Spring Cleaning and a Walk on the Beach

Hello, everyone! Hello, March!

some of my Shaker box collection: Blues

 

We only got a dusting of snow this time, the storm missed us. But brrr, it is very cold. And the late winter sun, happy as I am to see it!--is relentless, highlighting every nook and cranny. And each crevice is just filled with sand. It creeps in on our shoes, sneaks in through the old wooden window frames. Marches right in through the front door, oh so bold!

So I began my spring cleaning a few weeks early.

LOL, I flipped up the living room rug and I swear there were sand dunes forming under there. I got out the heavy duty antique TriStar ''motel special'' vacuum cleaner and sucked all the sand away.

Then I washed everything, floors and walls, baseboards, windowsills included. With Clorox [sorry, Mel]. Scrubbed the bathrooms' tiled walls and floors.

I couldn't wash the window frames or screens because it is too cold, but I did sweep and wash the doors' lintels. Then I washed the white slipcovers.  [uh oh].

Just one sofa's covers. IKEA cotton covers.

Man, did they shrink!
I estimate the main cover is at least 12" shorter than it was!
I had to cut the cover to get it back on. And I'll have to replace it soon. I am just glad I didn't wash the other sofa's covers, or the big chair's. But washable slipcovers aren't much good of you can't, uh, wash them. (I even put them back on damp, no dryer time. But---no.] To give IKEA its due, these were ordered online through an outlet, not purchased at the store. Because unlike the rest of the world IKEA does not have a web catalog. [so no returns/ complaints possible.]

I needed a walk afterwards to clear the cobwebs out of my head!

It is cold but here is no wind. You know the summer saying, It's not the heat it's the humidity? Well, here the winter corollary is, It's not the cold, it's the wind! So a calm, still, sunny day with temps in the teens is just delightful. Mmm. Breath of fresh air. Just what I needed.

My little world is sparkling indoors and out. Do you spring clean? Or are you like my mom, whose house was kept so impeccably that there was no need?

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach...