Fall Farmhouse Yard Spruce Up

My Fall Cleaning in zones continues!  So far I have tackled the deep cleaning and spruce up of the Main Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Living Room, Sewing Room and this past week, the porches and yard.

Y'all, its still hot around here!  I worked every afternoon after work and most of the day on Saturday,  and was so hot and sweaty.  My hubby trimmed the bushes and a big pine tree, and brought me some pine straw, potting soil, mums and pumpkins.  But, my biggest surprise was the John Deere green bench shown on the porch here.
 ~ Love ~

I made the pillows for the rocking chairs before work one morning and another morning I raked up the hedge trimmings.

I had planned to store the pallet flag after Labor Day, but I decided I like it with mums and pumpkins.  What's more American than flags and pumpkins?

My hubby also had these cute pumpkins designed.  I love them.  He likes to call me Glamma.

I divided and re-potted some house plants.

Other chores I got done are:  Dead heading flowers, trimming everything, weeding, planting a hydrangea, transplanting a day lily and another plant, putting out pine straw, sweeping and cleaning the floors of the porches and organizing and getting rid of some flower pots.

Here are some more pictures that I took that have nothing to do with cleaning up the yard, but I like.

 A cotton boll that has opened.

 A cotton flower.

The cotton field.  Eventually the leaves will fall off and all the white cotton will shine! 

... And EEEK!  A spider!

This coming week, I have 2 projects in mind.  First of all the zone I am working in is the mud room/pantry/laundry room area.  This area isn't nearly as overwhelming to me as some of the others have been.  The second thing is that the men's group at my church are having a yard sale next weekend and I plan to get together some things to donate.  This will help me a lot in my fall cleaning and decluttering.  I need to have the donations together by Friday afternoon.  So my plan of attack is to do a 15 or 20 minute job in the zone each morning and then to work on gathering the donations for a few minutes each day after work.  Wish me luck!

Fall Sewing Room Cleaning and Organization

My Fall cleaning is going well!  Our home looks so much nicer and I am really enjoying the results.  Last week I worked in the sewing room.  I should have taken "before" pictures.  But, trust me, it was bad.

Here are a few pictures of the finished room.

I washed all the windows.  This room has great light, especially in the morning.

These baskets and drawers contain fabric sorted by color.  

I'm thinking of ordering an over the door iron hanger, but for now using two over the door hooks works.  I normally keep the ironing board set up all the time, but the room looks so much nicer with it up off the floor.  So I plan to only have it out when I am using it.  When I am sewing and quilting, that would be all the time though!

I have lots of books and magazines. Some of them have nothing to do with quilting, but most do.  

This area is behind the door, so its not as visible.  These totes contain batting, scraps and the one with the pink top contain children's type fabrics.

These are the 12 blocks I made when I was working on the Splendid Sampler Quilt Along.  I couldn't keep up, so I am going to make a small quilt to hang on the wall in the sewing room.  

This an old dresser that was in the bedroom my sister and I slept in when growing up.  I'm going to hang the quilt wall hanging above it.

This is an old doll cradle with a bear made from an old quilt.

He likes looking out the window too.

Of course, if he had eyes, that would help!

This is my old Singer.  It needs something "quilty" hanging above it too.

Plants:

Small touches.

This is my Mama's old machine. I took it out of the cabinet since I really don't have room for it. Some day I would like to paint the sewing machine cabinets white and use them both in this room.

Nothing helps me get in the mood for sewing and quilting more than having a clean, organized and inviting space.  Lets get busy!

One Way To Remember Stuff

Reusable reminder notes are one way to remember stuff!  I got this idea from this post on the blog, Time with Thea.  I  wrote things I often need to be reminded of on some recycled greeting cards with a sharpie.  Just cut off the part with no writing on it and you have a functional note card that's pretty on the back.   If I leave a reminder card on the counter top, I see it as soon as I walk in the house.  They can also be placed in other places, such as the car,  to jog my memory.

Here are some examples of reminder notes I have made so far.  Some more that I will probably make are reminders for doctor or dentist appointments, reminders to make a phone call, a reminder to thaw something for a meal, or what ever it is I need to remember.

This Valentine card is recycled into a love note. :o) These reminder notes are great for sticking notes in a loved one's lunch.  Kids would love this.  Some examples could be, "You are amazing!"  "You can pass that test!" "I love you to the moon and back!" "I love you, but behave!"

These are some blank reminder notes that I will write on when needed.  They can be reused or thrown away if they are a one time reminder.

Empty tissue boxes make great recycled reminder notes.  I am waiting patiently for this one to be empty, so I can put it to use.

Now I just need to remember to put out the cards when I need to remember something!

Those places that bother you...

You know those places or spots in your home that bother you?   The ones that get on your nerves? You open a drawer and it looks like the drawer threw up.  You look in a closet and there are all kinds of things all jumbled up, hanging down or on the floor.  The disarray happened gradually over time and you kind of ignore it, until one day you can't take it any more!

In doing my Fall cleaning I realized there are several of these spots in my house.  This week I am working in the living room and front porch, but I noticed that every time I opened this drawer in the kitchen, I got irritated.  So I decided to take care of it.  Only took a few minutes, which I did while I was cooking supper.

Before

After

 

That really looks better and now I actually enjoy opening the drawer.  I love the drawer liner.  I threw away some things such as a rusty whisk, an old basting brush that looked like it might be harboring some kind of bacteria, and some other things that I would classify as junk.  I moved some things to other places.

Here's another thing that had been bothering me.  This is our dish soap dispenser that I made using a small canning jar.  The metal ring and lid had started rusting and looked dirty.

