Spring Cleaning

 My kitchen window.......

The weather has been getting warmer and spring is just around the corner. I'm so glad to feel it warming up again, even though we've had a pretty mild winter here, and now I'm in full swing with my spring cleaning.
This morning I took all the cushions off the couch and love seat and vacuumed up crumbs and whatever else happened to be under there. It always amazes me how much stuff ends up under a couch cushion, but now it's clean. Then I vacuumed the living room, wiped off the coffee table, picked up some odds and ends, and now I've started on the kitchen and have some laundry going.
However, my biggest chore to do yet today is the kitchen pantry. I remember when we first moved in to this house (just shy of a year ago now) and how tidy and organized the pantry was. But now it's just a big, cluttered mess and I cringe every time I open the door to get something out of it. I only have myself to blame for the shape it's in, not keeping things where they belong and now it will probably take me at least a couple hours to do and I'm not looking forward to it. Anyone else ever feel the same???
But, as I get more and more things done, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm actually getting something accomplished and I need to stop fussing over what's still waiting for me to do. For some reason I seem to think that I can be in several different places at once, tackling all these chores, then feel like I've failed when I don't get them done. I don't know why I'm like that, but it's a work in progress, as am I!
Time to get back at it again and get more things crossed off of my list.
Hope you're all having a wonderful day and as always, I look forward to hearing from you.   :)

Spring Cleaning & Thoughts Of Gardening

We're only in the first week of January and my mind is on getting some spring cleaning done around the house and of course, planning my garden. I had hoped to be able to get outside and work on cleaning up around the shrubs in the front yard so I could start amending the soil in a new flower bed, but it's been raining all morning and it doesn't look like I'll make it outside today. But that's ok. I've got plenty to do inside, AND I've got a new seed catalog that came in the mail the other day that I'd really like to take my time to go through. Hmmm.......sounds like a good cup of tea is in order while I'm browsing!



Just a bit of rain.......

So, my day will be a bit of cleaning, getting the laundry caught up, and maybe a nap later on (only after I go through my catalog!). Rainy days make me so sleepy and lazy, and sometimes it just feels good to snuggle under the comforter and doze off to the sound of rain falling outside.
I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday wherever you are and thanks so much for stopping by!

Busy Day!

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and life has gotten back to normal, this has been a week of catching up and running errands. Today has been a busy day doing laundry and cleaning house, two things I got behind on after the holiday weekend because I was just worn out and honestly didn't feel like dealing with it. But I got busy first thing this morning and by lunch time got a lot done. It was nice to be able to sit down and not feel guilty!
The weather has definitely gotten cooler here. Monday it rained all day and was chilly, Tuesday it was overcast, misty, breezy and chilly. We've been so spoiled with the warm, sunny days and mild morning temperatures, but it sure is a shock when you wake up and it's in the 20's! Today has been a nice day though. In the low 60's and the sun is out. No complaints for such a pretty December day.
I got my bird feeders up last week and the birds have finally started coming to them. I've seen some Black-capped Chickadees and several Tufted Titmice, and it's funny to watch them taking turns grabbing what they can and then flying off.

So far, the squirrels haven't found them, but if I don't get the squirrel guards up they'll empty the feeders in no time. Last spring I had a raccoon that would actually pull the bird feeder out of the tree and in the morning I would find it halfway across the yard, emptied. I haven't seen any raccoons in a while, so maybe they've moved on!
When we rented this house last March, one of the things I loved was the woods behind the house. Most of the trees I recognized, but there was one I didn't. A couple weeks ago my husband and I noticed some squirrels in the top of the tree eating something and as we started looking closer at the tree, it had acorns in it, but didn't have the typical, lobed oak leaves I was used to seeing. So I took a small branch inside with me and got on the internet. It only took a few minutes, but I found it and my 'mystery' tree is a Southern Live Oak, very common in this part of the South and the acorns much loved by our resident squirrels!

I like to know all the trees around me, so I don't mind doing a bit of sleuthing to identify them and see if they were used for medicinal purposes in any way, or maybe they were used in other ways. I do have one Eastern Redbud tree just over the fence in the back yard and I'm really looking forward to seeing it bloom in the spring. The blossoms are a beautiful pinkish-red, some are even lavender in color, and come out on the bark first, followed by heart-shaped leaves. This tree was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, who had many planted at his home and Native Americans ate the Redbud blossoms both raw and boiled, and ate roasted seeds. I do know one thing, if I had my own yard, there would be quite a few of these trees planted because they're so gorgeous!

Eastern Redbud Tree

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Well, that's about all I have for now. The dryer just went off so I need to go fold some clothes and get started on some bread. 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!


This post is part of the "On My Mind" feature at Down To Earth.

Cleaning The Fridge

There are so many little steps we can take as reorganize our homes and our lives, and eventually they all add up and goals start being met.
This past weekend I finally did something I've put off far too long.......cleaning out the refrigerator. I don't know why I dislike this chore so much because when I got done, I felt really good about it and proud of the job I did. Also, and this may sound strange, but having a clean refrigerator made the kitchen seem cleaner! However, the one thing I'm not proud of is, that there was a whole lot LESS that I put back in compared to what I took out, and that made me feel bad because I don't like to waste things, especially food. Shame on me!

Looks so much better!

Lately I've been planning meals out a week at a time, saving money because I'm not impulse buying or buying things I don't need (that's been a hard habit to break for me), and less trips to the grocery store which means I'm not wasting gas by making multiple trips. Anywhere I can save money I'm all for it, and if I don't have to go out that means I can spend more time on chores and getting my home in order, making me very happy!
My intentions have always been good when it comes to cleaning and organizing, and in my head I see things the way I want them, but I can be very scattered or distracted and I don't finish what I started because I have too many things going at the same time. So this has been in a sense, a reorganization of ME, and if getting the fridge done by sticking to it from start to finish is where I begin, then so be it! Everyone has to start somewhere!
If you're like me, just pick something that needs to be done and finish it before moving on to something else. It may be a challenge at first but trust me, if I (at the age of 51) can change the way I do things and make life easier for me in the end, then anyone can do it! Make a list of things you want to get done and mark them off as you finish them. That's what I'm doing, and one day I'll get to check off the last item on my list and that will be a VERY happy day for me!
:)