Silent Snowall

all pics my own

The time has changed.

The promise of spring hangs in the air.  

 But before all of that...

there was winter. 

And snow.  

And the quiet that comes with it.

Best $10 Ever Spent

I have always wanted a hammock.  But, gees Louise, those things cost a lot of money!  So when I ran across a cloth hammock at the local Roses store, I automatically wanted to buy it.  {for those who don't know what a Roses store is; let's just say that it's nicer than a dollar store, but not nearly as nice as a Wal-Mart.  Yeah, really.}  Anyway......of course I didn't buy it.  I figured it was too cheap to waste my money on, and where the heck would I hang it? 

A few weeks went by and I kept mentioning the $10 hammock that I didn't buy and my husband kept rolling his eyes at me.  Then we went back to Roses to buy the pupper a kiddie pool.  {yes, I'm serious.  It's hot and we have no AC.}  And I said "Hey!  Let's go see if there are any of those hammocks left!". 
Guess what?  I have a $10 hammock hanging on my back porch. 

Let me tell ya, this thing is awesome.  Nevermind the fact that it hangs only a foot off of the porch when occupied.  It still rocks gently and wraps me up like a cocoon.  It's perfect for taking a nap.  And there's something very calming about it; like being rocked in someones arms.  I can confidently say that it was $10 well spent. 

The kiddie pool, however?  Gus thinks it's just a huge water bowl.  He will get in and wade around a bit while catching the floating bugs, but he hasn't thought to flop down in the water to cool off like he does in the creek.  Oh, well.  I guess every $10 spent can't be as good as a hammock. 

Home Sweet Home

from here.

My head is in the house planning zone again.  We're still waiting for the loan to go through so we can start grading the house seat out.  But I am the type of person who likes to be prepared ahead of time.  We aren't even moving dirt yet and I am already picking out paint colors and trying to figure out furniture arrangements.   As a matter of fact, I have quite a bit of my decisions already made, it's just a matter of getting to that point. 

There is, however, one thing that keeps nagging at me.  It's the fact that I tend to save a lot of images of white walled interiors as inspiration, yet, I have no intention of leaving any of my walls white except in my work room.  As much as I like white walls in theory, I never can seem to live with them in real life.  I feel like the room isn't "finished" if there isn't color on the walls.  I know this is silly.  Some of my very favorite inspiration spaces have white walls.  Other people do white walls beautifully.  But me?  I just can't commit. 

from here.

What I can commit to?  A perfect, warm, inviting, unobtrusive, not-exactly-white.  I don't like the words beige or greige or khaki or tan.  But if you call it something pretty, like white sand or halo, I'm all for it.  As a matter of fact, Benjamin Moore's white sand is the color that will be adorning my main living area (kitchen, dining, living room), adding just enough warmth to contrast with the white trim. 

Now, as for the rest of the house......?  Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Spring Cleaning 101 ~ Step 2

 Hello, again, boys and girls.  I hope you're still in Spring Cleaning mode.  Last week I talked about getting rid of all your unwanted and unneeded "stuff" that is cluttering up your life.  This week I'm going to talk about "deep cleaning" your home. 

from here.

When it comes to any major cleaning job, I seem to work best when there is a certain order to getting things done.  In most every case, once I do my initial "clean out", the next step for me is "deep cleaning".  What exactly am I talking about?  Well, I'm talking about all those things that you don't do in your every day cleaning routine.  Those things that you dread and try to forget about.  But once it's done, you feel so much better about things!  So, roll up your sleeves.  It's time to get your hands dirty. 

from here.

There are a few different ways to go about this.  First choice: you can do one room at a time, completely finishing one before moving to the next.  Or Second choice: you can do one task at a time, completely finishing that particular task for the entire house before moving on to the next one.  I personally prefer to work a room at a time to avoid getting side-tracked (which easily happens to me.).

Now.  Once you have chosen your plan of attack, we can start from the top.  Literally.  The top is the place to start.

* Begin with ceilings.  Vacuum or sweep down any cobwebs.  If you have washable ceilings, such as wood, use a mop to clean them thoroughly.  Now, light fixtures and fans.  Come on, you know how much yuck accumulates on your fan blades. While you're here, replace any burned out light bulbs.  And you may as well check your smoke alarms, too. 

*Down a few inches to door trims and window sashes.  This is a task that I try to do several times throughout the year.  Whenever I am toting around a cleaning rag, I simply wipe the tops of my door and window trims off.  All those tiny surfaces gather dust.  Don't neglect them just because you can't see them.  For those of you who aren't bothered by using chemicals, a diluted Clorox solution works wonders on white doors and trims (just remember to wear gloves).  If not, grab up some Magic Erasers.  They really are magic.  Another tiny surface that makes a big impression is your switch plates and plug-in covers.  There is nothing pretty about grimy switches. 

*As for washing the windows....now is the perfect time to do it.  But windows are a major job.  If you are working a room at a time, go ahead and do the windows as you go.  If not, you may want to reserve a separate day to do your windows, depending on how many you have.  This is a great place to recycle newspapers, as they are pretty great for cleaning glass.  Just wad them up and use like you would a paper towel.  Another thing to keep in mind: are there any other chores that are going to dirty up your windows that you need to get done first?  I always wait until after my pest control guy comes to do my spring spraying.  Also, if you plan on pressure washing the outside of your house, hold off on the windows until afterwards. 

