House Cleaning Redux

New milestone: First time cleaning house post surgery. Okay, maybe it's not THAT exciting, but I wondered how my hand would hold up and it did pretty well.

Remember about a month and a half ago, when I spent all that time scrubbing and scouring each and every room in the house until it was all pretty much spotless? Well, I've really noticed a big pay off in the lack of dust and dirt and quicker cleaning since then. I'm kind of surprised, really. After the BIG cleaning, I cleaned house the weekend before my surgery, and now three weeks later, and I kept kind of wondering WHY I was even cleaning--that's how clean it seemed to stay.

Since I asked all of you--back when I was doing my major spring cleaning--for tips on cleaning and what products worked well, I thought I'd give you a little feedback since it's still pretty fresh in my mind.

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers? One of the best cleaning products I've used. I'm sure I'll keep them on hand from now on. I wouldn't necessarily use them as a first choice, but for the dirt and marks that nothing else seems to take off, they're really excellent.

Scrubbing Bubbles? I didn't think it was that great at removing soap scum or hard water stains, but for weekly cleaning, it's become the product I use. Very simple and hardly any work involved. I'm hoping that if I use it often enough, I won't NEED to think about soap scum or hard water stains.

My favorite "new" product for cleaning windows and mirrors? Easily a mixture of a gallon or so of warm water, a tablespoon or two of white vinegar, and a couple drops of dish soap. It really cleans well and doesn't leave streaks. The only drawback? I'd like to use it on my kitchen countertops, cabinets, and appliances, but unless you dry them with a cloth after washing, the mixture DOES leave streaks. I used to use Windex and may have to go back to that--it seemed like a good all purpose, non-harsh cleaner. Unless any of you have a suggestion?

I was in JoAnn's the other day, with my 40% off coupon, but as so often happens, the couple of things I'd gone in to buy were already on sale, so I looked through the books and found this one.

After flipping through it and looking at the photos, I decided to buy it, and I've been reading it off and on since. It has all kinds of tips and ideas for keeping a home, from decorating to cleaning to cooking to gardening. So far, I'm pleased to find that I've figured out some of the tips and shortcuts on my own over the years, but there are others I hadn't thought of and will try out. And then there are a few that I'll probably NEVER use because they sounds too much like work, and part of the emphasis of the book is making housekeeping simpler and less of a chore.

But one of the cleaning tips I ran across addresses a problem I had--hard water stains/ring around the toilet bowl. I removed mine with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, pumice stone, and a lot of elbow grease. Had I only read this book first, I would have known that adding a little more water and tossing in a couple of denture cleaning tablets would have accomplished the same thing overnight with a lot less effort. I think that tip ALONE probably was worth the cost of the book!

Oh, and one final tip since we're speaking of hard water stains and deposits: vinegar works pretty well. Soak rags, towels, or paper towels in vinegar and lay them over the stains/deposits. Keep the rags/towels damp and leave them to soak in for 30 minutes to an hour. The vinegar should help loosen and soften the minerals so they're easier to clean off. It will still take a lot of elbow grease, but at least removing the minerals is possible.

In closing, I'm tempted to wish you "happy cleaning," but you and I know there really is no such thing--we'd all rather be quilting or having fun doing something else. But at least if we HAVE to clean, we might as well do it as quickly and easily as possible!

I Must Be Crazy . . .

Today's blog post title sounds like the beginning of one of those cheezy, low budget, used car ads, doesn't it? I picture a fat guy with a weird suit and an oversized rhinestone cowboy hat yelling, "I must be CRAZY to be practically GIVING cars AWAY at these low, low prices!" Okay, but it's not. It's a serious cry for help. Well, maybe it's not all THAT serious. But here's the thing.

I've spent a lot of time and effort amassing a nearly complete collection of various Christmas prints, but I've not spent nearly the time or effort trying to decide what I want to MAKE with them. It's a collection/acquisition thing, I suppose. But now that I have them, what to do?

First, there's that lovely Holiday Happy line of Monica's. Then there's the Kate Spain 12 Days of Christmas. And Quilt Soup's Hip Holidays. And . . . and . . . and . . . Yep, I'm even feeling a little bit embarrassed about how much Christmas fabric I have.

