Musings on a Small Life

I so rarely open all the Amazon.ca "deals of the day/week/weekend" emails, but for some reason I clicked on yesterday's. And scored a Hoover carpet cleaner for half-price, on sale for $150, regularly $300. $170 with taxes, no shipping charges of course. Image from Amazon.ca I had seen this one a couple of weeks ago, while online comparison shopping for a desperately-needed carpet cleaner, though I think Amazon was offering it for about $260 or $270. (Or maybe that was the air purifier I was looking at!) This machine was very well reviewed, so I have my fingers crossed it will turn out to be a good investment. All four rooms upstairs still are carpeted, and while I vacuum multiple times a week and spot clean as needed, I can well imagine the filth embedded in the fibres, particularly in the two high-use rooms, my bedroom and the adjacent spare room with the litter box. If this works well, it probably will pay for itself in one use, compared with hiring a p...

Someone who shall remain nameless (N-i-c-k-i) thought my beautiful, late-blooming sunflower would make a great "ladder" just a short time ago.  :-(  So I've gone from these outdoor snapshots.... ...to this. Sob! Ah, well. The second one is getting ready to bloom, fingers crossed.  As for the rest of the day, I did go back to bed around 6AM and didn't get up till just after 9:00, which was much-needed, as I had the mother of all headaches all night, to end my week, and slept very little. Again. And today's been on and off pouring rain, lots of wind, so I've stayed put and cleaned from top to bottom, as much as I'm going to before Dad's visit. Still the oven to do tomorrow, will spray it tonight. The stove looks sparkling, though. Beats me how it can get grungy when (a) I seldom cook and (b) I wipe up after myself when I do. Must be "Not Me" who dirties it up, along with destroying sunflowers and knocking over indoor v...

Alternatively titled, "You call this a day off?" Because I don't call being up at 3:30AM and doing 6 loads of laundry (including winter coats, curtains and bedding), steam-mopping floors, vacuuming, and purging 5 boxes of household goods and books plus 2 large garbage bags filled with clothes and old blankets restful. Especially considering it all entailed going up and down the stairs, upstairs to basement, 12,036 times. And that's not even getting any dusting done or cleaning the bathroom. Right now the boys are flaked out on my bed, poor things (said sarcastically). They didn't get to sleep the morning away because they were too busy "helping" me. Well, one was "helping" and the other was running away from the crazy lady toting all sorts of scary things around the house and out to the garage. I, too, would be flaked out on my bed right now, except my favourite daytime show (okay, it's the only one I watch) will be on in a hou...

Yeah, okay, I've done several loads of laundry and wow, my oven looks sparkling clean, but that's it. I haven't even hauled out the vacuum. I figured, why bother, since I'll have to clean later this week before Dad gets here anyway.  Much more enjoyable to curl up with a book and to nap. I had a latté and espresso brownie with a friend yesterday, and we did some shopping too. And I walked the 5.something kilometers to Wal-Mart this AM for a number of items. Got my upper body workout hauling the stuff home. Hey, walking up a few blocks from the bus stop while carrying several very heavy bags counts, right? Goddess knows, it just about did my arms in! Five working days to get through, then I'll be off for a week. Hurrah. And since we all have our first ever performance review and follow-up this week (individually, of course), I'll be more than ready to get out of Dodge for a while after it's all over. (Don't ask. This is being enforced now for all sta...

It will be a long weekend across Canada: Victoria Day (Monday), ostensibly to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday. I thought it was also Memorial Day weekend in the States, but Lisa corrected me--that's the following weekend in the US! (Thanks, Lisa.) Three days away from the office will be great, but I still have all of the living/dining area to paint, as well as the kitchen. And trim. The house feels cluttered and chaotic and could use a good cleaning, but I want to wait till Mr. Handyman is done. I need groceries desperately, need cat litter, etc. I haven't been out walking anywhere interesting in what feels like forever, and given that Saturday is the only decent day in the forecast, I won't be getting out with the camera this weekend, either. (This Saturday = errands because bus service operates normally then, but runs on a very reduced schedule Sundays and holidays.)  I also want to pick up a few annuals and do some container gardening in the back space, since I...

