Showing posts with label housewife. Show all posts

Goals Update

1. Lose weight -  I am down 20 pounds since Christmas!  I am not sure if it is noticeable, but I feel better! I have lost 8 lbs since starting my goal after Christmas!
2. Get in the best shape of my life - My elliptical and treadmill is still out of commission, but now we are waiting to move it into the basement when it is finished.  Hopefully that will be done in the next month!  Instead of working out inside, I have been taking more walks and even try jogging some! Unfortunately our exercise equipment is out of commission while the floor in My Purple Palace is waiting to be finished.
3. Eat healthier - I haven't eaten many more vegetables, but there is definitely an improvement in the quality of food I eat!  I hope to eat more green beans and carrots this year! (Small steps for the picky eater)
4. Stay in touch with friends better - I think I have done better.  I try to message or text friends occasionally to see how they are doing.  There is still room for improvement.  Now that we are grown up, my friends are scattered all over the state, country, and world.  Facebook, texting, etc. help, but how often do we not take the time to actually have a conversation?
5. Keep the house ready for company at all times - The house is pretty clean right now.  I might be getting the hang of this housewife thing!  I currently have the house as clean as it can be for having one room completely emptied into the living room!
6. Do one load of laundry - This hasn't been happening, but I try to do just one load a day so I am not overwhelmed.  (Thanks for the idea, Kelly!)
7. Do the dishes every morning - When I am home in the morning, I usually get the dishes cleaned.  It makes the day so much better!  It sure makes the kitchen feel better to have everything clean and put away!
8. Take a picture of something with my camera...EVERY DAY -  This is probably my worst category.  I rarely get my camera out for everyday life when I have my cellphone with me at all times.  I want to have a record of everything that happens this year!
9. Learn a new skill each month - I have started making dishcloths, dish scrubbies, and coasters, as well as learned the ripple stitch.  To practice sewing I converted to sewing my fabric strips together.  Sometime this year I am going to tackle some curtains. :) I am going to learn a new crochet stitch or pattern and maybe pick up sewing!
10. Cook at least one new recipe a month - I don't know if I have tried a new recipe each month, but I have done my best!  I am a picky eater so I tend to cook in my comfort zone. 
11. Write more - I haven't found a pen pal yet.  Anyone want a pen pal? I would like to start writing a letter with a friend, like a pen pal!
12. Finish our house projects - We have the purple room finished!  The basement is about half done and the second bathroom is prepped for a new layer of mud.  The work is being completed slowly.  We have a long list!  It is all written down and ready to have projects checked off the list.
13. Have an open house for friends and family when our house is finished - We still have a long way to go.  I would love to get it all done this year, but I doubt that will happen.  Goal for 2015? I would love to have my family and friends come up to see our house when it is finished!  Be ready for an invite!
14. Get more involved in the community -  I have gotten more involved through church and my barn quilt block classes.  I love meeting new people!  Vacation Bible School at our church this summer is being planned by a friend in the church and me.  Hopefully it will be a success!  We want to get more involved in the community and church this year!

And an obvious goal for life, cherish every day with Redbeard, Scraggly, Andie, and Custer - I have enjoyed every day with the four guys in our house!  I am very lucky to call them my family!  I must enjoy every day this year!

agronomygirl

Plant Some Roots and Some Apple Trees

We got our new anniversary apple trees planted!  One is Yellow Delicious and the other is Red Delicious.  Our orchard consists of two pear trees and two apple trees now! Thank you mom and dad for our trees!

Redbeard did all of the planting for me.  Thanks to him for doing the heavy lifting!  I am so excited to see our orchard grow!  Our orchard will double in the next month again.  We have two Honeycrisp apple trees and two peach trees on their way!  I can't wait to start harvesting fruit in a few years!

Planting apple tree one


Apple tree # 2 is in the ground!
Our pear trees are getting ready to grow a lot this spring and summer, or least I hope so!  We are so excited to have a little orchard!

One of our pear trees from last year.
What other fruit trees should we add to our orchard?

agronomygirl

The Wallpaper Must GO!!!!

Today as I was herding cats out of the "other bathroom" I decided the outdated wallpaper had its last night and it would be gone by tonight.  Redbeard thought this was a hefty task to complete by myself in an afternoon, but I set out to prove him wrong!

Don't mind the cat trying to steal wallpaper!
Redbeard did the first tear right before he left.  This is when we realized there were two layers of wallpaper.  Ugh!!!!

