Science Experiments

Something is bleaching my towels. Not my husband's towel. Nor my towels downstairs or at the bedroom sink. But every towel I touch in the bathroom becomes bleached. It's becoming pretty annoying as I happen to really like my towels, and prefer they not become stained with unsightly yellow blotches. I'm hoping to figure out what's been going wrong so I can fix the problem.

This is clearly a case for SCIENCE!

Since my husband's towel isn't affected, I can pretty assuredly say that this is the result of something only I'm using, which rules out a few things. I also suspect, based on the bleaching "pattern" that this is either my conditioner or my body wash. But, to be thorough, I'm testing just about everything I use on a daily/weekly basis.

Here are the possible culprits. One of them is, without a doubt, the guilty party.

My experiment is being done on the very towel that fell victim to this accursed crime. Since it's already bleached, I figure a little more can't hurt. Plus, I'd already replaced it for being a pretty ineffective towel ($5 target purchases sometimes aren't the best plan), but don't tell it that. I wouldn't want to hurt it's feelings.

Instead, I think that covering it with sharpy and bits of goop is just what the at-home scientist ordered. I found the least bleached section of the towel, made a box for each product, as well as one for water and one as a "control" which got nothing added to it at all (my 5th grade science fair training is clearly coming back to me) (or, you know, that BA in biology) (maybe).

I then dabbed each product at the top of it's square, and added a label at the bottom...

...until each product had it's own space.

And there we have it. Clockwise from top left we have water, body wash, hair gel, conditioner, control, shampoo, skin cream, facial wash, and benzol peroxide. I put the towel in a dry, draft-free area to sit for a day or two, at which point I'll wash off the products and see if any of them bleached the part of the towel it was sitting on. My money's on the conditioner, but we'll see.

In the meantime, I'll have to think of something terrible to do to the product that's to blame. It can't just get a slap on the wrist for something like this. I'm open to creative suggestions from my readers, so if you have any ideas let me know in the comments!

Hoping to be bleachlessly yours,

Caity

Down on the Farm

This past Sunday my husband and I took an unexpected trip out to see his aunt and uncle who have a farm east of Indianapolis. I had never been to the farm before, despite hearing about it almost since we started dating in our freshman year of college. Literally three weeks after we started seeing each other (at the still awkward age of 19) he rolled through Chicago with his dad and grandma on their way out to Indiana. We all went out to dinner, some of us more terrified than others, and they described the farm to me. Somewhere between the haze of meeting my future in-laws for the first time and the delicious Italian food, the farm really stuck out for me. It sounded like a little slice of heaven.

In my wildest dreams I abandon my lifestyle to run a farm. I don't know where my compulsions to raise chickens and bees and goats come from, but they've been a persistent desire of mine for many years. Whenever things get rough professionally or personally, there's a tickle at the back of my mind that somewhere, somehow, there's a tiny parcel of land that could have my name on it.

I don't know if my daydreams will ever come true, but in the meantime I was thrilled for the chance to visit with my husbands' relatives. His aunt and uncle are truly spectacular people, who will always have a special place in my heart for playing Irish music at our wedding ceremony. Spending time with them was a pleasure, and getting a trip to the farm was like icing on the cake. We visited their larger fields, which are mostly the midwest standard of corn and soybeans, but they also have beef cattle, chickens, and an incredible vegetable garden.

We met some new friends...

These were the young ladies, who were still growing and maturing.

Some of them were very excited to meet me.

This was The Bull and His People. Apparently this bull really likes to have company?

There were also chickens! Lots of chickens, though I only got a good close-up of this nice lady. When I saw them I got very excited (they're mini dinosaurs!), and my husband warned that I should "not chase the chickens." His aunt, thinking he was telling the dogs, said that they were pretty well behaved and didn't normally chase the chickens. We had to explain that this was in fact not who he was referring to.

Then there was the vegetable garden. With the 200-250 tomato plants, of over 70 varieties.

And all this for a household of three.

Which meant there were lots of tomatoes. LOTS of tomatoes.

Also, some funky squash, some of which had decided that the tomato cages were the perfect place to grow.

I'm sharing the tomato garden pictures to help explain how this happened -

This is what my husband's aunt and uncle sent us home with. A dozen fresh eggs, a bag of potatoes, 28 ears of sweet corn, and what we estimated was 50 pounds of tomatoes. Plus a whole bowl of incredible cherry tomatoes.

It's not hard to guess how I spent my labor day.

With about eight hours of work, we managed to can about 90% of the tomatoes (the other 10% got thrown in bags in the fridge). In total, we got six cans of salsa, and twelve quarts of tomatoes for lunch and dinner recipes.

Here are the salsas, which had a little corn thrown into them. The more yellow one on the right came from the cherry tomatoes, and is a lot sweeter than the other jars.

