Cleaning Focus - January 2015

[blessedw2]

that front hall is looking spiffy & smelling MARVELOUS, d harriet! and yes - having a timer that you can turn and turn off is always a plus

I dusted in the front, washed the floor yesterday with mop but need to wash it by hand. got rid of finger prints, washed the stairs, cleaned under church bench and cabinet in front, wiped chair rails.

I need to wash the closet floor after vacuuming still

[Harriet]

Today was the finish of two week's Entry work here - a week's declutter, then a week's Focus cleaning. Most rounds it isn't so extensive but with holiday decor up there was more to it and I was probably counting a lot of decor-dusting and proper packaging of that as well. Yesterday I was up on a chair dusting the fan. Today I was down scooting the Swiffer sideways to make sure the underside of the hutch/sideboard (only 1.5" off the floor) was swept. Cat toys rescued! All is done!

So on my Task Progress Tracker every bubble-in space was filled over these two weeks, representing seven 15s of declutter and seven of cleaning plus two extra 15s for good measure (4 hours) so I'm so happy to be right up to speed. I'm using the "Destruct-O-Matic" tracker for Focus this round, so I get to answer the question, "Where is your Entryway Project?" with the famous Bill Murray line, "Blown up, Sir!" Fun to fill in the explosion.

[blessedw2]

d harriet!!!

I got many of my cards done in the front hall last week. ... I love love love that you have the focus on declutter zone at the same time as the cleaning zone too - it really helps me.

[Harriet]

Cleaning wouldn't seem so tough if someone would only have come along last week and cleared those surfaces!

(Oh, me! me! I could do that! I just have to either go back in time or... ...plan ahead!)

it is SO much more pleasant to wash, dust or polish a surface when it is actually available to your reach. Ask me how I know. I have cleaned "around" or "down the middle" far too many times. And later decluttered, only to think, well now I should clean again.

White washcloths in the front bath for dd's nightly face-washing are corralled in a pretty round basket with folded edges up. They look "right" now, up off the counter but all together. Something like that can make all the difference.

[blessedw2]

I still think there should be a magical house fairy that or a magic wand that puts things away where they belong Cleaning is so much easier without all that stuff lol. I think I need to hire a new house fairy or elf (like the brownies that want to happily work just for the joy of helping )

great work d Harriet...

that planning ahead works.. thanks d harriet!

[blessedw2]

this week in the bedroom was limited - Lack of planning - but dh came down and said he really liked how it looked

Focus: bathrooms
clean under the sinks (i did this last month - so far nothing needs to leave)
clean medicine cabinet and on top too.
clean my bathtub/shower well
Caulk window in our bathroom
Clean inside of windows in bathrooms
clean doors of fingerprints
give toilet a good cleaning and replace toilet tabs (clorox)
take any thing away that doesn't belong
de-clutter
list on temporary cards repairs etc. (some done)
wipe off chair rails and wood rails on bottom
wash wallpaper in powder room

in closet next to the bathroom: donate a large blue and white flower holder that worked in the upstairs hallway for a while but I can bless someone else with them.

[Harriet]

Had another week's finish (sounds of an EXPLOSION - boom, pow, whoosh ). Coloring-in little circles or ovals to track progress is suiting me these days. It's amusing.

I'm so happy to have worked these eight 15s this past week on master bedroom (added to eight 15s last week on declutter there). Things are not perfect, but two big pluses:

1) 4 hours work makes a big difference that helped that room remarkably
2) tracking lets me see truth about how much help a certain amount of time is

This is probably the space that I will think of when I finish another room early, that sort of thing. It can always use extra time. It's just BIG, because it's part of an addition that had to be lined up with the existing house. And the way the doors and windows had to be placed to fit, you really can't make part a closet, as we once considered. That's okay - using it to learn to make space function well!

Cleaning product review - careful of the store-brand dust cloths in competition with Swiffer in boxes (the flat plain cloths). More of these are coming out all the time and some may be fine. But I bought my grocery store's new generic box of them ("Your Home" generic), and they turned out to be more like dryer-sheet material - foldable like paper, with a crease created at each fold, and thin. Just not a helpful product.

Time for me to head toward the bathrooms for cleaning this week.

[blessedw2]

I am woooing... ahhhhing... at your magnificent work d Harriet!!! I wish I knew how to do fireworks on here...

"Eight 15s this past week on master bedroom (added to eight 15s last week on declutter there)" = "4 hours work makes a big difference that helped that room remarkably" d Harriet. truly amazing work!!!

Your words -

"tracking lets me see truth about how much help a certain amount of time is'

made an impression on me.

I am trying to stay on track with you - that's my goal for 2015

Great work...

[blessedw2]

washed the walls in powder room
washed mirror on top and around
washed top of door way in powder room

[blessedw2]

January 2015 washed above doors and window sill (our bathroom) - washed bathroom door on both sides, washed inside of window and trim, cleaned out drawers in bathroom, de-cluttered a white trash bag of stuff from cabinets that I know I won't use or have triples etc. , cleaned mirror, cleaned hair brushes, cleaned medicine cabinet. cleaned vent, wiped around toilet and behind again.