Revolutionary Cleaning Tip!

I'm not entirely clear why it is so, but if you've read this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I have no problem with outdoor work-- in fact, I love it. Indoor work? Not so much. However, yesterday I learned something so revolutionary  that I couldn't help but want to clean more.

I love just about all things Google. If I had to pick one of their products as my favorite, I might be hard pressed. Yesterday though, it was search engine that pretty much changed my life. Yep, I'll admit it in this very space. While playing bridge with Bev, Arlene, and Barbie Monday afternoon, the talk turned to stainless steel appliances with much grumbling about how notorious they are to keep clean. Although I said I was thrilled with my new purchases, I did not admit how messy they looked as we played. That, my friends, is a thing of the past, thanks to my search mission. Neither Bruce nor I can figure out how it happened, but all over the front of our wonderful new freezer, there were spots. I'm not exaggerating. Furthermore, the front of the oven had big swatches of ugliness. More of the same on the dishwasher. With two relatively neat adults living in this house, you would think this would not be a problem. It is, or make that, it was. Olive oil. That's the ticket. I bought some fancy British stainless steel cleaner, as well as a special wiping towel that claimed you only needed water, but I swear, both of them made things worse.  Plus, you had to be careful about wiping with the grain.

According to Martha Stewart, Windex is king when it comes to cleaning stainless, however, several commenters on that post mentioned the ease of putting a little olive oil on a rag and wiping away the spots. Certainly I was skeptical but figured what could it hurt? Not a thing my friends. It worked like magic, and now everything looks just like new again! I was so excited I immediately called Angela who I know struggles with the same problem. This morning I had a message from her: "Brilliant!", which pretty much sums it up. Speaking of Angela, do you see what I see in her umbrella?

Clearly Angela is a very smart woman, however, she's yet to add bird identification to her repertoire. Last week she told me there was a bird nest in her side umbrella, but I never dreamed it would be so visible, facing directly into her sun room window! Early yesterday I went over to see it for myself and to determine what kind of bird would do such a thing. Can you guess? Yup, a cardinal. Guess what? Our eggs have hatched! Actually Bruce checked on Saturday and there were the three chicks huddled together! While showing it to Angela, mama cardinal flew away and one of the chicks popped it's little mouth up for me to see!!! Won't be long until those little guys are hopping around the yard.

Rain fell steadily throughout most of the day yesterday while I cleaned for hours. Hours? Can you believe it? Neither can I. Stormy weather oftentimes makes for some nice skies at sunset like this one from Monday night.

In more bird news, it seems as if this is either a couple, or a parent and child,

because they both are on the tree, then the really red headed one jumps to the ground, and the other follows suit. Could this be a second Mr. and Mrs. Peck on the property?

Not only did I clean the appliances but I actually washed my floors. My friend Bev does it daily, me, every few months. I got rid of my kitchen rug while doing so. Ever since we put in the new floors, I struggled to find a rug that really looks good in front of my kitchen sink. Well, duh! Why do I need one anyway? I suspect the practice began to make things easier on the person washing dishes, but since that's mostly a thing of the past for folks like me, then what is the purpose except to collect dirt? Any thoughts on the matter?

The living room now looks great; the rest of the house mostly got the vacuum treatment. My work table is pretty good because I've yet to put in my order--today's task. Without prints, room is left to showcase all of the goodies from Dave and Michelle.

Clearly she understands her mother-in-law prefers writing lists on paper, rather than notes on her phone. Plus the awesome colors!

Bruce is across the street as I type, straightening out Herb and Corrine's new mailbox. His son put it in Sunday night, following the mega-storm, without regard to it being level. He does not have to look at a leaning mailbox tower every day, however, the rest of us do, and if Bruce can fix it, why not? Angela, in particular, was an advocate for this project. "While you're at it, can you straighten their tree?" she asked the neighborhood handy man. Indeed he can.

Rain all day kept me from riding until just before dinner. It was nice going out at that time because there were more folks out enjoying the weather break. Then too, I came across this very interesting variety of passion flower, a color and style I'd not seen before.

 I'll have to go back today, after I finish mowing the lawn, to see if those white things curl up as is typical of this type of flowering vine.

Can you wait to try the tip on your own stainless steel appliances? I thought not. You don't need much oil, just enough to rub the front, followed by a clean soft cloth for buffing and that's it. Let me know how this works for you.

In the Garden

Sharing a common language with the British, after all that is where ours came from, does not always mean we use the same words to describe the same thing. For instance the vacuum cleaner. From what I can tell, it's often called the Hoover in Britain. I'll bet you can think of any number of words that differ can't you?

Today let's talk about the garden. Maybe most Americans call it the yard rather than the garden because we generally have more space? My dictionary tells me that a yard is a piece of ground adjoining a building or house which is certainly true in our case. We have more than enough space to call it that. The garden, on the other hand, is defined as a piece of ground, often near a house, used for growing fruits, flowers, and vegetables. Well, I'm working on that too. In fact, with the fall of our tree, I've begun to really enjoy making a garden.

