Week 2, Progress

My progress this week seems mimimal, but I guess as long as I keep slogging forward it still counts. Some. :)

1. I got outside windows washed, as many as I can reach that didn't have screens. The screens have been hosed off.

2. I did not take things off the walls, but have dusted down the living room and front hall, ceiling on down.

3. I haven't vacuumed yet, but when I do I will also go under the sofa cushions.

4. There is no wood furniture; all surfaces have been dusted.

5. I ran the duster all the way down to the baseboards.

6. I will polish the brass on the fireplace screen later this week (when I find the polish!)

7. I did not remove the silk flowers, but shook and brushed them carefully. It won't be long until they are packed away, and they will be rinsed in the shower before being returned next winter.

8. The dusting included the mantle and the lamps.

9. I haven't moved the pile of photo albums yet, because I haven't yet figured out where I'm going to put them. I also have a pile of books on the porch table, that I keep putting off bringing in because I don't know where to put them. Need to purge some shelves!!

10. I still want to look into renting a rug cleaner, but it will have to wait, maybe even until next week.

11. I have company coming next Saturday for lunch, and will take pictures then of my lovely clean and neat rooms.

Other than the week's area, there are tasks assigned to this week.

I haven't changed the smoke detectors yet. Just haven't had the funds to do that. I know they're important, but I can't "invent" money.

I haven't printed a checklist, because I keep revising it!

None of the other items from the original list really apply to me.

So, for this week, though I'm not finished, I'm at least a bit closer than I was.

Following HGP, week 2

I still have a few things to finish up from week 1, but hopefully will get that done today. Week 2 officially starts, so here is the plan for this week:

1. Wash outside of windows. Well now. My living room has NO windows! Well, actually, there are 2 tiny windows, not really "in" the room; but the plan for today includes washing them anyway.

2. Take everything off the walls, dust well, and wipe down the walls. Don't forget cobwebs in corners.

3. Take sofa cushions off and vacuum sofa.

4. Clean wood furniture; clean shelves. I will dust, but the sorting will wait until those things are packed away for Christmas.

5. Dust baseboards.

6. There are no closets. I may combine this with next week, which will be the front hall. My husband's closet and the main linen closet are there, and they both need sorting.

7. There is no TV or stereo in this room. Perhaps instead I will polish the brass on the fireplace screen.

8. Clean silk flowers. Some of these need to be changed out (seasonal).

9. Dust/wipe down mantle and lamps.

10. Get rid of stack of photo albums.

11. Consider renting a rug cleaner before vacuuming again.

12. When the room is put back together, take pictures for inventory.

Other than the week's area, there are tasks assigned to this week.

1. Change smoke detectors (but this is based on the "old" time change; in any case, mine need to be replaced completely. This is something the landlord doesn't want to do - they're "wired" in - so my shopping list includes several battery smoke detectors.)

2. Print out a holiday checklist cleaning plan. I sort of already did this; waiting to get ink to print a "finanlized" calendar.

3. Do wardrobe check. We don't need or get anything new for holidays (well, except every year I try to get a new holiday themed shirt). However, DH desperately needs a new suit before an October wedding, so that is on an immediate shopping list.

4. Do tabletop check. Well, I can't do that until I get out the holiday stuff. But we don't do much in the way of holiday entertaining anyway. I just live too far away from civilization, people don't much like coming out here. (or maybe I'm just not a good hostess. :( And people are, for the most part, so very busy). We do have family here at some point, but I know I have enough of my Christmas china.

5. Schedule family haircuts, grooming, etc. Hmmm ... odd one. Haircuts are done on a regular schedule as needed. Perhaps I'll sneak in a manicure or pedicure as a treat to myself. Or, better yet, will put that on my Christmas wish list! :)

There just isn't anything else that really applies.

This week's shopping is supposed to include working on gift shopping, which is a given; and buy holiday clothing. Around here, that's just not possible this far ahead, other than the afore mentioned suit.

So, that's it, this is what I need to work on for the next week.

