Today is the first day of the rest of my life.....(a challenge)

    Here I am after all these months of no blogging realizing how much I have missed it. I have a void in my life and need some structure and this blog is discipline for me. So many things have been going on in my life that were certainly blog worthy but I still didn't take the time to slow down and post about them. I will regret that one day....I use this blog as my memory bank to look back and remember what year it was that there was a manhunt in our neighborhood, the season I made the best pickles or a special sewing project. My computer brain is failing me but my virtual "computer" brain is always here floating around somewhere in cyber land.

   I will start out today with an explanation of why today and then try to catch up with a regular routine of blog posts.......

WHY TODAY:

It's Monday.....need I say more?
Actually I am in a rut with no motivation....well maybe a lot of motivation but no real gumption or energy??? Not sure what my hold back is....INSPIRATION! That's what I have been missing. I know I have the www.'s and Pinterest and all sorts of inspiration out there but if I try to use those my ADD kicks in and I sit down to look up a new quilt pattern and before you know it I am baking a new cake or learning how to clean the grill the non toxic way!

Today is Monday and it's a fresh start to my week and to my new life of living a cleaner life......and in cleaner, I mean:

A cleaner more organized house.
A closer walk with God and all things HOLY!
A cleaner diet and lifestyle.
A cleaner schedule......in EVERYTHING, work, hobbies, etc etc etc.....streamlined if I may.
A cleaner life in general.

(and not necessarily in any particular order were they listed)

It all goes hand in hand....a closer/cleaner life in any of these aspects will compliment each category tremendously. I think about how cluttered my mind and body and house and schedule and life are and wonder how I have time for God. If it wasn't for all HE has done for me and my family and a very persistent preacher who holds me accountable.......well I might not even make it to church regularly!!

So I have some great big goals that will obviously have to be broken down in little bitty goals.....like maybe on a daily basis ;-) I know me! I also have this STUPID Sarcoidosis and it wreaks havoc on my body when ever it wants to....(Maybe my cleaner lifestyle will help those bouts become more and more infrequent?) So be prepared for a lot of posts for my journaling of this new life one little piece at a time as I march thru it all one little piece at a time. Who knows maybe some of you will want to join along and share tips and ideas??? That would be great if not just remember me in your prayers as I start out on living the rest of my life.......

Now as I get started on this beautiful sunny morning I will start by becoming a "list maker"!
Once my list is made I will start on my journey but I will leave you with this......

2 Timothy 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

.......to be continued

  

Housecleaning in reverse

I had a change of plans....sorry! I know that I said I had so much to do at the other house starting today but I decided that I was needed here at home more. For today anyway! Yesterday I suddenly got this huge burst of energy. The flu is finally over...I think. I started cleaning my house yesterday afternoon and I just couldn't stop. The house was so dusty from weeks of not being able to hardly brush my teeth let alone vacuum. I had to get rid of some dust or I would never be able to breathe. I started at the front door vacuuming and worked my way thru my entire house not missing a thing. A really good vacuuming. A long overdue vacuuming!!

When I got to the back of the house in the bathroom, I decided that I had enough energy left to go a bit deeper. I got a pail of hot soapy water and several rags and I started cleaning at the ceiling and I cleaned every where there could possibly be a dust bunny hiding or a "Germ"...or a "Cootie"......a "Flu Cootie" is what I was looking for. I was cleaning in a frenzy like never before. I am not sure if I really felt up to it or not but the addrenalin kicked in and I cleaned almost the entire house before bedtime. I tackled every door facing, top of all my cupboards, behind and underneath furniture. I cleaned all the bathrrom fixtures in both bathrooms, took out the trash and shook all the rugs throughout the house. I did not however, pick up and straighten very much of anything. I was mainly dusting or washing down dusty areas.

I could not believe what a difference a couple hours made in my house. The air was so clean and fresh with a clarity like the fresh air of Spring outside my window. I think I waste a lot of time trying to clean house. hahahahaha You guys are getting a good laugh on me here! What I mean is that when I usually clean a room I spend so much time picking up things and putting them in their place. Throwing things out etc, that by the time I actually get to the dusting part I am already tired and all I seem to do is hit the highlights only. I think I like my new way of cleaning that I stumbled upon yesterday. If I will spend more time with a soapy rag in my hand instead of a magazine returning it to it's proper place, or a pillow to be fluffed and put back on the proper end of the sofa, I think my house will be cleaner. As far as the clutter I feel this method will help in that department too. The more I move things around to get rid of the dust or kitchen grease, the more apt I will be to put the out of place items in their place.

