36 square centimeters at a time

That's the amount of carpet that this floor tool can accommodate.
Only thirty-six square centimeters.
I had tried tackling the carpet in the girl vacated by the twins with the vacuum cleaner in usual mode, but that didn't make a dent.
Not that the carpet's condition is entirely their doing.
That "apple blossom" berber has eighteen years of use on it.
Plus, carpet is supposed to be vacuumed once a week per person living on it, as per the manufacturer's warranty.
(Go ahead, look it up.)
I have never even cleaned the three carpeted rooms once a month, much less once a week, but that's been my choice.
In my defense, it never looked dirty, as I take my shoes off at my front door.
Anyway, that's water under the bridge.
I'll try to become more conscientious about that task.
Right now, though, I'm trying to reclaim these two vacated rooms and my first step is cleaning them... as I had before Michael and the girls took up residence here.
The difference is, five-year-olds track in a lot of dirt, as they didn't seem to comprehend that running around in socks outside just led to said footwear becoming wet and muddy and grass-stained and who knows what else.
So, all of the floors, from the front door - or back door - to their room have suffered from accumulated filth and require cleansing.
Ack.
I've been working on them for days, leaving the carpeted rooms for last.
And I've been cleaning the carpet in their big room since Friday.
Spray on a stain remover, scrub it in, vacuum, repeat.
Ack.
It's looking better, but it's slow slogging.
The carpet in the above photo has not yet been touched by the vacuum cleaner or its tools.
That will probably wait until week's end, as I don't have furniture to put in there.
As for my new sleeping quarters, my dear Ocean Room, I have successfully cleaned that carpet and rug, so at least I have a sense of accomplishment to keep me going.

I also have this.
When I look down the hallway,
what do I see?
My beautiful rocking chair
looking back at me.
Hallelujah!
That's came home from Panama with me forty years ago.
It's been so reassuring to have it back where it belongs!
I'd moved it to the living room to protect it from misuse by the rambunctious children.


What other history is in this photo?
Well, the fuchsia afghan was crocheted - knitted? - by Mama, so it's at least twenty years old, probably even a bit older than that.
That pillow is one I quilted for my one-and-only Grandmama, using fabric scraps from clothes I'd made on my sewing machine. The pillow had been returned to me after her death in April of 1997.
The "teal" curtains were bought at the IKEA store in Atlanta, on a shopping trip with my BFF, back in 2008.
That's about when the room was painted Ralph Lauren's "Aged Mint", too.
And the flamingo hanging on the door of the hall closet?
That sweet little bird was bought in Okinawa... so he's soon to be forty years old.
Seeing these mementos of loved ones and good times from my past is reassuring for me.
Definitely.
i thank You, God, for such memories to warm my heart and soul
and to remind me of how much I have been loved, now that I am growing old.