Fall house cleaning and climate change...

[mattl]

In our family it's been a family tradition to do heavy house cleaning in the fall.  My mother would never let shiny Christmas decorations go up unless the house was spotless.  I've been doing it for decades now, all windows are washed inside and out, everything comes off the walls, walls and ceiling dusted and spot cleaned if needed, curtains and drapes hung outside to freshen or sent to the cleaners as needed, all wood, brass and silver polished. All upholstered furniture vac'd and spot cleaned if needed, same for the carpet.  All the good china is run through the dishwasher in prep for entertaining - never liked those sealed china storage things, everything had a faint plastic smell opening them, same with the crystal.  I usually start in October and do a room a day as time permitted, now that it's just me I can knock out 2 bedrooms a day and most of the house stays relatively clean so it goes a little quicker.

 

That said, this year I've really been unmotivated.  I was working in the living room today and it hit me, it's just too damn nice outside!  When it was cold and blustery, wind rattling the storm windows and bursts of snow flurried blew past the windows, I'd put some music and and felt like cocooning for the winter.  Now, it's 55-60 and sunny most days, and this weekend it's supposed to hit 70 again.  It's Nov. 14th and I have not turned the furnace on!  With solar gain now that the trees are bare it holds in the low 60's in the house, basically where I keep it during the winter.  Very odd fall for me.

 

I know the weather patterns are becoming more unsettled and next year may be the opposite, but this year I'm really having to push myself to get things done...

 

[circlew]

Yeah, it's hard to think about doing "winter holiday" things when the weather is nice. Still a lot of trees here with leaves, but it got down into the mid 20's the last two nights, so expect them to come down in the next week or so.

At Thanksgiving 1999, I went to visit my Aunt Doris in Mississippi, where it was in the low 80's. The following Saturday, she wanted to put up the Christmas tree. I told her it was the first time I'd ever put up a Christmas tree wearing a short sleeve shirt & shorts in a house with the air conditioning running!

 

[tolivac]

Putting up Christmas trees wearing shorts-went thru this when our family lived in Clearwater,Florida.Our house had a pool-and we were even swimming in it at Christmas-Guests couldn't believe this and went for a swim themselves!We kept bathing suits on hand for visiters to use.This was during the mid 60's.

 

[davey7]

I have a good friend who lives in St. Pete and he always says that only tourists wear shorts and swim outside in December/January in the Tampa area.

70 is predicted for tomorrow and then snow on Friday - fun times (it will be for me!).

 

[cornutt]

I lived in Ft. Lauderdale back in the '80s. My first winter there, on Christmas Day I called my mom, who was in an ice storm in Tennessee, to inform her that I was laying by the pool. That went over well, not...