I was kind of playing with the idea of looking for a Miss Rosie pattern or two, because we all know how wonderfully scrappy they are, right? But then I came across THIS. Yes, it's another quilt along; this one uses charm squares--or at least you CAN use charm squares. Of course, you can use scraps, fat quarters, layer cakes, or just about anything else that you can find in your stash or at your local quilt shop.

There's nowhere to sign up and no commitment to make except to yourself. Steps will be posted each Sunday, and last Sunday's post sets out all of the material needed to make the quilt. And no, of course YOU don't need to use Christmas fabric, but I think I do. Or I should, anyway. 'Cause I have some and I'm feeling just a tad guilty about it.

Basically you'll need a light "background" fabric and a bunch of medium to dark toned fabrics for the rest--contrast is the key here. Here are some of the setting options:

Since this is basically one block used over and over, I'm not sure how many "steps" there will be, but I suspect we'll make half square triangles in one step and four-patch blocks in another. Then we'll repeat the steps over and over, and faster and faster, until we're either dancing a tango or we have all the blocks we need to make a pretty big quilt.

So join me, won't you? After all, it wouldn't be very nice of you to leave me as the ONLY lunatic in this particular asylum, would it?!

Hey Everybody! Look at Me!

I'm such a show off, aren't I? I DO hope you can forgive me! Seriously, though, I know that one of the things we quilters like to see is the work of other quilters--I certainly get motivated by seeing what everyone else is doing, anyway. So yesterday I mentioned I'd get photos of the projects I've been working on, and I did.

First, Joy Luck. This is the newest addition to the Schnibbles family and is the pattern selected for the July Year of Schnibbles quilt. This is also the first project I cut post-splint. Woo-hoo! Now I need to get busy and get it quilted.

Next? Another post-surgery first. Here's a rather embroidery-intensive project I'm working on. For some reason, this doesn't seem to photograph very well, but the lighter, brighter red in the upper right hand section is the part I've completed--the rest remains to be done. (And I'm not sure what it will be when it's done. A pillow, maybe? A wallhanging? It's anybody's guess at this stage!)

I had gone to tea and stitching with Gran at the quilt shop the Friday after surgery and I wanted to do SOMETHING, so I purchased the pre-printed panel and a couple skeins of embroidery floss. I didn't do much that first day, but I've been working on it more the past few days, and it's coming along--slowly.

And last--the latest Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along block--block ten, I think. In keeping with my Halloween theme, I decided to leave the corners off the bottom leg so it would look a little more like a gravestone cross, and I figured it was the perfect headstone for Vlad the Impaler (the "real" Dracula, of course).

What next? Well, I have a little project up my sleeve, and I spent some time today gathering supplies. So besides quilting the Schnibbles, I hope I'll have something else kind of interesting to share before too long--if it works out, anyway! And if it doesn't? Well, I'll probably show you anyway.

Ah! That's Better!

Yes, after all, I DID make myself go to the garden center this morning. I didn't find a single thing I was looking for, but I think getting out and walking around a little helped my mood tremendously. Well, that AND the fact that it was a little bit cooler today. Just under 90 degrees and not much humidity here--and I know that sounds like a cold snap compared to some of you suffering on the east coast and other parts of the country. I hope you'll cool down soon. From your comments, I realize I'm not the only one who loses all will to live when it's hot like this.

I'm writing before bed on Tuesday night, and I'm planning to get up a little bit earlier tomorrow to head to a better (more selection BUT higher priced) garden center. Hubby suggested I could also try a second garden center nearby if I strike out at the first one, but I suspect by that time, it will be a little too warm for me to want to walk around any more.

I've actually been working on a few projects over the last several days, and I'd like to show you what I've been up to, but I haven't taken photos yet. Tomorrow, maybe. A stitchery project and a Schnibbles. And, to my surprise but, of course, immense satisfaction, my hand has been doing well too. I have some aching and stiffness and a little cramping sometimes, but nothing very painful, and it gets better day by day.

