My sister and I helped our mother clean on Saturdays. That included dusting, vacuuming, and sweeping and scrubbing the kitchen floor. There might have been more but I just don’t remember. And we might not have done those things each week. Again, I just don’t remember.
I do remember that our mother had a system on whether to dust first or vacuum first. But which?
Dusting first would cause any dust to fall to the floor and then be vacuumed.
Or did vacuuming first cause more dust to settle on the furniture so dusting was done after?
Or does it matter as long as both get done?
Or is the real question: what is this chore called “dusting” and why should I care?
I dust and vacuum (occasionally…don’t judge) but not always on the same day. However, we are having people come for a few days and I really need to clean!
Two years ago we had our old wooden deck replaced with composite decking. We have two levels of deck and the lower section is about 12 x 15 feet. For some reason, I never posted about it. Anyway, the contractor used the existing framing to save on the costs. Unfortunately, the framing wasn’t what it should have been so the decking sagged under the weight of our wooden picnic table and grill that we use on that lower section. Not a lot but enough to be concerned about.
The old wooden deck
I had been thinking of how to fix the sagginess since last summer. So last week, I decided I would beef up the framing on the lower deck before it got too hot out.
New joists are on the left, and two more are needed on the right.
I removed the decking in one afternoon. Then I added joist hangers and new 2 x 6 lumber in between the existing joists so the support would be every 12 inches instead of every 24 inches.
Section 1 finished. That’s a root on the right, not a snake!Section 2 joists finished!
The part that took the longest was putting the decking back on. There are special (and of course pricy) brackets that fit into the grooves on the sides of the decking boards so no screws or nails are visible on the top. It’s really neat and clean-looking. The issue was getting the brackets (I added more) and the grooves to line up so the boards would just slide in.
By the time I got to the last board, I discovered that it was too wide. Not getting the boards snugged up as tightly as the original installation was the problem. A fraction of an inch over the span of 30 boards added up. I managed to rip the last board down and get it in place.
I think this will hold an elephant!
I had some uneven stones as a kind of step off the one side but will find* someone (who knows what they are doing) to redo that area with some leftover pavers from another project to make a transition from the grass to the deck.
All in all, this took twice as long to do as I originally planned thought. Plus I was still recovering from that nasty virus. More clean-up is needed but the heavy labor part for me is done…for now.
*I don’t know what it’s like in your neck of the woods but trying to find someone, anyone around here to do work is next to impossible. I know most of the projects/jobs aren’t huge but does no one need money or to work anymore?
Snow storm Izzy dropped about eight inches of snow on us Sunday afternoon and evening.
Mr. Aitch used the snowblower on most of the driveway and then we both shoveled what the snow plow left at the bottom of the driveway. It was heavy and compacted with a crusty layer on top.
Mr. Aitch commented to the neighbor across the street that he would hire her three kids (ages 12, 9, and 5) to shovel our snow in a year or two. Her comment was that they didn’t want to help her shovel their driveway. Um, excuse me? We didn’t have a choice when I was a kid as to whether or not we “wanted” to shovel snow. With only one shovel in our house all of us had to take turns clearing off the driveway and sidewalk.
Even though my knitting mojo was a no-go for a few weeks, I did manage some relatively mindless knitting making more scrubbies.I love the top one but dealing with two balls of this scratchy yarn in one row was too much for my hands. All were made with Red Heart Sparkle Scrubby yarn.
So all the others were two or three color blocks. Much more interesting than a solid color. They do hold up well and the best part is they dry quickly.
Craftsy was hosting a week-long series of Valentine crafts and I decided to make a heart-shaped scrubbie. The pattern is free but you might have to sign up to get it.
My mods were to stop increasing after 36 stitches (34 rows), straight knitting for 10 rows then follow the instructions for the decreases. It is just too cute for dishes!
I also signed up for the fourth season on The Handmade Sock Society and already have the first sock started. More on that later this week.
Knitting In Flashes 