Chick, Chick, Chickens and a Whole Lot More

Greetings from the center of the USA.  I live in Wichita, but according to the election mail I live in Witchita. 

Last evening we received 4 chickens and a hen house.  I am so excited to show you the new chickens, but my pictures are not too good.  Joy, one of our dogs, is checking out the chickens.  Meet Speckled Hen, Honey Bee, Lily White, and Ruby Rainbow.  This was a Craigslist find.  Thank you Craigslist!

I love the look of yarn when the skein is dyed to change colors on a project.  I especially like the look of one color fading or darkening as you make one project.  I found a company that dyes yarn to change colors.  It changes colors gradually and it is Merino wool in dk weight!  The company is called Twisted fiber arts.  http://www.twistedfiberart.com/  I would have loved to make this about 6-8 inches longer, but I made it so full that I would need a few hundred yards to finish.  Twisted does make individual skeins of yarn to match the colorways.  I could purchase the bottom gray color and knit 6-8 inches with that color, unfortunately they were out when I checked last.

I have wanted to make natural/cheap dishwasher soap/detergent for my dishwasher. I found a blog that gave a recipe.  It only has 3 ingredients. These ingredients can be found in the soap isle of most Walmart and Dillons stores here in Wichita.  It may be hard to find in other parts of the country and in smaller towns.  You only use 2 tablespoons of soap and place one tablespoon of soap in the pre-wash cup and one tablespoon of soap in the main-wash cup.  In my occupation, I have sent maintenance on appliance service calls for many years, and  I find these cups gum up and do not work, so I do not use them with my dishwasher.  I would suggest that you place the soap in the center of the inside of the dishwasher door just before closing it and starting the cycle.  The author of the blog recommends a squirt of Dawn soap to be placed into the main-wash cup, in addition to the powder.  I don't recommend this unless you want your dishwasher to overflow and make a mess on your kitchen floor.  The blog to get all of the information at is A Blossoming Life. http://www.ablossominglife.com/2011/10/homemade-dishwasher-detergent.html  In case you can not find the washing soda, you may want to check this blog.  for converting baking soda into washing soda, Nature's Nurture.  http://naturesnurtureblog.com/2012/05/08/ttt-turn-baking-soda-into-washing-soda/

Blessings to all of you!  I hope your weekend is going well!  Dawn