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Archive through June 04, 2006

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Jan. 2007 ~ Mar. 2007: Home and Garden: TVCH's Home & Life Organization (ARCHIVES): Archive through June 04, 2006 users admin

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Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 1:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Ahhh, the joy of housework...neverending for sure, Wargod. I like the 15 minutes on thing for those chores that seem overwhelming, too. Of course a clean house is easier to keep clean so don't let down on the routines...they're very quick and they keep everything humming along smoothly. BTW, War, I am delighted to read that you do have some afternoon down time. Phew!

P.S. How's the laundry doing, MameBee?

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 8:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
I've got what is probably going to amount to the stupidest question ever asked here, lol.

I want to take my blinds in the den down and scrub them and I'm thinking about doing it today. Depends on when the trash man comes and if I can pull my car out into the street cuz I'll do it in the driveway. As I'm thinking about this and looking at the blinds though, I just realized I have no clue how to take them down! I know they come down without having to remove the hardware but sitting here looking at them, each end is sitting inside the little box type thingie (cap?) and I can't figure out how the heck to get them out. Anyone know?

Penguingirl
Member

01-26-2006

Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 1:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Penguingirl a private message Print Post    
The ones in my sunroom have a hinge on the frontside of the cap that you lift up or to the side so you can pull the whole blind out. The cap usually has a little lip that helps move the "door". The blinds in the rest of my house have a little groove along the top that the blind slides into and a clip on the back that snaps it into place. And I use to have blinds that had a sliding panel on the cap that you could just remove and take the whole blind off. Hope that makes sense. Good luck.

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 2:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dipo a private message Print Post    
LOL, Wargod, not really stupid, I have been wondering how to get them down myself. The ones in my bedroom are filty!!! Thanks penguingirl!!!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 7:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
LOL glad to know I'm not the only one, Dipo! It was really bugging me that I didn't know how.

They do indeed slide out (the little thingie on the front of the cap that is.) Thank you Penguingirl! I got lazy today and didn't do it. But, wouldn't have been able to anyways. The winds been going nuts today, I'd have been soaked worse than the blinds, lol. I'm hoping tomorrow it dies down some so I can do it then while the kids aren't home.

How do they get so filthy? I dust mine everytime I dust the furniture in the den and wash them a couple times a year but I always know when it's time to really clean them again cuz they look awful.

Penguingirl
Member

01-26-2006

Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 11:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Penguingirl a private message Print Post    
yw

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, May 05, 2006 - 9:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Someone shoot me please! I took down two sets of blinds in the den, oh man they're filthy and they shouldn't be, lol! Got two more to go and then I'll take them out to wash them down.

Typical of me though, as I'm taking them down I'm decluttering around the desks, next around the kids bookcase and then they're tv. I'm making a bigger mess than when I started! This morning my den was clean. The floor was swept and still looked decent after Wednesdays mopping. Now I have a pile of crap in the middle of the floor, I've managed to get the tile filthy, I've got stuff that needs to be put away sitting on the desk, the wood burning stove, the chairs. I'm looking around in shock at what I've done to myself, lol.

As I'm taking down the blinds though I was thinking, I love this room. 3 big windows, one small windows, and two doors leading outside. On days like this, I can open all the windows and one door and have a nice cooler breeze blowing through, plus with the blinds open this room is so nice and bright in the day. Then I remembered, I have two sets of sheer curtains in the closet. So I took one out and hung them up on the window behind my desk looking out to the backyard. I love it. I can see out to the back and no worry about blinds, plus it lets the light through (now if only my backyard garden was nice and neat and planted it'd be an awesome view!) I went to hang up the second set, thinking, I can buy another two sets of sheer curtains and do away with the blinds. WRONG! It dawned on me that the fence is four feet away from my den, seperating our yard from the neighbors. Two of my big windows face their house/backyard, and the small window faces the front yard and street. Now I really don't see my neighbors standing on something, but if they did they'd see straight through my house. Or someone from the street looking over the fence would see straight into the den. I love the sheer curtains on the one window and would love to have them on the other three but I really don't want people to be able to look through the house all the time. I thought about hanging the blinds, then putting the sheers on over them, but what would be the point? I can hang regular curtains too I guess, but I really don't want to give up the sheers on the window behind my desk now that I see them up and love them either!