I was so happy with my freshly cleaned house that I just had to stay here and get the rest of it clean today. I mean what's just one more day right? I now have the cleanest bedroom in the world!! HA!! I do not have a dust bunny in there anywhere. I have clean windows, inside and out. All my laundry is finished and my air is so clean in my house...........well not exactly....we had fried fish for supper! Now just tell me what I could have been thinking with that one? That's OK it was really really good too!

So that's what I call "Cleaning in Reverse". Do the cleaning first and then if there is enough time left you can straighten up. If the straightening doesn't get done and you have unexpected guests don't worry, your house is clean but it just looks lived in!!!! I feel like this will help with my severe allergies to dust too. Aaaahhhhh clean country air!!!!!

updated: I just found this link and they have a really good article about removing dust from your home....ah ha interesting!!! Go here for their site. I think I did everything on their
list besides flip my mattress. Hey I did vacuum it and put on fresh clean sheets but it's a king size mattress, ever tried to flip one of those babies by yourself??

Wash Day!

Monday is Wash Day? Huh? Really?

Well why is it raining out there? Huh?

Cause you all know that I like to hang my laundry out on the clothesline.

Emma likes me to hang clothes out on the line too.

See her running thru my laundry?

I can not and I mean I CAN NOT get to my clothesline without Patches

(the barn cat) helping me.

She will be gone for days and suddenly return when

she smells Downy!

She is all over wet laundry.

That's part of the beauty of my laundry hamper thingy

that I got at the yardsale last year and made over in toile.

She can't reach my wet laundry!! haha

Guineas like laundry on the line too.

Do you see how I use my vintage enamelware?

As a laundry basket and a laundry soak!

How about that Wringer Washer?

It was my dads aunts and it still runs beautifully.

I just need hot water outside somewhere so I can use it without having to carry enamelware buckets full of hot water ;-)

The enamelware buckets could make that task a little bit easier!

The laundry sinks I bought from a neighbor lady.

They were her mothers and I stayed with her mother when I worked for home health.

I had to give $10 for them!

Best $10 I ever spent!

I have had them for about 12 years now.

They have had many jobs around this farm.

They must be Timex...they have taken a lickin and they keep on tickin!!

The vintage aprons on the line are from ebay!

The clothes pegs are from ebay also.

The clothespin apron I made last year!

It sure does come in handy!

The crocheted pillowcases, basking in the sun drenched back porch, were my Grandma Goldie's that she made!

I also have an umbrella clothesline on my back deck in the summer and in an outbuilding during the winter. I have a folding plastic dryer that I use in my bedroom, or somewhere in my house year round.

Can you see that I love my clothesline?

I love laundry!

I love to iron laundry!

I just don't like rainy Mondays....or snowy Mondays!

I was inspired to do this after reading a post from The Canned Quilter

at Hickery Holler Farm today.

Go on over and read her post from today

if you have a clothesline,

if you have a daughter,

granddaughter,

or if you are a woman!

She had me in stitches!!!

Happy rainy wash day everyone!

Old Goats.......

live here.

Well not here as in the photo above, but here in the home that houses this laptop!

I have been vacuuming my house for the past almost 4 hours.......seriously, from ceiling to floors, baseboards underneath, behind, around, between, near and inside of everything that I can reach in each room..........and I am still not finished.

We put that big ole outdoor woodfurnace in 3 years ago like maybe this week in Feb.

We were told that our dust level would be soooooo much better after that was installed and we also put in a heatpump (like we will ever be able to run that again in our lifetime due to the outrageous power bills that we have here in our area) but it is supposed to filter the air, isn't it? That's what we were told anyway. The blower for the heatpump blows the heat in our house and through the filter. Still it is so dusty in here.

I admit it was one week ago that I vacuumed the whole house but it looked to be a couple months ago.

