Hail to the Throne

 

Well, it snowed again today. It’s beginning to wear on my nerves, and the groundhog gets to enjoy the same status as Al Gore and his own poor predictions.

Meanwhile, life goes on. The goats have to be milked twice a day, the lambs have to be fed and doctored, the chicks in the house have to be watered and fed, the goats, sheep, cows and horses fed, the outside chickens have to be fed, the laundry done, house worked on, and the dogs fed, and of course, Randyman fed.

I burned my hands badly several weeks ago, because I went to hang up a cast iron pan I had just finished drying on the stovetop. I am blessed with a rather short memory, so I forgot it would be hot, as soon as I turned off the flame. My hands blistered up and went through all the stages of a slow healing burn, painful and annoying. Probably even more so because of my poor immune system which keeps me from healing well. I will blame my ding-a-ling incidents on that as well, just because I can. Today, over a month after burning myself, it came to my realization that I have aloe vera plants I have been taking care of since visiting my folks in California last November. The burns had hardened and for some reason were even more painful than when I first got them. I cut a leaf off and rubbed the gel on my hands, and sure enough, it brought instant relief. I will be researching how many ways I can use this amazing plant. Back in the ‘day’ folks knew how to take care of all their needs. Being an ‘educated’, ‘advanced’ and ‘modern’ society, we now have little clue of how to do that. Home remedy is now the exception, not the norm. I hope to learn how to engage in more self sufficiency and less consumerism. Baby step by baby step.

Because of the crummy weather, Randyman decided to take on a little job, and change the bolts on the chainpull toilet. The brass hinge and plates had become green with tarnish, which happens, of course. As I was not informed of his undertaking, I was not able to stop him from using both my KITCHEN SPONGE and scouring pad to try and clean them. Needless to say, when I caught him doing it, I was kinda grossed out.We will now be scrubbing pots with a washcloth.

Once again, the internet came to the rescue and after some researching, we mixed up a brass cleaner that worked with stellar results. Because it was so easy, I am going to share it with you. Actually, there are 2 recipes. One works better for deep tarnish, the other works best as a polish for brass that is not quite so long neglected.

Brass Cleaner:

1 tsp salt

½ cup white vinegar

flour

dissolve the salt in the vinegar and mix in enough flour to make a paste.

Spread paste on brass and leave for 10 minutes, then buff with soft cloth.

Brass Polish:

½ cup flour

½ cup laundry detergent

½ cup salt

½ cup bottled lemon juice

½ cup white vinegar

½ cup hot water

Mix dry ingredients in bowl, then add wet ingredients. Mix well.

Dip cloth in solution, and rub brass. Buff dry with clean soft cloth.

Store remained in tightly closed canning jar.

Shine On!