On Monday morning I was up at 4AM to get my posts up and then I started prepping for the house cleaners. There were many little jobs that had been sitting to be done for weeks or longer. Things like repair the broken picture frame, revamp the multitudinous note system, put away the pile of recipes, etc.
Then I had to take down all the pictures on the walls, all the magnets off the fridge, and collected the stuff to be washed. Next I got out all the supplies we’d need and just to be on the safe side, I made a list of all I hoped we’d accomplish.
I planned to sit and clean pictures: dust and polish the frames, then wash the glass. I would also wash the magnets. I’d have them start at the top and have one dust the ceiling, while the other washed the dust off the cast iron pans. Next they would clean out the glass front cabinets, wipe them down, wash the glass, polish the fronts and put the dishes back, checking for ones needing washed.
My general helper arrived right at 8AM and I got her started in the Small garden. She had to weed it a bit before she could start. She’d rake the mulch to the corners, and then put down the amendment. The cleaners were to leave at 11AM, I’d understood, and I would come out to help her with the layout and mulching.
At 8:15AM the cleaners hadn’t shown up, even though I’d made it clear I needed them to be on time. I called and they said they were on their way. They arrived just before 8:30AM, late like for the interview. I got them started and that wasn’t a quick task as neither spoke much English, just Spanish. So there was a lot of pantomime to explain jobs.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to clone myself and be both out in the garden and supervising the cleaners.
I’d managed to get the magnets done and most of the pictures, between hopping up every 5 minutes.
But they did good work but around 10AM they indicated they thought it was time to leave. There had been a miscommunication about hours/pay. I thought they agreed to work from 8AM – 11AM with 2 people and I’d be paying each $20/hr. They thought I wanted 3 person hours, i.e. each working 1½ hours, thereby finishing (had they started at 8AM) at 9:30AM. That made them even more expensive than the first company I’d interviewed! In the end they worked for 2 hours, I paid them what I said I would and we agreed they wouldn’t be back. Too expensive on my end, too much work they said on their end.
So the kitchen is half spring cleaned. I don’t think I can finish it on my own. It will be all I can do to put it back to rights.
So most of the upper areas of the kitchen were done, but the lower areas were not. They left the kitchen a disaster area.
I changed clothes and went out to the garden. My general helper had gotten it mostly raked up. While she finished, I got out the stuff we’d need to layout and amend and put some amendment around the rose, hibiscus, and mountain laurel. She spread the amendment and when she finished we got it laid out. Then we spread the raked stuff back on the area to be mulched. It was just noon when we finished, so no mulching got done.
I had gotten the linens washed and dried in the morning and she helped me get the cover on the table under the water filter. Then she left and I was wiped out.
I rested for a few hours and then got the finished pictures hung up. But I died again after that.
On Tuesday, my general helper is coming back at 8AM. I hope to have gotten some more done on the kitchen before she comes. The first thing we are doing is putting all the seedlings that are ready, out in the cold frame. Then she will feed them all.
Once that’s done, we’ll got fill the truck with mulch hay and start mulching the garden. It’s supposed to get pretty warm on Tuesday, so when we finish that garden, I think we will work inside where I hope it is cooler.