Astrology - Planetary Guide Home & Garden Tips

[CourtsInSession]

I have never baked homemade bread from scratch before. I've used my bread maker and frozen bread dough, but that's it. I got real brave the other day and found this site for beginner's bread. It only makes one loaf, so if it's a flop, it's not such a big deal. Believe it or not, I baked the most perfect loaf of white bread. My family couldn't get over how good it was. I must say I was really proud of myself doing so well. If I could do it, anyone could bake bread.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/beginnersbread.htm

 

[butterfly1978]

Another good cleanser is Baking soda. It is a GREAT exfoliater, it also helps heal the skin.

 

[housemouse]

I have never baked homemade bread from scratch before. I've used my bread maker and frozen bread dough, but that's it. I got real brave the other day and found this site for beginner's bread. It only makes one loaf, so if it's a flop, it's not such a big deal. Believe it or not, I baked the most perfect loaf of white bread. My family couldn't get over how good it was. I must say I was really proud of myself doing so well. If I could do it, anyone could bake bread.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/beginnersbread.htm

Courts, you are on the way! Baking bread is not that hard, and is a skill we all should have tucked under our aprons! With the cost of store bread close to 4 $ a loaf, why don't we take advantage of our skills at home!

The link you posted is excellent! So I will post it again.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/beginnersbread.htm

Once you get the basic loaf down, you can then begin to experiment. The only exception I take to the instructions posted is that exact measuring of flour isn't that important. Humidity, age of the flour, and all kinds of variables matter more. The most important thing is to get a "feel" for a good dough, and to realize that each loaf you make will be a whole different experience.

Happy baking to you, and know that nothing makes a family happier than the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven! My first loaves of bread were not all that terrific, by the way.

My husband joked with me that I needed to be careful not to drop them on the tender feet of the babes running around, and that they would be good door-stops, but he also encouraged me to keep trying, and that they made great toast! Thanks to his jokes, and his encouragement to keep on trying, I finally make bread that is better than anything you could ever buy, even in the most upscale market. And it really isn't hard.

I still haven't mastered "ciabatta", but someday I will. Really sticky doughs totally intimidate me, because I just can't get my head around a dough that is so sticky and slack.

 

[housemouse]

I am so excited about tomorrow. It is the "planting of the seeds" day, for those seeds that should sprout in 7 days.

I will be busy filling pots with seed-starting mix, putting them on heat mats, and waiting eagerly for their little heads to poke up, out of the mix.

Let's raise a happy spring prayer for the success of our seed sprouting endeavors tomorrow and the next day, and hope that we have a good garden year.

 

[CourtsInSession]

Thank you Housemouse and FifthE for the encouragement. Over the weekend I got read brave and baked cinnamon bread. I kind of overdid the cinnamon (of course I didn't think the recipe used enough so used too much...lol). It's still great toasted with butter, but at least I know not to get too brave and vear from the recipe for now. I would never have tried baking bread if HM and FE hadn't convinced me that I could do it. You guys are great and my famiy loves you with all the fresh baked bread coming out of the oven. My grandmother would be so proud of me, God rest her soul.

 

[housemouse]

Courts! A happy wave to you, a new fellow baker!

And, don't worry about following recipes exactly. Every time you bake bread, it will be different. The planets do that to keep us humble!

There is a very good bread baking book that I like. It is by "Brother Juniper", and will teach you everything you need to know. It is about 12 $ or so, the price of about 3 or 4 loaves of bread.

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Junip...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238033390&sr=1-1

 

[CourtsInSession]

Thanks Housemouse, I'll look into buying the book you referred to. Yesterday I made 3 1/2 dz. cinnamon rolls and iced them with cream cheese icing. Yum, yum. I just can't get over that I am doing so well at this task that I never would have tried to tackle before now.

I have been reading about bread / yeast enhancers to help preserve the fresh baked goods for about 5 days. Have you used these enhancers before? I hate the way you have a matter of hours to eat fresh baked goods before they start to get stale.

 

[housemouse]

Sorry not to have answered soon, Courts.

I usually freeze bread as soon as it completely cools. And, if you slice your bread after it has completely cooled, you can freeze the slices in little zip freezer bags, and thaw only as many slices as you need.

 

[housemouse]

Ok, those of you who started seeds when the moon was new, today is a very good day to pot them up, because the moon is full.