These are the stewed tomatoes, some of which got herbs and onions thrown in and some of which were just regular. The jar of golden tomatoes may be my favorite. I think it's going to make a stunning pasta during the winter.

By the end, I was pretty tired of standing over a hot oven, and started hot packing the smaller tomatoes whole. Took less time, but I'll end up working harder when I use them in meals. It's funny, I think they look like a taxidermy jar with floating specimens in it (though don't tell my husband that).

Now I just have a greater itch to homestead. It might be time to really develop those gardening plans for the spring and summer, though I'll be restricted to container crops. For now, I can be satisfied that I'll have tomatoes until probably the next growing season, all thanks to the incredible generosity of my aunt- and uncle-in-law. Thanks guys!

- Caity

Tomorrow's Post

Also, here's a sneak peak at the topic of tomorrow's post.

And that's all I'm going to say for now.

- Caity

Holiday Planning

As you can probably tell, I get a little goofy with planning. When I have a clear, simple goal to work towards, I am much more productive and creative. That's why the general task of "decorating the house" is a little overwhelming to me, because it's a bit too big. I have to tackle it in small chunks, isolating trouble areas a few at a time.

You can also tackle the problem from the side, and instead of saying "Today I'm going to work on the living room, tomorrow the dining room" etc, you can choose projects that will contribute to large problems in small ways. My favorite way to do this is to decorate for holidays, and then throw parties for friends and family. I did this last Christmas, in an effort to improve my glassware and platter collections. And I would throw a house-warming party to have an excuse to round out the living room, but we don't know many people here yet.

Instead, I'm hugely preoccupied with Thanksgiving. It's without a doubt my favorite holiday, and this year I've volunteered to host my entire family. This includes my parents, brother, and grandmother, as well as my husband's mom, dad, sister, and grandmother. With the two of us, that makes ten people. Yikes! It'll be quite the undertaking, but I'm excited about it.

It's a big task, starting from almost nothing, and I've already been putting together everything I'll need. The dining room table was an important step, and we'll be trying to find a buffet to match it soon. The guest bedroom is another project, but we have a bed frame that just needs a mattress. I ordered the turkey on Saturday, from a local farmer that's raising the birds right now, and I feel great about that.

I've also been assembling some odds and ends that we'll need -

From the left is my wonderful $1 roasting pan from the Habitat for Humanity Restore, a carving set that my husband got at an antique store, a set of 10 white cloth napkins I got for $2 each at Pier One, and a few vintage Thanksgiving postcards for decorations.

Here's a close-up of the postcards. I love the ones with the giant white turkeys, I think they're so fun.

And here's the carving set, which we need to get sharpened somewhere, but will make a great addition to the table setting.

On a general decorating note, since the overall "completion" of the house affects the success of Thanksgiving, I wanted to show you one of my little terrariums.

This is my cactus terrarium, in a glass bubble jar I got for $3 (another antique store find, such a bargain!). The tall cactus is already almost too tall, but for now I think they look nice together. Paired with the frog, they make a cute and simple centerpiece for my dining room table. For Thanksgiving I anticipate they'll move to the living room.

And here's a close-up of the cacti. I liked the slight variations in color they have, especially against the wood on the table.

That's it for now! I'll keep you updated about how plans progress in the next two months. Especially on the matter of my delicious cranberry sauce.

- Caity

The Domestic Plan

Looking at my life, I am surrounded by plans right now. In my capacity as a museum professional, I'm currently writing both an Interpretive Plan and a Business Plan for the places I intern. And my thesis (which is still in the writing phase) is about Strategic Planning. You would think this means I have enough planning on my mind, but no, of course not. When I come home I launch right back into perfecting what I will henceforth call my Domestic Plan.

My last post outlined the plan for the kitchen appliances, though that didn't include my desire for pots and pans (Double boiler? Asparagus steamer? Crepe pan?!?). Nor my interest in expanding our dishware. But right now, the non-appliance kitchen matters are secondary on the list.

Instead, my thoughts have strayed to my garden plans. Since we arrived in July, there wasn't enough time to get started on any serious plantings. I've been very jealously watching my landlord's tomatoes and basil, and she was nice enough to give us a cucumber the other day.

For now, I dreamily await the day I can start growing my own fruits and vegetables. I have grand ideas of onions and garlic, potatoes, snap peas, carrots, herbs, and my personal favorite - blueberries. What I'd like to do is start seeds myself in the basement, which will require setting up tables and lights, and possibly a heater in the late winter.

There are two things I want to procure in advance of this endeavor - a rain barrel and a compost bin. These two purchases will be useful beyond gardening, which is part of their appeal. I'm currently researching at Lowes, Target, and Amazon, looking for good deals. If I find any, I'll be sure to let you know.

Next up, how to stain a shelving unit, details on the decorations, and preparing for the biggest meal of the year!

Warmly,

Caity