Cleaning With Vinegar Tips

As I was packing to go home, I came across this list of tips for cleaning with vinegar. Tina uses vinegar for cleaning up around her house because it supposedly helps eliminate the cat smell. Yeah, it replaces it with the vinegar smell. Anyway, vinegar is useful for cleaning, so here are the tips:

1. GLASSWARE: 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar added to a gallon of rinse water will remove soap film from glassware and make it shine.
2. TOILET BOWL: Clean and deodorize your toilet bowl by pouring undiluted white distilled vinegar into it. Let it stand for about five minutes then flush. Stubborn stains may require scrubbing.
3. BATHTUB: Wipe down bathtub with vinegar and baking soda to remove film buildup. The baking soda makes it foam. Rinse clean with water.
4. ANTS: Ant invasions can be deterred by washing countertops, cabinets and floors with distilled vinegar.
5. GREASE: Filmy dirt and greasy residue can be removed from stove and refrigerator by wiping with vinegar.
6. GRASS OR WEEDS: Kill unwanted grass on sidewalks and driveways by pouring on vinegar.
7. CHROME: To polish chrome and stainless steel, moisten a cloth with white vinegar and wipe clean.
8. SHOWER CURTAIN: Rub a cloth dampened with vinegar to remove soapy, steamed-in film and mildew from your plastic shower curtain. Then rinse with clean water.
9. COFFEE MAKER: To remove stale coffee residue, fill the reservoir with vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle or two. When cycles are finished, run two cycles of clean water to rinse.
10. IRONS: Remove burn stains from your electric iron by mixing one part salt with one part vinegar in a heated small aluminum pan. Use this mix to polish the iron as you would silver.
11. LAUNDRY RINSE: Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white vinegar, depending on the size of the load, to the final rinse of your laundry to remove any left-over detergent. Especially useful when washing infant clothing/bedding. The vinegar smell goes away when the clothes/bedding are dried.
12. DRAIN CLEANER: Pour one cup of baking soda down the drain followed by one cup of white vinegar. Allow to foam for about one minute, then pour a gallon of HOT water down the drain.
13. VEGETABLES: Liven up slightly wilted vegetables by soaking them in cold water and vinegar.
14. FLOWERS: Add two tbsp. of vinegar plus three tbsp. of sugar to warm water (100*F) to keep fresh cut flowers blooming longer.
15. CABBAGE: Add vinegar to the cooking water of boiling cabbage to prevent the odor from permeating the house.
16. MEAT: A marinade of 1/2 cup of your favorite vinegar and a cup of liquid bouillon makes an effective meat tenderizer.
17. RICE: A tsp. of vinegar added to the water of boiling rice makes it white and fluffy.
18. FISH: Reduce fishy odors by rubbing fish down with white distilled vinegar before scaling it.
19. CHEESE: Keep cheese moist and fresh by wrapping it in a cloth that has been dampened with vinegar and sealed in an air-tight container.
20. EGGS: To produce better-formed egg whites, add a tsp. of vinegar to the water.
21. ONION ODORS: Quickly remove the odor of onions from your hands by rubbing them with distilled vinegar.
22. PICKLING: Cider, Red Wine, Balsamic and other dark vinegars are good for pickling, but may discolor lighter colored pickles such as pears, onions or cauliflowers. In this case, a distilled or white vinegar may be preferred.
    

So there are a bunch of things to do with vinegar. If you can stand the smell that is. I'll post more crazy cleaning hints and tips as I find them. I have to get this place packed up and cleaned up so it can be rented when we leave.

The 2 FAT Cats.

So, I got a couple of pics of the 2 fat cats, the all gray one is named Rascal, the striped one is named Tiger. The pictures don't really show just how fat they really are. I may try to get better pics, but I don't know if I will. Today I am rounding up all of Tina's stuff that she brought over here. Yeah, I helped her. I am shocked at how much stuff she brought over.

Brian is up putting some doors on the storage area on the "80". He is very anxious to get out of Reno too. He has not had much good luck at the Casinos, and he is out of his unemployment. Plus, he can't stand how Steve is so slow to do things. We did not get them moved up to the "80", which does not surprise anyone. They may be upset that we are leaving, but I am not staying here for the winter. I don't know if I will come back either. Yeah, I really don't like Reno. That's it for now.

Just a Few Notes

I have taken some pics of the the area around our Duplex, also a few pics of some of Tina's cats. I haven't been able to get pics of the two FAT cats, but I will before we leave. I will have to leave some of the stuff that Tina gave me, because as I said before, we only have Brian's car. I took pictures just outside our door, the area surrounding our duplex, Tina & Steve's house, and more of the duplexes around the area. I am anxious to get back to Cedar, I can hardly believe we have been here for 5 months. We've had some fun, but just haven't really been able to go anywhere, which has been a REAL DRAG!

