Chim-chim-cheer-e

As I type, the sweep is up on the roof. And the neighbor, a sweet woman who never.stops.talking. is trying to hold a conversation with him from the ground. Hopefully, he will at least get some more work out of it.

The sweep is professional visit number one for the day. Mid afternoon (or later - my window is 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.) the carpet cleaners come.

Does anyone else feel a driving need to clean before the cleaners come? Like put everything away, pull out the furniture to vacuum/dust behind it, check high and low for errant spider webs and generally act like your white gloved, cleanliness obsessed, much feared mother-in-law is about to arrive?

I'm pretty sure it's not just me.

In fairness, the furniture would have to be pulled out anyway when they clean the carpet. It's not as if I've not done that in recent memory. The pulling out, that is. It would have been done again this week, whether or not the carpet were being done, as my philosophy about Christmas decorations is that once they are up, you clean around them. That being the case, it makes sense to make sure everything is really clean before you put things up.

There's a bit to do yet. Once the sweep leaves, I need to vacuum the steps (carpeted, and also being cleaned this afternoon). Just didn't have the oomph to do it last night.

There is some fun stuff planned for this couple of days off. The carpet needs time to dry, so I'm planning to spend a good part of tomorrow out of the house. Finally pick up my new contact lenses, go to a quilt store I'm known about for a couple of years but have not yet been to, and possibly hit the garden center for one last bag of mulch.

(Yes, I'm aware that my definition of "fun" may differ from that of most people)

Ah - good news. The HOA did indeed put additional screening around the chimney cap. The sweep thinks they critters weren't actually getting in, but rather the birds built a nest between the second and third wall of the triple-walled stack. I'm not going to ask to inspect the contents of his vacuum, but I do think there will be some bird bones in there, no matter what he says.

I'm looking forward to sitting in front of the fire, looking out over the clean carpet.

Tuesday night, after the carpet dries.

After I put back all the stuff I've taken out of the living room to make it easier for them.