Tag Archives: housekeeping and maintenance

April 14, 2022 · 10:51 am

Win a Little, Lose a Little

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WIN: Today we WON a little because my husband was able to fix the window that is part of a 3-window set in our dining area. Yesterday, after the storm, we noticed that there was a GAP between the central window, and the window on the left. It was actually blowing the cafe curtains above the trio! We were too tired to deal with it yesterday, but we tackled it today. I took down the cafe curtains and rod because you can’t open the windows, otherwise. My husband saw that it was in the track on the bottom, but not on the top. He opened the window on the left, then used his hand to slap the top of the window back into the track on the top. Problem solved. It’s still a mystery why the window got OUT of the track, but we’re declaring victory and moving on.

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LOSE: (so far): Yesterday we found two lines down in the side and back yard. We weren’t sure whether they were power lines of some kind or phone lines. We had power and we had phone service, so this was an aggravation, rather than a huge problem. I called our electric company, Arkansas Valley Electric Co-Operative, described the problem. They sent a man right out. The problem was, the lines were phone lines, so he wouldn’t touch them.

Yesterday afternoon I chatted with a lady from AT&T online. She said a person would call within 15 to 30 minutes to set up an appt for a technician to come out and fix the problem. No one called. I got on chat again this morning. She said a supervisor would call me. He did, but after having to explain my problem for a third time and giving them information, including my first grade report card and thumbprint, he kept trying to reach the people who could help me, a 2-minute-hold each time for 6 times. He then tried to get me to get another cell phone to add to my account “while we were waiting for him to get through to the people.” THEN we got cut off.

I dropped it and my husband and I fixed the window. The phone rang and it was the guy from AT&T again, saying he was unable to get to the people and that he had left an URGENT message and that they would call me back. I’m still waiting.

MEANWHILE, my 79-year-old husband is fighting me, saying HE can get out our two-story ladder, prop it against the telephone poles, and re-hang the lines. So far, I’m threatening him with death….

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April 25, 2021 · 10:38 am

Lots of Exercise

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We are continuing to empty furniture little by little – trying to find space ‘elsewhere’ for all the ‘STUFF’ we have in our office, foyer, and living room in our project to get ready for new carpet plus vinyl for the back porch.

We have plenty of time to get this done. The installation will be sometime the first week in May, but I may not have EMPHASIZED enough how much “STUFF” we have. We have built-in shelving on both sides of the doorway in the office and built-in drawers and counter-top around two sides of the rest of the room. We don’t have to do anything with those – just the furniture that needs to be moved. These have to be empty.

We have two 4-drawer file cabinets and one 2-drawer file cabinet. We have movable shelving – one 6-shelf piece, one 4-shelf piece, and two 2-shelf pieces. And the list goes on.

I’m trying to throw things out as I move things elsewhere. I am PROMISING myself, as I take things up and down the stairs to my art room or our guest room – that I will take just as much time putting things back together as I have taking things apart, go through and throw out MORE as I bring things from ‘elsewhere’ to back where they live.

One good thing I’m noticing is that, with all this activity, I’m getting a LOT of exercise, cleaning out, hauling up and down stairs or into another room – and that I’m dropping off to sleep like I’ve been hit with a sledge hammer. I just wish I had this cute little baby elephant with his purple ball to exercise with! :0)

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April 8, 2020 · 6:22 pm

Today’s Project

In November or so, we kind of ‘packed up’ the screened in back porch for the winter. Over time, the detritus piled up, covering all. Lately a thick layer of pollen was added. I decided that, since the sun was shining and it was almost summer-like today (even though a cold front is coming through tonight) it was the right day to unearth the porch.

It’s great to eat out there, free from bugs and enjoying our view. I love to pretend that all that we can see is ours,  enjoying watching the seasons change.

Unearthing the porch was quite a job. My husband had swept at it, calling it done. Hahahahaahaha. He means well, but there is no way in the world I would even THINK about trying to eat out there with all that dirt!

I spent much of the day on the various steps – getting everything off the porch, sweeping twice, mopping twice, cleaning everything and bringing it back, setting up the table and chairs. Now it is habitable.

 

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November 14, 2019 · 1:31 pm

Thoughts on a Thursday 11-14-2019

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We are having a balmy day today – bright sunshine at 56 degrees F. – can’t ask for more.

