Cleaning without Water

When Anna and I cleaned that first day, the water wasn't turned on. So I took a couple gallons of water along, plus all manner of cleaning supplies -- anything we might possibly need for a very dirty house. I started with the galley kitchen.

I'm tickled to say that the sellers, who'd come to empty the house, did clean the refrigerator!! I was so thankful -- it was truly, loathesomely disgusting. Now it is clean and fresh-smelling. But I put a box of baking powder in there anyway.

The stove was awful, and I gave it a first cleaning. I think it will require two.

The sink isn't too bad, and I'm thankful there's a large window right there for day-dreaming while doing dishes.
You can see how many cabinets and drawers there are. I'm thrilled. I hate being short on cabinet space. So although it's a small house, the kitchen storage should be quite good.

This may sound silly, but I was so happy to see that the range hood has a real, true exhaust through to the attic. I've had ones before that just blew back into the kitchen!

The sellers cleared out just about everything, but they left a cabinet full of wine glasses of various shapes. I don't need them, so I put them in a basket and took them to the thrift store.

I do not like the kitchen light. It's dim and copper-colored, and kind of '60s, I guess? Not my style at all. It will go away.

All the drawers and cabinets were lined with this ugly green stuff. I pulled it all out. Underneath was this alternate design:

I mostly pulled it all out, down to the wood. Then I wiped out all the drawers and cabinets with a sponge and straight vinegar. Vinegar is a fine cleaner, a good option when you have no water, and it kills germs. And considering this house smells strongly of a camp cabin being opened for the first time in June, the aroma of vinegar was quite welcome.

The fellow who lived and died at this house was a Frenchman, and I left a little note on this particular book of his, asking that it be left for me if possible. Well, they left it :) Brillat Savarin was a gastronome. MFK Fsher, excellent writer, food-lover and chef, and a favorite author of mine, was a fan of Savarin. I'm looking forward to reading this book. Correction: This book is NOT by Brillat-Savarin! I'm very sad. It's written by some 20th century gastronome who assumed the nickname Savarin because his friends in France thought he was almost as good as the original genius from the 18th century. I don't think so! Grrr. I might peruse the cookbook anyway.

The back, smallest bedroom has built-in shelves and drawers against the whole back wall. They left the desk/chair for us too.
I'll tour you through the living and dining rooms, and that will be it for this post. First, here's a simple blueprint of the house:

Here's the front door. Not wild about the oval glass, but I'm glad to have a door that lets in light.

These windows allow lots of light into the living room. The one on the left faces the front porch. I removed all curtains from the house today (also not my style) and donated them to the thrift store.

From the front door, looking through the living, dining, and into the kitchen at the back. We've stripped all carpets from these rooms.

Standing in the dining room, which is in the center of the house, you see the kitchen on the left rear, and the bath, in the rear center. Anna cleaned in there for us today! She's a superb cleaner.

The dining room has the nicest, largest windows. This is on the southwest side of the house. I'll put our dining room table in front of these windows for peaceful views while we eat. I want a ceiling fan in the dining room, so the chandelier will be going bye-bye too.

Next time I'll take you through the bedrooms and bath.