Hubby had his appointment with the orthopedist today, and he got the go ahead to stand up and use his leg again, but it will probably be a little time before he's able to do that, because the muscles in his back and his other leg have weakened from lack of use. He'll be practicing standing up and trying to take a step or two on his own, and his doctor has put in a request for physical therapy, so it's just a matter of time and practice now.

It's time for me to say goodnight and head to bed if I'm going to get up early-ish tomorrow. Try to stay cool, okay?

Lost Day

Yesterday felt like a lost day. I don't know why, but for some reason, I didn't feel like doing much of anything. Don't get me wrong--there are times when being lazy is a GOOD thing, because we all need the occasional day when we can just rest and regroup. But I've had about five months of those days, so I don't really need any more.

I think part of it is that I just don't like the heat of summer. I don't like getting into a hot car to go somewhere and sweating for five or ten minutes until the air conditioner kicks in. If I need to go outside to do a chore, you'd better believe the chore is done and I'm back inside the house as quickly as possible--taking time to smell the roses just means getting hotter and grumpier.

Yesterday, even the Sweat Shop wasn't singing its siren song.

BLAH!

Last night I thought I needed to make an action plan for today. Maybe I needed more exercise, which meant getting up early before the heat arrived. I'd take a walk. I'd go to the garden center after that.

This morning I slept until 9 a.m. When I got out of bed, my hips and back felt achy. Maybe I'd skip the walk and just hit the garden center.

Now I'm wondering how I'll fit a smallish tree in my car. Maybe I'll skip the garden center until later in the week when I'll have access to a van and/or a truck. Maybe I'll close the windows, turn on the A/C, and take a nap.

Or maybe I'll get dressed and go to the garden center anyway. After all, there are a couple other things I need. And a walk would do me good.

Happy 4th of July!

(Center panel of quilt purchased online from Olde America Antiques, which uses giclee printing onto 270 count cotton sateen. Olde America Antiques specializes in reproducing vintage images. )

On the River . . .

Who knew that just a short drive south of Sacramento would land us in Delta country in the small town of Clarksburg? Well, there are probably PLENTY of people who knew, but I didn't. What a discovery!

Gran, with her interest in embroidery and quilting, had heard from a couple of different people about a quilt that was temporarily hanging in the Clarksburg library and she wanted to see it. Today seemed like a good day for an adventure, so off we went.

We traveled west on I-80 from my house and picked up I-5 south. Before we'd really even left the city, it was time to exit the freeway. A quick left turn and a fast right turn dumped us down along the river; after crossing a metal bridge and turning left again, we arrived in Clarksburg a few minutes later.

To me, Clarksburg brought back memories of Mayberry RFD. The library is situated in a small house across from a municipal building which is kitty corner from the old school. While we were in "town," Gran and I drove up and down some of the older residential streets, where many of the homes retain their small town charm.

This is the Clarksburg branch of the Yolo County library, our primary destination.

Before we even entered the door, we spotted the quilt. Each block represents a children's book, and the blocks were designed and executed by members of the Sacramento County Embroidery Guild. The following photos are close ups of two of the blocks:

Always willing to spend a little time eating, Gran and I asked the librarian to recommend a restaurant for lunch; preferably one with a river view. She sent us off to the Dinky Diner. We were a little skeptical about the recommendation which is pictured at the beginning of this post, but she was right! After all, you can always count on a librarian to know what she's talking about.

I took this photo from the shade of our picnic table overlooking the river. The shade and a lovely breeze kept us cool while we enjoyed the views and listened to the "locals" and "tourists" who stopped in for lunch--people watching is always an entertaining sport! And when people watching lagged, we talked about getting ahold of a very fast boat, donning our bikinis, and speeding up and down the river. I'm pretty sure the restaurants would go out of business, though, if the patrons were forced to view that sight!

Gran and I both ordered burgers and fries and chocolate shakes--the shakes had also been recommended, which is always a very good excuse for having something you probably shouldn't, in my opinion. Frankly, although the fries were quite good, both of us would have been more than satisfied with the ginormous and tasty burger (and shake!). Because the Dinky Diner only holds three people preparing all of the food and we had arrived in the middle of the lunch hour rush, the wait was a little long, but we didn't mind. There are certainly worse things than sitting in the shade on a summer day and watching the river flow by. But the wait DID mean that by the time our food was ready, I was so hungry I totally forgot to take a photo, so I snagged this one off another website that reviewed the diner--and really, except for the chocolate shake, our meal looked pretty much the same!

