It’s amazing how company coming over motivates you to clean house…

Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments about your children yesterday. I added my comments but it was late. If you missed that post and wanted to read what all my “mom/non-mom subscribers” wrote, you can see that post HERE. That was the most precious thing ever. Some mom’s chose to send theirs to me privately by email and practically had me in tears!

Okay, I’ve been in your shoes when there’s a Giveaway and nothing is AS important as seeing if you won or not… Well, let’s do it first… I wrote everyone’s name down on pieces of paper, double checked to make sure I had the “comment” people and the “email” people… I did. I turned over all the names and then closed my eyes and shuffled them.

If you click on any picture it will enlarge.

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I got my camera ready to snap a picture of who would be the winner. I closed my eyes, mixed them up a bit more, found a paper and turned it over and….Linda Doyle is our winner!

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Linda… you won! There’s no guessing which doll you want a slip for…I’ll get it out ASAP! Congratulations on trying for almost 2 years to win a Giveaway from me…

My hubby is having a group of men come over tonight and let’s just say…”my house wasn’t ‘company’ ready!” I worked on things day before yesterday but yesterday was our “Crisis Cleaning 101” attack! I am one very blessed wife to have a hubby who pitches in and helps me like he does… (he is actually in the kitchen right now mopping my floor as I’m sitting here typing on this computer!) I should feel guilty but I think I did my fair share of things yesterday too…but he vacuumed and then mopped all the floors with Murphy’s soap… (you’ll see we don’t have any flooring down YET!) then he wiped down all the walls and the baseboards and any lingering cobwebs… he took my Ficus tree outside and hosed it off… it was dusty from having the baby chicks in the living room…. he went to the garage and cut a piece of trim to cover the insulation that was showing under the living room window… (no trim is up at that window yet…) He got down on his titanium knees (actually on his side) and wiped down all the legs of the table and chairs…OH…and he helped me (actually “I” helped him…)put the glass in my blue cabinet that I painted last Fall… it’s been “glass-less” since I finished it…I love it now that it’s all finished!

Okay, so you might ask… what did I do? Well, I did my dishes, bleached out my sink… washed down all my cabinet fronts… cleaned out my frig, wiped down all the counters, washed off the frig, cleaned the top of the frig off, washed down the kitchen door, swept off the porch, took my couch cushions out and re-stuffed them… they had gotten saggy… unzipped the back of the cushions… (not my favorite style of couch) and stuffed the stuffing back up to the top of the cushions…dusted, cleaned off my dining room light fixture, made a batch of Chocolate No Bake cookies… altered a shirt of Rebecca to wear for a presentation she’s giving today, practiced 4 songs on my guitar for the men to sing tomorrow night (my hubby wanted me to teach this other man how these songs went as he didn’t know them, so he’s coming over a little bit before the meeting to go over them with me…I may or may not play with him…) and at 8:30 I put a pizza in to bake! My Fitbit said I walked 12,888 steps yesterday and logged in 5.39 miles…and the day wasn’t done yet… I still worked in my sewing room while I was waiting for midnight to get here so I could draw out the winner of the giveaway.. My sewing room is off the living room and the men can see into my room if they look…

Oh… I did one more thing too.. I hate to even show you this, because it’s so crude and so un-seamstress like! I had a few pleater hooks, used for pinch pleat drapes and I had tied them to a piece of jute. I then had that draped over a lamp pole…and have my rulers hanging on it…

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I know, I know…that’s pathetic, isn’t it?

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Well, in the midst of my cleaning yesterday, I decided to use a piece of fabric my sister had sent me and make a pouch to put my rulers in. I used the rulers on those pleater hooks because I thought it was easy to grab them and use them…but this new pouch is REALLY nice and it’s so much nicer to look at…

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I added a ribbon to it, sort of like a shoulder strap purse and hooked it under the legs of a shelf…it’s out of the way and lays flat against the file cabinets and is MUCH nicer looking…

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I should have done this eons ago! *silly woman!*

I’ll clean the bathroom today and get the food stuffs ready… Okay…now do you want to see what we did? Remember my house is unfinished… no flooring and all the trim isn’t there…but it’s home to us… ( just had to tell you.. my sister, Cindy, in PA, texted me and said, “You’ve got just enough time to paint and stencil a ‘faux’ area rug in your living room…”) Silly sister… :o)

It was such a lovely day, we had the living room windows open…

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I’m so thrilled to have glass in my cabinet doors now! If you wanted to see what that cabinet looked like before it was transformed, you can see that post HERE.

