Coming Clean

For all my talk of the messes around our home, you might be surprised to hear how much time I actually spend cleaning. Hours a day, I tell you! No one ever told me how much work it was to clean up after a family (not that I would have believed them if they did). We are a family of four merry mess makers, and only one of us (guess who?) is a hesitant housekeeper - hesitant simply because I know it will be a mess again within minutes. But clean I must.

And clean I enjoy. There's something so satisfying about a freshly scrubbed sink and a clean, bare dish mat, even if it's only temporary.

A coworker years ago told me about Bon Ami - which happens to mean "good friend" - and I'm forever grateful for her recommendation. I spent a few minutes on their website today researching the making and history of their cleaning scrub - and I was not disappointed! The old advertisements alone are worth a trip over to their site.

I've been curious about the Bon Ami chick and the tag line, "Hasn't scratched yet!". Turns out, that little chick is one of the oldest company mascots on the market, and the phrase refers to the fact that a baby chick hasn't yet scratched the earth for food. Being a chick lover, I love Bon Ami even more now.

Speaking of chicks,

a few feathers are all that remains in our bathroom of our little charges. They are outside - finally! And my bathroom is sparkling clean and smells much, much better. I tucked their feathers in the frame of our bathroom mirror as a sweet reminder.

George made a temporary annex off the main coop for the little chicks, complete with a run separate from the big girls and a bamboo perch. They seem quite happy with their new digs. I'm quite happy too. I especially love their roof - that little opossum hanging out in our backyard should consider himself warned.

In other cleaning news, I finally made my own laundry detergent. Jessica and Diane both posted about making their own detergent some time ago, so when I finally ran out of the store bought variety, I used their recipe to make my own.

I love it! It smells so good going in to the wash (thanks to the almond scented castile soap), and doesn't smell at all when it comes out of the wash, which to me, is a sign of clean. I made three batches of laundry soap (using two bars of soap and a fraction of the boxes of Borax and washing soda), enough to fill up a large glass jar, which I covered with a sleeve made from a small piece of adorable laundry line fabric, a gift from Stefani of Blue Yonder Ranch. Oh, I've found some delightful bons amis via the internet.

And inspired by a new blogging friend, Amy of Elemental, I finally put some baking soda and vinegar in my bathroom. Using a hammer and nail, I poked holes in the lids of two glass jars and filled one with baking soda, one with vinegar. My hope was to inspire the children to clean the toilet by making volcanic reactions in the toilet bowl, but they're less than interested in my scheme. Having the two products in my bathroom did inspire me to try them out on my hair, replacing shampoo with baking soda and conditioner with vinegar (thanks to Mrs. Boo Radley of Just Like Camping, who's been poo-free for quite some time). So far, so good. I've been poo-free for just over a week, and my hair is surprisingly smooth, less frizzy, and smells like vinaigrette (which makes me want to eat more salad).

(I found George's old laundry bag - probably from his prep school days - while cleaning out our bathroom after the chicks moved out.)

That's the clean, green news from A Foothill Home Companion. Hope you all have a lovely Earth Day. Avery and I are celebrating by wearing green and blue, like a cartoon globe - her idea. I love that girl. (Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you - she made us deodorant! Check out How About Orange for the recipe.)