Category: Blogging (Page 2 of 21)

clothes drying on a green balcony — Photo by Pixabay

You Make Laundry Detergent??!!!

19/07/2025 / Maureen / 4 Comments

Laundry detergent is easy to make and much more economical than store-bought products, but more importantly, I know what’s in the product I use.

Not all packaging laws are created equal, and some deadly ingredients lurk behind seemingly harmless labels like ‘fragrance’.

I don’t have overly sensitive skin, but I am fussy about what products I use. Given that our skin is the largest organ of our body, we should be concerned about what goes on, or under it. Laundry detergent ends up in our clothes and ultimately on our skin, so we should be fussy about what we use.

Sadly, commercial products designed to get the ‘toughest’ stains out in the wash, may contain ingredients that are not gentle on sensitive skin or respiratory systems. If I can’t pronounce the ingredient or be sure that it isn’t a chemical, I don’t use the product.

I prefer liquid detergent, but there are heaps of recipes online for powdered detergents that are just as easy to make.

You’ll need a large container to store the liquid in, but smaller amounts can be decanted into smaller jars or containers to make it easier on washing day. I find it easy enough to have the large container in the laundry tub next to my washing machine. A container with a good sealing lid is essential to retain the scent of the Essential Oils used.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:

1/2 cup liquid Castile soap¹ (unscented or scented – I like Rose or Citrus)
1/4 cup washing soda (sodium carbonate – not baking soda, readily available in most supermarkets)
1/4 cup bi-carb soda (known as baking soda in some countries)
1/4 cup borax (found in laundry section of the supermarket in Australia)
4 cups hot water (I don’t measure, I guess, to dissolve powders)
10–15 drops Essential Oil (optional, but it makes clothes smell sooooo nice)

Instructions:

Heat 2–4 cups of water until hot, but not boiling².
In a large mixing bowl or jug, dissolve the dry ingredients in hot water.
Add the Castile soap and stir gently.
Add Essential Oil, if using.
Pour the mixture into a storage container or jug with a lid.
Top up with additional cold water, to about 2 litres/half-gallon total volume.

To Use:

Use 1/4 to 1/3 cup per regular load.
Shake, or stir, gently before each use (the mixture might get a bit lumpy, but it still works).

Note: I’ve been using this recipe for more than ten years and am confident in its safety, but you should do your own research. The recipe is: safer than chemical-laden commercial products; more gentle on washing machines; more economical; less harmful to fabrics and the environment; works well in hot or cold water; more convenient.

¹ I use Dr Bronner’s liquid Castille soap and Revive Essential Oils, but any good quality Castille soap and Essential Oils should work just as well.

² I use a blender to make the detergent, then pour it into a large container with a sealable lid.

Switch? What Switch?

14/07/2025 / Maureen / 4 Comments

Today didn’t go as planned, not that I’m good at making plans, but the mental plan I had fixed in my head got scrambled along the way.

The script for today was set yesterday. Let me explain.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling better than I have for a week (think: colds, flu, whatever it is that winter throws at us). I didn’t need to make a list of the chores that needed doing; they were blatantly obvious, and I felt good enough to tackle them all.

I had to

deal with an overflowing laundry basket
vacuum floors
dispose of the clothes and linen that didn’t fit back into the cupboard I’d reorganised the night before (and no, not into landfill)
finish my blog post for UBC
make a new batch of laundry detergent
deal with the usual calls, texts, and emails
work on the coding course I’m doing

And if that wasn’t enough to fill a day, somewhere in my non-existent logic, I figured it would be a good time to put fresh sheets on my bed. What was I thinking??

In the busy mayhem of the day, I moved the modem (router) to a different spot, and everything went downhill after that. Alexa Spot and Alexa Dot stopped talking to me (one in the living area and one in the bedroom), and you can’t easily turn lamps on manually when they’re set up automatically through Alexa. I know, I could have just unplugged the Smart Switch and put the lamp plug into the outlet, but I was sure there must be a better (not necessarily easier) way, and there was. It worked.

Without the Internet, you can’t work on your website, so blogging didn’t happen. Normally, I would phone my Internet Service Provider (ISP) and sort the WiFi problem out, but it was Sunday, and they’re not there on Sundays.

I tell you what, going a whole night without Internet makes me appreciate technology so much more. Sure, I had my iPhone, but the signal is almost non-existent in my little apartment, so Internet is hit-and-miss (more miss than hit) on my phone. And because of the low signal, I couldn’t even hotspot the WiFi from my phone to my laptop. It just wouldn’t work. And that’s why I’m now behind on the Blog Challenge.