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I mistakenly said that Molly’s dress set, “I Love a Parade” ended tonight… I was wrong…it ends tomorrow night..Thursday…sorry about the confusion…You can see it HERE… on eBay…

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

24 thoughts on “It’s amazing how company coming over motivates you to clean house…”

  1. Oh Jeanne, I am so thrilled!!! And I really wanted that slip too! Yes, Molly will be so happy to wear it, and I’m sure a few of her friends will want to have a chance to wear it too! What a nice way to start my day!

    Your living room looks so sparkling clean and welcoming! Yes, you DO get a lot done when you are getting ready for a visit from someone—-tell me about it! Happens all the time around here! A good way to have a clean and straightened up house, is to have company, and I might say, a husband like yours does make a difference! He’s a keeper!

    From looking outside your windows, it looks like Carbondale had the same sunny day we had, though it was a bit on the cooler side. Love your openness in the living room, so inviting!

    1. HI Linda,
      I was thrilled to when I turned over that piece of paper with your name on it… YAY! Now here’s the not-so-yay part… I didn’t make it to the post office today to get it in the email to you..but I will tomorrow… sorry…I still think since you live so close it might make it to St. Louis by Saturday…
      It used to be that when I cleaned my kids would say, “who’s coming over?” That’s pretty pathetic isn’t it? Yes, my hubby is a real keeper… his momma taught him right!

      We did have very nice weather yesterday… it was just beautiful…
      Thanks Linda,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  2. congratulations, Linda! It was fun reading about everyone’s families. 🙂
    Spring cleaning always ‘feels good’ – Glad you got help with it! Your cabinet looks wonderful!

    1. Thanks so much Mary,
      The men are just about ready to come out… I’ve done as much as I can do… my fingers are sore from practicing on my guitar so much…and what didn’t get done, didn’t get done… :o)
      I like my cabinet too… but I’m having a hard time getting used to the glass being in it… before it was so clear when you looked at the stuff inside… not it sometimes glares… oh well, I do like it… and it will keep the dust out…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  3. Congrats to Linda for winning the slip. Sounds like it went to a happy person!

    You’re walking miles around me, Jeanne. Yes, it does seem like company gets one more in the mood to clean up. Thanks for showing us your lovely home (how wonderful to get that glass in your cabinet) and “walk” us through your day to get it cleaned up. Life is real and I’m glad that you show us your realities.

    Thanks for all you do.

    Take care.

    1. Hi Becky,
      Yes, the slip did go to a lovely woman… and she’ll treasure it…

      No pretenses here… what you see is what you get… sometimes clean and sometimes it has to “be” cleaned…
      Thanks so much,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  4. Congratulations to Linda!

    Jeanne, what an amazing team you and George are. Of course, we knew that, but we hadn’t seen you as a housecleaning team. I think you should invite Cindy for the weekend to help you stencil the floor. Think what a lovely treat that would be for all of us to see in pictures the next day.

    1. HI Marilyn,
      Oh my goodness, if Cindy lived closer, we’d be doing projects ALL the time I imagine… She’s already got a few things lined out for when she comes next month. She’s going to paint my mom’s hutch a color… not sure what yet, but momma wants a change for it…
      I’m wanting desperately to paint my bedroom floor. I already have the stencil and have practiced it in my closet… I just need to get brave and do it…
      Thanks Marilyn,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  5. You go girl!

    I think the paint would be perfect on the floors! It’s called SW Stamped Concrete and it comes in floor paint at Sherwin-Williams!!!!!!!!!!

    Your home is filled with love and that’s the very best decoration!

    karianne

    1. Thank you KariAnne,
      I’ve been wanting to paint some of our floors and already have the stencils for our bedroom but have just been too chicken to give it a try… I might get braver when I see your girls room…
      Thanks so much,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  6. I loved your blog today as I’m all about cleaning, sorting and organizing. You and George really worked hard but I’m telling you, your living room sparkles. Although, I suspect your house is always spotless and organized. You are a hard worker in all aspects and then you volunteer on top of that. Bless you.
    My problem is I run out of steam while doing the cleaning and organization. It just takes me longer now but it gets done. My husband too, is such a help around the house. I have a list of chores, errands and projects and it seems for every few things I accomplish, I end up adding a few more to the list.
    Congratulations to Linda for being the winner of the sparkling netted slip. She will certainly enjoy it – or I should say her doll will.
    Excellent pouch for your rulers. It’s neat coming up with ideas that help one’s hobbies or work space. We always strive for that helpful aid, don’t we?

