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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Are you “Fall Cleaning”?

 

One of my last post I made comment I was cleaning out “stuff” and commenced a fall clean out….

Mama Pea,  who writes one of my favorite blogs “A Home Grown Journal” (If you haven’t done so,  yet check out her blog… you wont be disappointed) left me this comment…         “  I always thought spring was the time for old-fashioned "spring cleaning" but it seems so many of us are hitting it hard this fall for some reason. Not sure we're very wise as we also seem to still have canning and preserving going on at the same time! I really, really don't want to fill every single minute of every day with "work" type tasks . . . it just seems to happen! Fall is supposed to be a time for thinking about knitting, quilting, reading . . . or will we have to wait for the dead of winter for that? “

Well she got me to thinking. I realized in the past few years  fall is when I’ve done these clean outs.  What happened to spring cleaning?  Opening the doors and windows to let the house breathe in fresh air after being tightly shuttered for months.

I think for me the change over came with staying home and gardening.  Spring we’re all out wallowing in the soil, praying over the seedlings, hoeing and raking. Watching trees & fruit vines bud. Busy planting and working gardens, herb and flower beds…..anything to be outside and out of the house in the sunshine. 

Summer we are to busy weeding and preserving which carries over in to fall….and then the winter prep work ..

Fall, we start thinking about staying inside…a l l   w I n t e r…..& begin looking around and realize although we’ve maintained our homes though the busy times..“stuff” has crept in.  You know what I mean, like that pile of books that is stacked next to the couch, the stack towels in the linen closet that have fallen over. How about the ironing pile that is now large enough that could be declared a state.  OK so I may have exaggerated a bit, not a state but at least a county!  The dust and drips that have gathered in cabinets and drawers in the kitchen from canning.  All those little minor tasks we started (do we have to talk about the mending pile?) and gotten side tracked.  Leftover home improvement project pieces and parts…..the desk that is beginning to look like a trash heap paper mill exploded.  Cleaning out spare rooms of all the stuff or tasks we set aside to do later when we aren’t so busy…….and then  realized I don’t want to be stuck inside with all this stuff all winter! 

I admit I’m not an organized person ( my family would be standing shouting “Can I hear an Amen!”)…I want to be, I try to be…but it doesn’t work.  So yeah, there are things that need done, blinds & walls that need washed, closets & cabinets that need cleaned out.  I’ve never been able stay in one room to start/finish it so I do little bits in each room, keep a donate box on hand & at least 5 things have to go in it a day.  When the box or bag is full it goes in the SUV.  I’m still cleaning out the empty kids rooms so 5 things is cake I tell you (think wedding cake).  It should be done already but…as you can tell I get side tracked easily.

Anyway, cleaning it out, clearing the clutter and organizing now in the fall makes the house feel open and spacious during the “inside times” of winter.  And….lets me do all the fun stuff like quilting and sewing guilt free.

How about you?  Spring cleaner or fall?

17 comments:

  1. I don't even want to think about cleaning but.... now I got to.LOL

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    1. AF, I don't like doing things that don;t stay done either! Little bits at a time my friend and it will get done. Less you have to pack and move!

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  2. I do both. In the fall, it's time to organize the pantry, renew all the spices,etc , get the freezer organized and filled with all fresh stuff and get ready for a winter of cooking and baking. I want everything clean and fresh for that. Spring is for getting rid of the staleness of winter and the house being shut up.
    I love both times and can't imagine NOT doing it.

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    1. I agree Sue, I do a bit of both myself. I'm going through the kitchen cabinets this week & oh my gosh. Who needs 30 coffee mugs!

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  3. I can't say I have a season for cleaning. I try to do a room each day of the week, and let me tell you when the MS acts out I don't even manage that! lol

    I was introduced to the Flylady about 12 years ago by another home schooling mom as a way to stay on top of things (try anyway). Some of her lessons have stuck with me.

    I admire anyone who does seasonal cleaning though. It seems like a super tradition to aspire to :-)

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    1. I try fly lady using the 15 minute spurts...my problem is staying on task and budgeting my time properly while working from home....and I'm a clutter bug! My seasonal cleaning generally takes the whole season!

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  4. I have to say I do both Katie. In the spring..opening the windows and letting the fresh air blow in. I don't tend to wash walls or the 'hard core' stuff in the spring. It is more just organizing and washing curtains, stuff like that. In the fall I do more of the 'hard core'....like you there are splatters and spills, piles and piles from the carelessness of summer so my house tends to be messier and dirtier. Plus with the winters we have, the fall cleaning can carry on throughout the winter since I am stuck in the house throughout the whole season!

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  5. I've been so busy the past couple of years, I guess I'm neither if the dust bunnies I'm looking at mean anything! I'd say anytime is a good time, if you have the time...

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    1. Izzy, we live close to a quarry, you can dust today and it needs it again tomorrow. My only rule is to jot down and notes that may be written in that dust before you wipe it away! LOL

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  6. I do my cleaning in the late fall too. In Spring time my house is clean since I have had winter months to keep it under control, but I hate to say thi,s but other than running the sweeper and moping up a mess I have NO time to clean in the summer. So come Fall this house really needs it.

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    1. Jane, I hear you, the dust bunnies start breeding in the fall!

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  7. Until this year, Fall. Now I think I may have to do half in Fall and half in Spring. This Fall too much is going on outside for me to clean. I can barely keep the basics under control. Dishes? Really you want clean dishes? LOL

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    1. AHH, People can be so picky.... wanting clean dishes this time of year~ When I'm inside I think of all I need to do outside...when I'm out side, well you get the idea

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  8. Speaking of drips from canning on drawers and cabinet bases--one year I shellacked the whole fron of a portion of my base cabinet, drawers and door, with hot pepper jelly. I did not realize until later when it was dried that I had made such a mess. I figured it would take the finish off the wood. It took weeks of my time to get that cleaned. Each time I thought I got it all, there was more!

    I think I am a spring cleaner. However, circumstances have led to to cleaning out junk from Spring to now!

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  9. That sounds like a mess to clean off!
    Well, things have been stuffed and crammed in closets and corners tightly for so long, when I sort and toss some of it..what is left seems to expand like it's hydrating and puffing out!

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  10. Spring & fall never summer. I aim to clean out every closet every year to keep the clutter to a minimum!

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Katie