Tag Archives: cleaning

four things | twenty-seven

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Oops! I missed posting anything last week. I forgot what day it was (it happens when one is retired) and when I did remember, I was too tired to think.

It’s been soooo hot and humid. One of the Book Club women asked me if Mr. Aitch and I use our deck much. We have in the past but not this year. In fact we have not dined al fresco all year! It’s just too uncomfortable to be outside. How’s your weather been this summer?

what I’m reading

Well, our Book Club met at my house last Monday. We discussed Nita Prose’s The Maid. The main character, Molly, is a maid in a boutique hotel. She takes her job very seriously. She stumbles across a murder scene and you can find out what happens next if you read the book.

One of the Book Club members offers refreshments based on foods mentioned in the book we review, which helps me figure out a menu. Olive Garden and Mexican foods are both mentioned in this book so since it’s been HOT here, heavy, Italian pasta dishes were not going to happen. I could have gone with the never-ending OG salad but decided to go Mexican with a taco salad, nachos, salsa, sour cream, and a lime infused non-alcoholic beverage. I also made a Mexican Lime Icebox Cake for dessert. Light and refreshing.

Book Club meetings also help me keep up with the housecleaning, like washing the windows both inside and out, dusting everything, scrubbing (not just damp mopping) the floors, you know, all those things no one notices unless they aren’t spotless. And just in case anyone needed to use the restroom I even did the upstairs since the first floor powder room had plumbing issues!

what I’m watching

We’re growing tomatoes in the front flower bed. Actually the two plants are in pots but they are still sitting in the front of the house. The pots were the largest I had and have blown over a couple of times with the unusually strong winds we’ve had. Mr. Aitch and I pounded a long bamboo stake down through the bottom on the pots and into the ground beneath the pots to keep them upright. I’ve trimmed the dead branches and leaves off the bottoms of the plants so they are a bit top-heavy. That certainly helped.

The plants are the Sweet 100 variety and they have produced at least 50 or more sweet, little tomatoes for us so far. There are lots of almost ripe ones on the vines that we will enjoy for the next couple of weeks.

I want to get larger and heavier pots next year so we won’t have to worry about the plants blowing over.

One other tidbit is that the deer don’t bother the tomatoes. Our paver sidewalk runs in front of this flower bed and they don’t like to walk on it.

what I’m loving

Our power went off during one of the hottest afternoons last week. We weren’t sure how long it would be off so we just sat around the house trying to stay cool. I thought about going to the basement to declutter but with no electricity, it would be too dark.

This is truly a First World problem and I will be the first to admit that I do live a comfortable life with so many conveniences.

Fortunately, after an hour, we were greeted with a cool, breeze coming from our AC vents.

I am loving air conditioning.

what I’m working on

I’ve been reading about the Swedish Death Clean method to declutter and downsize so those I leave behind don’t have as much to deal with. I’m not planning on leaving this Earth any time soon and Mr. Aitch and I are not planning on moving/downsizing to a smaller house. I do want to downsize all the crap stuff we have accumulated in this house. I did a lot of getting rid of stuff last year when we got new carpeting on the second floor. I also joined my neighbor in holding a huge three family yard sale and got rid of things we no longer wanted or used. In fact Mr. Aitch and I loaded up the back of my car with most of the leftover stuff and dropped it off at Goodwill. Outta sight, outta mind, and outta the house!

I/we still have a lot more to do but our house didn’t get this way overnight. And it’s not going to get decluttered that way either. Slow and steady wins the race.

Sending you positive vibes for the week ahead!

Patti nona

four things | twenty-one

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The hot, muggy days of summer arrived this week. Mr. Aitch and I are getting the outside of the house ready for summer living: grilling, dining al fresco, and relaxing. It’s been a busy week outside.

Today is Worldwide Knit in Public Day! I’ve still got my sock project so maybe I’ll make some progress today. What a great opportunity to knit at the local Celtic Festival!

what I’m reading

I finished My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier and thoroughly enjoyed it. I figured out the ending three pages from the very end. The description classified the book as a gothic novel but I viewed it as historical psychological thriller. Whatever.

what I’m watching

We heard great things about Bonfires of the Vanities so we watched the movie starring Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks, and Melanie Griffith. The book got rave reviews so I can only assume that the book is much better than the movie.

what I’m working on

Mr. Aitch got a new battery operated power washer a couple of weeks ago. The weather hasn’t cooperated much until this week so he/we finally got to try it out. The deck isn’t huge but it took us two days to clean it. He has two sets of batteries but the downtime between recharging killed the momentum.

After the deck was clean, Mr. Aitch washed the outside concrete stairs to the basement. It’s a one person job so I puttered around with other things: watered the pots of flowers, moved/rearranged the deck furniture, did a load of laundry, brought all the outdoor cushions upstairs for easy access, hung the solar mini lights around a part of the deck railing, and took a much needed shower. I still need to put the other electric lights around the deck but it was just too freaking hot with the sweat running down my face burning my eyes and practically blinding me. Note to self: wrap a bandana/headband around forehead to catch the sweat.

what I saw on my walk

I only walked two days this week due to the outside chores but I spotted this little guy in my neighbor’s yard.

Have a stupendous weekend!

Patti nona

HousekeepingI

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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!

Explosive weekend

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At 6:44 Saturday morning Mr. Aitch and I were sound asleep in our bed when all of a sudden we were awakened by what sounded like an explosion and I swear that I saw a bright flash through my closed eyes. The sound was a tremendous clap of thunder and the bright light was a lightning strike. Close by.

Other than some thunder rumbles, the house was eerily quiet.  No aquarium gurgling.  No CPAP machine running. Nothing.  No electricity.  Fortunately, it was getting light outside and we could see.  I called the power company and about 45 minutes later the power was restored.  It took till 12:30 for the internet to return.

Then yesterday afternoon I heard another explosion.  It wasn’t real loud but it got my attention.  Mr. Aitch was in the garage and I thought something fell and shattered.  On my way out to the garage to check on him, I saw what exploded out on the deck.shattered tabletop

We didn’t see anything that might have hit the glass table.  The sun was shining and there was a puddle of water on a part of the tabletop.  I don’t know if the sudden warmth (it was 77 degrees) and the cool water caused the glass to shatter or what happened.  We did get some information several years ago that this particular tabletop could self-destruct.shattered glass tabletop

Some winters we cover the table to protect it and some we don’t.  This time we didn’t and we lucked out as it was a mild winter.shattered glass tabletop

The safety glass shatters into small pieces and looks like tiny ice cubes.shattered glass tabletop

And it is a royal pain in the backside to clean up!

We wanted to replace the deck this year and now that tiny pieces of glass are imbedded between the boards, that project has moved up the list to the number 1 spot.  I just wonder if I can get anyone to come and do the work…

Any excitement for you this past weekend?

 

A special shoutout to our son and son-in-law who both celebrated their birthdays yesterday and to our step-grandson who is celebrating his today!  Love you guys!!