It was a good run, Mr. and Mrs. Wallpaper
Luckily it came off easily!  In less than an hour, all the wallpaper was gone.

This isn't so bad!
And now our bare walls!  We will use joint compound, like we did in our kitchen, to start with a fresh wall.  Then to paint our new walls!  I can't wait to get this room finished!  It will need some new flooring eventually, also.

Ahh, fresh walls to add our own touch!

I want to get to work tonight!
Any guesses for the new theme for our bathroom?

agronomygirl

How To Use Citristrip

As I mentioned in Working Through the Layers, one product out performed the other three I used.  The product was Citristrip!  I thought I would share what worked best for us when we were using the product.

The wonderful product!


1. Wash and dry the floor

2. The directions call for a light sanding before applying Citristrip.  I didn't do any sanding and it worked great!

3. You are ready to spread Citristrip! I didn't have to apply the product thick for it to work.  I used a paint brush to spread the orange goo out on the floor evenly.  It is important to work with the correct area size.  You have to be able to reach every inch of the treated area.

4. I sprayed the area applied with water right away and 20-30 minutes later.

5. After spraying the area for a second time, use a plastic scraping tool if working with wood surfaces.  Since Citristrip works so well, there shouldn't be a need for anything other than plastic.

6. Wash the area off and you are ready to refinish the surface as you would like.

I hope your finished product looks at nice as ours ended up!

I will share the next step in our floor restoring project as soon as we get to it!

Good luck to any brave people attempting restoring wood floors!

agronomygirl

Working Through the Layers

I am about halfway through the first step of restoring and refinishing our hardwood floors from 1950 and have already learned a lot!  The product used to take the polyurethane/varnish off the floor matters. Not all stripping agents are alike.  In fact, I have found they are EXTREMELY different in how effective they are.

We used 3M Safest Stripper, Back to Nature Ready Strip, Citristrip Stripping Gel, and Zinsser StripFast.  I set up a side by side comparison, but the results were so disappointing I am not going to share it.  Two of these products didn't even begin to loosen the finish and one didn't work very well.  The fourth product is amazing.  It works the quickest and by far most effective.

Here are the products we used

This is after the first product we used
After using the Zinsser StripFast, the finish started to loosen.  It worked okay, but it was not worth the time putting it on.  Also, the goo (look and felt like snot) had to be applied extremely thick to get results.  The fumes from this product is why it took so long for us to start the project.  We had to have the windows open and it was still too much.  I didn't feel that it was safe to use, especially since it didn't work very well.

This is what the wood looks like underneath!

Bye bye yellow, old polyurethane!!!
With our health on my mind, I went looking for a better product.  Back to Nature Ready Strip and 3M Safest Stripper claimed to have zero harmful fumes and work well.  I knew I would need two containers of either product and there was only one of the shelf, so I bought both.  After a few trys and 24 hours, we determined that the products weren't doing anything.  ZERO!!!!  I happened to see another option as I was choosing between products.  It was called Citristrip.  To be honest I thought it wouldn't work at all and was a waste of money, but I decided anything was worth a try.  We applied it to the floor and surprisingly the finish scrapped right off.

The next picture shows the difference between the first product and the winner.  On the left is where we started with the Zinsser and then used 3M Safest Stripper and when that didn't work we finished up with Citristrip.  In the middle where the wood looks healthiest is where we used just Citristrip.  I love the results!

Hello pretty wood underneath (left) and goodbye to the yellow finish. (right)


When we get the whole floor stripped I will wash the floor up and post about the progress to then.  After the floor is washed and prepped, we will put a product called Restor-a-Finish to recolor the wood.  Then it will be time to add Polycrylic which will not yellow over time.  (Woohoo!)

To see previous posts about this room:
My purple palace
Wood Floors Prepared

agronomygirl

14 Goals to Accomplish in 2014

It is a new year!  Time to put goals on paper to forget or fail at, right?  This year is different.  (I hope!) I have goals and I intend to keep up with it!  Will you join my challenge?  Use my goals or edit them to fit you!  I plan to give updates along the way.

2013 was a great year, let's make this one even better!

