DEBORAH CROMBIE: I was switching out an old print in my downstairs bathroom for a little watercolor I brought back from my summer trip to England. But first I had to move the stack of books artfully arranged on the shelf (everyone has decorative books, right?) including this massive tome–HOME COMFORTS by Cheryl Mendelson. At 896 pages it is, to quote the blurb from USA Today, "...to the house what The Joy of Cooking is to food."
Now, I'm embarrassed to admit how long this book had been gathering dust on my shelf, and that it obviously did not do much for improving my housekeeping skills, but it reminded me of a stage in my life when I had aspirations to do things around the house properly. This was undoubtedly in the heyday of Martha Stewart–in fact, Martha published a housekeeping handbook around the same time–so there were obviously a lot of other people who dreamed of perfect lavender-scented linen closets.
Alas, I learned that I cannot fold for toffee, even a t-shirt, and our extra sets of sheets and duvet covers get stuffed into the very awkward wire shelving in my very small bedroom closet. (I do technically know how to fold a fitted sheet, they just never come out looking like anything but lumps…) I dreamed of crisp, ironed sheets, polished silverware, and an organized "spring cleaning" schedule, none of which ever materialized. But it was nice to be reminded that this book is an encyclopedic "how to" for anything you might need to clean, organize, or store. It's also still very much in print, so there's no shortage of people still interested in the nitty-gritty of housekeeping.
How are your housekeeping skills, dear REDs, and can you fold a set of sheets?
RHYS BOWEN: I grew up in the days when we had a ‘ daily woman’ to come and clean and sheets went to the laundry. So I can’t say I came to marriage with any housekeeping skills. I do find polishing our antique furniture very satisfying but apart from that I do the minimum thanks to a lovely cleaning lady who makes the house look perfect once a week. I can’t fold sheets. To avoid this I wash them then put them straight back on the bed !
LUCY BURDETTE: Debs, I am thinking of the piles of books “artfully” arranged everywhere in our house–no one dusts them. At least I should change out the pile in the guest room so visitors have something new to read. I finally took down the ironing board that was in the upstairs hall, with stacks of things on it LOL. That shows that neither John nor I iron anything! I do try to keep up with the fridge and freezer, and I cook and clean up the kitchen. Other than that, I am no Martha Stewart!
JENN McKINLAY: I have five cats and two dogs so I am a champion vacuumer! Mercifully Hub and I live in a petite three bedroom ranch house so it’s manageable. I don’t have cleaning people because I work at home and get stabby when I’m interrupted. JK…mostly. Also, I despise clutter - no tchotchkes, no stacks of books, surfaces are clear (Hub is the opposite so that’s a challenge). My decorating style can best be described as “no one lives here” making the cleaning much easier!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Here’s the thing. I’m just not good at this. I am eager to keep things looking nice, and I love our house and the way it looks, but things like–the inside of the freezer! Oh my dear heaven, it’s Jenga. Every time I pull something out (yay I found the thing!) it's incredibly likely that a million other things will tumble out and truly, once I was critically injured (not really, but felt like it for a fraction of a second) by a block of frozen cheese that fell on my toe.
But if I take everything out, as I truly have done, it might melt and it’s all so bizarrely shaped that the whole enterprise is futile.
And I cannot ask the once-a-week wonderful cleaning people to do it.
I am a good after-dinner kitchen cleaner–at least I thought I was, until I saw Jonathan at work. How do you make it look so…clean? I once asked. He looked at me like I was nuts.
My mother taught me, he said.
Mine…apparently didn't.
((I am good at sheets.))
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I discovered my housekeeping skills, which I thought were sub-par, improved immensely once I wasn’t picking up after FOUR OTHER PEOPLE who left their stuff everywhere! It’s also helped that I switched from owning large, fluffy dogs to two small Shih Tzus, who have hair, and who therefore don’t shed enough fur to fill a basket every day. (Don’t ask me about the cat. I’m waiting for her to die happy at the end of a long and healthy life.)
What I want: the sort of house Rosamund Pilcher used to write about, where all the furniture smells of beeswax and the silver is always polished and there are fresh flowers in every room. What I have: mostly dusted bookshelves, clean dishes in the dishwasher, some houseplants I haven’t killed (yet.)
HALLIE: My children complain that I never taught them to clean. Which is because *I* never ever learned to clean. My mother was determined NOT to be the cleaner upper. She worked as a writer, and used what she earned so she could work some more and not be waylaid by household chores.
