Home Clean Home

At long last we are now finished with the mother of all spring cleanings. Every room has been painstakingly cleaned of soot, and what a job it has been! Every single book had to be taken from its shelf, vacuumed and wiped. Every single little ornament has been scrubbed and polished. All carpets and furniture have been steam cleaned. All rugs and curtains have been shaken and hung outside to air. Whew, I get exhausted just writing about it.

When we were about to begin cleaning a few weeks ago, it seemed almost insurmountable, but we persevered and now the house is cleaner than it has been for years.

I am especially impressed with Hubby’s effort. Without complaining (almost), he has put in a lot of elbow grease, and that is no small feat for a man who considers housework as the pits, and something he absolutely does not undertake unless he is specifically told to. Whenever that happens he goes to work with the same attitude as that of man walking to the gallows, reconciled with the fact that there is no chance of escape. He even has a special voice that is exclusively reserved for talking about housework – dripping with resignation, self-pity and a deep loathing for the whole business.

He has a tendency to take his time as well, and I quickly realized that it was a mistake to give him the task of vacuuming the books. Every book was studied with great interest and the dust covers read in their entirety, before they were sorted into categories of readworthiness. However, when it comes to carpet cleaning and lifting heavy furniture, he laboured like a hero.

Finally, this weekend we managed to get it all done. The hall, which had been used to store everything, was cleared and washed. It is actually a long time since I've been on my knees in the staircase, scrubbing it with a brush, and I was shocked at how clean it became afterwards. Hmm, I have a sneaking suspicion that the grime was possibly not totally due to the soot.

This is our hallway. We haven’t shown you any pictures of it before, with good reason – the colour of the walls is simply vile. It looks like an eighties reject. Was baby-pink ever considered fashionable? Anyway, we have big plans to paint here, just as soon as the weather gets a little warmer and we are able to air out.

After redecorating the TV-room, we had no place for this recliner. Until we find someplace better, it can remain here. A yellow silk cushion from China marks the fact that it will be Easter soon.

The window sill here is not suitable for flowers, so I've put together a small flower table from a 20 centimetre wide plank of mahogany and four pieces of 1”x1”. It isn’t finished yet. It must be sanded and polished before oiling, so that the beautiful glow of the wood comes out. However, that will have to wait until I can do it outdoors, I don’t want dark-wood saw dust around the house now.

Such a hard and oily wood can be used before the surface is treated, so it is now a place for Hubby’s cacti. Honestly, I don’t really care much for those prickly plants but Hubby insists on keeping them. They are memorabilia from his bachelor days, when they faithfully survived years of neglect.   

This huge monster is Hubby’s pride and joy, and is consistently referred to as "he", not "it ". - I've had him since he was no bigger than my fist." Hubby says proudly. For my part, I am convinced that it is a "she" - and a jealous one at that. I am, in fact, sure that she has it in for me. I swear she tries to attack me as I walk past in what I consider to be a safe distance. And let me tell you, being stabbed in the leg by those spines is excruciatingly painful. "She" and I have in time developed a mutual antipathy, where she bristles her spines when I am around, and I threaten to cut her off on my watering rounds. Not that it seems to faze her very much. While the other cacti bear characteristics of a dry hard life, she seems to thrive in all conditions.

The hall table is one of Husfruen’s creations. It was my very first project as a cabinetmaker, and I'm still proud of how nice it turned out. It's made from Australian Jarrah wood, which has a beautiful quality and glow. Just look at the tabletop.

We have a lot more of my furniture creations around the house, and in time I’m sure you’ll get to see them all.

Have a nice week!