Spring cleaning :(

I bit the bullet and started it today. Figure it will be 6 weeks to finish. No, I am not quick, but I am thorough! This morning I removed EVERYTHING from my closet, threw away a big can of trash, got several big bags of stuff to give away, filled up the vacuum with dust bunnies, and discovered my old sword! I was so excited, I hadn't seen it for years. Ah, the rewards of cleaning :)

Also discovered mold and mildew growing on the walls, so I got to go buy some Kilz which will be applied this afternoon, finish cleaning the closet tomorrow, then continue the rest of the room. One room in 3 days is my usual speed.

Who else spring cleans these days? No, not the dust-and-vacuum variety; I mean take everything out of a room, scrub the walls, ceiling, polish all the furniture, shampoo the rugs, clean the upholstery, polish all the metalwork, etc.

I am married to a German. This speaks for itself ;~)

Adam.

So who does the cleaning, you or DW?

Both..., the labor has to be dividied as Karen's got a 70~hour~a~week job and I'm pretty much footloose and fancy free. Yours truly works under close supervision, however, as I've really never been fully housebroken.

I can cook, though ;~)

Adam.

I will do as soon I feel better lot of things to rid of it. I am still sick =(
I am going to sell few books that I don't need anymore.

This message was edited Wednesday, Jan 15th 4:39 PM

We have started our spring cleaning and repairs that need to be done. My dh started building some book shevles for me last night, and we bought some paint to re-do our bathroom.
we went to Home Depot last night to get supplies, also got a big box of tsp to wash the walls with, it's a start!!

RR, hope you're feeling better soon!!!

RedRose, please tell me what you woud like to get rid of?

Hugs, Lavanda

Lavanda, We drop off to Goodwill.

Most of the Clymer folk are Dutch. Adam, I feel your pain!!

Fortunately for me, Stan got used to my non-cleaning methods while I was working as his first assistant farmer. It's not that we live in filth, but I am poet, photographer, gardener, quilter, and grandmother, all rather clutter full occupations!

Oh, I can cook,too. It's my baking that they talk about, not my kitchen!!

Kathleen, you sound like my kind of cook! My results are what people talk about (except those who have to clean up my mess!) But once a year I have to scrape down to the paint ;D

Redrose, I hope you are recovered!

Thanks lupinelover! I feeling much better now finally also thanks other too.

I am spring cleaning, but I think I started last spring and am still not done. At this moment, everything that was on my desk and all the junkmail that's been piling up in various paper breeding experiments is sitting on the livingroom floor waiting for me to come home tonight and sort it all. Yick!

I started my spring cleaning also. So far my bedroom is done except half the closet. That is my side of the closet that is finished. My dh has not gone through his stuff yet. While he was not looking I got rid of most of his ties...which he never wears. I kept 11 out of 43 ties...I wonder if he will notice!!! That's what he gets for not doing his half. His shirts are next...if he doesn't get in there!! (LOL) So far we (I) have 4 garbage bags of clothes. I will give them to a neighbor that will send them to Costa Rica...for the poor. They will love it, some still have price tags on them. I also finished my coat closet...like we need coats down here! And this is only my 2nd day!

LupieLuv - it was wonderful to meet and chat with you tonite!

Love, Lavanda

After moving is not the time to get rid of stuff. Why did I pay someone to move stuff I'm throwing away? Because it was easier to pack it on short notice than make the decision about throwing.
I'm now looking forward to do remodeling for the rest of my life!

Oh vredfish...Wish I had those ties...I would make a quilt with them. Hope they went to a good cause. I don't do spring cleaning. For one thing, it isn't spring yet. But I do wash windows when weather gets warm. Too many other things call and life is too short.

Spring cleaning? What is that? I just try to clean things year round and they just get messed back up almost immediately. And there are just the two of us doing it. What extra time do I give to extra cleaning? None. I would rather ride my horse, walk and play with my dogs, visit friends, watch my husband do his woodworking, play dominos, visit here on DG, play piano, do yard stuff, etc etc. House keeping is not MY idea of fun. I just say "Welcome to my humble mess." :)

I have a friend who detests cleaning and all that goes with it!. I found her a little sign with the anecdote " I got this kitchen cause it came with the house!" and I have mounted an old metal sign that says " Anything you want done today.....forget it, I haven't finished last week yet! " ..........I found a quiz on the Village home and garden site this morning....go there, and find out just how organized you are????? I'm bordering on Chaos!!!! Elaine

That's me. Bordering on Chaos! All the time I border on that but for me it works. LOL

I need one of those signs that says:
"Although you'll find my house a mess,
Come in, sit down, converse,
It doesn't always look like this
Sometimes it's even worse."

We are in good ocmpany!

My magnet just says "This is NOT Martha Stewart's house."

But what do you do if you live with someone who thinks Martha is a slob?

Well Bobbie and I are both pack rats. We start cleaning and then we end up putting it all back. Have things in the attic that we moved here with 16 years ago that we never unpacked but we don't want to get rid of something that we might need. Lucky that all 3 of the boys didn't inherit this trait. All three tells us that we need to throw things away and quit packing back. I tell them if it wasn't for us packing back they wouldn't have any inheritance. LOL

Hey MaryE, you got that right! LOL And you have even seen MY house. LOL

We both have packratitis too along with our Ponditis. Someday there might be a cure for these things but for right now I might just NEED it. And Jim, our son also has packratitis and he thinks our stuff is wonderful! Woe is his life if he marrys a girl who is a neatnik. LOL I have warned him about such things.

ok how do i make it so this thread NEVER shows on my puter again. i have enough trouble with him puting things "away" and i never find them again much less if he wants to "spring clean" lol

Hmmmm... I might think about starting on my past century cleaning ~ lol... I've got way too many crafts & projects to have an uncluttered home. It gets hard to get through it, too, but I do want to organize it better!