1. Lose weight - I have lost 8 lbs since starting my goal after Christmas!
2. Get in the best shape of my life - Unfortunately our exercise equipment is out of commission while the floor in My Purple Palace is waiting to be finished.
3. Eat healthier - I hope to eat more green beans and carrots this year! (Small steps for the picky eater)
4. Stay in touch with friends better - Now that we are grown up, my friends are scattered all over the state, country, and world.  Facebook, texting, etc. help, but how often do we not take the time to actually have a conversation.
5. Keep the house ready for company at all times - I currently have the house as clean as it can be for having one room completely emptied into the living room!
6. Do one load of laundry - (Thanks for the idea, Kelly!)
7. Do the dishes every morning - It sure makes the kitchen feel better to have everything clean and put away!
8. Take a picture of something with my camera...EVERY DAY - I want to have a record of everything that happens this year!
9. Learn a new skill each month - I am going to learn a new crochet stitch or pattern and maybe pick up sewing!
10. Cook at least one new recipe a month - I am a picky eater so I tend to cook in my comfort zone. 
11. Write more - I would like to start writing a letter with a friend, like a pen pal!
12. Finish our house projects - We have a long list!  It is all written down and ready to have projects checked off the list.
13. Have an open house for friends and family when our house is finished - I would love to have my family and friends come up to see our house when it is finished!  Be ready for an invite!
14. Get more involved in the community - We want to get more involved in the community and church this year!
And an obvious goal for life, cherish every day with Redbeard, Scraggly, Andie, and Custer - I am very lucky to call them my family!  I must enjoy every day this year!

Join me on my year long journey to be a better me by January 1, 2015!

agronomygirl

Wood Floors Prepared

The room is cleared and the floors are washed!  It is time to refinish the wood floors in my Purple Palace!  Here is a peek of what the room looks like today.  I am anxious to get to work, but cleaning up after Christmas comes first!  I will settle for sharing the before pictures!

Floors vacuumed and supplies out and ready!
I am excited for all the scratches and imperfections to be history!  Hopefully we know what we are doing!

My mom found grey curtains that work perfectly with the purple walls!  Redbeard put them up for me and I love them!
My new curtains are finally up!  Woohoo!
 Next up I will share the products we are using to make my dream room complete!

For a look at the process, check out My Purple Palace.

agronomygirl

How to Clean Your House in Nine Minutes

I got this idea from a blog I follow, Red Dirt in My Soul.  She says distractions come easy to her.  She started setting a timer while cleaning for motivation.  I thought to myself, "I am easily distr....oh look, my hot pink, orange, and purple shoes, aren't they pretty?"  Now what was I saying?  It is very easy for me to start one task and end up finishing something else instead.  A few days later I wonder how I never got said task completed.

So how do you clean your house in nine minutes?  Easy, set a timer for nine minutes and get to work. Each room has a time limit and when you hear the buzzer, it is time to go to the next room.  I tend to get inspired under a time limit so it is hard for me to stop at just the nine minutes...even if I get to do it all over again tomorrow.  I have added the nine minute "wildcard" time.  It is nine minutes for me to go around the house to finish up any tasks I was in the middle of.

My bedroom and office piles from the bathroom
Purse pile!

When I start in a room, I immediately work on the clutter.  This is the easiest part to get quick results.  I make a pile system.  Kitchen here, bedroom there, bathroom over here.  By doing this, I don't waste time running from room to room.  I can use the wild card time to pick up all the bathroom piles and put them away and so on with each pile.  When the clutter is cleaned up, I start deep cleaning...washing countertops, toilet, coffee table, etc and organizing drawers and closets.  The first day there isn't much time to deep clean.  (If you are like me and have a lot of junk sitting around.)  Tomorrow there will be more time to wash countertops and your house will start looking cleaner!  I am amazed at the difference I have seen in the house in just a few days.  I even do a timer for washing dishes.  So far I have finished all dishes in nine minutes with time to spare.  It doesn't seem as bad when you know you are only going to do it for nine minutes.  I intend to keep this up for a long time!  Plus, I have more time to crochet and craft, which lets face it, is all that really matters. ;)

I got everything put away and the counter washed off in nine minutes

The only Christmas decoration we have up...I have high hopes for more...we will see.
So, I can't clean my entire house in nine minutes, but I can clean my house in nine minutes x the number of rooms!  Today I cleaned up the bathroom, did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and made lunch after I got home at 11am.  The food was ready by noon (with the help of the microwave on defrost.)

What housecleaning tips do you have?  I am always looking to find a new routine for our crazy lives!

agronomygirl

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