Sticky Space Bar

I knew my laptop needed a good cleaning weeks ago,

but when my space bar kept sticking this week, I couldn't 

put that chore off any longer!  Last night it wouldn't move at all!

When I had a computer and separate keyboard, I'd take all 

the keys off and give the whole thing a good cleaning quite 

often.  It's harder with a laptop!  I ended up turning it off

and blowing it with this spray air.  When that didn't really

do the job as thoroughly as I wanted it to, I took a corsage pin

and ran it in the grooves between the keys.  Then I gave the

whole thing a good wipe down to remove any stickies on the

keys and the screen and blew it out again lifting some keys just

a bit by the corners to let more air go through.

So much better!  I'm sure none of you are surprised that

I may have had a few pet hairs stuck under there. ha.

That, and I like to eat at my desk while I work, so there

were some crumbs in there, too.  And I may or may not have

sneezed on the screen a while back.  Yeah, you get the picture.

So much better now! lol.  Some of my key labels have worn

off in recent years.  Mainly E, T, I, S, H and L.

I'm going to remember those if I ever get on Wheel of Fortune!

♥

Kitchen Puttering

My bread board collection is growing.

The middle one came home with me yesterday.

I love how distressed it is and the hanging ring on the top.

I scrubbed the heck out of it so it's clean now.  Still,

I doubt if I'll ever use it.  I just like how it looks.

I cleaned out this part of my kitchen cabinets...dusted,

rearranged, purged, etc.  Surprisingly after over a year

they weren't dusty at all.  It's the floors that are a 

constant disaster here, yet I chose to play with

dishes when I cleaned today. lol....stepping over

dust bunnies and crumbs...maybe this evening 

I'll get to the floors. :)

These antique English plates from 1913 came home with me 

yesterday.  I seem to be drawn to brown transferware

lately.  I thought they looked like autumn!

Won't they be pretty for Thanksgiving dinner?

They even have quails on them. 

I did manage to get a few new items listed

in my etsy shop today, a few sales packaged

and shipped.....and 2 loads of laundry done.

The boys had the day off, so we're bedhead and

jammies today.  It's been lovely...as long as we

don't look in the mirror....hahaha....

What did you do today?

♥

Cozy Kitchen

I cleaned the kitchen the other day.

Not just the normal straightening and wiping up, but

the real kind of cleaning.  You know, where you actually

get that spilled flour behind the canister and the dust

from the top of the fridge?  It looked so nice I took photos.

Tiger and Charcoal were the finishing touch to the coziness.

♥

Closet Cleaning

I've had this closet on my mind since the reno was completed!

It needed some cleaning out as you can see!

I liked the bins I put in my studio so much that I got more

for this little project.  They are Better Homes & Gardens

brand and I got them at walmart.com online.

I removed 11 old cans of paint which are colors we don't even

have on any walls any more, a bag of items to throw away

and one box for the thrift store.  Now I think we can actually

find a battery or masking tape when we need them!

♥

The Roomba Review

When I showed you my iRobot Roomba I got for Christmas, 

several of you asked me to report back how I liked it

after I had used it for a while.

I have to say, I like it better than I expected.

It's a smart little robot!  It has a dirt censor. It will slow down

when it comes near furniture so it doesn't slam into things.

It can be programmed to come on and clean at certain times

of the day or week.  And after it runs about 90 minutes, it brings

itself back to it's charger and tells you that the chore is done!

Sometimes I have to redirect it into a room or block it in so it

will finish before venturing off to other parts of the house,

but overall I think it's pretty wonderful!

It will even stop and tell you if something is wrong,

like it's brushes need cleaning, the dirt trap needs to be

emptied, or if it's stuck somewhere.

It won't fall down stairs but stops if it gets one wheel over

and it tells you it needs to be moved to a level area.

And best of all, it can go under the china cabinet, under beds,

couches, and lots of other pieces that normally only get

the spring cleaning treatment.

Here's the dirt trap after a few runs through the house.

It picks up crumbs, pet hair, scraps of paper and dust.
I even see a sucker stick in there!

The best part about 'Bot' is that I can do other things

while vacuuming. 

 Amazing things, like...I can.....

