# "Adventures in housecleaning", or "am I ever tired!"



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Over the last couple of days, I've finally gotten on a cleaning kick (been working in the gardens and my poor house had been *severely* neglected! Add in all the extra furniture and appliances in my house right now, and it was getting to the point where I could barely walk through, much less have anyone over!  Incentive was achieved by listing my goats for sale and knowing people *would* be seeing my house, lol!

I have managed to:

1.Clean and organize the den, moving the big woodworking tools in there for temporary storage (they were in the dining room, of all places. (really need to finish up a shop building and move all my carpentry stuff OUT of my house).
2.Rearrange the dining room so I could move in a pantry storage cabinet from the living room/hallway and a few of my grands toys which were formerly stored in the den.
3.Move all the cinder blocks for my stove hearth onto a towel and out of the middle of my living room - they are now sitting between the dining and living room areas (open floor plan house), next to the woodstove still waiting for installation. That made it possible to:
4. Move the huge entertainment center I adopted from my son over onto the wall along the entryway, and move the bookcase I got at a garage sale a few months ago into its place - it's all I need for the stereo and flat screen TV and all the videos, DVDs, etc, plus fits the space on that wall much better (the hearth is supposed to be built on that wall and the other unit was too big, would be too close to the fire). This made it possible to:
5. Move all the DVDs, videos, tapes, and CDs (that have been cluttering up my dresser waiting to be sorted) into the living room where dd organized them and put them neatly on the bookcase/entertainment center shelves.
6. Wash down all the end tables, picture frames, etc to remove the chick dust from the babies we raised in the house this Spring. Embarrassed to say that we moved the chicks out a couple months ago and I'm just now getting to it). Still need to wash the windows inside and out and wash down more of the walls and the ceiling, which has fly specks on it - yuck. Should wash the curtains while I'm at it, too.
7. Rearrange all the living room furniture several different ways until I found something that kind of works. 
8. Sweep, mop, sweep, mop, and sweep ALL the floors throughout the house with the exception of dd's room and the storage room. With 6 housecats, the fur alone means multiple sweepings.
9. Have dd clean her bathroom, which was a total pit, and then I went over it this morning with bleach water to thoroughly clean and deodorize it...I think company could use it now if I finish fixing the toilet innards. Well, the toilet can be used now - but it has to be flushed with a bucket, lol. Kind of inconvienint for company.  
10. Filter lots more water with our Berkeys so I could wash my whites, managed to have a day when the house water was pretty clear so I could wash our darks, hung them all out to dry and fluffed them in the dryer, folded mine and put them away - still have some for dd to fold and take to her room, but I want her room cleaned first!
11. Sort out the contents of several buckets of assorted tools and garden supplies. I put them away or found pieces that fit together (like broken handles that need glued and clamped - on the agenda for today). Still have 3 flat tomato boxes of odds and ends to sort out and put away today, too. No more buckets of misc now, just buckets for holding filtered water, or ones to take back out for watering the goats when they are tethered to eat. 
12. Move the other bookcase I bought at the same garage sale ($35 for the pair) into my kitchen where it is now holding more of our pantry goods. It's a tall, narrower unit that I think was probably part of an entertainment center at one time - want to add another shelf or two, but for now, it's working fine with our 5 gallon buckets of flour, etc on the bottom.
13. Organize the rest of the kitchen shelves now that the food is more organized. It's so nice to be able to find what I want. Cleaned the microwave and most of the counters.
14. Cleaned and organized my room - found my missing in action summer tops in the process - yes! I can actually see surfaces, the floor is clean, and I am ready to take a paperwork day to finish sorting and filing the remaining pile. Still have a pile of clean clothes in the chair - see above. 
15. Move seldom used chemicals up onto the top of my 2 freezers (2 upright freezers, one large, one small, that are already stacked to conserve space), thus clearing off the floor and part of the dryer. Still need to put up the 2nd shelf over the washer/dryer pair to hold the rest of the detergents, etc that are always in my way on the dryer. 
16. Wash the rugs from the utility room and porches, had dd clean the cat litter boxes (kept in utility room), and I can actually walk right in the back door and through the utlity to the kitchen without tripping over anything!!!
17. Scrub and mop my bathroom, including walls, floor, rust removal from tub and shower, etc. Touched up paint and intalled my moulding around the tub, and sorted the stuff under the sink. It looks so much fresher in there!

