October 7 through 10

[chochiyo_sama]

Thursday, October 7

I got up early and started working hard on my house.  The appraisal guy is coming on Tuesday next week.  I know they said they don’t evaluate the housework, only the house itself, but my house was in such terrible condition that I feel nothing but shame at the idea of someone looking at it. 

I had a basket full of clean, folded laundry, so I put that away first.  Then I moved all the furniture away from the picture window.  Oh, my God!  There were DRIFTS of fly corpses from the infestation.  The white seal around the window was so covered in fly specks (read POOP) that you couldn’t even tell it was white! 

I swept, vacuumed, and scrubbed the floor and scrubbed the window seal until every speck was gone.  I even windexed the window as it was also polluted with fly specks.  I could not reach all the way to the top of the window, so I’ve put it on my list of things to do to order a long-handled squeegee to clean the rest of the window. I also used windex to clean the glass top of my coffee table and the globe lamp that sits in front of the picture window. 

I paid very fine attention to all the nooks and crannies and every little thing.  That area is now as clean as it can be.

Lily stopped by after her Bible study.  I had told her last night that my microwave needed cleaning, but it is so high that I cannot reach high enough to get it thoroughly clean.  I don’t dare stand on a stool or anything because my knees are so unstable.  I would almost certainly fall off and hurt myself.  She is a little taller than me and her knees are more stable.  She helped me move my coffee table back over by the couch (it is a heavy bitch) and grabbed the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed all the cat hair off the two easy chairs. 

I used Orange Glow to polish my small vintage table and returned it to the middle of the picture window.  Lily said I should have a doily on it, so I pulled out the doily I had crocheted while in the rehab hospital recovering from the appendix wound.  I put the globe lamp in the middle and sat the very old “creepy doll” that my sister gave me next to it.  I don’t think the doll is creepy at all.  She’s just very old and needs a new outfit.

Lily had company coming over in the afternoon, so she left.  She had brought my mail, and by this time, I really needed a break, so I sat down and sorted my mail.  There were no bills needing to be paid, and most of it was catalogs and other junk mail.  So, I put most of it into my bag of recycling.  I have to get that recycling to t he curb next week.  It is full.  This cleaning and organizing is resulting in very full recycling and garbage bins.

By the end of the day, I had the entire living room swept/vacuumed/scrubbed and it is looking really nice.  The floors especially are shining clean.  I still have a big pile of clutter that has been transferred to the area near my recliner so I can go through it and put it away. 

Both my battery operated broom and my vacuum cleaner were full, so I emptied out their innards and even wiped them down with bleach wipes to clean out the very fine dust that gathers in there.  That should make them suck up the debris and cat hair more efficiently in future cleanings.

I finally ran completely out of steam, so I made my grocery list and called it in.  I didn’t order too much—mainly just some produce and beverages.  I did get some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers which are excellent for cleaning purposes. 

I was completely exhausted by night.  I figured I’d sleep like a log.

 

Friday, October 8

After cleaning all day yesterday, I was covered in sweat, dust, and probably chunks of dead fly corpses.  I was just too exhausted to take a shower, so I went to bed as filthy as could be.  I actually smelled terrible this morning, so, even though I planned to clean hard again today, I could not tolerate my own stench, so I spent about half an hour in the shower scrubbing myself within an inch of my life. 

It felt so good to be clean.  My plans to clean all day went by the wayside as I was still so weary.  My shoulder did not hurt as bad as I thought it would, but my legs ached and felt so restless and uneasy.  I tried to nap in the recliner, but my legs bothered me so much that I actually climbed into my bed to stretch out for a good nap.  I didn’t sleep long, but I felt much better after stretching out. 

The groceries were delivered, and I put them away.  I had ordered a bag of peanuts in the shell for the window-peeking squirrel.  He has been collecting them as I put them out.  From the evidence he left behind, he apparently ate at least a couple on the railing before hauling them off to his winter storage place.  He is the cutest, fattest little devil!  He has a lovely bushy tail.  I think we will be good friends by the end of winter. 

I didn’t accomplish much, but resting up my legs and shoulder helped.

 

Saturday, October 9

I worked on my laundry today.  I seem to have a lot of laundry every week. 

There was a lot of stinky garbage, so I bagged that up to haul out.  Later, I got on Amazon and ordered some cleaning supplies, including the long handled squeegee and a thing I have seen advertised that cleans cat hair off furniture very slickly.  I also ordered some more Sheba soft food and her favorite “Temptations” treats for Peaches as well as some Lindor chocolate balls which I had delivered to my brother’s house for Cora. Those are her favorite treats, and hopefully  they will make her feel better as she recovers from this covid shit.  Apparently, she is not feeling too bad.  She is mostly just suffering from a sore throat.

I put more peanuts on the deck railings for my squirrel buddy.  He ignored them all day.  *sad face*

I went to bed really early as I am still recovering for my heavy cleaning day.  All I have left to clean is the office area and the bedroom.  I wanted to do it today, but I just didn’t have the will.  I was hoping I could work on it tomorrow after my Zoom meeting with DeAnn.

However, I checked my messages after I got in bed, and I had texts from DeAnn telling me that she forgot she had a studio tour tomorrow, so she would not be able to do the Zoom tomorrow.  I was actually glad as I had been so busy this week that I never did get around to reading my chapter again.  I plan to hit the ground running in the morning and get the office and bedroom done.

