Cleanest House on the Block

That would be our house … cleanest house on the block. Why? Because everything was pretty much in tip top shape and freshly painted, scrubbed, wiped, etc etc (you get the idea) when the house went on the market last week. And then, almost every day since we have had lookers and re-lookers. So we go through the process of wiping down counters and floors, turning on lights, making beds and putting away clutter and personal things. And then the housekeeper was here yesterday, too. When agents schedule a showing, which they do through an online app, we have several hours or even a couple days’ notice. And we go through the cleaning and prep process again, sometimes twice a day. About ten minutes before their scheduled time, we leave the premises and do something. Sometimes we run errands. We’ve sat in the parking lot of a local shopping center reading our tablets several times. On Saturday for the Open House, we entertained ourselves by going to The Aquarium. I have pictures of that to show you for a change of pace. 

The first thing we saw was this huge structure, called the EECO Voyager. It is a virtual reality exhibit that you can attend and see the various world ecosystems through. We had already missed the once daily showing, so we just went indoors to visit the various sea life and other creatures. 

I won’t bore you with all the pictures I took, but I’ll show you a few of my favorites.

Penguins!

Giant Clam. Notice the nozzle-thing (technical term) through which it filter feeds.

Obviously, the is RAY Charles - he’s smiling and “into” the blues…

Looks like “Sugar Ray” to me with those white spots (wink)

OK, OK, I’ll stop with the eye-roll-worthy humor and get to the sewing stuff now. You’re welcome.

This week for Round 5 of the Stay at Home Round Robin, our hostess Gail of Quilting Gail called “4” as the challenge or theme for the round. She explained that we should use an element of the number 4 to guide our additions; a star with four points (think Friendship Star), four colors, or whatever. I decided to make Rail Fence blocks with four fabrics/colors for my border.  

Although I had no more of that center parrot fabric, I tried to use all the colors of that print, including pulling in some black background prints that had the cheddar and orange in them. The strips were cut at 1.5x4.5” to make blocks that will finish at 4”. I did have to add a few extra strips as coping strips since the measurements weren’t necessarily divisible by 4. But it worked out. The quilt top now measures 39x45.5”, with one more round to go. I can’t wait!!

In between house showings (and cleaning and laundry and errands), I managed to pin baste my secret sewing quilt. I am determined to get it quilted on Sunday. Reveal will be March 6.

And we can’t forget the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. For Red February, I added four simple 8” windmills to the collection. 

And finally, I snapped this picture on a blustery and rainy Monday, which was Presidents Day here in the USA. 

As for the house sale, we’ve had one ridiculous offer. It was from investors looking to flip the house and make a quick buck. We were told to expect at least one of those. We basically ignored it and let the response deadline expire. I would’ve preferred a “Not only No, but HELL NO” response, but it’s easier just to ignore those types. The good news is that there are two different families who have visited the house twice, one couple staying an hour on their last visit. And more showings scheduled for this weekend. We expect we’ll have a real offer soon.  I certainly hope so, as we have made an offer (and it has been accepted) for a condo here in Murray, about six blocks away. But it’s contingent on getting and accepting an offer on this house within the next three weeks. Hold a good thought for us!