2 things

Number One: I have started a Cleaning Calendar in Google calendars. One thing about not having a set schedule is that it seems like the work is never-ending. Housework sucks because you have to do the same things over and over. It seems like I JUST cleaned something and now it needs doing again (needs done...tee hee). but guess what? I THINK I clean something more than I really clean it. So for now I'm using the CC as more of a Cleaning Journal. Keeping track of what I do each day. Eventually I might schedule things to tackle on specific days, but right now it's more of a TA-DA list and a reality check.

Number Two: I am culling cookbooks and deciding what to put back into the kitchen. These have been sitting in a ox for 2 months, and some up in a hard to reach cabinet for a LOT longer than that. I went through a couple church/girl scout/fundraiser cookbooks and only saved the pages with recipes I think sound good. Also came up with 5 recipes to make during the next week or two and added their ingredients to my shopping list. Now off to the store. It's almost pathetic how good it feels to do this!

I'm a barkeeper

I must be a barkeeper, because barkeepers Friend is my new good friend.

I have been having a lot of trouble getting the discolored areas out of the tubs from our iron filled well water. I have tried disinfectant wipes (ha - only in my dreams would something so easy actually work!) and Soft Scrub (a little better but not very effective), a lot of elbow grease with a scrub brush and SS (wore out the scrub brush and got rid of the worst of the stains). Still, not the sparkling clean tubs that were here when we moved in. Either the people before us didn't shower, or SHE knew a trick I didn't.

So, drawing on my experience working at a library and covering in the reference department, I did what works best - start asking people who know. Well, actually, I only ended up asking Chris because as it turns out, she had the answer that led me to my answer - "Comet". OK, a step more aggressive from SS. A little scary on fiberglass, but with the attitude I learned from my sister (If it's already ruined, you might as well try something radical - practical experience from when she melted a plastic spoon onto a electric coil stove burner) I went to my cleaning supplies and grabbed the Comet. Only it turns out it wasn't Comet, it was barkeeper's Friend, a cleaner I got a couple years ago to clean my glass top range.

Enter the magic....

I used this stuff with a damp scrub brush and a wet tub and the stains came out. Even more impressive - the stained nickel drain plugs came clean. SS had never even touched those and I had written them off as stained for good. AND it took the yellow tinge out of the porcelain bathroom sink and the yellow off that metal drain.

When something looks dirty it feels dirty, no matter how much you've scoured it. So it was a happy ending. And calling myself a barkeeper sounds a lot cooler than saying I finally got my grubby tubs clean.

What are you calling this Blog???

It's just a series of names that will make sense to you if you followed Earthly Delights for a while.

The thing is, I'm a little bashful posting on Facebook about what's really usually on my mind - cooking, cleaning, organizing, and actually liking my husband. I can just feel those feminists and working moms rolling their eyes at me.

So this is a place for me to write about what I'm doing and how and why I'm doing it. What works and doesn't.

I'm guessing I won't have many followers - but that's OK. A select group that can sympathize and contribute is more than enough!