I Lost Some Junk! @SocialInsiders #SocialSummer

I Lost Some Junk! @SocialInsiders #SocialSummer

Being a member of Social Insiders, I participated in the Summer Blogging Challenge 2016. The last week was "Lose The Junk"! Well, I have lot of rooms to clean but decided that one of my cabinets needed a little cleaning out to begin with.

Okay, I'll blame my husband for keeping lots of stuff that we really don't need. He's not one to throw stuff out very often but sometimes you really need to go through what you have.

This is a cabinet that we keep paper, pens, markers, tape and lots of other items. I opened the cabinet doors and this is what I saw in the above picture. Nothing in it's place. Tape here and there, and stuff just strewn around. I'm not sure why hubby put a flashlight in here, but oh well.

First I took everything out of the cabinet and threw away some things that we didn't need. There was even a price tag from somebody's clothes in there, used envelopes, and worn out pens. Luckily, the trash man was coming so I hurried and got another bag of junk out before he came to our house.

I organized everything and will have to do a better job some other time, but it does look a little better than before. Above and below are the after pictures of the cabinet.

I have baskets with markers and crayons in and some plastic containers which I labeled with pens, pencils, tape, and other items. It got me in the cleaning mood, so now I'm heading for my kitchen cabinets!

How To Use Essential Oils For Household Cleaning - 
Contributing Post By Patricia J. Cornwell

I know everybody loves to have a fresh clean home and natural products are a great way to get just that. I'm very happy to have a guest post today by Patricia J. Cornwell. from London, England. She runs a London based company called TenacyCleaners SW6. A big thanks goes out to Patricia for this marvelous article.

In order to maintain your home always perfectly clean and safe, you can try different cleaning techniques until you find the one that works best for you and your place. We are all used to the cleaning with the ordinary products that are offered in the shops and they are without a doubt effective, but they are also filled with various chemicals that are extremely dangerous for the human health. If you want to avoid the unpleasant health complications, better look for safer alternatives. There is a big variety of natural cleaning recipes that give excellent results and require simple and inexpensive ingredients. Some of the most effective ones include essential oils that can disinfect and aromatize at the same time.


Cleaning with natural products saves not only time, but also a lot of money. The best thing about using essential oils in your homemade cleaners is that for the preparing of one batch you will need no more than a couple of drops. This will be more than enough to deodorize and disinfect any surface and fabric in your home, so there is really nothing to worry about. It is enough to try the easy recipes you will find below once to realize that this is the best way to provide your home with the cleanness it deserves.

* An effective all-purpose cleaner with tea tree oil – The tea tree oil is one of the most popular essential oils because it is easy to find and can be used for many purposes. Except that it can help with skin problems, you can also use it to disinfect the worktops in your kitchen and any other area in your home that you like. The tea tree oil will make a great addition to your homemade all-purpose cleaner, so now is the time to experiment. For the purpose you will need an empty spray bottle, which you can fill with water. You can add a few drops of dish washing liquid, as well as 4-5 drops of the tea tree essential oil. When you are done, you can shake the bottle until all ingredients mix well and you can start cleaning immediately.

* Floor cleaner with lemon essential oil – You can include the lemon essential oil in your homemade floor cleaner's recipe. If you still don't have one, you can use the easy one we will present to you now. All you need is distilled water and lemon essential oil. Except the latter, you can use also pine essential oil or spruce. You can mix the water with several drops of the oil in a bucket or in some other container and mop all wood and other floors in your home. This way you will not only disinfect the surface but you will also freshen up the air.

* Special cleaning product with lavender – The kitchen and the bathroom are the places that require most cleaning for sure. You can finish with this tedious task faster by using a special homemade cleaning product with lavender. In a clean spray bottle you can mix white vinegar with 3-4 drops of the essential oil and a little water. You can use this product for the disinfection of any area in your place and you can be sure that all microbes, along with the bad smells and the grime, will be removed for good.

Those are only part of the many ways you can use the different essential oils for household cleaning. Don't be afraid to experiment, but make sure that you learn more about the special qualities of the products you want to use. This is the best way to achieve good results with the cleaning.

The article is written by Patricia Cornwell. She runs TenancyCleaners SW6.

Fall House Cleaning....or not!

Fall House Cleaning...or not!

It's the time of year when a lot of women do Fall house cleaning. Today I did a little house cleaning and it brought back some memories of years ago when I was growing up.  I remember my mom doing the Spring and Fall house cleaning when I was growing up.  It would be a major cleaning of the walls, furniture, floors, and well, everything. 

 Do you remember those rug beaters?  Well, I remember taking cushions outside and having to beat them so the dust would come out.  Also, we would put rugs on the clothes line and beat them to get the dirt out and air out.

I think years ago women did more house cleaning than these days.  Well, most women work outside the home these days so they don't have the time to do a lot.  It isn't like the 50's or 60's these days. For me, I have to be in the mood.  It is a good feeling to be in a freshly cleaned house though.  Too bad it keeps on getting dirty.  Wouldn't it nice to have a maid?

I Got The Urge To.........Paint!!

I Got The Urge To.............

Paint!!

Yesterday was the day!  I've been wanting to paint the living room for awhile and yesterday I told my husband Kerry about it.  He looked at the walls and didn't say much but must have thought it was an okay idea.  Then he went out in the garage and got the paint roller and paint pan.  All the kids pitched in.  They were off from college so had time.  Travis and Kerry started taping.  Dustin and I started moving furniture away from the wall.  Dustin took a Swiffer and went over the walls.  Karissa and I washed my teapots from the shelf in the living room.  Then we even went in the kitchen and washed a shelf with some antiques on it.  They get kind of greasy after awhile from cooking.

Travis Painting

The Finished Wall


Travis wanted to paint and I was kind of worried because he never painted before.  He did a great job but at the end of the day he had enough of painting because the roller broke.  My husband went to the hardware store and bought another roller and that one broke too.  I don't know what happened but my husband finished painting with the broken roller.

On top of that we had the one can of paint that was a lighter shade than the other.  We have a couple of white spots on the wall now but you won't be able to tell unless you really examine the wall.  It still looks a lot better than before.  The room hasn't been painted for a few years.  They were dirty and marked up.

 It was kind of neat getting the whole family together and working together.  I still have to wash the curtains and put them up again.  It's amazing what you can do in a day with some help!