Spring Cleaning!

I'll be honest, I never understood why it was "Spring" cleaning and not some other kind of cleaning. Why spring? Now I know. Spring is when the sun finally comes out, and you get to realize how much dirt accumulated on your house during the winter. There's trash in my backyard, leaves and mud is everywhere, and my windows are truly filthy.

So spring cleaning. :)

I've been reading about safe, non-toxic cleaners. We were using a cleaning company that uses only safe cleaners, but their prices went up, so I went with a traditional cleaning company and asked if they'd please use safe cleaners. They don't have any, so I am buying/making them.

So I bought a book called "Clean House, Clean Planet" that lists various recipes and commercial products, and they rate their effectiveness. Some tips I learned:

1) Bon Ami, the product my great-grandmother used to clean her stove, is still available, and is a safe cleaner.

2) The best home-made window cleaner is not vinegar and water, but club soda. Kid you not. I just put club soda in a spray bottle and added some blue food dye so I could tell what it was. Minimal streakage, too. For me, the true test of a window cleaner is how it cleans the aquariums, and they look great now.

3) Most wood furniture does not need furniture polish, since it's already finished. The recipe they provide for dusting is 2 t olive oil, 1/4 c white vinegar, 12 oz of water, and 20 drops of lemon oil to mask the vinegar. I also added a drop of yellow food dye. They have another recipe for furniture that actually needs oiling that has more oil and less of the other two. Like the above recipe, you can clean without gloves, and safe enough that you could drink some.

4) Put traps on the bathtub and sinks to catch hair. Most pipe clogs are from hair, and drain cleaner is extremely toxic and will ruin the pipes. Lowes has the mesh traps for a couple dollars for a set of 3.

Cleaning house this weekend, and cleaning outdoors next weekend!

OMG, we have a plow

I was expecting a one hour commute to work today. Apparently the city of Pittsburgh found their plow, so we got in in 10 minutes. Or at least, they found a pile of salt and a truck. It's not clear whether they plowed before salting, as there was no pile of snow on the sides of the road.

I think I'll take the cats out in the snow later this week. It's funny to watch them walk in it. :) Plus, they'll stop begging to go outside.

Easter and Snowing

It's early April, and today is Easter. Two weeks ago, there were white and purple crocuses blooming in my yard. I had herb seedlings ready to plant this weekend. We should have had a beautiful Easter weekend, and I should be out in my garden.

But Mother Nature had other plans. "Time to shit on all of you Pittsburghers and remind you where you live" she says. It's snowing. It's been snowing for four days. This is ridiculous. This is pretty much the only really nice time of year here, and this year we get snow.

When I was a kid, Easter was the inaugural jump in the swimming pool. My brother usually performed the ritual by racing through the length of the house and then cannon-bombing into the pool. Extra points for getting the grandmas wet. It was usually just a tad chilly to be swimming, like 78 degrees.

Not so much with the swimming here. It's 30 degrees, "feels like 19" according to weather.com

Oh well. At least it's not sticking to the ground.