Creating a new habit

I wish I could remember the name of the blog (Added: I found it! The blog is called The Lazy Organizer) where I read about starting a new habit on Saturdays. It got me thinking about my household habits. I'm a most definitely creature of habit. I am very scheduled about what I do and when I do it. For example, with the exception of the two days I babysit my grandson, I make my bed every morning before coming downstairs. When I go downstairs, the first thing I do every morning is feed the cat, then make a pot of coffee, then clean up the kitchen... which lead me to starting a new habit. My new habit (or hopefully soon to be a habit) is to clean the kitchen thoroughly every night before going to bed. Put clean dishes away, scrub the sink, sweep the kitchen floor, empty the trash if necessary, put out a clean dish cloth and dish towel, wipe down counters and stove top, and put away the bits and pieces that have collected on the counters during the day. I'm not sure how this became a morning habit because it's so much nicer to come downstairs to a sparkling clean kitchen! Normally I clean the kitchen first thing in the morning, but then I bake, or the mail comes and goes on the counter, or I've got a crock pot going -- something is always going on in the kitchen -- so I never really get a chance to enjoy my clean kitchen before the next "mess" arrives. But if I get into the habit of cleaning it every night, I'll at least be able to enjoy how clean it is for the rest of the evening, and again when I first walk into the kitchen in the morning! So that's my new habit I'm trying to create. I started last night, and will continue it every evening around 8pm. It was nice coming down this morning to the clean counters and the swept floor -- I felt less like seeing the room as a "To Do List" and was more able to enjoy the room itself. A side note: Great news!!! My son and daughter-in-law are coming home (from Colorado) in July. I can't wait!! They haven't been home in two years, and it feels like forever since I've seen them. I always enjoy their visits. This time around we will share their visit with her parents, who recently moved into our area -- but that's OK! Any time with my son and/or my daughter-in-law is a gift, and I'll take whatever time I can get :) Yippy Skippy! Jeffie's coming home!!!!

My Science Experiment

I keep seeing ads on TV for something called "Green Bags", which are advertised to stop produce from spoiling in the fridge. I do admit that I throw out far more produce than I'd like, so these bags interested me. I got on the web and started reading reviews -- and review after review said they didn't work.

But I also read what some people say DID work... and tried my own little experiement.

I bought two bags of mixed salad greens, both with the same expiration date. I opened them on the same day (the day after buying them at the store), and put both salads in a Kroger brand zip storage bag. In one bag I put two pieces of paper towel, with the greens sandwiched in between. In the second bag, I did not put paper towels. When I sealed both bags, I tried to remove as much air as I could, though not going to any extreme to do so. Both bags were opened one time during the week with about one-half of the contents removed. After seven days of being in the ziplock bags, here are the results:

You can see that the bag on the left (with the paper towel) is still green, bright, and without brown spots! The bag on the right is just the opposite and had to be thrown out.

While the "green bags" are getting terrible reviews, this paper towel trick works beautifully and costs just a few cents.

Receive something homemade from me - and Pay It Forward!

I've joined the Pay it Forward challenge over at Cathi's Quilt Obsession blog. I admit I'm looking forward to receiving something from her, but I'm just as excited to have a chance to send YOU something that I'll make for three of you!

The rules are that the first three people to join the challenge on my blog will receive a gift handmade by me. I have 365 days to make and send your gift, although I am hopeful it won't take me that long. You must write a post on your blog inviting 3 more people to join in and receive a handmade gift from you.

If you would like to join in on the pay it forward, please specifically state in your comment that you would like to join. Also make sure there is some way to contact you so I can email and ask for your mailing address! "Handmade" can mean a lot of things -- quilting, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, crocheting, painting... wherever your talents lay, I'm sure it will be fine!

I'm excited! Having a blog -- no, let me re-phrase that -- have real people come to read my blog -- has been a wonderful experience for me, and this is my tiny way of saying "Thank You" for stopping by. And FYI - I don't mind sending an item overseas so long as you don't mind that I ship it "slow boat" method.