Clarksburg, we learned, has many vineyards, and the old Sugar Mill nearby has been restored and converted to wine tasting rooms, offering wines from four or five local wineries. Gran and I passed up that opportunity in favor of the chocolate shakes we already had in hand, but it's something to keep in mind for another trip. (Maybe right before we get a fast boat and some bikinis.)

After Clarksburg, we returned to "civilization" and headed through a "not-so-nice" part of Sacramento over to Elk Grove and a quilt shop there, Country Sewing Center. Yep, no road trip would be complete without a little fabric! Ditto Starbucks and an iced latte--our last stop of the day.

We DID think at one point that we might be involved in some kind of gangland shooting (based solely on the area we were driving through), which would have made for a great blogging adventure story, but we emerged unscathed. And I DID think a few photos of the "projects" would have jazzed up the old blog, but we elected not to slow down enough for that. So today's "adventure" is a little bit tame, but we had a great time anyway! Wish you could have been there with us--the postcard is in the mail.

Schnibbling Along

Schnibbles seem to be good therapy. With some care in handling the rotary cutter, I found I was able to cut out my next Schnibbles quilt over the course of Thursday and Friday without any undue soreness in my hand--

I'm using the slightly older Boutique line for this one. I've since started piecing the quilt and should have that part done before the end of the weekend--in fact, depending on what else I do over the weekend, it's possible I'll even have started quilting it, but we'll see. Today I'm getting ready for a short road trip with Thelma. Or is it Louise? Never can remember which one I am and which one Gran is.

For those quilters among you who live within driving distance of Bearpaws & Hollyhocks, I wanted to mention that the shop is participating in the Martingale/Moda Schnibbles Contest. Rules for the contest can be found at Carrie Nelson's blog, La Vie en Rosie, in her left-hand side bar. Schnibbles quilts must be turned in to the shop by the afternoon of July 31st (shop closes by 4 p.m.) and will be voted on by the customers over the next several days. Photos of the winning quilt will be sent on to Martingale.

As an added incentive, Lindy, the shop owner, has added first and second place prizes at the shop level--$100 and $50 gift certificates. If you ARE within driving distance but don't wish to participate, please come by the shop the first week of August and vote on your favorite Schnibbles!

Unfortunately, since I'm assisting Lindy with the Schnibbles contest, I've declared myself ineligible to participate. FORTUNATELY, however, I still love making these quilts whether or not there are prizes involved.

I'm off now to finish getting ready to hit the road with Gran, and if there's any extra time, I just might stop in the Sweat Shop to engage in a little Schnibbling! I hope you're enjoying the weekend as much as I am!

What Can I Say?

And I mean that quite literally. I'm not sure what I can tell you tonight that might be very interesting.

Probably a couple of you are wondering about the missing mouse. Still missing. I know some of you said you wouldn't have been able to go to sleep unless you had found it first, but I didn't want to chase it around the house--there are quite a few places it could run and hide, and those little critters are FAST. So tomorrow I'll look under the corner cabinet where it was last known to be hiding to see if I can find a deceased little mouse; if not, we'll just need to stay alert, one way or another--by scent or sight. Spike was prowling around our bedroom early this morning, acting suspiciously, and I feared the worst, but nothing ever came of it.

I was thinking a couple of you might want to see my incision, which looks darn good. I think I need to find out whether my surgeon might have any interest in taking up quilting. He really does a nice job in cutting and stitching. Anyway, it looks so good, I took a photo, but in the end, I decided too many of you would be grossed out with your morning coffee, so I elected not to post it. No thanks are necessary.

So what does that leave me with to chat about? Well, I can show you the Halloween quilt top I finished today. This is the one I cut before surgery and worked on during the past week, on and off.

It's not a great photo because I had to take it from the side--it was too big to get it all in a photo looking straight on. I think this will make a nice utility quilt, and I'll probably just do an overall meander when I quilt it.

