Time for a Spring / Autumn clean! Do you have a yearly clear out?

[Stephanie]

Hey there everyone,

It’s that time of the year when in some parts of the world, the seasons are beginning to change and this symbolises a good opportunity to have a good old clean out, spruce up, or complete reorganisation.

Here in the UK, many people are starting to think about their Spring clean. Unfortunately for me, those thoughts haven't translated into action just yet.

What about you, do you use this time of year to cleanse your home? Or do you tend to do this throughout the year?

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Huma0]

@Stephanie 

Your garden sounds amazing. I'm definitely going to try to spend more time on mine this Spring/Summer. I've put so much work into it in the past, it would be a shame to let it all go to wrack and ruin now!

[Stephanie]

@Huma0 So here's when we built it. So the strong winds blew the back wall down so we used the bricks from it to construct the rockery. 

Before and after
Roses rising above the wrath of raspberries1 year later

[Huma0]

Wow @Stephanie , it does look like you have done a lot of work in your garden! Is it an old house/flat? The back wall in my garden also fell down completely during a storm in Summer 2015, but it was about 150 years old!

The neighbours and I decided to rebuild it using the original bricks though as they are lovely yellow Victorian ones. It was a very expensive job but the wall looks great now and will hopefully stand up to a bit of rough weather.

Here's the wall (or lack of it) shortly after it collapsed (what you see behind the bench is my neighbour's garden):

[Stephanie]

@Huma0 

Wowsers. I grew up in a Victorian house, up in Rugby but current home is first home for husband and I. It was the trees at the end of the garden bending to the wind and pushing the wall over - it fell in almost a complete piece! We have a sturdy fence now. It's not our forever home so it's most presentable work rather than proper efforts. 

Totally understand wanting to recover those bricks, wonderful and historic! 

[Helen427]

@Stephanie 

Your photograph isn't showing up here in CC.

Neither is your host home, assuming you are a Host as well.

Is there any chance you could try upload the photo again?

Or is it just here in New Zealand it's not visible?

Thanks in advance

[Stephanie]

Hi @Helen427 

Sorry about that, I've gone back and edited it so you should be able to see them now. Hubbie and I are in a 1 bedroom maisonette so we can't host... yet! Hoping to get a new home towards end of the year so watch this space.

Thanks

[Helen427]

@Stephanie 

That's gorgeous!

I love the roses, do you know what it's name is?

Spring cleaning of our gardens is as important as that of our Homes and Minds.

[Stephanie]

@Helen427 

Thank you so much! They started as Chinese Tea Roses but have been cross pollunated and spread god knows how many times. I have some primroses too which may have been throw into the mix at some point. 

The bees are absolutely lovin' it, to coin a fast food restaurants catch phrase. We often get masonry bees in the bedding of the primroses, naughty little fellas!

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Ann72]

@Stephanie LOL on thoughts not quite translating to actions 🙂

I host remotely and there aren't many bookings in Maine this time of year, so I've given my housekeeper (who's always happy for extra work!) a list of winter chores.  We've had the rugs sent out to be cleaned and the covers and wool throws as well.  She'll scour pots and pans and clean and organize closets and cabinets.  We had the boilers serviced a few weeks ago, and later in the spring I'll have the window washers in as well as the fireplace guys.  In April or May my gardener will get started on the gardens and flower pots.  My mother and I will go up in late April to get into some more details, like going over all the linens and getting all the supplies like shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, paper goods, pantry items, and other things sorted.  This is only a partial list but I don't really like to reveal publicly how OCD I am.  🙂

[Huma0]

@Ann72  Right now I am feeling incredibly jealous of you with (what sounds like) your wonderful housekeeper, and that’s before we get onto the rug cleaners, gardener and raft of trusty tradespeople.

i do all of this myself, except for the boiler service which I do have someone good for, not only because all of these things are so expensive in London but also because it’s so hard to find good, reliable tradespeople here.

Are all these services affordable in Maine or do you just have a super high end listing with super high end price?

green with envy! 

[Ann72]

@Huma0 LOL, you live in LONDON, so I'm green with envy right back at you!  Plus I love your house. 

I would absolutely love to do my own gardening.  But I work full time in New York and the houses are a 9-hour drive away.  Not really a weekend trip.

I found this housekeeper last year and she is amazing.  Like many people in that part of Maine, she has to work several jobs throughout the year.  She lives with her lobsterman boyfriend and between them they have 6 children.  I say all this because there is a long relationship between summer people and locals that's sometimes love/hate and sometimes symbiotic.  We need them and they need us.  When you treat them well, they treat you well.  For the most part.  Don't get me started on all the lazy caretakers I've fired.

Services are probably more affordable, but yes, I also charge a lot for my houses and want everything to be ship shape and Bristol fashion so guests feel they're getting their money's worth.  Also, there's nothing worse for a house, particularly one in a severe climate, than deferred maintenance.  Small problems grow into large ones.  If the boiler people come every year, I'm less likely to have an emergency that would lead to frozen pipes, a flooded basement and a huge and expensive mess to clean up.  If you use a fireplace often enough, it has to be cleaned or there's danger of fire.  The garden doesn't need a lot, mostly spring and fall maintenance and some tidying, but having some pots around that flower all season gives a feeling of things being taken care of, if that makes sense.  There's no city government that sends people to plow the road and take the garbage away.  I need a generator for when the power goes out (a frequent occurrence) and that needs to be checked all the time, because mice like to nest in it.  Turn your back for a minute and you've got some strange kind of mound ant getting cozy in your foundation.  All this and more does add up to quite a raft of (not alway) trusty tradespeople!

As you can imagine, I never take the suggestions to lower my prices.  And I'm definitely not getting rich.  🙂

[Huma0]

@Ann72 

I can't imagine the stress of being a remote host so many hours away from my listings, but it sounds like you manage it all very well. Doing maintenance as soon as it's needed is sound advice, which I wish I followed more often, but it's so difficult to get people to come and fix stuff here in London. Good tradespeople have too much work and are rarely interested in small jobs. I did get some good contacts through another post I created about this though, so hopefully I'll be able to find some trusty folk to help out.

[Ann72]

@Huma0 I feel your pain, having lived in an 1888 house in Brooklyn for 20 years.  It was an endless struggle to get things done in New York.  Luckily, most people in Maine need work!

[Huma0]

Yes, it's a constant issue. I've got friends who come from small towns or villages and they say tradespeople there would never get away with how they behave here. Not only do they need the work, but everything is word of mouth so good recommendations are vital. In London, most trades don't seem to care if they let you down or do a shoddy job.

[Helen427]

@Huma0 @Stephanie @Gordon0 @Ann72 @Cintia11 

There's poften semi-retired or retired people who often are available to help who are very professional at doing odd jobs - they tend however to be contacted through networks within local community groups, libraries, or churches etc - often an ad in those places can work results.

We have a group called Grey Power in New Zealand who know people who can tend to those one off kind of jobs