I have had a dirty little secret!Everyone always tells me how clean my house is. It's not really. Not since I've had kids. You've seen those cute little signs, Excuse the mess, we are busy making memories or Excuse the mess, we live here? Well that's not really my style. In fact, my house is nothing like the clean it used to be before the kids. I've grown more accustomed to the mess, but so many little things tend to get over looked these days. Many people have exciting goals like running a marathon or skydiving (and I may have just become the biggest loser because I just googled Common goals people have, because I couldn't come up with 2 good ideas), you know what I've always wanted? To put my house on the market and have the ad say, "Mrs. Clean lives here". I'm not kidding, I actually told my realtor I wanted that on my add. She said, your house will sell itself. OK, she was right, but I really wanted that at the time. One thing I've been over-looking lately is my kitchen cabinets. I'm home cleaning today and thought, maybe today's the day to get that grease off the cabinets. Now keep in mind, these are just the cabinets over the stove, and grease is always building up on these cabinets. I wipe down my cabinets frequently, since they are white and show any dirt, but I do tend to "overlook" these top cabinets because I never could seem to get the grime off with much success. I have those god-awful therma-foil and for lack of a better term the surface is "pockey". That means there is a little texture that allows dirt and grease to accumulate. The picture shows best how greasy these cabinets were. I've tried many products before, but today I decided to go for some simple soft scrub and a warm dish rag. I love the lemon scent and use this for a lot of my cleaning. I poured it on my dishcloth and just rubbed it on the grease, and just like that, all of the grease and grime came off. I've tried many other cleaners and de-greasers and seriously never got such great results with barely any elbow grease at all. I might suggest if you are working over your head that you wear some protective eyewear, because trust me when I say, you don't want your break from cleaning to involve trying to get soap out of your eye! Just sayin. Check out the before and afters. It's really pretty amazing!

thought we might be able to salvage the wood for another project. We covered it with plywood and carpet and used it as a stage for the children for a long time. Then we decided it would work great as the walls for a raised garden bed. Just a few extra 2x4's and 2x6's, add some dirt and a garden net and you have a mini garden! #Itching4Spring

limb). Adults measure about 2.5 feet in length and 1 foot in height. They look like big Rats, but are not related to them in any way, but are closely related to the Kangaroo & Koala. Females can give birth up to twice a year (typically 5-8 in a litter). These babies are very tiny, about the size of honeybees. They will immediately crawl into the mother's pouch after birth, where they continue to develop (usually about 4 months of age when they are ready to leave the pouch). Opossums are scavengers and eat almost anything, including fruits & vegetables, snails/slugs, snakes, a wide variety of insects, garbage and dead animals of all types. They also catch and eat rats & mice, in some way they help maintain a clean & healthy environment and have a naturally high level of immunity to most diseases, including rabies, but can carry fleas ,as do most domestic animals. Opossums are nocturnal and typically go about their quiet task late at night. They are also excellent tree climbers but cannot jump and sometimes get trapped in trash cans and other containers. Opossums do not dig holes/destroy properties and are non-territorial. They are always on the move and adapt to any environment where food, water & shelter exist. They live in hollow logs, attics, crawl spaces, pipes and ready made burrows. Opossums may drool, growl and show their 50 teeth when frightened, but in reality are non-aggressive and prefer to avoid confrontation, however, never try to grab one, they can bite. During cases of extreme fear of being harmed or attacked (unable to flee), the Opossum will collapse and "play dead", they become stiff, eys closed or half closed, their mouths will gape open (teeth bared), tongue extended and foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands; mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. This condition will last 40 minutes to 4 hours and most preadtors will abandon their attack, once the Opossum is thought to be dead. In the case of baby Opossums, however, their brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therfore they often fail to "play dead" when threatened. If you do see an Opossum, just leave it alone, it will go away or you can always call your local rescue group or a professional Pest Control Company for help if you don't want them around or if they are trapped (they will catch & release them) ;Trying to scare it will just make it "play dead". Some other tips to avoid having Opossums around your house include: Keeping lids on garbage cans, picking up fallen fruit, putting away pet food at night and close potential entrance points into your home.

You can check out more pictures and see the full tutorial on my blog, Pink Hammers & Sippy Cups! http://www.pinkhsc.com/2012/07/tire-planter....

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