Excited About Recycling

My gosh we have been into recycling since we were newlyweds, back when recycling was more a norm than a luxury.  Re-using and re-purposing items was quite common.  In the 1980's the blue box was introduced and in some communities like Guelph, Ontario just about everything including baby's diapers can be put into the recycle bins.  They have a three tier recycling system that includes paper, metal/plastics and wets (eg. kitchen waste, diapers).  Their system is absolutely amazing with very little going into the garbage.

For the past almost ten years we have lived semi-rural and rural.  The recycling service was dismal at best yet we still had one.  They would take cardboard, newspapers, tin cans, glass and plastic pop bottles.  Anything that wasn't to be in the bins they would toss back into the yard, not always the best thing to have blowing around.  They would not take the plastic tub containers that sour cream and cottage cheese come in. 


We have a new recycling system at our new house.  The black bin is used for all fibre products like paper beverage cartons, household paper/newspaper, catalogues, books, telephone books, cardboard, boxboard and egg cartons.  The blue bin is for food, beverages and liquid containers including sour cream and cottage cheese tubs AND aluminum foil containers and foil.  They will even take milk cartons!  We can get a compost bin from the municipality for $25 and we are planning on installing a garburator so actual garbage going to the landfill will be greatly reduced.  I was quite surprised that over the last week our actual garbage to toss out amounted to less than a grocery bag. 


This new system has sparked my interest in recycling again.  Don't get me wrong as I found a lot of creative ways to recycle containers but this is so much easier.  They collect the bins every other week.  We don't drink much in the way of soft drinks or use commercially canned foods so this collection schedule works well for us.  We have extra cardboard due to the move but once that is cleared there should be little all the way around going to the curb.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

A Downside to Moving - Cleaning

Moving is undoubtedly a massive amount of work even if you hire some of it out.  Amidst the chaos of packed boxes, packing and moving in there is the extensive cleaning that needs to be done on both ends of the move.  The house or apartment you are moving from needs to be cleaned top to bottom before it changes ownership.  For the most part this means surface clean, no garbage or debris laying around, and everything neat and tidy.  If it is not the real estate agent can be held liable on a house or apartment that is sold or on a rental property it could mean you lose your security deposit. 

If the house or apartment has been reasonably maintained, the final cleaning shouldn't be much of a problem.  Simply dust down the walls, wash any marks on the walls off using a Mr. Clean Magic eraser, clean the windows, dust the wall, vacuum the floors and shine any chrome like faucets or mirrors.  That way the new homeowner/tenant is greeted to a clean house or apartment to which they can clean further to their specifications.

Moving into a new house or apartment means you will be cleaning, period.  You can hire some of it out or do it yourself but it still needs to be done.  The amount of work required will of course depend on the move-in condition of the premises.  The problem with this is you more than likely will have to deal with some cleansers you normally would not use.  We tend to use as natural of a cleaning process as possible (eg. steam, vinegar, baking soda, Mr. Clean Magic erasers, soap, Simple Green, Murphy's oil soap, household ammonia).  Our new house was left somewhat surface clean in that the surfaces were wiped down but definitely not what I would consider clean and the previous owners admitted they hadn't had the time to clean the house better. 

I was surprised at the amount of cleaning I have had to do.  The house was neat and tidy when we viewed it but quite frankly the previous owners either didn't know how to clean or were too lazy to do so.  We were lucky in that we took possession on September 1 but most of our furniture did not arrive until September 6 so that gave us five days for cleaning and moving smaller items.  The cleaning continues though.  I've spent more time on my hands and knees cleaning as well as getting into nooks and crannies for cleaning than I really wanted but it has to be done.  While I resorted to my tried and true, eco-friendly cleaning methods, I had to buy a special cleaner.polisher and sealer for the marble floor in the kitchen, another special cleaner for the laminate flooring and pinesol to clean the grout on four floors plus the countertop.  I bought a large container of TSP for the walls as that will be needed for painting anyway.  I've had every cleaning device imaginable (eg. handheld steam cleaner, steam mop, dust mop, wet mop, and etc.) in use almost daily.  The vacuum cleaner and electric broom have been huge assets for getting dust and dirt up and out of the house.  We even had the house powerwashed because it was quite obvious the previous owners had never washed the exteriour.  I'm looking forward to getting the major cleaning behind us!  Once everything is cleaned, maintaining it along with spring and fall cleaning is a cinch.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Having the House Power Washed

