This was delicious! Had it for dinner…had to make do with regular italian dressing, and dried basil. Next time, going to get the sun-dried tomato dressing, and fresh basil. Printing it out for my dad. Thanks!

I’m jealous!  My son loves blueberries.  We would love to have such easy access!

Well, I have a septic system and don’t know how I’d live without bleach! I run a load or two of clothes each week with bleach, and occasionally bleach out the tub and garbage cans and haven’t had any problems all these years.  Now, I also know not to overdo it, but a few quarts of bleach to clean out a bathroom where *SOMEONE ELSE USED TO LIVE* is not going to ruin your septic system. (And it kills lots of disgusting germs)  If you are concerned, hit the bathroom and kitchen and anywhere else with the heavy-duty bleach solution and go ahead and have it pumped out when you are finished.

Once you get the bathroom sanitized, you might try “Don Aslett’s cleaning” products.  We have been using them for years and our bathroom fixtures still look good!

Good luck and I hope your new home closes soon!

Heat a big jug of vinegar (plain white) on the stove in a pot.
Empty the toilet bowl & fill it with the hot vinegar.  Scrub w/a toothbrush or other stiff bristled brush.
If you think it needs soaking, buy long strips of cotton (at a beauty supply store) and soak in vinegar, then apply to the bowl, leave overnight, see what happens when you got to scrub again.

We use ammonia for deep cleaning instead of bleach (we don’t have a septic system-we just like how clean ammonia gets things!) We almost never use bleach for anything! It might be weird at first using different products than the ones you’re used to, but I bet you can find good alternatives for pretty much everything you currently use bleach for.

I am a big fan of vinegar for cleaning. It also happens to kill germs. So I would avoid the bleach and stick to the natural stuff. StephC’s suggestion to heat it is interesting –– I’ll have to try it! One thing I’ve done (and my kids love to help) is put about 1/2 cup baking soda in the toilet, then pour 1/2 to 1 cup vinegar in –– instant fizz fun! It makes us giggle, and when you swish the bowl brush around it makes it sparkle. Good luck! I think the more we can do to avoid using bleach and/or ammonia, the better. Vinegar and baking soda do a lot.

Use the bleach if that is what you prefer.  Then flush a 1/4 cup of yeast or package of “septic starter” (from the hardware store) down the toilet every month to keep the “culture”  in the septic tank healthy.  Do have the tank pumped every couple years.

Would you consider new toilets?  There are some decent ones for around $100-$150.  And, if you’ll go just a bit higher some really nice “comfort height” ones. I always buy new toilets when we move. Even if they look ok…yuck.

I don’t know if anyone is still reading this thread, but after I’m finished using the toilet brush I squirt it with some cheap Dollar Tree mouthwash before storing it in a bucket.  I figure it probably kills some germs and it smells good.

While bleach will certainly kill any germs, if you have high iron, bleach is probably going to make the rust stains worse, not better.  The vinegar (acid) will work to dissolve the stains, but you’ll probably need a lot of it.  In my own high iron, sulfur and calcium water home, I use a generic toilet bowl cleaner from the hardware store that contains 37% hydrochloric acid.  It works like a charm - and fast.  I have also been known to dilute it to clean the non-metal shower enclosure.  As for the septic bed, if the house hasn’t been used in over a year, there’s a good chance the microflora in the septic bed is severely depleted anyway so you’re probably okay doing an initial cleaning with bleach.  I hardly ever use bleach, but if you run a lot (a LOT) of water through after the fact, you should dilute the effects of the bleach.  After that, I would encourage “feeding” the septic bed to re-establish the bacteria colonies (ahem).  The first winter in his new house, our neighbour joked that all his guests had to make a deposit before leaving to help keep the bed from freezing. 
The last guy who pumped our tank advised against the septic starter stuff from the hardware store since apparently it contains mostly yeast which is apparently bad.  His company just happened to sell their own “better” septic starter so take that 2nd hand advice as you will.

