My mother gave dh and I some money at Christmas I popped it in the drawer and promptly forgot about it. The other day I remembered about it as I wanted to buy a smaller hand held carpet cleaner. I have the big Bissel upright carpet cleaners but they weigh so much. I keep it in the basement, so it's to drag upstairs when I want to clean the rugs. I figured a smaller hand held one would be ideal for small spot cleaning.
As luck would have it this model was on sale at Canadian Tire for $99.99 So I saved $40 there, plus I had some Canadian Tire money saved up. I bought a bottle of the cleaner as well, so all in all I paid around $105 for everything.
On Tuesday I decided to give it a go. Followed the instructions to put together and it was super simple.
I decided to spot clean the rug where we sit. I think I spilled some coffee on it and also this is where we walk to most. This rug was from Pier One and expensive, so I want it to last a number of years.
As you can see, something was dirty!
I can still see a brown spot, so I need to clean it again.
However from a distance it's not too bad, and this photo shows the true colour of the rug.
Overall I am very happy with how this machine worked. It weighs 9lbs when empty and probably 10 or 11 lbs when it has water in it. I found it easy to use. I will clean the rug again next week to see if I can get that brown stain out. Will probably pre-treat it as well.
This will be perfect for cleaning the car upholstery as well.
The boys are taking swimming lessons at one of the Recreation Centres. We generally go and watch them. This car is parked in the foyer of the Recreation Centre. Notice the oil pan underneath it; it's leaking oil.
Thought it was rather neat, as I didn't realize that cars were built in our neck of the woods.
Mind you pretty cold driving in one of those this time of year?
I managed to get a couple of good jobs done while at the rec centre. Got my parking pass for the waterfront sorted and dropped off all my dead batteries for them to recycle.
I keep saying to myself, I should take up aquafit as I enjoy being in the pool.......one of these days!!
This weeks update on the temperature cross stitch. It's coming along nicely. Still surprised at how much green there is in it. We may even see yellow in there this coming week, as it's going to be warm all week.
I totally finished January, outlining the month and adding in the month of April.
I made a start on another cross stitch, again Christmas themed; part of something for the end of the year.
When dd came up last weekend she brought me a paint by numbers kit she bought from Dollarama. These are really good value for money at under $5 for the kit.
I am treating this like a puzzle. It is set out on the table, and I do bits here and there. The sections are very small, so it's hard on the eyes. I must say though I am enjoying doing this. Lot of browns and greens though.
What have you been doing to keep yourself busy this past week?
I am going to post a song/video on a Sunday. It's one that I haven't heard in a while, or one I have never heard of at all. Or even a new to me song. I hope you enjoy.
Can you believe this song was released in 1975? Crazy eh? I can't believe this song is 49 years old? I remember it coming out. I must say Rod has a terrible haircut......just saying!!
The other day I popped into Sephora. I had never been in a Sephora store before. One of the reasons I wanted to see what Sephora was all about, was that I am obsessed with flipping Tik Tok lately. One thing I had seen a lot of was Drunk Elephant and how all the teens and tweens are obsessed with this brand.
We have a Sephora not far from where we lived, so while I was out running errands I decided to pop in.
I was greeted by a lovely girl called Anastasiia, yes spelled with two i's. We got talking and she showed me the Drunk Elephant display and I could see exactly why it appeals to the youngsters, I even loved the display. However if you click on this link you will see how expensive these products are. A moisturizer can cost up to $84, shampoo at $36.50 and conditioner at $43.50. How can people afford these prices, especially for kids?
Anyhow, she asked me what my skin care routine is, and I said, soap and water. I feel though I should maybe take a bit more care of my skin on my face. One thing she suggested was washing my face with a cleanser. She tried out a couple of things on my hand and it turns out I am not a fan of too much perfume, it makes my nose itch. So I asked for some samples to try out first before committing. It does turn out though that Sephora will refund "lightly/gently" used items with receipt if it doesn't agree with your skin.
So I came home with the following samples, which funnily includes a sample of the Drunk Elephant. Yes it is good for older people!
Sample A: Biossance Cleanser: Didn't like the smell, although it's aloe, it smelled of a woodland. It went on very easily and left my skin feeling lovely. I just can't get over the smell though.
Sample B: Skinfix: This one had no scent which was good. However, I didn't feel any difference in my skin, unlike the Biossance.
Sample C: Dermalogica: I didn't like the feel of this on my skin. Light scent though so that was fine.
Sample D: Drunk Elephant: I can see why people like this, very smooth on my skin and a very light scent. I honestly can't justify the price though.
If I could get over the smell the Biossance Cleanser was the best. Going to keep on looking.
It turns out Sephora does have a limited number of other services it offers. It also sells numerous other items including make up, hair products, perfume/cologne. It would only be the skin care and hair care that I would be interested in though. They do offer you a free gift on your birthday when you sign up on the website. I signed up, as I am interested in trying out other things.
I saw this video online about Drunk Elephant dupes for a fraction of the price and found it very interesting.
You can read more about the Drunk Elephant story here. I will say I do agree with the founder about having many issues with my skin which require multiple products to help those issues out. I like how you can mix your own formulas together making it easier to apply. What I do not like is the price.
Was talking to daughter-in-law about how my drawer organizers move around, she suggested putting feet on the bottom of them to stop them moving.
Went to Dollarama and found these. Ended up not using the instant Tac, just the bumper pads.
They worked perfectly for the job.
Now when I open the drawer the organizers haven't moved.
I love these mini cucumbers. The local store had two packs of 6 on for $4. I managed to snag packs with seven in them!
They keep really well in my Fridgesmart Tupperware containers. I also pre-peeled some baby oranges ready for eating.
I made a really yummy couscous salad. I added to one cup of cooked couscous, some veggies and feta cheese and the dressing on it was Kraft Greek Dressing..
Picked up a book from the library that I had ordered. This is the selection for the book club in the UK my mother goes to. They meet at the end of February.
I have been cleaning out cupboards etc and putting things we don't need into boxes to donate to the charity store. Made a trip to drop off the boxes, while doing some errands.
I remembered to check the library website and managed to snag a space in the February craft club, so looking forward to that!!
Growing up my nana and pop had a lot of brass ornaments in their home. Pop had a lot of brass horseshoes as he loved the big cart/working horses. Anyhow, those needed cleaning and I remember her cleaning them.
One of the ornaments was an ashtray on a stand. After they passed away, my mam must have got it, and one year she brought it over for me, as I always loved it. I was looking at it the other day and thought it was looking ready to be cleaned. I probably cleaned it last June before my mother came over. Figured I would be in trouble if it wasn't cleaned when she came.........I know daft!!
So hunted out my Brasso and other cleaning things and got to work.
Now the one thing I loved to do as a child was put my feet on the bottom of the ashtray and move it back and forward like a pendulum. I can still here my nana shouting at me; "Our Gillian stop doing that!!" It still makes me smile.
So after a bit of wiping down it looks a little better.
I have no idea if it was ever used as an ashtray. My pop smoked a pipe. No one else smoked.
The one thing it was used for was to put your cup of tea or coffee on. That's why my mam put this coaster on it as well, to make it more stable. I have a coffee table by my seat so use it instead.
I hope one of the kids takes it after my day. Age wise it has to be at least 60 years old. I remember it as a small child and I will be 60 this year.
So there you go a good job jobbed for another six months and lots of lovely memories brought back for me to smile about.
