Our Ongoing Saga of Selling Our House

The listing for our house with this realator officially ends today.  They have had it for six months with no offer.  Shortly after extending our listing in January our real estate agent turned a bit snarky.  After the first more than inappropriate email I made my mind up that we would wait out the listing and be done with them.  As it stands no offers came in so I thought the end date would be the end of it.  She emailed to say that we had a holdover clause so if we sold the house in the next 60 days after the listing ended.

What a holdover clause means is if we accept an offer within 60 days of the listing end from anyone this realtor introduced to our propery via a showing during the time our house was listed with them, they are entitled to the commission.  Furthermore if we were to list with another realtor within that 60 days they are entitled to 50% of the commission.  However and this is big, if we sell to someone that did not see our property while it was listed they are entitled to nothing.  That means we can sell privately and they are still entitled to no commission.  We have bought and sold houses before so am well aware of what this clause means.

The real estate agent is under the mistaken impression that they now have 60 days to present any offers.  Hello!  Our legal obligation ends at the end of the signed contract providing we honour the holdover clause.  We are under no obligation to entertain any offers from their clients and for all intents and purposes until we say otherwise the house is officially off the market aka not for sale.  I cannot believe she is pulling this type of attitude.  If they wanted to present an offer it should have been presented BEFORE our contract ended or they should have asked for an extension of the contract.  If she thinks we are going to be at her beck and call for another 60 days she is sadly mistaken.  If she thinks she is going to bully us for a commission she is sadly wrong.  She had her chance.  Now that the house is off the market we will excerise one of several options but she will not be getting a commission!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Freshening a House for Real Estate Showing

We've had the house on the market now for thirteen months.  Each time I get the house ready for a showing I am very cognisant to household odours.  We don't use chemical sprays like air or fabric  fresheners so as normal I rely on natural deodourizers like baking soda and vinegar.  Sulphur from a lit match is effective in the washrooms.  Burning a couple of beeswax candles has air cleaning properties as well.  Dusting as well helps to remove that off, not quite fresh smell.   Opening a window or two a crack even during the winter is another great way to freshen the air.

Various textiles like comforters, pillows, bath mats, cushions and afghans can hold onto odours and while not necessarily blatant can make a room smell just not quite fresh.  I have found that popping these into the dryer on air setting for fifteen minutes is enough to freshen.  Hanging items on the line outdoors is another good way to freshen them if there is enough time and the weather permits.  Vacuuming larger upholsteried furniture (eg. couches, mattresses) helps to eliminate any odours as well.

These few extra efforts make your house smell as good as it looks, helping to show it at it's best.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Sidetracked Home Executive

Quite some time ago I was following Flylady.net as an organization tool to keep our home neat and tidy while leading a very active lifestyle.  A few years ago I found myself sidelined and still have not resumed much in an active lifestyle.  Oh sure I do a lot of canning, gardening and traveling but on a day to day basis it's nothing like what it was.  My attention span is short and my multi-tasking is high.  I can't sit much longer than about 20 minutes so computer tasks take longer to complete but the good news is knitting and crocheting projects are worked on while watching television while straightening is done during commercials.  Add to that the chaos of having our house on the market for the last thirteen months and it is easy to see why sometimes I'm what the Flylady refers to as a SHE (sidetracked home executive).

I have continued to use a few tips from my Flylady days like the 27 Fling Boogie and 15 minute timer.  Both techniques work well for me as does clearing a hot spot and the three box toss method.  It's not like the house is dirty or we are suffering from CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrom) but with a potential move I'm looking at ridding some more of the clutter.  Most of the clutter is hidden in bins and boxes that we haven't unpacked from the last move.  The thing is if we haven't used it in four years perhaps it is time to get rid of it.  Now in fairness we had quite a bit in the garage from two kids, one who moved out of an apartment just before we moved here so we had all of that.  The situation for both has changed so we have been able to get rid of a lot of that.  While we have been decluttering for the last year in anticipation of moving, there's still more to do.  I have decided that I need to re-establish some of my former Flylady habits.  It will make the move a lot easier when we do move!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Garbage Day

Our garbage collection day is Thursday with pick-up usually before 8 AM.  It's an odd day and rather inconvenient for putting out garbage from the weekend when entertaining but overall it isn't bad.  Every other week they collect the recycle bins on the same morning so at least we don't have to worry about remembering a different day.  Several years ago I saw a news clip about a family in British Columbia that only had if I recall correctly two small shopping bags of garbage for the entire year.  Everything was recycled.  Ascribing to that ideal has proven to be almost impossible.  Even though we put out on average one large garbage bag each week and even though that is a lot less than our neighbours, I am still not happy about it.  We have cut back and cut back yet the garbage is still there!  Here's some of the things we do and yet still have garbage for pick-up.