A happy thing happened yesterday. I received an email from ArtFire that I had an order!  A nice lady ordered one of my mosaic Christmas Bell ornaments. After I received an answer on which one she preferred, I packed it carefully and mailed it today.

I always go around with a silly grin on my face after I receive a sale. It’s the highest compliment there is. :0)

My big push for the day is to clean up our office. It exploded recently when I was doing a lot of new projects in my art room, then trying to get the new stuff on my websites, and then was trying to get my products together to put in my new “Blasing Bright” booth locally in the Rags & Roses shop in Greenwood.  Every flat surface is piled high with ‘stuff’ now. ANYTHING more added would result in instant avalanche.

SO – I have promised myself that I won’t do another thing – other than write a few blog posts – until I transform the area from a hard hat area to what could pass for a regular office….

Wish me luck?

 

 

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November 17, 2018 · 4:10 pm

Shoe Shelf Project

I have too many shoes. I’m really trying to go through and donate some of them, but I really have trouble parting with them. I’ll get more ruthless later, but right now, My closet was being taken up by too much wasted space.

I asked my husband if we could build a shelf along the wall about 14 inches up from the floor so that I could put shoes ON the shelf, as well as UNDER it. Yesterday we got a nice board 10 feet long and 12 inches deep. We cut it into 4 pieces: one for the shelf and then three supports. I painted the pieces yesterday so they would have all night to dry.

We installed the shelf today and I’m busily scheming on how I want to rearrange things. :0)

Here are some pics of how it was BEFORE –

This shows you that I’ve been trying to store shoes, purses, health supplies, too-small jeans and shorts, shoe inserts, and shawls on the top-level above my hanging clothes and scarves.

 

I have two columns of cubicles, but ALL were filled with shoes.

 

 

Ta da!  This shelf is 7 feet long and 12 inches deep. You can see the supports that hold the shelf up high enough along the wall I can put shoes under it, too.

 

Until I can force myself to get rid of more than the 3 pairs I’m donating so far, these are most of my shoes. I still have a couple of cubbies that have shoes in them, plus one shelf of combat boot type shoes along the top of the opposite side, but I was able to completely free up four cubbies after storing purses in some of them. I’ll probably refine this further by at least moving the summer shoes to the closet where I have my summer tops.

I was able to empty one full shelf above my clothes on one side of the closet. I moved my purses to some of the cubbies.

I realized I was starting to ‘stash’ and make excuses for what I was keeping, so I stopped for the day, but I wanted to show you that we made significant progress in making my closet much better!

 

 

 

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July 31, 2018 · 12:40 pm

Project for the Day

I got six of these fabric bins so that I could do a better job of storing Afghans, blankets, throws, and quilts. I have shelves upstairs, but I want these to stay clean. Living up on top of a ridge line means that whenever doors are opened (50+ times a day letting doggies, cats, or people in and out) dust blows in. No matter what I do, I’m always finding dust all over everything. I refuse to dust and vacuum more than a couple of times a week, so we live with both dust and animal hair.

These bins seem like a good way to store my extras dust-free. They have zippered tops and open up nice and wide. They have a plastic ‘stripe’ down the front so you can easily see what is inside. I’m hopeful that these will be at least part of a solution to my storage challenges.

 

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July 8, 2018 · 5:13 pm

I’ve Earned my Salt Today

“To be ‘worth one’s salt’ is to be worth one’s pay. Our word salary derives from the Latin salarium, (sal is the Latin word for salt). There is some debate over the origin of the word salarium, but most scholars accept that it was the money allowed to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt. Roman soldiers weren’t actually paid in salt, as some suggest. They were obliged to buy their own food, weapons etc. and had the cost of these deducted from their wages in advance.”

I learned this phrase from my parents and just now realized I had no idea where the phrase came from or if I were using it correctly. (My parents meant “earning your food and upkeep.”)

I’ve been working most of the afternoon – inside – because it’s way too hot to be working outside at least until it’s almost dark.

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The main thing I accomplished today was cleaning the floors on our first floor. I vacuumed the tiles and then mopped. (Pantry, kitchen, dining area, entryway to living room, two half-baths, and the utility room.)

I then vacuumed the carpeted flooring (office, foyer, and living room.)

