Cleaning day #1

View through clean screens and windows.

What? You mean we have neighbors?

A vineyard? This place came with a vineyard?

Today was the first of what will surely be many cleaning days. Before we began cleaning though, there was the issue of the shed needing to be anchored to a garden post and the shelves being screwed in place from the outside. We had to disturb the mommy robin but finally got some screws into the garden post from the inside out, and then several screws from the outside into the two shelves to hold them in place and keep them from falling down. Everything had to be taken out of the shed and Kathy, for the 5th or 6th time, had to put everything back in. Lets see if it holds this time!

Some people from the campground arrived while we were working on the shed and Bonnie gave them a tour of the cottage while Kathy climbed the fence to visit with Denny, only he wasn't out in his yard or barn so she went home and waited for the tour to be over with.

We found a small leak under the main bathroom sink that Rex must be aware of because there was a paper towel there to catch drips. We also found dampness where the water enters the house from the well. We will be certain to mention these things to Rex.

The plan was to clean as much as we could today because Kathy and Denny hope to bring a few things from The Fort on Thursday after the final house inspection at 10 a.m. This will enable us to spend weekends while working on the house and yard until the move at Memorial Day that will include the major appliances.

A futon, an end table, a small fridge we keep in our garage to chill wines, and a TV and DVD player - you know, the important things - will be included in this first trip! Kathy will have to do some more cleaning on Wednesday to get the front porch clean enough to receive these items on Thursday since that is where most of them are going.

Kathy had planned to hose the screens outside today but it was so windy that Bonnie was afraid the screens would be damaged. So Plan B called for vacuuming the screens which worked out very well. While Kathy vacuumed, Bonnie washed some windows on the inside. (Remember, Kathy is the world's very worse window washer.) With just the screens and the insides of the windows washed, the difference was remarkable! Kathy used the bare floor setting on the vacuum and went over the bamboo floors. It left a lot to be desired. The ceramic tile cleaned much better. Kathy vacuumed the insides of drawers and cabinets and Bonnie washed some of the shelves in the kitchen. We feel good about what we accomplished today, but the task seems overwhelming at present. The basement will take a lot of work...cleaning, painting the floor. The cork flooring in the loft still needs to be cleaned and sealed. Then the vineyard always needs attention.

Kathy emailed Camille today to see when she should be ordering the nematodes. Gonna have to apply them in May we're thinking.