Category Archives: Home & Garden

So my latest conquest is looking for a (preferably cheap or free) push mower. Yeah, yeah I know – why, right? We have a rather large yard and a lawn tractor which we use to mow it, but we also have some rather awkward areas where the tractor can’t go. So I’m in the market for a push mower. Plus, it’s good exercise, right? In the summer I would so much rather be doing yard work outside than be one of those people in the gym walking on treadmills. Of course I realize that not everyone feels that way (or has a need to work outside!), so nothing personal again treadmill-walkers, LOL! I still love my recumbant bike so I guess I really shouldn’t talk. But yeah. I’ve been keeping my eyes on our local E-cycle (similar to Freecycle, but not related to it because of trademark issues). One was snatched up the other day before I had a chance to reply, but I think it’s likely that another one will show up on the list. They always seem to. I could check Craigslist too. I never think of that! Otherwise I’ll be out there on my hands and knees with a pair of scissors, LOL!

[image source: art.com]

Yes, you read that right. Although I hate mice, I couldn’t help but feel bad yesterday when I had to ruin a nest they’d built in our grill. This happens all the time, and I’m sure they are used to it, but still… I’m not giving up my gas grill just so they can have a place to sleep. There are plenty of other spaces where they can relocate! Speaking of the deck, I really need to clean off our outdoor furniture. We forgot to put our patio set in the shed this year and it’s *so* dirty. One of the projects I’d like to do this summer is put a railing around our deck (it’s very low to the ground, so technically we don’t need one, but I think it would look nicer). I’d like to make it a nice space for entertaining. Maybe a potted herb garden or something? We’ll see! So many ideas, so little time.

I am getting back on track with my spring cleaning and yesterday I decided to tackle the living room. Last weekend I asked Drew to bring down an armchair that had been upstairs because I wanted to rearrange the furniture, so in the “before” photos, please don’t think that I just randomly had a chair in the middle of the room! And it’s covered with a sheet and a quilt because they were still slightly damp when they came out of the dryer, but I had to get another load in there. And so, here is my living room before:

Here’s what I did:
* Dusted the baseboards, mantle, and funiture
* Cleaned endtables, armoire, and desk with Orange Glo
* Put away all toys and miscellany
* Sorted through papers on desk and filed/tossed as needed
* Rearranged furniture and a few decorations
* Vacuumed

I am so pleased with the results!

You can see from the photo that I still haven’t gotten the desk chair from my MIL’s house and I still have that nasty old office chair there. Sigh… I keep forgetting! I love the way I now have the desk arranged too. I decided since I rarely sit at the desk (I mainly use the drawers for storage) that I wanted to make it more decorative than anything. So I took a small table and put it next to the desk. On the top I have our paper shredder and on the bottom shelf I have my hanging files. Then, I took one of the hand-embroidered linens that my Babci did and put my typewriter on it. She gave me the typewriter when I was in high school or college, and it is one of my favorite things! I decided I should display it, rather than have it stored away in its case:

It took quite a while to do because Noah was being rather pesty yesterday. Sure it would have been more fun to look at Hilton Head rentals, or imagine someplace to go on vacation where someone else does all the cleaning for me, but you know what? It felt pretty darn good afterward 🙂 (even though my back was really sore!). Tomorrow I plan to tackle the kitchen, which shouldn’t be too much of a job since about a month ago I did a really deep clean. Stay tuned!

Today was Jake’s last day of Easter break and since it was sunny and in the mid-40s, we got plenty of outside-time in this afternoon. We also went on a nature walk around the yard, hoping to find some flowers breaking through. And we did!

Forcythia buds!

Daffodils!

Primrose!

Irises!

Now if only the mercury would rise a little bit higher and I could put away these heavy coats! Alas, I know better than to jump on it. We can still get snow in April. (Hopefully we won’t, but… you never know).

I know it sounds so stupid, but I really do love my desk. For years I didn’t really have one, and then when my mother-in-law and he sister moved in together we were offered some furniture, including the desk from my brother-in-law’s old bedroom. I was happy to take it off her hands and it’s in our living room. It’s just a simple wood desk, but now I have a place for all of my photos, cards, paperwork, and so on. Granted, it does need some major organizing, but at least all the stuff is in one place. Then, when we were over their house last weekend, Drew showed me the chair that goes with it. I’m so relieved! We’ve been using one of our old leather office chairs, which doesn’t exactly push in under the desk. So hopefully when we are down for Easter we’ll remember to take it!

I am about to embark on my spring cleaning journey. Am I ready? Uh… no. Not at all. But I’m feeling motivated, so I might as well get started. I think today I’m going to focus on the dining room. It’s not bad at all, just a lot of clutter on the table as usual. And I have to find one of the tiebacks for my curtains. (The boys are always taking them off — grr!). I’m sure it would be easier to just have roller shades, but I like the country look of my curtains. Anyway, I figure if I start with an easy room, it will give me a sense of accomplishment and I will then be ready to tackle some of the other rooms that are in rough shape, LOL… Photos later!

I am pretty proud of the way Drew and I held back this past weekend. We went to a local furniture store to check out their selection of rocker-recliners because ours is really on its last legs. This particular store has a clearance center (mostly floor models, I imagine) so we went there first. They had some really nice pieces for sale, including some random odds and ends. We even saw some home theater chairs. Not exactly what we were looking for, but nevertheless… Unfortunately, we didn’t have any luck in the rocking chair department. Why are all of these recliners so huge and overstuffed? Blech. When we got our La-Z-Boy (nine or ten years ago), I thought it was enormous. These days it looks tiny compared to the ridiculously large stuff on sale.

We continued to browse around a bit and found a hutch that we loved and a couch that would have been perfect for our living room (especially now that we have the den and the living room is not taking so much abuse). We were probably about five minutes away from buying it when I mentioned that we really don’t need it. Sigh… a hard thing to admit because it was a great price and a lovely piece of furniture. But the truth is that there are other things we’re better off doing first (like paving the driveway). I also exercised some extreme self control in January when I saw a nearly $300 sewing machine on clearance for around $70. It was so, so tempting. But I held back and decided that I’d rather put the money toward a screen door so I can open up the front door in nice weather and let in the breeze.

Damn it. When did I become so responsible?