I've been so fortunate to have found a completely fabulous human being to clean my house once every other week. In two and a half hours she wrings order out of chaos. She's been coming to my house for almost twenty years and I'd be lost without her.
Yes, I *can* vacuum and sweep and make beds and the rest of it, but I'm not very good at it and, omg, I would so much rather not.
DEBS: In my defense I will say that I'm a champion kitchen cleaner. And vacuumer, which everyone teases me about, but we have two big very hairy dogs and hardwood floors. If not kept up with, the dustbunnies turn very quickly into tumbleweeds.
Like Julia, I want to live in a Rosamund Pilcher novel, or maybe in a room in a Victoria Magazine spread... I just need someone to do it for me.
But my burning question, after reading my fellow REDs' comments, is for Jenn: HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE STACKS OF BOOKS?
How about you, readers? Is your housekeeping a lost art?
Well, I vacuum, cook, and clean up the kitchen. I can fold sheets and sometimes I find something that needs a bit of ironing. Occasionally I dust the stacks of books and the gazillion Precious Moments that keep threatening to take over another bookcase, and I haven’t yet killed my few treasured houseplants. We probably don’t do it “properly” but we’re comfortable, so I guess it’s all good . . . .
ReplyDeleteBeing "comfortable" is what counts, Joan.
DeleteHouse keeping skills? That's funny. I do the bare minimum I can to get by.
ReplyDeleteI tend to postpone most housekeeping chores until I really need to do them. Like visitors are coming. Or I have no clean clothes. Or the kitchen counters are covered and there is nowhere to work. I'm not sure how I came to this. Mom made me and my big brother clean our rooms weekly, help clean the kitchen nightly, and help dust and vacuum on the weekends. I don't know if our younger siblings were subjected to this after we left the nest. I also helped fold clothes and iron. So the training is there, but obviously not the desire. I'd love a shiny clean and lovely smelling house too, but not if I have to do it.
ReplyDeletePat, I've come to believe how you kept your room in your parents house doesn't track with adult performance, shall we say. My sister's room was so bad my mother refused to go in, yet as an adult and a mom herself, she keeps her house looking very nice. I've also known people who were subject to parental inspections who, as adults, take a very laissez faire approach to their own homes.
DeleteMy teenage room drove my dad, who was a bit obsessive about such things, absolutely bonkers. My house certainly doesn't look like that now. Well, maybe my desk...
DeleteI don't like clutter so I keep the house as clean as I can. I do have a cleaning person come twice a month to deep clean the kitchen and bathroom.
ReplyDeleteDru, “clutter” for me is very different from “clean”. Clutter means everything where it belongs…and in neat stacks or in a balanced “display”. I can do that no problem. Clean means all those neat stacks or displays are dusted and shiny…nope, just don’t do. From my uncluttered dusty home, good wishes. Elisabeth
DeleteI dream of having a clean, clutter free house. When we bought this house in 2017 with all new furniture I did a pretty good job of keeping it looking good and then the pain started in my lower back and hasn't left. I'm not allowed to do any back and forth motions so that rules out vacuuming and mopping. I do try to sweep but I can't bend to use the dust pan. I can't lift anything over 10 lbs so the hubby has to carry the laundry for me. I can't keep it clutter free as my husband is a shopaholic. We have no place to keep anything but he just can't resist buying things he thinks he needs and usually only uses once. My only clutter is books and medical statements and my sad IRA info. My husband has the filing cabinet blocked so that you can only open the top drawer.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard when you are physically unable to do the work, Queen! After my mom passed away, my dad started showing more symptoms of his Parkinson's disease, and eventually got to the point where most of the housekeeping chores were out of reach for him, a lot like you are experiencing now. Fortunately, he had the funds to hire someone to come in weekly; we just had to talk him into it because he didn't like the idea of someone, and I quote, poking around his stuff. I can't imagine what we would have done, or what his home would have looked like, if the budget didn't stretch far enough for a housekeeper.
DeleteThat all sound really frustrating! I hope your pain improves.
DeleteSo far, my husband and I are the "hired help" at our home - although we see the day coming when we will get a housekeeper once a week. I always feel the house is clean if the kitchen and bathrooms are. Dusting? Well, things will be better I'm sure, when we do get that housekeeper. Ironing? I try as much as I can to find clothes that don't require it, and my husband - bless him- does his own and always has! But most sheets here are 100% cotton and we have friends that iron their sheets! Not us. We have "seersucker" sheets and very bunchy fitted sheets.
ReplyDeleteBut we do have lots of books everywhere.