Picture of the Day

The Upcoming Week - List

It's going to be a busy week. Brayden's other babysitter is taking some time off while her kids are on Spring break, so I have DGS 2 yr old Brayden Wed., Thurs., and Friday this week. I also now have my car back (yay!), and the weather is supposed to be reasonably nice all week, with a little rain toward the end of the week. To Do List for the week: Monday - Clean up kitchen - done - Quick clean upstairs bathrooms - Laundry - done - Quilting Tuesday - Errands - hair cut, bank, WallyWorld - Vac downstairs - Change sheets - More quilting Wednesday* - Story hour at library - 10:15 - Car wash - Lunch at McDonald's - Laundry - Collect and take out all trash Thursday* - Yard work - Load dishwasher - Empty dishwasher Friday (rain)* - Sewing - Sweep kitchen - Dust dining room - Windex appliances, patio door * Days when Brayden is here -- I try and do housework that he can help me with. The kid wields a mean bottle of windex and a paper towel, so I set him up to clean my stove, dishwasher and refrigerator! He also loves working out in the yard and has his own wheelbarrow, so we can start Spring cleaning the front gardens if it's warm enough outside. Should be fun, but I know it will be exhausting. Luckily, he takes nice long afternoon naps and "Umpa" will be working from home two days this week.

Spring is in the air

Despite today's temps in the 30's, you can tell here in southwestern Ohio that Spring is just around the corner. I expect within the next two weeks our temps will get up into the 50's and 60's, the buds on the trees will start pushing to open, and my daffodils and tulips will come up in all their glory.

What else does Spring mean? It's almost time to start hanging out my laundry to dry.

My clothesline is one of those multi-line umbrella-type clotheslines and I can actually hang about 4 loads of clothes at a time on the lines. I was lucky enough to find the old style non-spring wooden clothespins at an estate sale, and that's what I use to hang the clothes. And the silly thing is? I love hanging clothes out to dry! I'm very systematic in the way I hang out clothes -- as I put them on the line, for example, I match socks up, so when I take them down I can simply fold them together and drop them in the basket. I hang all kitchen towels together, so when I bring the basket of dryed clothes into the house, I can drop off the kitchen items. I hang jeans upside down with their seams matched up, so they have a nice crease and are wrinkle free. I save a LOT of time by hanging out clothes as well. It often takes my dryer twice as long to dry a load of clothes as it does the washer to wash them, so I often end up waiting to put the next load of clothes in the dryer. With the clothesline I'm able to hang the clothes as soon as the washer is done, without waiting for a load to finish in the dryer.

We notice a dramatic decrease in our electric bill -- about 10% a month -- when I stop using the clothes dryer. That, by itself, makes it worthwhile.

I love how air-dryed clothes smell and feel. Towels are so much more absorbent after they are air-dryed! Sheets have that wonderful "crisp" feeling to them and just smell so good when you climb into bed at night. One of my fondest childhood memories is helping my grandmother bring in the clothes from her clothesline.

I did a little Internet searching and lo and behold, there is actually a web page called "Project Laundry List" and it originates in my home state of New Hampshire! And "National Hanging Out Day" is April 19th!

So almost Happy National Hanging Out Day, everyone. If you live in a situation where you can hang your clothes out to dry, I do hope you'll consider it!

Happy Easter to you and yours.

Let's get a little crafty

I should be grocery shopping, but am waiting for Jeff to [get the lead out] get out of the shower because he wants to go to the library with me. So, I've been cruising around blogs, and found a great tutorial on how to make fabric covered switch plates! This is SO easy and would add a wonderful whimsical touch to any room.

This quick little craft takes just the smallest amount of fabric, and the tutorial shows how to do this without puckers around the middle of the plate. Generously shared by Pink Chalk Studios web site.

I can already see how appropriate this would be in my quilt room! If you try it, post a photo on your blog and let me know and I'll link to you.