    1. Thank you Paula,
      Well, I’ll tell you right now, my living room isn’t sparkling but it’s cleaner than it was… and no, my house is not always spotless and organized… I’m a seamstress…remember… we tend to want to sew more than clean house… so company makes for a good reason to clean… deeply…
      Cleaning can be exhausting… that’s why I should get a system in place and do it in increments and not all in 2 days time… and I just did the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom and sort of hit my sewing room…
      I like my new ruler pouch too… It’s much neater than what I was using before… :o)
      Thanks Paula,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  7. My mom had a hard time walking so they took out the carpet throughout her trailer but they painted the floor one color. They just rolled it on and it wasn’t bad at all. They had no money to do any type of flooring and it looked very presentable. Like everything you do it upgrade.

    1. HI Kath,
      We ran out of money too, before our house was finished… so we are patiently waiting on what to do next. I’d like to have hardwood floors but my hubby is ready to just give in and have carpet installed…I want to wait… so for now we have nothing down… we’re used to it and yesterday my hubby mopped the plywood with Murphy’s soap… It cleans the wood and gives it a nice fresh smell…
      Maybe some day…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  8. Good Morning Jeanne,
    First things first CONGRATS to Linda … two years trying you so deserve it! I love the way you worded that your son works on computers doing something or other. My boy does the same thing… I’m gonna steal your wording when someone asks.
    Jeanne.. What a busy day you had .. wow you certainly got a ton done. I feel like a slacker LOL I had PT yesterday. (I was in a car accident last August and have some things going on which have me side lined.) After PT I’m normally wiped out but the sun was shining which made me feel so good that I took Harley (my Black Lab) for a walk in the yard. It was the perfect day here in NY, I even pulled a few weeds. I came in and dusted off my chair with my fanny. Stick a fork in me cause I was done! I love that you shared your home with us thank you. Our first home was built in the late 1800’s, we lived in a work in progress for years so I know the feeling. The trim around the windows and the flooring were the last things we got to. I love the blue cabinet, I’m sure you are happy that it is finally completely done. Hope you enjoy your company PS.. I was looking forward to you bragging on your children.. hint hint
    Have a great day! Ingrid

    1. HI Ingrid,
      I guess we were both working on our houses yesterday… it doesn’t matter how little or much you get accomplished… just so we get something done… it sounds like you did.
      Yes, trim and flooring are pretty expensive…that’s why I’ve been looking into painting the floors…
      Thanks so much Ingrid,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  9. Congratulations to Linda for winning the slip. Since she has Molly, it is perfect. So glad she finally won. 🙂 I didn’t get to your post yesterday because I spent the entire day outside mowing the lawn and doing various other clean up activities. The inside gets done today because we are expecting thunderstorms.
    Your home looks wonderfully cozy. So nice that your cabinet now has glass doors to keep your treasures dust free.

    1. HI Laura,
      I know when the weather cooperates you have to get out and do outside work whether you want to or not…I’m sure you wanted to…
      Thanks for your nice compliments on my house…it’s really a work in progress… and probably always will be…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  10. Oh my, I thought I was reading Martha Stewart Magazine. Have you seen her calendar? All the cleaning etc. but includes cardio and a horse back ride. Did you do those too?
    All of the chores and then stop! Must make a holder for my rulers. You are so funny.
    Your house is lovely.
    Glad Linda’s the winner. Hope her dolly enjoys.

    1. Hi Joy,
      Oh dear… if you thought you were reading Martha Stewart Magazine… you are sorely mistaken and I’m in big trouble…
      No I haven’t seen her calendar and probably don’t want to.. she’d put me to shame I’m sure…
      It’s a funny thing how I have to try and include some kind of sewing in my day… no matter what it is…
      Thank you for your kind words about my house… even though it’s not perfect, it’s home…and we like it very much. My hubby fell in love with the yard and I fell in love with the house…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  11. What an industrious day you had yesterday, Jeanne! Doesn’t it feel good to have a clean house? I wish you’d come over and clean mine; you are quite good at it. LOL! Everything looks neat as a pin beautiful and perfect!
    I think I might have that same fabric that you used for your ruler pocket. My sister used to work in a furniture store and would bring home all of the old sample books instead of letting them go in the trash.
    Congrats to Linda for winning Molly’s slip!

    1. HI Cindy,
      It does feel good to have a clean house and I’ve made “another” vow to keep it this way for the hundredth time…again…
      That’s funny about possibly having the same fabric as me… Cindy got her “samples” at a Rescue Mission there in Gettysburg…
      Thanks so much Cindy,
      Blessings, Jeanne

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