*Now for bigger surface cleaning.  Tops of cabinets.  Top of the fridge.  Shelves.  Storage boxes.  Etc. Etc. Don't make me tell you again.  Don't shortcut!  Take everything off of the surface.  This is also where I get down to the nitty-gritty.  Wipe down all those trinkets and things that also catch dust and grime.  Especially in the kitchen (but there will be a special post just for the kitchen.).  Perfume bottles.  Toiletries in the bathroom.  Appliances.  Tops of books.  And all other furniture.  Always start from the top and work your way down.

*Baseboards.  Let me just say that dirty baseboards can ruin the look of an otherwise pristine house.  Not washing your baseboards is sort of like washing your car and neglecting to wash your wheels.  It just looks bad.  This is another place where Magic Erasers work like a charm.  Once you scrub those babies clean, a little upkeep can go a long way.  In the rooms that I mop (kitchen, bathrooms, laundry) I always catch the tops of my baseboards with my mop.  It only adds seconds onto my regular mopping job, but makes a big difference.  In other rooms, I simply use the brush attachment on my vacuum to do regular touch-ups. 

*Don't forget your walls.  Bumps and scratches and dirty fingerprints.  Address the issue now.  Clean any spots that can be cleaned and touch up any spots that are missing paint or stain. 


From this point, I would like to do a room by room breakdown.  Stay tuned for kitchen, bathroom, closet, work space and other more specified cleaning posts.  (Can you tell that I'm rather enjoying this?)  But before I go, I want to give you a few notes on cleaners and such.

~I adore Magic Erasers.  And, as you can probably guess, the cheaper off-brand kind works just as well.  However, they do leave a gritty, milky looking film behind.  So, I always carry a damp rag around with me when using an Eraser to wipe the surface after scrubbing it.  Works just fine.
~If your fiberglass tub is in really bad shape and regular cleaners don't seem to lay a hurtin' on it, try an S.O.S. pad.  I know that sounds crazy, but it works.  Just be easy with it.  Don't go scrubbing like you are trying to remove the black plague. 
~There is a plethora of new natural cleaning products on the market these days.  I like Mrs. Jones Soapbox and Bon Ami products.  But it's hard to beat a good old fashioned vinegar water solution.  If you need some extra oomph, simply add a little bit of baking soda and lemon juice. 
~I like to take blinds down and scrub them with a scrub brush and a multi purpose cleaner.  This works best on a porch or patio with a garden hose handy.  But you can also do it in the tub.  Just let them soak a bit before scrubbing and then shower them off.  The same process works great for window screens, too. 

Happy Cleaning, dolls. 

Hometown Tourists

The Hubs and I spent our Saturday pretending to be tourists in our own backyard. There are so many pretty places to see where we live. So many sights. So many hikes. So many waterfalls and vistas and mountaintops. We all take field trips to these places when we are small, but it's easy to forget about them when we are actually old enough to appreciate them. We take it for granted and overlook the things that tourists flock to see every year.

We drove to Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest peak east of the Mississippi, via the Blue Ridge Parkway. While there, we hiked a loop that smelled so strongly of spruce trees that we sniffed and grinned the entire time. After stopping at every overlook on our way back, we decided to hike down to Crabtree Falls. A nice long hike on very rocky trails. I would like to thank whoever it was who blazed these trails and built stone staircases and retainer walls and bridges and benches. And I'd like to thank God for making the things that are worth the effort to see.

So if I get behind you on the road during tourist season and you are driving ridiculously slow, I will probably cuss you a bit under my breath. But truly, I can't blame you one bit. My big backyard of the Blue Ridge Mountains is one spectacular sight to see.



*all photos are my own.

Welcome

As some of you have already figured out, today is my birthday. And right now I am sitting at my mom's, full from a most fabulous birthday meal and uploading pics to the computer. My hubby is off doing Army stuff that he can't get out of. And so I am here with you, sharing a few photos.

These are from a few weeks ago. The leaves fell really quick this year. Not much time to enjoy them. This is the maple in my front yard.

When I get home in the evenings my living room is already getting dark. The yellow leaves outside seemed to illuminate the window like a lantern. So pretty.

This is the dessert table from the baby shower I hosted Monday. We had two big pots of soup for dinner and then cake and cookies. I put the flower arrangements together with flowers from the grocery store and leaves and greenery from my backyard.

I moved the flowers to the hall after the shower. They look right at home on my linen dresser. The frames above showcase a favorite gift from my grandmother. She bought these "paper dolls" at a flea market. There are a whole pile of them, but I could only frame a few. They were folded inside one of those huge Uncle Sam war posters. They are actually hand cut out of catalogs! Some have been colored. Some have arms missing. They were obviously well loved. My Nanny knew that I would love them, too. Click on the pic to see them a little larger.

Hope you enjoyed my little show and tell. Love to you all. Have a great weekend.

XOXO ~Jo~