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Friday, May 05, 2006 - 9:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Sounds as if you have found a great solution, Wargod and a more attractive one, too. Why can't you have the sheers by day and the blinds by night? That's what I do in one corner of my living room. (I love blinds for privacy, but they are awful to keep clean.)

My blinds' story from hell was the year I offered to clean all the blinds at church...over 30 of them. Ackkkkk. Never again!

I fashioned a cleaning station in my back yard by putting two nails upright into the fence so I could hang them. Then I used the window brush to scrub them down on both sides and finally rinsing them with the garden hose. It took me hours. I hauled them all back to church and hung them wet with the fans on full speed. They looked a lot better, but I wasn't church material after doing that job. LOL!

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Friday, May 05, 2006 - 10:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Now I am wondering if this doesn't look so great...oh well! I keep the blinds pulled up during the day...I don't like the look of open blinds.

C
blinds up

C
blinds down

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, May 05, 2006 - 10:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
it looks just fine vee. it's what i do when i'm home during the day.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, May 05, 2006 - 11:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
I like that. Hehe, and silly me, I didn't even think about raising the blinds up during the day!

My sis called and asked what I was doing. When I told her she wanted to know how you clean blinds. She'd been told to raise them up, take them down and throw them in the shower but couldn't figure out how that would get them clean. I told her to take them down, lay them on the concrete or hang them up and spray. She called back a few minutes later to tell me she didn't like me anymore cuz it was a pita job, lol! She started with the one set then called back to tell me she really didn't like me because once she did that one she had to do the rest in the house.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 4:59 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Wargod, I hope that you and your sis have made amends. LOL!

FlyLady is offering a free household maintainance downloadable journal *Here* for those of you who might be into a household journal. I love mine! But, at 41 pages, I don't think that I'll be downloading this particular file.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 11:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
This isn't really organizing technically, but I need some advice.

We're getting ready for some major renovation here. We're having our roof torn off down to the rafters (nothing between us and the sky, lol!) and I'm not quite sure what to do to prepare.

The kids are going to have to go away for a few days, probably moms cuz she's as close to their school as we are, because with Kota's asthma she won't be able to be anywhere near here. At least no way in heck I'm risking her having breathing problems.

I figure this is going to be a huge mess with dust and dirt in the house and need to figure out how to cut down on this if possible. Anyone have any tips or hint?

Would it help to cover all the furniture and carpets? Take down curtains? Bag up clothes and linens from the closets?

I've been so antsy all weekend cuz I keep thinking, there's so much to do but I'm not really sure exactly what I should be doing. We've been doing home renovations since we bought the house but nothing on this scale. Our biggest project so far has been replacing the backyard fence so I'm not even quite sure what to expect with something this big that will effect the house itself.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 3:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Ohhhh, I'm sorry that I haven't seen your post before now. I wish that I knew how to advise you, but I have never had those kinds of major renovations to do. Your questions lead me to believe, though, that you have some excellent ideas such as covering the furniture and the carpets and bagging up clothes, linens, and stuffed animals, too.

Question: Is there at least an attic between you and the sky?

Best wishes as you begin this next big project...we want pictures!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 7:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Nope, no attic. We have one small crawl space in the hallway that's really not a crawl space, lol. It's just a small opening between roof and ceiling with some pipes and a water valve and that's it. We should have done this last year but when we hit fall and still hadn't found a contractor we knew we'd have to wait, no way was I having no roof during the cold weather.

Someone told me they'd do the tarping of furniture and floors, thats a relief. I'm still planning on bagging up anything else that might possibly collect any type of dust or dirt though.

This has been a project more than a year in the waiting. We've had the roof completely tarped off, then retarred to last through this past winter. We've removed ceiling tiles and ripped out carpets. I can't wait to have it finished.

