Happy New Year and a Christmas Rewind....

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hello Blogger Friends!

 I hope this New Year finds you well and I hope you all celebrated

a wonderful Christmas with loved ones. 

 

So you all now know, that I never did make it back on here for a pre-Christmas post as planned but such is life these days.  We all had a beautiful Christmas and yes, my father was able come.  We anticipated the day with much concern and then his doctors gave him the clear to come.  I spent a great deal of time taking care to sanitize my home top to bottom before he arrived.  He was tired and stayed a short while this year but we were so grateful to see him! Amen! 

He had a bit of a set back this week as he was to begin another round of his chemo they discovered pneumonia and he is being treated accordingly so we are of course worried but grateful the doctors caught it quickly.  Thank you all for your continued prayers, we certainly need them and I so appreciate you all. 

Christmas came rather quickly this year and while I was able to capture alot of it on film (hmmm...no more film more like, captured on the computer instead) I couldn't find a minute to post it all so I am doing a Christmas rewind  today, I hope you are not sick of it all already, if so I understand!  This is a long, picture-heavy-catch-up post....just to warn you.

The kitchen was decorated all up in it's holiday finery....

This guy below was made by me many Christmases ago.  With each child he would end up missing a few parts since he is toddler height, lol.  Although, quite battered it reminds me of the christmases when my girls were little and he gets sentimental rights to stay and each year he takes his rightful place in the corner of the kitchen. 

All around the Christmas Farmhouse.....a peek.

Of course we set up the Christmas Village too.  I think these are my younger children's most favorite Christmas decorations.  They will sit there in the dim light of the evening looking the whole thing over in awe once it's all been put together. 

 We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home with Family and friends.  We have done this for the past several years.  We get together with cousins and friends and celebrate together in the safety of our home.  This year we all held out until the ball dropped, another memorable one for sure.  Resolutions?  Oh, we'll talk more about that in the next post....lol.

I have been around to several of your blogs recently to catch up, however, blogger was giving me a hard time each time I tried to comment (ugh)...it was such a treat to catch up though. 

I will keep trying to comment though so you will know I stopped by to see you...of course I have so much to say too, lol.

Well, if you've stuck it out to the end of this post, thank you!  Thank you for making it worth my while to continue to post, thank you for your support and prayers and

thank you for coming back to read my posts! 

Be sure to leave a comment if you can to let me know you were here and what you are thinking, your input is important to me.

Happy New Year to you all!  May you all be blessed with Love, Health and Happiness in the new year!

Take good care,

Dee

Fresh as a Daisy

Springtime is here and along with it comes the task of

spring cleaning

and sprucin' up the Farmhouse. 

There are windows to clean, linens to wash, and rooms to freshen up.

This Farmhouse will be as

fresh as a

when this good old Fashioned
spring cleaning
is through.

Now I have to make claim that I am in no way a cleaning fanatic. I like it clean, I don't always like to do it though, lol! I could find a hundred different ways I would rather spend my time being creative.  Don't get me wrong I love being a homemaker, cooking, sewing, decorating, laundry and deep cleaning are at the bottom of my list though.  But a gal has got to do what a gal has got to do!  So when I have to do it, I try to find fun ways to do it and try to get excited about it.

I start by picking out a cute vintage apron from my collection hanging in the laundry room.  That will help get the tasks at hand completed, lol.  Now who doesn't want to clean once they've put their cute apron on, right? 
Don't they put you in a homemaker kinda mood?

So lets turn up the cleaning music
and go through the motions!  What do you listen to when cleaning...
do you have a preference?

The down comforters will be washed and stored away safely in my linen cabinet,

with lavender sachets to keep them smelling fresh all summer long.

Baseboards and door moldings are are wiped down, it is unbelieveable all the grime that they accumulate with little hands in the house.  The little handprints are awfully cute though, I have a hard time washing those away and leave a few for good measure here and there...just keepin' it real.

Windows and windowsills are washed inside and out. 

I have a front loader washer (aka..my girl) that can get a little musty smelling after a while since they are air tight, a couple times a year I run a load with my cleaning cloths through it and I put baking soda sprinkled inside and peroxide into the dispenser. 
It freshens her up and makes her smell better.  She is eco friendly and uses less water, but I miss my Kenmore top loader, she was with us a long time and these new washers just don't compare...IMHO. 
Shhhhh....though, I don't want to upset my girl, I do still need her!

Glass light fixtures are taken apart and put into the sudsy sink for a bath.

Baseboards, doorknobs and Lightswitches are wiped down.

The flannel sheets are packed away and cotton sheets are washed and dried in the sunshine before covering the beds with them.  Who doesn't love the Fresh Smell
of Line Dried bed sheets?

Quilts are aired and put at the foot of each bed to keep everyone warm and cozy on those chilly spring evenings. 

Curtains are exchanged out for lighter, airier lace to let in more light.

Let in the sunshine! 
A brighter,

fresh smellin' home

makes us all feel refreshed and
ready for the warmer months ahead.

I have an enamel bucket that I keep all my grab n go cleaning products in.  It makes it easier to have them all in one place when I'm ready to clean.  They transport easily inside and out during spring cleaning.

I don't like to use commercial cleansers and I opt more along the lines of natural products whenever I can.

Some natural cleaning products I always keep on hand are:

Baking Soda:

I keep a shaker jar by the kitchen sink and one in each bathroom cabinet.

It is a natural, non-abrasive cleaner, perfect for wiping down sinks, and removing dried on food from most surfaces.  I like it because it is natural, inexpensive, available everywhere,
and non-toxic.

