Another thrilling topic- laundry

But it must be done- when you find something that rocks your mile-high piles of laundry, you simply must share, right!?
Coming back from camping- even if its just a one night trip, is laundry nightmare, or used to be. After our most recent trip I had the regular big bag of camp smoke infused fleeces and soggy socks, and as an extra bonus, a whole set of puked on toddler clothes, said toddlers pee accident pants, and other toddlers hot cocoa soaked PJ's. Yes, these are stains to challenge event me most seasoned house keeper.

In my previous life (pre-Shaklee), I would have, no doubt, ruined something with bleach stains, or, used something even worse- Oxi Clean.. have you ever gotten that stuff on your wet hands??? It burns like crazy!

So in my current, more sane, Shakleeized life I took the calm approach of pre-treat with strong Basic H, put a tiny little scoop of Nature Bright in the drum, popped the nastiest laundry in there.. .added my detergent and softener, and bam- CLEAN.  No stress, no burns, no worries. It works every time. It is safe for me, my family and the planet, and these are the best laundry products I've ever tried.

There, exciting laundry post complete.

My Vegetable Garden

Living in a city has its drawbacks, I can't have the acreage of vegetables and pumpkins I dream of. But, I can have a small vegetable garden! This is my fourth year of being a back yard "farmer", and we all love it so. The kids and I plant the seeds in spring, and transfer the seedlings into the little fenced plot in the back yard (we have dogs, hence the fence).
We all love to harvest, and we are finally at a point this year where we can harvest something almost daily. We have at least one zucchini each day, tomatoes (4 varieties) are starting to ripen, jalapenos are ready as are the green beans. The strawberries never actually make it inside, since they are the responsibility of the toddlers.. 
We have tons of herbs that I use in cooking each day. We have tons of basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, chives and even fennel. I can't wait to harvest the fennel bulbs this fall!

Now, all that said, I have had one little problem this year. Aphids. They showed up when the cabbages started forming. I started asking around with gardening friends and family, and got lots of great advice. I will not use any kind of chemicals or pesticides, ever. Well, of course, Shaklee came to the rescue again! I was surprised to hear that lots of people use Basic H in gardening! It is used as a deterrent for all kids of bugs, including aphids! And, lots of people use their waste water from cleaning the house(with Basic H) and pour it over the plants to enhance growth and greenery!
So, I tried it. I sprayed a strong dilution Basic H (50/50 water) all over the cabbages. The very next day the aphids were gone! I have since sprayed it on them about once every other day. No more aphids!! The cabbages look great!

My Chairs are Saved!

A thanks for saving Thanksgiving to my beloved Basic-H! My cream colored fabric dining chairs were not so cream colored anymore. Two toddlers eating 3 meals per day on them had, to put it mildly, stained them a tad. I took to my trusted Basic-H, about a tablespoon (I pulled out the heavy guns!) into a gallon of warm water, a scrub brush and a rag.

I really wish I had thought to take pictures, before and after, now you just have to take my word for it. The chairs turned out spotless and look like new!!! Next time I will be sure to take before and after pictures.

Weekend Project

When you have a 110 pound wire-hair terrier a bath and groom does turn into a weekend project believe it or not. When I groomed for a living (I was a mobile groomer for alittle while), I had the mega powered blow dryer, and all the tools of the trade at my disposal, plus I got paid to do it. Back then a dog like this would take about 2 hours start to finish.

Now I have to give him a bath in the evening (so he's dry the next day for the groom), brush him in the morning, and then groom him in the afternoon (during kids naptime).
Although my airedale terrier Bash is the sweetest dog imaginable, he is not a fan of the bath, or brush, or the clippers. He also gets quite dirty rough housing with his roommate Catfish, chasing squirrels, playing with the kids etc. etc. I have tried a ton of different dog shampoos, as you might imagine considering my long-past profession. Seems I always go through a half or whole bottle just for Bash.
I have read recently that people have had great success using Shaklee's Basic H cleaner for dog shampoo (It is perfectly safe-they say its safe enough to brush your teeth with!). So, I decided to try it, it does cost a lot less than any of the quality dog shampoos!

I am happy to report, it worked amazingly well! I used 1/2 cup of Basic H for Bash, a LOT less than any shampoo! It simply CLEANED him- it was so refreshing. No gizmos or scents or added this or that.. it just cleaned him- and very well at that! It didn't dry out his skin or coat at all, very important for the terrier coat. This morning, after drying, his hair was soft and he didn't smell at all like dog, or shampoo or anything. Lovely! My clipper and blade also benefited from the new "shampoo", no build up in the blade and it ran very quietly and well thanks to that.
My grade, as a former groomer and a lifetime dog owner, A +!!! Try it!!