Charmaine McPherson

I got the outsides of the washer and dryer cleaned up today. I paired this with cleaning out the exhaust pipe of the dryer. It was a big job altogether. Maybe next time I’ll just do one at a time

I used warm water and rags to clean. I also did some sweeping to get rid of all the dust the laundry room has accumulated.

Wow!! This was harder than I thought it would be! I was cleaning the outside of the dryer for another BB and decided to get this one done at the same time. It took awhile…
I cleaned the lint trap first with a dry rag, then a damp one and I used the vacuum to get some of the tricky spots.
Then I pulled the dryer away from the wall and began the process of cleaning out the exhaust pipes. For this, I tied a paper towel to a long wooden spoon and used it to clean as deep as I could. Then I used a dry rag to scrub the edges as best I could.
For the outside, it was quite frozen, but I managed to reach in a bit and used a dry rag to get as much lint and gunk as I could.
It looks like 100 times better!
But hopefully I don’t have to do that again anytime soon. My poor 5 year old had to help me get out from behind the dryer when my 5ft frame got stuck between the wall, the dryer and the shelf above. Good thing the two of us are tough

My hubby tried to be romantic and make a fancy dinner for Valentine’s Day but had a little fight with oven. He dropped the sheet pan of veggies into the bottom of our already dirty oven. We had a good laugh and ate bread and jam instead. 🤣 then I had to clean up the mess after dinner, but I was giggling for most of it because it reminded me of a time several years ago when I tried to be romantic with a homemade meal and did the same thing and he cleaned up the mess for me.
I used baking soda and warm water and a whole lot of elbow grease!!

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must provide proof of the following with pictures (or a video < 2 mins long):
  - before, during, and after of cleaning a set of curtains
  - show and describe what you cleaned the curtains with
  - demonstrate it meets the above stated requirements

These curtains are in my kid’s room and have unfortunately been used like a Kleenex a few times 🤢 they needed a good cleaning for sure!
I rinsed them by hand in my bathtub with some vinegar and hot water then hung them to dry in the sun for a few hours before hanging them back up. Hopefully next time the kids will use a tissue instead

Beef and veggie stew!!
Recipe:
Stew meat
1 shallot or onion
2 potatoes
A handful of dehydrated carrots
Broth of choice ( I chose my homemade chicken broth)
Seasonings of choice-see photo

After prepping the ingredients, I added them to my instant pot on slow cook mode for 3 hours. And then went about my day until it was time to eat.

I used a pair of dingy socks (that of course used to be quite nice like a hundred years ago) and gave this BB a go with them. I only soaked one in a water/peroxide mixture. I let it sit there for about 20 minutes, then I rinsed, wrung it out and hung it to dry in the sun for the day.
The difference is slight, but it is there.

Today I had a salad with oily dressing for lunch. When I finished eating, I put the scraps in the compost bin (yes, my compost bin is currently an old trash can in the backyard), then I used paper towel to wipe the oil away and hot water to rinse.

This is a pretty basic crocheted hat. I basically made a rectangle with a single crochet stitch and then joined the short ends together before pulling one side completely closed to create the top of the hat.
100% cotton yarn that I found at a thrift store and a 5mm hook.

These are a pair of my youngest child’s pants that he has worn a big hole in the knee.
I used a scrap price of fabric to place on the inside of the pants, behind the hole. Then I pinned it in place before using a zig zag stitch to darn the pieces together.
Not only is the hole ‘filled in’ with the extra fabric, but it is also reinforced with the zig zag stitch.
As quickly as children grow, he may only fit these for another 6 months or so, but at least they’ll last the whole time

Under the couch cushions gets pretty nasty sometimes. Especially with kids in the house. Thankfully, the cushions are machine washable so I put them through a wash cycle, just water, no soap.
The main part of the couch is not machine washable…obviously… so I used a salt and vinegar cleaner. (1 cup vinegar, 2 cups water and a teaspoon of salt) I soaked all the stains in the cleaner, then laid warm, wet towels on the entire surface and let it sit for a couple hours. When I took the towels off, I turned on the ceiling fan and let the couch dry thoroughly before putting the cushions back on. I think it looks great!