1. Unload the dishwasher and vacuum at the same time!
2. Fold laundry and vacuum at the same time!
3. Take a shower and vacuum at the same time!
4. Send an email and vacuum at the same time!
5. Paint my nails and vacuum at the same time!
6. Take a nap and vacuum at the same time!
7. Walk on the treadmill and vacuum at the same time!
8. Dust the furniture and vacuum at the same time!
9. Cook dinner and vacuum at the same time!
10. Brush my teeth and vacuum at the same time!

haha....you get the picture. So fun!

If you're in the market for one, and are wondering if 

a Bot would be right for you, I personally would recommend one!

They are also highly entertaining for any pets you may have. :)

♥

A Little House Cleaning...

I've been doing some major cleaning!

Everything came down off the shelves, everything was

wiped down...all the glass went through the dishwasher.

And then it all got put back in different places!

I call it a chain-reaction.  I saw on another blog recently

where they called it the domino effect.  lol....

But things are sparkly, dust free and they look much better!

My expanding shell collection went here to the family room....

That left the dining room shelves empty...so the contents of the

china cabinet ended up there!

And now the china cabinet, which is actually a wardrobe with glass

put into the doors, holds books, quilts and some of my blue canning jars.

I enjoy doing things like this!

It's things like steam cleaning the carpets that I 

continue to scoot to the bottom of the list. ha.

I also have several things from my china cabinet going

into the shop and I have 4 bags of things to go to the 

thrift store.  The house is feeling lighter! :)

♥

100 Things

I saw a 100 Things Challenge on Janet's blog, The Gardener's Cottage.

Janet is a classy, chic, stylish lady.  She lives in a tiny cottage that is SO

 beautifully, minimally decorated.  She's into vegan eating, simplifying, and

and having quality over quantity.  She's very inspiring!

You can click here to see her post.

The challenge was to walk around your house and gather stuff you 

don't need.  It can be trash or things to donate.  I knew this

wouldn't be any trouble for me! I could do it every day for days

I bet!  Well, I got two large gift bags (one for donations and one for trash)

 and decided to see what I could do in just 15 minutes.

 I counted as I went, throwing in unused candles, some Christmas

 ornaments, gift bags, plastic containers I don't use, and

a few items of clothing.  And then trash....my 2013 calendar,

receipts, expired cold medicine, a pen that was out of ink, etc.

In 15 minutes, I had gathered 62 things to remove from my house!

I didn't even go through closets or dressers!

What a fun thing to do and it didn't take a lot of time.

I think I could do it weekly for quite a while!

♥

Fresher Fridays

A little before and after of the inside of my pantry door.

The picture on the left doesn't give you a good enough

feeling of how bad it was, though! ha.

Pepper from the grinder had sprinkled down on

the items below, honey had dripped on the pepper.

You know, yucky things like that. :)

Everything came out, got wiped down and organized.

The spices looked so much better, I continued down the entire door!

I could even take note that I was almost out of 

chili powder and steak seasoning in one glance! ha.

Doing things like this is contagious!

I couldn't stop at the door, but finished the

pantry shelves, too.  But dinner had to be started,

so the photographer had to put down the camera

and grab her chef's hat. :)

You get the idea, though...neater, cleaner

and, well...fresher! 

♥

Fresher Friday

It was my makeup drawer today.

Only took 10 minutes.

10 times better!

♥

Fresher Fridays

Yep!  MUCH fresher! :)

I did several things like this as I puttered around the house today.

Not only did I dump the old nail brush and scrubbies, I threw out

the old ice cubes (which were weird smelling and shriveled)!

The ceiling fan in the living room is now dust free and

much fresher, too!

It was so much fun, it might become a fun fresh weekly post! ha.

♥

A Little Thanksgiving Prep

Today I had Harry home with a sinus infection.

We went to the doctor for an antibiotic.

Doesn't look to terribly sick with that smile,

but he does feel crummy.

The other day I collected leaves outside and

pressed them in an old dictionary to dry.

Doing this always reminds me of my grandma. 

She died when I was only 8 years old, but

she was sweet, creative and I don't have anything

but good memories about her, her home, and holidays there.

Today I pulled out the leaves and wrote names on them

so I could use them as place cards on the Thanksgiving table.

Little bunny is still looking festive at the kitchen sink.

The wood pedestal bowl with dogwood blossoms painted on it is

a recent thrift store find!

