Anne of Green Gables

First, a laundry soap update. Yes it turned out great! In fact, I have more soap than I was prepared for, so I am storing the extra in a milk jug. Now onto books. I started the year out reading some of my favorite movie books. Pride and Prejudice was first. I enjoyed the book more than the movie, which is how it's supposed to be right? Now I am onto the Anne of Green Gables series. I'm in book #2 of the 8 book series. I don't think I'll finish all 8 books. I'm already a little surprised by book #2. Although I will finish it anyway. I grew up on the movie series created by Kevin Sullivan in 1986. And I guess I just compare the movie with the book instead of the reverse. The first book started out exactly like the movie, but then the movie took on a major reconstructive creative license by the director. Characters who are very well known in the movie are only mentioned once or twice in the book. And some main characters in the book are not even introduced in the movie. I was probably more surprised by the later. I did some more reading online and in a booklet that came with the DVD series and discovered one reason for making the changes in the movie was due to the passing of the actress who played Marilla Cuthbert only 5 years after the first movie was made. Kevin Sullivan had to write her out of the continuing stories and therefore a ripple affect of characters were also written out. For example, did you know that in the book series Marilla adopts a set of twins? And Anne helps her raise them. The books are still very interesting. This may be a one of those examples where I should have read the books first so as to love them more than the movie, but unfortunately I love the movie more.

laundry

We made this today...excited to try it out tomorrow: Homemade Laundry Detergent 1/3 bar Fels Naptha Laundry Soap, grated 6 cups water 1/2 cup washing soda 1/2 cup borax To make homemade laundry detergent, heat 6 cups water and soap in a large pan until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and Borax. Mix and heat until dissolved. Boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat. (It will have the consistency of honey.*) In a 3 or 5 gallon bucket, add 1 quart of hot water, then add the soap mixture. Mix. Add enough cold water to make a 2 gallon mixture. Mix until well blended. Let sit 24 hours. The soap will gel*. Use 1/2 cup for each load. Makes 2 gallons. (Approximately $ .40 per gallon) *If the homemade laundry detergent doesn’t gel or reach honey consistency it will still work.