I gave up trying to get the cats all fixed. Many of them are destined to be coyote dinner and there is really nothing I can do about it, so why fight it? Maybe I will take some pics of the hats I've made, or not. I will miss having Tina's camera, I should have used it more. Got to download the pics now. For some reason, I'm having trouble getting some of the pics to download, I will continue trying until I get totally frustrated. More later.

Our Time In Reno is Almost Up

It has been 5 months since we first got here, we were able to help Tina & Steve out a little bit, but not as much as I had hoped to. We got 5 of their female cats spayed, but were unable to get the other 20 cats fixed. We were not able to get homes for any of them, but the coyotes had some good dinners it seems. We were not able to get them moved out of their current house and moved up to their house on the hill, nicknamed the "80". We don't know why it is called that. We were not able to help them liquidate very much of their stuff, although we helped them sell $3000 dollars worth of items on ebay and through direct contact with buyers. (to sell the bass fiddle.)

It has not been that much fun because we did not have any money, I was denied foodstamps. (yes, I went through all of that nonsense at the "Welfare Office" only to be denied after one month.) Our weekends were spent going to Costco or Sam's Club so Tina & Steve could buy cat food. Some of the highlights have been, going to the Rock & Gem show, Rendezvous, getting the cat spayed, selling the Bass, getting 5 of Tina's cats spayed, visiting Penny & Jerry and planning to go home.

I cleaned too many stinky refrigerators, too many pissed on items, ate too much fish, too much salad, and went to Sam's club once too many times. I did have time to crochet 42 hats, Tina sold one at work for $35, and gave one to one of her co-workers. I didn't make them to sell, I just needed something to do that didn't include cleaning or going through all kinds of stuff.

There doesn't seem to be much more we can do to help Tina & Steve, so it is now time to go home. Tina will not like this, she will have to deal with it. I can't believe how barren it is here, and that I didn't remember it being this way. Reno seems to be a very backward place, and if they didn't have the casinos, they would just be a windy speck on the road. OK I got the venting done.

I had some more pictures of the cats to post here but Steve decided to put new software on the computer and in the process, deleted all of them. I am going to take more because you just need to see the two big FAT cats she has. Also, she needed to use an ear candle, so Brian took a picture of her that I will post. Tina gave me a bunch of stuff that I will probably have to leave here because we just have Brian's car. I won't miss the stuff, and being here shows me that collecting a bunch of stuff is not worth the hassle. If I collect stuff, I will have to be very strict about what I collect, and I will have to be able to sell it if it gets to be too much. Time to stop the ranting and raving. I am really looking forward to getting back to Cedar.

We Went To A Rendezvous

We went to a Rendezvous on the 13th of June and it was pretty fun. It wasn't too hot which was good. It was more of a Civil War type thing with most of the people dressed up in Civil War era costumes. They had a re-enactment of a Civil War battle that was pretty cool. Of course in their version, the South won. Tina & Steve bought some stuff, but I didn't see anything worth paying money for. I should have taken pictures, but I forgot Tina's camera. This entry is short because I'm just catching up with things.

At The Food Stamp Office

Today I finally went to apply for food stamps. What a Zoo! They Actually call the place the Welfare Office and boy was it busy. We got there at @ 10:00 am and I didn't get to hand in my application until @2:00 pm. It was a long wait, you have to take an application, fill it out, then go back and get a number. By the time I had the form filled out, and I was writing as fast as I could, they were already up to number 51.

After several hours, I got to hand in my application and get an appointment. That means I have to go back tomorrow and spend another couple of hours waiting. Oh well, we really need to get the cat spayed if she ever gets over being in heat. If I'm on food stamps, it will only cost @$10. I think I can afford that.

We finally got Tina's Bass fiddle shipped, and the people who bought it got it on Saturday. They really liked it, and I think they got a really good deal. Tina sold it for $2000, eventhough Steve didn't think it would sell at all. So now we are going to put a lot of stuff up on ebay. I wanted to do that today, but the food stamp adventure killed that, so maybe we will get a few things on.

Well, I have to cook dinner so I'll be writing again later.

Oh My Gosh, We Sold Something on Ebay!!!

On Tuesday Tina and I posted some Paradise crochet patterns for fashion dolls, like Barbie. Wednesday Tina rushed over after work and wanted to know if Steve had told us what had happened on Ebay. Well, I thought there was something wrong with the listing, like we got banned or something. She was very upset and distressed because the crochet patterns had sold already. She didn't know what to do next. So, I said we email the person who bought the patterns, tell her she won the bid, and send her the booklets.

She was very relieved, then went to work to print off a mailing label so we could send the booklets on Thursday. So, on Thursday we mailed the booklets and then found out that the check for the Bass had cleared. Now Steve wants to put a bunch of stuff on Ebay. Next I am taking pictures of a bunch of cigar boxes Tina has. The bird cigarette dispenser hasn't sold yet, but we can just keep listing it. Also, Steve was able to finally sell a root rake.

I got the cat that was left behind to eat some tuna while I was sitting 3 feet from it. All 4 of her kittens were back in the box.

