The internets are an amazing place, no? You can learn so much without even trying. I get smarter every day thanks to others who are willing to share their expertise.

~I tried out something I read WAY back at the beginning of July on Jonniker’s site. I finally decided that it wasn’t my poor homemaking skillz that were making my towels smell like a wet dog every time I pulled them out of the drier. Once upon a time I had the habit of leaving wet clothes in the washing machine for days and days. You know that mildewy laundry smell that never washes out? It permanently adhered itself to our towels. Even though I never leave things in the washing machine anymore. Even though I tried adding bleach to my towel loads. When the smell started to creep into my other loads too, I started to wonder if was something else. Maybe it was the washing machine? Maybe I’m not truly the worst house keeper ever? I finally got around to buying a vat of vinegar and did three loads of towels with a cup of vinegar in each. Hallelujah! Last night, the Husband and I went to bed in sheets that smelled so pleasantly clean that we both mentioned it. Several times, in fact. My house smells like laundry heaven.

~Which brings me to something else that occurred to me this week. You know those people who take anti-depressants until they start to feel all happy and bubbly? Then they decide that they are cured and stop taking their pills, only to find that they are not cured but the pills really, really work? This is me and the Flylady. When I’m working the system, I am one bad-ass mother. My house looks like a design catalog, if design catalogs caught on to the Exposed 2×4 Chic we’re rocking around here. I think I am such a bad-ass that I stop following the system. A month or two later, I realize I haven’t cleaned my toilet in three weeks and my laundry smells like a swamp. All to say: I’m hangin’ with the Flylady again. And my house is clean. Whhooot!

~This woman almost made me cry today. I turned green with envy over her crazy talent when I saw her site. Then I bemoaned my poor little spark of creativity that only works when it wants. I can’t call it at will and I certainly can’t convince it to invent adorable animal gift boxes. I want to replicate everything I see over there. So be warned world: this Christmas everyone is getting fun paper crafts via the templates at A Little Hut. There will be stationary and 2009 calendars made from recycled craft materials wrapped in animal gift boxes. Or maybe Christmas tree gift boxes, if I am feeling really crafty. Don’t expect anything else.

~As I have mentioned before, we have a bit of a blackberry problem around here. They rule us, we certainly don’t rule them. It just so happens that our blackberries are turning into shiny black jewels right about now. I’m going to try to use as many as I can this year. I’m thinking blackberry ice cream, black berry jam and these little blackberries treasures from Green Lite Bites. I’m not a huge fan of blackberries in general. They taste nice enough but the seeds get stuck in your teeth and refuse to budge. However, I might as well use what I’ve got considering the price of food lately.

So, does anyone out there know how to make blackberry jam?