Whose Idea?

Whose idea was this? Scented trash bags? Why? Okay, so I might understand why someone thought this could, potentially, be beneficial. C'mon, if your trash can has become so obnoxiously odorous, then it's high time for it to be transferred outdoors, not be masked (or combined with the objectionable scent of the bag itself). I detest these bags; my frustration level was only compounded when I stood in the store, in need of tall kitchen bags, and only having the choice of one scent over another: Fresh Clean, Gain Original, Gain Island Fresh, Fresh Lemon, Hawaiian Aloha, Lavender Breeze, Lightly Scented and Fresh Vanilla. 😝 I believe I will be carrying out the trash a LOT more often, accelerating the race to the bottom of this sixty bag box. Groan. Does anyone like this product? Anyone? Please, Glad, take a step back and make your original, unscented, tall kitchen trash bags easily available again. Now, as far as your claim that these are 2X stronger, I'm not sure what this is in comparison to; but that's another matter altogether. Hey, I can always double-bag these to the trashcan outside... that will hasten the disposal of these at twice the speed! 💡 Brilliant.

And then there's this: the ceiling demolition has begun, behind closed bedroom doors at the end of the hall. 

View into our bedroom: one of three rooms where ceilings are coming down. Shudder.

Today is Friday, my cleaning day. I can't clean with all of this going on (the noise in here is brain-rattling); those of you who know me will understand that this provides a great deal of anxiety, that, plus the fact that the bedroom furniture (minus our bed) is temporarily living in the family room. Oh, my. Chaos reigns. Hmmm... whose idea was this? This is my coping mechanism: breathing in, breathing out. One. Day. At. A. Time. I can't bear to think about how long this dust manufacturing process will go on, once this is done the hardwood floors will require sanding and refinishing! (Actually, this makes those silly scented trash bags seem like a trivial matter.) I am focusing on the positive now, the flood didn't occur anywhere near my sewing space; Hannes and I are hanging out in here today, this room has never been cleaner or better organized. And that, my friends, was my MY idea!

Life is Good!

Let The Games Begin

Yesterday was cleaning day at Chez Goodneedle. Do you have a dedicated day for scrubbing, vacuuming and dusting? I don't remember why or when Friday ever became that self-assigned day of the week for me, but it has been for as long as I can recall. I have a method and an order, I try not to let anything interfere. I don't love to clean house, but I do enjoy living in a clean and organized home more than the alternative, that's my deep-seated incentive. I discovered this three-minute toilet cleaning video a few months ago, it has been a game changer for me. Okay, so toilet-cleaning has to be one of the most dreaded household chores, but-- if you make a game of it, as I now do, it's accomplished thoroughly and rapidly. I set the stop-watch app on my I-pad and try to beat the clock; my toilet-cleaning time to beat now is two minutes, thirty-nine seconds. I can be competitive, even with myself! For the rest of the house I use a weekly task chart and revel in checking off the chores as I go. I also turn up the music as I work and dance while I dust. Give it a try, see for yourself, make your cleaning day as enjoyable as possible; but, above all, avoid distractions. Don't defer any jobs for the next day, you want to completely confine cleaning day to a single one or it will drag on forever; remember-- the objective is to get to all those activities you actually like to do. Friday is behind me now, (hallelujah!) a clean and organized home is the Saturday pay-off. What recurring task is it that you dread? Can you devise a way to make it more enjoyable, or, at least, tolerable? Grocery shopping is mine, and all that it represents: from the menu planning to the list making, from the actual shopping to the bag schlepping, unloading and putting away. So far I haven't devised a method for dancing through all of that! Ideas?

Life is Good!

On this, the twelfth day of November, I am grateful for my home.

 

Cleaning Up!

I have a stack of fleece scraps, left over from quilt backs and various other projects. Originally these were strips trimmed from the length or width of each piece, I cut them into usable square-ish pieces. I have a stack of similar-sized chunks of cotton/poly blend quilt batting, acquired in the same manner. What do I use these for? They have become my never-depleting supply of dusters! They're perfect for a quick pass under a dresser or around chair legs (those places a vacuum cleaner can't quite reach) on our hardwood floors. They're also great for shelves, sills, baseboards and areas where you don't need a real dustcloth embellished with a squirt of furniture polish. Since they're already recycled I don't even bother washing them... but you could; I simply toss mine in the trash when they're full of dust! Done. You probably already have scraps like these lying around, have at it! If not, you can buy a yard of any fleece (60" wide) on sale for under $5 at one of the fabric chain stores and cut 40 pieces, 6" x 9", creating your own stack. Now, they're available to you when you need them, for pennies; these work every bit as well as the expensive alternatives. Consider these your thrifty picker-uppers. It's spring. Go forth and clean! You're welcome.

Life is Good!

Fighting The Funk

Along with the warmer temperatures and humidity come unpleasant, funky odors to the towels in our house. I always run towels, be they kitchen or bath, in the hottest wash water available on our machine. However, that doesn't always deodorize mine in the summer months. I long ago abandoned colored bath towels altogether, precisely so that I can bleach them as needed, that works every time! The kitchen towels are another matter altogether, I can't bleach them without ruining them. I tried this method last week and it worked like a charm: I presoaked all of my kitchen towels overnight in a white vinegar bath. The next morning I wrung them out and transferred them to the washer along with regular detergent and 1/2 C baking soda (I have a front-loader and just tossed the baking soda on top of the towels). I laundered them on the hottest water setting; et, voila-- out came the freshest towels imaginable! I am pleased. Do you have any lingering funk to fight? Take up arms; you probably already have the weapons on hand, go forth and be ruthless!

Life is Good!