Too Much Awesomeness

Adventures in Skim Coating, Part 2

2009-10-16T16:29:11-07:00

After a vacation break, we’re back to work on the house. Specifically, it was time to fix the bathroom ceiling. The paint was chipping and peeling. I’d look up at it every time I was washing my hair and think “Why don’t we fix that?”

Once we started fixing it, I remembered why we’d put it off for so long. It’s a lot of work. First, we had to scrape all off the paint. All of the paint.

It actually fun when we got out the heat gun.

It made me feel like I was on Battlestar Gallactica, ready to zap aliens. Well, at least, zap aliens who were cold and need some intense heat. The gun also got the paint to melt off the wall.

So we scraped the paint, we sanded, we skim coated, then sanded again, then skim coated again. It was slow going, and my supervisor wouldn’t let me take a break. She was also very concerned about safety precautions.

That’s the last time I agree to work in exchange for biscuits.

The Tree Gave Me Lemons, and I Made Lemon Tart!

2009-05-26T17:57:07-07:00

Our lemon tree has been giving us the most beautiful lemons lately, so when we were asked to bring dessert to a BBQ, I knew exactly what I wanted to bring:

Lemon Tart!! (wanna make it? go here!)

So I picked some lemons and sliced those lemons:

And I put those lemons in the blender and I blended them up:

(Yes, that's lemons & lots & lots & lots of sugar)

And then I baked a tart!

The crust didn't turn out perfectly. I wonder how to keep the crust from falling in on itself when baked? But I am in love with my new tart pan - I could just lift the tart right out!

It was delicious. Yum for tarts made with backyard lemons!

I Made Chicken Noodle Soup! And Soup Muffins!!

2009-05-21T16:03:29-07:00

I was feeling a bit under the weather last week.

So I did the natural thing – I made chicken noodle soup! Well, actually, I made chicken stock. I chopped and diced, and carefully followed the recipe.

I’d never made chicken stock before, and made the mistake of starting when I was already hungry. Little did I know that it takes hours of boiling to get the finished product, so I had to snack in the meantime. But it boiled and simmered and then cooled… and then I used that chicken stock to make some delicious soup!

And as if that wasn’t enough, I froze the rest of the chicken stock so I could use it in recipes that called for chicken broth.

I froze them in my mini-loaf tray. Each little mini-loaf is half a cup – perfect for adding to a recipe. It was a tray of soup muffins!

I felt so Martha Stewart. I felt so Julia Child. I felt so very, very housewifely!

Brooms, Brushes, and Mops! Oh My!

2009-05-14T13:39:05-07:00

Those 50’s housewives couldn’t get enough of cleaning. The book has eight pages – 8! - on selection and care of cleaning equipment. That’s brooms, brushes and mops:

I didn't read any of this. I already own brooms, and mops. It’s not that I think there isn’t value to comparing broomcorn to fiber brooms. It’s just that I’m not buying new ones, no matter what it says, so why not skip ahead to another section (I’m still waiting for the “Why Doesn’t Your Husband Just Hire Someone to Do the Cleaning for You” section. Fingers crossed that’s coming soon!)

Sorry, Book, but I’m skipping this part. I’m also skipping the four pages of vacuum cleaners and carpet sweepers.

I Failed at Good Housekeeping, but I Will Try Again!

2009-05-08T18:17:50-07:00

OK, I admit it. I didn’t do my daily cleaning tasks yesterday.

We went to see Star Trek. (It was pretty good. I do have one word of warning: Don’t spend the entire movie pointing out to the person that you’re with all the things the filmmakers stole from Star Wars. This is especially true if the things you say happened “exactly like that” in Star Wars didn’t happen at all in Star Wars, because you have a really bad memory. That is annoying.)

Anyway, after seeing Star Trek, I was too tired to do any cleaning.

But this morning, I did some sweeping before leaving for work. Turns out we already own the perfect giant broom for walkway sweeping. It was sitting in a closet, unused.

The only drawback: The dog is afraid of the giant broom. As soon as I took it out, she ran outside and watched through the window until I was far away and she was safe.

Turns out, sweeping did make the walkway look kind of nice. It's not like stepping over some leaves was such a terrible experience. And it's not so nice that I will sweep the walkway every day. But nice enough that maybe I’ll turn their daily tasks into my weekly task.

It also made me notice that our porch needed more than just a sweep. Look at these poor little chairs:

So I cleaned them off and spruced them up a little.

Although now I want to paint the chairs. Just imagine how cute they’d look blue! Or yellow!