Elizabeth, your comment about ironing made me think of my mother. Mom loved a neat and clean house, and kept it that way, despite all the kids running in and out, by being very nose to the grindstone. Except when it came to ironing! There was always a huge mound of clothing to be ironed in the laundry room, and the joke was if you dropped something there, you would never see it again. I have to admit I left the nest with almost zero cleaning skills. But the one thing I did know how to do was iron my own clothes -through necessity!
DeleteJulia, believe it or not, I "lost" a dress for a whole year, wondering what had happened to it; it was a dress I liked. Well . . . it was at the bottom of my ironing hamper.
DeleteJulia, my childhood home had the same pile! If you wanted something to wear, you rescued it and ironed it. By the end of my mother's mother's annual trip to visit us, the pile was miraculously gone!
DeleteMy mother solved her ironing problem when I was 11 or 12. As long as I was ironing, I could watch the forbidden “DAYTIME TV”…handkerchiefs (Daddy despised Kleenex), his undershorts, flat bed sheets, pillow cases ironed to perfection and “The Days of Our Lives”. Still makes me smile. Elisabeth
DeleteElisabeth, that is such a charming memory!
DeleteI do know how to neatly fold my fitted sheets and I iron the topsheets. We do not use topsheets on our bed once we switch to down comforters in cooler weather. In the winter, we use flannel sheets which are very bulky and need to be stored separatelyover the summer. That is a fairly recent development on our lives but does keep us toasty.
ReplyDeleteThe kitchen is small and I keep it clean. The living room is used a lot and has some peripheral clutter but is easy to make clear. The office is cluttered as are other areas. I am the one who hates to throw things away. Irwin has been attacking the clutter in the basement. I should do the same for the office. Maybe next week.
We don't use top sheets, either, Judy, but the spare duvet covers still have to be folded!
DeleteThe luxury of a weekly housecleaner? Wow. Two years ago I began with an every four weeks crew that only uses green products. I hie myself off to the library, Hugh disappears somewhere else, and when we come home the entire place (sans his den, which is off limits...) is clean and sparkling. I LOVE it and call it a professional expense. Like Rhys, I wash the sheets, hang them on the line, and put them back on the bed. No folding required.
ReplyDeleteCat Martin is a short hair and doesn't shed much. If we have guests coming on say, the third week after the cleaners, I wipe down the downstairs bathroom, tidy the stacks of books, and do a cursory dusting. I do keep the kitchen well wiped down several times a day, and I'm proud to have been the kind of mom who taught her sons to clean bathrooms.
I call it a "professional expense" too, Edith:-)
DeleteI can't say that I am a great house cleaner. I do keep the kitchen somewhat tidy out of necessity every day. It is a galley kitchen with virtually no counter-space & I don't have a dishwasher. I vacuum regularly since I have dust allergies. But I have too much clutter around each room. The only items that are in order are my books.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to vacuum regularly. I just cleaned the floor under my chest of dresser and I need to do that more often, Grace, There is a wonderful mystery, THE MAID, by Nita Prose. And there is a schedule of cleaning. Just was thinking that perhaps I need to set up a schedule of cleaning too.
DeleteDiana
The Maid was my second favorite book I read last year, Diana!
DeleteThanks for the suggestion, Diana!
DeleteDIANA: THE MAID was one of my fave reads last year. However, I could never be as precise and perfect in my cleaning schedule as Molly was!
DeleteDid you know THE MAID was the #1 bestselling mystery of the year? I've been using it as an example when I talk about what's hot. I loved it, too.
DeleteI laughed at your tale of the fitted sheets, Debs. I do the folding precisely the way my mother taught me, yet my sheets also come out looking like lumps--and get put away that way. The best thing about housecleaning in our apartment is that my husband and I agree that neat is more important than clean. So if the dishes are done and put away, the bathrooms are more or less presentable, and there are no actual streaks of dirt on the wood floors, we're both content for a long time between bursts of dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. Although clutter upsets us more than dust, stacks of books don't count as clutter at our place as long as they aren't permanent. Still, I dream of clean books on dusted bookshelves! Julia, I am SO impressed that you do yours!
ReplyDeleteAlas, I can no longer dust, especially bookshelves, without wearing a mask. I've developed a horrible house dust allergy over the years and asthma attacks are no fun at all.
