What to use vinegar for

The cleaning aisle at just about any grocery store is stocked with a dizzying array of options—and when it comes down to it, there are a lot of expensive, toxic, superfluous products crowding the market. Chances are, you already have one of the best, all-purpose cleaning agents in your pantry: white vinegar. As noted earlier, vinegar actually works as a great laundry booster, stripping away the chemical build-up that detergent leaves behind (and gets rid of clingy odors in the process). And beyond that, there are tons of other applications for the stuff around your home. Here, from vinegartips.com and frugalfun.com, 25 ideas for making the most of vinegar:
1. Deodorize the sink: Pour 1 cup baking soda, followed by 1 cup hot vinegar, down the drain. Let sit for at least 5 minutes, then rinse with hot water.

2. Deodorize the garbage disposal: Make ice cubes out of vinegar. Run the disposal with a few vinegar ice cubes and cold water.

3. Clean countertops: Wipe down surfaces with a rag dipped in vinegar.

4. Clean the fridge: Use a mixture of half water, half vinegar to wipe down the interior shelves and walls.

5. Remove soap build-up and odors from the dishwasher: Once a month, pour 1 cup of vinegar into an empty dishwasher and run the machine through its entire cycle.

6. Bust oven grease: If you’ve got grease spots on the oven door, pour some vinegar directly on the stains, let it sit for 15 minutes, and wipe away with a sponge.

7. To make old glassware sparkle: To get rid of the cloudy effect, wrap a vinegar-soaked towel around the glass and let it sit. Remove and rinse with hot water.

8. Get rid of lime deposits on your tea kettle: Fill the kettle with vinegar and let it boil. Allow it to cool, and rinse with water.

9. Remove stains in coffee cups: Create a paste using of equal parts vinegar and salt (or in lieu of salt, baking soda) and scrub gently before rinsing.

10. Treat Tupperware stains (and stinkiness): Wipe the containers with a vinegar-saturated cloth.

11. Remove stains on aluminum pots: Boil 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water.

12. Deter ant infestations: Spray outside doorways and windowsills, and anywhere you see a trail of critters.

13. Clean can openers: Scrub the wheel of your can opener with vinegar using an old toothbrush.

14. Remove stickers or labels: Cover the sticker with a vinegar-soaked cloth. Let it sit overnight—it should slide right off by morning.

15. Shine porcelain sinks: A bit of vinegar and a good scrub should leave them sparkling.

16. Clean grout: Pour on some vinegar, let it hang out for a few minutes, and buff with an old toothbrush.

17. Clean the shower door: Spray them down with vinegar pre-shower, or post (after you’ve squeegeed the glass) to remove hard water deposits.

18. Clean a grimy showerhead: To get rid of scum, fill a Ziploc with ½ a cup of baking soda and 1 cup vinegar and tie it around the showerhead. Let it sit for an hour, until the bubbling has stopped. Remove the bag and run  the shower.

19. Make a toilet sparkle: Pour in a cup or two of vinegar and let it sit there overnight before scrubbing with a toilet brush.

20. Polish linoleum floors: Add 1 cup of vinegar for every gallon of water you use to wash the floor.

21. Clean paintbrushes: Soak paintbrushes for an hour before simmering them on the stove to remove hardened paint. Drain and rinse.

22. Clean grills: Spray vinegar on a ball of tin foil, then use it to give the grate a firm scrub.

23. Disinfect wood cutting boards: Wipe down wood boards with a wash of vinegar.

24. Clean the microwave: Fill a microwave-safe bowl with 2 cups water and ½ cup vinegar. Heat it on full power for 3-4 minutes until it comes to a boil. Keep the door closed for a few minutes longer to let the steam fill the microwave, loosening the grime. Remove the bowl (carefully!) and wipe down interior walls with a sponge.

25. Polish patent leather accessories: Give them a rub with a vinegar-soaked cloth. Buff with a dry cloth.

Wilshire Woods Apartments caught on Fire

Before the snow of yesterday in Macon, Georgia there was fire in my daughter's apartment complex.  And what was so scary about it is, the same building she resides is actually on fire.  Around 1 or 2 pm Sunday afternoon, a knock on the door from our neighbor alerted us that the apartment next door is on fire.

Macon Fire Department Arrived Quickly to Put the Fire out.

There was about 4 firetrucks and an ambulance on the scene.

It was then I realized that I'm not prepared or have no plans in case of such an emergency.  I wasn't sure what to grab first.  But I knew to grab both of our laptop and my bag of clothes and head for downstairs.

I don't what caused the fire.  But as you can see these men are really risking their life to put the fire out.  I have to give them their props.  I mean the apartment was really blazing fire.  They quickly got it under control.  

I'm just glad no one got hurt.  One of my daughter's neighbor said that the person who lives, just happened to be at church.  Her and her grand children.  And the person who lives downstairs is also at church.  So luckily no one got hurt.  

I told my daughter to make sure that her smoke alarm is working properly.  I have to get her some batteries, just in case she doesn't check 'em.  

Crochet winter hat and scarf

I wondered in the yard section aisles at Walmart the other night.  I've been meaning to grabbed a yard here and there to satisfy my creative flow when it calls for it.  Don't get me wrong... but I love computer graphics and scrapbooking and bookbinding stuff.  That's my life.  But my creative juice doesn't stop flowing there.  Fortunately when I was under 11 years old, I was surrounded with women that crochet to make a quick buck.  I have to say... and give my token of appreciation to my cousin Rowena, who is a few years older than I.  And I think I remembered her teaching me techniques.  I used to follow her to a lady who collected all of her knitted and crochet completed work and would pay her for it.  I remembered the lady weighing the crochet materials.  I guess to make sure that all of the yard is used up.  But I loved crochet and it became a part of me ever since.

I guess creativity has always been a part of me no matter what type of creative activity I was exposed I delve in whole heartedly.  and let me say, I also like to sow, and ceramics.  Crazy right?   Anyway here's some photos of my crochet hat and scarf.

Hat and scarf, I crochet in one day.

The idea came to, while in the process of figuring out how to apply fringe at the end of my scarf.  I just continued to single chain crochet of 30 chains, folded and connected and continue to the next one set of 30 chains.

It would have take longer to create my scarf but I decided to create this gab of, I don't know what you call this pattern, in every 3 rows.

I added a single chain and inter looped in my hat to control the tightness of the hat on my head.

I love my new hand made crochet hat and scarf.  

I bought this yard for $2 at Walmart.  I'm planning to buy additional colors and make more hats and scarf.  and maybe I might just sell them on Ebay.com or give them away for as Christmas Gifts.