Our vacation house in Florida is vinyl sided and our new house is mainly vinyl sided with brick on parts of the front.  Vinyl siding gets dirty through the normal weather as well as dust and debris in the air.  Some locations are dirtier than others.  For example our property backs onto a field that creates a fair amount of dust when it is harvested.  Houses on busier streets will get dirtier faster as will those near or in the air currents of factories.  Some locations are prone to mildew, molding and moss issues due to high humidity levels and/or high shade levels.  The end result is even a fairly new house with vinyl siding can look dull and dingy with dirty streaks.  The easiest way to deal with this problem is to have the house power washed. 

We have a small power washer suitable for keeping some house areas, outdoor furniture and lower windows clean and tidy but it is not strong enough to reach up into the eaves and soffits since the house is fairly high.  We are having the house professionally power washed today by a good friend who has his own power washing business.  They are about half-way finished so I'm looking forward to seeing the difference.  The house is almost fourteen years old and it looks like it has never been power washed!  Our vacation home is only four years old but vinyl siding really needed washing.  We've had it power washed twice now. 

It's amazing what a difference simply power washing the siding makes.  It is not expensive either.  We pay $60 per wash in Florida.  We feel that the house needs it twice a year due to the mold and mildew issues.  The HOA there is rather particular too so we would rather not get on their bad side.   Besides the house looks so much nicer with the siding clean!  We don't have a HOA where our new house is but it is a nice subdivision where people keep their properties neat, tidy and well maintained.  We have a tendency to do the same with our properties anyway as that keeps the value of the property higher.  It will cost us about $250 for power washing the new house.  It is a considerably larger house than our vacation home.  We anticipate having the house power washed once a year after the field has been harvested.  It really won't be necessary to have it power washed more than that.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Our First Hydro Bill for Our New Home

I mentioned in another house that it is very difficult to compare energy usage between two houses even if they are identical home.  There are a lot of factors that affect energy usage.  We just received our first hydro bill for our new home.  We moved in on September 1 and the billing period ended October 5.  We used a total of 523 kWh with 336 kWh at off peak rate.  The good news is a good portion of our hydro usage is during off peak hours.  The bad news is the consumption is up from September of last year at our old house.  I certainly was not impressed to see that 79.86% of neighbouring homes used less hydro than we did for that month.  We are used to being on the lower end of hydro use.  Given we were away for two weeks during September of each year, I would have expected our usage at the new house to be lower but instead it was higher.  One month is not enough usage to determine if our hydro usage will remain higher here especially since there was higher usage due to the actual move (eg. AC on but doors constantly opening to bring things in, power tools, charging lawn mower batteries, and etc.).  However, I am speculating over the course of a year our overall consumption will be about the same.  Here are some of the changes from our last house to this one.  The ones that will save us money are in green while the ones that will cost us money are in red.  Hopefully, there will be enough in the green to keep us on track.