  

It is also great to use in the bathrooms to remove grime and soap build up.  Works great on sinks and showers.  I spray my showers down with a spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide in the evening before bed and it rinses away with morning showers, then I take a sponge and sprinkle baking soda on it and begin the process of scrubbing the shower down....
not my favorite chore though, hehe!

There is still something to be said about the cleaning power of 
Good Ol' Fashioned

 ELBOW GREASE!
We have a plethora of cleaning agents available nowadays that make cleanup and removal "faster", "cleans deeper" and "less scrubbing".  Have you looked at some of the chemicals in those bottles though?  I  have and I wonder just how quickly they get to us as well as the surfaces they clean.  Don't get me wrong occassionaly there is a need for something strong, but on average I'll take the good ol' fashioned scrubbing road instead.  Thank you anyway.

I think we are starting to see a return to safer products on the market though, some of the older companies seem  to be coming out with their own lines of "Green" Cleaning products lately.  Speaking of new age cleaning, Magic Erasers are in my cleaning bucket too, I have found they work well on refrigerator door handles, switch plates, glass oven doors, fingerprints on walls, and microwaves.

I keep a few cloth baby diapers in the bucket for dusting and a squeegee for windows and mirrors.  Nothing beats these, and they don't leave behind any lint.

To clean the microwave, I put a 4 cup measuring cup of water inside and power it up for 5 minutes or until it boils.  You can add a small lemon wedge to it for a fresh clean scent.  Turn it off and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then open it up and wipe it down.  The steam from the boiling water will loosen any hardened food particles and they simply wipe away.  I also disninfect my sponges in the microwave by placing in a safe bowl with a tiny bit of water and then I let it run on high for about 2 minutes. 

Hydrogen Peroxide:

I also keep a misting spray bottle handy to fill with small amounts of H.P.
at a time to disinfect counters.

Use about 1/2 cup in your dishwasher to sanitize dishes. 
It does the same thing as some of those "anywhere sprays" at a fraction of the cost.

It removes soapy residue and makes surfaces shine bright. 

Now for my favorite of all the cleaning tools.....(yes, I have a favorite.)
I purchased a steam mop about a year ago and I so love it!  They are a little pricey initially but in the long run they work out to be less than the disposable mops.  I still keep those on hand for quick wipe ups but thats about it (3 kiddos in a house require frequent quick wipe ups).  The steam mop only requires water, no chemicals and it sanitizes your floors.  It is especially great when you have a toddler who doesn't think twice about dropping something on the floor and poppin' it right into his mouth (ewww!).  Yes they do go by the 5 second rule around here....then they kiss it up to God!

A few years before I bought a hand held steamer for general cleaning.  It is wonderful for cleaning seasonally.  The fact that it cleans and disinfects all in one is a great time and money saver.  Use one of those on those little crevis' that you can't normally get to and you won't believe what your regular cleaning can miss.  They are also good to pull out when you have a flu bug flying through your house.  It disinfects doorknobs, faucets, toothbrush holders, you name it. 

I cannot say enough about the great properties of cleaning with steam! 

 Some of the natural cleaners I like to use are Mrs Meyers Clean Day Products.  There is a whole line of all natural dish soap, counter spray, dishwasher soap, laundry products and all purpose cleaners.  You can purchase them unscented or in scents like geranium, basil, lemon verbena, snap pea and lavender. Don't ya just love the names?  I will tell you that when you put those dishwasher soaps into the dishwasher your
whole kitchen smells awesome too! 

They make wonderful house warming and bridal shower gifts all tucked into a vintage or new enamel bucket.   Throw in some krinkled brown craft paper into the bottom and a few of these on top wrap it all up in clear celophane with a gingham bow and how cute. 

Everytime I give one of those baskets the company gets a new customer
because they love the products lol. 

What newly appointed (or even experienced) domestic diva wouldn't appreciate that! 
Natural and cute ways to clean your home makes that task ahead more fun.


I will be at it for another week or so I'm sure.  I haven't set any timelines though so we will see.
So friends, have you finished your spring cleaning yet?  If so, what is your routine like?  When do you start, what do you do?  Any good tips or products that you love?  I'm curious to hear, so be sure to share!  I love to learn something new and updated ways of getting these
seasonal tasks completed! 
Well, Happy Spring Cleaning gals!

Take care now!
Dee

Snowed In

The farmhouse was snowed in for three whole days....it looked so beautiful. It was purty strange considering it is March and we haven't had a really real snow storm in about 4 years now. The chicks (aka my three kids) were in and out of the house for the past couple of days. I dried so many snow suits, hats, mittens, etc. etc. We took an hour on the first snow day and headed to our local favorite sledding spot, which in reality might make some people laugh, it is about a 25' drop from top to bottom. That is just enough for us flat lander pineys here. I even went down a few times with my lil guy, but was afraid I wouldn't be able to get my backside unstuck from the blowup snow tube we used! We must have gone through 4 qts. of hot cocoa and a few dozen choc. chip cookies....(industrial size from the whole sale club).

My oldest daughter, C.A., even got off her myspace (big thing for a teen) on Mon. AND Tues. to go out with her brother and sister and frolick. She mostly threw really big snowballs at her 11 yr old sister with clear intention on getting revenge for her previous tattaling, then she kindly pulled her 2 year old brother around the yard in his baby sled. She pulled him mostly for protection since her sister couldn't hit her as fiercely with frozen ice balls when she had her baby brother at her side for protection. My 11 year old made a gazillion snow angels all over the yard, wish I had a few pictures but I took my pictures from the comfort of inside my home, through the screen door. J.D., my two year old, ate so much snow his face was pink and rosy for 4 hours after coming in. Geesh to be a kid again, what fun. I was able to capture some nice pictures and now that it is begining to melt today I am a little sad to see it go.