Compost is Making Me Fat

So in my endless pursuit of greeney hipness-and frugality-I decided to start composting. Full disclosure, my mom has gardened and composted my whole life, but as with so many things, I paid no attention and needed Google to get myself informed. www.Howtocompost.org is very helpful, as is www.composting101.com. Basically, compost is a way to reduce the amount of trash you throw away, and create what garden nerds call "black gold"-super rich soil that plants love. For now I'm using a 20 gallon storage bin with a lid for the refuse. If you go this route be sure to poke lots of holes on the top, bottom and sides of your bin to allow air flow. Otherwise you'll end up with a stinky-but contained-trash pile. If you want to work on a larger scale there are all sorts of bin designs online.
Compost consists of decomposed food garbage and yard waste. Now, this does not mean that you should toss in a half eaten Big Mac. This means uncooked food (egg shells, fruit and vegetable peels, coffee ground, tea bags, etc). Yard waste means leaves, grass clippings, and other dead stuff, bear in mind if you toss in weeds that have gone to seed they may start growing in your bin, which would kind of defeat the whole purpose of pulling them in the first place. Also, pet/human hair is great for compost, and as I have 2 long hair cats-and am a long hair myself-we've got plenty of that around The Hive.
Now, I am not a patient person, and I have a tendency to be a bit overzealous when undertaking projects. This has translated into me buying-and consuming as quickly as possible-mostly compostable food. This also means I am endlessly chasing my cats around the house with a brush, not letting any of their precious fur go to waste. I am racing against the clock as spring is upon us and I need dirt!

Some reminders: *Your compost should be stirred, or turned, regularly to incorporate all the ingredients. *No one that comes over has any interest in seeing your compost pile. *Leaves, hay, and paper, so called "brown" ingredients should be mixed in with "green" grass clippings to keep pile from getting too damp. *Keep you compost vegan-no meat fish or dairy-or it'll attract critters with the smell

Interior design magazines are like fashion magazines; reinforcing stuff you will never have, places you will never go, people you will never meet and things you will never do.

Neat Freak

"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work" -Gustave Flaubert

I am a neat freak. Even as a child my room was always clean. Stuffed animals carefully arrayed by color and category, bed always made without being told. It has become something of a compulsion for me. I shudder when things are out of place and attack any speck of visible dirt without mercy. Things in my house are constantly being "spruced".
My mother is a deep cleaner, believing that every surface should be clean enough to eat off of; I am a tidier, believing every surface should look good enough to eat. When I was young I imagined "what if" scenarios in which a beloved band's tour bus (typically, New Kids on the Block) would break down in front of my house, and woe to me if my room was not tidy for their arrival. As I have gotten older my interests have evolved. I now want to be prepared should the president drop by. (Which, living in southern Ohio during an election year is not outside the realm of possibility.) I mean, I wouldn't want the leader of the free world to think the citizenry unkempt. Just in case, my socks are neatly folded, closets arranged by color, and dishes always washed. I do not know why the president would look in my sock drawer, but how could I possibly discern the concerns of a person of such great importance.
This has been both a bane to partygoers at my house, as I follow them around, emptying ash trays and applying coasters on the sly. And a boon to my romantic life as it makes me appear-at least superficially-extremely domestic. I once had a boyfriend who was even neater than me. He was perpetually purging his wardrobe and apartment of any extraneous stuff that even hinted at clutter (what an aphrodisiac!) But this relentless pursuit does become a burden at times, as the realities of wear and tear-the things that make a life full-are inevitably going to bring with them some disarray. Sigh, well nothing and nobody is perfect. But I'm working on it.

Hardwood floors, the Hard Way

After pulling out the carpeting and revealing the aforementioned "muddy" floors I knew something had to be done. After brief consultation with my design team (Doug) and discussing our options-recarpeting, refinishing, house fire-we decided on refinishing. Historically I had once stripped, sanded and stained two end tables and a small desk, so I pretty much considered myself an expert. Refinishing 3 rooms of 60 year old, uncared for hardwood? No problem! After watching 2 youtube videos we were off to the races...or the tool rental, more accurately.
When we picked up the sander I was expecting an orbital sander, something like a floor buffer, which would glide quickly and smoothly acorss the floor with a pleasant hum. Uh, no, this was a 150lb drum sander. Which moves at 90 degree angles with the sandpaper rolling, like a conveyor belt. After a half hour of figuring out how to attach the sandpaper we turned the beast on; it roared to life, lawn mower loud and vibrating like a chainsaw. (wear ear protection and a breathing mask!!) The beastly thing nearly pulled us both through windows at various times, if left to sit in one place more than a minute or two I have no doubt it would have sanded right through the floor. Additionally, this is a small house so turning corners at the end of a row was also a challenge. However, we had three rooms sanded in less than 3 hours. Important to note, these big sanders will not reach the perimeter of the room, which means you will have a 3" border to contend with, using a handheld sander is inevitable.
After pausing to admire our work, and blow the sawdust out of our noses, the change was remarkable. We had sanded down to beautiful, blonde, cherry wood. It was like a pale, swedish modern, paradise. But, alas, there was no way I was living with blond floors so off to Lowe's we went...
Selecting floor stain is, thankfully, not quite as daunting as selecting paint colors. There are far fewer choices. I wanted a universal  midtone color with a red hue, a low voc stain by Minwax, something called "colonial maple" fit the bill. Something to be aware of, the color on the chip will bear little to no resemblance to your ultimate floor color, lesson learned.  I also chose a high gloss poly because I wanted the "wet" look. I love shiny stuff!
Applying the stain is simple, but messy. It's definitely a two person job. One with a rag to apply the watery, soupy stain and someone to go behind and wipe up the mess. There are sponge applicators that make the second step much simpler. Also you'll need a stain brush for the edges, which looks like a large pastry brush. This is a horribly messy project, your clothes will be ruined and your hands tinted.
After a 24 hour drying period (may take longer depending on weather, ventilation) polyurethane was next. This should be applied with brushes. It is a thin liquid, (be sure with both this and the stain you shake the can well), messy and becomes tacky. It dries into a rock hard candy like gloss after 24-48 hours. Again this stuff gives off noxious fumes so wear a mask. Gloves sound like a good idea, but as the poly dries it becomes incredibly sticky and you'll end up having to toss the gloves...of course without gloves your fingers will stick together.

Due to time constraints we only did one coat, which I now regret as the floor is showing some wear, especially under the feet of furniture. (I may try to do another coat of poly this spring...but we'll see).