Sam's Club

[dalthauser]

My mom took herself off the family Sam's Club account so I could be added (thanks mom!).  I went today to get my card and check it out.

I now see why everyone is in such credit card debt.  I wanted everything.  I was beginning to get that weird feeling of deprivation (you know - woe is me, I don't have everything in the world I want), so I decided I'd choose $50 worth of what I really needed - and take pictures of the rest so I could own it virtually.

I really would love to have outdoor speakers instead of just playing the little boom box outside.  These were a steal at $159.00


I saw this gazebo which was $899.00 but it was really much more sturdy than a normal one - more like a whole room. 


Now, of course I didn't actually virtually buy the the above gazebo - that would be even out of the fantasy range for me.  Instead I added to my digital shopping cart the Enclosed Universal Canopy - which was $199.99 and reminded me of something Indiana Jones might have slept in.


This Brass-Look Trellis came complete with a solar lamp.  Perfect for honeysuckle vines!  (clock not included) $59.99


I had to pick up this Phillips Digital alarm clock which you can load mp3's and pictures to.  It also can play nature sounds. With this I wouldn't need to wake up to my Zippa dee Doo Daa ringtone on my cell phone anymore :-) 


I'm not sure if this is an excellent deal or not, but I put it in my digital shopping cart anyway.  Made by Serta, and my current mattress is rather uncomfortable (Sierra would attest to that as she had it first back when we lived in Japan even) :)


*Here is what I checked out with and took home with me - total came to $40.50
*Long handled Dustpan and broom set (the broom stores inside the dustpan)  $10.75
*Digital Postal Scale which weighs to 1/10 of an ounce (because I promised myself I'd make soap this summer and I need an accurate lye measuring device) $18.99
* A big 400 count bottle of Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride 25mg (Generic Simply Sleep) which is a year's supply and was a super good by at $11.00 but when I looked at the receipt when I got home they only charged me $3.12 for it. So Super Duper Deal.
* A Gallon of Aloe Vera Juice.  This was a splurge - It just sounded good at the time - and it was $5.88


I left for home perfectly satisfied :-)

Comments

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

I can see you really are a gardener!

I'm liking you more and more - no wonder Sahlah recommended you to me!

You will need those scales to make soap - my friend makes soap, so you can ask advice here, too!

He makes his own lye. He buys caustic soda and mixes it with pure water. You must make sure you add the caustic soda to the water, NOT the other way around, or it can explode. What if you got caustic soda in your eyes?

Caustic soda is not an environmentally kosher product, I don't think. It is a by-product from when they make chlorine, as far as I know. I think they make chlorine from salt, I'm not sure.

Aaaaanyway, the only other way I know to make it is to use your ashes from your fire. You would have to make sure they were absolutely white, and to make it strong enough, you have to add a lot of ashes. And then you'd need a measuring thing to find out the alkalinity.

What oil/fat are you going to make the soap from? Can you produce something like that on your place?

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere you can make lye from the ashes of hardwood. They say soap was discovered when they used to cremated people and the fat mixed with the ashes and flowed down the river until it stopped. or somethign like that..... hahaha

I'm going to experiment, but at first it will be a mixture of Soy, Coconut, and Olive because they are fairly inexpenive and still good for the skin. I want to do some Shea Butter bars, and I want to experiment with adding clay to the bars too. At first though I just want to be able to produce a bar that lathers and cleans.

It wouldn't be feasible to grow the plants to produce the oil, but I'm going to use some of what I grow for botanicals in the soap - like Rosemary, sage, patchouli, etc.

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

OK. Sounds cool!

I've heard that theory about the first soap...or maybe it was just cooking meat on fires?

That will be nice to grow some herbs. Most should like your climate :)

My friend has used a few different oils, but has settled on olive oil. He hopes to get it from a local producer just west of here some time in the future.

I reckon some kind of oil or fat would be the most difficult crop to produce in quantities...Here it would have to be avocado or macadamia or something like that (expensive!).