Week 1, progress

Well, I didn't post progress as I expected; and week 2 starts today. So, here is how I did for the first week:

1. I cleaned one notebook entirely for my friend to use (though I know she won't), and got the last one set up to use this year. I have some lists and schedules done, but have not yet printed them out.

2. I'm still waiting to get ink so I can print the calendar pages. Need to do that soon!

3. Oops. I actually forgot to do the "family values" exercise. Well, not so much to do anyway. My husband is so totally "bah-humbug" that it's no use talking to him about this. He tolerates anything I do ... as long as (1) NO lights in the den that interfere with TV, (2) NO lights on anything in the bedroom (even though that is the only window on the front of the house) or the front hall (in case he doesn't want to bother to shut the bedroom door), and (3)NOTHING that in anyway gets in his way or is inconvenient to his daily routine. I will, however, be able to include my son, daughter in law, and grandchildren in decorating the big tree (and maybe even some of the smaller ones) by waiting until Thanksgiving weekend for that.

4. I have multiple lists going on. They may not necessarily be the exact ones the exercise says to do, but they are the ones that work for me. I will probably continue to work on some of the lists ("spruce-ups", menus) during this week.

5. The gift shopping continues; I'm pretty sure I won't be sending cards again this year. I may go on and buy stamps .. "ust in case"!

6. The storm doors have been washed (but I got a Windex outdoor washing "system" and plan to go over them again today). The cement porch and the "public" side of the house ... the walls facing the pond garden ... have been power washed. The rug turned out not to be as bad as I thought, only one smallish corner damaged. We just turned it around, and the corner doesn't really show. All of the door mats were power washed; some will be replaced. While there may be more I *could* do, I'm basically pretty happy with how it looks now. The other side - "behind the lattice wall" is pretty awful. I'm waiting until another weekend, hopefully cooler, to tackle that. There's some big heavy stuff to be moved, so I just can't do that yet. It's at the far end of the porch, and not terribly noticeable for visitors (not that we get that many visitors anyway).

All in all, I'm reasonably satisfied with week 1, and ready to move on to week 2.


On the left side at the end of the plant bench, the difference in the "washed" and "unwashed" color of the cement shows.





The plants look nice with little solar lights in them now.



The neighbor's cat enjoyed watching all the activity. Or maybe she just enjoyed having company! :)

Following HGP, week 1

For years now I have developed and (semi) followed my own countdown plan. It has worked reasonably well. This year a lot of things are different. One thing, for example, is that I usually start in August. This year I had a lot of things going on in August (visiting family, grandkids visiting, other family visits); plus, it was the hottest August on record here. Another thing that is different is the way I'm taking vacation days (that I need to accomplish my decorating). I'm taking a couple of long weekends in November, instead of a whole week at the beginning. As I **gasp** get older, I find I run out of energy quicker. Imagine that!! :) So breaking up the schedule seemed to make more sense. Also, starting in December I will only be working part-time. That will give me more time to accomplish some of the things on my list that I would normally try to be done with. I will note, however, that shopping is not one of those "get-it-done-early-and-over-with" things. I enjoy Christmas shopping! Plus, it's last minute before I even know what my grandkids want. I will also have more time for baking cookies or whatever, instead of trying to get it all done ahead (and then figuring out how to juggle freezer space!)
This year I'm going to try to (loosely) follow the Holiday Grand Plan (a yahoo group). I will, of course, have to tweak it to suit my house and life. But it's a good general plan. Today starts Week 1. Here is a list of the things I hope to accomplish over the course of this week:
1. Get all my lists and schedules organized, printed, and put in a binder for easy reference.
2. Print out monthly calendar pages (well, that one has to wait until I get printer ink! LOL!)
3. Do a quick overview of "family values" .. i.e., deciding what's important to my family and myself before figuring what to include in both prep work and holiday planning.
4. Make several lists (oh boy, I'm really good at lists! LOL!): a room-by-room evaluation of things needed to "spruce-up"; gift lists; card lists (if I decide to do cards, which I'm still not sure of); menus; activities to be included on the calendar; shopping lists (gifts, groceries, craft supplies, etc.)
5. Begin buying stamps if I decide to do cards. I've already started gift shopping, so need to continue to watch for items.
6. The area to clean/organize for this week is the "front porch". I don't have a front porch. I have a front door that is never ever used. I have a strange porch that looks like it was meant to be a carport (but is actually too small for any car), with entrances to the back hall (family) and the dining room (company). I hope during cooler months to do a good cleaning out there. We just did a "quickie" clean up prior to company last weekend. I will try to follow the plan for the part of the porch that shows (I have a junky part sectioned off by a lattice wall - best project we ever thought up!). I had put an old rug out with my table and rockers; but DH ran over it with the lawnmower (he forgot to turn the blades off), so that will have to be trashed. I might be able to salvage some area rugs, but that's all. I will clean the doors and storm doors; try to find places for at least some of the excess clutter; and just generally make it look nicer as much as I can.