Of course we have been sitting here under another blanket of snow. Snow=mud, mud=dust in the house. It is really sunny and sorta warm today and some of that snow is melting nicely too. I even have a window cracked to let some fresh air in the house......dreaming of spring!!

Then the stupid man on the stupid radio told me that we are going to get ...."A WINTERY MIX TONIGHT AND IT WILL TAPER OFF TOMORROW AFTERNOON"!!!!! WHAT?????

My poor foyer looks as if a bunch of old goats live in the house now. I sure wish it looked like the one in the photo above! I was thinking/ well planning to mop the floors after vacuuming today..................now I am just pouting....I can do some serious pouting incase no one has told you that about me, I wrote the book on pouting!! No mopping today!!!!!!!!!!!!

~

Since I am discussing Old Goats here, I will tell you a story of my first experience that I can ever remember about goats......... I was prompted to do this after reading a post over at

Hickery Hollow yesterday! If you have not been there please go over and read some of her hilarious stories about being a southern girl!!

When I was a wee little tot...all of maybe 3 years old, my brother and I were at home one night with my Grandma Goldie...remember she was my favorite person in the world? Our parents were out somewhere and it was getting late. We heard a knock on the door and I, being the nosy person that I was then and still am for that matter...hehehe......went and grabbed the front door and flung it open..........................................OMG I just about fell over dead!! I was scared to death. All I found when that door flew open was a couple big ugly goats standing there looking thru the screen door at me.....I was face to face with the brutes and I just screamed and jumped in my Grandma arms and then my mom stood up on one side and dad on the other side of these goats laughing hysterically.

They had each ducked down beside the goats where I could not see them and all I could see was 2 goats. I remember wondering how these goats knew how to knock on a door!!!!!!

My parents had decided for some strange reason that we needed a couple goats. Best I can remember we named the mother goat Nanny and her son Billy!!! How original was that?

Daddy tied them to our swingset for a few days but I wouldn't go near them so he moved them and tied them to an old pickup camper top so they would have a shelter underneath. They soon had all the windows busted out of this camper and stood on it daily. I don't remember what happened to those 2 goats but I didn't really care. I was so scared of them!

Who would have ever believed that I would grow up and actually raise goats?

Pigs are flying now......

or you know what has frozen over or something

because Danny Moran asked for me to pull up something about the new trucking rules online.

He expected me to do it as always

but I told him he had to learn sometime.

I made him take control of the mouse and

in a few minutes he was surfing like no body's business!!!!

Now I know that there are some pigs out there somewhere flying around this morning!!

Don't you just love his rhinestone glasses!

He's so cuuuuute!!

Morgan tells him that daily!

~

Jayme~ I do not want you having a heart attack due to my incredibly messy office! I know mine does not in any way compare to the cleanliness of yours!

You see here:

Sewing books

My Bible

Grandma Goldies Picture

Tax papers (cringe)

A book on raising dairy goats

Quilt magazines

Camera manuals

Chicken catalogs

my husband

Seed catalogs

an ER nursing manual (comes in handy around this place)

Camera bag

pictures of grandkids

recipes

my laptop

decorating magazines

dust

a dusting cloth (now that's funny)

and many other items too numerous to mention

Can you figure out at least 2 of my hobbies from this list of items that suck my breath out of me when I am in that office? This is all in a 3' X 3' area! Hey it's my junk and if anyone else wants to come and clean it up for me because it's bothering them just let me know and I'll send my address!!

Why don't you guess my hobbies in order of importance to me?

Of course behind the scenes are 2 sewing machines and 2 quilt projects that I have started. This room is serving several purposes at the time mostly sewing/office!

..............and yes my friends the Christmas decorations are upstairs tucked away for another year...well 10ish months!! While he was upstairs putting the boxes away.....he yelled downstairs at me and asked me "Have you ever seen a more organized sewing room? I bet those women would like to see a picture of this on your blog! Hand me the camera and I'll take a picture for them to see!" That's where my real sewing room is but it's not so convienent to use and I have expanded (apparently) and now need 2 rooms!! LOL!!!!! Yeah those sewing/quilting projects are just rolling out of there left and right!! I told you pigs were flying!!