Before.... yuck.

After!

Its so much more enjoyable to pump out that soap now. 

In the background you'll see a pumpkin and a pumpkin scented candle.  I'm loving the anticipation of Fall.

So at my house Fall cleaning is continuing and pretty soon some Fall decorating and I'm going to work on some more of those small irritating spots that bother me.

Fall Cleaning

This summer has been like none I've ever experienced.  When I think of summer time, its supposed to be more restful, maybe a vacation, a respite from the day to day things.  This one, the summer of 2016, has been crazy busy!  I can honestly say that part of the month of May, and all of the months of June, July and August have been extremely busy.  By this I mean, that in addition to working my job, Monday through Friday, every single weekend had something going on.  As you may or may not know, I am an introvert and I crave and must have my time at home to refuel and be ready for what ever I must do.  I took a couple of days off work in July and pretty much did nothing but lay on the couch trying to recuperate.

The Land of Cotton

But, in any event, Summer is coming to a close and I'm happy to say that the temperature this morning is below 70 degrees!!! I am so ready for that.

Black Eyed Susans

I have been trying to do some deep cleaning to get our home back in order.  Each week I am picking a room, or area and concentrating my efforts there.  Last week I worked in the main bathroom and am pleased with how it is sparkling clean.  I did things that I haven't had time for in a while, such as dusting the light fixtures and much more.  This week, I am working on the master bedroom.  Saturday morning I even washed the windows in there! 

I plan to leave the pallet flag out until Labor Day.

Some of my best motivation has been coming from watching You Tube Videos by ladies who really know how to get organized and clean their homes.  I will never have a home as clean as them!  There are also some great blogs that motivate me as well.  I just have to be careful to not spend my cleaning time on the computer!  I sometimes take my laptop to the area I am working in and listen to the videos while I work. 

If you can use some motivation for getting organized and in the house cleaning department, check out these links:

How Jenn Does It (You Tube)

At Home With Nikki (You Tube)

Time With Thea (Blog)

I made a detailed list of the things I want to get done in each area.  These lists are in plastic sheet protectors, so I can just check my list and do a job or two before work in the morning and/or after work.  I hope that after I get through each area, the next time around will be faster and easier.  I plan to do maintenance so that the house will stay organized and clean.

Fall cleaning helps me to have less stress when the holidays come around too.

Do you do Fall or Spring cleaning?

A Peek Into My Totebag

This is the tote bag I carry to work every day.  Some days it stays in the car.  When I'm at home it sits beside my main purse.  I tend to always pay bills and balance our checkbook online, during my lunch break.  Monday during lunch is when I do what I call my bookkeeping.  I do hubby's paycheck deposit, pay any bills, and balance the checkbook.

 I like the way having these file folders in the tote bag works.  They fit in here perfectly.  When a new bill comes I just drop it into the file that says "Bills-Pay-Mail".  I would also put in here any other mail that needs to go out.

One file has my address list, various cards such as "Get Well", "Sympathy", or "Thank You".  Also there are stamps, and return address labels.  The file that is labeled "To Do" contains things that remind me to do certain things.  For instance it currently contains mail we received for a recall on our vehicle.  So, I need to go online and see what we need to do.  Sometimes I end up with things in here that need to be filed for use later on in doing taxes.  So there is a file for that.    This system is working very well for me.

 I also bought this Prayer Journal that I am using for prayers and spiritual things, but also for to do lists, prayer lists, etc.  It was a gift to myself!

I thought it was a good idea to combine my day to day list making with prayer and Bible study.  In the mornings I can check to see what's on my to do list, and also look up a Bible verse and journal a little about it. 

Here is one page of prayer journaling I did based on  James 1:17-19.

I am also keeping a prayer list which I haven't shown for privacy reasons.  On this list I am writing the prayer needs of our family, as well as any prayer requests I receive.  For instance if someone on Facebook asks for prayer, I try to write it on the prayer list.  Otherwise, even though I might say a quick prayer for that person, I often forget all about it.  I put the date beside the prayer and if the need for the prayer ends, I can check it off.  I also add things like people who have lost loved ones, or are facing difficult situations.  This time of year lots of people are facing new seasons in life.

I guess my tote bag with files is another version of what some call a household binder.

I am putting together a zone cleaning list which will go in the "to do" file.  Other ideas for that file are menu plans, a master grocery list and more.  As Christmas times approaches, I'll probably start a file for things associated with that.

Also in my bag I keep an umbrella, a bottle of contact lens solution, and whatever I might need to remember for that day.  This would be things like a library book that needs to be turned in.  Today there is also a special kind of light bulb that I need to stop by Lowes and get.

I hope these ideas will inspire you to get organized.  Have a great day!

Happy Fourth of July!

I have been wanting to make a pallet flag for a long time.  My hubby got me some pallets and I got to work.

The stars were tedious work but I like how they turned out. 

A storm came the day after I got this set up and blew the pallet flag over on my flowers!  Aaackkk! 

Pickles!

Excuse me while I try to learn to blog from my phone! Last week I made 17 quarts of pickles. Busy times!

And then there were six!

Grandchild number 6:  Skye, 8 pounds 7 ounces

I love that she is using the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt and burp cloths I made.

Without going into the details, I wanted to share that prayers were answered for this child.  When she was 2 days old, she experienced some problems and in the middle of the night was air lifted to UNC Hospitals at Chapel Hill, NC.  You can imagine the anxiety this caused with her parents and family.  But, Praise the Lord, she was only there for about 12 hours.  The problem was diagnosed and she was sent home and is as healthy as she can be!