I will try to report back on progress during the week, or at least by the end of the week, prior to next week's list.

... finally. Actually, everything about this year is "off" from my usual scheduling. So, I'm overhauling my countdown. I think this year I may have some other season's decorations here. :)
This weekend a niece came to visit. She's never been here before, and actually only stayed about 24 hours. But I was glad she came at all, totally enjoyed the visit. Plus, her visit was my impetous to get several projects done.
For now, the house is clean and that gives me a good starting point for keeping it clean as I go. Because I plan to semi-retire at the end of the year (will only be working half as much), I'm not going to do closets and cabinets and such this year. I will be able to work on those throughout the next year instead.
My major projects (guest room; re-caulking the bathtub; dining room chairs) are done. I need to take some time to sew on long-neglected projects.
Next weekend ... Labor Day ... I will switch to fall decorations. I have already changed the dining room table. I got really lucky, and found a new area rug with a gorgeous fern pattern, on sale! It changed the whole look of the room (and the ratty old rug actually doesn't look bad ... out on the cement porch! LOL!). Then I found dollar store dishes that match the rug! I left my colorful summery setting on for yesterday, but today I'm changed out. With some things added in that I have in storage, I'll have a nice fall look going on. In October I'll add in the few Halloween things I have (don't usually do much there).
Since I'll be taking 6 vacations days, spread out to be 2 5-day "weekends", in November, I won't do as much Christmas decorating earlier in November. I will have some Thanksgiving deco in with the Christmas. The weekend after Thanksgiving is when I'm planning to put up the "big" tree ... hoping for help on that.
I'm much less organized than usual at this point; that's at least in part the "after the party" let down today. There are still a few things coming up. The most important is my niece's wedding in 2 months.
OK, since I don't think there's anyone out there reading this anyway, I'll stop babbling for now. I will attach some pictures of the new table setting & rug.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Progression

I discovered a platter in a closet, and added it to the table. Also, on the advice of friends, I changed out the too-light large plates for the dark blue. It's getting more toward what I want now I think. :)

A Slight Improvement

I added a simple centerpiece of summer flowers. This helps, but I sitll don't like the way the table looks now.

Boring

I changed out my patriotic table for "summer". I missed. This is boring. I'm sure hoping *someone* out there reads this and has some suggestions!!!
I love the vintage tablecloth. I like the various dishes. I just don't think this "works" together. Or maybe there's just not enough? I don't have a real centerpiece, maybe it needs one? Does the mix of ceramic and plastic not work (it was ok on the previous setting)?
Suggestions welcome! :)

2010: The Countdown begins. Sort of.

