The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

He is great looking too! Favors Tom, does he?

My next project is a quite large pole barn for storage and maybe a workshop for Jimmy, so he will stay out of my garage stuff. Looking like big $$$ though.

Yeah, big bucks for that barn. The basic building was $5900 with the options we put on it, but the county values it at 12K for some reason. We added almost 2K on the inside in wood and wire for all the pens and the floor.

Actually, he favors me and my other son, Chris, favors the Bacon side more. Here is my other son, who just turned 39 this week, and a recent photo of my husband.

And a photo at Michael's wedding when I was about 30 lb heavier (thyroid malfunction).

 

[speckledhen]

Had to make laundry powder for the first time in 21 months. Yup, that bucket of powder I made back in November 2016 lasted until this morning...and I still had a couple of washes' worth left in there. Not too shabby for less than $12, eh?
This is what it looks like, using Zote Soap, Laundry Washing Powder, Baking Soda and 20 Mule Team Borax.

 

[MROO]

Had to make laundry powder for the first time in 21 months. Yup, that bucket of powder I made back in November 2016 lasted until this morning...and I still had a couple of washes' worth left in there. Not too shabby for less than $12, eh?
This is what it looks like, using Zote Soap, Laundry Washing Powder, Baking Soda and 20 Mule Team Borax.
View attachment 1500268

Three questions for you:

1. How well does it work (as in, do you need to "boost" or pre-clean anything?)
2. Is it hard on clothes?
3. And for Heaven's sake, Gal ... what's your recipe!?!

 

[speckledhen]

Three questions for you:

1. How well does it work (as in, do you need to "boost" or pre-clean anything?)
2. Is it hard on clothes?
3. And for Heaven's sake, Gal ... what's your recipe!?!

Works as well as any commercial powder detergent. You can also add a box of powdered Oxyclean if you like, but I don't. I do not boost or pre-clean anything unless it's insanely filthy and I have let the stain stay there for too long already.

It's not hard on clothes, but then, we wear jeans, t-shirts and flannel 99% of the time on the farm so can't comment on other fabrics. I have a Whirlpool Cabrio washer and it does fine in there. There are numerous recipes online for this and they vary slightly, but this is what I use.

• 2 Bars of Zote soap, finely shredded (14.1 oz ea)-I use a cheese grater or food processor, whichever you like. It comes in flakes, but costs more per ounce.
  
• Entire box of 20 Mule Team Borax
• Large box Arm & Hammer Laundry Washing Soda
• 1 large box Baking Soda (not powder!)
  
  
  You can find these all in the laundry aisle at Walmart. I use the pink Zote Soap, about 90 cents ea., though it comes in both blue and white as well.
  
  I used this lady's image because these are the exact products I use. Her recipe is a smaller one than mine and she leaves out the plain baking soda. Other folks like the OxyClean and/or the scent boosters, but I prefer not to use the scent stuff, which can make folks with sensitive skin react badly.
  
  

OH, important point....use a coffee scoop for a load, slightly more if it's a huge, heavily soiled load. It's non-sudsing so fine for high effiiciency washers.

 

[speckledhen]

We put in a new sink and faucet in the main bathroom today. Tom saw a hammered copper sink and loved it. When he does that, I go with it, LOL. We also bought a new high rise faucet for the kitchen sink since the one we put in after the fire has a stripped something or other and we can never get it fastened down for long. I wanted a pot filler type anyway.
We also got some backsplash material for the kitchen, an easy-to-do type for first time folks. Tile is just something we've never done. If it looks good, I'll put a similar one behind the bathroom vanity. I'll need to change out the light fixture and eventually, when we put in a new, larger tub, we'll change out the bathtub fixtures to the dark bronze color as well.

Backsplash self-stick tiles. So many folks have done YouTubes about these, easy to install and they last just fine the reports say. My countertops are below. Tom chose this one, too, has a look of stone mixed with glass tile, but it's neither.

 

[getaclue]

That looks very nice. That backsplash should go very well with your counter. Love the colors.

 

[speckledhen]

That looks very nice. That backsplash should go very well with your counter. Love the colors.

Thanks! It's sometimes hard to keep him from making everything too dark (he's a real cave dweller, I swear), but he picked this up and loved it and it has some lighter colors in there. In our dark kitchen, it should brighten it up, I think. There are only sage green painted walls just like the entire great room in there, even behind the stove. I hate that because anything sticks to paint, especially grease. This should be easy-clean.

 

[h2oratt]

The building I want to put up is prob 60 K. It will be our garage, lol

 

[h2oratt]

We put in a new sink and faucet in the main bathroom today. Tom saw a hammered copper sink and loved it. When he does that, I go with it, LOL. We also bought a new high rise faucet for the kitchen sink since the one we put in after the fire has a stripped something or other and we can never get it fastened down for long. I wanted a pot filler type anyway.
We also got some backsplash material for the kitchen, an easy-to-do type for first time folks. Tile is just something we've never done. If it looks good, I'll put a similar one behind the bathroom vanity. I'll need to change out the light fixture and eventually, when we put in a new, larger tub, we'll change out the bathtub fixtures to the dark bronze color as well.
View attachment 1500438 View attachment 1500439


Backsplash self-stick tiles. So many folks have done YouTubes about these, easy to install and they last just fine the reports say. My countertops are below. Tom chose this one, too, has a look of stone mixed with glass tile, but it's neither.

That looks really nice. Love the copper.

 

[getaclue]

Ok, for the bathroom, where the wall meets the counter, behind the sink, and any other area that requires cleaning....go to the paint store you got the paint from, or to Home Depot, get a gallon of washable paint, in the exact same color as the paint that's on there. Paint a coat on the portions that require more cleaning. That way it all matches, and things won't stick so bad, or can easily be cleaned.