~

The lip is much better today however it is still very sore.

Thanks for all the sweet comments and well wishes!!!!

I got a fwat wip....

and it's all his fault!!!

He didn't carry the boxes of Christmas ornaments

upstairs like I asked him to do last week.

If you guys knew what my stairs were like

you would understand why I don't do it myself.

Very steep and narrow! And I'm a clutz!!

There was a tote full of ornaments sitting in the

pantry floor awaiting him to put away, which was under the cabinet

that I needed to put something in.

Instead of me moving the tote

I stretched as far as I could to put this item in anyway.

While outstretched, the said item

fell out of my hands and in a flat second

I had a crockpot in my upper lip.

I mean my entire upper lip and teeth.

It busted my lip on the inside

and jarred my teeth!

Do you think I said bad words?

Well I didn't exactly call him "Honey"!!

However I was not too terribly upset at him

because

he agreed for me to go get that

Baby Lock Quilters Choice

that I want so badly!!!!!!!!

Now I know what you guys are probably

thinking. That it was as much my fault for

not moving the tote before

I stretched myself over it. That I was just being lazy.

Well my friends you are not the one sitting here with a

busted wip and a wet wash cwoth in your mowth.

So I have to blame it on someone and he's

such an easy target!

I bet the boxes will be taken upstairs as soon as

he gets in tonight!

Don't you?

The waskally wabbitt!!!

Spring cleaning in January

I have set around enough whining and crying about the weather being so cold and nasty. I have blogged til I can't no more....teh he jus kiddin here!.....I have gotten so bored with Facebook and I am sure that all my friends are bored with me too. So today I had to tell self to get up and act like it's summer and it's too hot to stick your head outside! Self decided that since it was too hot outside that her cabinets needed to be cleaned and her kitchen floors painted.

Self actually decided this before Christmas but didn't seem to find the time to do them. So today I jumped up from my laptop stretched...to warm up....put on some good music, vacuumed the floor and started painting part of it. See this is yet another color change.....long long long story for another day. It has to be done in increments so I painted a little and then hit the cabinets.
This picture and the above is an after shot. Looks good huh? other than the speck of white paint on the drawer in this one. I don't know who uses white paint around this house?????? I used hot water with Murphy's Oil Soap and scrubbed them with a toothbrush........... and scrubbed and scrubbed....... then I coated them really really good with Old English Oil. OMG they look like new ones. I really was hoping that if I neglected them for a long long time like I did that Danny would finally agree that I could paint them white.........I caved.....they were way too grimy for me to stand any longer!!! Dagum it they look good now.

Look how bad they looked before! Yes there you have it folks I am not ashamed to air my dirty cabinets for all the world to see. I would be ashamed had I not cleaned them, or if I wasn't so bored with my life right now!! I think this has got me inspired to finish painting the floor.....for one thing Danny cracked up at me when he came in and saw yet another coat of paint in a different color going on them.......and to go on and do a lot of inside Spring type jobs while the weather is still frightful....more snow tomorrow but I don't care just let me get to Lowes for another gallon of paint in the morning and then bring it on Old Man Winter.....I am armed and dangerous!!!!! Armed with a paintbrush and cleaning bucket!!!!



I have one more cabinet to get to tonight....had to take an iced tea break ....you know that hot weather!! Then paint some more on the floor and hope noone has to get up for a bathroom break tonight after drinking too much tea.......on second thought................

Just keeping it real!

Alright Sage you talked me into it. Here is my slap in the face of keeping it real!! I mean this is a real mess of stuff.

This is the little hallway that is actually in my bedroom. It leads from the kitchen door which you can barely see on the right. Come down the hallway toward the camera and you are in my bedroom. To the left is a big walkin closet.

Since this space is right beside my kitchen it gets more use than any where else in the house. I had planned on this being a shoe cubby with a lot of well designed (by me of course) slanted department store shoe shelves for all my italian leather designer shoes....HAHAHA!!! The jokes on me! I have a dowel rod sitting there that was to be used for a great curtain to cover up the shoes too.

Instead it is a seasonal catch-all........meaning it has something from every season in it!!!

