I am back at my desk this morning after quite an interesting day of storms that produced severe thunderstorms and tornadoes and it ended last night at our house like the grand finale of a fourth of July fireworks show. A family member called to say there were 7 tornados in all this commotion yesterday, three touched down. This all came from the last of the trailing feeder bands attached to hurricane Ida. The last tail pushed south of us back into the gulf which makes me wonder what all that will do as it drags over central Florida and out into the Atlantic, if that is where it goes.
Yesterday's post was about organizing our first aid cabinets out of necessity.
It may sound like everything here has been hectic but it is mostly what is going on outside of our home that has been hectic other than the bad fall that Charles had. He is doing much better but still has some bruising and swelling and that is improving each day.
Here in our home, I am doing my best to try to keep a calm home and to continue with organizing and cleaning. The organizing, I can "finally" say that is much better and now I am not making a big mess because it is just going back over things a little at a time.
Calm to me is the home routine is going well.
This above is the glass shade that goes on the lamp in our hallway. I removed it to wash and dry it as I do the glass lamp shades and oil lamp shades when I am dusting.
I did some deep cleaning this past week, Charles helped me with hard to reach places and together we also went through some paperwork that was beginning to collect.
When I clean house, I fill a pan with a bit of castile soap and a old rag cloth, a small bucket of rinse water and then another cloth to dry and polish as I go around the room cleaning anything that can be wiped down.
I got down to the low areas to clean ledges that were dusty, as this is.
And the areas on chairs that are not used at the backside of the table. I obviously need to do this more often. A chair pad goes in this chair and I do not see under or behind it.
I do not mind showing my dust because we all get dust in our homes. Actually I like to show what real life looks like. We just wipe it off as often as we can and when we do a deep clean we spend a little more time getting the things we missed.
I still do my one room proper and if I get behind I just get it next time. Part of cleaning is taking down curtains to be washed and cleaning the windows and ledges but this is a when needed thing I do and often done when the seasons change.
Our home is our refuge and when we keep it tidy it helps to calm us. Sometimes we make a mess when we clean and organize because we pull out many items and then we find that we have quite a mess for a few days or weeks or months. But I believe this is a very common way to organize and I am not sure any other way to do this. As long as we have a goal is what is important.
I cannot tell you how many times I had to wash out my cleaning cloth but it was a lot because I have been busy with other things and not doing my one room proper cleaning trying to do a big push to finish organizing the home. We should not fret over dust and dirt and somehow we have a untrue image that a home is suppose to remain spotless.
Have you ever opened or closed an interior door that does not get used daily and to our horror a dust ball comes along with the door? I am not sure why that surprises us. I think it stems from myths and old movies of someone going around with a white glove to inspect for dust. I would say, come on in, then we will go directly to your house and let us do the same. :)
I will repeat something I have said before, cleaning the home means cleaning the dirt out of the home. It is normal to have items out of place because we live here. Yes, it makes us feel better when our home is clean and everything in order but do not be too hard on yourself and enjoy your time at home and the activities that can sit about because you are working on things such as sewing, knitting, working a puzzle, or children playing with their toys. Eventually putting items back in place is what makes it tidy.
Before I cleaned this area I had to put away some clothing I had tossed over this wash stand. Now it is tidy once again.
When I was a child my Saturday chores included dusting the house. I could not go out to play until my chores were done so I got up extra early to get started. I did not realize when I was a child that this would be a lifetime that I would be dusting. So now I am a dusting expert. :)
This is Elizabeth in the lookout window, she is snoozing while on the job. It is a narrow window on the left side of the fireplace and the girls take turns looking out this tiny window. Sometimes when something interesting is going on they wedge themselves together and their little faces press into this window to keep watch. They have the glass back door they can see out of but they all like this small window.
Washing turnip greens.
I do not aim for perfection in our home because that is not realistic, at least for us. People get so stressed about having a perfect home and feel something is wrong with them if they cannot keep their home like they see in a magazine or online.
I will say it to you now, there is nothing wrong with you. Perfection is often altered photos or someone clearing away everything to make it look perfect.
What helps to have a more clean and tidy home is to develop routines. For cleaning, a good way is to to work around the house room by room throughout the week that I call one room proper. This is what helps me but we all have our own way to do things and whatever is your way, this is the right way if it is working good for you.
So how do we find strength to keep our home? We pray for strength and we ask for help when it is needed. Sometimes we need a little help just to get us going. I find it easier once I get started.
We should not focus on the whole mess that we have, we break it down a section at a time.
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It might start with something as simple as a drawer, empty everything out of that drawer and then go through the items checking to see if something needs to be repaired or discarded and then clean the drawer and place items back in the drawer in a organized manner.
This is a small drawer that I keep cheese cloth on the left and organic cotton bags for produce or most anything. Right now for us they make good small totes to keep items in if there is a need to leave home and the items can be covered due to the covid and when returning home they can be easily washed in very hot soapy water.
I put my small purse down in one of the larger bags and when I get home I remove it to be washed. When Charles leaves out for work he often takes a fruit to eat later as a snack. We put the fruit in one of these bags to keep it from touching anything in the car. I do not get out unless it is an appointment of some kind. We do curbside pick up for groceries and Charles picks up items as needed while he is out working.
We have been doing these kind of things since the pandemic started to add to our things we do to remain safe.
Do what you can each day until you have found that your home is more settled, clean and tidy as you want it to be.
As I get older I have found that I have to adjust how I do many things that I once did with ease. So I have been trying to make things accessible and make our home where I can clean under furniture. We have put sliders under chest of drawers and desks so I can easily slide them from the wall to clean behind because furniture that sits in one place too long can attract spiders so we do not want that to happen. Do not put sliders under chairs because the chair could slide out from under you.
I hope that you are finding the strength to make your home a calm and happy place to be.
I have made a video to go with this post, click here to view the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8BexyQreYE
Grandma Donna
