Book Review - "Spotless" by Shannon Lush & Jennifer Fleming

If you're after ideas on how to deal with household cleaning disasters, this is a fantastic book. Designed as a reference book, it's split into room by room chapters, making it easy to find what you're looking for. It's such a handy resource to have & it solves a lot of the problems associated with a household, including cleaning, smells, scratches, mould, & more.

Here are some examples of what you'll find in the book:

how to clean a smelly dishwasher,
how to keep your cupboards clean,
how to remove pen stains from fabric,
how to remove crayon marks from walls,
how to remove lipstick & make-up stains from your sheets,
how to remove yellow marks on clothes,
how to clean a barbeque,
how to stop squeaky floorboards,
how to remove beetroot stains from laminate,
& so much more.


The beauty of this book is that there's reference to a lot of household items (such as white vinegar, talcum powder, salt, milk, bicarb soda & lemon juice) which most of us have in our homes, & that are quite effective in solving a lot of the domestic challenges that come about in the house.

Of course, you can still buy some of the supermarket products which you find useful & that work for you, but it's good to know that, just in case you run out of those chemical products, there's bound to be something in the pantry that will help keep your home "spotless"!

Great Day for a Walk - Right?

I thought I'd share a funny story today, though it wasn't funny at the time!

After a very rainy night & a showery morning, I decided to go out for a walk this afternoon, as it was a warm day, the sun was out & it hadn't rained in a few hours. I put my tracksuit pants on, a singlet top, my runners, organised the pram with water & snack for Little Miss, grabbed my keys, mobile phone & sunglasses, & off we went.

What a beautiful opportunity. I was planning no more than about half an hour around the neighbourhood. 20 minutes into the walk, there was a brief shower but a few steps later had stopped, so I detoured through a different street so I could keep exercising. Why waste an opportunity, right?

About 2 minutes later, & about a 10 minute walk from home, the showers started again....& then became rain. Well, my Baby Jogger pram was put to good use. My beautifully blow waved hair was getting wet, I was getting wet, my sunglasses were getting wet (what did I bring them for?). Being a 10 minute walk away from home became a very quick 2 minute jog in the rain.

The moral of the story. If you're going to be outdoors & don't have a quick way of getting back home, don't go too far. More importantly, even though there's sunshine, look up at the stormy grey clouds in the sky before going on that well-intentioned walk. Those clouds are the warning sign telling you to stay home & have a cup of coffee & a biscuit instead!!

PS. Toddler in pram was kept wonderfully dry but jogging mummy was wet & sweaty with frizzy hair!