You know... that Blog? » Cleaning

My Back Yard (aka coming to life)

Jenn — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:09:21 +0000

We had the wussiest winter I ever recall here in Ontario. Where my fellow Bloggers to the south in the US were getting dumped on and messed with by Mother Nature, she apparently forgot all about us here in Toronto! We got so little snow that not a single snowman made an appearance at our house, and the toboggans remained in the garage. We have just bid adieu to the first March in recorded history where we didn’t get a crystal of snow hitting the ground.

Consequently, and because we had near-summer temperatures all of last week and into the weekend, we have an early spring happening here! Plants that never poke their heads out until later in April are well underway. Take a walk with me in my back yard, and I’ll show you.

Look at how green the grass is! Granted, it didn’t get all the way brown over the winter, but in the space of a few days, it has become vibrant again!

My french lilacs are in full bud, and doing really well by the looks of it. Note to self: Plant hanger is looking less rusTIC than rusTY – time to replace it!

These gorgeous delicate wildflowers are everywhere… they’re called Blue Eyed Grass, and we have 3 varieties growing hither and yon.

These paper hyacinth are about 4 weeks ahead of schedule!

These lovely orange tulips are timeless… our spring last year was so nasty, and everything was delayed. So in desperation for some colour, I put some dollar store fakes in the garden (and never removed them!) ;)

Remember Floyd? He’s still here, guarding the serviceberry trees. Hard to imagine that these scrawny sticks will become lush with green leaves, and heavy with berries in only a few weeks’ time.

My lovely heather – how I wish it would bloom all season.

So much work still to be done – doesn’t matter how many times we cleaned up the leaves in the autumn, living in the “rural” part of town means you never get the job done.

And colour me happy that I have an early reason to use this lovely screen door fob now! Thanks for the gift, ShaMoo! I should get one at dog-height so Sadie won’t keep trying to plow through the door in the dark…

I’m itching to get my planters done, but I realize it’s still too early for that. I might just get some hanging baskets this week, and bring them inside if there’s a risk of frost… I’m happy that our many many (TOO many) gardens are full of perennials, and only require some minor upkeep.

Thanks for joining me on my walk!

Dear Wee One

Jenn — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:09:37 +0000

Remember when, a few days ago, I told you to clean up your toys? I was pretty nice about it, right? Even though the piles/unholy amount of brightly coloured plastic was beyond ridiculous?

And remember when I told you the same thing a couple days later, and I was still pretty nice, but getting that expression on my face that sometimes makes you and your dad apologize without quite knowing why?

So last night, you should have known I meant business when I said that I would throw away every single toy that was left on the floor if it wasn’t cleaned up by today… right?

Can you explain to me then, why you went into hysterics when I quietly started placing said toys into the garbage bag this evening? Did you really think it was a good idea to ignore Mommy all that time, and keep dumping out those itty bitty Polly Pocket outfits, shoes, and other assorted plastic junk all over the floor?

I know that’s a lot of questions, Sweet Pea, but I’m really just trying to understand what your thought process is. You know Mommy always does what she says she’s going to do, so it couldn’t have been a real surprise for you.

I know that room is generally considered your toy box, but before you came along… it used to be our family room. I’d kinda like it back, if you don’t mind. Even, in fact, if you do. You’re welcome to stay, naturally, but your toys have to find another place to live. Your bedroom is pretty big, so let’s start there, shall we?

You know what I found particularly interesting, during your sob-fest, Baby Girl? I found it extremely enlightening that you were only upset that I put your stuffed dog in the bag, and didn’t seem to care about all the dolls, doll clothes, Polly Pocket stuff, Littlest Pet Shop animals, Barbies, or anything else for that matter.

I think maybe I have a kid with too many toys. I think maybe… just maybe, mind you, you might be a teensy bit spoiled. For that I fear I must take full responsibility.

I see a big toy clean out in our future.

New Look

Jenn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:49:09 +0000

You might have been a bit shocked when you showed up just now expecting to see my journal layout. Sorry about that. While I loved the overall look, that theme simply had too many problems (one of which was that Internet Explorer couldn’t read it properly… I loathe IE). So I’ve just switched over to a new one, which I’m in the process of customizing. I may also change my mind again, so don’t be surprised if it’s totally different on your next visit too!

Don’t forget about the contest!

An awesome day

Jenn — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:18:24 +0000

Not awesome in that I had a great time, but awesome in that we got rid of a lot of crap junk great stuff from our storage room today! Hubby is less grumpy, and we can actually move in the storage room now! We passed on old furniture, boxes full of old books, old computer cables, boards, and drives (not hard drives – never give away old hard drives if they were ever used to store personal data!), and a few other miscellaneous items. I could still go through all my craft, knitting and other miscellaneous tote boxes, but I’ve really had enough for one day and my back is killing me!!

Where did I get rid of all of these things, you ask? Freecycle! I love Freecycle. There are so many good things to say about it that can rarely be said about donating anywhere else. The best part is that you handle it all via email, and the recipient of your item comes to pick it up from your house. You can even leave it on the doorstep for them! I love that. No more carting bags or boxes of donations to the Salvation Army (who in my experience never appreciates it anyway) or Goodwill (same thing), and you can give your items to the person you want to have it, based on your own criteria. I love giving things to students and single parents, and people who are experiencing a rough time financially. Gives me warm fuzzies. I had a stream of happy people coming up my driveway today, and it was great!

