A Bottle of Vinegar in Both Hands
We who toil at home learn to work through and around houseguests, equipment failures (we ARE tech support) and power outages, as well as facing down those twin evils: ennui and motivation.
In recent weeks, our place underwent both a long overdue remodel of a room adjacent to my office AND the reroofing of our entire place. A blessing, to be sure, to be able to afford both projects.
The former took a bit more than a month and the latter just a week, but oh, the traffic, the noise, and the messes, both inside and out. I began to think of the air compressor as white noise and the rhythmic pounding overhead as live drum solos.
We chose superb contractors for both projects, and they did more than their share of daily clean up. But when both jobs wrapped on the same day, we realized it was time to clean. Actually a friend suggested we give ourselves a break and hire someone to clean up the mess, but we decided we’d feel better about doing it ourselves. There’s something to be said for tearing up a bunch of rags and tearing into the job.
Thanks to some great reads discovered during the recent Blog Action Day event, our household has decided to use up all remaining toxic cleansers and then stick with baking soda, vinegar, salt and lemon juice from here on in. So we went forth with jugs of vinegar and conquered the mess.
The house and both offices are now clean and fresh smelling and I can concentrate on work again. My dog and I already miss the parade of workers coming into the driveway every day, and I miss my pretty fingernails and cuticles (cleaning with a fury has turned them into scruffy nubbins).
The silver lining of all that upheaval is a house and office that are clean and inviting, and the knowledge that sometimes you have to clean your digs top to bottom to be able to clear out your mental cobwebs.
So thank you, Tim and Terry, for my beautiful new bathroom and thanks, Mike, for the snug roof overhead.
And speaking of that:
Comment // November 6th, 2007 // 10:05 am
Your new bathroom is beautiful Katie! I keep meaning to look at your new roof, but forget as I pass by. I know it’s that elegant metal, just don’t know what color.
I’ve used white vinegar for all kinds of cleaning for ages and can’t sing it’s praises enough! Another upside…. it’s one of the few things that’s cheaper as well as being better!
Thanks for the links for getting rid of the surplus catalogs! Contacting those companies is definately on my do-for-the planet list.
Comment // November 6th, 2007 // 3:41 pm
Linda,
We considered metal for the roof for many reasons, but in the end, the twice-the-price of a conventional one was just too much for us. At least we shouldn’t have to reroof it again!
I tried out the catalog thing today and it was easy-breezy.
Well, can I get you to take that apple pie off my hands??
Katie
Comment // November 12th, 2007 // 8:45 pm
I’m so jealous that your renovation/building projects are complete. My cabin is in turmoil and I can only work on it on the weekends. I’ll be SOoooo happy when I can retire to the country again where the white noise is crickets instead of saws, hammers and construction noises.
I did go with a metal roof, and although it did cost a bit of change, there’s nothing that makes me happier than sleeping on my make-shift bed on the weekends and listening to the rain on the roof (when nature decides to grace me with rain). It makes me hug myself and believe that all is right with the world.
And BTW, my mother would love your uses of vinegar. I think she believes we can not only clean windows with vinegar and newsprint, stave off colds with daily oral doses mixed with hot water and honey, but that we have a good chance of achieving world peace if only everyone used enough vinegar! She is constantly sending me little “vinegar” tips.
Comment // November 13th, 2007 // 7:17 am
Hey Angela,
I am glad to have those tear downs behind me, for now, too! We are one of the rare (I think) breed content to stay our little house in a funky rural area even as so many people we know have upgraded their homes (and mortgages) two or three times. It’s comforting to have reached that decision a few years ago, and to know that we won’t incur a new mortgage in this lifetime!
As to cleaning with vinegar, I have always had a gallon on hand for attacking the hard water deposits in the bathroom area, but was wowed to find this particular list: http://www.vinegartips.com.
Your metal roof sounds fantastic and I think it’s the perfect match with your cabin. We were on the fence and our reseach seemed to say that was the best way to go. But, when it was twice-the-price in all estimates we got, we talked ourselves out of it. I’d like to see the latest pictures of your work-in-progress.
Some friends of ours bought one of those civil war era cabins and had it disassembled and transported across 5 states, finally siting it on nearby Mingus Mountain. They originally thought they would rebuild it and finish the inside within a year, but it has become the project of a lifetime. They work on it whenever they can, and kind of camp out inside while it’s taking shape around them.