That pretty much sums up the current state of affairs here. We are tackling ‘spring cleaning’ now, taking advantage of second trimester energy while it lasts. We have some major jobs to finish. If they don’t happen now it will more than likely be next summer before it happens. It is amazing how skipping just a few things on the Home Mgt lists can sink you. That happened this spring. Nothing huge but the weekly deep clean tasks like “empty one drawer/cabinet” didn’t always happen. With ten to twelve people in the house you can lose a LOT of ground if you don’t do that every week.

I started with the kitchen. Judging by how long this is taking I know we won’t hit the whole house this summer. If we get the kitchen, school room, sunporch room and exterior work done then the rest can be handled during focus days.

So far, we have scrubbed down the built-in bench, which I dearly love. It is made from old church pews from a local chapel that was torn down. I love LOOKING at it anyway. It was a bear to clean being bolted down. Got the cabinets scrubbed and am working my way through purging and wiping the interiors. Allen replaced the kitchen faucet. It was leaking badly. We invested in a better quality this time since the old faucet was not that old – just cheap. We went with a bronze and copper finish since that is what the rest of the fixtures in the downstairs are slowly being replaced with.

There are still windows. The frames and runners need to be scoured well. The tile and grout need to be resealed. I suspect the old wood floor does as well. I don’t actually know how to do either of those jobs however so some Googling will have to happen first.

We are looking at a desk some friends are passing on tomorrow in hopes that it will be a good fit in the family room. If so then the kitchen will no longer house the “office” and that move will happen.

Painting the trim is last. We have been here five years and it shows. I would love to paint the whole room but after the job the bathroom was I suspect it will be another five years before that is tackled! The ceilings in the kitchen and dining room are coffered and there are no less than seven pendant light fixtures in the kitchen. I don’t have the oomph for it honestly. We are learning to love shell pink I tell myself it is not unlike the Waldorf lazure wall finishes lol!

Other big project in progress is landscaping. Like I said, it’s been five years now…. It is time! Landscaping is a huge undertaking out here though. You fight the elements the whole way. Instead of a yard there is the equivalent of a city block to maintain. Read: lots of $$ I am amazed at how much even small improvements cost out there! We can’t swing it all this year but we are starting with the front of the house. Asher has hauled over a good foot deep of compost (ie manure pile!) to fill in the spaces. We covered that with landscape fabric since the one thing we can reliably grow is weeds. I put in a few creeping Juniper bushes and today must get some estimates for a truckload of something to cover it all with. I am told mulch will blow right off my landscape fabric so it will likely be stone/gravel. Asher will love me. ; D

We plan to paint the first floor window trim outside as well. It has taken a beating from the wind. Probably will hit the mailbox while we are at it. That should help with a little curb appeal, not that we have a curb.

Anyway, if you are interested, here is the text of the Grand Plan cleaning scheme. It is a great addition to the Home Management Binder, reminding you about odd jobs you may not have thought of.

Another good reminder was Lady Lydia’s words about work as a blessing.

Mothers have to delight in their work in order to give the children a healthy concept of work. God gave us work so that we would be happy, and the Bible says that in all labor, there is profit. The results of labor is sometimes the only reward we need, as we see the house looking better and the children appreciating it more. So, when working, it isn’t too smart to act like a martyr, moaning and groaning and complaining. If you want children to love work, you have to at least act like you enjoy it and find something good about it. They will usually grow up having the same attitudes as the parents

Admittedly I felt less blessed by the end of yesterday than the beginning. This was our first work day with the big girls gone so the rest of us are splitting up their chores. She is right however. Acting the martyr isn’t smart at all. It is better to just rest before being overcome. Going to paste that on my forehead and dive in again. Have a wonderful day!

I followed this link from Amy’s blog and am so glad I did! Countless projects children can complete with help that are actually worth keeping/giving away.

We have a bucket of wheat berries so will try the wheat grass this week.

I had a rare moment to catch up with Lady Lydia’s latest this wknd and had to smile when reading her advice for lifting one’s mood. I have been consciously working on that myself this month and much the same ways she describes. A blog is necessarily a small slice of life, versus a sum total of our experiences, usually the parts we most wish to remember. For every happy memory recorded there are others less so that we carry in our hearts. Sometimes it feels odd to record crafting or thrift store finds while going through other trials. Yet, these too are part of life and often they become the very things that bring balance and well-being to us. So they are included here.