We’re much better than we were, though it’s never all clean at the same time. I feel much better about things, though, and that’s good for the day.

I’m feeling as limp as the sweet puppy above, so I think I’ll get a bottle of water and go put my feet up awhile.

I hope you’ve had a good day, too.

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June 25, 2018 · 10:02 am

Gutter Covers?

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The first of two people coming to give us estimates for covering our gutters is coming today.

As I’ve told you before, we have a two-story home. The guttering, of course, is along the edges of the 2nd floor roof. (Imagine that! :0) )  We are definitely too long in the tooth to be cleaning out the guttering – balancing on the two-story ladder, cleaning out the gutter, and then climbing down, moving the ladder a couple of feet over, then climbing up again….

We’ve seen the ads for the nice gutter covers on TV. I went to their website and they said their service wasn’t available in my area yet. I was disappointed, but decided that we could just continue to ignore our gutters.

Suddenly, two people called to talk about gutter covers! I found out later than they had been referred to us by HomeAdvisor.com. I didn’t remember going there, but I must have in my quest to find someone in our area.

Our information was given to three companies, two of which called and made appointments to come out and give us an estimate. The first one is coming this morning and the second is coming tomorrow afternoon. The second one asked me for an estimate of the number of feet of guttering we had. After I finished laughing, I told him I didn’t have a clue.

I’ll make sure I have an apples-to-apples comparison of the cost of this, including cleaning out the gutters, sealing the gutters (whatever that means – but it was in the ad on TV), warranty information (the ad said, “Lifetime warranty.” OUR life? The installer’s life? The gutter covers life? What does that MEAN?), clean up of all debris, cost of the project, and when they could do it.

I’m afraid, since I would really like to do this, we can’t afford it.

As my husband says, “Soon we will know.”

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April 23, 2018 · 5:25 pm

Good Day

Yesterday I was really good.

I scrubbed our kitchen within an inch of its life, moving everything, wiping it all down, scrubbing the stove and running its parts through the dishwasher, scrubbing the dining table and its lazy susan, the go-out table, the buffet, etc. and finishing up by vacuuming the pantry, kitchen, dining area, hallway, utility room and two half baths.

Later on, I listed the office supplies we were donating to the Veterans Thrift Store and bagged them up to take to Fort Smith today. I also continued reading the articles on the Nutrisystem site in an effort to know all I can before we start.

I’ve made up for my efforts yesterday by basically being a slug today. I haven’t accomplished much at all and even took a nap after we ate a late lunch.

The sun is finally shining after several days of really dark days with some good rain, so I’m feeling my spirits raise, as well. I hope you’ve had a good day today.

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March 4, 2018 · 2:28 pm

More Purging Progress

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After our last donation of ‘stuff’ from my art room, I came up with more – about half a 39-gallon trash bag full, and the bag sitting in our foyer, waiting.

Today I enlisted my husband’s help. We went through some really big bins in the basement that were filled with coats, jackets, rain gear, vests, etc. that weren’t worn all this fall or winter. We are going to donate a good half or more of what we went through, freeing up two large bins and one small bin downstairs. We’ll plan to make a trip to Fort Smith sometime in the coming week with a donation to the Veterans Thrift Store.

 

My next reorganization project will be my greenhouse.  These are pics from BEFORE I started deciding what belonged out there. This will actually be an ‘organization,‘ – rather than ‘re,’ – because all I’ve done since my husband and I built the greenhouse is take stuff out there and stash it, waiting for spring. This will be my first time trying to make sense of the space I have out there. I want to set up a planting area, a supplies area, and then have kind of a staging area for when the seeds start to make actual plants and before they’re ready to go out in the garden.

I need to do something about the floor out there because the black weed barrier you see here has torn in several places. We have some leftover rolls of carpet that I’ll probably spread out in walkways as an interim measure. I’m planning to use some of the bricks we’ll have when we take down the two damaged planters we have now and replace them.  I’ve never tried to make walkways with bricks before, but this seems like a good thing to try.

As I get rid of things I’m feeling better and better. I’m happy that I’m finding lots of things that others might like to use. I feel good that I’m throwing what isn’t good away. It feels good to have LESS. And it feels GREAT to have what I KEEP more organized.  As I go around the house, I see more and more things that need to be gone through, more that needs to be given away or thrown away. Purging and reorganizing seems to be good for the soul.

