Clean House Wednesday: Easy Stain Removal Tip

by: Anne Shirley

There was a day when cows romped freely in cabbage patches. It could have simply been avoided if their owners took the time to repair fences, or lock the stubborn jersey cows in their stalls. However, the cows still got out, some way or another, resulting in chasing cows through muddy potato fields, whether or not you're in you're coveralls or crisp, ivory dress. There was always the same result on either garments, a stain that would take an enormous amount of scrubbing to remove it.
Unfortunately for the ivory dress, the stain would become a permanent stain, because once white gets dirtied, it will never look the same again. Besides, scrubbing would completely ruin the fabric! And as for the coveralls, all that scrubbing would wear a hole, and you'll need to patch it (with a piece of the ruined ivory dress, perhaps?).
Had the ladies of Avonlea known the secret to removing even the most persistent stain, they would have had an easier go on the clothes, to be sure!
The secret stain remover is plain yogurt. Cover the stain with yogurt and let dry overnight. Wash the garment the next day. So simple, yet effective! However, you must be careful with some delicate, color treated fabric because then the yogurt itself will make a stain.
I hope that this article was of help to you readers!

"For I know the plans I have for you.."

Life is always changing. There is nothing that stays the same. Take the seasons, for example, they are in a constant change year after year.
Changes in a person's life can be frightening, as that of a dear friend moving away, or your sister getting married and leaving home, or your own graduation and not knowing what to do afterwards. But, is it really the change that we don't like, or are we simply afraid of the future that doesn't look very clear to us right now?

Even though we can't see far ahead of ourselves, God has a plan and knows what the future holds for every one of us, He says so in Jeremiah 29:11. 

           

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

If we trust in the Lord, He will direct us in the right paths. He will guide us every step of the way.

(see Proverbs 3:5,6) Trusting in God is not always easy, because doubts and fears are thrust at us from every direction, making us look at the storms and trials instead of keeping our eyes on Jesus, so always keep your focus on the Lord!

It says in Proverbs 23:26, 

"My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways."

Give your heart to the Lord, and let your eyes observe His ways! He will NEVER let you down.

If there are any changes taking place in your lives and you're fearing about the future, tell it to Jesus, because He is the One who holds tomorrow in His hands.

Clean House Wednesday: Less Mess

...the clothes lay in piles on top of  the college students' bed.
Janet glanced at it hesitantly, wishing it would disappear on its own.

by: Janet King

Keeping a home clutter and mess free is not an easy task to keep up with, especially when you have a whole household to tend to, and that takes up most of your day, and cleaning up clutter is brushed aside.
The key is to make spare time, then you have the time to actually sort through and organize the piles of laundry, de-clutter the pantries and cupboards, and tidy up messy rooms (however, children must learn to tidy their own rooms, you shouldn't do it for them. Rather obvious but I wanted to state that point.) .
First of all, don't look at the messy home from one view point- the point of view that has all of the clutter in one giant boulder; it will only glare back at you and will seem as too much of a daunting task to undertake, and you will procrastinate and put off de-cluttering for another day, and then you will never get around to doing it. It sounds strange, but it's true.
You must organize and scrape away at the boulder one step at a time. Little by little you will get the job done. It is very easy and less daunting. However, if you wish to attack that pile of laundry now and get it over with, by all means, attack! The sooner, the quicker, the better. But, you must fold the clothes neatly so that you won't have to refold them again due to hastiness and sloppiness.
Every time you come home with baskets full of groceries, stack the canned goods neatly in the pantry right away. The summer jams and preserves should already be nicely organized and stowed away in the pantry. Be sure that they are labeled (ie. the year it was made; what kind of jam it is; etc.)!
The cupboards usually don't look very cluttered, but it wouldn't hurt to align the cups neatly in a row to make them look more organized.
For a fresh, quiet time in the day, hang up the laundry on the clothesline while enjoying the Island breeze frisking at your hair.

Clean House Wednesday: Dusting

by:Felicity King

A dusty house is an unkept house.
Two thirds of dust is dirt from outdoors that is carried in with feet, so a big key to keeping dust at a minimum is to have a mat on the outside of your front door and making sure that everybody wipes their feet before entering your house.
Since pets shed hair on a regular basis, as that is also a main component of dust, it would be rather convenient to keep them elsewhere and not in the house. That's what doghouses are made for!
Make sure that the carpets are beaten on a regular basis to rid them of dust and dirt that has settled in between its fibers. If you have the luxury of owning a 'vacuum-cleaner' (an apparatus that suctions dirt and dust from an object with much force), use it to vacuum your rugs and carpets once a week and beat the rugs once a month. Be sure to have read the Owners' Manual before using such a powerful anti-dust machine.
However, dust is dust and it tends to sit around everywhere and on every single thing.
The secret to dust-free furniture is Murphy Soap. It is actually a floor cleaner but it works great as a dust repellent. In a pail of very warm water, pour in two capfuls of cleaner, slosh a rag around in it, wring it out, and dust every piece of furniture in your house. Wet dusting works much better than an old feather duster, which just swooshes the dust elsewhere.
After a good, daily sweep, mop the floors. Mopping should be done every week.
Fabric lampshades tend to attract dust like flies to molasses, so clean them once in a while, too.
By opening up the windows and letting the breeze flow through the house helps eliminate dust (except when it is spring and pollen floats around).

Introducing Clean House Wednesdays

by: Felicity King

Imagine trying to scrub off those stains..
{Easy stain removal tip in the third post of this series.}

If you are one of the many women across the nation who are struggling to keep a clean home within time limits or have a lack of efficient cleaning methods, this post is definitely for you!
Avonlea's experienced homemakers and B&B cleaners will be posting every Wednesday {starting next week}. They will share with you their secret cleaning tips and their favorite, most used cleaning products.
We hope you will enjoy this series and that you may glean some helpful solutions to your everyday cleaning dilemmas.

Stay tuned for Clean House Wednesdays!

Thoughts Of Spring

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." -Charles Dickens

"There is one good thing about this world...there are always sure to be more springs." -Anne Shirley

"It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season." -Kate Morton

"The seasons change and you change, but the Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of his love are as deep, as broad, and as full as ever." -Charles H. Spurgeon

"The flower doesn't dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes." -author unknown

"Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds."
 -author unknown

"I'm looking forward to summer. It's the nicest day of the year." -everybody

Mealtime Monday Series Complete

by: Olivia Dale

And that was it for the Mealtime Monday series! Even though some of the posts were published very late (and we apologize for that!) we hope that you have enjoyed getting a sneak peak into our rural kitchens and that you have tried some of our delicious recipes.
Perhaps we might introduce another mini series in the near future, so keep checking the blog for more "pieces of Avonlea"!