Domesticity and Me

[tejas]

My domestic interests, and skill sets, pretty much begin and end in the kitchen. I'm a damned good cook and I really enjoy doing it. It's something that requires creativity and gut instinct coupled with the ability to follow instructions and to know when you can not follow instructions and still not break something. A lot like writing, now that I

Comments

[discodiva76]

Haven't dusted, hoovered or polished since the week before Xmas - and that was only because m-i-l was coming to stay with us over the Xmas period.....each time I say I won't leave it for a "mega" clean but will do it regularly each week/fortnight....

Never do.....can't be arsed....hate housework and as long as my kitchen and bathroom are clean I'm happy....if people (as in Jim,m-i-l, guests) have a problem with that, they can take the broom and sweep up themselves!!...*snerk*

Deeds xx

[tejas]

LOL! My problem is that if I don't force myself to keep it up, I can get by just fine for a long time but by the time I disgust even myself, it's such a big job I *can't* manage to do it at all.

I did jettison a lot of crap in this move and I think that's going to help. I also unearthed a lot of very cool stuff that I want SEEN. :-) Maybe that'll help, too. :-)

[djaddict]

That automatic shower cleaner thing sucks! DON'T DO IT!!!! lol

It works great to keep crap from building up on the walls. When it works. The thing eats batteries like I eat good potato chips and dip. And occasionally, for no apparent reason, it just stops working altogether.

I know how you feel about housework. I hate it and I'm bad at it. Sometimes we can't find the kitched counters not to mention the sink (sink? what sink?) and if my husband didn't vacuum, nobody would. The first thing i am going to do when I get rich (ha, ha, ha) is hire a housekeeper.

[tejas]

I'm seriously considering hiring a service to come in once a month for deep cleaning (floors, dusting, windows, blinds, bathroom, that sort of thing). I researched it once, but it was just out of my budget's range. I need to check it again and see what the market looks like now. They could do in two or three hours what would take me days to accomplish and even longer to recover from. :-)

[djaddict]

I would love that but not only am I really broke, I would have to clean the house before they came over!

[tejas]

That's one of the reasons why I'm so adamant about getting off on the right foot in this new place. :-) I want to keep it up to the point where when I *can* manage to shoehorn in a cleaning service, I won't NOT do it because the place is too cluttered to let them in the door. :-)

Go ahead and do the research for your area. You might be surprised with how inexpensively you can get someone.

[oneofaradia]

I'm not the best house keeper either, but I am a hell of a good cook. I just always seem to have something that I would rather do than clean. The philosophy around here is to try and keep the clutter out of the main part of the house and that way when someone comes over we don't have to panic or be embarassed, my MIL knows to give me a couple days notice if she's coming so I can really deep clean.

As for the scrubbing bubbles shower thingy...I have it and I have a shower curtain. The whole room doesn't wind up getting sprayed. However, I don't really think that it does that good of a job in keeping the shower clean. I still have to actually get out the comet to clean the tub.

[tejas]

Well, bummer. Sounds like it's a good idea that just hasn't been executed all that well yet.

*sigh*

[nialla42]

I saw mentions of vacuuming in the comments, and it gives me a shudder. Not only do I hate it in general, but The Great Library Dust Bowl Disaster last week was caused by a malfunctioning vacuum, with me ending up in the ER

[tejas]

I think our water's pretty mid-range when it comes to mineral content. It's surface water, which makes a difference.

Maybe I'll give it a shot after all.

Good luck with the workers' comp claim. :-)

What about ditching the carpet and putting in wood or tile floors instead? You can thing put down rugs that can be tossed in the washing machine and dust mop the floor.

[nialla42]

I've thought about ditching the carpet (definitely help with allergies), but the house is a "pier and beam" thing, with the original built around 1930 with additions in 1980. From what I've been told, putting down wood laminate over a pier and beam floor which is just plain old wood isn't easy to do or maintain.

The house has a tendency to shift a lot due to high clay content in the soil up here, and while it's a plus to not worry about cracked concrete, it can still shift things out of place where carpet would have stretched. You can clearly see drywall in a spot above my bedroom door where two pieces of paneling have drifted apart, and I had to replace the linoleum in the kitchen when it split apart right where and old and new section of the subfloor were located.

Can I just have a new house to start over in, so I don't have to spend the time, money and effort to fix this one up? ;)

[tejas]

Now *that* sounds like a great idea. :-) I take it townhouses aren't really big in your little town, right? ;-)