Dracula

What is black, sucks and is afraid of sunlight?

Why Dracula of course.

My husband’s robotic vacuum.   He is amazed at what it picks up.  He sends it out just about every morning to go through the house…somedays he carries it upstairs and lets it work up there…perfect for getting under beds.

Sunlight shining on the kitchen floor confuses it and it retreats.   It loves the laundry/furnace room where it always gets caught up on the drain for the furnace.  You can direct it with a remote but Far Guy usually lets it go where it pleases….and rescues it when it gets caught.  It will try to suck up the bathroom rugs…but not the kitchen rug…go figure.  

It is a Robo vac made by eufy.  Disclaimer:  I have not been compensated in any way for this review…but it the company wants to send me one for a permanent home upstairs that would work for me.

November is almost gone

The grey cloudy November days are almost behind us. 

We have been working upstairs vacuuming everything in sight, moving furniture and dusting. The vaulted ceiling is a bugger, I like to get all the cobwebs and dust.  Far Guy has been a great help. ( he dusts his own trains!)   One more day of some odds and ends and making the beds up with fresh sheets and I will be done up there.  There is a method to my cleaning madness.  I don’t want to decorate the Shiny Brite Tree until it is spotless up there. 

As I have been cleaning out nooks and crannies I found a bunch of “stuff” that can be sold. Imagine that.

We have about an inch of snow on the ground…not exactly a winter wonderland yet.  I keep hoping for a good snow, it would seem warmer if we had a foot of snow.  Our cold is a bone chilling damp cold…typical November for us…a warm spell then a really cold spell. Roads that are fine one day are icy the next.

I like my garden flag it provides a spot of color to an otherwise drab yard.

Cleaning Up Projects

One day I cleared out the entire fridge and cupboards of all the containers that were beyond their expiration dates.  Far Guy is allergic to anything that might start to ferment naturally…he begins projectile vomiting and wishes he was dead.  He and I consumed some older expired salsa that the seal was questionable on, I was fine..yup you guessed it… he was in the bathroom all night long.  Have you checked your expiration dates lately?

Another day Far Guy turned the computer chairs upside down and we cleaned off the “stuff” mainly somedogs hair from around the wheels.  The chairs were not gliding along the floor so much anymore..now they glide with the greatest of ease..you can slide the chair across the room with one finger.  We sat at the table and cleared wheels with a tweezers and a scissors.  I won’t say there was a mountain of hair and threads..but it was a big pile.  Do you get hair in your computer chairs wheels?  Have you looked?

Do you carry Lysol Wipes in your car?  We do just incase someone we see looks sick.  Do you disinfect your grocery cart before you load it with groceries?   We do…most stores provide the disinfectant wipes and I use them to wipe down the entire grocery cart. Are we germaphobes?   I have a clean side and a dirty side in my kitchen..never the twain shall meet…and if they do, out come the Lysol Wipes. ( Cross contamination drives me nuts.)  I have a cutting board just for chicken…nothing else gets cut on it…and after it is used I wash it about three times.  I also have a special cutting board for fruit. I keep things on my kitchen counters to a minimum.  I don’t like working around mail or a phone or fru fru on the kitchen counters.

Recently we switched from a dish rag..the nasty germy things to Bounty Duratowels that are supposed to be 3 times cleaner than a dish rag.  Daughter Jen uses a dish brush perhaps one of those is worth a try. 

Now for the big question.  Have you replaced those batteries in your smoke alarms and Carbon Monoxide detectors?   Far Guy bought a new Carbon Monoxide detector for the furnace/laundry room.  He also replaced every battery in all the other alarms and tested them all.  I know the batteries might be good for another six months…but what if they aren’t?  What if they don’t chirp?  What if I am gone from the house for a few days when they have chirped and I miss it?  If I change the batteries at the time change every spring and fall then I can rest assured that they will work if needed:)

Frosty leaves November 6 2013

Chance: I was Vacuumed

Far Side went on a vacuuming binge.  She vacuumed the window ledges and the screens, she tore all the furniture apart and vacuumed under the cushions.  How does my hair get way under those cushions anyway..I will never know.  She vacuumed her car, Far Guy helped..I sat in the front seat directing..until she finally said “OUT.”  What no ride?  Bummer.

Then yesterday morning I was minding my own business and she said “Far Guy..vacuum that hairball before I shave him.” 

Far Guy was busy all last week, doing “guy” stuff so he got a little behind on brushing me.  Way behind according to Far Side.

So he sucked all the loose hair off me..and we are all caught up again.  Far Side was happy, and when she is happy we are all happy..:)

A day for me

Well..I am sure you all want to know what I did on my day off.  I did all the things that keep me sane. 

I did laundry. I cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom.  I washed some windows..oh they are sparkly clean.. pure bliss.  Far Guy helped me vacuum my car, and I washed the windows in the car too!  Tomorrow I tackle my garage, it just needs a little straightening and some vacuuming.  I finally backed up my July Photos to disk.  I played ball with Chance.  I had a nap and I cooked supper for the third night in a row!  We went for a drive to look at the fields.. and I watched Big Brother..(Go Jeff).

I feel better now, not so out of focus:)

Slaw Report

We will probably be known as the "slaw people" for awhile. The coleslaw was a hit. My Mother was the general, Far Guy was the gofer and I was the mixer..it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to mix up goop and incorporate it into thirty pounds of shredded cabbage with a little shredded red cabbage and a few carrots.  Small batches were mixed one at a time.  The bowls were covered and refrigerated immediately. The goop is miracle whip, powdered sugar, celery seed, pepper and vinegar. As for the proportions..your guess is as good as mine..as my Mother just dumps, mixes and tastes. I told her I would really like some coleslaw with apples and raisins in it..that is the way my Mothers Mother made it. So there you have it the slaw report.

The fundraising dinner was a success, with 312 people being served. I am kind of a nut when it comes to food handling..and I noticed that many people there could have used a lesson or two. I will probably go to the next reunion committee meeting and give them my view ..well maybe not. I could give them some tips that would make their serving and clean up less germy.

The menu was real meat meatballs, fake mashed potatoes, fake gravy, real corn, real coleslaw, and Finnish flat bread. For dessert volunteers baked and donated bars and cakes. Nothing like bringing germs from thirty different kitchens into one area...and who doesn't like dessert? The solution is SO SIMPLE...fine you don't want to spend your food dollars on dessert..have your volunteers donate vanilla ice cream, and toppings..caramel, strawberry and chocolate. Viola..dessert...or is that voile..vola..whatever..

One way to burn people out or totally exhaust them is to put them in charge of clearing tables..and watch all the heavy sedentary office type workers clear tables one plate and cup at a time.. I finally grabbed a tray and heaped it full and cleared some tables.  No one was disinfecting tables after they were vacated either.. uffda..germ city..

I just don't know ( Insert sound of an old lady clicking her tongue here) what the younger people now a days are thinking. Just because you can't see germs..they aren't there? They are everywhere..yes, I am one of those people that stands with disinfectant wipes disinfecting my grocery cart before I put my groceries in it. And yes, Far Guy does it to. There is a reason that most of the new shopping carts are black..filth..that is the reason.

If you don't wash your hands at least ten times a day, more if you are working with or handling food ..you deserve to be sick with food borne vomiting and diarrhea illnesses that could possibly kill you...but no one else needs to die just because you are too stupid to wash your hands.  Just my humble opinion:)