You see beach towels and pool shoes from our boating trips, a bucket of green beans (from 2008's garden) to hull out for seeds to dry for 2009's garden (I think they are dry now), lots of canning jars, my milking supplies, unopened boxes of canning jars, a boiling water bath canner, a bag with a blood pressure cuff (you know I have to take care of dh), a big box of trash bags, food saver and bags for it and etc etc etc etc......... all this decorated up with my Sam Toft prints hanging on either side of the hallway!!

See I have more usable junk than I do designer shoes!!!!!

I worked all day cleaning my bedroom and closet today but I did not tackle this area as you can see. I had company this evening and I showed off my bedroom to her and she liked the idea that I had a place like this right off of my kitchen to use in this manner! I told her it was next on my to do list since canning season is over and I can move most of this stuff out to the cellar. I have the fabric for the curtain and I plan to get it made soon and maybe I won't be so ashamed of this space.

Trust me it wouldn't be exposed for all to see except it was done on a dare ;-)

Afterall how many of you ladies have pressure canners, milk buckets and buckets of green beans in your bedroom?

You might be a redneck/farmgirl if.................

Now ladies I beg you to step up to the plate and show me some of your "keeping it real" spaces!!!

Update~~~Yep...... I am a redneck farmgirl........ I was pondering this picture and saw that I have a pair of John Deere Gator seat covers made out of John Deere fabric on the shelves and realized that I was sitting here at the computer with a "Bits-n-Bridle" t-shirt on that says "What happens in the barn stays in the barn." Well I don't know about it staying in the barn!!!!!!

Did I learn nothing as an ER & ICU nurse?

Well just look at this picture and see if you know the answer! Of course I didn't! Well maybe a little. I did know to keep a phone right by my side so I if I did fall and was by some miracle still coherant enough to dial 911 I could. Have I mentioned that I am afraid of heights? Or that I am so clumsy that I have been called Grace more than Becky? Yep my girls could fill your little heads with stories that they think are mighty funny for some warped reason. They get that from their daddy!! Crazy kids!

Now you see we have this semi-maintenance free home....hahaha...that even sounds funny when I write it. We replaced the roof with this great painted metal, added vinyl siding and replaced some of the windows around 4 years ago....took a couple years to get finished.....anyway we could not begin to afford to replace these big huge windows with vinyl. We were quoted around $1000 a piece and we have 7 this size!!! $7000 for windows......he said no!! Paint is cheap in comparison. BUT who is going to get up there and slap some paint on them? Me of course. I did talk him into caulking them first. He did that last evening after some true begging from me to do so in order for me to attempt to get them painted today. Today was another beautiful day and the last one that the dear old weather man promised me for a while and I was scared it would get too cold to be doing any painting and then these wood windows would rot out this winter. So I came around the corner last evening and found my dearest but crazy husband up on the ladder in this contraption. What? I had a real quick flashback to a time that my sister in law did a similar trick with a ladder, paint and a pickup truck but she fell off the ladder and it really hurted she said!!


So of course I wanted this painting to be done today so I had no choice but to hike my clutzy self right on up there and git-r-done. I did git-r-done too. Right before dark tonight. LOL!!!! Two really good coats of paint and a lot of scraping, they will possibly be cleaned tomorrow weather permiting. Not via Gator and ladder though. I have one of those really cool brushes that goes on the waterhose that holds soap that I have used before and it does a good job. It is also telescopeing so it will reach and I can keep my little ole feet safely on the ground.



I came in the house tonight not to this serene setting but to a kitchen full of dirty dishes. This however is what it looks like right now. AAAWWWWHHHHH! I love that feeling!! If you click to enlarge you will see white paint splatters were I have cleaned so many brushes this year in my sink but it does wear off eventually!! How do you like my new/vintage enamelware dish pan? Well it's actually a jelly pot but I discovered a while back that it also makes for a great dishpan. It accomodates my large pots and pans with ease.

(I made the red dishcloth this week, 2 of them while winding down at night watching a little TV) That's called multi-tasking ;-)






Now that I can rest easily knowing that my windows may not crumble down around me this winter.....well I/we have one more window to go, upstairs in my sewing room, I/we can stand on the 1st floor roof to do that one. More ER stories come to mind.......when a patient came in and started their story with..."Well I was on the ladder........" we did not need to hear anymore!!!!





