Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

As I was saying, there’s more than one unpleasant result of being stuck indoors for most of the winter.  Many people, of course, come down with cabin fever, and won’t be cured until they can get back to cooking on their grills, eating at their picnic tables, napping in their hammocks, and relaxing on their porch gliders.  Furthermore, with all of the windows being closed, the air can get a little, well, stuffy, inside.

A lot of offensive odors like to hang out in the kitchen, because all of the good food in there eventually ends up as discarded bits, in the trash can, garbage disposer, dishwasher, or sink, or as leftovers in the refrigerator.

In fact, this situation may be exacerbated now in certain homes, because some people still have food from the holidays in their refrigerators.  Hard to believe, but, hey, why not?  Some still have their houses decorated, and their Christmas lights on!  (By the way, if you’re in that number, I beg of you – TAKE ‘EM DOWN, ALREADY!!)

(A-hem!) So, remember, like last year, and the holidays, it’s out with the old; and that includes old ice cubes, which can hold onto odors.  Clean up any spills in the refrigerator with a soapy sponge.  Put a quarter-inch of baking soda into a few, shallow dishes, and place them on separate shelves, where they will absorb odors for up to three months.

In the dishwasher, smells can be caused by particles of food stuck inside.  First, clean the filter, which is usually located below the bottom rack, with a paper towel.  Then, run the “quick rinse,” or “rinse only” cycle, with the machine empty, to wash away debris.  Afterward, leave the door open a crack, to air it out.

Offenders in the sink are scraps of food that get stuck in the pipes, or the garbage disposer.  Clean the blades by grinding up the old, smelly ice, or make cubes from equal parts of water and vinegar.  If your disposer has a rubber gasket, rinse it thoroughly on both sides.  Whether or not you have a disposer, pour ½ cup of baking soda into the drain, while running warm water.

Doing these things on a regular basis will make things a lot more agreeable for everyone, and make everyone more agreeable.  After all, people always get along a lot better after they clear the air.

And now, here’s some inspiration to convince you that, yes, spring is coming!

Ahhhh, now doesn’t that feel better?

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: Hammocks, Outdoor Furniture, picnic tables, porch gliders, winterizing

Although it’s important to winterize your home before the weather gets cold, life often gets so hectic that, before you know it, the year is over, the world is frozen, and you’ve already paid a fortune in heating bills.

The bad news is that the worst is yet to come.  The good news is that you can still do something about it; and the bitter cold and snow can give you a good idea of what needs to be fixed.  Now, you won’t have to search for gaps and cracks that let air in, because the bone-chilling gusts of wind that whip through your living room will help you to easily pinpoint them.  Just get some weatherstripping, caulk, or heat-shrinking plastic, and seal them.

A substantial snowfall can also tell you a lot.  If it melts rapidly from atop your shingles, and icicles form quickly, without a thaw, it means that heat is escaping in the exact direction in which your heating bills have been heading – through the roof.  Check your attic floor to see that it has adequate, evenly-distributed, gap-free insulation, of uniform thickness.  If you have to add more, be sure that the side with the vapor barrier is facing down, toward the rooms that you want to keep warm.

Break up any ice dams that form along the eaves, as they can cause melting snow to puddle and leak through your roof.  Wherever possible, sweep snow off roofs that have shallow angles, on your house, garage, gazebo, carport, cabana, pool house, shed, or sunroom.

If you have not taken measures to prevent your pipes from freezing, do it now.  You can use foam insulation sleeves, or electric heat tape, but don’t use the latter on plastic pipes.  If a severe cold snap is imminent, turn the sink and bathtub faucets on to a slow trickle, and cover exposed crawl space vents with plywood.

If your porch chairs, gliders, swings, and picnic tables are still outside, and they’re not the synthetic or metal types that are impervious to the elements, either store them, or put outdoor furniture covers on them.

Do this even if outdoor furniture is the last thing on your mind right now.  It may not happen today, or even tomorrow, but, believe it or not, the sun will come out again!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: cabana, cold, furniture covers, gazebo, gliders, picnic tables, Pool house, porch chairs, shed, snow, sunroom, Swings, winterizing