 

 

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February 26, 2018 · 11:39 am

Feeling Lighter

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We just got back from taking another donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. We took 9 large leaf bags, so my art room is definitely feeling lighter. It’ll feel even lighter when we take the two large bags of trash I added to our regular tonight!

Now that the decks are cleared a bit more, I can concentrate on starting to put things where they will live. I’ll probably shed more, but the majority of the give-away or throw-away portion of the purge and clean-up is done.

Yesterday I finished reorganizing the hallway outside the art room. Quilts, afghans and comforters are now all bagged up and on the shelves that formerly held art supplies. The sheets are kept behind a shower curtain across the shelves to keep the dust down.

I’m excited about finally getting to reorganize some things because that means I’m at least one day closer to being able to actually USING the art room to make something!

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February 24, 2018 · 11:27 am

That Awkward Stage…

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I have several shelves inside the art room, inside the adjoining closet, and outside the art room in the hallway completely cleared now. The result, after 8 leaf bags of donations and two of trash, is that the art room – right now – looks worse than when I started  ( if that’s possible.)  It certainly looks as if a bomb hand landed when you open the door…

I’m telling myself firmly that I AM making progress.

Today I’m going to start putting some things away in the place they’re going to live. That should clear the decks – if only a bit – to make it so I can find a chair to sit and rest on from time to time.

One weird problem I didn’t foresee – I have a cedar chest that has a cushion top that I got from my mom. It weighs a TON, more or less. I don’t want to get rid of it, so I put it under one of the tables in the art room. It eventually was buried beneath lots of wonderful sheets of posterboard, large frame mats, and other stuff over the years. I uncovered it yesterday. I then proceeded to pull it out from the wall a bit and open it. I couldn’t! It’s locked. I have no clue where a key is. I’ll look around today, but I’ve already talked to my husband, asking him to use his nefarious lock-picking skills, to open it for me. It may be completely empty OR stuffed. I don’t have any idea which. Today the mystery will hopefully be solved.

You won’t see pics until I can at least get around in there without falling on my rear. I’m still hopeful that the project will be substantially, if not completely, finished by the end of the weekend.

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February 7, 2018 · 5:46 pm

Pantry Project – Day One

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I did three sessions on my cleaning out the pantry project. So far, it looks worse.

I’ve thrown away a bunch of stuff, started gathering stuff to donate, and have reorganized some things in bins, but there is ‘stuff’ still on the dining area table and unless you know where to look, you wouldn’t know anything had been done in there. WHEW!

One good thing – I certainly got my exercise today.

This is one of those projects where it only looks better when an area is completely redone. That won’t come for at least another day or so. I’m concentrating on the non-food part of the pantry first. There is a LOT to go through, so I may not be posting any pics soon – at LEAST until I get the non-food part cleaned and reorganized.

I’m trying to keep the kitchen so we can still cook, make hot drinks, feed animals, etc., with an area clear for doing each activity. It seems impossible right now, but little by little, I’ll get it done.

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February 7, 2018 · 10:52 am

New Purging Project – Pantry

When we built this house 30+ years ago, we wanted to be SURE we had two things: plenty of closet space and a big pantry. We have walk-in closets in all the bedrooms plus the front hall closet and cleaning closet you visited in other recent purge projects. We have a room off the kitchen for the pantry. Not just a few nice shelves, but an entire room. Ahhhh!  I’ve cleaned this out before, but it was before we changed to a low carb lifestyle. I’ve also stashed things in here because we had the room. Now, of course, like so many of my other purge projects, it is overflowing with goodies.

 

As you can see, we have heavy shelving that goes all the way around the room and a fridge in-between. We have ceiling-to-floor ‘stuff’ that has gotten totally out of hand.

 

My plan is to get rid of most of the things we’re not supposed to be eating now – donating it to one of the various food pantries in Greenwood, and there are some things I can donate to the Veterans Thrift Store.  I want to organize the food that is left so I can find things more easily.  I’ll move some of the things in here elsewhere and I’ll throw out a lot of stuff.

 

I also have small appliances, like a toaster, an instant pot, etc., that I want to be able to get easily off the shelf.

