The humidity finally broke, which meant it
was time for more yard work. Yuk!!! Yard
work is so difficult.

You work and work and work.... after hours you take a couple of steps back to survey the task and nothing, absolutely nothing has
been done.... it looks the same. Of course, the neighbors come by and congratulate you on a job well done. When in reality they are probably staring out their windows wondering what is taking her so long.

So it was time to take out the ramp. The ramp started in the driveway and lead to the back door. It was great for moving in, but wasn't at all attractive. So, with a crow bar and a hammer, I went to work.
And finally, the ramp was gone.......

Spring Clean Up - One Pile at a Time

In between rain drops and torrential downpours, I conjured up a little ambition to tackle the
pile of debris that had piled up over the years. Needless to say, the picture at the top is
the after shot and the picture below is the before shot. It took a solid week of working
in the yard, 10 truck fulls to the reprocessing plant, and 5 truck fulls to the transfer station compost pile. The final result is not pretty, but at least it looks somewhat better then when I started. Someday, I will venture into planting.

First Day of Spring Laundry

The weather has gone from wet to wetter to soaked. Finally a sunny spring day arrived and I used the cement post that are planted in my backyard to hang out my first load of laundry. To tell the truth, it wasn't really laundry. I couldn't manage to pull the rope tight enough to hold a batch of laundry. Since, I was in the process of quilting a bag, I decided to wash the cloth I was going to use and hang it outside to dry. After thirty minutes, the cloth smelled incredibly fresh and light (if you can smell light). Since this one fine day, each day has included some rain or clouds or both. Thus, I have been stuck in the house trying to decide on paint colors. I have spent more on paint samples then paint for an entire room. I have over twenty little paint samples in my paint room. Variations of yellow, gold, brown, white, red, and blue. A plethora of paint. Below is a picture of my bag that I quilted out of the sun dried cloth.

It was early Saturday morning, the sun was slowly rising over the bay and the birds where quietly chirping. The early hour of the day had a very slight breeze in the air, not a cloud in the sky, and a SPECTACULAR day was laid out in front of me. I decided to wash the windows of the small glass entrance way that leads to the front door of our house. There are 84 panes and of course, both sides required a basic cleaning. Using newspaper and windex, I started at the top outside panel and worked my way down to the bottom. The results were amazing. This was the first time I had used newspaper and when the sun was shining directly on the porch, not a streak showed. I removed all the snow boots and washed the porch floor. I dragged out a table that I had sitting in the basement and an ottoman. The table requires painting, but that was left for another day. I sat out some flowers, lighted some incense, and took a walk to the beach. Upon my return I was greeted with shiny clean windows and the smell of spring as I entered our home.

Doorknobs

There is so much work to done in our house. My head just spins when I think about the work ahead. Today, I am sitting and staring at the dirt, the peeling wallpaper, and the peeling paint, which is not an unusual activity for me. But today is a new day, the sun is out and after a solid month of rain, it is time to take action.

What room should I start on..
In the living room, where we are everyday? In the kitchen, where
I am constantly looking for something that wasn't there an hour ago? Walking from room to room, I finally settle on cleaning the door handles. How long could it take, we only have 14 door handles.

The first step was to Google "how to clean old brass door knobs." It seemed that vinegar and salt was the choice of cleaning solution. I would agree with that advice, it did remove the grim, but it was slow going. After 20 minutes on one door handle that still needed additional scrubbing, I switched to Bar Keepers Friend. The result was fast and amazing. The upper left is the before and the lower left is after the cleaning.

The living room, kitchen, and all of the other rooms can wait, our house has clean door handles.

A home for my white dishes with a sparkling of red and black.

On a cold snowy day a week before Christmas, we moved into our new home. Three months later, the snow has turned to rain and yet, we are still unpacking. The good news is that I have found a place for my dishes, which are mostly white. Although, I do have some white dishes with red trim, red and gold trim, and a sparse selection of black bowls, I tend to love all white dishes.

The rest of the house is in various phases of "what are we going to do with this room." This phrase is then followed by some suggestions, blank stares, and the inevitable shrugging of the shoulders and walking into another room, where the entire mindless conversation starts again.

Between the snow and the rain, there was a brief 3 day spring season. First day of spring laundry coming soon.