Tuesday 4- House and Home

 Good Morning!  Here it is Tuesday already, and time for another Tuesday 4!  But first, I wanted to thank you all for visiting with me yesterday on my Monday, Monday Post, HERE.  If you did visit yesterday, you will recall that one of the calendar pictures I shared (from the Teapot Calendar) talked about having some fresh homemade crusty bread and butter with tea.  Well...yesterday was a kind of cloudy and rainy day and after that subliminal suggestion was made into my brain, I just had to have some fresh homemade bread and butter.  And since today's meme is about our "House and Home", I thought I'd add this little delightful prologue.  

One of the special little appliances that  I have that I love a lot but don't use as often as I should is this Bread Machine: 

My parents gave this to me almost 25 years ago, and it still works perfectly...I just need to use it more often!

Of course it took all afternoon for it to complete this beautiful loaf of bread...

It sure smelled wonderfully delicious as it was going through all of the stages of mixing, rising, and then baking:

And since I had a late start, it was almost bedtime before the bread was baked and cooled enough to slice and eat...but I wasn't going to bed until I had some of that warm bread slathered with butter and spread with some strawberry jam. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if the strawberry jam had been homemade too...and if I could have some with YOU!  

And so with that mouth watering beginning to our day this morning, let us now continue with the real Tuesday 4 "House and Home" selection for today...

House and Home

Hello and welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4

Let's share our home secrets with one another. Maybe you have some ideas other ladies would love to hear about.

This picture reminds me of my mother's old Electrolux cannister vacuum sweeper! 

I remember using it many many times growing up.

1. What household tool or appliance do you rely on a lot?

That would be our Fuller Brush Electrostatic Sweeper:

It is quite handy when you don't want to pull out the big vacuum cleaner for a few crumbs or sand, or whatever. It will pick up dirt on hard floors as well as on carpet. I actually used to sell these for a living! I was once a "Fuller Brush Man"...well, Woman...and was even the District Manager for the western Ohio district many moons ago...I recruited and trained other salespeople how to sell these sweepers, along with all of the other great products. Yes, they are still in business, but I think they do more sales online than door to door these days. As a matter of fact, I just ordered another one of these sweepers for my son for his birthday...well, it's for Dixie Cottage...because we keep having to pull out the big vacuum cleaner to keep the floors clean after people come in with dirty shoes on the carpet...and this would be such a big help. Shhhh! don't tell him that's what he's getting for his birthday. I wouldn't want to spoil the "surprise". Ha ha. Actually, it's his own fault. He came in the other day with dirty shoes after being out in some mud somewhere, and tracked up the whole store.

 after we had just vacuumed. So that clinched it! This is what he's getting for his birthday! LOL. 

2. Which laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dish detergent work best for you?

I use All Free and Clear laundry detergent.  I am sensitive to a lot of fragrances have to stay away from most scented laundry soap or fabric softeners.  

I have recently started using these "fabric softener balls" in the dryer. These are the rubber kind and they just bounce around in the dryer with your clothes and somehow they make the clothes soft without chemicals. They help with the static cling too, but not quite as well as I'd like. Yet still, this is better than the chemicals that are in fabric softener sheets or liquid, and no annoying overpowering fragrances. The only problem is they keep getting caught up in a pants pocket or something and you have to play hide and go seek with them in every load of clothes. I am missing one ball somewhere...it may be under the couch or still stuck in someone's pants or shirt somewhere. LOL.

I use Dawn dish detergent. I love it. I use it for many things...like a degreaser on clothes before I throw them in the wash if we get a grease stain or tea stain on them.

I also use this dish washing wand to wash dishes with. We don't have a dishwasher and I find this very helpful to get into glasses, cups, pots and pans and everything, so I don't have get my hands in the water quite as much. 

And these "Super Eraser pads" are great. Like the Mr. Clean Magic erasers. They clean up pot marks on the white sink, and stains on the counter top, tea stains in the tea cups, etc.  They can be used for so many things and really work very well! I buy this brand at Dollar General.

3. What soap do you like to use? Where do you have soap in your home... bathroom, kitchen,

 shower?

I am so glad you asked.  This is the soap I use for my face and body (shower). I used to use Dove soap, but my face would break out every so often. I have never had that problem since I started using this goat milk soap. It is wonderful!!  We also sell this at Dixie Cottage, but I was first introduced to it at the flea market in Salt Springs when we lived there. The lady who makes this wonderful Goat Milk Soap lives in Salt Springs and had a booth at the Flea Market. She raises her own goats and makes this in her home.  After we moved away from there, I was making a trip down there (30 miles) every so often when I'd run out of soap to get more.  Then when Benton and Rose took over the Dixie Cottage Store in St. Augustine, they decided to carry this soap in the store, so I would get it from them.  And now that they've moved the store here to our hometown, our friend has decided to become one of our regular vendors and so we can keep supplied without having to travel! Yay! I love this soap, and lavender is my favorite fragrance. She has many other fragrances and also makes some lovely scented soy candles that we sell in the store.

She also crochets these scrubby face cloths...

(photo courtesy of Dixie Cottage)

The hand soap I like is a foaming hand soap from Bath and Body Works: Eucalyptus Mint. It's not too strong of a fragrance and has a fresh clean scent.  Although I must admit that at the moment I am out of it and I have refilled this with some Softsoap refill liquid soap and I had to add water to it and make it foamy in this dispenser bottle. I haven't been able to get to a B&BW store in a long time. I need to go restock. I guess I could order it online, huh? However, once again, I am very careful about what I buy from there as most of their fragrances are much too strong for me. This is practically the only one that I can use.

4. What is the secret to a clean home in your opinion?

Well, that's a good question. I am not the world's best housekeeper. I've gotten really lazy over the past few years.  I think the secret is to find a good housekeeper that doesn't charge too much! LOL. I'd be thrilled to find one that I could afford.  Truthfully, the secret is to keep at it and don't let it get away from you.  I try to keep up with dusting and cleaning the bathrooms on a regular basis. My hubby takes care of the vacuuming, but he's not real big on moving furniture and getting behind things and in the corners, etc. So every so often I have to get up my strength and energy and tackle those jobs, but I am not really physically able to do it very often. Once he sees that I mean business, he will help me...but it's one of those things that I find it's better not to nag about if you know what I mean...LOL. I'm thankful for any help I can get. And yes, he will help me...it's just not something he would think to do on his own.

Now that we are helping at Dixie Cottage almost every day (Tue-Sat) for at least half a day, I am having to restructure my home cleaning routines a bit. Maybe it will actually help me to be more organized. Retirement is wonderful, but I think I do stay up with things better when I have a regular routine.

This is probably the best example of a woman found in the Bible, known as the "Proverbs 31 Woman", or "The Virtuous Woman", or as in this version, "The Wife of Noble Character".  These characteristics are a beautiful description of what makes a good "housekeeper" and much much more...especially verse 30...

Proverbs 31:10-31 NIV

The Wife of Noble Character

10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

16 She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

And so, there you have the Tuesday 4 meme for this week.  And now I must go have another slice of that wonderful homemade bread...maybe toasted along with an egg for breakfast before we head out to Dixie Cottage this morning.  Thankfully we are only working there until noon each day instead of all day. Our son and/or daughter in law come in for the afternoons...so we can still come home for lunch and take a nap! LOL!!

Thank you, Annie, for putting this together for us each week. I look forward to reading what everyone else has to say about this subject!  Have a blessed week!