See that stuff in the above picture? That’s oak pollen and it’s taking over the world. Well, Central Virginia at least! It is everywhere; falling from the trees like rain. It’s rolling down the street as tumbleweeds. I’ve been having to sweep off our deck at least three times a day. It’s in our gutters, on our cars, covering our dogs……and making everyone miserable. I kept Julianne home from co-op today because her allergies are so bad. I’m not usually bothered by pollen but my eyes have been watering since I woke up. I’m looking forward to the rain tomorrow night to wash this all away. Hopefully it will rain for a few days to get rid of all this misery!

On the homekeeping front today, I’m defrosting our chest freezer. We ordered some organic beef a while back and it’s now ready for pickup. I only had a day’s notice! Thankfully, our freezer in the fridge was able to hold everything while I defrost the chest. Tomorrow it will be filled with steaks, roasts, and ground beef. Yummy! Last year we got 1/8 of a cow but the meat was so good we decided to get 1/4 this year.

The washing machine is working hard these days as I’m washing all our blankets, quilts, etc. I guess that is part of my spring cleaning. I want to wash the windows inside and out, wash the blinds, and clean the fans. I have to wait until all the pollen is gone to do the windows are else when I open them, my furniture will be covered in green…..just like my car is every morning.

I still haven’t made any progress on our spare room, which I guess is now a storage room. Lord willing, I will be able to get to that this summer. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting rid of so much “stuff” and there’s still more of it. Jessica left a lot of her things here when she moved out. I had her go through it to take what she wanted and we got rid of the rest. It’s not simple to simplify!!