It's not all miracle and wonder around here. Sadly, this is the "after I cleaned" picture. Haven't had it in me yet to reorganize the shelves.
The face that did not launch a thousand laundry-room cleanings:
Wearing today for dog-walking, cleaning, organizing, procrastinating, and so on:
Bamboo burgundy swing dress (thrifted), blue EVA Birks. It's hot and muggy today, and I am not cool, but then I don't think I'd be cool in anything. That is, I'm not appreciably hotter in this dress than I am in anything else --- and it does wick sweat quite nicely.
Last night we were going to go to a play at the Abbey, but weren't really up to it in the end, so just had dinner and beer at a new brew pub in Belmont.
What I wore:
Redyed Camellia dress, thrifted cotton J. Crew emerald cardigan, tan sandals: an easy ensemble, but effective.
I was tired and dubious about going out, but the nice colors held me up even when I wasn't really feeling it. Carried along on a wave of at least I look okay, I did wind up having a nice time, though I was grateful that we'd kept it low-key and not tried to sit through a play. We may try again tonight, and I think I'll feel a lot more like it --- and might very well repeat the same date-night outfit, because I know it's a good one.
Back to the housework grind . . . in the wake of the kids' departure, there's no end of things to be done to restore order. I miss them a lot, but I'm kind of looking forward to a place for everything and everything staying in its place.
LATER:
Whew, it's hot. At least it feels that way. It's not even 90F, but the humidity is high, and in the sun the weather just feels sultry and oppressive. My husband has been outside laying some pavers from the dooryard patio into the backyard, to cover the trodden place where grass never grows, so that we won't be walking in the mud next time it rains. The plan eventually is to keep extending the paved area to include the firepit, which I think would be a very good move, at least from the standpoint of annoying stuff to have to weed-whack around. More and more I think we're both realizing how much we'll need to make our yard lower-maintenance in the future. We don't want to do away with our lawn (which is hardly a monoculture grass lawn in the normal mode anyway), but a lot less of it could be a good thing, with a lot more usable surface for chairs and gathering.
These are not fine pavers --- they are the cheapest thing on offer at Lowes. But I do like how the color harmonizes with the Autumn Joy sedum in the planter.
Meanwhile, I've pulled the white slipcover off the living-room couch to wash it, a thing I have been meaning to do since Christmas before last. It's an easy cleaning task, but not that easy. I took the opportunity to sweep well behind that couch, too. The whole house just feels tired and not-clean --- there's some painting that desperately need to be done, though I don't know when it will get done. At least I can tackle the dust and grime and accreta of even reduced family life . . .
I actually don't mind this couch au naturel. (ETA: the slipcover is white). It's a nice color, though it has sustained some sun and, I guess, bleach-cleaner damage over the years. Still, I might just leave it this way for a while . . . though the nice thing about a slipcover is that if stuff gets spilled, you can then take it off and wash it, which is why I sprang for the slipcover to begin with, some years ago.
Maybe I'll DYE the slipcover . . .
UPDATE: Well, I've washed this slipcover before, but this time it seems to have shrunk. Can't get it back on the couch, at least not so that it looks as nice as it did before. SIGH. I guess I really have a chance to love the au naturel. It is honestly a nice color, though I have a hard time not feeling that I'm in my mother's house, especially since that's also her rug. But that's the way it goes.