I’m afraid I am low on photos for today’s post. Everything I shot (albeit very quickly) yesterday was blurry! I was blurry myself as I worked in the kitchen cleaning walls and cleaning the wood floor around the stove, which has a grease build up that I am having the hardest time eliminating. I swear I’ve been scrubbing it every day for over a week! I’ve googled, I’ve tried all the suggestions, but still can’t eliminate it entirely.
New rules for new stove: spatter guards, which we used to use and had somehow stopped using, less oil (Don tends to use too much), clean up every night after using the stove – well, we do that anyway, but more extensive cleanup. Maybe, eventually, a hood. Two questions: Do you have a hood and does it really help with all of that? And do you have any suggestions as to cleaning the wood floors?
In the meantime, I have to start work on the script today, so after I finish writing this post, I’m headed upstairs to the office for Act One of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And then more cleaning. We want to paint that wall before I leave so that it’s all set for the eventual delivery and installment of the stove.
(Like I needed something else to do before next Thursday!)
It’s getting hot again here – and humid – so I’m also spending a big chunk of time watering the plants and the memorial garden and chicken wire fence garden, which can really get hit by the sun. I am reminded that I have to write all of this down for Don – instructions on watering, instructions on how to make up the bed. Not that he doesn’t know how to make up a bed, but our California King involves putting the blanket on in a certain way, and certain pillowcases go on certain pillows. You understand. Oh, and instructions as to the house plants.
I was thinking this morning about how, during the course of my almost ten years of blogging, I have gone through so many stages: starting out on Blogger, making the decision to insert some modest ads, moving to WordPress, for a brief time, obsessing about income for the blog and making it a money maker, abandoning that eventually as something I wasn’t interested in or even remotely committed to, and now, taking the amount of ads down to just a few. I have all the income I need from the blog – enough to pay for the costs involved – and I can’t remember the last time I was interested in a sponsored post. Not to say that might not happen again, but basically, the blog is where I want it to be. I no longer feel the need for it to be anything other than a daily journal of my life here at the cottage. I arrived at this stage of the blog a few years back, but as I remind myself today – It’s such a relief!
Oy.
Happy Tuesday.
I don’t have wood floors, just remember seeing or hearing about people using Murphy’s soap.
Be carefully in this hot and humid weather. Even sitting on the porch can be unbearable in this humidity. Sometimes I still wish for that ‘dry heat’, as they say in Arizona!
I do have Murphy’s soap. I’ll try that, as well!
Claudia,
There is a cleaner that is sold in Dollar Stores called Awesome and it is the best cleaner for grease buildup and the only cleaner I have found that cleans the tar off my fireplace doors. Warning don’t breathe in if you decide to use it.
Thank you Christine! I’ll check it out.
Hi Claudia…its been very humid here in Iowa too I am ready for fall as I love to decorate and change things up…try using regular baking soda on the grease build up…hope it works! have a great day! :-)
I love baking soda but it’s so messy on a floor with cracks between the pine boards. It may be more frustrating than it’s worth!
give “krud kutter” a try–it has never failed me
I’ll check it out, Jeannine.
I hate grease and trying to clean it. I hope you find something that works. Just a few photos but good one’s! We need more Zinnias here as the butterflies love them. Next year I’ll plant more. I love your blog, it’s like a little conversation with you each day. Hugs!
Ah, thank you, friend!
Hello Claudia. I have been a reader of yours for several months. I do like your writing style, your decorating style, and enjoy your travel stories! I am also a gardener living close by in central CT. Besides those similar interests, I enjoy your blog because the layout is very easy to navigate, very few ads, low or no pop-up ads, and it is also easy to find the right buttons. Some blogs, I cannot find the archive list, in case I want to go back and re-read something. Or if I find a “new-to-me” blog sometimes there are NO dates on the postings. It is easier to read and understand the post if you know what time of year it is, or if it is from previous years – to follow the progression of some of the postings, or current events, etc. Also some blogs, it is not easy to find the ” continue reading” button or the Reply button. Also if the blogger doesn’t let you know, say in the profile or other posting, where they live. The location is very helpful in understanding the stories posted. I very much like learning about cultures and styles of other countries. We don’t need to know exactly where they live, but generally- such as Northern France, or the state of Georgia. I really don’t like reading blogs that don’t let me know where they are from or the date of the posting. Just my preferences. So yours is very enjoyable! Your are very generous in being very open and friendly and I am glad you will continue your blog the same. (I don’t have a blog, but there are many that I enjoy reading)
Thanks so much for all of this, Mary! All very good points about blog reading and what should be easily accessible for the reader. I’m glad you’re here!
