Picture This

Today I tackled a job I have been putting off for ages. I finally cleaned our Natural Light patio cover and our second floor window screens. 

A paper wasp nest from last year which had been re-purposed as a bird's nest had fallen in the corner a couple months ago making a terrible mess of both the patio cover and our window screens over time. 

The ladder was not high enough for me to clamber on top of the patio cover. I used it to carry the bucket, hose and squeegee up placing them on the corner ready to use. I figured I could climb out the window.

Picture This - I managed to squeeze through this gap perching on the rough brick window ledge but then I was stuck. My feet didn't reach the patio cover. I'm not good with heights, so I was afraid to jump. I couldn't climb back in because, like I said, it was a tight fit. I didn't want to risk breaking the window. I just needed someone to bring me a stool to put under my feet. Unfortunately, my husband was working on cars in front of the house. To get his attention, I sat on the ledge yelling his name which made our poodle bark. I couldn't help but see the humour in my predicament.

Thank goodness our neighbour Judy heard my cries and came to the rescue relaying a message to my husband. After some discussion my husband brought me this stool which did the trick. I managed to climb down to clean our patio cover. These photos were taken after cleaning. I love how it looks all shiny and new again.

It took a fair amount of scrubbing with the squeegee, mop, hose and microfiber wipes, but it was worth the effort. I'm so glad I finally worked up the nerve to get this job done. 

I hope you're all enjoying a happy and safe holiday weekend too. 

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Cleaning for Company

Yesterday we celebrated our April family birthdays with dinner and cake. As I wrote last year, this is one of our favourite ways to commemorate birthdays. In case you missed it, you can read about last year's birthday party here.

To make dinner parties special, I like to spend extra time cleaning the house. It's not about 'showing off' how clean our house can be, it's about making the house feel more welcoming for the party. 

I personally love a clean house, but can go ages without cleaning when busy with crochet projects. Since there are just so many hours in a day, I have to prioritize. I figure, it's more efficient to clean before company so it's nice for the evening plus feels great all week.

With this in mind, I started right after my morning coffee and crochet session yesterday. I made a shopping list for my husband to get him out of the way and got busy shaking mats, vacuuming, dusting and mopping. 

I realized early on that my initial plan to clean, walk the dog, bike and complete food prep was going to have to be scaled back if I wanted to be ready for the party on time. My husband wanted to try out his new cross bike, so I suggested he ride while I carried on cleaning. Having him out of the house makes cleaning easier plus I figured it would help tire him out so I could keep up the next day when I knew I could fit in a ride.

In case you're wondering how my husband got off so easy, let me tell you, he didn't. He did all the shopping, prepped the winter wheels from the Santa Fe for storage, cleaned the garage floor, got his Z4 out of storage and cleaned the TT. Actually, I suggested he wash the TT, partly because it needed cleaning and partly because I wanted to keep him out of the house until I finished getting ready for the party. 

So you see, he was busy too. For dinner, he managed the barbecue and did a great job keeping drinks topped up. 

As always, our family birthday dinner was tons of fun.  The menu included chicken drumsticks cooked on the barbecue, small roasted potatoes (boiled then finished with butter in foil also on the barbecue), baby bok choy sauteed with onions and roasted broccoli with garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Everybody said it was delicious.

For dessert, we had a yummy "Gourmet" Banana Cake from Metro in Byron.

My Mum-In-Law (April 8th) and Dad (April 10th) shared blowing-out-the-candles duties on their cake. We all sang Happy Birthday.

Blue candles were out in one go. I think our poodle interfered with the red ones.

 We all laughed as the candles stayed lit after at least two attempts.

Three tries and still one candle burned brightly ... too funny. One more try did the trick.

My husband's cousin Graham and his wife Erika joined us for dessert. It was so good to see them and catch up. 

We have been lazy about inviting people over and socializing for the last few years. I think we need to change that. We have such a good time when we get together and share food, drinks and laughs with our family and friends. Besides, I seem to need a good reason to clean more often.

Cleaning for Company is the best reason to clean as far as I'm concerned. What do you think? Do you enjoy cleaning just because or do you need a good reason too?

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