My tomato seedlings have their first set of leaves, and it is time to take them out of the seedling trays, and put them into their own little pots. Not so sure the peppers are ready, but these do not benefit from being potted up the way tomatos do, so I can wait a bit on those. Ditto the broccoli.

 

[Pope Jean]

I am so glad I checked this thread! I came here to help with Haleigh, and other missing kids in the future - I had no idea resources like this were available here.

Since last November, I have had this weird feeling - the best way I can say it is that "We have to be prepared for the survival of our family". I got such a strong feeling that the world was going to change, and FAST soon. I decided that we had to start doing some things, like have a backyard garden, learn to can and pickle, things like that, in order for us to survive. It seems like a weird thing to say but the urgency was overpowering how weird I felt if that makes sense.

When I have said such things out loud in the past, I got strange looks, like I was losing my marbles. I thought maybe I am paranoid or just being silly... but the determination never left no matter how I tried to talk myself out of it.

So I have to say I am so glad I read here today and saw other views on the same issue. Wow. I feel validated now. Thank you for that.

I talked this over with my therapist (yes I am CRAZY lol), because I thought I was being paranoid and maybe developing some of the anxiety I used to have, and he looked at me and said that I was right! He said that he thinks I am more 'in tune' with the world. The strange thing is, since I started to feel that sense of urgency, I have not been afraid at all. I feel ready... for the challenges. For whatever is to come. And in a way, I am excited about it, because it feels like a new world is coming. I feel like the way we did things in the past, as each of us as an individual island, is coming to an end and we are moving more towards a community living if that makes sense. We will know our neighbors, help each other out, watch each others children, it feels GOOD that its coming.

So thank you for this! You are all awesome!:blowkiss::blowkiss::clap::clap::clap:

 

[FifthEssence]

I do all the landscaping and yard work on our property. When I trim the schrubs after the full moon, I noticed they seem to retain their shape longer and don't grow as quickly.

 

[QB.]

This is an interesting thread.
I also am baking bread at home, by hand.
Housemouse, you give good advice. My bread is becoming more consistent but the other day they came out heavier and not as nice. I was in a hurry , I think.

I grew up in a bakery, my mother started a homebaking business after my father died. It came to be very successful and I grew up working in that bakery. I have always baked and cooked but the breadbaking is coming to me now.

There is a pretty good site for baking bread called The Fresh Loaf. I also have learned that making my dough in the morning and sticking it in the fridge for most of the day helps develop gluten and then doesn't require as much kneading. A slow steady rise , to my surprise, has its benefits. I take it out and work it up and then place it in a warm environment for a few hours for it to rise.
I also freeze it the same day as soon as it is cool. But it doesn't last very long and only manage to get one of the loaves into the freezer. I make a really nice whole wheat molasses bread, great for sandwhiches and toast.

 

[Lfss1995]

Thanks to Kat for the laundry detergent recipe. I love it.

 

[Angelzgram]

Okay, housemouse, what could we be doing for our gardens (and garden-wanna-be's) in zone 4 right now?
Also, any inexpensive ideas on stopping dogs from digging up everything, everywhere in my yard? (they push through, jump over, dig under fences)
and getting rid of tent caterpillars? I'm seeing them everywhere along the road now, especially in fruit trees! my poor crabapple tree!
:waitasec:
and do we have a tick problem! we put stuff on the dogs, but the ticks drop off before they die. And even though I vacuum every day, we still find them on the rugs and sometimes the couch!

I know chickens are great for this, but the dogs'd probably kill them, if they didn't take off first. :chicken:

I'm thankfully looking forward to lots of ideas from everyone!

 

[RubyB]

Thanks to Kat for the laundry detergent recipe. I love it.

Yes, I too whipped up a batch and am extremely impressed with it! TY!

Also on the "Soaps Gone By" website I found a recipe for a cleaner for walls/floors. Using 1 gallon of water, 1/3 c. of borax, 1 tbs. of ammonia and a tsp. of dishwashing liquid. Wowzer! It does a great job on the walls and it's super cheap! I'm keeping a spray bottle full handy to attack dirty fingerprints & such on the painted surfaces that inevitably pop up.
I used it on my vinyl kitchen flooring, but was disappointed that it dulled the wax shine considerably. I'm going back to using just vinegar & water for that chore.

 

[Zoe Bogart]

I've been away from this thread for a bit because I was on a 24-day road trip and prior to that, getting ready for the road trip, so I've been trying to catch up reading the threads.