• cooking - We used hydro for cooking at our last house but using natural gas for cooking here.  This is a big change as natural gas is about a third of the cost of hydro here so we should see a difference on hydro usage.
• lighting - By design it was necessary to have 8 to 12 lights on even during the day at our old house from the time we got up to late evening.  This house has plenty of natural light so at most one or two lights are on but only on the dull, dreary days or briefly when in the laundry room or pantry.  Ceiling lighting in the games room and our bedroom is halogen and one bathroom has the narrow base incandescent bulbs.  The games room lights are recessed so would be a pain to change out and they are only on when the room is being used for larger gatherings so we will likely leave them as is.  Neither bathroom has a window meaning the lights are on when in use.  We are installing a solar tube in the upper level bathroom in the spring.
• air conditioning - Our old house was on waterfront property (natural cooling effect) with a good cross air current.  The main living was on the lower level that was mainly below grade so was always cool in the summer.  As a result the air conditioning was only used on the uncomfortably humid days.  Our new house is wide open on one side and the back but lacks the natural cooling effect of a larger body of water.  We anticipate having to run the central air more often here.  The unit is likely as old as the house, almost 14 years.  The central air at our last house was only 4 years old so more efficient.  Clogged floor vents were discovered here and the furnace filter was blocked that would make the AC work harder but we did get them cleared out so the HVAC should work more efficiently. 
• televisions - We had a television in the family room, game room and master bedroom of our last house, each with satellite receivers.  Two of the tvs were in regular usage almost daily and quite often I would have the family room tv on during the day for the noise.  In this house we still have three tvs.  Two are brand new Phillips LCD 32" screen to replace the two older CRT (tube) televisions.  These are hooked to one satellite receiver rather than two, eliminating one hot box.  They are EnergyStar® certified and are only on when the games room is being used, about once a month.  We eliminated the television from our bedroom entirely and I've returned to not having the television on during the day.
• refrigerators - We had a Whirlpool ED2FHXSQ02 22 cubic foot side-by-side refrigerator and an Igloo Party refrigerator (4.6 cubic feet) at our last house.  We brought both with us but the Igloo is not plugged in and the Whirlpool is now the games room refrigerator.  We have a 26 cubic foot Maytag MZD2666KEB in the kitchen.  Both the Whirlpool and Maytag refrigerators are EnergyStar® certified but obviously running two larger fridges will cost us a bit more.  Of note, the Maytag was so blocked underneath with dust and hair that it clogged the vacuum twice while trying to clean out the clog.  This was costing in terms of higher energy usage but now we have it cleaned out so the cost should be reduced.
• dishwasher - Our old house had a Bosch SHE44C02UC bought in 2007 when we moved into our last house.  It was a nice machine and I have no complaints but I chose a Whirlpool Gold Quiet Partner Esquire GU2475XTVB1 for this house.  The Bosch is super energy efficient but we got an excellent deal on the Whirlpool because we bought the natural gas stove at the same time.  It is EnergyStar® certified using 40% less energy than older models because it has a low wattage motor but it is not as energy efficient as the Bosch.  It says that some loads can average 2 to 3 hours but I have not experienced that yet.  The loads are running the normal hour or so.  The nice feature is there is a 4 hour delay so I can load the dishwasher then set it to run during off-peak hours something I could not do with the Bosch.
• swimming pool - We had swimming pools in our first two houses but not our last three so we are aware of the associated costs.  Right now there is no way of telling how much hydro the pool will use but it is newer equipment so shouldn't be too bad.  There is no doubt it will cost though for the months of June through September.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Seamstress Rotary Treadle Sewing Machine in Working Condition

About a year before selling our first house, I found this wonderful treadle sewing machine in need of restoration that would be perfect for my then country decorating style.  I am no stranger to sewing having learned on an old portable Singer machine from an aunt who was a seamstress with Hudson's.  By thirteen I was an accomplished enough seamstress to make a lot of my own clothes so my Mom gifted me with my much beloved Brother Festival 461.  This beautiful shocking pink sewing machine is still in regular use.  I reasoned that I knew enough about the care and maintenance of a sewing machine that I could get the treadle machine to work.  The treadle machine is a Seamstress Rotary sewing machine manufactured by the National Sewing Machine Co. in Belvidere, Illinois.  It was distribute by the T. Eaton Co in Canada according to the information I found.

The Seamstress Rotary machine sits in a beautiful oak cabinet.  It was a bit on the rough side but cleaned up nicely.  The six drawers have ornate trim.  The two top drawers on each side lock and I have the original key.  There was matching trim on the bottom edge of the swing door covering the machine when not in use.  Unfortunately all but about an inch of this trim was missing when I got the machine.  I have always hoped to get lucky and find the decorative trim in an antique store.  Also missing is the side cabinet trim that would cover the gears when closed.  I'm on the look-out for that as well. 

