HousekeepingI

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

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!!

To-do list progress

Or maybe I should call this post my procrastination list.  The things I did because I didn’t want to do the things I needed to do.

To-Do List:

  1. Recover ottoman
  2. Clean basement
  3. Paint basement walls
  4. Reattach insulation to floor joists/ceiling in the basement
  5. Clean out walk-in closet
  6. Finish Bacardi Cardi
  7. Sew seams in Sunny Day top

Did-Instead List:

  1. Knit 2 Kindness Shawls (one, two)
  2. Knit Ka’ana Shawlette
  3. Knit top-down cardigan
  4. Sew travel bag for GPS
  5. Knit four face/washcloths
  6. Knit the Accidental Shawl
  7. Recover ottoman – Yes!  I can check this off the above list!!!
  8. Repaint outside door from the garage
  9. Repaint front door and trim

Ok – so I actually did one thing from the To-Do list.  I finally finished recovering the ottoman that went with one of the chairs that I reupholstered last summer.  The only reason that I didn’t do it last year was that it is just too cold in the basement during the winter months to do that kind of work. More on this project another day.

The face/washcloths were a gift along with some handmade soaps from West Virginia to my daughter-in-law that we met for the first time while on our vacation.  I forgot to take pictures of the ones I gave to her but they were similar to these. Picot Swirl Cloth in the small size.  

Repainting the outside doors were always in the back of my mind so when I saw that the paint was on sale for 40% off, I had to jump at that and buy some.  More on this project another day, too.

So do you follow your To-Do List or do you find something else to do because you don’t want/need to do them?

Working outside

Mr. Aitch and I power washed, cleaned, and scrubbed the deck, deck furniture, and the patio umbrella last weekend.

We had a beautiful tree cut down last fall that overhung the deck as it was getting too big and close to the house. 

It provided a home for hummingbirds one summer and lots of shade but also lots of dirt.  Going to miss that shade.

You can see how close it was to the deck.  The branches were almost touching the back of the house.

I didn’t get a picture of the dirty umbrella when we began but this was a cheap nylon umbrella and for now, I just wanted it semi-clean. I ended up using some dishwasher detergent with bleach (I know that’s a no-no) until I ran out of it.  Had to save some for the dishes!  It’s not the best but it’s better than it was.

Now that the big oak tree isn’t hanging over the umbrella, maybe it won’t get as dirty.

I still need to get more plants.