Last night was a very quiet night in my little part of the world. I figured there was nothing much to stay up late for, so I went to bed early (before 9 pm) – not to sleep, but to read. About the only thing to do that didn’t involve the Internet was to read a book on my Kindle.

So, what does yesterday have to do with how today turned out?

Everything!!!

I woke up early, only to have to wait for my ISP to open their phone-lines at 9am. Luckily, the Internet on my phone worked enough to find the number for support, and luckily, my ISP support is excellent. When they answered, I was second in line, so I didn’t have to wait hours for my call to be attended to.

It didn’t take long to explain my dilemma to the very understanding support person. And yes, I had turned the modem off and back on many times since the Internet blackout had happened.

“Press the button on the top of the modem”, the support person said.

“I can’t find a button on the top of the modem”, I explained.

With the patience of a saint, she directed me to a little bump on the right-hand side of where the WiFi lights should have been lit (but weren’t). Who would have thought! There’s actually a switch on the top of the modem. One press of that ~~little bump~~ switch and the modem lit up like a Christmas tree. Problem solved! Obviously, I had ‘bumped’ that switch when I moved the modem yesterday.

Today’s critical agenda, apart from fixing the WiFi, was a meeting scheduled for 11 am, in a neighbouring town, a twenty-minute drive from here. I was still in my pyjamas, hadn’t had a coffee or anything else, and my phone didn’t stop ringing from the moment the modem’s lights all flashed on. I flew out the door at 10.30, allowing an extra ten minutes in case of traffic.

Luckily, the traffic wasn’t hectic and I had an easy run to my appointment, found a parking spot right in front of the place I needed to be, and arrived with five minutes to spare. Phew!

But from the minute I arrived home, about 1.30, and made a quick sandwich (brunch), the phone calls started again in earnest. So here I am at the end of the day; it’s 9 pm, and my mental list of things I wanted to achieve didn’t happen. In fact, I don’t have a lot to show for today, except for five beautiful green lights on the modem.

Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. And besides, now I can add one more skill to my repertoire; I know about the little switch on top of the modem, so the day wasn’t completely lost.

On A Cold and Bleak Day…

14/07/2025 / Maureen / 12 Comments

The lights in Trinity Arcade brought a little warmth on a cold, bleak day in Perth.

view of the State Buildings from the City Library cafe.

Speaking of Windows and Doors…

13/07/2025 / Maureen / 2 Comments

Did I mention I signed up for the July Ultimate Blog Challenge (UBC), and the goal is to post a new blog each day for the whole month? Thought I’d better mention it, in case my few regular readers are wondering why there’s so much activity lately.

Today’s challenge, in the UBC, is to write about a favourite photo from a recent trip.

But first, let me explain…

There are three things I love:

coffee
travel
taking photos of windows and doors

Until recently, Western Australia was the only state of Australia, and Perth the only capital city, that I hadn’t visited. Perth had been on my must-visit list for a long time, so when my American travel-buddy mentioned they were going to be in Perth for a month, I booked a flight, packed a bag, and headed off on a ten-day adventure, and a long overdue catch-up. We walked a lot of miles in those ten days, and explored a lot of the city.

This is one of my favourite photos from my time in Perth. Taken from the City Library café, the photo captures the striking contrast between the old and the new, which is typical of so much of the architecture in the city. It wasn’t the best angle to take the photo from, but it was a cold, bleak day, and it was warm inside the Library with my hands wrapped around a steaming hot mug of coffee.

You’ll find a more detailed photo, taken from a much better angle, here.

Perth has maintained the charm of the old while utilising the efficiency of the new. Heritage buildings, such as the State Buildings in the photo, sit comfortably beside modern multi-story skyscrapers. And of course, the windows, doors, and archways in the old look so much better than the walls of glass in the new, well, from the outside, anyway.

Now that I’ve ticked Perth off my travel list, it’s time to revise the list. Perhaps I’ll revisit some of my favourite Australian destinations, like Hobart, Tasmania?

The possibilities are endless in this vast and beautiful country of ours.

Up To Date But A Day Behind

11/07/2025 / Maureen / 8 Comments

I’ve concluded that blogging from the land down under has its disadvantages. In an effort not to fall behind, I start writing the next blog as soon as I post the last one, but that means I miss the email that has the Tip of the Day for the Ultimate Blog Challenge (UBC) in it. But I’ve worked out how to solve the problem.

