Good evening, ya'll. Come on in for a fresh cup of coffee and sit a spell. Roy and I just finished putting some fresh strawberries in the deep freeze. We visited the Rutland Strawberry farm just below Tifton and bought a flat. I always buy the picked ones, but you can pick your own if you like. They are so good, sweet and beautiful. They smell so good I told the owner I thought I would use a couple for perfume - just rub them behind my ears. I do like fresh strawberries and plan to make a pie tomorrow using the recipe I posted last week - Yogurt Pie. A friend of mine made it with strawberries and she said it was good. Will let you know.
As I was looking through my window in front of the computer today, I realized I have got to do some spring house cleaning. What a terrible thought, but I think I will have to do it. Housecleaning is not my favorite job but the time has come when it really needs cleaning. Sweeping, dusting, and washing woodwork is a real chore for me - in fact I just plain don't like to do it. I had much rather read a book, knit or crochet.
One of my problems is that I am a pack-rat, especially books, magazines and yarn. I just have a hard time throwing any of these away. I have been slowly cleaning out some stuff and taking it to the Goodwill store. The only problem is that when I drop of a couple sacks in the back, I go in the front and bring home a couple of sacks. I'm not sure the going is more than the coming.
I do know how to spring clean for my mama was the queen of spring and fall cleaning and we all had to help. It meant taking all the mattresses outside to sun along with all the pillows. You had to turn them at noon so both sides would get the sun and smell good. Then you had to carry out the springs - this was before boxed springs - and wash them and let them air dry. Meanwhile we were dusting the bedstead and moving it to sweep and mop under the bed.
After this chore, we also carried out all the stuffed cushions from the furniture to air and you had to beat them with a broom to get out all the dust. You also had to be sure and turn these during the day so they would smell good on all sides.
Curtains were taken down, washed, hung out to dry and windows washed. Baseboards were dusted and washed, walls were swept down and all doors and door frames were washed. All woodwork and furniture was washed or wiped with a damp cloth, dried and polished. Your hands would smell like pine sol, ammonia and Dutch Girl cleanser for weeks.
Having wood floors made that job fairly easy for we swept, mopped and waxed them to a shine. We would put on white socks and slide up and down the floor to polish them and see how far we could slide before busting our backsides. They would be so pretty and clean and slick while our backsides would be sore.
Winter clothes would be taken outside to air if they couldn't be washed. We washed the rest, folded and stored them for the summer with mothballs in the big trunk. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of that mothball smell? That meant you had to hang them outside in the fall to air them out again. We did a lot of airing out and letting the sun cook them.
Cabinets were cleaned out, scrubbed and new shelf-paper put in them. All shelves were cleaned and lined and everything put back neatly. They would stay straight for about a week or two, but we had a difficult time putting stuff up neatly. So, in a week or two they would be a jumble again until mama had had enough and we had to help straighten them out.
This was not a job we looked forward to, but the house would look so good and smell fresh and clean and we would all collapse from the work. I think the term, worn to a frazzle, fit the situation. Of course, while all this was going on, mama would always cook something really special for us to enjoy when the job was done. It would take several days, but it was a good feeling to see the results.
So, Mama Tootsie, I will attempt to replicate some of this housecleaning. The mattresses and springs will just be vacuumed and some the curtains will just be dusted, but I will try to make you proud while you and Lord look down and smile.
Nuff said,
The Georgia Peach
As I was looking through my window in front of the computer today, I realized I have got to do some spring house cleaning. What a terrible thought, but I think I will have to do it. Housecleaning is not my favorite job but the time has come when it really needs cleaning. Sweeping, dusting, and washing woodwork is a real chore for me - in fact I just plain don't like to do it. I had much rather read a book, knit or crochet.
One of my problems is that I am a pack-rat, especially books, magazines and yarn. I just have a hard time throwing any of these away. I have been slowly cleaning out some stuff and taking it to the Goodwill store. The only problem is that when I drop of a couple sacks in the back, I go in the front and bring home a couple of sacks. I'm not sure the going is more than the coming.
I do know how to spring clean for my mama was the queen of spring and fall cleaning and we all had to help. It meant taking all the mattresses outside to sun along with all the pillows. You had to turn them at noon so both sides would get the sun and smell good. Then you had to carry out the springs - this was before boxed springs - and wash them and let them air dry. Meanwhile we were dusting the bedstead and moving it to sweep and mop under the bed.
After this chore, we also carried out all the stuffed cushions from the furniture to air and you had to beat them with a broom to get out all the dust. You also had to be sure and turn these during the day so they would smell good on all sides.
Curtains were taken down, washed, hung out to dry and windows washed. Baseboards were dusted and washed, walls were swept down and all doors and door frames were washed. All woodwork and furniture was washed or wiped with a damp cloth, dried and polished. Your hands would smell like pine sol, ammonia and Dutch Girl cleanser for weeks.
Having wood floors made that job fairly easy for we swept, mopped and waxed them to a shine. We would put on white socks and slide up and down the floor to polish them and see how far we could slide before busting our backsides. They would be so pretty and clean and slick while our backsides would be sore.
Winter clothes would be taken outside to air if they couldn't be washed. We washed the rest, folded and stored them for the summer with mothballs in the big trunk. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of that mothball smell? That meant you had to hang them outside in the fall to air them out again. We did a lot of airing out and letting the sun cook them.
Cabinets were cleaned out, scrubbed and new shelf-paper put in them. All shelves were cleaned and lined and everything put back neatly. They would stay straight for about a week or two, but we had a difficult time putting stuff up neatly. So, in a week or two they would be a jumble again until mama had had enough and we had to help straighten them out.
This was not a job we looked forward to, but the house would look so good and smell fresh and clean and we would all collapse from the work. I think the term, worn to a frazzle, fit the situation. Of course, while all this was going on, mama would always cook something really special for us to enjoy when the job was done. It would take several days, but it was a good feeling to see the results.
So, Mama Tootsie, I will attempt to replicate some of this housecleaning. The mattresses and springs will just be vacuumed and some the curtains will just be dusted, but I will try to make you proud while you and Lord look down and smile.
Nuff said,
The Georgia Peach
1 comment:
Have you started taking all the curtains down yet?
Love you,
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