3 things my family did at Lake Guntersville State Park
Camping is a hobby our entire family enjoys. Recently there were three things my family did at Lake Guntersville State Park. Our fall break was held in mid October and we took full advantage of the break from school by visiting Lake Guntersville State Park. We camp in our pop-up camper that we recently renovated. You can check out the transformation here.
1. We camped.
Lake Guntersville State Park offers an amazing campground. Not only are there camper/RV spots available, there are also cabins and tent camping spots. We selected a prime location for our pop-up camper – next to the bath house and across from the playground. Even with a portable potty, you cannot go wrong with parking your camper near a bath house. Our stay was four days and three nights.
2. We toured the property.
The Lodge at Lake Guntersville State Park boasts some of the best views in the entire area. Views from the back deck of the Lodge overlook beautiful Lake Guntersville. Fall colors shine bright next to the blue water. Views of sail boats and fishermen give off tranquil vibes. This park also has a reputation for being a nesting spot for many an American Bald Eagle. These amazing birds are quite a sight to see.
3. We hiked and biked.
Besides the playground, tennis courts, basketball courts, and nature classrooms, Lake Guntersville State Park offers, the size of the campground alone provides a lot of area to bike through. Bringing our bikes is a regular habit for us when we camp. Even if the entire family does not take a bike ride together, the kids love the freedom of being able to jump on their bikes and go throughout a campground. Meeting new friends while camping is a common occurrence. The following image shares a link to some inexpensive bike lights that we use while camping. The lights have three different settings: one is a steady stream while the other two are a variation of blinking light patterns. They are easy to add to your bike handlebars or wheels. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission off any usable link.
Lake Guntersville State Park is a favorite camping destination for us mainly due to the volume of wildlife we are able to view here. Deer are in abundance within the park and do not shy away from onlookers. Our kids loved seeing the many deer.
Such pretty scenery and beautiful creatures can be seen from the seat of a bicycle. The campground has an on site Camp Store with guide pamphlets for a variety of hiking trail choices. We gave our first attempt at geocaching. Let’s just say, we have a lot to learn. We could never exactly understand what we were looking for; however, memories were made as we trekked along a trail that ran beside the lake. We hiked on Seale’s Trail, an easy trail that covers up to two miles. We hiked awhile and turned around when we were ready to move on.
The sunsets each evening were incredible. Other activities available at Lake Guntersville State Park that we did not participate in are ziplining and horseback riding. Between the three things my family did and the other activities nearby, Lake Guntersville State Park is a wonderful camping location.
How to Clean
That’s quite the bold statement to just throw out there as a blog title. In fact, that directive has taken me YEARS to try and master. Even now, I am uncertain if mastery is the level I have obtained. However, here I am willing to share what I have learned over the past nearly 20 years and teach you how to clean.
The Helms House kitchen Cleaning Experience
As far as cleaning experience goes, my concept of cleaning and level of action taken has evolved over time. When I think back to my childhood, I can remember having specific chores to do: sweep out the garage and dust the furniture. Beyond those two tasks, I can not think of any structured cleaning I had to do. It is my understanding that my mother did it all. Fast forward twenty years and how to clean my home has been a task that lands squarely on my shoulders.
Key Influencers
The feelings of “how do I clean?” are still vivid in my memory from when I was a newlywed with a new-to-me home. I would come in from work and the house would be a wreck and I would think, “what do I do?”, “where do I start?” I believe it was my sister (she is five years older than me) that introduced me to The Fly Lady. Going from chaos to a set routine was like water to the dehydrated.
Learning how to clean helps keep your home in tiptop shape. Slight Evolution
While FlyLady got me on a routine, the need for consistent deep cleaning continued to perplex me. My next cleaning “influencer” that inspired me was/is (she is currently a big inspiration to me) Toni Hammersley with A Bowl Full of Lemons. Toni has a gift for taking any task and placing it into a step 1, 2, 3 format. Personally, I love a listed format of what to do. Her home, business, and books are some of the most beautiful areas and items to view.
