Warm Weather Prompts Elbow Grease
What can I say? When the sun pumps the temperatures into the low 60s, this Stauffer Avenue gal finds things to do. The clothes lines got a swipe to take off the fall harvest dust and out went the quilts to get freshened. I can tell you that right now, as I am typing, the entire home smells . . . wonderful.
Both the front door and the back door are Larson doors that have the multi glass panes, plus screens that sorely needed to be taken apart. The secret of that job was to hustle as there were a few late season flies that were seeking shelter. Wonder of wonder, we have had very few Asian Beetles and Box Elder bugs compared to previous years. That right there was the biggest reason I had no fear of putting quilts out to air out. Those two species of bugs have either or both nasty pee and poop that leave stains.
It is always best to wait until there is no chance of further house washing from Dennis before I begin washing the house windows. Our city water is hard and it leaves the most stubborn of hard water spots. My sister was puzzled in a conversation we had had in a fall season long gone by. They had never considered washing off the house siding of their home. When Dennis gets the Dawn dish washing liquid out, and he affixes his container to the garden hose, the muddy water from the siding never ceases to amaze. The heavy rinse process makes for the suds to glorify the driveway. His hope is to ward off the discoloration of the white house siding from dirt and dust that is most likely mixed with exhaust fumes from heavy truck traffic. We have noticed some homes that are showing signs of the white siding becoming very yellowed.
Tomorrow is to be another great day and I have saved the eight west porch windows for the last. Tipping in the house windows makes the process so much more desirable than in days of old when the screens needed to be taken off of the homes for storage and then getting the heavy storm windows out of storage to be cleaned and lifted into place. Modern conveniences, I love them.
I do recall that process when we lived on the farm and Carrie had just turned one. I was up on the ladder taking screens off of the second floor of the house while Carrie watched from the lawn below on a blanket surrounded by fall leaves. I was about to come down with a screen when I notice a mink on the lawn not very very far from where Carrie was and he was on the move. I launched the screen like a wild Frisbee and was lucky enough that it landed on the mink. I moved a lot faster 49 years ago than now. When getting off of the ladder I took the closest thing handy, which was a garden rake, and clobbered the varmint. Carrie was safe, the mink was dead, and the window screen was no more. Did I mention how much I love these tip in windows?
I admit, today I was weary by the time supper needed to be fixed. What a blessing to have a stash of baked out bacon in the refrigerator to be paired with eggs and toast. Time to put the feet up and take in Wheel of Fortune. By tomorrow, I will have forgotten how weary I am and the elbow grease will be in full swing.