In the car Lifesaver for Moms (and Dads!)

So...imagine the scene....

I have collected my 3 year old from playschool, and am driving home in fairly busy traffic. She is strapped into her child safety seat, at the back of the car and to the left of me. I have given her something to eat while I drive home...I forget exactly what...possibly a biscuit or something else...
She says to me,"Mommy, take this!", and, without looking away from the road, I reach my left hand between the car seats (our cars in SA are right hand drives) and hold it out to her, palm up. I innocently expect her juice bottle, toy, shoe ....
I feel a soggy, slimy, something in my hand, very runny and already oozing between my fingers...
...................aaaaarrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

So, this tutorial will show you a quick helper for when your toddler gifts you her chewed up lunch...

Quick Toilet Roll Tin

Take a medium sized tin...it has to be at least the height of your common-ol'-garden toilet roll, and must have a plastic lid. Clean it out well and dry thoroughly.


Use a permanent marker to draw a circle on the plastic lid,

Cut out using kitchen shears.

I guess that the next step is optional...I wanted my tin to look pretty, so I use some of my scrapbooking tape (this one happens to be from 7Gypsies), to tape to the opening all the way around.
Measure around the hole in the plastic lid, and cut a piece of the tape to size. Using sharp pointed scissors, clip all the way around, and and stick all the way around the hole, leaving the tape half in, half out of the hole.


Press the clipped edges down well, and turn the lid over.


Repeat the clipping on the other side and tape down well.

Measure and cut a piece of pretty paper and glue or sellotape to your tin.
Now take a standard toilet paper roll, carefully pull out the cardboard inner, and find the loose end. Pull out a short section of toilet paper.

Push the toilet roll into the tin and thread the loose section through the hole. Push the lid into place.....Voila! ...you're done. It's a lot easier to have one of these tins in the car than a box of tissues, or loose roll of toilet paper...

On another note....I made some homemade laundry detergent today. I have wanted to try and see if it works as well as the regular stuff, albeit at a fraction of the price. There are loads (no pun intended :) ) of sites that you can find info on this, but I used Rhonda's recipe. Go and check it out...her blog "Down to Earth" is fabulous and a gem for self-reliance related stuff. It was really,really, really easy to make...took me all of 10 minutes, and if the users are to be believed, works as well as the store bought stuff. VERY economical as well!
I am going to try it out on a load of laundry now...I'll let you all know how things go!

Nectarines a-growing...

Cherries beginning to form...

Garden helper and chaser of birds...

Strawberries flourishing...

I did a bit of gardening today and am pleased to say that everything is growing well. I have had very little trouble with pests, and only had to spray with organic insecticide (Margaret Roberts) for some aphids I found on a fruit tree... Summer is truly here in SA!

Lemon Tree with a gazillion flowers...

I am really very excited about the garden...my next endeavour is to learn to make jam...

♥Heidi