An early start on spring cleaning

Well, of course I forgot to bring my red camera to the office to upload some of the weekend photos to my computer. Saturday I spent mostly around the house and some out on errands, and got quite a bit accomplished. Even though it's not yet mid-February, I'm already feeling the need to freshen up the house in preparation for bright, warm sunshiney days. Yes, I know it will be three months before I get any green grass and can open the house windows, but I'm already starting to hurry along spring.

Here are a few things I accomplished. Photos to come:

- Organized/rearranged kitchen cupboards. I think my kitchen gets unfair attention compared to the rest of the house, but it is the space in which I enjoy spending most of my time, and that's how I justify it. After Scott and the girls left first thing Saturday morning to open water for the cows and go to the Association to work on the new flatbed for Snowflake, his little white pickup, I spent the first few hours of my Saturday organizing cupboards, weeding a few things out, putting some extra cupboard organizers in place and finishing filling my new shelves above my fridge with dishes, which ended up being mostly goblets. I also dusted my bottle collection that's on top of the cupboards.

- Washed all the couch pillows, pillow cases and couch cushion covers. There's nothing that makes a house feel cleaner than freshly-laundered couch accessories.

- Took down the sheer burgundy panels that have been on the big front window since move-in. They were dusty. And after taking them down I realized how much natural light they really did block.

- After taking down the panels, I also realized how dirty the windows were. It wasn't yet snowing, and the temperature hadn't dropped, so I cleaned them inside and out. That included the window pane where the neighborhood tom cat had climbed on my porch chair and sprayed the glass. And the wall. And the chair back. I think that's earned him a ticket out of town in a live trap. Window cleaning also took care of Link's nose prints on the inside of other front window, where he likes to sit on the ledge, which his furry belly now overhangs. I think his days spent snoozing in his chair this winter have resulted in a little weight gain.

- Swept, vacuumed and washed all the wood floors upstairs. Although there isn't much for square footage, it sure takes a while to chase down all the hair balls - we're entering shedding season, and Lucy has wasted no time - and the wood chips, chunks other remnants that accompany a wood-burning stove.

- Painted a set of dining table chairs red. They came from Salvation Army, were unfinished wood and had been drawn on by the previous owner's children. Or somebody's children. I had picked up a can of Rustoleum Satin Finish spray paint at Menards with the chairs in mind. The paint project I also did before the temperature dropped and the snow came. It was a little chilly outside, so I brought them inside to the basement to finish drying. Scott came home that evening and we were both in the basement for some reason. He saw the first chair I'd finished and brought inside, which prompted a 'So what've you been up to today, sweety?' Like any husband of a DIYer, he's learned not to ask too many questions, or be surprised at changes to the house. :-)

- Stained a set of three wooden shelves a dark brown. Also before the snow came. They're intended for Scott's collection of shot glasses, which right now are on top of the scalloped wood valances in the front room that will soon meet their end. Although I got the staining done, I didn't get the shelves hung this weekend.

- Hung up two more horseshoe hooks on the right side of the bathroom doorway upstairs. Several weeks ago I hung two on the left side of the doorway, near my newly-established coatrack station in the hallway to the sewing room,  and they were already overflowing with scotch caps, cowboy hats and silk scarves, so hopefully the additional hooks will help spread out our collection. And they also already look full. I have more horseshoe hooks, but currently no good idea of where to put them where they'll be as handy.

- After all those projects I headed out to clean the Roundup office and return some useless off-brand Swiffer wet wipes to Walmart. They did more harm than good, leaving streaks all over my floors. I'll stick with the Swiffer brand of wipes, which work great. So much for cheaper.

- I also was on a quest to find a black dress for friend Emily's upcoming Missouri wedding. I found something at the mall that I think will work. We'll see if I still like it when I put it on again.

- When I got home from errands I started cooking food for our Superbowl gathering, which included the yeast rolls to serve as buns for the sliders, the S'more Brownies... and I forget what else. I was in the kitchen from 6 to 11 p.m., and got quite a bit prepared for the next day. Including cinnamon rolls for breakfast in the morning. Since the yeast roll dough can also be used for the cinnamon rolls I doubled the recipe. I baked half that night, and put the other half in the fridge to bake in the morning. I've never successfully done that, but it did end up working for me, although you have to be patient and wait for the rolls to completely warm up and for the yeast to become active again before baking. For all my yeast recipes - the rolls, soft pretzels and pizza dough - I turned on the oven just enough to warm it up, then set my bowls of dough inside to rise. In the apartment there was a perfect corner on top of the refrigerator that stayed warm from the motor, but I don't have such a good sheltered spot in the house.

- My KitchenAid mixer worked overtime this weekend. It's my most-used kitchen appliance.

- On Sunday Scott went with the girls to open water for the cows again, and I got back to work with some cooking and more cleaning that didn't get done Saturday, like the upstairs bathroom and vacuuming the rug in front of the couch, which is the dogs' favorite napping/chewing/wrestling area. I also moved the loveseat over by the tv and adjusted the tv for better viewing by a group, which caused the antenna to come crashing to the floor because the cord wasn't as long as I thought. I thought I might have to have Scott bring another home, but turns out everything still worked.

- Mother-in-law Shirley arrived at about 11:30, right after I'd finished cleaning the bathroom and washing the bathroom and kitchen floors and showering. I cooked and she and I visited while Scott went to get Bob, who needed a ride to the house while Becky dropped her new grandbaby off with her daughter. Baby Brooklyn and mother Emily ended up coming over to the house later in the day.

- The rest of the afternoon was consumed with visiting and nibbling and sampling my new recipes. Thankfully the soft pretzels turned out really well, and I enjoyed them with the mustard sauce. The cheese sauce I tried to make to go with them didn't turn out so good, and now I don't know what I'll do with that bowl of cheese mixed with green chilies. :-)

- And then everyone left when the football game ended. And I went to bed at 8:30. And it was wonderful. I didn't get my usual couple-hour nap this weekend.