Apparently today is the first day of Spring. At least that is what I have been hearing on the radio all day. But as with every March 20th for the last decade or so, I always do a little double-take. You see, my birthday is March 21st (yeah, big four-oh tomorrow...ugh), and growing up, I was always told that my birthday was on the First Day of Spring. Now I am not sure if was a perpetuated little white lie, along the same lines as the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and jolly old Santa, or if the global universe actually decided to change the day sometime in the last 20 years....but apparently my birthday is no longer on the First Day of Spring. Go figure.
With Winter still very much on display (I snapped these photos on my way to work this morning, just using the camera on my iPad), it is hard to feel much Spring in the air here. More snow fell again last night...and I can't help but wonder if maybe Mother Nature is having a little intervention solely for my benefit? Along with the much needed Spring Cleaning that can start happening any day now... I am also desperately in need of a little snow cleaning for a couple of my hand hooked rugs. Especially the one that lives in front of my kitchen sink. It is bordering on nasty. I've been meaning to do it for some time now....well, practically since January. But I only seem to think of it at a time when it's not possible to do it right away, so this little reprieve of more snow is welcome.
So if you, like me, have been procrastinating, accidentally forgot, or have just been too busy to get around to it.....it's not too late for many of us in northern North America to snow clean our rugs. I picked up a brand spanking new corn broom....and will start sweeping away the dirt and grime tomorrow morning before work, when it's a little cooler and the snow is a little more crisp.
If you have never tried cleaning your rugs in fresh snow, I really encourage you do to so. Our foremothers did it with their rugs and the process couldn't be easier. Basically just lay your rug on top of freshly fallen snow, and repeatedly sweep loose snow over top, flip and repeat until you rug looks fresh and clean. If the rug is particularly dirty, I will try to scrub or grind the snow into the loops a bit more (in the past I have even used the plain, flat surface of a Swiffer to help with this). As long as it is cold outside and the snow is not wet, the snow doesn't melt or make your rug wet. Depending on the temperature and type of snow (dry, loose snow is sheet IMHO), it might get a wee bit damp, but not really enough to get concerned about. It will burn off in an hour or two once it is back inside the house. Shake off the last bit of snow and any remaining loose dirt and dust...and put it back on the floor.
