Category: Spring Cleaning

The Hardest Part of our House to Keep In Order – Ourselves {Spring Cleaning}

The hardest part of our house to keep in order – ourselves {Spring Cleaning}
Written by ARWB April 2012 Blogger of the Month. Jeanette Larson of Spinning Dreams and Weaving Yarns

Why is it that we are so good at taking care of our families, our friends, our homes and our other obligations, but we have to really remind, push and force ourselves to take care “me”?

As I was mixing up the feed for our 30-year-old horse, I realized that I had forgotten to take my adrenal supplement, again. I had ended up in the hospital last month with adrenalin making my heart race, while the rest of my overworked nervous system tried to slow me down by lowering my blood pressure dramatically, “dropping you flat,” as the cardiologist said. He sent me home, telling me my heart was very healthy, but warning me that a heart attack isn’t the only thing that can kill you. Cardiologists are not known for sugar-coating their words.

This morning, I poured the special pellets into the can and mixed them up with the vitamins and minerals for our mare, as I do, every morning and every night. It’s automatic, I would never forget to feed Fria. As I was topping her breakfast off with a splash of corn oil, to keep her stomach moving, I reflected on how easy it was for me to take care of this horse. Every morning she gets her breakfast at 7 a.m. She gets fed in her special spot. She gets special food to keep her healthy and comfortable. She gets hay and grass throughout the day and then at 7 p.m. she gets her specially formulated dinner. It’ just a part of my routine. After all she is a special horse and she deserves the extra care.

Fria is a registered Arabian mare. She came into our lives when she was 13-years-old and my daughter was nine. Fria had been a broodmare in a herd that bred racing and endurance horses. At that time, one of her daughters was ranked fourth in the US at the track.

We bought Fria to use as a broodmare. They assured us that she was un-ride-able and that several people had tried to start her under saddle. The wild mare and my headstrong daughter clicked right away. It wasn’t long before Lena was riding Fria out on trails and on cattle drives. When Lena turned 10, they went with me on a competitive trail ride and placed first in the youth category. Whenever Lena needed to work something out, she’d go flying out onto the trail on Fria, and I always trusted Fria to bring her home safely.

Fria went on to have several more foals.Four of them have gone on to be champions in four different disciplines. In all, this wonderful mare has raised twelve horse babies and one of mine. She well deserves her comfortable retirement and all best care I can give her.

All of the animals on our farm have their stories and their place in our lives. The chores of caring for our critters weave naturally through my day and I can’t even imagine ever forgetting to feed, water and check on each one, each and every day. Yet, daily, I get so wrapped up in my job and the rest of my work that I forget to drink water, eat good food or just sit and catch my breath. Never mind trying to exercise on a regular basis, I keep busy enough that I can’t even think about that one.

The day I collapsed, I had skipped breakfast and then spent the morning in an intense meeting. While I know what happened was a cumulative effect, one of the steps I have taken to “take care of myself” is that I don’t allow myself out of the house in the morning without breakfast. That’s a hard discipline, because I am so busy in the mornings trying to get everything done in a short period of time. Several mornings, I’ve been in the car already, headed to work and I have to use my “mom-voice” to get myself back into the house to make breakfast. I hate having to nag myself like that.

Maybe I need some good Jen-stories to make me value me as much as I do our 30-year-old horse? After all, aren’t I a special person and don’t I deserve special care?

Jeanette Larson is the craft director at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. She writes about Spinning Dreams and Weaving Yarns on her blog www.jenonthefarm.com.

Windows {Spring Cleaning}

Windows {Spring Cleaning}
Written by ARWB April 2012 Blogger of the Month. Jeanette Larson of Spinning Dreams and Weaving Yarns

Spring ran through the Ozarks very quickly this year. We went from mostly brown winter hills to glossy green dotted with azalea pink, forsythia yellow and dogwood white in less than three weeks. As I opened my windows to enjoy the soft air and peeper frog symphonies, I noticed how dirty the glass was. I couldn’t stand to close them again.

Washing windows is a chore, but the results are so gratifying. We had installed new insulated windows before this winter, and I had never gotten around to cleaning them after we installed them. Suddenly, Spring was here and I had to have clean windows.