How can someone like me, with no family here and no obligations, still be running around like a mad woman every Saturday? I took an early bus (7:20AM) up to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things (they're open 24/7 now, till Christmas, though that makes little difference to anyone who relies on public transit--lol). Then popped over to Zellers and then to PetSmart (lucked in on a sale on ProPlan, which is about the only canned food Derry will eat). Had several heavy bags that I lugged home (including 11 pounds of pet-safe driveway de-icer, for the impending 15 to 25 mm of freezing rain tomorrow). Oh, my aching shoulders! That was my weight workout, never mind pumping iron at a gym. Okay, so it probably wasn't more than 20 pounds altogether, but it felt like 50! Yeah, yeah, I'm out of shape, I know. Once I had everything home and in the house, I headed out again for round 2 and finally made it home by 12:30PM, to do all the house work and laundry. How exciting! Actually, while...

For whatsouer from one place doth fall, Is with the tide vnto an other brought: For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought. ~ The Faerie Queene: Book 5: Canto II by Edmund Spenser ~ Remember Alan Rickman reading this in the 1995 version of "Sense and Sensibility?" I couldn't help but think of this today, as I was vacuuming. Mr. Sucky Monster (according to my cats) spit this out: My almost 2-year lost earring, obviously just inexpensive costume jewelry, but a favourite. I remember dropping it when taking out my earrings one day after work, then hunting high and low for it, sure it was behind my bookcase or wedged in a corner. I never found it, until today, though I had saved its mate. You'd think I'd never vacuumed in the ensuing time, but I use that "monster" at least twice a week, more often in fur shedding seasons. Why it chose today to return the earring is beyond me, but I certainly had a good chuckle over it. And that's...

Happy Boxing Day! Yes, I had a good half day's work in before most people probably were even up. Took all the holiday stuff down and packed it away, including the tree--not because I was feeling Scrooge-like or upset about the holidays, but because I had started decorating back in November and I was so sick of all the clutter around the house. My townhouse is small, only 800 square feet of finished living space, and after a month of furniture moved around and things jammed together, I'd had enough. Next year I ought to wait till early or even mid-December before decking the halls; then I'd be able to leave it up till New Year's Day without going clutter-crazy. After that I had to clean things up and then I started looking at the walls and all the nail and anchor holes that needed to be filled. So out came the Polyfila and away I went. Took down the cat pictures on the staircase wall because there were too many of them jammed together and filled all those nail holes. Too...

...I'm not out at all. I had all kinds of ideas about what I could do today, where I could go. (It was supposed to be sunny, after all.) But have I made it out of the house? Nooooo . Instead, I started hemming two pairs of pants ("only" had them for 6 months), then had to hem a pair I got the other weekend at Value Village, and re-hem a pair I got last year that still were far too long. By the time I had all four pairs done, and the laundry and vacuuming completed, it was after 10AM. By that time of the morning, my day's half over and you can't get me out of my sweat pants. Nicki's not been feeling well today. I gave him a small handful of Temptation treats yesterday mid-afternoon, because they are soft on the inside. Well, around 1:30 this morning, he jumped off my bed and proceeded to barf up the entire contents of his stomach. Trust me on this one, that green colour (from the treats) is never going to come out of my beige carpet. Ugh and yuck and gross. It ...

Yeah, me. I know, you're stunned. I'm stunned too. Up at 4Am (agghhh!), and I'd like to credit one of my co-worker's for this: I actually pulled out my stove and cleaned behind it. By the way, just for the record? That's something that should be done more often than every five years. Just saying. And while I was tackling that, at oh, about 5AM, I was thinking of my co-worker, who told me yesterday that she spent six hours cleaning her kitchen last weekend. Six hours! I figured if she could do that, I could at least haul out the stove and scrub up the disgusting mess. No need to describe it. *Shudder* Then I decided I'd cook up the remaining apples and make another batch of applesauce. And make a shepherd's pie. I know, I know, I can hardly believe it, but my grocery budget is out of hand, buying pre-prepared food. For the record, I'd like to show you why I so loathe cooking. See the pics below. Mess, mess, mess! Who is going to clean it all up, now th...