You can buy pretty, scented drawer liner paper at home goods type stores (bed, bath beyond, etc.)
You could put scented soaps in each corner of the drawer (some of the decorative stuff is pretty powerful & not what I would use on my body anyway)
You could also just leave the drawers out in the full sun all day & see what happens.

How would you feel about cedar?  I bought a case of aromatic cedar from Home Depot that came in thin tongue-in-groove pieces and lined drawers where I keep my kid’s clothes.  I just set them in and slid them together and it did the trick!

Have you tried airing them out? I’d be tempted to pull all the clothes out, then pull the dresser drawers out and set the dressers and drawers outside in the sunshine and drag air for a day. I don’t know if it’d work, but that’s what I’d try!
My other thoughts are that baking soda might absorb some of the wood odor or lavender might balance it. But again, I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. Good luck!

I agree with putting them out in the sun. It couldnt hurt….well, unless it rained;D

I inherited a dresser from my parents, who smoked packs a day for decades.  What finally got the smoke smell out of the drawers was a whole week in the full sun.  Sorry, not a quick fix!  I figure if it works for smoke, it ought to work for the wood smell.

Clean and dry? Nope. (Why?)  Store? Yep.  This little doo-hickey caddy thing sits back by the tank:

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/productdetails.aspx?sku=998954154&source=GoogleBase

A small decorative crock (like what you store kitchen utensils in) works nicely.  I have begun to follow a Flylady http://www.flylady.net/pages/focus_jul.asp
tip and put a small amount of liquid soap (I use regular dishsoap) in the bottom of the crock.  That way, every day I can quickly give the toilet a quick scrub - no nasty smelling toxic cleaner necessary.  It keeps the buildup away and the bowl is fresh daily.

Games and more games. Usually we have a large age-span, so my husband plays a game with the ‘older’ children and I’ll play one with the younger ones…then we switch. We have checker and chess tournaments (even the 5 year olds can play chess). Risk and Monopoly are favorites for older kids; Monopoly Deal, Chutes and Ladders, Crazy 8’s and Stratego are some the younger ones love.  A new family favorite is:  ‘The Settlers of Catan’ and can be played down to age 7 here. Legos and playmobil are also great for all ages. I know babies can’t always ‘play’ but they can enjoy the view from their high chair or your lap, or you can play at naptime.

If you’re looking to get out of the house, we like miniature golf and bowling for family fun. Bowling can be a little expensive, but if your local alley is a chain, you can see if there is an email program you can sign up for. We get some really good coupons. These are both special occasion type things for us, once or twice a year at most, but always a hit.

Well one of the cheapest activities around that usually appeals to everyone is a picnic in a local park.  Older kids can take balls, frisbees, etc.  Little one get time on the playground, and mom and dad can relax and chat on the blanket (well except during times running after the little ones).  Baby can even crawl around on the blanket with a few toys.

You have gotten great suggestions already.  All of the above are things that we try to build into our summer fun.  Some ideas for fun that include keeping cool and wet (today was in the nineties here) slip’n slide, sprinkler in the backyard, waterballoon toss or squirt gun tag.  If you think bowling might be somthing you try, there is a free bowling program out there for the summer.  We signed up on-line for our local bowling alley and every Sunday they mail us free coupons for the kids for the week.  We could technically go every day (free) if we were so inclined.  Here is the link:

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com

baking soda and water, or baking soda and vinegar.

I am not a cleaning guru but isn’t comet concentrate bleach? I am pretty sure mixing ammonia and bleach produces a very toxic and deadly mix of chemicals. Kids might not know how critical it is to not use the same rag for the separate jobs or to make sure the two don’t touch.

Um, mixing comet/bleach and ammonia will produce chlorine gas, which is HIGHLY toxic. I would make 100% sure to either use one product or the other and to supervise the kids. I myself have inadvertantly mixed the two and got very ill.

Did you try Lime Away - in a bright green bottle.  Removes hard water deposits - should help you.  I’ve used it on my sink spray nozzle and on the bottom of my water dispenser on my fridge.

Finazzle!!!!!  It’s amazing.  The first time I used it I had that
same “holy smokes!” reaction that i did when
I first used a Magic Eraser.