I also pulled out the crystal and washed it up so it would be ready to go!

And I polished the silver. 

 Remember the stinky paste, the scrubbing, rinsing and buffing?  Not anymore! 

 Just lay a piece of aluminum foil in the sink,  add 2 T of baking soda and hot water. 

 Soak your silver for 5 minutes and it's done. 

 No tarnish!  Couldn't be easier!

I dried it all to make sure there weren't any water spots and put it back in the case.  Had to smile at my silver set.  

My uncle found it at a thrift store 9 years ago and sent it to me! 

 I guess thrift store browsing runs in the family!

I had planned on running errands today, but with Harry home I had to change plans!  At least I got some of my other little chores done in

anticipation of Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow I go to the cute little Amish turkey farm, my favorite part of Thanksgiving prep! 

 Thankfully, Taylor's schedule is free to stay with Harry while I shop. :)

How was your Monday?

♥

Dust Bunnies

Dropping the boys off at school, a gloomy and rainy morning.

photo from google images

After dropping off the boys, I went home and decided I needed to tackle the dust!

It's been left everywhere to breed, multiply and grow.

In fact, the further under furniture and deeper into corners I got,

I discovered that they were really more like dust mooses. ha.

I wiped ceiling fans, vent covers, door jams, the top of the refrigerator,

baseboards and even went behind the washer, dryer, china 

cabinet and under the couches. Oh my.

  I still didn't get all the way through the house, but

I did make a significant dent in the situation. lol.

• Did you know that dust bunnies have been around for centuries and are an untouched resource of easy-care pets for our busy lifestyles?  They have lived quietly along side us and have already been domesticated!
• You probably have one or two that have adopted you, and you don't even know it!
• Dust Bunnies seek out spaces that receive little traffic, and are preferably  dark, although some do become curious of the outside world.
• Dust Bunnies have their own paratrooper squads that one must be on the look-out for.  However, since the dust bunnies do not have their own air force, the depend upon fan blades to transport them, so invasions usually take place during air circulation.
• There are also small legions of foot soldiers that parade across the floor when ventilation units are turned on.
• When heavy objects are moved, they will scurry for cover!  This is the best time for capture!
• Dust bunnies are very prolific.  There is no such thing as one dust bunny. Left to their own vices, dust bunnies will reproduce at alarming rates!

fun facts are from dustbunnies.com

I also want to thank Gloria for the Walmart gift card that she had as a giveaway

on her blog!  I was the lucky winner!  I don't know what I'll get with it! 

 Maybe something as a treat for myself, or maybe I'll just lower the looming weekly Walmart bill 

while I grocery shop this week. :)  Thank you, Gloria! 

 How nice!  If you don't visit her blog, you really should.

She has a fabulous cooking blog and I've made several of her delicious recipes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And last but not least, my orthodontist is having a Cutest Pet Photo

contest!  I've entered the picture of Jack on my sidebar.

Just click on the photo to go vote for Jack!

The winner gets $150 gift card to PetSmart.  And you all

know I could use that for a lot of cat chow to feed my zoo! ha.

Thanks very much, from Jack. :)

♥

Defrosting the Freezer

I ask myself every year when I defrost the freezer....

"Did they not make frost-free freezers 25 years ago when we bought this?"

One nice big project done today.

Now I have room for all of that zucchini bread!

Thanks, too, for all of your good wishes for my first
day with the Etsy shop!  I had two sales!  :)

♥

Removing Some Clutter

You know how we all have clutter spots in the house?

This wall in our dining area seems to be the spot for us.

The buffet, which is really 4 thrift store dressers lined up with a piece

of counter top laid across the top, is great for holidays and entertaining,

 but it also is a large empty space that tends to be a magnet for

clutter, too.  The shelves had also become too crowded and needed

to be dusted.  So today I cleared the shelves, dusted, sorted

and put about half of the stuff back.  

Much better!

I voiced my wishes to all family clutter bugs

that it would be nice to keep it this way! :)

One more spring cleaning item crossed off of my list.

I know...it's summer...but it takes me longer. ha.