The one thing I'm really good at is making lists and schedules. I even started a Yahoo group for List Makers. Of course, no one joined it. Oh well. Never the less, it's time to start lining up this year. I have some major changes in my life, and I hope to accomodate them.
I have my calendar lined up. Naturally, there will be changes to it. Things always come up at the "last minute". But with it blocked out, I have a starting point. I even created weekly pages, so I pretty much know what I need to accomplish each week.
The problem is, the whole process *should* start this weekend. But the one thing I can't plan around is the weather. Day after day after day of 90s ... occasionally near 100. While most of my house does have a/c (though we keep it not as cool as we'd like), the kitchen/den area does not. OK, that's not strickly true. There's a window unit working as hard as it can, and a fan. But it's miserably hot in there. The only way to tell there's any air is to step into the back hall/laundry room. Oh my!!! No a/c at all back there. Anyway, my point is, I can't really do the things I need to do. I have to try to avoid doubling up chores, as I know I'm too old to do them like I used to. My knees give me a lot of trouble these days.
Having said all that,I will run through a brief outline of the plan. Then I'll *try* to keep up with posting my progress (or changes of plans! LOL!).

Week 1: Clean the front hall and front bedroom; organize the 2 closets in the hall.
Work on one "special" project; put some time in on my grandson's (long overdue) quilt. Pack up the "patriotic" decorations, switch out to summery ones. Make at least one batch of cookie dough to freeze for baking later. Work on sorting the first of several boxes of paperwork.

Week 2: My niece is visiting. Hopefully we'll make the rounds of some flea markets and thrift shops. I'm always on the lookout for Christmasy things (and my friend and my niece help! LOL!). No cleaning projects planned, but perhaps I'll have a chance to go through some photo albums.

Week 3: Clean the guest room and the front bathroom, and organize the 2 closets in the bathroom. Maybe also organize the guest room closet. Work on cleaning and re-inforcing one of a set of dining chairs; and put some time into the quilt. Make a batch of cookie dough, or a pound cake, to freeze. Work on sorting more paperwork, or on photo albums.

Week 4: Clean the living room, stairwell, and dining room; organize the shelves and drawers in the built-in desk. Work on one of the chairs, and on the quilt. Make a batch of cookie dough to freeze. Continue work on the paperwork or albums.

Week 5: Reserving this weekend either for traveling (would love to go visit my brother and sister-in-law), or for company (hoping for a vist from another niece).

Week 6: My grandson is coming for a visit. He'll get here Sunday (if we go off, we'll be home in time!), and we will take him home Friday. We'll spend that weekend at my son's house with the grandkids and dogs. :)

This is far enough for one post, as it goes to near the end of August. No point in posting farther out than that, as too many things can change!

I would really love it if anyone reading this would post comments so I know you're out there! I'd also LOVE to have more followers.

Patriotic Table Runner

Red, White, and Blue

My Easter decorations have sequed into Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.

Easter Decorations

It's spring!

I know, I haven't been at all good about keeping up here. And, truly, it's not about Christmas right now (although we do keep planning!). I will try soon to get caught up. For now, just sharing a picture ... more to come later ... it's spring!

The January fountain

It's quietly winter

and I know I haven't done a good job of keeping up with this blog. But then, I haven't done a good job of keeping up with a lot of things!
I have gotten most of Christmas packed away. I still have one tree up ... my red-and-white tree in the den. I just love that tree, I gaze at it every night before going to sleep. The pictures are still on the wall (because the bed was moved and the "regular" pictures are in a box under the bed). A few large nutcrackers and one house are still on the stairs, just waiting to be taken up.
Lots of boxes are upstairs, in neat stacks, all numbered. I have a master list saved (I should print it out, plus save to a flash drive) of what's in each box .. even non-Christmas ones.
We got lucky, had one great weekend, and all of the outside stuff got taken down and packed away.

I started out saying "quietly winter" ... but it's now March, and not exactly "quiet". We've had more snow this winter. It snowed 3 times, which is unusual for here. We've had an extraordinary run of below average cold days ... the quiet factor, I guess, is the just staying inside, mostly back in the den with a quilt and a book.

Soon, one more week maybe, it will be time for the snowmen to make way for spring.

