Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Scrubby, Grubby Day


The mental list of things in my house that needed to be actually *scrubbed* had gotten serious. I left my workout clothes on this morning because I was going to get dirty.

First Frederick's cage came apart in about seventeen gigantic metal panels. A chore that's best tackled outside in the sunshine with a big bottle of soap and a garden hose, but I wasn't waiting any longer for that kind of weather. I know, disgusting to do it in the house but everything was thoroughly vinegarised afterwards. Whew. Much better.

The floor behind the woodstove where the mysterious black liquid by-product of a wood fire drips onto the floor when I'm not looking. Whatever. It's clean now.

Then. The kitchen floor, by hand, with a brush. These floors are very soft pine, with most of the finish gone. The thing about scrubbing them is there's really no end to what you can scrub off with a stiff brush--it's actual wood coming up. So you take up as much as you think the floor can spare, balanced by how far down the stains go. The floor's a little thinner now, but that description you always read about tables in the flagstoned kitchens of rural England, and how they're scrubbed white? That's what I did, but only where things were really bad.

And now they're really good.

16 comments:

Rebecca said...

Ahhh! Along with you, I'm breathing a sigh of relief!

Anonymous said...

I left my workout clothes on today and cleaned the tub! I heard that using a dryer sheet to remove soap scum from the tubs works like a dream- and I wasn't let down! By the way, I love those floors you have (not sure if in kitchen), the black and white checkerboard. Blessings to you!

In Christ,
Dawn

Amy said...

And hey, it sounds like you got another good workout! I was thinking today as I was whizzing around my house picking up stray things here and there and vacuuming, that housework can be good exercise in and of itself.

Anonymous said...

Wow, a lot of good cleaning!!! I like to look back on days like those and admire my work. Hope you enjoyed a nice cup of tea with your feet propped up afterwards!

Lucille said...

The bird feeders in the garden are in serious need of similar treatment to Frederick's cage. I haven't vinegarised anything before. Perhaps this will be the first time. Life's not all crewel work and quilts is it? Sort of reassuring post.

Tracey said...

thanks for reminding me.... I need to do my floor as well.. I hope I have as much ambition as you do!

Rhonda Gunn said...

Hi Anna,

I've been dropping by Pleasant View School nearly every day for a couple of weeks now. Amazing how much inspiration one can find from your short notes and photos.

I spent the day like you, only with my new best pal "Electrolux". She's a canister vacuum and we got to know our house from floor to ceiling. How have I made it without this beautiful contraption? I can barely put her away.....I'm sure your scrubby brush isn't as well loved.
Rhonda

Laura {{* *}} said...

I am inspired.

{{* *}}

Anonymous said...

I love your writing, Anna. Simple as that. (a former Ozark gal who hasn't written in a long, long time...well, not here anyway. ;) Lana

Lisateresa said...

Oh, my - how nice to have a clean place, though! I also like to scrub the kitchen floor on hands and knees periodically. It can't get that clean with a sponge mop.

A family of boys said...

All right, changing up my attitude right now! How is it you make even the chores sound nice?

We have the windows thrown open today and it's a beautiful spring day here so feels like a good day to get cracking.

Margo said...

ha - I think the itch for spring cleaning is building in me too. Which is funny, because there's still 2 feet of snow on the ground and no warm weather in sight.

Daisy said...

I have a running joke with my husband about how Pilcher writes about a "scrubbed pine table" at least once in all of her books!

Jeni said...

i have 2 grand babe staying for 10 days and my house.................what can i say the working cloths when they go home will be on ad off i go scrubing also

Sharilyn said...

I love your blog, stop by regularly, and would love to see those clean kitchen floors. I am amazed at all the wonderful projects you complete. Do you take some kind of super vitamins? :)

Melinda said...

I used to think you only posted about cleaning to make us feel better. After all, you have shared pictures of your home. I found it hard to believe it could ever look like my house. Until I read your post about dirty dishes in the oven! I knew then that you do live in the real world, because nobody would make up something like that just to win friends and influence strangers.

Thanks for the inspiration. We started spring cleaning here, too.

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