The Pile

The pile of debris out behind the barn was here when we moved in, and it only grew bigger as we worked on improvements around the property.

 In May, after almost two years of seeing that unsightly pile every day, we finally rented a dumpster.

 A really big one.

And the girls and I got to work filling it.

It was like an archaeological dig - layer after layer marked the changes this property has seen.

First there was the old rotten round-pen we tore down last year, followed by all the debris we removed from next to the pumphouse the year before.  Underneath that was trash from the new appliances they installed right before we bought the place, then old suitcases and tires they must have added to the pile before they put the property on the market.  Then came the layer of pieces of electrical wiring and construction trash from when they built the garage.  Under that there were giant roots and branches left over from the tree they took out to build the garage, all mixed in with random household trash...old pictures, a toilet seat, clothing and plastic bags.

Gloves.  Good thick gloves, long sleeves, and boots.  And a sense of humor.

That's the only way we could have gotten the job done.

 But we did it!  All we've got left are some giant rotten stumps and logs,

which we'll burn once they're dry enough...

and when the yearly burn ban is over!

Deconstructionism

While my husband was on a business trip last week, I jumped at the chance to play with one of his my favorite tools:

I love this thing!  I can clean with it, weed with it, destroy things with it...

First I destroyed the beautiful moss on my parents' back patio, then weeded the cracks and cleaned the concrete.  (I may have gotten carried away and done the front walkway too, but I'm not admitting anything.)

My pressure washer also made short work of cleaning and stripping some paint off this chair.

I wasn't completely destructive though.

The kids and I put a new coat of paint on the chair

and made it look all shiny and new.

We also painted the pump house,

and then I dug out around it and laid down gravel.

Then I went back to my destructive ways and tore down the back patio roof.

And I even managed to beat my husband home by a few hours!

A Cleaning Party

After the chicks moved out of the house, we had some serious cleaning to do before we had company this weekend. My oldest daughter and I tackled the bathroom, then her sister and I cleaned the guest room. We dusted every surface (including the ceilings), polished the logs, and deep cleaned until every last bit of chicken dust was gone. We had so much fun that everyone wanted to get in on the action, so my youngest daughter decided to take care of the cobwebs and dust the high parts of the log walls while she was at it...

then Mr. Adorable dusted and polished the staircase and all the parts of log walls that he could reach.

He asked to vacuum next, so of course I let him!

Daughter #1 wanted to mop the bathroom and kitchen,

and Daughter #2 wanted to mop the laundry room.

Daughter #3 and Mr. Adorable worked together to "mop" the hardwood floors, then she finished mopping the dining room by herself.

***

Who knew housework could be so much fun?!?

My Pet Cobweb

I keep a cobweb in the corner of my shower.  It's been there for months, and I have no immediate plans to get rid of it.  It's my pet cobweb.

I like looking at it.

It reminds me that no matter how clean the rest of my house looks, there is always something that needs cleaned.  There will always be a small pile of dust in a corner somewhere, the carpet will always need to be vacuumed around the edges in one room or another, and the baseboards and walls will always need to have the scuff marks wiped off.  Again.  

The cobweb in my shower gives me permission to NOT have a perfectly clean house.  You can expect to have clean towels and mostly-clean floors if you come to visit, but I would fail a white glove test.  My cobweb helps me to be okay with that.

The cobweb I keep in my shower also reminds me that there are cobwebs of another kind hidden in the shadowy corners of my soul.  No matter how clean my life looks from the human perspective, God and I both know about those spiritual cobwebs.  Sometimes those cobwebs are small, fairly simple to dust away, and their removal doesn't bother me much.  Other times I find that they are much larger and stickier than I thought they were, and they grow faster than regular cobwebs, too.

Sometimes simply naming those spiritual cobwebs helps to clear them out:  fear, gossip, laziness, selfishness, pride.  Once I am aware that they are back, they are easier to dust away while they are small, but I don't always see them return.  That's why I keep my pet cobweb in the corner of my shower, a visual reminder that I need to check the corners of my heart for spiritual cobwebs.  Because nobody likes those kinds of cobwebs.  

Not even me.

Handy Multi-use Cleaning Tool

I keep a handy, multi-use cleaning tool in my dish drainer -- an old toothbrush!  It has come in handy for cleaning those hard to reach places that I can't get as clean as I would like with a rag or scrub brush (like behind the faucet, or in the ridges of the fridge's water dispenser tray), and it's easy to clean when I'm done using it.  Sometimes soap and hot water is all it needs, but sometimes it gets a bleach bath just to be safe.  :)  I let it air-dry with the bristles up so it doesn't get gross.  

This week I discovered another use for it -- I squirted dish soap on it like I would toothpaste and scrubbed out all the little bits of turkey and herbs that were stuck on the inside of my baster.  :)

Have you discovered Kitchen Tip Tuesday at tammysrecipes.com yet?  Go visit!