We’ve been busily at work in our vacation condo. This involves a lot more effort than anticipated. For one thing, our place is as clean as we make it. We have no maid like at home, so each visit, we end up cleaning the place before we leave. I think we broke our new vacuum already. No one told us that brand new carpet gives off so much fuzz! Nor did they tell us that the full bag indicator doesn’t work for these fine particles. (Lesson One: Read the Instructions that come with the machine!).  So when we smelled something burning, we shut off the motor and opened the device. Plugs of carpet fuzz spilled out. The bag was full, but changing the bag and rinsing the filters still didn’t help. Lo and behold, the tubing was clotted with the stuff! We needed a wire to poke it through, but we didn’t have the supplies here. We’ll have to bring the tube home and then try the vacuum on the next visit.

The shower doors are those heavy duty frameless glass enclosures. This glass is danged hard to clean! I scrubbed with Windex but it took a lot of hand grease to clear away the scum. I scrubbed out the tubs and washed the floors, wiped off the counter tops. Whew! I hope I’m burning enough calories to make this work worthwhile. I don’t work this hard at home. Did I mention changing the sheets and sweeping the patio?  And yet, in a way, it’s fun. It’s OUR place, and we know it’s clean, unlike a hotel room.  For the scoop on the hotel scene, read Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets. She worked as a hotel maid for research and her stories will make you wish for your own hideaway condo, too.