The iron legs, gears and treadle are in excellent condition.  I cleaned them good and painted them.  The only downside is the treadle and fancy legs tend to be a bit of dust collectors.  One problem with restoring a treadle sewing machine is finding the parts especially for the cabinets.  The legs tended to outlast the cabinet so frugal folks have been using the legs as a base for end tables, desks and even dismantling them to make shelving and garden decorations.  Small pieces like decorative trim tends to get tossed out if they break

The Seamstress Rotary sewing machine was in rather good condition.  The machine is attached to a wood base that automatically rises when the lid is opened.  That's even a bit more advanced than the cabinet I have my Brother in as I have to lift the machine up manually.  The seamstress had obviously been well used as the decals are worn away in spots.  I found a leather belt for the gears, oiled the machine then threaded it for a test run.  The machine sews quite nicely!

Of interest, when I bought the machine for $25 I did not realize how nicely it would clean up.  There was an instruction book for the Expert B T electric sewing machine so that's likely what the owner replaced this one with.  One of these days when I get a bit of time, I will go through some of the T. Eaton & Company catalogues at Archives Ontario. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

My Knetchtels China Cabinet

Shortly after buying our first house several years ago I came across two old china cabinets.  The first one was painted and the fretwork was damaged and the other pictured above in pour condition.  I stripped both, cut new fretwork, varathaned one for the kitchen and put the one pictured in the good livingroom.  When we bought our third house I sold the fretwork cabinet to friends but I wish I hadn't.
The vintage china cabinet (circa 1950's) pictured was made by Knetchetels Limited of Hanover, Ontario.  Originally it was a blond finish that can still be seen on the inside but had been painted over a few times.  Once I started stripping the piece I decided to go with a darker wood finish.  At some point I may refinish the piece to fix the damaged vaneer and restore it closer to the original blond finish.  I was told by one source that the curved glass, original to the piece, came from England.  Apparently would be rather costly to replace so I've always protected the cabinet by keeping it well away from regular household traffic.  I honestly love the piece as is, flaws and all!

When we moved into our third house this cabinet was pushed to a corner where it was just barely possible to open the one door.  It found its way to a spare bedroom used for storage in our fourth house and then a place in the room we didn't know what to do with in our last house.  So for the past almost fifteen years the cabinet has been used for little more than storage.  I am pleased to say the cabinet has found a new home in our dining area where it is once again home to my Depression, pre-Depression era glass and cut lead glass pieces.  The drawers and cabinet below them hold necessary extras for entertaining.  

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Decorative Wall Stickers

It has been a few years that decorative wall stickers have been available.  These stickers are peel and stick but easy to remove.  Until now I had seen them mainly in children themes and while I have bought some for the grandchildren, I had not bought any for our home.  A couple of years ago the stickers were showing up in a black, more adult theme to add instant interest to a room.  These were larger designs like flowers, trees or geometric shapes.  I was in the dollar store the other day and noticed packages of removable vinyl lettering in different phrases so I bought a couple of packages.  All of the rooms need painting so for $2 I thought it would be a inexpensive way to see if I liked the effect or not.  Pictured is the one I put over the staircase bulkhead.  I put another one that says "Home is where our story begins" over our bed in place of a headboard as shown on the packages. 


I really like the effect!  It's not something I would go overboard using but as a bit of interest, the vinyl lettering is much easier to put up than stenciling.  I ended up buying five more packages, two to replace after painting and three different phrases just in case.  I learned a long time ago if you see something at the dollar stores you want or may want in the future to get it then as it may not be available after that stock is depleted.  The downside to the lettering is you are limited to the available phrases and colours.  There is a print shop that does the vinyl lettering for commercial signage that my husband has used many times.  It is on the same principle as the decorative lettering (applied the same way) I bought so I'll have them make up the lettering for my favourite quote for my home office once it is painted.  That way I can choose the font and colour I want. 


The vinyl lettering comes sandwiched between a heavy piece of coated backer paper on one side (sticky side) and a thinner coated paper to temporarily hold the letters for mounting.  To place the stickers on the wall, carefully peel back the thinner paper.  You may have to nudge the letters a bit to come off the backer paper while peeling so go slowly.  Position the sticker in the desired location on a clean wall.  Smooth out any air bubbles in the wall sticker.  Before removing the thin mounting paper, I used a flat edge over the lettering.  Carefully peel off the mounting paper and voila, instant interest!  The lettering can be peeled from the wall and stored on the backing sheet if desired but I'm not sure how well this will work which is why I bought extra packages in case I wanted to use that phrase again. 


Garden Gnome
©2006-2011