Housework

Last week when I was grilling the spare ribs, the ceiling of the oven caught on fire. Not good, really. It was getting seriously unavoidable: the need to clean the oven.

For the most part, I'm a rather hopeless greenie these days. I've returned part time to Persil washing powder because I got sick of dingy looking clothes and fancied a bit of that naughty optical brightener. Part time because eczema boy still needs his clothes washed in home made powder and not everything needs optically brightening. I've got Brighid in disposable night nappies. I was a Nappy Lady advisor in an earlier life for goodness sake! Once upon a time I would walk over hot coals to avoid using disposable anything on my darling child's bottom. But that was before child 2 decided to take such an age to stop using nappies. I use our car rather frequently to run errands and we use the fire long before it is below zero outside.

But I'm still a selfish greenie and I don't like nasty chemicals going into the tummies of the people whom I both love a lot and grumble at almost as much. So despite the reprehensible, risible, reportable state of the oven, no heavy duty shop bought chemicals here. I had some orange oil (d-limonene) which I'd bought from Trademe months before for heavy duty, 'natural, supposedly 'non-toxic' cleaning. I had baking soda of course. Where has someone written an article on where baking soda is made and how to secure access if indeed we do have post-peak oil melt-down? So I sprayed, and made baking soda paste and scrubbed a lot.

Then more. Scrubbing. Paste. Spraying.

and so on.

Now it looks pretty damn good. Not perfect, because I do have to do something else with my life apart from clean the oven. I found that one of the door seals is split so I will replace that on Tuesday and that should increase the energy efficiency of my oven.

While I was on my knees scrubbing, I unfortunately noticed how much more grub there is in our kitchen, at on-my-knees height. Most unfortunate. Pair that observation with the flea scare (yeah yeah I have hot washed all the bed linen including the duvets themselves again -even if I want Piner the Pest man to exterminate the lot, he won't be available at Easter as he is famously religious) and the cluster flies (some import down from Auckland scaring the suburbs apparently) all over the back house wall and the other things which might be fruit flies but equally could be something unknown but worse which I haven't found the horror for just yet...

well all that and you can see that I had to do some more cleaning. Not just get out the vacuum and wipe the basin and fold the washing which grows faster than alfalfa sprouts, but what would be termed spring cleaning except I am doing it in April in the Southern Hemisphere. So I've done some more today and now part of the wall, a dingy corner of the floor, the dingy grimy side of the cupboard and the truly revolting outsides of the bokashi buckets are all shiny clean. Not a fly mark in sight. On those bits. Though I can report that the yellow highlighter is permanent.

Thank goodness for Guinness. I've been very good on budgeting this fortnight as well. Fingers crossed there is something left in the bank to buy some more booze for tomorrow. I simply cannot keep up this kind of cleaning lark without alcohol to soothe me and grant me fortitude at the end of each day.

We've got more wood. Fundraiser for the local Catholic school who are sending two sports teams to Australia. I'm planning a third spot for stacking wood so that we don't end up with the situation where the greenest wood is always on the outside and thus really has to be used first. We want to become like the proper old timers who have their wood stacked and drying a year in advance.

Today we had pumpkin soup for Easter Sunday dinner. Fionn wrote the menu and made place cards for each person. Rather miraculously they forgot about the icecream which he wrote on the menu. Pumpkin soup seems a fitting choice for a southern hemisphere Easter meal. We are planning some pumpkin carving for southern Samhain at the end of this month. I also have a post on Easter and meaning and religion and cultural heritage and wierd country-called-NZ which has two days of total consumer shutdown for a holiday for which school children don't learn anything about Easter. Throw that one in your national standards, Anne-please-fall-off-your-Trolley.

Oh but the post isn't written so far. Mothering and cleaning. you know.

But. but but but. I have not six as previously reported, but SEVEN healthy looking little carrot seedlings in my garden. Then there are the two rows of Egmont Gold I sowed last week and I do think my carrot growing fortunes could be looking up.

Which means life is quite good after all. Now I'm off to bed to continue reading Albert Wendt's The Mango's Kiss which I am loving so far. I wish I had that much to say that was worth reading. Writers' group in less than 48 hours and I have written nothing for it.

Comments

Sharonnz said…
Thankfully, I've managed to convince hubby to tackle our oven today. Must be the season for it. And def the season for pumpkin soup - featured in our weekend too. I did the Hot Cross Buns from Bread Matters a couple of times - even soaked the currants in port as suggested. The best!!
Janet said…
oh yeah, I loathe cleaning the oven - my partner does that one and to be honest, I'm not sure what he uses such is my level of interest. But I have the same issue with cleaning, once I start, then I notice something else and then something else and before you know it half the day is gone.... Best not to start in the first place, although I guess we are due a good pre-winter scrub!

I used to go to a writing group long ago - do blog posts count these days?

Have recently been reading enjoying Wetville after you commented on Mrs Washalot (my alterego) so thought I'd better come and say Hello!
Sandra said…
Currants in port Sharon - sounds divine.

Thank you Janet. I've been a silent admirer of Mrs Washalot for ages. I really should comment on blogs more often.
Sandra said…
Not sure about blog posts and writing group. I have phaes og putting my writing group efforts online and then get squeamish and stop access. I am about to post last night's writing here on Wetville though.
Johanna Knox said…
Ooops - sorry - I should read pages of posts from the bottom up - to avoid asking silly questions about writing group when you've just posted about it!! :)

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