This will be a several-day project. I think I’ll start removing the obvious things that shouldn’t be here first. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, but I’ll just do a session at a time and just keep on keepin’ on.

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October 8, 2017 · 3:34 pm

More Than Enough

I FINALLY got a picture of Amber with one of her squeaky toys in her mouth.

This is quite a feat, I have to say, because her standard reaction when she hears the camera turn on and the flash flip, is to drop the toy. I’ve also tried to turn the camera on in another room and then try to sneak up on her, but she sees/hears/smells me before I even enter the room and comes up to greet me – AFTER dropping the toy…

While you’re looking at the photo, look behind her back at the bottom drawer on the set of drawers beside my computer cut out. This is thanks to Amber – not meaning to hurt the drawer or chewing on it – but the fact that she isn’t careful where her claws are on any of her feet while she chews on a toy. I’ll tackle the drawer with one of the stain crayon thingies one day.

I’ve been vacuuming today, as I have every day over the past few weeks, trying to keep up with the MORE THAN ENOUGH dog and cat hair. I’m a failure. :0(

I’ve tried using the Furminator on Amber –

because she’s shedding so much – even with colder weather coming on. Besides having MORE THAN ENOUGH hair, she has MORE THAN ENOUGH teeth, which she readily uses on us. She’s no longer using us as chew toys so much (plus we’re learning techniques to avoid triggering her toothy response), but the Furminator definitely brings out the teeth.

Today I vacuumed the first floor tiles (pantry, kitchen, dining area, utility room, hallway, and two half baths) and then moved to the foyer between the stairs and our office. Then I got about half of the living room done before the battery on my easy-to-use portable Dyson gave out. That was really kind of good, actually, because MY personal energy battery was giving out by then, too.

 

I completely filled up the canister on the vacuum TWICE today. UGH

I’ll give the vacuum an hour or so to charge back up – getting a cold drink and putting my feet up to recharge MY battery, as well, and then continue on. It would be good if my efforts lasted more than a day. I’m really grossed out by all the hair and ‘stuff’ I vacuum up each time.

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April 16, 2017 · 7:08 pm

Sunday Project

Once the rain stopped today, I started on today’s project – cleaning the porch and the deck. In order to get ready for winter, I had moved most of the planters onto the porch. I also moved the chairs, tables, etc. onto the porch.  We could come out onto the deck from the back of the house, through the porch, but we needed to move carefully, it was so full.

I started by moving everything that was on the porch – that was supposed to be on the deck – out. I still need to fill the pots with soil in preparation for planting flowers, but at least they are where they are supposed to be now.

I also hosed off the upper part of the deck over which the gallon bottle bird feeder is. Both little birds and squirrels love this feeder. We love it too, because while we’re eating breakfast, we can watch the critters go through the wooden house into the bottle to get a seed and come back out again. The result on the deck, though, is quite a mess. I cleaned off a winter’s worth this afternoon.

 

Then I tackled the porch. There was a thick layer of dirt and yellow pollen on everything. I moved everything to one end of the porch and swept, and then swept again. The third time was the charm on making a dent in the mess. Then I moved everything to the other end and did the same. I then brought in the garden hose and sprayed the floor, moving the dirt and pollen that was left out the door. I then used the squeegee on a long handle to get the excess water out and left it to dry.

 

Finally, I moved everything to where it is supposed to be on the porch and wiped it all down.

We can now enjoy eating meals out on the porch until it’s too hot. I’m hoping for a good, long spring…

I made my husband come look at the day’s project. He ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ suitably, meaning he’ll get a good dinner tonight.:0)

I hope your Easter was wonderful.

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March 15, 2017 · 8:07 pm

Bright Idea!

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February 11, 2017 · 1:57 pm

The Problem with a Clean Kitchen

P&G Every Day

P&G Every Day

This isn’t MY kitchen, but I wanted to give you a mental picture.

The problem with a clean kitchen is that I don’t want to mess it up once it’s good, deep down clean. It’s a result of my being a slob. If my kitchen were ALWAYS eat-off-the-floor clean, I wouldn’t think a thing about going in to make pudding – or worse – my husband going in to make pudding. I wouldn’t care if we were doing something a bit messy, like sausage balls. I would calmly be planning lunch in a few minutes and figure out what I’m fixing for dinner later.

