Thanks, SmokinKat! The deer hang around all winter because we feed them. Who can resist those big brown eyes?
Uff Dah was commonly heard where I grew up, in southwest Minnesota. I think it's a Belgian thing. Up here in the arrowhead, people say 'eh' like in some parts of Canada, or 'hey' used the same way, at the end of a sentence. The accent here is like northern Ontario, not Fargo.
Spuds, good luck with the liquid laundry soap. I tried it and once the residue from the store detergent washed out, our clothes were so gray and stinky we'd have been ashamed to wear them. It works for some people though, I guess, because enough people rave about it.
I used the pump from foamy dispensers that came with store bought foamy soap to make the jars. I cut the threads off of the original plastic soap bottles so the pump part had something to screw itself to and hold the lid and pump together, and then used a utility knife to cut a hole sized to fit the pump. The lids were a couple that I purchased that are made for Mason jars. Don't drill holes in them because they'll just break. Once I had the lids and pumps assembled, I determined how long the little hoses needed to be to reach the bottom of the jars, then just slipped it over the original tube. I used some scraps of aquarium tubing to lengthen those by cutting them to length and then trimming the bottom of the tubing at an angle so the soap can easily get in there. That's it. To mix up your own foamy soap, pour in about 1/3 to 1/4 of the bottle (one pint jar will take about 2/3 to 1/2 cup of dish soap, for example). The amount depends how thick the soap is. A name brand that's thick will take less than the cheap stuff from the dollar store. You may have to experiment a little to get the right amounts. Put the cover on and shake over the sink, because the lids WILL leak. I guess you could stir the mixture before putting the lid on, too. I'll have to try that myself. Making these are pretty easy, even though it might not seem like it. If you don't want foamy soap, then just use a dispenser from a regular soap jar. I get mine at dollar stores buying those dollar bottles of hand soap, which is a lot cheaper than buying dispensers separately. The cut-off threads don't show once it's all put together anyway.