My final step in the construction of my cleaning routine came from a pin I pinned from Pinterest. From the site The Simply Organized Home, I found a cleaning routine that I could tweak and implement in my daily chores.
Toni Hammersley from A Bowl Full of Lemons does a wonderful job of outlining how to clean and organize your home. Current Cleaning Routine
Nowadays, I typically spend 2 hours and 15 minutes a day on my house and laundry. Creating a timely routine keeps my home running smoothly. Roughly 30 minutes a day is spent on throwing a load of laundry in the wash then taking the previous day’s laundry out, folding and putting it away.
After laundry is tackled, I spend time cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, and focusing on a specific “zone” for the day. Zones for me are set areas of my home that I can rotate out cleaning and deep cleaning. Currently, I have designated 22 zones for my home. These range from the front porch to the master bedroom to the stairwell to the launch pad. Curious as to what a launch pad is? You can check mine out here. Each day I spend 15 minutes either picking up in a zone or deep cleaning a zone. This method helps keep my entire home in an orderly manner.
Resourceful Guide
To help you form your own cleaning routine, I have crafted a version of my daily cleaning routine. Subscribe to my blog and you will receive my daily outline for how to maintain your home. Comment below if you have subscribed. Tell me how you like the cleaning routine!
I Bleached My Furniture!
I bleached my furniture! Who does that? Shouldn’t bleach be avoided at all cost? Well, I had an idea and I carried it out this week. While social media has its flaws, one thing I love about it…inspiration is to be found in spades. With the typing of a specific hashtag on Instagram or a few keywords on Pinterest, you can find quick, how-to’s.
Some Inspiration for Bleached Furniture
Run, don’t walk, to follow @vintageporch if you do not already. She is amazing and funny! Her feed is filled with beautiful pieces that I would like recreate for my home. A quick search of #bleachedfurniture can turn up some beauties like this or this .
Steps to Bleach Your Furniture
Outlining steps to bleach furniture has actually been a work in progress for me. Not knowing what exactly I’m doing leads me to try a variety of steps. At the beginning of this week, I simply took a paint brush and standard bleach and brushed it onto my desk. While it did lighten the furniture a bit, it was not the light color I desired.
Applying a coat of bleach. Once my desk, the furniture item I bleached, was dry, I sanded the entire desk lightly then wiped it with a clean cloth. After wiping with a clean cloth, I applied another coat of bleach and allowed it to dry in the sun. Again, the desk was lighter but still not the look I am trying to achieve. You know what they say, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”
The image on the left is after one coat of bleach. The image on the right is after sanding and a second coat of bleach. I believe after using acetone to strip down my furniture, I applied three different coats of bleach to the desk and sanding between coats. Once the final coat of bleach was dried, I washed the entire piece with water. My final step, I put a coat of clear wax on the desk in order to seal it. As with my chairs I painted last week, I used the Waverly Clear Wax sealer to give a final coat to my desk.
This is a great how-to video to watch for using bleach to change your furniture. My Philosophy
I have jokingly told other women my spiritual gift is to make them feel better about themselves – meaning, I usually do not do a task to perfection or there is room for improvement. My philosophy with my home decor is, “use what you have or get creative with a frugal project”. I share this to concede there are better pieces of bleached furniture out there. However, as this is my first attempt at bleaching furniture, I am proud of my progress.
My desk after three applications of bleach, without clear wax. The Results for Bleached Furniture
Well, learning as you go has its own set of pros and cons. Cons are: it is time consuming to figure out what you are doing. The pros are: you are learning a skill you will not easily forget. After working a little each day on this desk, I am excited to show you the results. This desk will be used to hold our daily mail and bills.
The final result – with a coat of clear wax on it. Now, what type of chair/stool should I use at this desk? Let me know in the comments. I’m thinking some type of stool would be nice. What are your thoughts? You can see how I previously styled this space here. There was a small end table between the chairs; however, now I have this desk in the space.