• compost - We eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables which means a lot of trimmings.  I compost what I can but with the amount we eat even the compost cannot keep up.   In addition to the daily produce consumed, we go through a vast amount of produce for home canning and freezing at least a year's worth at a time.  Aesthetically and in terms of space there is only so many compost bins we can have and due to property limitations there is only so much compost we can use and give away. 
• non-compostable food scraps - Certain food scraps cannot go into the compost.  These include fats, oils, dairy, corn cobs, fish parts and type of thing.  Two houses ago we had a food garburator which helped immensely but until we move back into town a garburator is not an option.  I save larger bones for a friend of ours who has a dog.  I also save bones for stock making which gives me a useful product before having to toss the bones.  Cooking oil is a huge concern as the only way to dispose of it is in the garbage. 
• food containers - We use little in the way of food containers since I do a lot of home canning.  What we can't curb side recycle which is mainly plastic tub containers are used around the house and garden but what we can't use find their way into the garbage.  This concerns me and it won't be a problem when we move into town but for now it is a problem.  Short of not buying cottage cheese, sour cream, ice cream and ricotta cheese there isn't a way to eliminate these containers so finding a way to recycle them is the only option.
• burnables - We are technically rural so can have a burn pile or barrel but we don't.  While this is a ready solution and we have used a relative's burn pile for brush, burning normal household garbage just contributes to air pollution trading the landfill issue with air quality issues.  Although some household waste could be burned we don't take advantage of this.  
• excess packaging - We are quite diligent about reducing the amount of packaging we bring into the house.  Less in means less that has to be tossed out.  We  use reusable shopping bags as well as shop farm stands, farmers' markets and bulk food stores which eliminates a lot of food packaging.  We are at the point where we don't need to buy a lot of household items so that saves on packaging as well.  Still there is some packaging that is unavoidable but we keep looking for alternatives.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Frozen Downspout

Frozen Downspout

March 28, 2011

Winter is refusing to let go of its frigid grip on our area.  Despite the beautiful sunshine it is quite cold out and there is still snow on the ground.  The warmer day temperatures have caused a bit of thawing with melting snow that freezes into long and rather impressive icicles.  One of our downspouts froze up and if you look closely it is from the water coming down then freezing upwards until it met then froze solid.  At the same time melting snow from the roof continued to come down the spout and freeze.  It looks pretty but is a sign of water damage.  As soon as it turns nice this downspout will need replacing as the freezing caused the seam to rupture.  This is an easy and low cost DIY repair.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Grain Packs for Pain Relief

Grain Pack for Pain Relief

When it comes to pain relief, quite often icing is used to reduce swelling and inflammation for the first 72 hours following an injury.  Once this period has passed, icing may be continued as required to control any inflammation as well as heat applied to help with muscle relaxation and pain control.  Heat is also used to alleviate the pain of arthritis, rheumatism, transient or chronic joint and muscle pain. 

Electric heating pads have long been the choice for applying heat to relive pain and sooth sore muscles.  However, an electric heating pad is a very poor choice for several reasons.  First and foremost, electric heating pads produce a dry heat.  When applied to sore muscles it draws moisture from the muscle creating a rebound pain after the heat is removed.  This sets up a cycle of pain relief followed by rebound pain so the electric heating pad really ends up making things worse.  Second there is the potential for being burnt if the heat is turned too high or you fall asleep on the heating pad.  As with any electrical appliance there is the potential for shorting or malfunction that could cause a fire.  Finally, electric heating pads use electricity and with rising electricity costs this is not the ideal solution.   There is another way to get pain relief that is safer, more effective and uses minimal electricity.

Heated grain packs are highly recommended for pain relief.  The grain pack is placed heated for 1 minute on each side in the microwave oven on high.  The pack will then release a moist heat providing relief for 30 minutes or longer.  Grain packs bend easily so can wrap around sore muscles.  In addition to heating, a grain pack can be kept in the freezer to be used as an ice pack when necessary.  I have a special designed one to provide pain relief from my sinuses that fits over both eyes and has soothing essential oils to help with sinus drainage.  This one can also be used cold or hot depending on the symptoms.

Grain packs are very easy and inexpensive to make with basic straight sewing.  The filler can be inexpensive long grain white rice, flax seed, barley or corn.  Make up several in various sizes.  You can make an optional removable cover if desired for easy cleaning similar to a small pillow case.½

Materials
4 - 5 cups of filler
2 squares of heavy fabric 11" x 11"

Place the right sides of the fabric together.  Sew around three sides of the squares leaving a ½-inch seam allowance.  Trim seams and turn to right side.  Smooth the two sewn corners with a ruler.  Fill as desired but not too full.  You want a bit of movement in the filling so it can be wrapped so leave about 1 - 2 inch headspace.  Tuck in  ½-inch along the top edge.  Sew across to form the final seam.  The grain pack is now ready to use.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Scrapbooking - Garden Layout (2)

Digital Garden Layout

March 12, 2011

Digital scrapbooking does not need special programs although they do help.  One of my first digital layouts depicting scenes from my garden was done using Microsoft Word and the photo uploading software for my digital camera at that time.  Once an image is imported into the Word document, it can easily be resized by clicking the cursor on the corner of the image then moving the cursor as desired.  Word even has special text effects for titles and journaling.  I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the end result was. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011