This time of year I want to do hand work such as sewing, knitting and making gifts. So I decided it was time for the big clean up to get that out of the way.
There are things that should be done once or twice a year so grease and dirt does not build up in hard to get places.
The kitchen was a good place to start since dust fuzzies like to collect anywhere we cannot reach very well. With a bar of lye soap a scrub pad, old cloths, water and a ladder my husband helped me to wash all the top and bottom kitchen cabinets. Then we pulled out the stove and washed everything behind and under the stove.
I moved on to washing curtains, cleaning the inside of the windows, changed out the tablecloth and put the red plaid away for awhile.
Off the subject, I found a nice white crock at the thrift store to use for a water bowl for the girls (dogs), and it is like a large horse trough to them. They like it.
It was time to deep clean the floors and baseboards. So the rug was removed and hung outside on the privacy fence with clamps and soaped up with a mixture of soap flakes, borax and washing soda and then pressure washed and left hanging to dry. We cleaned this rug about six months ago but with three dogs coming in and out of the house it gets pretty dirty ( another reason I ripped out the carpet and painted the floors).
We had to use the dehumidifier to finish the drying because it started raining. I closed off the doors to the living room and it dried overnight with the dehumidifier running. When I got up and opened the living room doors it felt like I had gone to a hot dry dessert. :)
I am at the age that these big projects to clean such as floors and baseboards is very difficult to do since once I get down to scrub something such as a baseboard I have to find something very solid to hold to so I can torque my body in every which a way to get back up. I am starting to wonder if age related declining eyesight is so we don't have to see the dirt.
So everything has been vacuumed, stripped, mopped, waxed, scrubbed, dusted, and laundered and we are good for just maintenance now (and I am sore). If you look to the back wall you see the small panda washer that we have for our camper.
This past week I brought it in to do a water study using the panda. You know me and trying everything I can how to save water... :) It is not heavy and I can carry it into the bathroom and put it in front of the sink. It can actually wash queen size sheets. I washed the top sheet and two pillow cases and then the bottom sheet with two pillow cases. :) I will talk about that study later.
Today my husbands work schedule changed and normally he comes home to eat a hot meal on Monday but he was rushed so since I had just made homemade sandwich bread I packed him a quick lunch. Chicken sandwich and cheese curls. 
Spread some mayo and honey mustard on the bread and put the chicken and onions on it...
Leftovers can make a tasty sandwich...
I wrapped them in wax paper. We often take food with us when we leave home. If we are going out of town for a short stay or even when we have a long day of running errands. We prefer to eat something we made at home than to buy food out not knowing what is in the food.
I took a small paper lunch bag and rolled it down so my husband can get to the cheese curls easy since he will be eating in the car. I tied a string around it and pulled it together to close... Every so often my husband will come home with a bag of these cheese curls or corn chips. I told him just to make sure he picks organic if possible or the ones with less ingredients. We try to stay away from junk food.
I placed this bag with his sandwich and cheese curls down in a small insulated zipper bag with an ice pack.
In the past we packed our food when we would be gone for a while. It is a bit old fashioned for today since there are so many fast food places. I would rather be old fashioned.
A home can be much more than many make it. It can be comforting, a place to rest and re energize instead of just making a pit stop.
I do not desire to have our home perfect. I want it to be clean but everything does not have to stay in place all the time because we spend a lot of time at home. We enjoy making things, my husband does wood work and he is actually learning to knit. His father did the most beautiful cross stitch and needle point I have ever seen.
I enjoy knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery and such. The house can get out of order very quickly when we stop to do other things we like to do but that is ok if we make the effort to deep clean every so often.
Children's toys are going to get scattered, how else can they play with them.
In the past families and friends visited each other and our houses were not in perfect order. Television came along and shows such as Father Knows best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver and in those shows it portrayed the ever so tidy house. This was pretend but it got into our minds that this is how it is suppose to look.
A home should be clean but not sterile, a place of comfort where we can stretch out, wear loose clothes if we want.
When we start adding items to our home that have been made with our hands such as curtains, knitted cloths, aprons, embroidered cloths not only does it take on a feel of comfort it does not have the chemical residue than many goods have today. Add the smell of homemade bread or pie and it is a wonder anyone could ever leave home.
It does take a lot of energy to do the big clean up and I am very sore( I think I have mentioned that a few times) but it is a good kind of soreness especially since it is now clean and I can move on to making those things I mentioned.
Grandma Donna