DeleteI recently decluttered the kitchen/dining room, the living room, and made a stab at my bedroom (one surface at a time). Strenuously trying to keep them that way. My mom taught me how to fold fitted sheets and these are no problem for me; I can iron too, maybe not perfectly but at least presentably. Mid-day call recently from youngest nephew while he was on vacation: "Please walk me through ironing my shirt and pants." By the time he's on his own, he'll be a master. ;-) I dream of someday having someone to come in and do the mopping and bathrooms. I try to clean up as I cook, really hate to get up to a messy kitchen. Books. Well, stacks in my bedroom only. Need more shelves!
ReplyDeleteI love that your nephew called you for an ironing lesson, Flora! Speaks to both your skill and your relationship with him. Lovely.
DeleteThanks, Amanda!
DeleteRick can actually iron much better than I can. And he does a much better job of folding sheets. I just wish his bachelor years had taught him to cook.
DeleteWe have a cleaner every two weeks unless we have something unusual going on, as in Julie’s two knee replacements last year or my broken ankle or a ton of visitors. I do know how to clean just like Mother taught me. Julie’s mother didn’t teach her. Enough said. I tend to deal with my clutter on a daily basis, our two dogs don’t shed, and our one cat not so much either. Jannette, our cleaner, washes whatever is down the chute, changes beds, and knows how to fold sheets. She also walks the dogs, sterilizes bathrooms and kitchen, and is a national treasure.
ReplyDeleteOther than sheets, I fold all the laundry as it’s something I can do sitting down without hurting myself.
My big household job is doing all the cooking. It’s something I enjoy, again taught by me mother. Other than my daughter’s cooking, taught by me, I really don’t like anyone else’s!
Think I’ll go start the dishwasher?
Jannette comes weekly when one of us is indisposed. That seems to be happening more and more. I can see the time coming when weekly is the norm.
DeleteWeekly is ideal, Ann, in my view. For both the cleaner and the house. It's the budget that needs to be able to bear it...
DeleteAnn, how is Julie doing?
DeleteJulie says she can highly recommend getting her knees done. Piece of cake. If you have the time and they still can get the parts!
DeleteBack in the day my wife and I were wandering through a department store (Target, I believe) when Martha Stuart popped up on an overhead TV and began instructing customers on how to fold a sheet. I had less restraint in those days and yelled (rather loudly), "Martha, you bitch! Don't tell me how I should fold a sheet!" My wife would not talk to be for the rest of the afternoon, although I swear I heard several cusomers applaud.
ReplyDeleteSnort! I'd love to have been in the next aisle, Jerry!
DeleteI can clean, but choose not to, thanks to our wonderful cleaner who comes every two weeks.We tidy before her visits and I must say that I love it when there is no sign of us living here (thanks Jenn for naming that decor style!), but we can't live like that, if you get my drift. I do still iron occasionally, though must less often than when I was still going to work. I can easily fold a flat sheet but the fitted ones are a challenge; like Rhys I tend to wash and re-use immediately. I won't mention the dust bunnies that auto-generate in this small house that contains just two adults and one cat but has forced-air heating in the winter...
ReplyDeleteWe tidy madly before our cleaner comes, too. It really helps in keeping the clutter in check.
DeleteMy mother informed me that a conscientious housewife has her fall cleaning completed before Thanksgiving and her spring cleaning before Easter. She didn't put summer slipcovers on the furniture but did air the curtains and beat the rugs outside.
ReplyDeleteI represent the "if the kitchen counters are wiped and the floor swept and the bathrooms sanitized" the house is clean enough.
Wow. It was a different time, wasn't it?
DeleteI had to laugh about your huge, never opened book on housekeeping, Debs because I also had the the largish Martha Stewart book on housekeeping, which was never opened either. I got tired of feeling guilty every time I saw it so I donated it somewhere or other. I swear, if those books don't work by osmosis, what is the point?
ReplyDeleteNeed I say it? I have never been what one might consider a good housekeeper. Years after I was long gone, my ex-husband reportedly said to someone that I never dusted anything up high. Okay, maybe if it bothered him, he should have done it. Interestingly, that was something he never complained to me about and he complained about many of my shortcomings.
Ooh, what a mean thing to say! My ex also criticized my housekeeping, to a very good friend of mine. Which was pretty rich, since he did absolutely nothing but create messes--for ME to clean up. #don'tmisshim
DeleteWe can see why they are both exes!
DeleteExactly!
DeleteOnce upon a time when I was young, foolish and way too busy – 3 kids and a farm and a husband who was never there – I would clean the house top to bottom every Friday. That included the laundry, the floors and the bathrooms – bedding was done on Tuesday. By supper-time I would be all-gulled-out, and cranky, cranky, cranky, but the house smelled good. By Saturday…
ReplyDeleteWhen we were farming, there was often a spare animal or two in the house in addition to the regular cats (up to 17), dogs (2 old English sheepdog), and usually a racoon. All spring there could also be a lamb or goat or two, and once we nursed a goat back to health who had just had a c-section – it was too cold to put her in the barn, and she was too sick! It is a good thing that I am not house-proud.