So, left to do:
Dishes - waiting for dd to wash them - still!
Clean off the breakfast bar and sort/put away the junk that keeps accumulating there.
Dust off the shelves in the dining room hutch and wash all the stuff that is on it.
Wash the windows, walls, doors and ceiling where needed.
Wash the dining room light fixture and or take it out and put up the new ones I bought for the kitchen nook and dining room.
Wash the kerosene lamps and chimneys, make sure the wicks are properly trimmed and the bowls filled with fresh kero.
Straighten the bookshelves in all rooms, blow the dust off of the books.
Use the sewing machine to make new curtains for the storage room - the material is sitting there, just waiting for me to fill a bobbin and thread the machine.
Paint a mirror frame and hang the mirror in the guest/dd's bath.
Touch up the paint on the dining room chairs and table legs.
Sand, stain and finish the dining room table top.
Paint and install floor trim in the kitchen nook and guest bath.
Wash all the windows, inside and out.
Wash the curtains/install different ones.
Put up the utility room shelf (just need to drill some holes in the 1"x1/2" and screw them into the studs, nice and level, and put the already cut to size board on it.
Install the new plumbing innards for both toilets.
Sort and put away all the misc in the boxes.
Finish cleaning out and organizing the storage room again while I wait to find file cabinets to turn into storage units in there.
Finally, get that frame for the hearth done so I can put the blocks inside it (frame fastened to the floor), install the cement backer board and tiles, ready for the stove to be installed at last). It will be so nice not to have all the building supplies taking up floor space.


Then it's on to the outside of the house to finish the paint job I started *TWO* years ago, and touch up the spots where the iron water has stained the house, finish weeding the flower beds, and sharpen the mower so I can mow the lawn instead of depending on the animals to eat it for me.

No wonder I'm tired! :stars: But, I really feel good about having my house back in shape so that if someone stops in, I won't be totally embarrassed! I am so full of energy when the days are so lovely and long. :sing:

And I'm sooooo happy to see neat, tidy rooms with room to stretch out - it makes me happy when my house is in order.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

Oh my my you sure have been busy !!!

You must feel fantastic to get so much done!!

I hope you do something wonderful for yourself.

I'm happy for you!!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Great job!

You tired me out ,just READING about it all. 

I am also getting ready to build a hearth in my livingroom, this summer. Out of rocks w/ concrete. Including cutting a hole in my wood floor and pouring a larger footing...I haven't quite got started yet, except for the pile of rocks in the driveway that I get to mow around. 

I (occasionally) wish I had one of those DD's, who would put things away in a thoughtful manner..mine are teenage boys. They do a lot to help me, but not with the same CARE, kwim?

Anyway, you should be proud of all you have done so far! It takes time for house renovation projects to come together. I have had this place for 3 years and still havent painted some things.


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

WOW! I'm exhausted just reading what you've already done! I can't wait to see pix after it's all finished!!!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Pix? You mean I have to figure out how to post pics? LOL. I'd have taken before and afters, but I was too embarassed by the before to commemorate it!

Got the toilets fixed so they both flush and don't run, but now I have leaks! That means taking the tanks off to install new gaskets - sob. The one in the guest bath only leaks a little when it's flushed, so it's useable as is, with a towel to catch the drips, but the one in MY bath drips ontinually and I can't figure out how to catch the drip - in an odd spot.

Talked to my sister a few minutes ago and she was bragging on how much she's canned already - I haven't even started - another reason to get my house in order. 