While doing just that yesterday afternoon, I recalled that it's not that it is a new passion; having money makes a big difference. No longer having to spend money on large amounts of food, I spend it on new flowers, bird seed, pots and the like. I finished my planting of the shiny new blue pots yesterday afternoon and I think it looks pretty darn cute.

Actually, this is taken before I officially planted them, but you can see Bruce moved it for me. Seriously it is heavy, being made out of real metal and all. Let's hope none of those awful people who go around stealing metal from anywhere don't find it! I thought perhaps it might look good with the other blue related items. The plants I chose, after much thought, are called moss rose or purslane. I like the name Moss Rose--it sounds so sweet. The new location puts it just outside Bruce's work window giving him something pretty to gaze upon when they open at daylight.

Speaking of Bruce, he's working in the garden as I type, clearing out some of the lady palms which are seriously taking over one corner of the house! Furthermore, their invasive roots have "uprooted" the brick pathway to our front door. Removing the bricks, he had to use an axe to chop them out, re pack the soil before returning the bricks to their rightful place. While he's been trimming, look what he saved for me:

The light was poor so early in the morning--be prepared for a better shot of the nest next time! Although he's trimming, there will still be plenty of palms left for our cardinals to use for their next nest building location.

I couldn't resist planting some sunflowers, putting them in a pot with some purple violas.

Bill is back at work after taking last week off and he called asking me if I could pick up another tray of Asiatic jasmine for him. He's not lazy or anything, it's just that their hours of operation don't work well with his schedule. Because I was over that way anyway for a 7AM teeth cleaning appointment it was no trouble at all. I'm so loving my new car, driving is kind of fun. Across from Palm Gardens there are open fields with cows and horses grazing free range.

The above was such a curious sight. Originally, before I got closer, I thought it was a foal, but NO, it is a donkey! For reasons unknown to me, the baby donkey seems to think the horse is a parent. Perhaps it is?  How about this face? While I was standing on the other side of the fence staring at him, he lifted that one ear, perhaps the better to hear my quiet chatting? That's what I do when I encounter an animal or bird up close. Talk to them quietly--don't know why I keep the volume down, but I do.

Adjacent to the nursery is another open space, this one filled with what some call weeds, others call them wildflowers:

It was a lovely morning, made better by my early start. The garden center, picking up Baxter's heart worm medicine, buying concrete mix for Bruce's project, and more filled my morning. I had to make a quick stop while driving by the "peacock neighborhood." This male was kind enough to pose in a large shrub:

Those tail feathers are absolutely magnificent! From what Sarah tells me, decorating with peacock stuff is all the rage these days. I do love to see the feathers fanned out, but there's something about this view that just makes you think of elegance.

After lunch I mowed the lawn. Just as I was finishing, Bruce came out with the phone saying it was Karen. I know a bunch of Karen's, but the one on the phone is special, not only because she has a great wit and makes me laugh, but as long time readers know, she has survived fatal health crisises and is still here to talk about it! Make that, joke about it. It's been way too long since we've had a good long chat so we made up for it yesterday afternoon during the worst heat of the day. I'm certain you know how it is with an old friend--you can talk for hours. We did--well not quite two, but almost. Unfortunately, she's been ill again; two recent trips to the hospital because her heart stopped. She faints, and the next thing she knows, she's in the Emergency Room. This did not sit well with the new owners of the Radiology center where she's worked for years and years, thus they used the latest opportunity to suggest she couldn't keep up with the job and thank you very much. We'll see you to the door.

If you think I'm frugal, Karen puts me to shame! Thus, although her situation is not great, she's been a saver as long as I've known her, and this will help tide her over until I HOPE she gets disability. I suggested she apply today, however, knowing her, she'll do it when she's good and ready. Every time we tried to hang up, one of us would say, what about this and that....good times.

After 6:00PM,  Bill came by to pick up his jasmine, giving approval to all my plantings. Or at least it seemed that way to me. :)

Happy gardening to you,
Gail

Getting Close

Yippee--I just finished my last homework problem of math for hopefully the rest of my life! I came straight home from school, ate lunch, and then tackled it! It is so weird to do problems on the computer--that said, it is only my homework grade that is propping up my overall grade in algebra because you can do it over again until you get it right. I always make sure I have a 100.

You saw it here first my friends--now there are three eggs! Once again, I tried to get momma bird's picture, but off she flew. I thought, why not put the camera over the nest and see what I get and I was completely shocked. It is super hard to get in the bushes and I can't really see what I am doing; this was one shot and I'm thrilled with it! I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait.

Bruce is on his way home from Detroit where it has been cold, dreary, and snowing. It is super hot today so I'll have to turn the air on soon as he will melt when he arrives.

I had a revelation today about my schedule. I realized that speech might not be the best class for me right now as my dry heaves are so unpredictable I can't imagine being in front of a class and feeling sick. Now what to do. It is my last required class and I had registered for it for summer session B. Mmmm...I'll have to puzzle about this one.

I can say this for sure, it is very hard to be sick for such a long time. I grow weary of telling people I don't know what is wrong--just something. I know they are well-meaning and all, but, if one of Orlando's best physicians cannot come up with a diagnosis, I wonder what makes them think they can. I have heard many times, "Oh, I bet it is such and such"; the only thing I can say is that as soon as I know, you will too.