Household Tips - Common Sense Homesteading

Stop Birds Hitting Windows

Apr 202013

Left: robin stalking window. Right: Flying in for the hit.

This spring (maybe because of the crazy weather), I’ve had two robins take to flying into the windows (mainly the kitchen windows). Thankfully they haven’t hurt themselves, but they are quite noisy and I didn’t want them to keep at it until they did injure themselves. I’ve put together a list of quick fixes to stop birds hitting windows. The problem is usually the worse in spring and fall during migration, but when I was a little girl I had a robin who kept it up all summer long. Every morning, bright and early, he’d thump my bedroom window – no need for an alarm clock. Continue reading »

Natural Stove Cleaners

Household Tips 11 Responses »

Apr 032013

My stove gets a workout. Between cooking from scratch and canning and preserving, there are plenty of spills, drips and stains. I wipe up the main surfaces daily, often multiple times per day, but the drip pans and the grates over the burners are usually too hot to clean until later – when I’m on to another task. In the over, things do run over occasionally, so that must be dealt with as well. When I went searching for “natural stove cleaners” and “natural stove top cleaners”, I came up with images of stoves with just minor baked on smudges and smears. I figured I can’t be the only one out there with a really grimy stove looking for a non-toxic option, so I decided to share what works for me. Continue reading »

Freezer Meals Plus Organizing and Cleaning Your Freezer

Food Storage, Household Tips 6 Responses »

Feb 212013

Freezer meals can be dishes made specifically for the freezer (as with Once-a-Week Cooking or Once-a-Month Cooking) or simply leftovers saved for another day. Whichever style you prefer, keeping your freezer well stocked, clean and organized can be a great way to save time and money. You could put these savings towards additional food storage, a rainy day fund, or necessities like health insurance.

Home made frozen meals are also healthier than prepackaged foods, since you control the ingredients. Mass produced foods are packed full of artificial preservatives, colors and additives which are not good for the body. With a well-stocked freezer, you’ll be less tempted to grab fast food when you don’t feel like cooking (or don’t have time to cook). Continue reading »

Emergency Power Options for Your Home

Household Tips, Preparedness 6 Responses »

Jan 222013

Emergency power is critical for almost any home or homestead if you are stuck with a prolonged power outage. When hit with a natural or man made disaster (small or large) that takes out the grid, it’s not long before lack of electricity affects us. How do I keep the food cold and the house warm? When will the power come back on? How do I keep the phone charged so I can maintain contact with the outside world?

After storm Sandy hit the east coast, it took over a week to get parts of Long Island back in operation. The bigger the outage, the longer repairs are likely to take.

There are many ways from to keep the power flowing when the rest of the neighborhood is dark. Continue reading »

No More Cold Feet in Bed – My Favorite Winter Foot Warmers

Household Tips 5 Responses »

Jan 042013

When the thermometer drops into the single digits and we keep the house temps on the chilly side to help save energy, I’m sometimes stuck with cold feet in bed. I don’t know about you, but if my feet are cold, I have an awfully hard time falling asleep. With my husband stuck away from home during the week, I can’t always cheat and warm my feet up on him. Since I figured others might be in the same boat, I made up this list of winter foot warming ideas to help you keep your feet toasty, too. Continue reading »

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