A Dirty, Dusty House

A Dirty, Dusty House

Did your mom and dad practice spring and fall cleaning?

Mostly it was mom, but dad got involved too when lifting heavy mattresses and squeezing them through rather smallish windows to breathe in the spring sunshine. They taught us to hit the mattress with an old beater, to get the dust out. That part was kind of fun.

That was in the 50s and maybe 60s. I saw one of those old beaters at a friend’s house recently—her house was immaculate and I loved remembering those old times. I think!

Eighteen years ago, we built a new house, and have loved it. We painted most of it ourselves, with help from some of Stuart’s friends. Now that we are less able to climb up and down ladders in our house, we have hired a painter to do the job.

BUT! As I’m getting ready for the painter, oh there are dirty, dusty cobwebs that are showing themselves, to my chagrin. I am trying to clean clean clean before the painter comes. (And by the way, he won’t be painting the whole inside of our house at this point, just the main kitchen and living area.)

I have the practice of vacuuming once a week, or maybe more often if company is coming, but I have not been able to reach the parts of our furniture (like the beautiful hutch that Amish workers in Indiana made for us, and the huge bookshelf for our living room.) I dust when company is coming, and in the winter when we make full use of our furnace in the basement with old fashioned wood chunks (that surround our house), I dust sometimes, but mostly I wait till family members or company are coming.

I am grateful for painters and helpers and will do what I can.

But I admire many who manage to keep their homes spic & span, as the saying goes. Lovina Eicher is an Amish woman who grew up in Indiana and now lives in lower Michigan, and writes a weekly column that is printed in many newspapers (if you are lucky). It can also be found online of course, and she now frequently uses photos, usually just the backsides of family members, or activities they are doing. I envy how she and her family and their children are compelled to clean their houses very thoroughly when they are hosting church at their house—which is usually done in a pole barn. They often host at least twice a year, which gives a great time to clean the house well. I was fortunate enough to spend a day at her house about 10 years ago, helping with washing dishes as she cooked and baked numerous items to use in one of her many cookbooks. (She has done many cookbooks, but the three most recent ones are The Cherished Table, Amish Family Recipes, and The Essential Amish Cookbook. They are available online here.)

Believe you me, her eight children and now numerous grandchildren are well fed and cherished. And their large home is well-cleaned. I hope you enjoy her column here: Lovina’s Amish Kitchen

Meanwhile, our house is a mess, full of boxes of the many many things that had to come off walls, above our cabinets, chairs, curtains. Lots of work!

How’s yours?

I’d love to hear from you, and Lovina would likely want to hear from you too! Have a great Friday and weekend….