I once went to someone’s farm house and she was on her hands and knees scrubbing her doorstep/porch with regular Lestoil – at least it didn’t smell like cow manure, but that was way too clean for me!
I can fold a fitted sheet – not necessarily neatly, but properly, thanks to Sherri who was on that noontime talk show with Barbara Walters.
Here is a little ‘cleaning story’ that should make you laugh. In Louisbourg (and Newfoundland) many of the men folk would go to sea for 2 weeks leaving their wives at home with the kids. The draggers would come in to port early in the morning and they would unload their catch. After that, if you saw the string mop outside in the bucket, it meant there was no gossip-tea that morning – other events were going on…so just go away.
Margo, you must have had tremendous energy! What a life! I love reading Sarah Stewart Taylor's farming adventures now, but I don't want to DO it.
DeleteLove the "cleaning" story!
I know how to clean. I just don’t like doing it. I never inherited the housecleaning gene, I guess. Thank God He created Clara who puts everything back together every Saturday, including folding the sheets. I actually get up early to get them washed and dried so she can fold them. She actually laughed at me me trying to fold the fitted sheet and took it away from me.
ReplyDeleteTwo other random things – most of our floors are painted plywood. Other than the kitchen and bathrooms where I insisted on buying the ceramic tiles when I saw them when we were building, all the floors are painted. We are still arguing whether we will have carpet – my choice, or horrible click-clack laminate – can you tell I don’t like it? It has only been 20 years…
ReplyDeleteWhen we sold my father’s house, we had a cleaning service come in and freshen the place up top to bottom. They used Skin-so-soft bath oil in the water, and the house smelled lovely! Now if I only could find and Avon salesperson, I might clean more (not).
Carpet v Hardwood or Laminate was a bone of contention in our family too. I decided to rip up all the carpet and install hardwood. The reason is that carpet collects so much dust and dirt, dog or cat accidents, spills from drinks and who knows what else! We have area rugs to soften the click clack sounds and make it more homey.
DeleteOur hardwood floors are original to the house (1905) and daily upkeep with a battery-powered vacuum is a breeze. I swear by my Dyson:-)
DeleteAnd coincidentally, I just read an article last weekend, titled something like… Six things to do to make your house look clean in a hurry. Some that I can remember are: take everything that doesn’t belong off of flat surfaces , even if you have to put it in the laundry basket and hide it somewhere. She said everyone notices kitchen counters and tables, so make sure they are all wiped off. Open the windows and doors briefly so the fresh air washes through. Then spray with lemon spray. Or Pine-Sol. Get flowers. Apparently, if a house has fresh flowers, people figure it’s clean.
ReplyDeleteShe did not say what to do with 27 million stacks of books.
I read that, too, Hank. And I agree it was no help with the books. And I'd light a nice candle, no Pine-Sol, ugh.
DeleteI always keep the living room looking nice so that if someone arrives I can whisk them in there and they can’t see: John’s papers on the dining table, the upstairs bedroom or any of the rooms downstairs (Rhys)
DeleteI whisk anything unslightly in the living room into the guest room next door. And shut the door to Rick's office!
DeleteI would describe myself as an adequate housekeeper. No one ever got food poisoning from something left in the fridge too long. The freezer is kinda organized. I vacuum, but I do not dust. Five minutes after dusting, it's all back so what's the point? But I do try to keep the clutter to a minimum. Not too many knick-knacks. The Hubby leaves piles of paper and I am always throwing them away.
ReplyDeleteNone of this includes The Boy's room. That's a lost cause. I'm still struggling with him to clean up after her cooks.
And I cannot fold a fitted sheet. My grandmother could do it perfectly. I should have paid more attention.
Liz, my excuse is that my arms are really short!
DeleteDebs, I lay the sheets out on a bed and fold them. Much easier.
DeleteI used to clean fairly well. Then we had 3 children. Then we got a dog. Then I went to work full time and priorities changed. When I cleaned my children would say, “Who’s coming to visit?”
ReplyDeleteI used to marvel at the cleaning lady who showed up at the neighbor’s house across the street every Tuesday at 10 am. One single lady and her little fluff of a dog lived there. How much dirt could there be? Alas, I am sure I would be one of those people who cleaned before the cleaning lady came so she wouldn’t know what slobs we were.