As I type, Stitch is here on the desk top next to me. This is somewhat worrying because the last time I saw him was when I let him outside and closed the door behind him. I certainly hope Hubby checked him thoroughly before letting him back in the house. Especially since he was just sitting here, licking his little kitty lips. Garrrrrrr!

I was absolutely dying to work on a Schnibbles quilt today. I had posed a question the other day about using a rotary cutter, and Vicky--who has had the surgery herself and knows what she's talking about--suggested it might be wise to give my hand/wrist a week or so to heal first. I totally agree. But I did some cutting anyway because I'm a rebel. Actually, I found the handle didn't press near the incision, so it didn't hurt, and I made sure to put in a fresh, sharp blade, but my hand did get tired after awhile, so I stopped. Most likely I'll finish cutting tomorrow, and then I can work on the sewing over the weekend.

Now, I think I'm going to head off to bed early with a book and a little ice pack for my hand. It's not really sore and I don't think there's any swelling, but I figure the ice treatment can't hurt, just in case I abused it with the cutting. In the morning, I want to hit the grocery store and stock up on the fixings for some 4th of July weekend BBQ. It's almost here!

Open Wide and Say "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh"

A few weeks ago, as we got into the warmer summer season, our cat Stitch went into hunting mode. He's a young cat, so this is his first opportunity to show us what a good hunter he is.

One night I was reading in bed when he came in, jumped up on the bed, and deposited a moth onto the quilt not too far from me. Every time the moth would try to move, Stitch would bat it with his paw. And every time the moth would try to move and Stitch would bat it, the moth would fly into me and I'd swat it away. Stitch had fun. Me? Not so much.

Same night, an hour or so later, the scene was repeated with a new victim moth. At that point, I thought it was about time to shut the sliding door and keep Stitch IN for the night.

About a week later, I was asleep when Stitch brought another moth to our bed. I had let him out early in the morning and then I'd gone back to bed and left the sliding door open enough for him to get in and out. Mistake. I'm not very good in the morning to begin with, and waking up to a moth fluttering around on me is guaranteed to make me grumpy. For whatever reason, though, the moth hunting tapered off and no more "gifts" were laid at my feet (figuratively speaking). Until tonight.

Tonight I was in the Sweat Shop, happily sewing away and "testing" out my "new" hand/wrist/arm when I heard a noise on the floor behind me. I turned to see Stitch, batting at one of those fake mouse toys. If you have cats, then you probably know what I'm talking about--they're made of fur and suede and look pretty realistic, right? I watched him for a minute, thinking he was awfully hesitant about the toy since he was just batting at it, so I figured I'd pull it away from the wall for him. I reached down and pulled the tail, but the toy didn't move. Stitch, however, seemed to lose interest and moved away, so I went back to sewing.

About a minute later, I heard Stitch again. He'd pulled the toy away from the wall a little bit, but it was half stuck behind a basket and he was still just batting at it. When I next looked, Stitch was peering under a small corner cabinet about a foot away and reaching under it with his paw. It was just about then that I thought I heard squeeking noises coming out from under the cabinet, and I realized the toy mouse WASN'T A TOY. Ewwwwww! And I'd actually pulled it by the tail too!

Okay, so how could I have NOT realized it was a real mouse? Well, it was the same size as the toy mice we have, it was kind of dark in the area where Stitch had it trapped, and even when I tried to pull on its tail, it didn't move.

After thinking about it for a minute, I realized we needed to make a new rule. NO CAT IS ALLOWED INTO THE HOUSE WITHOUT A CAVITY SEARCH. Or at least a mouth cavity search. Because now I have a mouse in my house somewhere, and it may or may not be alive.

About the time I figured the mouse was REAL, Spike decided to get involved. Stitch would stick his paw under the cabinet and Spike would sneak up and nip Stitch on the neck or head. He finally moved away and SHE took a turn trying to scoop the little rodent out.

Sadly, both cats lost interest after awhile and quit guarding the cabinet, which means that the mouse managed to sneak out and they don't know where it is OR one of them batted the mouse to death and it's still under there. Really, I don't think I have a chance in H-E-double L of finding the thing unless it's dead--it's much too small, I know those mice are FAST, and there are waaaaaay too many places for it to hide.

Darn cats.