Cleaning house today. I needed to take a break, I was getting burnt out. I still have to do the kitchen counters, sweep and vacuum the kitchen and bathroom floors, and (ugh) scrub those floors.

I also have to do something in my bedroom - I've pushed all the "I don't know where to put this" junk in there and now it looks horrible. For me, cleaning is mostly a process of moving stuff around. I suppose that means I should get rid of some of it, but a lot of it are things like my dehumidifier (which I'm not using just now) that it would be stupid to pitch.

I don't normally plug products on here, but I will say that the Tilex mold and mildew killer is a wonder. It smells absolutely unholy and I suppose I shortened my life by a few minutes by being exposed to those fumes, but boy damn, does it get rid of mold. (I have a white vinyl shower curtain which is once again white on its lower hem. And I didn't have to scrub it!).

Last night, I got a goodly bit more done on the Prairie Stripes afghan. I'm up to the point of using the third color, sort of a blue-green called "Plantation". You know, the kitted Homespun feels different from that which I have seen at the local Wal-Mart and hobby-purveyors. The yarn in the kit is more firmly spun, tighter, and has a nicer feel. Could Lion Brand make different grades of the stuff, and sell the crummier grade to the big-box hobby stores, and sell the nicer grade through their catalog? (Such practices are not unheard of among companies: many fabric producers have different qualities of greige goods with the best going to the quilt shops and the lowest grade going to places like Wal-Mart, but they all get printed with the same design).

I'd like to get some of the "Gothic" (dark purple with lighter purple marl) in the tighter-twist Homespun for a hoody. (I probably won't, though; I've got perhaps seven sweaters' worth of yarn stacked up - and that's not counting the yarn I have for vests!)

Well, back to work. The messy kitchen awaits. I will probably question the wisdom of cleaning it before I make the fruitcakes I am planning to do this afternoon, but I can't cook in a kitchen that is as much of a pit as my kitchen currently is.