I can do a decent job folding sheets if I try really hard, but mostly the clean sheets just go back on the beds. Either way there is a sense of satisfaction and a chore checked off the to-do list.
I think Jenn McKinlay has the right idea - less stuff!
ReplyDeleteIt is the clutter that is the problem for me. Over the last few years I have made a big effort to donate of a lot of "stuff" to charity. Every so often I will take an area (the kitchen, closets, garage, etc) and spend several hours a day organizing and clearing out junk.
I know how to iron - but I have decided over the last many, many years that I only buy clothing that I don't have to iron. I made the mistake recently of buying a linen shirt - I still don't iron it though!
We had a cleaning lady once a week for over 35 years. We love her and miss her but stay in touch. She became a US citizen but wanted to move back to Mexico where she could afford to buy a nice home.
Linen shirt: Wash it. Hang it to dry. Put it in the dryer with a wetted face cloth and tumble for about 10 mins on low. Comes out as-good-as-ironed.
DeleteLess stuff makes it easier to clean. Diana
DeleteAmanda, that's my linen or dress trick, too.
DeleteHow serendipitous, Debs, to see this wonderful post this morning. Since I started writing my Novel, I need to be able to find my materials so I started organizing and that includes cleaning up and clearing up space.
ReplyDeleteBefore that, I always cleaned up the kitchen, especially the stove after use. We finally got a really nice stove/oven after years of not being able to use the oven. It could not be fixed. I want to keep it in good condition. I read an article in a women's magazine many years ago about a woman whose son was working at a fast food chain restaurant.
She learned from him that you clean up the kitchen right away. For example, if you spill something on the stove, then you clean up right away. it was "the clean up as you go" method. I have applied that to my kitchen cleaning. Makes life much easier for me,
On the other hand, it is difficult because I love books. Such hard choice deciding which books to keep. Decided to keep all of the books that are signed by authors and books that are now out of print and no longer available at the library.
Since we stopped the Daily paper delivery, we only get the Sunday paper delivery and it makes it much easier to take the papers to recycling each week.
Someone mentioned taking the sheets out of the dryer and immediately changing the sheets on the bed. Great idea! Always make my bed in the mornings.
Wanted to ask a question to all of the JRW who have a Cleaning person come to the house. Just curious. Do you communicate with them in Spanish? I asked because my grandfather had a cleaning person who spoke Spanish. Her husband was the gardener. My grandfather lived in a 1920s house (actually three ? bungalow ? - Office, House, and Guest House) off Sunset Blvd.
Wow! Cannot believe this was so long!
Diana
I do speak a little Spanish with them but mostly English.
DeleteDiana, that's a good question.
DeleteFortunately, most of the Mexicans (landscapers, gardeners, contractors, cleaning, waitstaff, etc) already speak English. When our long time (35 yrs) cleaning lady first immigrated from Guadalajara she couldn't speak English - I tried to learn Spanish and did ok. But over the years her English improved and she was better at Eng than I was at Spanish. Plus, she wouldn't think of taking advice on how to clean! She was absolutely the very best, most hard working, talented person.
thank you Debs and Anonymous. Diana
DeleteFrom Celia: "Martha Stewart doesn't live here . .
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing.
This plaque hangs on the wall in the kitchen, and it's true. I have a long history of hating to clean. Oh, I know how, can be quite OCD about it but do NOT love it in any form. One of my fondest early memories of our marriage was Victor coming home to tell me he had a raise and we could afford a cleaner now. He saw right through me but still wanted to stay married! Goodness did I thrown stuff out before we moved to Maine 23 years ago. Where has all this new stuff come from? I'm confused. Yes we have piles of books and no bookshelves. Can you imagine building a house without bookshelves? Our NY house had built in bookshelves. I try to keep the tchotchkes to a dull roar by insisting that I doNOT collect elephants etc. But darling daughter will give us big photos of adored G'boys and more tchotchkes. So my basement / guest suite is in continual turmoil as I am trying to declutter. So boring, let's talk sheets. Maine gave me finally a King bed with sheets which seemed to have a life of their own and not one I wanted to share. Still I think we have detente. I fold all sheets accordion style, 4 folds and hang them on quilt hangers. Then into my small walk in closet they go. Yes the lovely Jen comes to muck us out weekly now but Victor works a mean vac when needed. Kitchen counters wiped down, sink scrubbed and I hear Hank on the freezer. There's a frozen goose in the bottom of mine and there's a JRW whose name is on it. By now I'm not sure it's even suitable for stock.
