Sunday, January 11

Odds and Ends + a Visitor


Look who came to visit yesterday. I was washing windows in my den and he flew down to the deck and sat there long enough for me to take six photos, but this was the only one that turned out well enough to show. He and his mate live in a forsythia bush that grows just off the upper deck. They are wary, since we have cats who sometimes go outside, but today he must have known they were safely indoors. Or maybe he was heavily invested in the stock market and he was hoping they'd put an end to his misery?















Casa Kenju super-cleaning 2009 is coming right along, as they say. Isn't it amazing/awful how much grime can settle on mirrors, picture frame glass and blinds? We don't smoke or use gas heat, so where does it come from? Today I washed more glassware and thinned out a few more pieces from my collections. I finally had to admit that there is stuff here I can live without. Boxes are accumulating, people! Coming to a Goodwill near you. (Or maybe eb*y? or a garage sale?) One more room to go on the first floor and then I move to the top!

16 comments:

Fran aka Redondowriter said...

Every other Monday a wonderful woman named Sonia comes to help me clean house. This Monday I've asked her to tackle cleaning the exterior of the kitchen and bathroom cupboards; we'll work together. Then they'll be sealed with pine oil. Spring must be coming.

I love your jokes and your beautiful bird who is actually checking out the territory to see if a groundhog's shadow is nearby.

Anonymous said...

I L O V E your new header picture!
It is so fresh and welcoming.

I had a giggle at the cartoons and I know of a bungalow that could do with some of your magic! ;)

Tabor said...

My husband and I also did some long needed cleaning...mirrors, mopping floors, etc. Must be something about being cooped up together that makes us busy. I also cleaned out my tiny walk-in pantry and that was a big deal! Too bad we can't get together for a cup of coffee and brag.

awareness said...

De-cluttering for the new year? It must be all the rage! I'm in the process of "letting go" of some things around here which until recently I didn't think I could live without. Now? They just seem like invaders of space.

Can't wait for spring.....!

Granny Annie said...

We were talking the other evening about our lack of Cardinals. We haven't seen one since we moved here! But then again, we do have a herd of cats.

Kay Dennison said...

When you get done, Judy, you can come help me with mine!!!! LOL

Your cardinal looks just like the one who lives in the tree across the street in the summer here!

Anonymous said...

Judy,

Your post about sorting out and getting rid of things you no longer need reminds me of the story about my daughter's wedding dress.

Carol was married in 1976 and had a beautiful wedding and a lovely wedding dress. After the wedding we had the dress cleaned and sealed in a big box that you could not open without destroying the seal. It stayed in our storage room for years. never looked at and never opened.

In 1996, 20 years later, she decided she no longer wanted the dress so just out of curiousity we opened the box, and the dress and slips and tiara and veil were all in absolutely perfect condition.

What to do with it? We decided to donate it to the Salvation Army. I had it on a hanger covered with plastic and headed for Main St. and the Salvation Army store.

As I took the dress out of the back of my car a very nice Black man came running up saying," Are you giving that dress to the SA?"
I told him I was and he explained to me that his daughter was being married in a few months and asked what size the dress was and he was amazed that his daughter and mine were exactly the same size and the dress would be perfect for her. "Will you sell it to me?",he asked. I told him that my intention was to donate it to the SA but that he should come with me and buy it from them.

We took the dress in and a great fuss was made over the beautiful dress and the staff went in the back to determine what they should charge for it. They came back and told the man the price and he said he would gladly pay that. He gave them the money and left with the dress and all the extras with it, but he didn't leave before asking for my name and address which I told him.

A few months went by and I had forgotten all about it when I got a large envelope in the mail. It was a wedding picture. And in the picture was a beautiful Black bride in my Carol's dress and I was so thrilled tears streamed down my face when I saw how gorgeous she looked and how happy that dress had made her.

So we were all winners. Me, Carol, the Salvation Army, the dad and the lovely young bride who made us all so proud.....

Mojo said...

Way to ambitious for me. But I really REALLY need to do something similar.

Love the 'toons! Just perfect.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Since relocating several times in a short time I got rid of a lot of things. Do not miss any of it. Going through items once more as I may downscale again. Yard sale in the past. Never again. When I give to someone I feel better.
I do not know where the dust comes from in this home of One Woman.

Rick Rockhill said...

that bird is so sweet, I love wild birds and would feed them all if I could!

We did some major house cleaning a week ago when we had guests over. Wow I was exhausted from the cleaning work.

Evil Twin's Wife said...

We just did a major purge yesterday as well. It feels good to let go of "stuff".

JeanMac said...

I loved those cartoons.I, too, am weeding out stuff - then i go buy some thing "I have to have." Go figure - but I'm trying:)

Hale McKay said...

Judy,

Great shot of that cardinal! We have a pair that hand out in our back yard in the winter months. They've been returning every year for some time. They like the seed-suet bells we hand from the Rose-of-Sharon shrub-trees out back.

I've tried on many occasions to capture them on film, but the camera is never at hand when they are dining.

Pat said...

I often wonder it MTL thinks like the husband in the cartoon:) If so tough! Love the bird.
Re your cleaning the WV is mopham

Anonymous said...

We started on an early spring deep clean today ourselves. The dry weather here has really produced a lot of dust!
Aren't the Cardinals a wonderful respite from the winter blahs?

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I think it is AMAZING that you are doing this Major Cleaning Judy....I cannot tell ytou how much I admire your tenacity!
CONGRATULATIONS on finding stuff you can get rid of...and Good Luck getting rid of it....lol!