A Good Way to Keep Herbs

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One of my Mother’s Day gifts this year was a cute little 7-part bud vase which is perfect for displaying small flowers and buds.  When my herb garden started producing, I thought it might be nice to have an assortment of fresh herbs on hand and that maybe I’d be more inclined to use them daily if they were available right on my kitchen counter.  The bud vase was perfect for this use.  In the picture, I have basil, lemon thyme, rosemary, peppermint, chives, sage and apple mint and I can replace any I use as I’m passing by the garden.

These cute vases (approximately 6″ tall)  are reasonably priced on QVC, Item #H00007.

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Cleaning White Resin Patio Furniture

This is my 8th year to use 5 chairs and a table which are of white resin.  Year by year, they had gotten more and more discolored and mottled.  I tried steel wool, various cleaners and cleansers but nothing helped without a tremendous amount of scrubbing time.  I was about ready to throw out these terrible looking chairs but they were still sturdy and I wanted white which didn’t seem to be available in the stores this summer.

Then, I heard somewhere that you could use a brush to paint undiluted laundry bleach on the surface and it would clean up like magic.  I didn’t have a brush but I had a long narrow sponge and poured bleach into a small bowl where I could dip the sponge and slather it onto the chair.  I wore rubber gloves and worked on an outside concrete patio in the open air. 

The results were amazing.  As soon as I made the first swipe, I could see the crud starting to fade away.  For more stubborn stains or hard to reach places, I used an SOS pad.  Then I hosed everything off to a rewarding finish!

Please note that this worked well on white resin furniture – I don’t know what it would do to other colors or other surfaces.  Be sure to wear protective gloves, to work outside and to work on a floor surface that won’t be damaged by drips.  I also wore old clothes which had a lot of patches of bleached surface when I was finished.  It’s good to have a hose nearby for thorough rinsing, too.

I cleaned 5 chairs and a small umbrella table in about an hour.  I’m very happy to be able to use my furniture for another season or two.