Hi Claudia, I have the same problem with old stubborn grease on the wall next to my stove (I’ll blame it on an overly enthusiastic man, too!). I haven’t tried this yet, but one vintage suggestion I read was taking an iron and using blotting paper (or some other absorbent paper?), ironing over it to melt and bring up the grease. I aim to try it, but just haven’t yet. But I intend to increase slowly with the iron heat and not start a fire! No chemicals that way at least. Good luck, and I hope something works for you.
Thanks so much, Bess!
Good Morning Claudia,
I like reading your blog. There are some blogs that I find difficult to follow. Have you tried Dawn dish soap. It has a degreaser in it. Now I know that ammonia would work but can’t breathe and it takes the stain off of the wood. That was what my dad would use to remove wax off the wood floors in our military quarters when we would move when growing up. I had just change the bedding on our bed and replacing the pillowcases becomes a workout. I have the corners of the pillowcase with the pillow, trying to get the pillow to go in. So I am flinging the pillow and pillowcases over my head to give it some momentum. That is my morning exercise.
Just so you know I don’t use ammonia (though I know that it would work) because of being very sensitive to it because of the fact of it used when growing up.
I stay away from ammonia, usually, because it’s so intense and I don’t like the fumes.
I did try Dawn. It works on the stove, but not on the wood floor.
Good morning exercise!
Dawn Platinum is the best I’ve ever used for everything. I even get grease spots out of clothes and it cleans the worst grills! I don’t even buy anything else anymore. It’s with Dawn dish soap at the store and is a foam.
I’ll definitely check that out, Suzanne!
Personally….I love Simple Green! Smells nice, cleans everything I need it to clean…not sure about wood floors though. But walls and grease? Yes! Simple green is non-toxic and biodegradable…so that’s a plus. And since it’s concentrated…it can be diluted per the job. Happy scrubbing! ;)
I have simple green (orange) here and I’ve tried it on the floor.
A no go!
Ok…did not know that! ;)
I wish it worked! I’ll try it again. I like the stuff a lot.
I was wrong. I have something called Mean Green Orange. I’ll buy some Simple Green today!
Hope it works! Let me know! ;)
Baking soda, as suggested by commenter Carol. I leave baking soda with a bit of water on the greasy areas of my stove and wait about an hour before scrubbing it kid. There is still a lot of scrubbing but it’s the only thing that makes the stove shiny again. So it should work for floor and walls too?
I’ve also heard of Bess’ suggestion of iron and absorbant paper (brown kraft paper) but haven’t tried that myself.
I have a downdraft ventilation system and honestly can’t tell if it works 100%. I can smell the cooking in other parts of the house (not working 100%…), but the vent needs to be cleaned regularly of grease and gunk (therefore is working…).
I think we’ll have to invest in a hood/fan someday. But not for a while!
I think a stove hood is a help. The filter is always oily when I clean it so it does help some. Be careful using Awesome cleaner on painted walls, it sometimes removes the paint. But it’s the best thing ever for grease and it’s cheap. I took everything out of our fridge and washed all the shelves and drawers this morning. That is always a lengthy process. Glad it’s done. Hope you’re able to slow down a bit and enjoy yourself some. Have a great day.
I’m afraid it might remove the stain on the floor, so I may not try it.
As much as I hate the smell, ammonia is the best degreaser I know of. I rented an apartment once that had a kitchen that probably hadn’t been deeply cleaned in years; ammonia was the only thing that cleaned it.
Is ammonia too strong/harsh for soft pine, I wonder?
You have good suggestions here! Give them a try and see what works best for you!
Thanks, Nancy!
