AJ's 3-D Animation Project

Here is one animation project that AJ just turned in.  Pretty amazing, huh?  This is after about 8 classes!

A Proper British Garden

I am a voracious reader.  I read the newspaper regularly as a child.  If there wasn't a newspaper around I would read a cereal box.  I probably have the Wheaties nutrition facts memorized.  But, I digress.  A lot of the books I read are by British authors.  In these books, from those amazing writers across the Pond, there is almost always something written about a garden or gardening.   As in the "Let's go take a turn about the garden, my dear," or "Gardening is such beneficial exercise," or "Duchess so-and-so was kind enough to give me cuttings from her lovely garden."  I cannot recall a book by a British author that neglects to talk about this, I mean, England is a garden, right?

The Brits have gardening in their blood.  From the invasion of the Romans bringing their ornamental gardens to the invention of the lawn mower to the formation of a horticultural society, the British have been invested in gardening for centuries.

Anyways, for some time now, AJ and I have tried to come up with a solution to rid ourselves of the swamp in one corner of the yard.  If you walk to the west side of the backyard in bare feet, you will sink into the ground and have to squelch your way to safety.  Part of the problem is our neighbor's sprinklers, which, we found out, spray directly over the 6 foot vinyl fence into our yard.  In addition to this, it is in the shade much of the day, compounding the issue.  AJ and I have negotiated about this sinking section of lawn: he gets to manage the fruit/veggie garden on the east side of the yard, and I will get--wait for it--a Proper British Garden complete with any selection of plants I desire!  While I am not going to learn all the scientific names of the flowers I plant, I figure I can be a pretty devoted gardener nonetheless.   Just like all the books I read!

So here we are, about to commence on Project PBG.  I am hoping, as a side effect of this project, that somehow my British accent will improve and I will comprehend the slang when I watch Law & Order: UK.

Cheers!

Now all I need is to buy a really obnoxious sun hat to garden in.

Adventures with Household Cleaners and a Minty Fresh Toilet

I have a new love.  Borax.  Yes, that's what I said, Borax.  Today I had an adventure in my bathroom.  I decided that I would try not to use so many chemicals in our house and have found several online sites for homemade cleaning solution recipes.  It's amazing how simple ingredients--Borax, vinegar, kosher salt, lemon juice, toothpaste, denture cleaning tablets, rubbing alcohol, etc.--can actually make effective cleaners.  These are the recipes I tried today:

Disinfectant-
1 part each of vinegar, purified water, and isopropyl alcohol

Bathtub/sink cleaner-
Wet shower thoroughly, get a scrubby pad or sponge wet, put some borax on it and scrub the bathtub and tile.  Rinse.  I have to say that I tried doing this with baking soda and it didn't work.  It also got a stain out of the sink.  Thank you Borax!

Mineral, scum deposits on faucet-
Saturate paper towels with vinegar and wrap around faucet.  Let soak for at least 20 minutes, then wipe off and rinse.  We don't have a water softener and the buildup was pretty bad.... now the faucet is all shiny!

Floor/glass cleaner-
We have laminate floors in the bathroom so I mixed one part vinegar to two parts purified water in a spray bottle... it really works, especially on the mirror!!

Daily shower cleaner-
I have yet to see if this works, but mix one part purified water to one part hydrogen peroxide.  We'll see.

Oh!  and the coup de grace:
I got out a hair dye stain off of the toilet seat with the disinfectant mixture and baking soda.  It foams because of the vinegar in the mixture... but it works!

Ok, I have yet to find something that will get rid of the hard water in the toilet, but I'm working on it.  Vinegar and baking soda work great for regular cleaning, as well as Borax, but I might have to resort to something more potent... my next experiment will be with denture cleaner.  I have heard this is effective cleaning porcelain surfaces, we'll see if it gets the job done.   The trick will be not cracking the toilet with pouring boiling water in it for the denture cleaner.  This one will be interesting.  Who wouldn't want a minty fresh toilet?

P.S.  Kosher salt works well with Borax as an abrasive for scrubbing.