25. The Cleaning Lady Finally Came!

I went to Grandview today with a short list.  The main thing to get done was some cleaning inside the house - the funk was just grossing me out.  The floors were nasty and there were hairballs floating around from some animal - presumably the same one that tore up a couple of the window sills when it was left alone for too long.  Lots of dirt since the house had sat vacant for so long.

I brought up my stuff and set up shop.  I actually had some groceries with me - a bag of apples and peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixin's.  It's so nice to have a working refrigerator!!  I put that stuff in the fridge and got Roscoe his bone (really it's some giant smoky flavored meaty knuckle or hip joint).  That kept him happy - he spent a lot of time walking around with the thing in his mouth, trying to decide if there was any place to hide it.  He tried stuffing it behind the couch cushion but I wasn't having any of that. He finally resolved to hang out with it by his bed and give it a gnaw every now and then.  He is much more comfortable now that we have a fan.

I got cracking on some silverware that was left in the house - I scrubbed each piece and then let them soak in some bleach water for a while, just to satisfy my own germ-phobia.  Then I rinsed, dried and now I have a whole tray of sanitized usable stuff for PBJs etc.

Next victim was the fridge.  Honestly it's a really nice Whirlpool fridge.  The appliances were from 2005, but not used much because I think the house was vacant a lot.  There were still stickers inside that said "remove before using".  I still wiped the whole thing down - there was a small amount of something orange - Fanta? - gumming up a couple of shelves... but no more!  Here is the finished product:  Meager, but clean.  There is an ice maker that hums when you press the thingy, but I don't think the water is hooked up yet.  It will be when it goes into it's final position in the remodeled kitchen, thanks to my friend John the plumber (I couldn't make this stuff up).

Then I turned my attention to the downstairs bathroom.  This is the only room in the house that really got a renovation already.  The floors were done throughout the house, but this room got the full treatment.  Again, the stickers were still on the bathtub!  It had been used, but probably never cleaned, so it took some elbow grease to make it presentable.   Same with the sink and toilet, but thankfully someone thought to leave the charming old medicine cabinet like the one upstairs.  It's now clean and has a couple of rolls of TP, toothbrush and toothpaste in it.  I think this will be my bathroom, since guests upstairs will use that one.  It's actually amazing that I don't want to redecorate this  - phew!  Windows will need work, like the rest of them in the house - but one of them is actually functioning pretty well already.  I'll put in some cafe curtains so I don't have to wave to the neighbors when I get out of the shower.

Then I proceeded to sweep, vacuuming up the piles as I went, with my shop vac of course.  Then I got out the lysol and mopped my fool head off.  Did the whole downstairs, emptied the fireplace of ashy remnants and Febreezed the heck out of the couch that the other guy left behind.  I haven't shown you that one yet - it's actually pretty cool.  This is the kitchen as it is now - clean but it won't be like this for long.  Rob the builder is coming in on Thursday to start ripping things apart.  I'm selling the stove, since the new stove location will require one without the big control panel on the back.  You'll be in on every phase of the kitchen re-do, hang in there...

Aside from all this cleaning, I did a little thinking about a front gate while I ate my PBJ on the front porch with Roscoe, enjoying a spectacular - and yes:  almost cool - beachy-smelling breeze at 2:00pm.  I also squirted a little more Roundup where Duke missed a spot or two, or the weeds were especially rigorous.  The place is looking pretty good.

Saturday I did find a few things at yard sales, and also sold 10 boxes of leftover laminate flooring I found in the basement for $100 bucks!!

Balance forward:  $202

+$100  sale of laminate flooring
$3  belgian waffle maker
$2  misc. bakeware
$5  set of queen size Egyptian cotton sheets in just the right color!

Remainder:  $292