Anyway I can get to my sewing room and utilize this new fabric that came today. I told you testerday that I just placed an order with http://www.greenfairyquilts.com/ on Tuesday and it arrived today, Thursday. She is in Utah and I am in Va.......I wasn't really good with geography but I thought they were on opposite ends of the US are they not? Was that lightening fast shipping or what? I really have the wheels a turning now about what to do with these treasures!!!!!




Thank you Lord for keeping me safe today up on that ladder!








Now there are some rich thick hot bubbles calling my name! Hum, that could be hot cocoa or a bubble bath. I think I'll have both!!





Goodnight my friends! God Bless!


I have to add here..........You see those incredibly large "Spoon and Fork like Marie's from Everybody loves Raymond" spoon and fork? My 6 year old grandaughter, Emma asked me the other day why I had those hanging up there? I gave her many different answers and she never seemed to be satisfied with my answer. I take it she doesn't like them ;0(
I think they are kinda kitchy!! LOL!!!

Sticking to it!!

Oh yes! Finally a cleaning schedule that is going to work!! I am sure it will have some glitches here and there but for the most part I can see it working out very well. There will be days that other plans will get in the way whether scheduled or not and this plan should workout well if I have to miss a day here or there. After all I had to play catchup to get this far in the week where I started late and there has been plenty of time for that.

It really feels good knowing that I am leaving each room finished! Not half way cleaned but cleaned very well. Of course there are other things that I want to accomplish in each room now that I have no clutter....ie...the doors on the bathroom cabinet are shot but the cabinet is in great shape so I am ready to make some fabric curtains for there. The trim in the new bedroom has to be finished, small job, but... and the bedskirt and curtains for that room have to be finished. I am hashing around plans for a quilt/comforter/duvet cover for that room also....we'll see!!

Then on to the foyer~~~~ curtains to be made ~~~ kitchen needs new curtains too. I have to make a cushion for my glider and paint it.....paint my kitchen table...paint the kitchen and breakfast room floor....and the list goes on and on.....maybe I'll get some of this done this weekend while dear hubby works!!! maybe I need a list for these projects too!!!!

Off to enjoy my clean house!!!!

My new cleaning schedule!

My wonderful friend Sage from down south has inspired me to make out a cleaning schedule to use each week for cleaning my house. She has an assignment for each day Mon thru Fri with the anticipation that the house will be clean come the weekend and only a little maintenence is due on those days. I have now adapted a similar routine for my house.

I have made an assignment for each room or rooms to be cleaned on a different day and it will remain on that day each week. It took a little thought on how to group these rooms together and which days would work best. I came up with a plan where I will also add vacuuming the whole house twice weekly on Tues and Fri. The laundry and mowing of course will have to fall whereever necessary according to the weather.

Monday= kitchen and breakfast room

Tuesday= Laundry room and foyer, vacuuming

Wed= porches/hottub room/ barns and outbuildings (gathering tools to one central area and a little more than just maintence on these areas)

Thurs= Bedroom/ half bath/ office

Fri= Living room/ dining room/ big bathroom and vacuuming

If these areas are cleaned every week as assigned it shouldn't take over 1 to 1 1/2 hours tops to clean each day. Of course I still have the daily chores of kitchen duty and picking up and straightening up in each room, preferably 10 minutes or less in each room.

I got started yesterday which was Wed and I got those things done and actually backed up and cleaned a couple areas from the previous days trying to get on track with the new schedule so that things would be looking good come the weekend. I would love to have some Saturday mornings, if dh is working, to be yard saleing or thrifting instead of doing housework or we could even be out on the lake. I am not sure of how much of either of these pleasures I will be able to partake in this year due the high gasoline prices....that stinks too.... maybe I'll just stay home and garden and sew!!!

I really feel that this system will work for me because I will stay focused on one room at a time and not stray away from the assigned area. I have always spun my wheels it seems where cleaning is concerned and I felt that all I ever seemed to accomplish was surface cleaning. I am ready to get in there a little deeper now!!

Let me know if you have a similar strategy for cleaning your house!

Have a blessed day!