Monday, November 08, 2010

a monday miscellany

This past weekend had its ups and downs, so I'm doing my best to accentuate the positive. We sold the Malibu (hooray!), spent a great night in Lincoln Square with friends (love the Poor Man's Black Velvet at the Bad Apple -- Crispin cider + Left Hand Milk Stout), and Paul managed to find the elusive last bin of my winter sweaters in the storage closet.  I felt like Rory Gilmore as she's reunited with her sock drawer after the big European backpacking trip ("Hello, boys!").
As soon as I popped up from my comfy reading chair to grab a mug of hot apple cider last night, Kylie Cat cozied up in my giant granny square afghan and promptly feel asleep.  So sweet... it's the best time of year for cat snuggling. This afghan is my favorite project ever, hands down -- knitting, crochet, or otherwise.
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- Apartment Therapy's tips on "How to Clean Your House in 20 Minutes a Day for 30 Days"

Does anyone follow a schedule like this?  If so, what do you think about it and how do you make it work? We tend to sacrifice huge blocks of valuable weekend time to cleaning, which is productive but not exactly fun.
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- Garnet Hill has some cute sheepie things that would make perfect holiday gifts for knitters:


 
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autumn's bounty
- Cooking Light's Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta is slated for tonight's menu (provided that I get enough done this afternoon). I'll let you know how it turns out!
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 - These Owl Bootees are absolutely adorable, plus gingergooseberry graciously shares the pattern.

9 comments:

marycatharine said...

Big, warm blankets are the best... I need to make more.

I clean everyday, it doesn't even take 20 min, I sort of love how it gives me more time to relax. I find that if I add a little task to the everyday ie. dishes right away or wipe down the bathroom right after I use it, nothing gets very dirty. I'll turn on the tv and before I sit down to knit I'll grab a duster and quickly go over the living room.

I often find I have an extra 5 min before needing to head out the door (if it doesn't snow) and I'll use that for a quick tidy. The system works better if everyone you live with helps and you don't have a ton of clutter.

Good luck trying out a new system :)

Valerie said...

I do a similar cleaning schedule, sort of my own adaptation of Flylady. The only thing I don't like about it is that there is never a day when everything is sparkly all at one time. On the other hand, there is never a day when everything is totally trashed either. Meh

Kristi aka Fiber Fool said...

LOL! I love the Gilmore reference. I fully understand too! Thanks for the links, I enjoyed them.

Barbara said...

When my Mum was visiting recently I got a stern talking-to about the dusting I obviously don't do!
It's certainly food for thought, this 30-day schedule thing but I have to say it's a bit daunting!
Don't you have to START with tidy/clean/uncluttered? If so, then I don't know WHEN I'd be able to! SIGH!

Chris said...

Um. Yeah. I need to spend a number of hours cleaning tomorrow evening...

Those PJs are cute!

Katie M. said...

Kitties always track down the coziest spot! I wish I had a cleaning routine; well, one that didn't involve delegating to the cat. (She doesn't listen.) Maybe I'll have to start? Hope your week is off to good start!

elizabeth said...

I am definitely going to check out that cleaning article. We tend to do what you guys do and it stinks to spend your weekend cleaning. But it's nice to have a clean house, so choose your evil!

abbsQuake said...

I try to keep us on somewhat of a regular cleaning schedule through the week so there's less to do on the weekends. Our challenge is that I tend to be the only one who cares if things get messy, so it's up to me to manage it all. And with a dog who sheds as much as Hank, vacuuming has to happen 2x a week, especially through the warmer months when he goes into shedding over-drive. But the nice thing is that with a small space, it generally goes pretty fast.

Celestial said...

Ah, cuddling with kitties has to be one of my favorite things. Except the fact that my cats require both hands to be petting them, which makes it difficult to do anything else at the same time!