Made, grown, tried, and kept
The family library.
Recipes you can cook from. Projects you can return to. Notes that help the next attempt start a little wiser.
12 records to explore in Home.
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12 records
Practical guide Version 2
Cleaning the Old Top-Bar Hive
The completed family cleaning practice for the old top-bar hive: washing soda, a stiff brush, thorough rinsing and full air-drying before reuse.
Family record
Home formula Version 1
Coarse Silver Hair Shampoo and Conditioner System
An untested, planned shampoo-and-conditioner system for a clean scalp and softer coarse silver or grey hair. It uses gentle surfactants, an acidic pH, botanical decoction, conditioning emulsifier, oils, and optional weekly vinegar rinse.
Working reference
Home formula Version 3
Dry Dishwasher Detergent: Recorded Recipe & Results
The original written recipe is confirmed: washing soda, borax, citric acid, salt and sodium percarbonate. An early family batch cleaned very well; a later altered batch left white film, and its exact contents were uncertain.
Incomplete reference
Practical guide Living record
Espresso Dial-In for the Breville
A living guide for dialing in organic espresso on the Breville, based on Heather’s established settings, Café Mam trials, coffee-shop experience, and practical adjustments for bitterness, fresh beans, and pre-ground coffee.
Working reference
Home formula Version 3
Liquid Castile Dish Soap: Recipes & Batch History
A family-made liquid dish soap once removed all grease from a heavily coated pot in one wash. The exact successful ratios were not preserved. Later batches became tacky, low-lather, greasy when enlarged, or too thin, so the versions must remain separate.
Working reference
Home formula Version 3
Liquid Laundry Soap: Recovered Baseline & Fabric-Wear Notes
The two-gallon written baseline is recovered. The exact preferred family variant and the later fabric-wear problem remain unresolved; this is a source record, not approval to resume the formula.
Incomplete reference
Home formula Version 2
Men’s Natural Body Wash — Failed Castile Formula
A castile-based body wash made for Kriss, with an unscented split intended for Leo. Family testing found it far too watery, with almost no lather and a rubbery or sticky feel after use. This version should be retained as failed history, not presented as a successful body-wash formula.
Family record
Practical guide Living record
Natural Pantry Storage for Potatoes, Onions, and Whole-Grain Flour
An unconfirmed pantry plan using separate breathable baskets for potatoes and onions, plus sealed, cool storage for whole-grain wheat flour. Heather explored the options but did not report a final setup or tested storage outcome.
Working reference
Practical guide Living record
Operating the Mini-Split in the Insulated Metal-Building Home
A practical cooling guide for deciding between temperature maintenance and setback while the family is home or away. The family discussed an approximately five-hour absence during hot weather, but no operating rule was tested or finalized.
Working reference
Home formula Version 2
Pine Resin and Beeswax Canvas Bars
Solid bars Heather made for waxing cotton canvas. The family-used beeswax-to-pine-resin ratio was not recorded. Heather later preferred the fresh pine-resin finish to the tackier Otter Wax result. Keep this workshop formula separate from medicinal salves.
Working reference
Project Living record
Warehouse Home Kitchen and Property Build Notes
Living project record for the converted mechanic-shop home, including the family-described layout and a proposed method for building a 12-foot butcher-block island from two 6-foot countertops. Cabinetry, quartz, insulation, and installed-door details still require family documentation.
Working reference
Project Living record
Waxed Canvas Cowboy Bedroll
A living project for four 9 × 12 ft cotton-canvas cowboy bedrolls with wool blanket fill and thrifted leather straps. Two rolls were completed. Heather found the homemade beeswax–pine-resin finish cleaner and less tacky than Otter Wax, but water resistance and a standardized closure remain untested.
Working reference