SPRING CLEANING 2013: 7

Taking the chunky, dirty, stained, old table out and cleaning where it had been was done the day before the new table arrived. The beer was downed and the job left until the next morning.

The parcel arrived early. I had been emailed to say it would come between 8 and 11 am - but it actually turned up circa 7.30 - good job dad was up and tucking into his breakfast, or I might have had a filled commode in gloved hands to greet the arrival with!

A big box meant one thing - assembly! I made coffee and began to unpack! Sure enough, there were lots of little bits and pieces as well as huge lumps of wood in my carton...

I was disturbed by a visitor who insisted I feed them a few nuts before continuing...

I began to sort out the little round things and big round things and place them on the screw things ready...

SPRING CLEANING 2013: 6

I left off with the floor washed - and here we start again with a re-wash. I was then able to shift the fridge along a couple of inches, leaving more space the correct side.

Next, the bin had to be shifted into this space - after a few sips of beer. Then, more beer to accompany the grotty job of cleaning where the bin/old table had been.

SPRING CLEANING 2013: 5

My next task, after consideration while preparing to cook and sipping wine was to try to fit the two dining chairs into the pink and white room - to do this, I would need one of these...

No, not the vegetable oil I purchased to grease the garden tools with - nor the bag of compost - but that filthy piece of wood - a doorstop!

Currently, a dining chair props open the door to the hallway from the kitchen - and to remove this filthy item, I need an alternative. I also needed to be able to shift the fridge along 2-3 inches, in order to allow the new table to go lengthways across the area which now houses the other dining chair and bin, yet still allow me to get through into the pink and white room. Please excuse filthy looking wall in photo - I did not choose to clean the splats from cleaning the floor prior to taking the picture!

I then cleaned the door stop and the floor. I am now prepared to clean one more thorough clean behind the hallway/kitchen door and fridge area, prior to shifting the fridge, shoving the current table across the room, cleaning the bin area and old table area, and then awaiting the new arrival! (I also finished cooking my vegan pizza-pie and began to finish my glass of wine!)

SPRING CLEANING 2013: 4

The next spring cleaning chores occurred in the second week of April, with me preparing for the arrival of the new oak table. I feel somewhat guilty at the pleasure of thinking of its arrival - after all, it is just a lump of wood, really....

However, compared to the current table...

...the new one will not only look better, but be easier to use and live with.

Problems with the old table include that the cutlery drawer jams and never shuts completely, the formica top is chipped, green does not match the yellow-white-ochre color scheme, it stands in 4 disgusting dust collectors - used by my mother so she could drag the table out to sit at when two people used it as a diner as well asa kitchen table, and - well, it is old, chipped, marked, stained... OK, I admit I am a snob, but...

I began to fix the kitchen in preparation for the new arrival - scheduled to appear on Friday morning between 8 and 11 am. As usual, I was also cooking at the time - creating a vegan from-scratch pizza and sipping Italian red wine....

This is a better shot of the disgusting 'thing' called a table - 

 

- and the surrounding area. At the present moment, it sits against a chair against the wall - with a bin to one side, the drawer hanging out, and Dad's sunday-dinner perching stool at the other end. As I prefer to stand to eat, the second chair is never used - or cleaned...

This is the space currently available to get through to the pink and white room - passing the fridge and table. NOT enough for Dad with a zimmer...

 

SPRING CLEANING 2013: 3

One of the chores often associated with spring cleaning is - well, cleaning! I knew I did not have a lot of time spare after cleaning the loo and bathroom, so aimed to spring clean a small area - the windowsill inside the front door. Here is the after-shot - once various cobwebs, dust, smudges, and dirty unused items had been removed.

                                     

….& my hands were in desperate need of moisturizer! I did wear gloves for some of my chores, but what with a few non-dirty bits and preparation of veges for dads lunch/my daily meal...

In happier news, my coriander lasted more than a week this attempt! This is a shot of it 7 days after I got a new plant - and munched a chunk or two of it

SPRING CLEANING 2013: 2

The pantry was beginning to get a little overstocked. We have enough food to last for several weeks, should any disaster occur, as you can see. However, one of my favored chores is turning out and reorganizing the pantry, so....

I set to work. As the following photo shows, I had a rather large bottle of beer to accompany me as I set about my chore. (After all, lunch would need to be postponed for an hour...)

And here we have the finished pantry - once again, everything neat and tidy..... until the next time!

SPRING CLEANING 2013: 1

Well, although spring has officially arrived, as I look out of the bedroom window this April afternoon - I spot snow flakes passing the window. That has not stopped my efforts from beginning to spring clean, however. I did make a slight detour to buy a new kitchen table, though...

HERE

In the garden, I managed to work on the veg plot between the kitchen window and bird bath, which is now dug over and ready to pick out the bindweed roots/re-dig and sow:

In the bathroom, I have ordered another batch of Indian soaps due to the continuing 'mysterious' disappearance of my soap bars...

As you can see, my soap is no longer on the soap dish - but on the floor, about to disappear behind the bath tub. Of course, the culprit can be identified as a certain mouse that my cousins brought down from the loft along with the bags and case of old dolls etc late last year, as can be evidenced by the teeth marks in the soap.