Tuesday 26 August 2014

Read the post and make a wish.


It's that time of year again - time to have the wood burner chimney swept before we start having fires in it.   Today was the day and 'Skip' came at mid-day.   When the farmer took the wood burner out he found that the wall behind is very cracked.   As there is plaster board under the rendering he has decided that there might be a fire risk, so he is leaving the wood burner out tonight and contacting the builder to call in and re-render it all.

So this afternoon is 'wash the ornaments', 'clean the windows',
generally spruce up the room afternoon.   At present (presumably because of a rapid change to colder, wetter weather) my mobility is severely limited, but I am able to pace myself and keep doing little jobs.   I have just washed the windows while the farmer tackles the secondary glazing.   I am just thoroughly ashamed of the dead spiders that resided on the sill between the two panes of glass.   Slut that I am - my mother would have been horrified.

How times have changed.   With all the mod cons we have we still don't necessarily keep the place as clean as our mothers did - and they on the whole used carpet beaters and good old-fashioned elbow grease.


14 comments:

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh this sounds familiar Pat! Our chimney was swept about a month ago.

jinxxxygirl said...

I'm a cleaning this week too... companies coming!! :) May it go quickly for both of us! I'm finding my share of spiders etc... too... Good thing hubby doesn't complain. :) Hugs! deb

Heather said...

We don't have a chimney so that's one less thing to think about, though a wood burner or open fire would be lovely. Do you think our mothers were fulfilled by housework and didn't have as many outside interests as us? I try to be disciplined and get the chores done first, but sometimes 'textiles' gets in the way!

Joanne Noragon said...

Your housekeeping note is right on. I took down a mirror to store and am appalled at all the dust in the filigree. My grandmother would have cleaned those with a cloth wrapped around a knife.

Terry and Linda said...

What is glazing, Pat? We don't do that here, or at least I don't know that we do.

And oh how right you are...My mother and grandmother's had houses that were spotless completely through and through.

Me I would rather be outside...oh, yes, I forgot. They also had spotless gardens and yards!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

angryparsnip said...

The Japanese Family just left after a month (too short) visit. So today is clean up day. Al though they cleaned up quite a bit already !
I miss my Granddaughter's Good Morning Mumjilla every day. I was very spoiled.

cheers, parsnip

lil red hen said...

I like to think my spiders can trace their ancestry back to King Solomon's palace. :)

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

I'm cleaning too - Don's birthday is coming up - it is a big one - and we are having a surprise party. Now to plan the menu - mounds and mounds of food.

Mary said...

We have an open fireplace and burn wood - even though some neighbors don't, we insist on having our chimney cleaned EVERY Spring when lighting fires is over until perhaps November. My father-in-law was a fireman so we are extra careful when anything pertaining to possible house fires rears its ugly head.

Yes, I admit, I don't clean like I use to - getting on my knees, bending, and using my often painful hands, makes housework much harder these days - but the cottage is always 'picked up' and relatively clean - just perhaps not as perfect as it was when I was a young housewife!!

Take care dear - Mary

Cro Magnon said...

I bang our metal piping with a 'soft' hammer. You can hear all the gunk coming down which I then remove. I do this every week; it takes about 2 mins.

Pondside said...

I was thinking the same thing not long ago. I was remembering how my mother taught me about cleaning walls and baseboards. 'Always start your cleaning from the top - walls, windows, baseboards and last of all, the floor'. After looking at houses for the past two months I have come to realise that no one seems to clean baseboards anymore.

Cloudia said...

They sublimated their genius into such pursuits, whereas we write, photograph and enjoy life! Vive THAT difference!


and what IS a chimney, any way, LOL


ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

MorningAJ said...

And in modern times it's 'best get the boiler serviced' month. It's odd, but I was only thinking this week that I tend to 'autumn clean' rather than spring clean. I have no idea why. I've been washing ornaments and cleaning up at home just lately too.

The Weaver of Grass said...

The back of the fireplace has been cleaned out and resurfaced by the builder this morning. Now we are just waiting for it to dry so that it can be emulsion-painted before the stove is returned. Another good job done before Winter.