Welcome September Moment:
OK… new month, new start, new you… listen to this feel-good September tune and just get up and dance, for goodness sake 🙂
Grab Bag Green Moment:
Ya know… most of those cleaning products we buy are engineered from one, single perspective… making money. To do that successfully, companies follow 3 principles:
1. It has to work.
2. It has to smell good, or at the very least not smell bad (focus groups show that good smells can be a game changer).
3. They need to manufacture them for as little as possible and sell them for as much as possible.
But with all their magazine ads and TV commercials, they have convinced us that we don’t know how to clean well, unless we use their products. I say bollocks. Here are 3 ingredients I’m betting you’ve got, and 1 you should go get:
- Olive oil: Use to lubricate and polish wood furniture (three parts olive oil to one part vinegar; or two parts olive oil to one part lemon juice).
- Potatoes: Halved potatoes can remove rust from baking pans or tinware – follow with a salt scrub or dip the potato in salt before scrubbing.
- White vinegar: Cleans linoleum floors and glass (from windows to shower doors) when mixed with water and a little liquid soap (castile or vegetable). It cuts grease and removes stains, and removes soap scum and cleans toilets (add a bit of baking soda if you like). Pour down drains once a week for antibacterial cleaning. Add to water in a spray bottle to kill mold and mildew.
- Tea tree oil: Can be added to vinegar/water solutions for its antibacterial properties. Use it to kill mold and mildew, and on kitchen and bathroom surfaces instead of chemical products. Add 50 drops to a bucket of water to clean countertops and tile floors.
- Reader Roxie S. adds that kosher salt and lemon works beautifully on copper.
Grab Bag “Wish I Hadn’t Done That” Moment:
Though many of “our generation” are not truly tech-savvy enough to frequently update software (and that is not, contrary to popular belief, buying new underwear), you might be…. or you might know someone who does. Sometimes the newer versions of things really throw a monkey wrench into your computer, which “was working fine until I upgraded to XYZ”.
OldVersion.com to the rescue! This website makes available a vast library of previous versions of software… versions that just might let you use that older printer again, avoid iTunes restrictive policies, or just play nicely with everything else you’ve got on there.
Grab Bag Exercise Encouragement:
Need some direction, variety, or motivation? RealAge.com provides free workout videos for all levels and time allowances. Check them out here:
Grab Bag Meditative Moment:
Somewhere in Time… Click on the arrow below, close your eyes, and breathe slowly and deeply for the six minutes of soul-soothing sounds from The City of Prague Philharmonic performing John Barry’s theme from the 1980 movie… :59 seconds into the music is when Christopher Reeve sees Jane Seymour in the flesh for the first time as a young woman…. enjoy…. being sent to you, from me, with lots of love…
Grab Bag Nifty Knowledge Moment:
This made the rounds on the ‘net a couple of years ago, but I know it didn’t stick for me… I guess you need to practice this one…
Grab Bag Brain Game:
Grab Bag Funny Stuff:
Worried about what your kids are up to when away at college or living away from home?? Thank goodness for TheOnion.com….
LK's Grab Bag 
Hey Lay
1) Just wondering if you used Idaho, Russet, or New potatoes when you scrubbed those baking pans?
2) the t-shirt folding worked perfectly for me the very first time.
Hey Slim-
I am in no way surprised at your laundry folding prowess. You showed that kind of talent at a very young age.
As for the potatoes, I found the Russet Burbank and the Norkotah work best for rusty residue. Just here to help…
try kosher salt and lemon I use it on the copper
it works great the dancing well we all know how fun that is
oxox