Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Helpers Around the House

I'm getting into one of my "let's clean the house from top to bottom" moods. This doesn't brood well for anyone at my house. Mike has been working so hard on putting in fencing, tearing down the deck fencing, trimming bushes,etc. that he hasn't had any free time in quite a while. The problem is that all his work creates messes. What should we do with the poles that held the fencing around the deck? Where shall we store the bikes and lawn tools now that the deck isn't surrounded? Where shall we store the extra bags of cement that will be used when more fencing is purchased? Let's just say that my yard looks like "hillbilly heaven". We've ordered a large shed, but it won't be delivered for another week. I hate the way my back yard looks. Since we live on a corner, our mess is shared with everyone who walks or drives by. YUCK!

Today, I decided to tackle the floors in the kitchen and dining room. We'll be replacing the flooring in the late fall or early winter, but for now they are not in good repair. I swept, vacuumed, and washed the floors, then realized that the many throw rugs are dirty. The last time I washed throw rugs, it cost almost $100 for the washer repairman. Never wash rubber-backed throw rugs in a front loading washing machine. Katie and Steve walked 4 blocks to the laundry mat to run the rugs through the washer. When they returned with the wet rugs, Paige helped me hand them on the clothes line. They look really good!

While Kate and Steve were gone, the other girls and I washed and bagged blueberries. We put up 50 quarts for the year. It's gratifying to see the freezer getting filled during the summer months. Paige and Allie keep checking to see what types of fruits and vegetables we have for winter.

Joseph vacuumed out the van, while I folded laundry and ran loads through the washer. Our van has really gotten trashed this week doing letter boxing. All the kids left their water bottles, snack wrappers, and crumbs on the floor.

It was so nice to get some things completed on my list without having to ask. The kids saw me start projects and offered to help or take over the task. They must be growing older. How did that happen?

2 comments:

Barb the Evil Genius said...

I'm going through a sorting and tossing out phase, because of our move. I'm sure I'll have fun dealing with where to put things once we move.

What else can you freeze? I am sorry to say we still have blueberries in our freezer from two years ago. However I still like the idea of freezing fresh-picked fruits and veggies.

I wish my daughters were better about helping without being asked. They are great about doing their homework when they are in school, though, so there's that.

Karen said...

I usually freeze strawberries, asparagus, blueberries, cherries, peaches, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, and apricots.

My grandmother froze tomatoes, peas, rhubarb, and zucchini. I prefer to can tomatoes and applesauce and we don't eat a lot of rhubarb and zucchini, so I don't put up any. Peas are too much work for me to freeze or can. I think the $1 bag of frozen peas are a bargain.

Love your new picture!