Morph, maybe we should meet in the middle somewhere and get our craft projects done together as a group? Anybody else want to join us for a craft project Roundup? LOL

It is freezing here in Minnesota..I can't start spring cleanng until all of my windows can be opened for fresh air. I tend to be easily distracted when it comes to cleaning. Everything else in life draws me away.

This is the worst year for me. I couldn't do spring cleaning if I wanted to, since we are living in a half finished house. What's bugging me is that the mostly finished part of the house needs a good cleaning already from all the construction dust, and I'm devoting all my at-home time to finishing the unfinished part of the house. It's a vicious circle and I'm spending way too much time chasing myself around. Plus, there's mountains and mountains of boxes packed in the basement and crawl space. Ugg!

When you all get done with your houses, will you come help me with mine?

I think we should all get together for a cleaning party and start it at my house. We can clean the house and then clean the yard and go on to the next house and yard. That way all of us would then be organized for at least a little while. :)

I'll make some kinds of great potato salad and fudge for everybody! I also have a great bar-b-que and lots of great beef and chicken that we can do there.

I too have started cleaning-Lets see done the basement,Teigs room,kegans room,my room,living ,dinning and kitchen rooms-
dusted all the nascar stuff(good for 6mo)scrubbed kitchen walls n plate rack and all the plates!!!!!
scrubbed the bathroom walls and all the angel plates n knick knacks and the toilet-boys cant even hit the hole!!!!!!
Havent touched my closet-omg-i hate to even think about that one!
Cleaned the greenhouse up too!!!!
Ive been keeping busy-get it done now-cuz spring is not time for cleaning-ask any gardener!
Spring=plants n seed and GARDEN time! yahooooooo

Ponditis, count me in! Wouldn't that be so cool if we could work it like that just like the Amish get together to tackle big projects!

Working away busily, I have finished 3 bedrooms, the master suite is mostly done: bathroom, dressing room, closet. Just the bedroom itself to do, then the hallway.

I hope to have at least the kitchen done by Tuesday. This arctic blast has kept me inside, mostly, I am keeping from full dormancy by doing the housework ;~D

I sure think it would be nice to tackle it together. A friend and I do it occasionally but right now my house is a wreck and she is working three jobs! Since my surgery I don't seem to have the energy to do my house AND my Mothers too. Maybe someday my energy will return.

I am tired just reading all the posts about you guys doing all that cleaning! I think I will go take a nap now.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

All this talk about cleaning together reminds me of the 60's when housewives used to get together at one house to do their ironing, trapsing across the yard with their bags of laundry, steam irons, and ironing boards in tow.

It's a bit early here in Alaska to start spring cleaning, and by the time spring hits, I'll be waste deep in seedlings. I try to do my cleaning before the holidays, but of course, it needs it again by spring!

My goal this year is to clean up my life, and maybe the house will be the better for it. I am a compulsive saver, so I have lots of junk that fills up space and collects dust. I just gave my son most of my video collection, freeing storage space in my basement. Now, if I could just part with those 8th grade love notes from my X-husband who died at 50 five or six years ago!

Awwww Weeze, that is so hard to do. Memories are so precious to some of us that are savers. Maybe there is a special place in your home for those letters and maybe your son will want them for his kids someday. A scrapbook maybe? With pictures of him and you at that age? That might be fun to do on a wet or cold winters day.

I guess you all have inspired me to try to at least try to find my office this year. I have my Dad's stuff here that my brother and sister want to go through so I guess I will move that stuff out to the shop and if the mice get in it then it wasn't meant to be for them to see. Hmmmm I just remembered that a friend just gave me some nice 55 gallon metal barrels with lids. If I package the stuff in plastic bags then I can store it in the barrels and get it out of my house! YIPPEEEE Thanks guys for allowing me to talk and figure it out! Tomorrow that will be my job. Along with shoveling more compost. Someday I will have that whole pile moved.

Pond, maybe as an added bonus the Canna tubers will be in there! Another incentive!

Well, look at the bright side of it -- we're really lucky to have a lot of possessions to our name! I remember seeing the wonderful photo exhibit that went traveling around the US about ten years ago. A pro photographer went all over the world, asking families to pose outside their dwellings with all their possessions laid out around them. At the time we lived in a small 4-room apartment, and I realized when I saw those photos, our stuff would take up half the block and extend out into the street! We owned far more than any of those photos showed. At the time we had 3000 books, among all the usual clothes, TV, music, kitchen/LR/bath stuff, as well as two cars! Now we have a house so have even more things.

I'm sure that's true of all of us, really. My husband's an immigrant, and living with him made me realize how much Americans take their wealth and easy lives for granted.

So sometimes I don't get all excited about the dust bunnies or cobwebs, and take a few moments instead to watch the hills change color at sunset, or the full moon rise. Okay, so I need to wash the windows, too. But I think if one dropped dead tomorrow, it would be nicer to be remembered as someone who remembered to smell the flowers along the way, than as someone who vacuumed the living room every night.

That is surely the truth jmom51. Life is too short as it is and when it is over it is over. I take care of my 90 year old Mother and I know I will NOT ever regret stopping everything and running to help her move her chair or take her shopping or even clean her shower stall even if mine goes uncleaned for now. I can always do that later. Much later as long as we are healthy and well fed.

LL, The cannas are out in the shop either in that mouse ridden fruit room or in the pump house. Or he put them in the garbage when I wasn't looking to save digging them up each year. LOL I got some more this year and it took him four hours to dig just one plant since it had wound itself around the old tree roots from that big cottonwood that we took out. I didn't feel sorry at all for him having to dig it up there since he is the one who put it there!