Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!




Happy Halloween from the Dirty Goat Farm!  Have a boo-tiful day!  

Song of the Witches
By William Shakespeare

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.


Macbeth: IV.i 10-19; 35-38



Sunday, October 28, 2012

DIY Homemade Play-do

About the most fun any kid can have is playing with play-do.  But who really wants to buy that little tiny container from the store only to have to end up with a brownish-blackish-mucky color that only lasts for about a week or so before it dries out?  Growing up, my mom always made our own play-do.  I don't remember buying it from the store very often, and after having my own children, I started making my own play-do.  So simple!  And the kids love to help with it!

Our Smoky Mountain Vacation


Several weeks ago my family went on a short trip to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee.  It was a really great trip and so nice to get away from it all.  We rented a cabin for about four days at Moose Creek Crossings.  Our cabin was actually right at the base of the Smoky Mountain National Forrest, and we ended up spending a lot of time in those woods.

We also went on a short day trip on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad on an old restored open aired train car.  The theme for the trip was Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin and the trip took us out to a pumpkin patch with all kinds of activities for the kids.  While there, each of the kids got the opportunity to bring home a pumpkin.  However, we only picked out two.  Most of the kids on the trip dressed up in their Halloween costumes, and our kids each wore a hoodie made into an animal or character.  We had a pink monkey, an owl, a panda bear, a purple kitten, and a robot.  Then we sprayed each of their hair different colors.  They really enjoyed that.  Overall, the trip was a blast.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Banana Bread Recipe



We have a lot of favorite things at our house, but pretty close to the top of the list is banana bread.  My kids could eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I allowed it.  And it is even better (which is truly hard to imagine after cutting a slice while it is still warm) after it has sat in tin foil overnight to make the top sticky.  Nummy nummy! 

DIY Dishwasher Detergent



My family does not actually USE our dishwasher unless we are canning something.  And even then that is only because we do so much at one time that we do not have the space we need on the stove top to heat everything up like it needs to be.  So, we throw the mason jars in the dishwasher and it works just fine.  That is really the ONLY thing we use the dishwasher for.  The reason being is because when we started cutting out chemicals in our house, the dishwasher detergent was one that had to go.  But none of the “green” detergents really did the job.  They all left a film after they’d been washed.  We started hand washing and just haven’t gone back, even though I make a pretty good dishwasher detergent now that does work like it is supposed to.

Setting up a Sewing Machine



If you are not an avid seamstress…  sometimes pulling out the sewing machine can seem…  well, a bit intimidating.  It’s one of those humps, that unless you have someone helping you along, may seem impossible to get over.  Learning to sew on your own can be a lot of trial and error.  This is me, trying to help ease some of that sewing grief. 

Some of the biggest mistakes people make are also the most simple to remedy, but unless you know you are making them, then how can you remedy them?  There is only ONE way to set up a sewing machine.  If you do it wrong, it can mess up the whole project and leave you feeling very flustered. 

Setting up a Sewing Kit




I get all kinds of excited over my sewing box gadgets.  I can spend hours pouring over the little knick-knacks, buttons, and embellishments at the cloth stores.  I just find it fun.  Comparably, I am sure Keith, my husband, is the same way at the auto supply store.  I don’t get it, but I am sure he doesn’t really see what I see in sewing supplies either.  It is just one big way we are different (but kind of the same).  I also LOVE having everything I need organized and available.  I don't have to search for things in drawers anymore.  Making a sewing kit solved all those problems for me. 

DIY Laundry Detergent and Laundry tips



I have taken to making EVERYTHING I need to wash my family’s laundry.  So, I am typing this up because I would love to share it with everyone.  It has saved us a lot of money, and it is so simple that anybody can do it.  And if you are anything like me, I also feel a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I have made something myself.

DIY Wool Dryer Balls



Use up the last of your dryer sheets and then never go back!  I got a good alternative for you for the dryer.  Make wool dryer balls!  They take out the static, they keep the stuff in the dryer bouncing around so that they dry faster, plus your clothes aren’t exposed to any chemicals.