While I don’t mind washing windows, I do hate to run to the store, especially on a day I have off work. So, I took stock of my cleaning supplies on hand. We don’t like using and storing chemicals, so the supplies were pretty sparse. I have cleaned windows with soapy water, washing and rinsing and drying until they shine. After all, it works on drinking glasses. But that’s not the easiest way.

I have a friend who uses the windshield wiper fluid made for automobiles. She just fills up a squirt bottle when she refills her car. But I’ve been getting my wiper fluid topped off when I get my oil changed.

My dad has always used white vinegar and newspaper to clean windows. I had apple cider vinegar and paper towels. We always put our newspaper out for recycling, and besides, our little weekly wouldn’t clean too many windows. I opted to try the cider vinegar. It worked great. I hate to waste paper towels, so I used t-shirt rags.

But, my next challenge was those stickers that talk about the energy efficiency of the windows. They were really stuck on. They’d been on a while at our house and who knows for how long before they got here.

My grandmother often said, “Use it up or wear it out, make it do, or do without.” I bet your grandma did too.

When I moved to the Ozarks, I learned the local version of that saying, “If you ever need anything, just holler and I’ll tell you how you can live without it.”

So, back to the cupboards for something to get those stickers off my windows. I do use google to find housecleaning options, but before I went there, I thought that the anonymous “they” always say peanut butter removes sticky stuff. All we had was all natural, chunky peanut butter, but I grabbed my camera to document this, just in case it worked, and smeared the peanut butter on the back porch window sticker. Then I went to find something to scrape it off.

I figured it was just peanut butter, so I grabbed my favorite kitchen spatula. Just a little bit of scraping, no elbow grease needed, and the sticker was gone. “They” were right again.

Now my windows let me look out on the green grass growing bright and strong in the sheep’s grazing paddocks while I’m cooking dinner or doing the dishes. The grass in the one right outside the window is high enough now that we’ll move the sheep over to it tomorrow. They only get a day or two in each paddock, just enough to mow it down to about 3-inches tall. This keeps the grass strong and the weeds at a minimum. As the grass grows more, it may hold them a little longer.

Perhaps tonight I’ll get to watch a lamb-pede as all the little ones race each other while their moms go about the business of mowing the grass. Is that the sheepie version of “Spring Cleaning”?

Jeanette Larson is the craft director at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. She writes about Spinning Dreams and Weaving Yarns on her blog www.jenonthefarm.com.

Cleaning Me {Spring Cleaning}

Cleaning Me {Spring Cleaning}
written by M.D. of Glitter & Rainbows

Ever since the days have gotten a little longer thanks to Daylight Saving Time, and the weather has been consistently warmer, I have had the itch to get outside and spiff up my yard. It is something that needs doing, and it is much more appealing to me than traditional spring cleaning chores inside my house. I usually start with a little job in mind, say, weed one flower bed, and next thing you know I’ve been outside for a few hours doing this-and-that.

It isn’t easy work. I am usually sore the next day. But it also feels really good. Digging in the dirt, watching the little miracle of nature sending up her shoots and blooms, I am exhausted and happy. I often find my mind wandering, and little jewels of truth occur to me when I am least expecting it.

Here is what my mind conjured up while I was working in a flower bed recently.

I could do a cosmetic job and just pop the tops off the weeds. The bed will look good, but not for long. Those weeds will come back with a vengeance if I don’t take the time to do it right. Digging deep is hard work. Sometimes the root goes far down and plunging my fingers into the unknown is sometimes creepy. It is no telling what I will discover. Beetles, worms, spiders even. Rocks, mystery bulbs, mole tunnels.

It is doing these things in my flower beds that reminds me I need to do these things in my life. If I’m feeling bad or discouraged, a simple fix can usually lift my mood for awhile — treating myself to fancy coffee or buying a new pair of flip flops. These are good things to do for myself occasionally, but I can’t stop there. If I don’t dig deep, despite the scary things I might find, my garden, my self, may never be all that it can be. I know that my life, like my garden, will require maintenance. But if I do the hard work from the very beginning, maintaining it will be much easier.

Sometimes we mourn getting rid of the weeds in our lives. They are our comfortable way of existence. Perhaps when pulling them, we honor the impact they’ve had on us and we make a wish on them for the future.