Valentines deco

I don't go "all out" for Valentines, but I am trying to be a bit more festive. The first is the mantle. It's mostly snowmen .. they don't get put up until probably close to Easter. I added red candles as my nod to Valentines.
Next, I took the Christmas arrangement I made ('cause I just love the way it turned out) and added glittery red hearts ... still love it!
Then I have 2 small trees I've left up. The lime green with pink ornaments is one of my favorites. I added a puffy pink bow. Also is a black tree (yeah, I know, weird, but surprisingly pretty), red lights and silver ornaments. I added little red plastic hearts .. cute! Also a "romantic" table cover, red candles (and keeping a favorite Nativity music box).

Pictures of the "attic"

I forgot to take "empty" pictures upstairs. The first is an armoir (came with the house, and way to large to remove) ... I use it to house Easter, St. Pat's, and 4th of July decorations.
The second is a few of the piled up packed up boxes. Every box upstairs is numbered (including all non-holiday ones), and I have a master list of what's in each box.
I really hope this will make next year much easier, in addition to being able to find everything else that's stored up there. Last picture, the little forest of trees, covered with an old sheet; and a wall of boxes beside the trees.

Packing it all up

For being supposedly "organized", it's sure taking me a long time to get everything packed away. I do have a few semi-good excuses. First, we've spent a lot of weekends out of town. With elderly parents (and a very dear brother) in one direction, and a son with his wife and 2 kids in another direction, we've been on the go a bit. Plus, we've had some extremely abnormally cold temps. Because the cost of gas is so dear, we've kept most of the house pretty cold ... and sorry, I just can't bring myself to be packing up boxes and lugging them upstairs when I need to wear gloves in the house!
Several things happened this weekend. We passed a payday, and got a bit more gas (still have to be careful with it), so turned the heat up just a bit. The weather and other conditions finally allowed my dear little friend and I to have a "play-day" ... which means she helped me. A LOT!! :) She completely dismantled and packed away the big tree, which had seemed to be a sticking point for me.
Today the sun came out, and even though I didn't have help I got a lot done. I have 2 more large boxes to carry upstairs tonight and that will be it for today. I haven't finished clearing the clutter from the living room; but the dining room is mostly cleared now; and I do have Valentine decorations out.
We'll be going out of town again next weekend. Hopefully the one after that I'll finish getting all the Christmas upstairs. Well, possibly except one or both of the white trees that are still up. I'm really enjoying them! LOL! But if I can get everything else done, I'll be satisfied. It may still be March before I get the "regular" decorations back out, but that's ok. Last year it took me until September! LOL!
Next post, a few pictures upstairs.

January 2010 - the Beginning ...

... or is it the end? LOL! OK, I've not updated for awhile; but, I've not started undecorating yet either. Yesterday we got started cleaning and organizing the upstairs room. It's not "really" an attic .. but it has no heat or a/c. It's been used frequently as a bedroom, but now it's just storage. As my son slowly gets his things out, I get more and more room to organize my thngs. The vast majority of what's up there is seasonal decorations (mostly, of course, Christmas). My goal is to not only have all the Christmas stuff neatly packed and listed, but to also have a list (numbered box system) of everything else that's up there. I hope to have Christmas all packed away by the end of January (may not make it becaues of other plans for the last 2 weekends; but "mostly" will be good enough). The snowman collection & tree will stay, and several of the smaller trees will probably stay as well. There's a small blue tree that looks nice in the buest room; and I may even leave the lavender tree in the back bathroom. Just because. I have a 3.5' black tree that has red lights and silver ornaments. I think I may change the silver to red and white for a Valentine tree.
My goals for today are to finish cleaning upstairs; bring down empty boxes to begin packing; take the fiber-optic tree from the stairwell up; finish laundry, clean the kitchen and front bathroom, and update my calendar. I need to get busy!

I took a short video of my upstairs, and wanted to upload it. But alas! My server refuses to do that. I will take some pictures later today.

Reviewing

Wow! I have a follower! I'm so excited! Thank you!

I have to get busy this morning - going out of town this afternoon. But during the coming week, I will update with my review of Christmas 2009, and my initial plans for 2010. Clearly, it's not too early to start! :)