I have some before pics I'll see if I can find later and post them, at least pics of what we're dealing with in the house. After pics may have to wait a bit. The contractors are doing the roof, but Darren and my bil (and probably a couple other guys once I con them into it, lol) will be putting in insulation (something I'm so excited about I can't stand it since we have none in this house!) and then putting in a new ceiling. We have a drop ceiling, which I hate, but by the time they are done I'll have a nice normal, higher ceiling and insulation! While the roof guys should be done fairly quickly, the ceiling will probably take much longer since we'll have to work around Darren and the guys schedules. Oh and talking them out of things I don't want, lol. My bils a heat/air guy and he's trying to talk us into doing central heat and air, things like that.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 5:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Oh that makes sense that the contractors themselves are doing some tarping to shield the house. Sounds as if things will be ever so much better for you when the roof is redone. No more worries about the roof. And you'll have the new ceiling and things will be great. If you can swing the new central heat/air, this would definitely be the right time to do it. That would be wonderful, too!

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 6:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dipo a private message Print Post    
So Wargod, how goes the new roof?

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 8:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
It's not yet. Last week we got a call that Darren's aunt passed away. We spent the first part of the week (and the later come to think of it) making emergency plans to get out to Vegas. And then Thursday little adopted sis had an alarming ob appt and ended up in the hospital facing the possibility of having an emergency c-section.

Mama and baby are just fine (he was born Friday night) and we left Saturday for the funeral and got back a couple hours ago.

All that completely threw a wrench in the plans! I still have at least one roofer to get ahold of (he did a roof on the neighbors house that came out wonderfully and for a bit less than what we've been quoted.) That'll be sometimes this week. Once we talk to him and get a quote we'll choose one of them. I'm really hoping to get this started in the nextt couple weeks though so keep your fingers crossed!

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 9:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lumbele a private message Print Post    
Wow, I go away and this thread starts hopping. Not even gonna try to go through all the archives.

At this point I am totally out of my routine and will have to get going again on that. On Monday, until then I am on holiday. There!
Anyone else fall off the wagon?

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 9:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
*clunk*

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 4:02 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Did you know that Microsoft offers free template downloads for things like simple deeds, auto sales, garage sales and even *these cute herb labels*?

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, June 04, 2006 - 6:13 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
The new habit for June is up...

January - Shining your Sink
February - Decluttering for 15 minutes a day
March - Getting Dressed to the Shoes
April - Making your Bed
May - Moving
June - Drink your water allotment

(Personally, this should be whatever you've determined...I do not drink 8 glasses of water a day and am of the mindset that drinking too much water is as harmful as not drinking enough...so you decide!)

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Sunday, June 04, 2006 - 6:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
Vee, is 8 glasses too much in your opinion? I agree that too much is not good, but thinking it was more gallons rather than glasses. she says as she is drinking a glass of water...LOL

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Sunday, June 04, 2006 - 1:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Prisonerno6 a private message Print Post    
There is such a thing as water intoxication. However, I've always heard that 8 *8-ounce* glasses of water, or a half-gallon is the recommended amount (remember, many -- or most -- water tumblers are at least 12 and often 16 ounces). Some people count any liquids in that, which I don't think is correct, but you definitely can't include caffeine drinks. I actually drink closer to three quarts a day, just by sipping all day long. It's one of the few healthy things I do. :-)

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Sunday, June 04, 2006 - 8:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Yeah if you drink caffiene you're supposed to add what, 8 more oz of water for every caffiene drink or something like that. I do drink a lot of water and much the same way as Prisoner. I carry a bottle of water everywhere and sip all day long.

We're getting closer to roofing though it might not seem like it, lol. Darren's calling tomorrow to order a large dumpster for a week or two. I told him before the roofers get here I want to go through everything. Garage, closets, cabinets, drawers, closets, etc. Just seems to make sense to me to declutter and get rid of stuff before I'm also dealing with roofing mess.

I've got stuff that doesn't really make much sense to have, lol. Baby toys like tricycles and baby jungle gyms. They've been great to have with all the younger nieces and nephews but after ten years and 8 kids stuff like that is ready for the trash and not donation.

We've got ceiling tiles stacked up in the garage that we took down when the house first started leaking. I could leave those for the roofers cuz they'll dispose of all that, but if I can get them out now I will.