I've been cleaning!

The pictures got on here all backwards, but I wanted to show some progress on my work around home lately. I didn't get pictures of the canned peaches, apricots, peach pie filling, apricot nectar, etc., but use your imagination. A friend came over the other day and I sooooo wished I had a gate at the driveway so no one could see what I did!
For some reason, (is it becomes I'm blonde or left-handed or ???) I start a project like spring cleaning in the fall, rip everything out of everywhere, have a huge mess that looks like I have no reason to it at all, and it just keeps growing until it takes over the whole house. Then someone shows up lol.


I had brought home the fruit from Yakima, started then, went to the back of the house to get something from the sewing/craft/project room, known that day as the disaster zone, and suddenly decided to clean it while canning?????? Well, after tearing into it, I got the fruit into the jars, got them going, started the timing, kept some jars ready to go into the canner, kept cleaning up the other room....somehow I got through the weekend. I took me two days to clean out my sewing room! I think I have more needles than 10 people would use in a life time! I got my fabric organized so I feel like doing something with it. I didn't even get pictures of the sewing part! That took me one whole day! I have tubs of wool, b/c I am a beginner rug-hooker. But I got it narrowed down from the mess I had it in. I have a collection of tatting patterns from my Grandma that I couldn't part with it. But I did part with I won't tell you how many bags of stuff, and let me tell you, it felt good. I didn't get a picture of my Etsy shop stuff, but I had a mess. I had expired stuff mixed with current stuff and it was in too many places for comfort finding it when it sold lol. So, I feel great about that. Now it will be more fun getting my listing on, which I need to do more of.


I found these suitcases a few weeks ago. Neat leather ones. I think they're going to be sold, haven't decided yet, but for now, they're on my porch. And my porch is getting it next! I need to get the Americana down and get some fall out there. This sewing machine, I got for $10. at a sale, it had a very musty smell that I just couldn't stand. I cleaned it up and put it on the porch for the summer to air out. NOW it can go to my sewing room, unless I decide to part with it, too. I'm just in a getting-rid-of-mood I guess! The geraniums at the top are ones my mom and sis got me. I don't know why, but when I first got them, they were loaded with blooms, then for a month or more I had no blossoms at all! Now, they're blossoming again and I'm loving them.
See this table? Well, last week you couldn't! It's just waiting for me to make a mess on! Don't look at the walls, I didn't do anything with them yet! You'd be proud of me if you saw it before, but I couldn't stand the shame to take the picture.

I found this neat suitcase at our church rummage sale. I put "shelves" in it and put some scrappy supply stuff in it, and some stuff I'm learning to do b/c my wonderful friend Natalie showed me how to solder. Thanks Natalie, I'm still working on it!
My kids think this room is for all of us???? I keep trying to tell them, it's mine, but then there's a part of me that loves to see them being creative and I give in and let them use it. But I'm trying very hard to teach them to put stuff away. Why is it so hard to teach a kid to put away craft stuff when I have such a hard time with it myself??? B/C they're learning it from their mother I guess. I do wish though, that it would eventually bother them and they'd just WANT to go back and clean up their mess.

See this desk? You couldn't last week. I know there are still a ton of books there, but I need them. I know I haven't finished putting my buttons and things away on the top, but the bag is holding a project for my porch chairs, the boxes have important cards and paper dolls and stuff. But let me tell you, it's so much better and I can get inspired now!
See this set of house plans? My son got some plans for a house my husband built for some people and decided he wanted to make some plans, too. For a 10 year old using just a ruler, I thought it looked pretty good. But do you know where this project is? He was laying on the floor in the middle of my room. I guess he was inspired b/c he could find the floor lol. No kidding, I had boxes all over in there of stuff I have to sell for Etsy and stuff I want to do. Now it's all organized and off the floor yippee!
See this window? It's a bay in my room. You wouldn't have found it last week! Now the kids want to sit there and do read or do craft stuff. Well, ok, but clean up what you get out. The shovel, one of my boys bought me for Mother's Day. It's one of those things that isn't really "me", but when I look at it, it tugs at my heart b/c he made his dad take him into our local Hi-School Pharmacy and get it for me b/c he thought it was my perfect gift. I have a few things like that. Like the glass candy dish from the dollar store that HAS to have a prominent place in my dining room. But it's a heart thing and I love it.
Yesterday, I got my pantry cleaned out, and today I'm on to the back porch and getting the hot tub cleaned that I already emptied and refilled. It feels good. I love fall, but I don't want summer to end, b/c I don't want fall to come and go. I try to stretch summer out a long time, then stretch fall out until the holiday, have one month of winter, then back to spring. That's if I had it my way!