I have no idea how to cook goose, Celia, so I hope you can resurrect it for us!
DeleteFrom Celia: Debs I'm scared to defrost it! I have cooked goose for Christmas in the past. But no names no pack drill is the answer on this one.
DeleteCelia, your Victor and his vacuum skill touched my heart. As Dad lost his vision to macular degeneration the last remaining chore he was able to do was vacuum. Not sure how he did it, but precise and neat overlapping vacuum tracks as he backed out of each room.
DeleteThank you for making my heart smile. Elisabeth
From Celia: Oh that makes my heart sing, I have MD too and an hoping hoping that it doesn't progress so far so good.
DeleteAnony: " I fold all sheets accordion style, 4 folds and hang them on quilt hangers. Then into my small walk in closet they go. "
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea! I plan to do just that. Thanks!!
Here’s the thing - yes, I know how to clean, and it’s not hard to clean with the right supplies, but I’d rather be reading or working or doing anything but cleaning. My mom taught me well, and she used to leave the dreaded after school chore list which I raced through so I could get outside. My cleaning supplies I love are Swiffer, broom vacuum, and water & white vinegar. These things will clean almost everything. I try to do five minutes of something every day to keep the house clean. The kitchen is a daily given. So yeah, I can clean and I know how to clean, but I don’t really wanna be doing it!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind doing most of the cleaning chores, it's just time and energy. Oh, but I do seriously hate mopping.
DeleteI have that book, Deborah, and the Marie Kondo one too and I have them somewhere in my house. I actually read that one years back, and it did inspire me at the time, as did Marie's but... well, that was a while ago... I do know how to do the folded fitted sheet thing though, quite proud of my fitted sheet folding ability. As for everything else—well, we do what we can... :-)
ReplyDeleteJoyce, I have a friend who at one time worked at the GAP. Watching her fold t-shirts was like magic!
DeleteFrom Celia: Dear Debs, please do NOT give up writing for housework, I'm sure Genna would not approve of such a move.
DeleteI think maybe we should have called this Ode to Our Housecleaners! Ours is wonderful Carolina, her partner Sylvester, and the two young women who crew for her. They come and make us sparkle every two weeks and it is a highlight in my life.
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of Home Comforts and gave it to my daughter when she got her first apartment. That earned me an eyeroll. Yes, it has some helpful tips in it, but the theme of the book gave me a whole new perspective on keeping house: that the purpose of all the little tidy-ups and cleanings is to give you a living environment that makes you comfortable. That’s it. The things you have are clean and working and can be found.
ReplyDeleteI’d always viewed housekeeping as an endless series of chores, so this was a radical notion!
It is actually a really interesting read--and very useful.
DeleteThis is like true confessions today!
ReplyDeleteI also used to clean every weekend, and my kids all had chores to help out. My mother taught me to clean and tidy, but she did not teach me to do my own laundry (or to cook), so I made sure at least my younger two knew how. They started with sorting their teeny tiny undies and socks after complaining that I put them in the wrong drawers, and by the end of first grade each were taking care of their own clothing, under my supervision. When Robin got to college she was horrified at what she witnessed in the laundry room at her dorm, and she thanked me for teaching her to do her own laundry.
Our old house was cluttery, I notice from old photos, but I have managed to keep most of the mess at bay in the new one. Because of the furnace filtration this house doesn't get nearly as dusty, and the built-in vacuum system is absolutely brilliant for keeping that kind of dust out of the house. My allergies appreciate not being irritated, too. Celia, I made sure there were adequate built-in bookcases here, for sure! Unfortunately, people keep bringing me bags and boxes of books for the Little Free Library--which can only hold a couple dozen books. Which means I have stacks of them with no shelves left to store them in the upstairs hall.
The kitchen is open plan, so if it's messy the rest of that part of the house looks unkempt, so I try to keep it clean. Steve does a wonderful job of keeping the dishes in and out of the dishwasher, a new role for him since we moved. I can see hiring someone to do the heavier cleaning someday in the not-so distant future, though. Life's too short to scrub the shower!
And not to brag, but I can fold sheets like a champ. Too bad Martha already monetized that skill.
Karen in Ohio, my grandmother had allergies too and she decluttered on a daily basis. She would throw away the morning newspaper on the same day!
DeleteRegarding books, I was wondering if it is possible to donate the extra books to public libraries for book sales or to assisted living or to public schools for their libraries? You may want to check your local community college and see if they can use the books too? I am sure there are many places that would love to have free books.