“Claudia I found an interesting web site that makes purses out of retired theater backdrops and I thought of you so send me your email and I’ll forward the info to you. p.s. – I love your blog and check it out every day.
Judy, if you go to my sidebar – right at the top of the content section for the blog, you’ll see some icons. One of them is an envelope. Click on that and you’ll be able to send me an email. And thanks!
Have you tried a paste made of Dawn and some baking soda / or Bar Keeper’s Friend ~ let it set in for a while, and then use a firm scrub brush. If that doesn’t work, Simple Green is usually good. We have a combo microwave and hood, and I think it does work as the filter is usually in need of a cleaning!
Hope you checked off a few things on your to-do list today! Enjoy your Tuesday.
I just bought some Bar Keeper’s Friend yesterday. I’ll try a paste of that with Dawn and see what happens.
I use baking soda and then rinse with vinegar.
I’ve been using vinegar/mixed with water and it hasn’t done anything. I’m wary of baking soda being caught in the rather wide cracks between my floorboards.
My husband has to be the cleaner because of my asthma. He’s a big fan of Simple Green. He often uses more toxic stuff, though, when I wish he wouldn’t; it’s not good for him or me. Bleach alone really irritates my airways and it can harm your skin.
He’s also, more than I am, that’s for sure, the ‘cook’ of the family…and he, too, uses ‘way too much oil when he cooks; I hardly use any!! Last house, our modest-but-new stove (which we had to leave behind as part of the sale) had a hood with a strong vent we could adjust. I feel it makes a good difference.
A few years ago, I bought an art piece at Goodwill which had clearly been in a kitchen, maybe even hung on the wall over the stove (who knows, but clearly a close proximity)…and it was caked in black grease. All I can tell you is, I scrubbed the wood frame of this piece…over and over again as much as my hands would allow, for weeks. Dawn was best (they even use it in oil spills to help oil-coated fowl [poor shorebirds!]) but, when it came down to it? Elbow grease. And Q-tips/tooth picks for creases. The grease was insidious!
On the subject of blogs, I have curtailed the number of blogs I read in recent years from ‘scads’ of them to less than five (and a couple are only once-a-month-or-so posts). One of my fave bloggers (fast becoming blogger of the past, for me) now has so many ads, it makes it difficult to scroll through her posts. Her site is just clogged with ads. I feel like she’s using me to make money, the money-making part of it now being the focus rather than the content. To me, it takes away the purpose of her blog (or what she’d long ago told us, was the purpose of her blog).
What you’ve said here today: “…but basically, the blog is where I want it to be. I no longer feel the need for it to be anything other than a daily journal of my life here at the cottage. ” And, Claudia, that’s MORE than enough, which is why you have a dedicated, loyal readership. You keep it real!
Indeed, it was always my understanding that in the early days of the internet/blogs, a blog was intended to be nothing more than a personal journal and, you know, if as a reader, we wanted to come along for the ride, fine, but the online journal wasn’t necessarily to amass some big audience. So many blogs became a selling tool; a way to advertise the blog owner’s own product or skill. So, yes, another means of visibility for them…but it’s something that never sat well with me.
Gosh, and I have seen a lot of blogs come and go; whew. The blog owner, understandably, sometimes fights to come up with content to please the audience (whereas I think they’d be better off coming up with content which pleases themselves first) and then the obligation ‘gets’ to them…pressure and burn out (maybe even some competition?), when the blog was I’m sure supposed to be a bit of stress relief/self-expression but then morphs into something entirely different. I guess what I’m saying, although I’m not a blog owner myself, is that you do it for you, not for your audience. Or it’ll just kill the creativity of thought, along with motivation, etc. It dilutes the purity of a basic journal. If it helps you to write stuff down, any blog owner, then write away and don’t do it for fame, attention, etc. unless feedback is something you’re seeking as helpful, educational, etc.
Am I making any sense? Probably not.