♥

What I Did Wednesday #22

1. Enjoyed my Valentine's Day bouquet.
2. Had Whiskers keep me company as I sat at my desk.  You can see her ear here.  Wouldn't call that a 'tiny notch' would you?  :(  I would call that cutting the whole tip off.  Geesh!  And speaking of taking feral cats off to be spayed and neutered, I had a neighbor who reads my blog drop off a check to help pay for my expenses!  Nice.  I appreciate that so much!  Our whole neighborhood benefits if we control the population!  Now if I could just do something about the raccoons and skunk...and the mom and dad cat! ha.
3. Sent Alex and Harry off to school again without Spencer, who is sick.  I still laugh every single time I put their Elmer Fudd hats on.  So hilarious! :)
4. Checked on Spencer, who laid low today with a fever.  Lots of liquids, vitamin C and socks on his cold feet.  He refused a blanket, though...stubborn child. lol....
5. Tried some Lemi-Shine in the dishwasher after reading a post by Rhonda.  Her dishwasher repairman suggested it since all the phosphates have been removed from the detergents by the EPA and people everywhere are complaining that their dishes aren't clean any longer. 
6. Not sure if the dishes were cleaner, but it did polish the copper bottoms of my saucepans!
7. Cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms.
8. Put fresh, fluffy rugs down and took up the dirty ones
9. Refilled all the soap dispensers.
10. Washed and ate red seedless grapes.
11. Watered the house plants.
12. Enjoyed Tiger's company.  He and Whiskers spent the day inside. Funny how feral cats aren't used to all the inside sounds.  They jump at the faucet being turned on, the doorbell, the phone ringing, chip bags crinkling, ...all those things our old cats didn't blink at.  They don't have an aloof attitude but still have that survival defensiveness that they need to live outside.  I didn't dare vacuum.  haha.

What did you do today? 

I hope it was a wonderful day!

♥





Oven Cleaning

I cleaned my oven today. Well, it cleaned itself. I can't believe I

hadn't cleaned it in several years when it's as easy as turning a couple

of knobs! I'm glad I didn't have to use Jifoam, although if it transports

you to the beach and makes you as happy as the ad says, I would

be tempted to try it!

I knew if I wanted to bake that first chicken pie of the fall season I would have to do something with the oven first or we would have smoke in the house! Now the oven is clean and I lined the bottom with a piece of foil so cleanups will be a breeze! And the chicken pie was delicious!

Metamorphasis Monday = Master Bedroom Closet

This is what my bedroom looked like when I removed everything

from my closet! It had actually never been painted and only

had a thin coat of builder's primer on it. After 20 years, it

was looking pretty sad!

Nugget was quite the 'helper', sniffing the paint, trying

to chew my shoes, and wrestling with the drop cloth!

He finally decided to take a nap in the corner while I worked. I used a light blue just like I did when I freshened up my kitchen pantry.

I love the contrast of the white shelves and baseboards! And then, of course, the fun part is organizing everything as you put it back! So much better! :)

I've Been Tagged!

Lavinia at Bird Bath Chronicles has tagged with me

her own special meme! I'm supposed to tell of a

cleaning quirk that I have. Well, I guess I have a few!

My first one is that I have a chore list that I print off

every Monday morning. It lists everything that should

ideally be done around the house every week. I do

what I'm in the mood to do and try to get most everything

marked off before the weekend.

I am a huge list person, so it fits me perfectly.

And hey...a family of 6, with a rabbit, fish, parakeets and a yard

needs a little structure to run smoothly, right?

And in the spirit of Keeping it Real....I don't usually get

the whole thing marked off!

And in a weird coincidence, I blogged about my cleaning list

on this exact day last year! Funny!

Everything You Touch Shines A Little Brighter...

In the spirit of Keeping it Real, I must confess that my windows

are filthy. I mean really, really filthy. As in...I haven't cleaned

them in years! Well, the one at the kitchen sink

has been cleaned on the inside

since it gets splattered and I look out of it a lot. But the rest....yuck!

What's your favorite way to wash windows?

Is it with vinegar? Newspaper? A bucket of soapy water

and a hose for the outside? I'd love some advice

so when the weather gets warm enough, I'm ready to go!

googleimages.com

Simple Pleasure of the Day...

.....is a new stack of bar mops. And if you have been blogging with

me for a while, you know that I like to ceremonially

pitch the old! In this case, the old towels went to the garage

for washing cars and other outside uses.

It doesn't take much to make this homemaker happy!