The logistics of a very large family mean that someone you care about (or you, yourself) is experiencing some sort of difficulty pretty much at any given moment. It also means there are dishes to wash, children to bathe, and gifts to arrange. That is a blessing. We are prevented from obsessing as most of us have the tendency to do in those circumstances. Keeping busy is the best medicine. Keeping busy making lovely things for others is even better. It reminds us that all is not dismal and that there is still beauty in the world. It keeps our focus on what we CAN do and outside of ourselves. All good things.

Long before there was Valium there were needle and thread. This has been my pastime of choice in recent weeks for several reasons. I wanted to make some gifts for Christmas and realize now is the time to do it. I needed something that was repetitive and absorbing but not too demanding. Only problem is my oft-mentioned aversion to Kute with a K. Solution? I found this gorgeous pattern book at the library and began a project – a missal (or bible) cover. It is coming together quite quickly -including a short pause when I needed more floss – and I am diving into another, this time using the freebie at Holy Needle. (you will only be able to fit the center motif if you are making it into a cover) Shoot, if I stay stressed enough I might just knock out the entire Christmas list before the summer’s over. ; D

Seriously though, the entire book is stunning and I can’t say that about most cross-stitch resources. There was another I picked up and hope to work from soon. It is full of William Morris reproductions. They are a great fit with mission style decor, elegant but not fussy. Both books consist of very basic cross stitch technique and are geared towards Aida cloth versus linen. Again, a rare thing to find refined patterns in Aida count charts. (note- it seems if you wish to convert an evenweave pattern, then half the linen count to get the Aida count)

Got a big expanse of wall to fill? Here is a great idea for wall art on the cheap. She took 12 by 12 scrapbook paper and mounted sheets of it onto styrofoam. The sides are painted black. Stunning. Likely less than ten bucks for a 6foot square wall covering. With the wide assortment of scrapbook paper style there is surely one to fit every decor.

You can do the same with large cardboard letters readily available at craft stores. Our local Joann Fabrics has several sizes and styles for under $3 each. I would like to pick some up to paint in a metallic finish to imitate the pricey galvanized letters at Anthropologie.

You are so very clever. Yes, it is the phone, but not the red phone. I have wanted a black rotary style phone for so many years now. I would have been just as happy had it not been fuctional. (yes, form over function any day here ; )) My grandmother had a similar model when I was growing up. The feel of the dial and the sound of it swinging back into place is still with me. Black rivals red for favorite colors. However, had I seen the red phone in the store I would likely still be clutching my gift certificate in indecision. So it was likely a blessing that it wasn’t on display!

If you were visiting to get filing ideas check these out – some WAY cool new file cabinets from Pottery Barn. Speaking of which I used my PB birthday gift certificate last week on date night. I can’t wait to show you what I got. The queen of cheap held the certificate for a month. Some issues with allowing oneself to spend…. But, oh, wait til you see! I will give you a hint. One of the items is in one of the following pictures and it isn’t a file cabinet….

“They (the little girls) were for the most part downstairs in the big playroom….One or two windows had been partially opened to air the room in their absence.” – from Mother

“the nurseries must be kept sweet and thoroughly aired…..The beds and bedclothes should be turned down to air for a couple of hours before they are made up.”
– Home Education Vol 1

The idea of airing out the house has come up again and again lately though I admit it was not my first exposure to the concept. I was an exchange student in high school and spent one summer living in the Netherlands where it was rather common to open the windows and ‘keep things sweet’. Later, as a newly married couple we lived in Germany, where there was also a wonderful absence of both insect screening and the need for same. One of our first purchases was a thick down comforter which we diligently aired from the second floor window just like our neighbors.

After returning to the United States where we had screened and insulated, super airtight homes we fell out of the habit. Reading vintage homemaking books has rekindled the fascination with a simple but effective means of freshening the home. My own dear Gram has a habit of sleeping with the window of her room cracked a smidge which is maddening to my relatives. I wonder now if this is less a sign of old age and muddled thinking as it has been attributed to and more a throwback to what was once a very common practice.

I am beginning to suspect that neglecting this simple practice may be contributing to the decline in our indoor air quality. This is a critical consideration for many of us. Growing up my mother was a chain smoker. She had a very meager income and the house was closed tight all winter with every hint of draft carefully plugged. This was the kiss of death for my airways and I came to equate winter with pink antibiotic syrup and Vicks.