Things Are Going Slowly Here

Things are going kind of slowly here. We have been working on one of the rentals, or I should say Brian has. I was over there cleaning when Brian said not to clean until he had finished painting all of the window seals. That was OK by me. So tomorrow I will be over there cleaning. The house will be ready to rent by Friday, or my part will be done.

The former tenants left a cat that had kittens over there last week. Someone is feeding her so I don't know why they don't just take her home. She will have to be moved when the house is rented, and that will be soon. Two people have already said they want to rent it, it's just a matter of one of them handing over some money.

Tina's Bass has been sold, so we are just waiting for the check to clear. She is giving me a finder's fee for finding the buyer. We put an item on ebay but it didn't sell. It was a cigaretter dispenser in the shape of a bird. I am including a picture of the box we are sending the bass to the buyer in. It is pretty big. I'm also putting up some pictures of stuff around here, like our duplex, the cat, some stuff I crocheted, and the flowers Becca sent me for Mother's Day.

She sent me the flowers, Debby sent me an email, so what about the rest of my children? Brian went with me and Tina & Steve to the rock and gem show. I am happy to go different places here, but it is really baren. Until next time, don't blink too much or you'll find yourself in another dimension.

We Went To The Rock &Gem Show

Yesterday we went to the rock & gem show with Tina and Steve. It was fun, there were lots of rock displays, beadwork, jewelry, and crystals to look at. There were even two people who chipped arrowheads like Josh does. They had silent auctions where you could bid on different rocks, jewelry and stuff. I bid on several wire wrapped crystals and won. I only paid $2.15 for 6 wire wrapped crystals. There were 5 amethysts and one quartz. Tina bought 3 5 gallon buckets of rocks, some geodes, some fossils, and a glow-in-the-dark light blue dragon. She also bought me a set of glass turtles, a big one and 3 little ones. They are really cute.

Brian got to pan for some gold, and found some small flakes. The lady said they were worth about $7.00. He has had a bad ear-ache for almost 2 weeks now. I made him some ear candles which he has used. The first time he used one, he pulled out about 2 inches of ear wax. Well, that's all for now. Check out the pictures at the bottom. One is of the ear candles, and the other is of Megatron.

A Recipe For Homemade Laundry Soap

I know that I said I would post later, but I just remembered this great recipe for homemade laundry soap. It works really well, and is very economical once you have purchased all of the ingredients. Tina uses it all of the time, and I have been using it as well. It really does get things clean.

RECIPE:

1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, or any hand soap. (The Fels Naptha Soap is made especially for washing clothes.)
1 cup of Washing Soda
1 cup of Baking Soda
1 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax

Chop up the bar of soap, place in food processor and grind into small bits. This is the hardest part, as the soap sticks to the blades somewhat. Add all of the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and grind until well mixed. Place in container. Use 2 Tablespoons per load. (About 1/8th of a cup.) It works best if dissolved in hot water in the washer first.

Here are 2 other tips:
Dawn dishwashing liquid makes a good stain remover.
White vinegar makes a good fabric softener.

Well, this really is the end of my blogging for today.

Lots of Stuff To Do

We still have a lot of stuff to do and things are progressing very slowly. We have to clean, paint and get one of the 3 bedroom places ready to rent. The old tenants moved out last weekend. We also need to sell a bunch of Tina & Steve's stuff. This isn't easy because they don't want to know how much stuff they have that is useless to them, at least Steve doesn't, and there is so much of it that it is very overwhelming.

Tina is going to put up an ebay store where we will list most of it. I have found a buyer for her bass fiddle, and we are wrapping up the negotiations. Next, I will be looking for buyers for the Big Water property. Hopefully we can get a buyer for that asap.

The cats will be the next big issue to tackle. They have way too many of them, so they need to decide which ones they really want to keep, and find homes for the rest of them. Maybe Best Friends can help with that. I will be emailing them about it in a couple of days. I'll post some pictures on the blog soon. For now, I am just learning to work the camera. It has been very fun and interesting here, even with the weather being cold and windy.

The cat is enjoying all of the attention she gets from Tina & Steve. She likes to check all of the stuff that Tina brings over. For a while, she was in heat again, and rolled around Steve's feet when he came over because he smelled like the male cats. That is all I'm writing about for now.

We Made It To Reno.

Hi, just a note to let everybody know that we made it to Reno, and are having a good time. The cat must have shed at least half of her hair on me during the ride. She was pretty upset for the first part of the ride, but then she found a spot between two boxes in the back so she was able to calm down. She has adjusted to her new surroundings and seems to like it here. She gets to sit in the window and watch the birds.

We visited with Penny and Jerry, went to their house and met their dog. They have a sheltie, and he is pretty cute. They have a very nice house, it is pretty big. They want to take us sight seeing as well. Yesterday we saw a herd of 6 deer walk by the house. Brian scared them by opening and shutting the window. It has been cold the last week, but today and yesterday it was pretty warm. A lot of good things have happened so far, We've gone a few places, I'm sure we'll go to some more. Well, I want to have some ice cream with strawberries so I am ending this here.