With winter finally over I am sure we could all benefit from some daily exercise to burn away some of those extra pounds w might have packed on during a long, cold winter.  Exercising has many benefits, including improved cardiovascular and immune system, brain function, better and more productive sleep, not to mention a boosted mood. But excuses for not exercising often focus on lack of time or lack of funds. By exercising in the comfort of your own bedroom, you can work around both excuses. What’s more, you’ll still get in fantastic shape.

Part 1: Preparing your bedroom:

1. Designate a place in your room to exercise. To determine if a space is big enough, try laying down and doing ‘snow angels’. If your arms or legs don’t hit anything, you’re good to go!
   
2. Purchase any exercise equipment you would like to use. While this step isn’t mandatory, different types of exercise equipment can allow you to do more types of workouts in the comfort of your own space. Some good starter items include:  yoga mat, stability ball, small weights, etc

Part 2:  Warming Up:

1. Warm up. Even though you’re not leaving your room, it’s important to do a warm up before doing any type of exercise.
   
2. Stretch. If you stretch your muscles initially, you are less likely to harm them when doing more vigorous exercise.

Part 3:  Finding suitable exercises for small spaces:

1. Tone your abs:  Sit ups will tone your abs and help your heart rate pumping.  If you need to, try putting a heavy object on your feet to make sure your sit ups are precise.
2. Build upper body strength:  You can do this by performing push ups, planks, and lifting weights. Be careful though, that if you decide to lift weights, you don’t hurt yourself, take al appropriate precautions when handling and shifting weights.
3. Jump rope: Jumping rope is no longer exclusive to first graders, and here is why: jump roping for ten minutes burns off as many calories as running an eight minute mile for most people. If you have space in your room, go for it!
4. Tone your legs: Not only does running in place exercise your heart rate, it can also tone your legs if you do it often enough. Additional stretching and lunging can also do the trick.
5. Try yoga: Yoga is a great way to wind down and refresh your mind. It’s also a good, gentle form of exercise that will keep you well toned.

Well Spring is finally here, for most of us anyway, and if you are like me that means one thing, pet hair everywhere!  Hair from a beloved animal can be very frustrating when it finds its way into your clothes, carpeting and upholstery. Don’t start avoiding your favorite animal though. This article provides information on how to remove pet hair from almost any surface.

Things you might find handy to getting the job done:

Tack Sponge (12 Pk)  SKU 2450441

Downy Dryer Sheets 80 Ct Cln Breeze  SKU 1331383

How to get the job done:

1. Weigh it down. Soak the palm of your hand. Wipe the pet hair off in a downward motion. The hair will ball up and stick to your damp hand. This works because the hair becomes wet, therefore heavier. This results in it being unable to stick to your pants (or whatever surface you’re dealing with) in response to static electricity.
   
2. Barely dampen a clean, regular kitchen sponge. Use a sponge mop if you’re removing pet hair from a low-pile carpet, in which case the floor should be thoroughly vacuumed first. Rub the fabric, upholstery, or carpet with the sponge. The fur should roll up into clumps that you can pick off by hand.
3. Put on a latex glove. Rub the surface with it on. The pet hair should stick to your glove. This also works with rubber gloves or cloth gardening gloves with a rubber coating on the palm. A rubber bristle push broom can work in the same way on floors. Dampen the glove or rubber section of the glove for increased effectiveness.
4. Inflate a balloon. Rub it across the surface that has pet hair on it. The static on the balloon’s surface will attract the hair (and works on yours, too!), which you can collect and then re-use the balloon to get more hair.
5. Rub velcro curlers on the surface to catch the hair. If the curler has a metal inner form, it can be bent to reach corners.
6. Apply fabric softener. A fabric softener sheet that normally goes in the dryer can be used to pick up pet hair. You can also mist the surface with a mixture of fabric softener and water to “prep” the area before removing the pet hair using any of the other methods.
7. Consider preventive measures. Place your clothing in an area isolated from your pets or groom them regularly to reduce the amount of loose hair on them. You should also vacuum carpets and furniture regularly, and wash the throw rugs and linens that the pets have contact with.
8. You can use sellotape to peel off some fur. Just wrap some around your hand with the sticky, adhesive part sticking out and tap it on the fur-covered areas.
9. Use a rubber broom. This is effectively for especially stubborn pet hair that sticks to a surface. The bristles work with static electricity and the hair jumps onto the brush.

Vinegar has been used for 10,000 years. It just might be the world’s oldest ingredient!

Vinegar has a ridiculous amount of uses. You can use it as a fabric softener, flea repellent, a disinfectant, polisher, deodorizer, and many more things. White distilled vinegar is a popular household cleanser. It is effective for killing most mold, bacteria, and germs, due to its level of acidity. Cleaning with white distilled vinegar is a smart way to avoid using harsh chemicals. You’ll also be glad to know that it is environmentally friendly and very economical.

Did you know that once vinegar dries it has no scent? So even if you don’t like the smell, it will go away after it dries. Personally, my favorite use for vinegar is as a fabric softener.  Just replace your regular fabric softener with a half cup of vinegar for a medium load of laundry. It will help prevent lint from sticking to clothes.  Also if you happen to buy new laundry soap, and it disagrees with someone in your house holds sensitive skin, just add it to the last rinse cycle. My mom had to do that for my little brother, he’s a red-head with super sensitive skin. Seriously the skin around his mouth breaks out if he eats spaghetti!

When I moved into a new house that the previous tenants had smoked in we used a vinegar and hot water mixture to scrub the walls to help remove the grim and scent. It worked wonders!

When we adopted a new kitten that had fleas we used vinegar to kill the fleas already on her while we waited for the Frontline to kick in to kill the eggs and prevent new fleas from getting on her. For that situation  we used a mixture that was 1 cup water, ¾ cup vinegar, 2 tablespoons Dawn Blue Dish Soap.

You can polish car chrome with full-strength white distilled vinegar on a soft cloth. Polish brass and copper with a mixture of 2 tablespoons of ketchup and 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar. Rub it on with a clean cloth until dry and shiny. You can make your car extra shiny by adding a few drops of white distilled vinegar to your bucket of water.

Click the link below to view vinegar on our website!

http://www.ruralking.com/national-vinegar-company-white-vinegar-1-gallon-50-grain.html