So I'm gonna ask: How old are the condiments in your fridge? 'Cause mine have been around a long time -- it's not like I use them often or use much when I do. Mayo excepted; I rarely have any to begin with (not a huge fan of it) and of course toss it out when it's expired. But ketchup, mustard, relish? Sauerkraut? Seafood cocktail sauce? Pickles? Man, I had stuff in my fridge that had been around for more years than I care to count. Apparently, however, most of these things have a life span measured in months, not years. Who knew? And how did I live before I had Steven and Chris to tell me these things? So on the weekend, everything got pitched out. Because I wouldn't want my dad to open a jar and discover some terrible "experiment" gone awry. And I bought new-- small jars this time. Never mind that buying small sizes is not cost-effective. It's not cost-effective if you use only a tiny bit and then have to throw the rest out. Of course, it might hav...

Sure it's a day away from the cube -- yippee! -- but I've been "labouring" far harder, at least physically, than I would had I been at the office. Tackling the gross cleaning jobs that we all put off until we have to--such as when one is expecting company, even family. Things like cleaning the stove burners, taking everything out from under the kitchen sink and scrubbing that down...You know, the "fun" stuff. However, I did take a couple of hours and go out walking/busing, camera in hand. A few pics are below. So I've had a fairly productive weekend all round: got lots of pictures hung, cleaned out a couple of storage units and put more stuff aside for donation, did a few loads of laundry, vacuumed top to bottom twice, moved the fridge and cleaned behind it (that wasn't pretty), did the stove and under-the-sink as mentioned, did some dusting. Still lots to do, but frankly, I'm running out of steam now. I might have to save the other disgusting jo...

Well, who isn't? Especially when the weather is slated to be gorgeous , the kind of weather it would have been nice to have had during the summer. Barring unforeseen circumstances, a trip out to the conservation area, with my camera of course, will be on my agenda for early Saturday morning. After that, another trip to Michaels crafts for more inexpensive frames. Those "inexpensive" frames really add up in cost, though, when you have a lot to do. Also on the agenda will be some serious cleaning, prior to Dad's visit. I mean, I'm great about vacuuming and keeping the kitchen and bathroom clean, but less-than-stellar about dusting or doing more than a surface swipe. My entertainment centre's shelves are grey with dust and grime. And it's a pine Ikea unit, by the way. So yeah, the dust is pretty thick in the house. Oh, and boy, do I need Polyfila! I made more holes in the drywall last night, as I moved some upstairs hallway prints around. Guess that means I...

Oh, sure, now we're getting summer weather. Hot and muggy with smog advisories, the kind of weather we normally endure all July and August, sometimes most of June too. But now that we're having what many people love, I'm just melting in it. It's 82F in the house on the main level, warmer upstairs. No a/c. Just fans blowing the hot air around. The cats are flaked out, the boys outside and Annie inside (she just came in, actually). I've had a productive day, doing a couple of loads of laundry, getting bedding changed, scrubbing out two of the four litter boxes, plus running errands. I hurt. No, really. LOL. Oh, and while I did manage to dump the two litter boxes into a garbage bag, guess what? The bag is too heavy for me to lift, so I can't get it from the basement upstairs and outside to the garage. I had the brief thought, while doing it, that I ought to empty each box into a separate bag, but did I do that? Nooooo. Now I'm stuck with it down there and unles...

*Groan* You know you're getting older when running a few errands leaves your body aching from head to foot. LOL. I think hauling three heavy bags of cat food (dry and tins) plus groceries two kilometers home after work yesterday did me in. It was a great arm and shoulder work-out, though. :-D Today was simple, so why am I done in? I walked to the Centre, then bused up to the Evil Empire, taxied home with all the stuff, headed out again (with camera) for a few more errands, including a stop for some more annuals, then finally made it home around 11:30. I did some gardening...Oh, it was cutting the grass! I have a little old-fashioned (and old) push mower, the kind with the rolling blades. No gas, no electricity. There's not much grass to cut, in fact the lawn care company is supposed to do it, but because of all the rain we had this week, they've not made it out. The grass is pretty high on everyone's lawn now, and along all the common green spaces. I did the patch in ...