Green Mermaid Cottage

 Making your own potpourri is a natural way to add lovely fragrances to a room.  A potpourri ( a French word which translates as ‘rotten pot’, but don’t worry the result is more appealing than it sounds! ) is a mixture of ingredient such as dried petals, spices, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and citrus peels placed into a bowl to perfume a room.  I am lucky to have roses, rosemary and lavender growing in my garden, so I decided to use them as the main ingredients for my potpourri.  I gathered rose petals and rosemary and lavender stems and I let them air dry for a few days in my kitchen.  The best way to dry herbs like lavender and rosemary is to tie the stems together in little bunches with an elastic and hang them upside down with a bit of thread.  To add to this, I cut out some orange and lemon peels when I was making my morning orange juice and lemon tea and I also left them dry out for a few days in my kitchen.  When all my ingredi...

When I packed my bags to move into my new home I was amazed at how many cleaning products and air fresheners I was taking with me.  Bathroom cleaner, kitchen cleaner, floor cleaner, window cleaner, bleach, drain cleaner... This would also create a lot of empty plastic bottles to dispose of once used. I was concerned as well that using air fresheners were really good for my health or the environment.  Manufacturers' clever marketing has convinced us that unless with buy multiple products for each room and purpose we must be slobs with unsanitary houses... Thankfully I learned that there are recipes I can use to make my own products with simple ingredients and that many of these products can be used all over the house.  GENERAL CLEANERS I have have several recipes for all purpose cleaners: 1- Castile soap-based cleaner : Ingredients: Castile soap, essential oil (I use tea tree or lemon) and water.  - Mix two cups of water with 2 tbsp or Castile soap and 10 drops o...