Our own home houses 10 or 11 of us most of the time. When a virus hits, it tends to sweep through no matter how clean you keep things. I realize though we are only hitting the surface germs and anything airborne remains locked in the rooms with us. I have tried this spring to open the windows in each room for just a bit each day, in particular the rooms where someone had been convalescing. It is too soon to report back but I will say it helps to freshen things up considerably.

I have read that you only need a few minutes a day. If you heat your home with a wood stove you should wait til the stove is “out” that day before airing the room in which it sits. If you have a regular furnace, turn it off for those minutes. Obviously the same applies in summer when the a/c is on.

Most of us are grateful for our insect screening yet it does inhibit airing of bed linens. It will take more forethought to be sure they get some time to sun periodically. While sheets often hang outdoors in summer, don’t forget the bedspreads and comforters which may be in greater need since they are laundered less frequently. If you have allergies be encouraged that exposure both to sunlight and temperatures below freezing both kill dust mites. It is worth the effort!

Found this lovely site this weekend. Black and cream, vintage, French. Plenty of typographic art and white slipcovers. All good things
Enjoy!

Don’t miss Anna’s post today! It is brief yet thoughtful. A quick stroll through her blog demonstrates she has studied carefully and learned well from the examples provided by vintage literature. An accomplished cook and seamstress, she is not to be dismissed as one who doesn’t ‘know better’. She is also self-described as a ‘sometime attorney’. She is impressively degreed, however her family and her home are clearly the greatest source of pride.

Always insightful and inspiring, her post sums up what it meant to be a homemaker in days past. While there is a dearth of homemakers today some things remain constant: First, a home does not run itself simply because mother isn’t home running it. Second, homemakers work hard. Always have, always will if they are doing it right. Erma Bombeck used to joke that housekeeping, done properly, may kill you. ; ) I don’t think anyone has actually perished from housekeeping but it IS a formidable task to do it well and make things lovely. What is life without home and loveliness however?

We chatted about family closets some time back. I was sending links to a friend yesterday and found this one. She includes many photos of individual shelving units and floorplans. Notice in particular her use of clip art to help children sort and find their clothes.

Picture labels work well no matter where the clothes are stored. It is also a great idea for toy bins. You can find bin labels here. This blogger made photo labels for those ever-so-wonderful canvas bins. (I want some!)

Now, know you will need a little time for this next link. Ohdeedoh held a Now You See It, Now You Don’t contest to highlight the best ideas for children’s toy and clothes storage. I love the custom labels in this closet.

I am thinking more and more these days about the common thread in many dear friends essays about organization. Ultimately this is a stewardship issue. I was reading Meg Lund’s article about Knowing and Respecting Our Stuff. She makes some compelling points. If we make a sweater for instance, we spend time selecting yarn and patterns. We spend even more time crafting it. If a hole should appear we would immediately grab a darning needle and repair it so as not to see all our hard work lost. She contrasts this with our vast pile of throwaway possessions, some of which we are relieved to see broken so we have an excuse to rid ourselves of them.

The truth is we can only properly store and care for a limited number of things. This concept is a challenge for me. In a thrifty household we rarely spend a great deal on any one item. If clothing wears out we don’t sweat it. Apparently we don’t sweat it when toys and school manipulatives wear out either, judging by the deep cleaning done this week. : / It occurred to me that we have passed on a bit of a throwaway mentality to the children. There is only so much they can be expected to revere. We should have limited our stuff to just that type of item. Otherwise it is hard to instill in them the proper appreciation necessary to be good stewards.

I haven’t worked out all the answers by any stretch. I have decided I want to be very selective with what is presented in the school room. I will only make homemade school supplies that are of high quality. Otherwise I will purchase or go without. With clothing, we continue to pare down to a few nice outfits which can be easily stored in the available space. If we exceed that space it breeds poor stewardship – read: cramming. Right now, laundry has been very feasible. Hopefully, similar culling in the school room and craft areas will make those spaces as manageable.

Enough random thoughts for one day. Thank you to all the very sweet ladies who sent birthday wishes! I admit this one was not high on my list. 40 was at least a milestone. 41 is just, well, older than 40 lol!