61 DAYS of FALL
Winter starts December 21, 2008 at about 7 am EST.
There are 47 days left for FALL CLEANING. (if my Math is right & it's not my strong suite)
I wish I knew how to calculate the hours it would take to clear out the clutter I wish to clear out. I have read in books that a closet can be cleaned & sorted in an hour. Maybe so if you just take out everything, clean, sweep and put it all back. My decision making mechanism doesn't work that fast.
Spring Cleaning took a week or two when I was growing up. We had wallpaper and a coal furnace. So, every spring the wallpaper got cleaned with "wallpaper cleaner." It came in gallon cans like paint cans and was usually green. I can still remember the smell. I kinda' liked it. We'd get a big handful and work it in our hands until it was soft & pliable. It was sorta' like modeling clay. Then, we'd climb the ladders and work from the top down. We'd clean all around where we could reach & then work the dirty parts to the inside and move to a new spot to clean. After the walls, it was wash windows inside and out and then curtains.
Most families had curtain stretchers to set up in the back yard. The lace curtains were washed & starched & put in the curtain stretchers till dry. The curtain stretchers had little nails all around the edges. They were sharp and it was easy to stick your finger. No blood on the curtains or they'd have to be redone!
All the cabinets, cupboards and closets were emptied and cleaned inside & out. New shelf paper put on shelves. Mattresses turned. Windows opened to let the house air out.
I never thought of my Mother as a saver. Our home was never messy. But, I was amazed to find out all the things she'd kept. Mostly my dolls, toys, books, school things. DISHES. She didn't save paper junk, old magazines, torn out articles, hobby junk, so that is why we didn't have a messy home. The things she saved were in boxes & put away in closets.
I don't remember any Fall Cleaning when I was growing up. Outside we cut back the peonies and rose bushes for winter, cleaned out the flower beds and stored the lawn mower and yard tools.
I am tired of being the host for so many things. At the same time I don't really want to get rid of the family things that have come to me. Some of them are just everyday things that probably weren't memorable for the owners. I just can't seem to cut the cord to being the Clutter Archivist. :(