Believe me when I say my legs and feet were just throbbing last night after working all day on hardwood (laminate) floors. Thank goodness for ibuprofen.


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2009)

If you have a small leak here's a cheap fix. 

DH replaced our toilet, but there was a small leak. We knew it was an easy fix, but it was the week before Christmas and money was tight. We didn't know a plumber, so I got on Craigslist and posted that I had the problem (spelled it out) and offered $50 to the first plumber/ handyman to call me. 

Within 10 minutes, I had a guy on the line who was out of work due to the housing bust. He was a handyman and said that he thought could fix my problem. We agreed that no money would change hands until the leak was fixed. 

Sure enough, it was a 2 minute fix. He even tightened a nut that I could see was getting loose. I paid him in cash and he was THRILLED. He had been out of work for about 2 months and this $50 was going to get a Christmas card for his wife and a tank of gas for his truck. I later hired him to switch out 4 lighting fixtures that I had bought. Our home was on the market, so I needed a good job done. He charged me $25 per fixture-a great deal for me and for him. He got paid in cash and I got work done for cheap. We both understood that he was NOT liscensed, but many folks do their own fixture swapping and plumbing. Both jobs were easy to do, but I didn't know how to do them. 

You might want to toss an ad up on CL. Make sure that someone is there with you for safety. 


Oh, and congrats on getting all of that work done!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I have the parts to fix the leaks, but it means taking the tank off of the bowl, replacing some gaskets and putting it all back together. Would have been easier before I put water back in the tank, but I didn't know it was going to leak until I did. Didn't leak before I started working on the innards.  Since I have a pretty long to-do list left, I'll use them as-is for now.


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

Can you spare anytime to come to my house? lol Great job!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

*Dreamy*, you pay my airfare, I'll come clean your house, lol! It's more fun to clean up someone else's space than to tackle the same old mess at my own.

*gone-a-milkin*, actually, my dd makes more messes than the average kid, but every once in a while she surprises me with a careful job like sorting the media collection. 

I am still tickled over my nice, neat house. I keep wandering into rooms and just standing there with a smile on my face, admiring it all, lol!

DD and I picked strawberries and snow peas together this evening, and I put all the smaller berries into the dehydrator. She is finally doing the dishes, too, so I should go get the breakfast bar cleaned off. By bedtime tonight, I may even have a nice, clean kitchen, 2 dehydrators going (more strawberries to fill the smaller Excaliber, and the other one full of sage and oregano. Now I need to go cook up some rice so I can make fried rice tomorrow afternoon (dinner for work tomorrow night), and see what else I can get crossed off my list.

Thanks for the congrats and encouragement - I'm pretty proud of myself.


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## pinemead (Jan 18, 2003)

I wouldn't mind paying your airfare, but you'd be here for months.


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

Wow, girl! I am im-pressed! I'm getting my first dehydrator this weekend and am hoping to play with it after I get back from the farmers market. I want to dehydrate the raspberries on the bushes between the retaining wall and my house. There are several in there and I am bound and determined to move them this fall so they spread some. There are lots of berries on them that are not ripening at all due to lack of sun. Grrr. But I'm getting what's ready every night! 

My big project this week coming week is going to be cleaning out and washing the lower cabinets in my kitchen. They are not very well organized, and are therefore not working for me. They are very deep, but also have narrow doors, so hard to fit things in them easily. I may wind up having to rip them out and put in new ones!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

manygoatsnmore said:


> *Dreamy*, you pay my airfare, I'll come clean your house, lol! It's more fun to clean up someone else's space than to tackle the same old mess at my own.


Will do, I'd even fly you first class but you'd be here for a year or so lol. Seriously though you should be proud of yourself you accomplished a lot!


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## Sheripoms (May 17, 2008)

ok,, I was going to ask how old you were thinkin that you were very young to be so active. But I saw you were a grandma! Wow. I am impressed. 
So what is your secret? Caffeine, good food, or is it in the genes? haha
Wish I had that much energy.


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