I’ll try to follow the tip of the day, but it will always be a day behind everyone else’s.

The Tip of the Day for Day 10 is Lists, but my list will feature in Day 11’s post. I might be a day behind on the Tips, but I’m keeping up with the blogs (so far 🤞).

I like lists, well, bullet points, mostly. I’ve given up on paper lists because no matter how meticulously I write them, they’re usually nowhere near where they need to be when I need them.

Take shopping, for example.

I used to write a shopping list, only to find when I got to the supermarket that the list was sitting on the kitchen table, or wherever I was when I wrote it. Trying to wing it through a supermarket without a list is like baking a cake from memory – chances are I’d forget something important, except I can’t bake a cake even with a recipe.

So shopping lists, handwritten, are out, and digital lists are in. Since I started using tap and go on my phone to pay for everything, I make sure my phone is securely tucked into a pocket of my bag before I leave the house. Having my phone with me ensures the list is in my hand, not on the kitchen table.

But I don’t think this discussion is what UBC had in mind for Tip of the Day, so here’s an example of what a digital list looks like.

A digital list is:

easier to read (you’ll understand that, if you’ve seen my handwriting)
easier to edit (there’s a built-in eraser called the delete key)
easier to share (you can air-drop a digital list from one Apple device to another – can you still buy carbon paper for sharing paper lists?)
easier to search for specific items (this is good if you are a list-aholic)
better for the environment (this is debatable, so don’t get too hung up on the intricacies of paper versus digital components in landfill)
compatible with smart devices (Siri. Google, Alexa, or your refrigerator could make the list for you if you ask nicely)
always accessible (if you have cloud storage that saves information across all your devices)

And just to take the humble list up a notch, you can use numbers to keep things in order. A numbered list is good for shopping. Theoretically, you go into the supermarket for twenty items and you leave with twenty items (I’m interested to know if anyone has achieved that, numbered list, or not).

A numbered list:

keeps things organised (you could list items in order of priority, like chocolate at the top, Brussels Sprouts at the bottom)
is easier to scan the overall list (numbers help you see where you’re up to)
Looks neat (I’m not a neat freak, but the numbers look pretty cool)
is easier to share (you find items 1-4; I’ll take care of the rest)
makes it harder to miss something (this is theoretical only; I reckon I could still miss something)

So there it is: my post about lists. How did I go? Is this what Day 10’s Tip of the Day is supposed to look like?

Morning Has Broken, But It Had Nothing To Do With Me…

10/07/2025 / Maureen / 16 Comments

Morning broke this morning, as it does every day, but I was not there to see it. I was peacefully sleeping.

But now, the sun is in its rightful place in an almost clear blue sky, but I’m still in my pyjamas, having slept through another sunrise.

The cold/flu/whatever that I’ve been struggling with for the past week is finally showing signs of easing up, so I’m keen to get out into the sun and bask in its warmth. But first, I need to ditch the PJs and make a coffee. I’ll be right back.

With coffee in hand, my feet perched on the end of the sofa bench on the balcony, my back resting on pillows at the other end, and my laptop precariously wedged in between, I am ready for the day (which by now is hurtling towards midday).

I don’t see many sunrises. Not that I don’t want to, but I know better than to burn the candle at both ends. I can’t be up until midnight, and then sprint out of bed at the crack of dawn; it just doesn’t work. So I’ve accepted the fact that I’m not a morning person.

Morning Person / Night Person?

Endless flashes of inspiration flit through my mind throughout the day – always when I’m busy with something that can’t be put on hold, so they simply waft out into the ether, never to be seen (or heard) again. But when inspiration finds me at night, I’m ready with the net to catch it. Perched on my favourite armchair, laptop on my knee, I’m in the right space for thinking, writing, and reflecting (and catching rare bursts of genius, should they come along).

The nights are mine. Once the front door closes at the end of the day I’m in my safe haven; my own impenetrable fortress where time is of no consequence. And I research and write until the need for sleep dictates bedtime, whatever that time might be.

I don’t apologise for missing the moment when morning breaks the darkness of the night before, but I’m happy to see photos that morning people post up. It seems like a miraculous spectacle to behold when the dark veil of night is lifted by the sun as it resumes its place in another daytime sky.

I’m grateful for every new day that starts, with or without me, as long as the nights are mine.