The laundry/craft/sewing room is not on my radar.  There is no way I could get it even close to acceptable, so I am just going to grit my teeth and let it go.  That is a month long project at least.  I will attack that over the winter.

 

Sunday, October 10

I went to bed last night planning to make good use of today, and I DID.  I didn’t feel much like it.  I really wanted to just disappear into the internet for several hours—but I forced myself to get to work immediately after I tested my blood, took my pills, and got dressed.  I also filled my pill caddy and called in a prescription refill. 

I vacuumed the area rug in the office and the area between the living room and the bedroom/bathroom/laundry room.  Then I attacked the bedroom.  It needed cleaning so bad!  I vacuumed the runner rug, the rest of the floor, and all the areas behind the doors and along the walls were dust and dead flies had accumulated.  I wiped down the cat mat where she eats her moist food with a bleach wipe and wiped off the front of the dresser where something—probably her moist food—had splattered.  I cleaned up all the clutter on the floor, vacuumed the big pillow that she sleeps on, and tidied up the mess on the floor in the closet.  She is always tipping stuff over in there.

I finished up with scrubbing the little hallway area and the bedroom.  Now the whole house, with the exception of the laundry room, is reasonably clean.  The furniture still needs dusting and polishing and there is still a bit of clutter near the recliner and on the desk, but I will be able to get that done before the appraiser arrives. 

I finished the laundry except to put it away.  That’s another area I need to work on.  I want to go through every drawer and my closet ruthlessly and get rid of anything that is old/faded/scruffy or that doesn’t fit right or that I just don’t like.  There are a couple of shirts that I plan to repurpose as bedspreads for doll beds.  They are pretty but look terrible on me with my gargantuan boobs.  They have 3-D flowers on the bodice and they make my boobs look even huger than they really are.  They will be really pretty as a doll bedspread, however.  I have a pink one and a yellow one. 

David Lassahn (Becky’s son) mowed my yard today.  He hadn’t mowed it for a couple of weeks due to the mess from the siding and deck building.  It probably would have been fine to leave it as the grass won’t be growing much more.  It’s October, so the frost could come any time.  According to the weather people, it is supposed to stay unseasonably warm for another week or two, but by Halloween, we should be done with lawn work. 

I watched some old cowboy shows in  the afternoon and The Walking Dead later in the evening.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

You ahve cleaned so assiduously! I was BLESSING our cleaning staff when we dealt with our fly infestation that I didn't have to tackle the aftermath myself.

[chochiyo_sama]

It was horrible. Not as horrible as when I was infested with live maggots in the living room. But close.

[the_godiva]

Today I boxed up some books to move them out of the bedroom. All my Spencer Quinn, plus the other two dog series I've read and the Dog Diaries. More are coming but this will organize them together plus get them out of the bedroom. That's a start. I put the box with the Instant Pot on top of the refrigerator for now. I will work at getting the rice cooker, crock pot and pressure cooker out of the kitchen and up in the attic. I likely have the original boxes up there but I'm not going to look for them. Just box up these and move them up.

The weather has turned cold with lows in the mid 50s over night. Today the high was 69. It was overcast but it didn't rain. Friday and Sat it will edge up into the low 80s again and then drop right back down into the low 70s. I'm going to start my winter seedlings. This week I will also be doing laundry and working on the kitchen. The can racks have started to arrive so I want to put them in the bookcase I'm using for a pantry in the garage and at least one of them in the closet in the kitchen. I also want to look at my water heater closet again. I keep backing sheets and pans in there but I'm going to see about maybe putting in a shelf. I have some baking dishes that are large and bulky but I need to get them stored somewhere. One is a long terracotta baker with a lid. It's not flammable so it can be stored in the water heater closet. I already have shelves in the cabinet next to it but they hold mostly cleaning supplies. I need to rearrange stuff so I can put at least one of those can racks in there to hold cans. I really don't have any other place to put them. I want to put tools, appliances and pans in the island. I still haven't put the wheels and handles on the island so I want to do that. With the microwave coming on Thursday I'll need to buy that butcher block top for Mike to cut for me along with building the new cabinet. I've had a lot of time off during July, August and September during the hot weather but now things have cooled off and I need to start getting stuff done.

I think I've finally solved my Cornish Pasty problem. I think I need to use a hot water crust. I've been using plain pie crust and it's just not tough enough to hold up for a hand held pie. I don't have time to make them soon but I expect when it turns really cold around December/January I'll be making a batch or two, freezing them for reheating. None of my family likes them so they'll be just for me. Besides, I'm not spending my money and time to to feed the spawn. My Dad's birthday is this Friday. I'm not making a pie either.

[chochiyo_sama]

Yesterday, the HIGH was 52. I turned on the furnace yesterday. It was so much nicer than being half frozen all day. There was a frost advisory for last night, but it was in the late morning before I looked out the window, so I didn't see if there was frost on the ground or not. Ross was wearing a heavy coat while delivering groceries.

[the_godiva]

Luckily here, it is rarely that cold during the day. Even in the winter it is rarely below 58 during the day. The lows at night average in the mid to low 40s at night. It is extremely rare we would have a frost. If it got that cold it wouldn't last more than an hour or two. It's why it's hard for me to get fruit from my apricot trees. I have to buy special blueberries that require very low chill hours to fruit. I still won't know if I'll get blueberries again next year. And I'm still waiting for apricots. It could be growing them next to the garage facing south that they are so sheltered they aren't getting enough chill ours.