Umbrellas and Laundry

No, they really don't have anything to do with each other.  But they have everything to do with the two pictures I have to share today. 

The first picture is one I will most definitely have to scrapbook... but what should the title of this page be?  I can't come up with something cute and clever and... umbrella-ish.

Yes, that is Sammy.  Yes, he is asleep.  In his bed.  With an open umbrella.  Just in case of rain?

On another note, one of my newest passions is making natural, homemade cleaners.  I have made a heavenly lavender all-purpose spray that I use for anything and everything, and an orange-scented disinfectant spray that would be lovely... if only I could find a spray bottle that wasn't broken.  Apparently the $1 bottles at Wal-Mart only have a life expectancy of... well, actually, it never worked.  And my lavender bottle only works if you spray it upside down a few times before you spray it right-side-up.  One day I will find the perfect spray bottle!

Last night I cooked up a new creation.  It is homemade laundry detergent, and it smells so fresh and clean, I could hardly pull Mike away from it!  Here is my recipe (adapted from several others):

1 bar of Fels-Naptha (to clean)
2 cups Washing Soda (to remove stains)
2 cups Baking Soda (to deodorize)
3 cups Borax (I use more borax than some other recipes do because we have hard water, and borax acts as a water conditioner as well as a cleaner.)

1. Grate the Fels-Naptha.  I chopped my Fels-Naptha into 1-inch cubes and stuck it in my Vita-Mix for a minute.

2. Stir all of the ingredients together.

3. Into another bowl, run all of the ingredients (a cup at a time) through a sifter.  Anything that doesn't fit through the sifter, put back into the Vita-Mix (or a food processor or blender) and blend until powdery.  This includes any chunks of white powder plus any of the Fels-Naptha that didn't get chopped small enough. 

4. Stir everything together and store in a container like this (or a big plastic tub would work too if you have one to recycle):

Use 2 TBSP of the laundry soap per large load of clothes.  This batch should make about 140 loads worth of soap.  There are no suds, so don't expect bubbles when you put it into the water, but my, the clothes smell fresh and clean when you pull them out!  You can add a few drops of essential oil (or fragrance oils if your family doesn't have sensitivity to artificial fragrances) if you want a scent.