But I think if you blog and allow comments, you’ve gotta have a tough skin because there are a lot of mean/ugly people out there in cyber life who just love to make others feel as miserable as themselves! Anonymous cowards…
I definitely think you need to write the blog for yourself, write about what interests you – or it will never last. I know bloggers who took a turn and started writing content to please their audience or who did it purely as a money maker. There is no joy in that. When I see a blogger saying “What do you want to see here?” I sigh. Presumably the audience is there because they already like what they see? People pleasing can be a detriment in real life and on a blog.
I’ve had some ugly comments on this blog over the years – mostly to do with politics and my anti-hunting stance – but on the whole, I am very fortunate in that regard.
Yeah, it’s like ‘they say’ if you want to write a book, start a novel…”write what you know” (it’s almost like ‘to thine ownself be true’)…
xo
Lestoil with a little water will remove grease from anything! I have used it on my son’s white tee shirts after he has worked on cars to pizza grease off my son in law’s dress shirt. Keep thinking about the end goal! :)
Thank you, Betsy!
Greased Lightening. Great stuff. Also, Barkeepers Friend is one of my all time favorites. Good luck.
I’ve never seen Greased Lightening. But I do have Barkeepers friend!
Claudia, your blog is a real treasure. I only read yours and a couple others these days.
Ah, thank you so much, Lily!
You sure have a lot on your plate. Slow down and do not get overheated. i mowed the grass yesterday and trimmed with my sister’s help. We had a tree company prune one of our trees in the back yard. It was leaning on the porch’s roof. We also had few branches removed from another tree that were dead and leaning over our neighbor’s yard. We will have the men come back for more tree trimming in the back. Ironically the city came the same day and trimmed all the trees on the street. At least that was free.
Marilyn
We did some work outside today and we were just saying that we need to have someone come and prune our trees! Good for you, Marilyn.
We’ve always had a range hood, but we’ve always had a gas stove. Don’t know if that makes a difference (cooking with gas vs electric or propane). And yes, the range hood definitely helps vent away the odors and cooking grease. I’ve had grease splatter on my stove and counters, but never on the floors. As far as getting cooking grease off wood floors, I found this, but can you mop hardwood floors? I know water isn’t good for them – unless you dried them immediately?
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/07/make-your-own-grease-cutting-floor-cleaner.html
I had to smile at you leaving housekeeping instructions for Don. I told Brian when I was recovering from surgery that I should write a housekeeping manual for our house – in case “I go before him.” He agreed. That would be quite the task , but maybe I should start on it. I remember when Brian’s mom died – she was only 52 and she passed just six weeks after we got married. She was the one who ran the household and kept the house pretty much perfect. Once she passed, the house eventually fell apart because no one kept up with it. I know most of that was due to Brian’s dad’s and sister’s depression, but still.
Well, I grew up with a gas stove and no range hood ever, and it seemed to be okay. But, I think we’ll probably get one eventually. I probably wouldn’t mop my floor – dry mop yes but not a really wet mop.
I would definitely have to give Don a list. He only knows the very bare basics. Truly. There’s SO much he doesn’t know!
Claudia, did you try DAWN dishwashing liquid? That’s the absolute nuts on grease but so gentle they use it on animals who’ve been caught in oil spills. I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials. I was going to suggest baking soda as someone else did but it IS gritty & must be thoroughly rinse so I guess it depends on how grungy you want to get yourself – would be quite a job. Good luck!
I did try Dawn because that’s what we use for our dishes. Thanks, Janet!
Hi Claudia, How about alcohol? Or maybe a product called Goop Be Gone.
I love your blog exactly the wat it is. I like that it is you about you (and Don, can’t forget Don.)
I do have Goo be Gone – that’s a possibility.
Citra-solv is the best grease remover I know of. It’s non-toxic and smells great.
I’ll check it out, Cara. Thank you.
Hi, Claudia, I have been away for a while,so sorry I missed this post.
If you havent been told already ,TSP( Trisodium Phosphate is the end of your grease problems! it sounds like a big nasty chemical but is really quite safe for these purposes. back in 1969 there was a prize in my KFC store ,of $150. for the person who came up with the solution to one of our biggest problem, GREASE! Hope This came in time to help. Judy A
I use TSP before painting, but here’s the thing. Everything that everyone has recommended is great for counters and appliances and fixtures, but they don’t work on wood!