Today, I went to work on the windows. My goal was not necessarily to make them sparkle, that will come later. My goal was to eliminate the nastiness – dirt, grime, bugs, etc. 
The hope is that once all is said and done, a quick clean (water, vinegar, newspaper and elbow-grease) will bring the sparkle without significant (additional) effort.
For today’s effort, I used a bucket with simple green, scrub brush, sponge and washcloth. And elbow grease. On the west end of the house, the previous owner had taped around the exterior with some sort of solar blocking aluminum, and the residual tape/adhesive had to be removed with Krud Kutter and a plastic putty knife.
Here is a close up of a before and after for the window frame in the front bedroom:
There is a fair amount of sparkle that came with the initial cleaning. Now, I’m off to work in the yard. Curb appeal is a critical element in bringing in buyers.
Meanwhile, Mr. H is making good progress with the tile:
Transformation requires deconstruction and reconstruction. In order to get to the end, the glorious finished product, you have to go through a rough middle-ground (the valley) when things look grim. Window-cleaning is messy work. If I walked away in the middle of the effort, it would look worse than when I started. When Mr. H demolishes a bathroom, removing the old tub and sink, removing the plumbing and walls, things look pretty rough. But at some point the situation turns around and it is possible to clearly imagine how things will be.
While I work, I’m imagining how things could be.
