Vintage Skills and Style in the Modern World
Things have gotten a little cluttered around here. This is mostly my doing. And when it’s cluttery, it’s hard to actually clean things.
As happens from time to time, I was fine with the general state of things until I was suddenly not, and now I want to shout, “We are living in squalor!” and CLEAN. ALL. THE. THINGS.
Continue reading “Spring Cleaning: First Steps”
After a mild winter, I’m surprised that I’m still feeling that spring stirring, but feel it I do. Snowdrops and crocuses are dotting the block, the seed catalogs are looking alluring, and it’s possible (not likely, but possible) we got the last of the snow last week. (I didn’t say that.)
With more light and a general sense of possibility, I’m feeling optimistic for my immediate domestic sphere. Like many people, “optimistic” has not been able to describe my general mood since November, at least when looking at the general state of affairs in the world. But in my smaller world, it’s spring and it’s time to clear the dust out the corners. Because if I’m going to be horrified on the regular, the smallest comforts seem necessary.
The fact is, my cleaning is already rather old-fashioned. It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that if DIY is an option, I’m probably going to try it. Consequently, I use a lot of castille soap, and vinegar, and baking soda to get things clean. So did a lot of housewives in the past. While the 1950’s was an era of new products and consumerism, lots of people, like me, were pretty cheap. In addition to being inexpensive, these products are lighter on the environment, due to less packaging and fewer things that are harder for the earth to get rid of (I’m not going to say “chemicals” because everything is made of chemicals).