Because I’m about as far from “Suzy-Homemaker” as one can get, now that I’ve spent an hour or so taking everything off the counters, cleaning the counters and all that goes on them, the island, the kitchen desk, the microwave, the stove, the double sinks, the fishbowl, etc., the stove burners are in the dishwasher and the nice smell of lemon greets you as you enter. The floor is clean from my efforts over the past two days. I couldn’t feel less like tackling my list of ‘to-do-cooking’.

I want House Beautiful to come photograph. My kitchen IS pretty when it’s clean. :0)  I want everyone I know to come over and remark on it. I want my husband to notice it and ‘ooh’ and ‘ahhh’ appropriately.

If I were less of a slob I might hire a kitchen fairy to do the deep cleaning while I kept up with the day-to-day….

My husband just came into the office. The first thing he said was, “Wow! The stove looks good!”  I think I’ll keep him.

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February 9, 2017 · 1:09 pm

Look Quickly While My Floor is Clean!

HomesFeed

HomesFeed

I’ve told you that I’m a slob and that housekeeping rates priority only above bookkeeping and tax prep.

Yesterday I finally vacuumed my first floor tiles. This is a big thing for me, because doing this involves

  • walk-in pantry
  • kitchen
  • dining area
  • utility room
  • a hallway
  • two half baths

Then I mopped with a nice solution of white vinegar, baking soda, dishwashing liquid and lots of warm water. Today I’ve just finished applying Rejuvenate, a new-t0-me floor cleaner that is supposed to do a really good job on tile.  When that dries, I’ll put on a super thin layer of shine. Then I can ignore the floor again for a time before I have to move everything out again and start over.  (Two days if I’m lucky)

With two messy people, two slobbering dogs, and two cats who shed as they walk across the floor, trying to keep things reasonably clean around here is a definite challenge – particularly for a slob like me.

My husband insists that I am able to shoot an intruder, change a tire, clean outside lint traps, mow the lawn, etc., but insists he is unable to tell one end of the vacuum from the other. He ‘cannot see’  a giant hairball as it slides across the room when the door is opened. He doesn’t realize we have a mop. He’s wonderful in LOTS and LOTS of ways, but he considers cleaning and cooking to be MY things.

As soon as the floor dries, I’ll hit it with a bit of shine and then insist my husband ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ several times during the day and evening ( assuming we haven’t already spilled stuff and the dogs and cats stayed outside…)

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December 8, 2016 · 6:06 pm

Battle of the Books

Libraries & YA - WordPress.com

Libraries & YA – WordPress.com

I spent the whole day moving stuff.

My husband was suggesting that we should have a clear demarcation between office supplies and supplies to USE in our office shelves. I had just moved a bunch of cookbooks INTO those shelves in order to make space in the living room…

I went upstairs and looked at the built-in shelving in the guest room. I decided that these could be used to hold a lot of books. First, I had to clean THEM out, moving my out of season shoes and purses. When those were empty, I started the big reorganization.

Since we’re eating low carb and low or no sugar now, I have a lot of cookbooks we don’t use all the time.

I looked up each one on Amazon and found several I could put up for resale there. The ones I couldn’t went into two places: the place in the foyer where we gather books we take as a fund-raiser to our local library. The ones I wanted to keep I put on the stairs.

When I finished with Amazon and the give-away groups, I lugged all the keepers upstairs and put them in the guest room bookshelves.

Then I started on all the books I’ve gathered for running a small business, plus some art and craft books. I did the same series with all of these, listing some for resale, put others in the give away pile, and the rest on the stairs to go up.

I now have all the  books out of the office! Tomorrow I’ll start reorganizing the office shelves so that we can both easily find whatever we need…

I can tell you first-hand that lugging books around and up and down the stairs is great exercise!

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December 5, 2016 · 2:29 pm

Problem

toomanytabs

Growing Bolder.com

I definitely have too many irons in the fire lately, and it’s causing my normally reasonably pleasant personality to devolve into sighs and snaps if my husband points out something that is ‘in process.’

I’ve just spent time doing laundry, paying bills, pulling plants out of the garden. I come in and sit down at the computer and he makes a comment about my desk being buried under piles of stuff again….

