Living For One Year Without A Vacuum Cleaner

No Vacuum? No Problem! - Final Update

For those of you who have been following my vacuum cleaning saga, March 2014 marked my one year anniversary of living without a vacuum. For those of you that haven't read my other posts on this topic, my vacuum cleaner broke in March 2013 and I wanted to see (for myself) how our great-great- grandmothers kept their houses clean without an electric vacuum cleaner.

Reading about how our ancestors performed their daily household chores is a lot different from living them! I have a much greater respect for electricity and the convenience it brings to us 24 hours a day. Still, I never, ever want to be dependent on electricity to live. I use it sparingly, and always with the knowledge and skills needed to accomplish the same task without it.

This post took over one month to write. This is because I had to decide whether I was going to purchase a new vacuum or not. I spent a lot of time looking at vacuum cleaners, reading online reviews and going to stores to look at a few different models. I have decided I don't like any of the ones I saw and I am not going to purchase a new one. Most are made of plastic and cost too much money! 

Rather than purchasing a new one, I took the old broken one (it had spent the last year living in the garage) to see if I could have it fixed. Well, I wouldn't call it fixed but it now runs. It used to have two speeds, now it only has one that works. And, a good portion of the cord is covered in duct tape. It looks terrible, but I don't care.  It runs and I can now vacuum the wall-to-wall carpet in the bedrooms. (Although, I still don't plan to use it often. The area rugs will stay on my wall-to-wall carpet to protect it.) 

I also had a little hand held canister vacuum that came as a companion to the large upright vacuum. It was for the hardwood floors. It is beyond repair and finally went out in the trash. I am not going to replace it either.

Instead, I am going to continue cleaning the hardwood floors and area rugs the same way I have been doing it for the past year. Dust mops, brooms and a push carpet sweeper are the order of the day at my house! Over the past year, I have truly grown to love my Hoky Pr3000.

It really picks up Molly's hair on both the small carpets and the floors. It picks up small wet spots (melted ice on the kitchen floor) and heavier things like pennies too. I will also continue to beat my area rugs outside (in good weather). When I beat my rugs, they come out cleaner than they ever did using a vacuum! Try it yourself and see! I really didn't think they would be cleaner, but I am a true believer now. You will need a rug beater to accomplish this task. Much better results than using a stick. Mine decorates the wall when not in use.

I officially declare the no vacuum experiment a success!. I now know that you really don't need a vacuum cleaner to keep your house clean. It can be accomplished the old fashioned way and you can still live a modern life. No one entering my house can tell that I haven't had a working vacuum cleaner in a year!

I can not say enough good things about this carpet sweeper. Even if you have a vacuum, I believe this sweeper should be on the 'must have' list! It will save you from having to bring out the big vacuum for everyday clean up!

You can see the details of exactly how I kept the carpet and floors clean in these other posts:

• No Vacuum? No Problem! (So Far)
• No Vacuum? No Problem! (6 Month Update)
• No Vacuum? No Problem? (9 Month Update)

Garden Work is Progressing!

About a month ago I tore up my oldest strawberry bed. It was four years old and needed to go. In it's place, I put a new bed of asparagus. We love asparagus! Because it is so expensive, we don't eat it very often. I really am not sure why it took me so long to do something about this problem! I should have installed an asparagus bed long ago.

Problem solved now! Here is a picture of the asparagus bed when I installed it last month.

Notice the bed hasn't had all the dirt added yet? The rest of the dirt isn't added until the asparagus starts to grow. Just recently, the spears started peaking their heads up. (Not all of them have made an appearance yet - they may need to be replaced if they don't show up soon.) 

Asparagus is easy to grow. It is a low maintenance plant. Since it is a perennial, it will stay in the same spot and produce for up to 20 years! The key to good production is bed preparation up front. Don't scrimp here! Do it right the first time and you will get years of food with very little extra work! 

Asparagus needs lots of compost in a well draining soil. They don't like to stay wet, and can rot if the water doesn't drain quickly from the soil. I look forward to many years of harvesting yummy asparagus spears from this spot. I may even can some!

The bees have been enjoying themselves in my blueberry bushes! Lots of bees now means lots of blueberries in a few months. Blueberries are another low maintenance food. Easy to grow, one they are established, they take very little care. All I do to them now, is feed them once a year.

The apple trees are in bloom as well. However, I don't see much bee activity around the apple trees (not sure why). To ensure that I get some apples this year, I hand pollinated the flowers myself. I did this last year as well and posted a 'how to' you can see here. Hand pollinating is easy and really doesn't take more then a few minutes of time.

Since I have been sick this month, the rest of the garden is behind schedule. Here is what the other bed looks like right now.

My seeds are coming along nicely.The tobacco and woad died while I was sick because I forgot to water them. I started new ones and they are up. I still have a few more herbs I need to start but here is a picture of everything else. They currently are in the process of hardening off so they can go in the garden soon.

Other than that, I have been dividing up some of my bulbs and replanting them elsewhere. Just like hostas (you can see how to divide and replant hostas here) , they can be divided and replanted in the spring. This year, I divided daffodils and hyacinths. Here is a picture of some of the newly planted hyacinths. I placed them in front of the irises right outside the front door.

The key is to divide them up after they flower but before the leaves die back. Plant at the same depth they had in the original bed. It is just that easy!

I expect to be out in the yard most of the rest of this week finishing the raised bed so I can get the new strawberries and grapes planted!

Do You Think It Is Time To Take Down The Christmas Wreath?

I am feeling much better this week than last (thank you for all your emails and Facebook comments!) and I decided to do something constructive today. Since it is late spring here in the south, it occurred to me that it was time to take down the Christmas decorations on my front door.

I really mean it! My Christmas wreath and snowmen didn't come down until today! Why? I like looking at Christmas decorations. (I still don't have the Christmas quilts down in the house, and I may not take them down until 2015!) Besides, my neighbors think I am odd anyway. 

So, I decided that today was the day to take them down. For those disbelievers, here is a before and after picture of my front door.

I don't like this spring wreath, but it is the only one I have. I think I will go to the craft store next week and get some new flowers and ribbon to 'update' it. BTW, making your own wreath is super simple. I will show you how when I finish updating mine.

Barring any additional illness, I should be back to a regular posting schedule for the summer!

Happy Easter!

I know that My Redeemer Lives!

picture from lds.org

I Am Under the Weather a Bit

I have been sick for the last two weeks, and I don't have much energy. So as you can guess, I haven't had any energy (or thoughts) about posting much lately! First it was a bad cold, but now it is allergies. 

I really don't have many allergies. Not like some people (or the Princess) I know! However, this time of year the air is yellow. This is not a joke. The air has a yellow haze to it. It will continue to have this yellow haze for about 3 or 4 more weeks!

When the air is yellow like this, everyone presents with allergy symptoms, me included! Rain is only helpful while it is raining. Before it rained on Monday, the pollen count was 3,495. Today it is 2,482. For those of you living elsewhere, these numbers occur every spring in the South! This year, it is hitting me hard.

Hopefully, I can get back to posting regularly soon.