Movin' and Groovin'

After Rob installed a temporary fence to keep our dogs corralled and I made numerous stabs at cleaning the first floor, we moved in toward the end of January.

I'm sure the fence was in some ways a disappointment to the neighbors.  It is by no means what we plan for the long term.  A Victorian must-have is, of course, a wrought iron fence.  But there is no point to installing the ultimate fence when the garage has yet to be expanded.  So for now, we have a functional, 4-foot cedar fence that will serve our purposes nicely.  The temptation to paint "No worries!  This fence is temporary!" on the street side of the fence is almost overwhelming.

While Rob worked on the fence, I began cleaning.  Remember that the second floor apartment is still occupied by tennants at this time, so I only have to worry about the first floor.  Easy, I thought.  But the apartment had not been occupied for some time.  And no one had actually climbed a ladder and washed the tops of the fireplaces and windows for a LONG time.  No one had cleaned the greasy stuff that coats a kitchen after using it awhile.  Who knows when the windows were last washed?  And the floors....

There was this layer of something that seemed to cover most everything.  I didn't see it at first.  I cleaned with soap and water and felt pretty good about my efforts.  I had brought a bottle of stuff with me that I had found in the back of my cupboard.  It's called Krud Kutter, and I whipped it out to use on a particularly stubborn area.  Wow!  Instead of pale gray, the area cleaned to a bright white!  It cut grease easily.  My new best friend!  http://www.krudkutter.com/

Rob laughed at my enthusiasm for this product...until he used it himself on some woodwork that had been covered for decades.  I am not one to go on and on about something as simple as a cleaning product, but this is one item I would never be without.  I thought it must be something magic and sinful, but the ingredient label says, "A proprietary blend of surfactants."  Well, there you go.  Safe for the environment and effective as all get-out.  What more could one ask for?

With careful cleaning, we began to find some interesting things of course-

This old newspaper from March 12, 1939, was stuffed above the front parlor window, presumably as a means of cutting down on drafts.  You can see that it's Prince Valiant, a part of Sunday comics for decades.  

The Columbus Dispatch header appeared on another page:

Friends and family insisted we save these treasures, but the paper was so friable after 73 years of exposure to uncontrolled temperatures and light that we couldn't even smooth them out for better photos.

And what's a blog entry about cleaning without the requisite picture of mouse poop under the fridge?