My sewing machine wouldn’t work. Well, it would after a fashion. I could sew a straight stitch backwards. That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I bought my Viking 6460… what, over 30 years ago? REALLY? You mean it’s an antique? What does that make ME?

All those colors you see across the top represent different stitches. I have my favorites, and a while back I wanted to do some mending with some of those stitches. That’s when I discovered that I couldn’t. Not to worry, the same thing had happened years earlier and a fabric store had fixed it by giving the machine a good oiling.

So we took the machine, all 40 pounds of it, back to that store, which had changed hands in the meantime. Weeks later, I got a phone call that they couldn’t fix the machine. They couldn’t even figure out Read the rest >>>

Baking soda is a common, inexpensive household item that can be used for many kinds of cleaning projects. In an era when we are all exposed to many toxic chemicals, it’s nice to know that something so mild can be effective. We actually make a form of baking soda in our own saliva, where it helps keep plaque from forming!

Here are some of the uses of baking soda for cleaning:

I’ve long used baking soda and white vinegar to keep my kitchen and bathroom drains clear and fresh smelling. I just put a teaspoon or less of baking soda into the drain and then pour in about a tablespoon of vinegar. I must admit that I am the kind of cook who rarely measures anything, and the same is true for these proportions, so feel free to experiment to find what works best in your sinks. Start small, though — the combination of baking soda and vinegar causes an active fizzling and bubbling! Read the rest >>>

After reading shampoo bottle labels in the grocery store recently, I decided to explore my options for chemical-free shampoo… that is, shampoo free of chemicals that are toxic to the environment or to people who use the products.

Here are three routes you can go:

1. Homemade Shampoo
2. Selecting a commercial shampoo which ranks well for its contents
3. Giving up shampooing altogether. Really!

I’ll discuss each one in turn.

Homemade Shampoo

Googling “homemade shampoo” gave me enough ideas to keep me busy for weeks! In a nutshell, many of the recipes are based on using castile soap. It is available in various scents or (I hope) plain, and comes as liquid, flakes or bars.

So what is castile soap? Read the rest >>>

Here’s an artistic composting toilet from Emma Holister of http://www.art-margin.com/ — I can’t completely agree about compost toilets not smelling, having had two of them that did now and then smell… but they were not this kind.

Also, perhaps because I’ve lived in third world countries, or maybe I’m just more fussy than Emma, but I would not personally use humanure on veggies. Fruit trees, yes… I just like a little more distance from that compost!

These are small points, though. I completely agree with her comments about the need for such toilets worldwide.

For larger images, just click on any one of these pictures. —Zana Read the rest >>>