This past weekend’s assignment for Apartment Therapy’s January cure was to buy flowers, clean the floors and get together green cleaners. It was a nice easy task for the first weekend of the “cure”.
The flower part of the task didn’t seem very important and I was ready and willing to opt out of it. However, while I was at the grocery store, I came across a potted tulip plant and I just couldn’t resist. Boy am I glad I didn’t skip out on buying flowers. Just having them around has made my house feel more quaint and much more like a composed home, even when the house is in shambles from my big painting project.
Tulips rank high on my list of favorite flowers, alongside hydrangeas. They just so happen to be Philip’s favorite flowers too. Now he won’t go out of his way to tell you that, but I will. Wives are good like that.
I am so intrigued at how even just one petal on a tulip contains different shades of color. When I picked this up at the store I could not tell what color they were since they were not yet in bloom. I was very happy to see orange flowers begin to peek out from their green leaves.
Eliana was also very happy to see the flowers when she woke up from her nap. Well, she was more excited about what the flowers grew in. She went straight up to them on the table and said, “Ooh, dirt!” At that point the fruits of my vacuuming labor were non existent. I have let go of my expectation of the house staying clean long ago. I would much rather have a lived in messy house then a clean lonely house, so I am okay with some dirt on the newly vacuumed rug.
Speaking of cleaning, gathering green cleaners was no hard task for me. I always have vinegar and baking soda on hand, ever since my sister in law convinced me of their frugal cleaning properties. I also like to use these cleaning recipes from Macheesmo. I always have their All-Purpose cleaner on hand and need to make another batch of the Bath, Sink and Tile cleaner. It works so well at removing soap scum from the bath tub. When I am feeling too lazy to whip up a batch of it I just sprinkle baking soda in the tub, scrub with a cloth and rinse it down with a few splashes of vinegar. Works like a charm. Oh, and to mop, I mix vinegar and hot water (I never measure) with about 5 drops of either lavender or peppermint essential oil. If I am feeling fancy enough, I will add both lavender and peppermint oil.
So, that was a little taste of my weekend. How was yours? Any dirt extravaganzas going on in your home?