One thread, which has been closed, caught my eye. Housemouse, I have to agree with you, we're in deep trouble. During my road trip, I listened to the news on the radio, and was shocked by what I was hearing. I knew sometime ago we were in big trouble but I must say, I'm a bit surprised at how fast our country (and the world in general) is taking the dive. I need to check other threads to see if this has been discussed further and if more charts have been done for the USA. This is frightening!

On a lighter note, I arrived home to see that my lettuce patch was ready for harvest. Now we have homegrown lettuce for salad! I'm so thrilled. While I was gone my daughter was watering my garden. My blackberries look great and are now darkening, so harvesting will be very soon. The figs are still growing. One of my new lemon trees has five lemons (they are usually ready for harvesting around February). Other veggies are still growing. It's been a few years since I've grown veggies and fruits and I'm quite excited. I thank you ladies here for your encouragement. It's actually fun to see these things growing in my very own gardens. Now I have to figure out how to keep things growing year round. I guess I'll have to build a greenhouse or convert my garage into one.

 

[Zoe Bogart]

and do we have a tick problem! we put stuff on the dogs, but the ticks drop off before they die. And even though I vacuum every day, we still find them on the rugs and sometimes the couch!



I'm thankfully looking forward to lots of ideas from everyone!

I don't know about your other problems, but we nip fleas in the bud with Suave Strawberry Essence shampoo. Yes, the people shampoo. They may have changed the name and I can't find our bottle, but any Strawberry Suave shampoo should do the trick. We've been bathing our pets in it for years and no fleas. The first sign of a flea, everybody (pets) gets a bath. We have at various times 12+ cats around here. My daughter works in an animal shelter and she's always bringing several kittens and cats here to monitor. Our pets don't have a flea problem and neither do the shelter pets.

Just bathe the pets with the shampoo and water, dry them off with a towel, and comb them to get the fleas off. Sometimes the fleas aren't quite dead, but they are stunned, so it's very easy to get them off the pet. Be sure to make sure you mash the fleas before disposal to be sure they are dead.

Don't get the shampoo in the pets' eyes. I usually wash their faces with a damp cloth that has the shampoo mixed with water on it. Then I wipe the face with a clean wet cloth.

One to three shampooings should do the trick. Just remember, every animal in your household needs to be shampooed.

You may have to use poison to get the fleas out of your house. We did this once, years ago, before we found the shampoo. Since then, we've never had to do this again. The house infestation happened when my neighbor had her house and yard sprayed because her dogs were flea infesting everything, and the fleas moved to our house and our one cat. If you must use the poison bombs in your house, make sure no humans or pets are in that home for several hours during and after the treatment. Then go in and open all the windows, turn on the vents and fans and air conditioners, and leave again for a while. You don't want to harm anyone in the process of killing the fleas.

I don't remember the last time our pets were bathed with the shampoo, and none of them wear flea collars, nor have they ever been medically treated for fleas. The shampoo always does the trick.

Makes you wonder what's in that shampoo, doesn't it?

 

[Angelzgram]

I think fleas are the only bugs we don't have(knock on wood), now that it's summer again!
I am going to try this idea anyway, maybe it'll be helpful with ticks or the little biting gnats!
Thank you, and welcome back. Hope you had fun.
I hope housemouse and hubby are okay. I haven't seen her post for awhile.
I'm worried about the threat from N. Korea to "wipe out the U.S." and wondered if housemouse had done a chart recently.

 

[FifthEssence]

Our Housemouse has been incredibly busy and short on free time. She'll be jumping in as things lighten up. I'm hoping she posts a couple pics of her veggie garden.
This thread is fun to read and participate in. The tips have been so useful.
Thanks dear Friends.

quoting Housemouse and her intro into MUNDANE Astrology:
MUNDANE ASTROLOGY is the application of astrology to world affairs and world events, taking its name from the Latin word Mundus, meaning "the World".

We have a thread dedicated to those issues and curiosities you may have including the subject of N. Korea.

Tuba recently elaborated on the current affairs. Have a look, good material over there.
post # 100
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Enjoy your visit.:book:

 

[Curious Me]

Akslueth, thanks for the great Suave Strawberry Essence shampoo
Flea Remedy. Darn, I don't have any dogs or cats at the present time to try this on. Hope some other people will share their success stories.

To Housemouse and all the regulars on the Forensic Astrology Forum, just want to tell you how much I appreciate your wisdom.