Domestic bliss

The housework is on the backburner lately. I've been filling my days with summer projects in the kitchen. Withering bananas became bread, as did frozen pumpkin to clean the freezer and make a blue-ribbon appearance at the fair. After 10 years of watching the apples from the backyard tree go to waste, because we can't ever seem to get ahead of the bugs, the wheels in brain turned enough for me to remember my centrifugal juicer. You can grind and sieve any manner of stuff and get useable juice. I've therefore been cranking apples through it and making enough jelly for the whole neighborhood. I'm making up for lost time. We've also managed to pick through and get enough decent apples for sauce and pies. Meanwhile, between the hubs wanting to sort through all of the packrattery in the basement and closets, and the kids wanting to create a basement hangout, they've gotten a fair amount done in those areas while we keep plugging on the rest of the house. Its all good.

Worse before its better

Oh yes, we are definitely there. We've made every mistake in "the book" (who published that thing, BTW? Oughta be shot...) and started too many projects. iPastor is installing windows while I drag everything out of a room to rearrange stuff and kids in preparation for new exchange students. The stuff gets sorted and purged before being allowed back into the room. Gave away a box of hair stuff and some other items, started a new donation bag, and took a pickup load to the dump. Progress is being made, just wish it would show more.

Progress is progress, no matter how small...

Now that I no longer work across the street from a thrift store, I am a little less aggressive about closet and drawer cleaning. I still do the seasonal rollover, but not so much in between. That is, until, the big red box came to my neighborhood. Lately I see these drop boxes for clothes and shoes everywhere. So, although they don't take household items, it has made it far more convenient for me to drop a few items at a time, rather than build a big load I have to haul somewhere. So far, we've gotten one garbage bag full and several grocery sized bags over to the drop box. In the meantime, I work on the "stuff" in the basement a box or two a a time. It goes very slowly, but it is better than getting overwhelmed and leaving a mess out. The addition of my MIL's stuff hasn't helped much, but we've actually gotten some treasures. Last week her boxes yielded some inflatable stuff for camping and the lake, and yesterday I found a nice drawer organizer in the salon stuff. I have more hair product than we will ever use, but thrift stores cannot take opened stuff. Maybe the nursing home or Freecycle (tm!) can. It's hair stuff, not like someone spit in it.
Today we have a deliciously unplanned Saturday, and I plan to get at a few more boxes before the lawn dries out and I absolutely HAVE to mow it!!! Is it weird that I'm almost as excited about this as going to the lake?

Garage cleaning

Go here to see the starting of my garage cleaning.

Not much, but I did what I could until my back gave out for today. See what I can get done tomorrow.

One load to the dump, and general housework...slowly getting back on track. Hoping the long weekend helps with that.

Ok, so not much here, but check out my yard work pics on the other blog...

RED ALERT!!

T-5 days until company. Of course, nothing got done until the last minute!! I need to fix this!! DId get a lot done yesterday, though...