The reason for this, other than the fact I’m a slob and anything fun comes before cleaning stuff up, is that he wanted me to clean out all the cookbooks that were in the kitchen and the living room. I brought them into the office, putting them in some of the shelves.  Boxes of Christmas cards went from the shelves to my desk.

Then he wanted me to separate the office supplies from the ‘stuff we want to use’ (such as the many rolls of different types of tape we use to box things up) – separated from the envelopes, etc.  I haven’t tackled this yet.

The reason the Christmas cards are on my desk, along with stuff that needs to be filed – is that I haven’t figured out where to put them.

I going to try to sell some of the cookbooks. I’m going to send some of the Christmas cards. I’m going to box up the Christmas presents for my friends that are there, file the paperwork – while my husband sits, working happily on a project….

ARRRGH!

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October 28, 2016 · 2:06 pm

Heavy Duty Cleaning – Master Bath – Session 3

Environmental Services Ltd

Environmental Services Ltd

The drawers are cleaned out and organized. A BUNCH of ‘stuff’ has been thrown away.

Now we’re down to the cleaning –

  • Dusting first
  • Then scrubbing of facilities above the floor (scrubbing bubbles, comet, soft scrub, Clorox Cleanup with bleach, occasional dynamite)
  • Then I’ll vacuum the shower area, main bath area, and my closet floor
  • Then I’ll mop everything
  • Then I’ll put the rugs back in
  • Then vacuum the rugs

Assuming I live to tell the tale later today, I’ll share pics. Then, I’m hoping to do more yoga – but if not, there’s tomorrow…

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October 28, 2016 · 12:31 pm

Arrrgh!

Oprah.com

Oprah.com

Our master bath area has a main part, with vanities and a whirlpool tub, my walk-in closet, and a combination toilet/medicine cabinet/shower area. It doesn’t look QUITE this bad, but you get the picture of what a mess things are upstairs. I’m trying to gather my motivation to attack the problem as I type.

Yesterday I took EVERYTHING out of three large drawers beneath my sink. I’ve been stuffing things in the drawers for years, only getting appalled recently. I procrastinated for another long while, thinking about the fact that it was long past time to go through things.  This week I did the two sets of shelves and the medicine cabinet, throwing away LOTS of stuff and reorganizing the rest.

I pooped out yesterday, running out of time and energy, and warned my husband that things were quite a mess in there, but that I would tackle it again today. He was amazed at how much ‘stuff’ came out of the drawers!

This morning before we joined our friends for Lunch Bunch, I pulled up the three smaller rugs and one larger rug, the runners under them that keep them from ‘traveling,’ and then got everything else up off the floor. I brought in the vacuum cleaner and brought up the mop and mop bucket in preparation.

I’ve run out of time to procrastinate, so I’ll finish this post and get to it.

I’ll try to post pics later today, assuming I’m successful in making sense of everything up there.

I hope that your day is filled with fun stuff today.

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October 23, 2016 · 1:03 pm

I’m a Slob – ‘Supplies’ Side of Pantry

 

I’ve admitted before that I’m a slob. Some people have tried to excuse this for me, saying that I’m too busy ‘creating’ to bother with this. To this, I thank them for being kind, but say, HOGWASH.  Every once in a while, my clutter and stashing bothers even me, and that’s when I finally do something.

I showed you the food side of the pantry that I finally cleaned up a few days ago. The trigger for this was that my husband needs to eat as sugar-free as possible, so we are getting rid of a lot of foods that neither of us should no longer eat, clearing the decks for a new emphasis on making condiments, sauces, etc., that are not filled to the brim with sugar. Due to the purging and reorganizing, I can now find things quickly and easily, concentrating on the MAKING, rather than the FINDING.

 

spbefore2

I hate to have to admit I’m such a slob, but with the glorious supplies side of our pantry, I have now stuffed and jammed as much as the shelves will hold – and more. I’m going to take a good, long look, get rid of a bunch of ‘stuff,’ and reorganize the rest some that we don’t have to climb into the shelves to get things, hoping nothing falls on us.

 

spbefore3

Even UNDER the shelves is jammed full.

 

spbefore5

All I can say is, “What a mess!” I’m determined to make sense out of this, though, and hope to be able to report significant progress by the end of the day.

Strength – don’t fail me now….

 

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