We also had burgers and that corn recipe from a few days ago for dinner tonight, and it really was as awesome as I predicted!! The flour and parmesan cheese made the butter able to stick to the corn rather than dripping off, and the flavour was… Mmmmmmmm! I think I’ll make some modifications next time I make it though. I used fresh basil, and next time I’ll use dried. I’ll also use a bit more flour and another full TBSP of parmesan cheese. We had 5 cobs of corn, so I used a bit more butter, too. It was very yummy though! A hit with not only hubby and myself, but both kids too – that never happens! We will definitely make this for our next BBQ.

Muttering hubbies… not good!

Jenn — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:04:11 +0000

Actually, I’m not sure what I did… the blog name shows up properly in RSS feeds now. Apparently Google Reader caches things, and it wasn’t as borked as it appeared ;) Yay!

Storage room cleanout today – oh JOY. Hubby is grumpy and muttering already, and he just started! Wish me luck… *sigh*

Clean, clean, clean the house…

Jenn — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:50:00 +0000

Now that I’ve firmly planted the “Row row row your boat” song in your head (you’re welcome), I need to come clean. (Pun intended).

There is nothing like a clean house, admit it. Clean and Tidy just feels good. However, when you work as many hours a day as I do, have 2 kids with 2 different sets of paraphernalia, a husband (who doesn’t take up all that much room, but he’s gotta be responsible for SOME of this chaos!) a cat, and a dog with a double coat that is constantly shedding, this doesn’t always work out real well.

“But you’re a stay at home Mom, Jenn… aren’t you?” you might say.

Well, yes and no. Yes, I’m at home with/for my kids, and definitely I’m a Mom first. But I’m also that entrepreneur I mentioned in an earlier post, and that means sitting here in this chair (thankfully it’s a comfy one) for many, many hours almost every day, or, I’m working and THEN off to scheduled meetings (scheduled around my youngest daughter’s JK routine) OR working and running errands, etc. So while I’m home, I just don’t have the time to do everything that needs to be done. Sometimes I don’t even think about dinner until someone asks what we’re having. Usually at 5pm.

My house is “clean”, meaning my bathrooms aren’t going to cause anyone to cringe, and my kitchen is almost always safe to eat in ;) However, the house itself is a constant mess, and that drives me around the bend.

I think I’ll become a flybaby again, and start over.

Once upon a time I was following FlyLady’s methods, and it really worked for me. I highly recommend you check out her website and give it a try.

What needs to happen first is decluttering

Confession: I’m a recovering pack rat.

I still have a LOT that I never use, and probably forget that I have. I have to make some rules and then get busy:

If I haven’t used it in a year, I don’t need it, and it can go.
If I don’t really like it, it’s gone.
If it doesn’t fit, is uncomfortable, out of style or looks awful, it goes!
If I have more of something than I need, and will never use, someone else can have it!

Where we live is not conducive to a garagesale (can you believe that? And ME being the Garagesale Guru!) because we don’t get enough traffic. So as I want to get rid of things that are still good, I offer them up on FreeCycle.

FreeCycle is awesome. Not only can you pick and choose who gets your items, but you can sometimes find things that you need or want without putting out a penny. Unwanted items being passed along, and NOT sent to landfill. Now THAT is Living Green. I also find great satisfaction in providing a needy family or person with something they can really use. I always choose someone who “needs” it over someone who just “wants” it. The only drawback to Freecycle is that you have to join Yahoo to opt into a Freecycle in your area. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning. The best part is that the recipients of your generosity come and pick the items up, and you can leave them on your doorstep for them.

What happens next is organizing

Not my forte. Oh, I have moments where my desktop gleams and my files, disks, hardware, monitors, etc. are in the perfect spot, and my whiteboard is neat and up to date… and the next day you’d never know it was so tidy. My kitchen has more of those moments than the office, but still the island tends to get things piled up on it, the counters attract appliances that don’t get put away immediately, people leave their breakfast and lunch dishes on the counter because the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, and so on and so forth. Annoying. This must end!!

What happens last is a thorough cleaning!

Top to bottom! Scrub! Dust! Vacuum!

…tomorrow, because I’m too busy just now.

“Cascade with Dawn Grease-Fighting Action” – AVOID IT!!!

Jenn — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:24:00 +0000

One of the blogs I ~~stalk~~ read frequently had this story today, about the dishwasher detergent Cascade with Dawn Grease-Fighting Action. Holy smokes! If 2 uses of this nasty corrosive product can ruin a brand new stainless steel dishwasher and etch glasses (and we have to assume that awesome Saucy has the most divine drinking glasses), what the heck is the long-term result?

Given Cascade’s virtual “shrug” in response to her communication with them, it’s clear to me that they simply don’t care about their customers. In that case, one wonders why their customers should care about them… it’s time to move on, folks. I hear good things about Electrasol…