What's Going on In My Neck of the Woods

Wow last nights storm was really something.  Winds knocked down a few branches in our backyard as well as a section of fence between us and our neighbor's house.  Ali took it upon herself to explore the uncharted land and mark it.  These particular neighbors complained to us once when we mowed a small section of their grass so needless to say I'll be wondering over with a Publix bag in a little while to confiscate any incriminating fertilizer.

Saturday was just the kind of day we needed at the Casa de Mielke.  After the 6a.m. feedings I was able to sleep late until 9.  After brunch I "tackled" a few chores that needed to be done a long time ago.  I sorted and organized the linen closet.  I put the old ragged towels in the laundry room to be used as mess cleanup rags and I color coordinated the "nice towels" and placed them on assigned shelves along with bed linens.  Then I moved onto the laundry room which I am pretty sure had not been cleaned or swept since before we moved in last April.  I used hot rags to collect and remove the millions of lent balls that had cemented themselves to the dryer and sorted through and reorganized the two shelves - compartmentalizing such bins as the tool box, bug killer/sunscreen, misc. box, and paint/putty/and picture hanging wire box.  Finally I swept and mopped the floors.  Then it was onto the master bathroom where I stripped the counter tops of all the clutter and proceeded to scrub and Windex and made it shine brand new.  THE SHOWER... TILE shower needed a lot of hands and knees scrubbing.  I have never been able to clean the tile and grout up to satisfaction until yesterday.  CLR, my friends, actually works.  Spray, walk away, scrub, then rinse with cold water.  You can notice the results immediately and the best part is the solutions keeps working even when you are done.  Our case was so severe that I will need to do this again and again over the next couple of days to see it look brand new and then do weekly follow up cleanings to maintain.  Not too much to ask.  BBC's "How Clean is Your House" really has some helpful tips such as taking a toothbrush and any baking soda toothbrush to the grout which I tried and found works pretty well too... this also leaves behind a nice minty aroma when you are finished.  The rest of the house would have to wait till today because after you clean a bathroom you immediately want to get back in the shower and clean yourself.

Dinner.  Hot, gooey, Southern, delicious.   I looked up a recipe in a family cook book my mom gave me for Christmas one year and decided to try Beef Tips on rice.  Easy recipe:

2lbs. of sirloins beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

Mix 1tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 2 tbsp. flour in a large plastic bag or tupperware, add beef and shake.

Heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in a large soup pot and add seasoned beef, cook till brown and one large chopped onion till soft. 

Add 1 beef boullion cube to 3/4 cups boiling water and add to beef in pot.

Add broth to seasoned beef and onion, cover, and simmer for 2 hours and serve over rice.

(we wanted a thicker gravy so we SLOWLY added one more tablespoon of flour to the hot mixture and whisked until desired consistency)

We also had greens beans and then Ben and Jerry's icecream.  We started "21" the movie but I feel asleep and zombie crashed into the bed at midnight until the babies woke up at 3a.m.

I actually slept until 10 because Nick so generously took over until I got up.

Today has it's own events in which to look forward to; more on that to come.

Happy Sabbath!