Let's focus on the thought of bright blue chairs, and forget about how I used the sink several times yesterday without cleaning it!

How To Keep Things Clean

2009-05-07T16:18:26-07:00

I dream of having a cleaner house. Clean goes along with peaceful in my head, and I picture living in a home with everything neat and in its place. And that picture makes me happy.

The Housewife’s Handbook goes into great detail about how to keep things clean. In fact, it breaks tasks down into what you should be doing every day, every week, every month… It’s a lot of cleaning.

Here’s what the book says that you should do daily:

Daily
Sweep walks and porches; dust furniture and wood floors; brush upholstered furniture; clean rugs; wash bathroom fixtures and floor. Clean sinks and fittings and surfaces after each use.

Yeah, that’s right. Do all of that every single day. Maybe if I didn’t work, it wouldn’t seem so overwhelming. But I do work. And after work, sometimes I go to the gym, and then get home at 8:30 and have to try to figure out something for dinner. And, really, at 10pm, I’m going to start washing the bathroom floor and sweep the porch?

Guess what? Tonight, that’s exactly what I’m going to do! Tune in tomorrow to see how it goes!

Weekend Fun in San Diego

2009-05-06T15:27:15-07:00

I'm a little sunburned but it was worth it for this:

How Do I Garden? Let Me Count the Ways!

2009-05-04T15:32:56-07:00

I’ve always wanted a garden. I love the idea of having everything fresh and right on hand – when a recipe calls for cilantro, I just hop outside and get some cilantro. Friends stop by, and I need to whip up some pesto? Why, luckily, I have a basil plant right outside!

OK, I have never actually had an emergency pesto-making situation. But if I did, wouldn’t having that basil plant be just wonderful?

But, alas, I have no garden.

Reason #1: The backyard has soil with a lot of clay, and it’s in shade most of the day. Not ideal for growing things.

Reason #2: Gardening is confusing! There’s so much to know - annuals, perennials, weeding, ph content – what does it all mean?

Reason #3: I am lazy.

But in spite of all of that, I still wanted to do something garden-esque. So I got a little parsley plant. And that little parsley plant has grown, and it got too big for its little parsley pot. This weekend, I transplanted it. Look at it!

Ignore the few leaves turning brown-ish. Just focus on how cute the mini-gnome is!

Next step: Basil! Step after that: Come over for a pesto party!

New Great Housewife Quest - Keeping Out the Dirt!

2009-04-30T14:48:17-07:00

Here’s what the Housewife’s Handbook tells me about how to keep the house clean:

The basis of household cleaning is the prevention of the accumulation of dirt. It includes plans for keeping out as much of it as possible, and for systematic and frequent removal of what inevitably gets into the house.

Door mats at the outer doors help to prevent tracking dirt into the house. The daily sweeping of walks and porches takes less time in the long run than cleaning up dirt after it has been tracked in.

A new door mat. That’s not cleaning, that’s shopping! Consider that one done!

But the daily sweeping of walks seems a little bit overwhelming. And I don’t just say that because I’m trying to avoid cleaning every day. Here’s the path up to the house.

That’s a lot of plants. Which means a lot of sweeping.

I’m also not sure that’s really the problem. I think this might be a bigger dirt problem:

That’s our dog playing with the dog next door. Their favorite thing: jumping in the jacuzzi to get wet, jumping in the dirt to get muddy, then running into the house.

Maybe I can teach them to wipe their paws on the new door mat?

How to Keep a House Clean - Learn with Me!

2009-04-26T15:42:38-07:00

The first chapter of my Housewife’s Handbook tackles keeping the house clean.

That’s a big thing to start with. What’s wrong with easing into things? Why not start with a “Best Drinks To Make When You’re Greeting Your Husband with a Cocktail” chapter? Or even “How to Always Dress Your Best”, which could involve shopping and new clothes.

But forget all that, Welcome to Cleaning.

Here’s how the book starts:

Every homemaker has her own standard of cleanliness for her home.

Which makes me ask: What are my standards for cleanliness? Hmm… Here’s a corner of the living room to give you an idea:

Clearly, I have a lot to learn. But where to begin?

Luckily, the book starts with a definition of cleaning for me:

Cleaning is the removal of dirt from the paint, varnish, fabric, enamel, glass, meal and other surfaces found in the home. Dirt has been scientifically described as matter out of place.

The problem is clear: Things are dirty because I didn’t know the scientific meaning of dirt. Now, though, I have no excuse. Time to clean!!