Diana
My mom was not much of a house cleaner, but had a woman who came in every couple of weeks. I remember the mad cleaning we had to do before she showed up which I always thought was crazy…until a few weeks ago when I had a housecleaning crew come in to do the kitchen and bathrooms. First time I’ve ever had someone in to clean. I thought my aging vision had suddenly improved when I looked in the mirror and saw myself clearly. (Apparently you’re supposed to clean mirrors regularly?) Like many of you, I know how to iron, dust, vacuum, etc. - I just don’t wanna. I would so much prefer to read. But I am trying to learn. —Pat S.
ReplyDeleteI'd respond better to this post if I could find my dictionary amidst the piles of books. Unfortunately, while I'm pretty sure Deborah was writing in English, I didn't understand half the words she used. Fold? Iron? Dust? Polish? Hope tomorrow's post is more comprehensible!
ReplyDeleteToo funny:-)
DeleteDebs, I'm so touched by your honest admission of previous aspirations and the reality of Real Life. I so relate. I have Martha's book, and other organizing books, purchased in my quest to become house proud (in a satisfying, not pretentious, way). The thing is, I learned how to fold fitted sheets, iron, dust, vacuum, and cook beginning at five years old. Mom taught my brother and me those skills so we'd be capable, competent and confident, but also because we were members of a family, and shared responsibilities. My dad was a letter carrier, and I took great pride in being able to iron his uniform shirts (this was is in the 50s and 60s before permanent press). The four of us really were a team.
ReplyDeleteMy difficulty came after becoming disabled, so now we have a guardian angel who keeps us organized, and a wife and husband who clean our home every other week. They help us keep our home clean, tidy, and safe, which equals comfort to me, and we're so grateful. ~Lynda
What a lovely memory of your family, Lynda.
DeleteThank you, Debs. They're all gone now, so I cherish the good times and good memories. ~Lynda
DeleteI love this! I can fold a fitted sheet, and I am a very good housecleaner - when I do it. Four cats means I vacuum every day and I will usually wipe down the stovetop. The rest, well, really, if a house was meant to be clean and dusted it should take the hint and stay that way!
ReplyDeleteThe late Ritter Ames taught me the best sheet trick ever - fold everything to fit in a pillowcase - then stack the pillowcases in the linen closet. You'll never hunt for the fitted or the flat sheet, or that extra pillow case. It's brilliant! I thank her every washday.
That is BRILLIANT! I've had to resort to labeling the sheet stacks. Full. Queen. Twin...
DeleteWow, what a great idea!
DeleteI was on dish detail in a restaurant once summer (grossly chapped hands) and another on the housekeeping staff for a resort. I lost count of how many toilets I cleaned, but I groused so much that a friend gave me a pincushion "toilet" for a going away present. As for folding a fitted sheet, NO ONE SEES IT ONCE THE BED IS MADE!
ReplyDeleteThere's a video on the Web of someone folding a fitted sheet and it looks so easy. Cannot do it, either.
ReplyDeleteThis topic certainly generated interest! Of all the household tasks, I like laundry best. Not only can I fold a fitted sheet, but I can iron one as well. Vacuuming and dusting I detest. Cooking isn't my strong suit either.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome to visit anytime, Connie!
DeleteAfter I signed the contract with a cleaning service, I started decluttering and got rid of that book or one like it, which I NEVER read. I haven't ironed since Home Ec., and my mother used to call me "folding challenged". I do wipe a lot and pick up dirt. I do the wash regularly and enjoy cooking. When it is cooler, I will start baking again. Hope the cleaning service starting this Friday works out. Maybe I will clean the places they won't. Or maybe I'll read, watch TV, and garden! LOL
ReplyDeleteI always think I'll clean the places the housekeepers miss. Never happens:-)
DeleteI don't even try to fold sheets anymore. I just sort of flip them over and over into a square and then shove it into a drawer. I love housekeeping - weird, I know. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteNo one sees them once they're stuffed in the shelf in my closet!
DeleteSorry, I'm late. It's been the MONDAY of all MONDAYS :( In any event, I don't have stacks of books because I have (not even exaggerating) EIGHT bookcases in our petite house. This may not seem like a lot but the books are double shelved (a row behind a row) AND we have an indoor storage unit (fancy!) for the overflow. It is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI do think folding fitted sheets is impossible. Back in the day, I'd hang my sheets on the clothes line and then fold that set away. But that was before elastic was all around the edge. In that day, it was around the corners. the middle was without so they were easy to fold. Mine, now, end up being rolled up into a big lump.
ReplyDelete