So I decided that since the Ohio house is about 1,000 sq. feet x 10' ceilings, which so far I have been able to keep clean when there-- except that there has been little or no dusting (central air = few shelves/horizontal surfaces/decor) and it's been too lightly used to vacuum the master BR-- that this 700 sq. ft. x 11 foot ceilings in PA can be my "training wheels" to get up to speed on being able to clean ALL of the Ohio house on my own, including vacuuming all rooms and dusting in all rooms.

I have a schedule/plan for each of the 5 possible cleaning days before MIL arrives. I have a paid helper for some of tomorrow and another day or days to be negotiated tomorrow-- and a few calls still to get back on other helpers in case tomorrow's can't schedule another time when we're here to help.

This AM:

Hardi and I took down all the uber-dusty, pretty, FRAGILE Priscilla curtains from LR and D... 7 pairs. A dry cleaner mistakenly washed them... and dried them too hot and damaged them. They're a cotton-poly blend, with the poly dryer-burnt just at the melting/curling point, i.e. to the point where I dare not wash them again. But I CAN run them thru the dryer one at a time on low, with dryer sheets to freshen them and get the dust out.

He also began decluttering his stuff in the DR-- bit of a packrat, the dear-- and by both our efforts the last of the Ohio boxes left the LR this AM along with a few loose items (floor lamp, a curtain panel matching one in Ohio, a couple of folding chairs).

We rearranged some upstairs-- where his tall BR dresser had been till it came down to the LR, now sits a lady's dressing chair, in a corner suddenly devoid of bedding and nighties that had piled up. A place to oil itchy legs YAY! We changed the king bed, and that netted me a mattress pad for the camper in Ohio also-- there were two on the bed for softness after surgery, that I do not need now that nerve tissue where I lie down has regenerated as much as it's probably going to.


Whew! TBTG for cell phones-- all of the afternoon's calls and posts happened while we got outta Dodge for a few hours and had a MUCH-needed picnic.

Tomorrow, the LR loses its nursing home look.

~Susan