Tag Archives: laundry

Snap-Shot Cleaning: Master Bedroom

So, for the most part, this snapshot is only on “my” side of the bedroom, since it was the messiest and I try not to pester the hubby’s hobbies if I can get away with it.

Master Bedroom Before

Master Bedrrom After

While it might not look like much through the photo, the following took place during those 45 long minutes:

  • Finished folding and put away three loads of laundry
  • Placed all work clothes on hangers and into closet
  • Organized book shelf (not in photo)
  • Picked up cat toys (not in photo)
  • Picked up dog toys (not in photo)
  • Dusted my night stand, vanity, dresser, book cases, and the rocker
  • Organized nightstand
  • Organized dresser
  • Organized vanity

I probably could have been more productive with my time had it not been for Belle wanting to play ball and then the closet door practically falling off the slider.

Aside from snap-shot cleaning, I have done a ton of other chores today:

  • Swept the stairs, entry way,  and kitchen
  • Cleaned the cat box (this is daily)
  • Spot cleaned the entry way and kitchen floor
  • Taken care of the dishes
  • Hung two loads of wash
  • Picked up in the living room
  • Posted in this blog twice (now three times)
  • Posted in my personal blog
  • Written three responses for homework
  • Finished four rows on a knitting project

I’m hoping, before the husband gets home, to finish the following:

  • Paper work for deferment
  • Paper work for homestead exemption
  • Fold last load of laundry (in the dryer right now)
  • Vacuum living room and bedrooms
  • Change Teeny’s cage
  • Change Jacks’ cage
  • Shovel front door yard and enough of Belle’s run to make her happy
  • Make dinner
  • Begin (and possibly finish) sewing pile
  • Begin sewing project
  • Finish homework for this week

With all that needs doing and getting done, I love the fact that I’m a self motivated person. It’s hard to comprehend those that don’t put their all into keeping house. Granted, I call myself a “Wife” with a capital W for a reason! Happy cleaning, all! I’m off to finish my list.

Changes in Laundry

In order to break even late on with the outdoor woodboiler we plan on eventually installing, we need to try to cut 2 – 4 kWhs a day. Seeing how we only use 13 kWhs/day in the winter and 9 kWhs/day in the summer (the average household uses 30 kWhs/day average), we do fairly well. BUT we’d like to stay within these numbers, if not make them smaller so that they balance back to what we have now when we have little ones.

Over the past couple weeks, one of our mini-projects has been coming up with even more ideas on how to save electricity. I stepped in and came up with a couple ideas for the laundry around the house.

While we already had the drying rack, it’s a small one that doesn’t hold much. We decided that the laundry room would be a perfect place to add a couple clothes lines. Using some cup hooks I had bought for another project and help rope from my crafting stash, I rigged the first one up and then realized that with a second one I could get a full load of laundry on the lines and rack. Instead of using the dryer for every load, we now use it maybe once every five loads or so. It does take a little over a day for the clothes to dry, but that’s fine by us!

As a reminder to not use the dryer when it’s not necessary, I made a quaint little cover for it.

(Keep in mind, I’m not a seamstress and this cover could have been much more appealing. On the plus side, I made it with fabric I got free from work.)

The three sachets in front of the last picture are dryer sachets that I made. In between realizing that a chunk of chemicals in dryer sheets are cancerous, some cause anxiety attacks, and other are animal based, I decided to give making my own sachets a try. They’re cotton cloth filled with rice and lavender. The scent seems strong, but when you pull the laundry out, there’s just enough to make it smell fresh. The lavender I bought on Etsy for $8.00 total. I have enough for roughly 12 sachets. The fabric was left over from a earlier project years ago. Over all, when you figure out the cost, each sachet is only pennies. The plus side of all of this is that we no longer have to worry about what we use causing havoc with my psoriasis.

How time does fly!

My! Has it really been close to a month since my last post? I apologize in advance for the delay. A lot has been going on around this little homestead, keeping me away from the blogs. Since I haven’t posted since the holidays, I’ll start with that.

Between the two of us, there were a lot of gifts received, but the most important ones to me are the ones I can use for the home and create from. I think right now, my favorite thing is something that became a gift because my mom bought herself a gift. :-) I am now the owner of a 20+ year old 3.5 quart Rival Slow Cooker Crock Pot. I’ve already made chili in it and am very excited for next year’s jam season! :-) Mom and dad also got us an Oster Blender/Chopper with the black finish.

The hubby bought me two skeins of Nature Spun sport weight in Enchanted Forest, a skein of Ultra Alpaca in Dark Chocolate,……and a yarn ball winder! I can’t begin to tell you how much storage space this little thing takes up!

I also got a lot of Red Heart from my BIL and FSIL which will be used for a sleeve for my digital art pad and an iron cozy, not to mention for various other projects.

I spent a good chunk of time the other day rearranging the bedroom so that we have more baseboard out in the open. This, in turn, created more storage space in Jacks’ room, and got the TV that we weren’t using out of the bedroom. I was able to remove a stand, move the book cases around, and end up with a lovely little sitting area. Hopefully I’ll have time this weekend to upload some pictures.

Another improvement that we have made has been in our wash room. We added two clotheslines (yes, inside) so that we now have enough hanging space to dry a full load at a time. So far, in the past week, I’ve only run the dryer once. I’m very excited, though, to get a line up as soon as the thaw hits. (Which from the feel in the air already, might come early.)