My mom has said that she likes working in the yard because she can see where’s she’s been. I knew what she meant, but I didn’t really understand it until I had a yard of my own to piddle around in. It feels good to accomplish something. And so many times in life, we may not be able to tell right away if what we are doing is having an impact, if the work we are doing on ourselves is making a difference.

Digging in the ground, getting dirt under my fingernails, yanking up weeds, it is therapeutic. The act itself is good for the body and the result is good for the mind. It makes me feel great to get out, soak up some vitamin D and get moving. And the coming of spring reminds me of all the little things to be grateful for. When I am having a hard time personally, I get that tunnel vision that makes nothing seem right. Spring’s arrival has helped me to take those blinders off and pay attention to the little things in life. The squirrels chasing each other, the rabbits that like to hang out under our deck, the birds building a nest in the box on our apple tree, the bulbs I transplanted from my Granny’s garden that are working their way out of the earth.

While I am spring cleaning in my yard, Spring is cleaning me.

M.D. is married with two fur-babies. She writes about trying to add to her family, and whatever else crosses her mind, at Glitter & Rainbows.

Relationships {Spring Cleaning}

Relationships {Spring Cleaning}
Written by Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs

Anyone who knows me could tell you that I am not a housekeeper. Well, at least not a good one! The last thing I ever want to do, especially in the spring, is clean. We live on a farm so the battle would be never ending anyway and there is a reason that there is not a single square inch of carpet anywhere in my house. To me, spring cleaning is about opening windows, letting in the light and the air, breathing new life into the things we love.

As humans we often seem so preoccupied with how things look on the outside. The “American Dream” is more about a look than an actual way of life. We want perfect hair, manicured nails and taylored clothes that fit just right. We want the trendiest car parked in front of the prettiest, largest house with the greenest lawn in the nicest neighboorhood. And when one of the neighboors pops in unexpectedly we want to usher them in to our perfect kitchen where a pitcher of perfectly chilled lemonade and freshly baked cookies awaits.

GET REAL! Who really lives like this outside of the “real” or “desperate” houswives?

Here are some examples of my REAL life!

A Southern Living worthy flower bed:

A Pinterest perfect entry way:

Why do we even have the tray????

A Good Housekeeping approved laundry organizer:

Yes, that is the middle of the living room floor.

Now that, my friends, is REAL. We can make our lives look perfect to the outside world but what about what happens when no one is watching?

Yesterday I overheard two grown men talking about their wives. Neither was saying very nice things. I was shocked and saddened that the men were saying these things but I also understood that part of the reason they were saying them was because thier wives hadn’t given them any reason to say anything nice.

Sometimes I think we are so worried about cleaning up all the messes we can see that we forget about taking care of the ones we can’t see. We get so caught up in the “job-like” duties as wife and/or mother that we forget to nurture and cherish the rewards of being wife and/or mother.

Whether you are married, dating or just haning out with your friends there are so many things you can do to {Spring Clean} your relationships. Taking a moment here and a moment there to STOP nagging and complaining and to thank our husbands, kids, parents, best friends or other significant people in our lives for the things they do that make us happy.

I have been married to my husband for almost 12 years. We have certainly had our ups and downs but I adore him and try to do things to build him up rather than break him down. It’s not always easy and sometimes hurtful words and actions come easier than the good ones but when has anything truly good ever been easy?

So this spring – instead of worrying about spring cleaning your house – perhaps you will consider someways to {Spring Clean} your relationships.

Here are a few links to help you get started:

8 Ways To Maintain A Good Relationship Using Effective Communication

Love, Actually – Creative Ideas for Romance on a Budget

50 Ways to Inspire Your Husband

You might want to consider making a “Smash Book” to collect all of your memories during the year.

You can find detailed instructions for making the Smash Book on my blog Eggs and Herbs.

You may even consider taking a day to forget about yard work, school work and even ‘gasp’ blogging to spend a day with your family and the ones you love. There are thousands of wonderful attractions here is Arkansas. The Arkansas Tourism Website has tons of ideas. Additionally ARWB’s Managing Editor Fawn, writes a weekly column on her blog Instead of the Dishes called ‘Free Fun for Families’ where she highlights lots of free things going on in Central Arkansas. You can check out her list of this weeks activities by clicking here.

So this spring, instead of cleaning windows and mopping floors I will be spending time with the love of my life letting him know how much I love and appreciate him.

I mean, look at this guy! Can you blame me?