Cleaning Progress

I am happy to report that I nearly checked off the entire Flylady detailed kitchen cleaning list this week!  My plan was to write the list out in my home keeping journal and then not stress if I didn't get to every thing. My thinking is that we/Flylady will be back in this zone again in a month, so I knew I would just pick up where I left off.  That is my plan for each zone, actually.  It's hard to do it all, all the time, but this week I pushed myself a little, because the kitchen really needed it. 

The list is detailed and not things I usually get too very often, like the oven, the microwave, the refrigerator.  Cabinet fronts, windows, and back splash are other places I don't attack every week either.  The floor gets a weekly mop, but this time I even got under and around things. 

I just hope I can keep the momentum going! 

It's a Process

For me, homemaking has been a process that has taken years to develop.   I'm truly blessed to be able to stay home and keep my family going.  Looking back, I'm reminded how far I've come in 17 years, but I still struggle in areas I've always had trouble in, mostly wanting too much leisure time.   Progress is being made, though.

I used to buy and serve a lot of processed foods.  Now,  I make as much as I am able. I finally am making salad dressing.  I've always had a mental block with that, thinking I liked the convenience of buying it.

I used to buy chemical cleaners.  I then bought natural cleaners when a friend was selling them.  Now,  I'm going back to good old vinegar, baking soda, and the like.  I have used baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair for a couple years.  I'm finally going to make laundry soap.  I decided to try to get rid of as many chemicals in my home as possible.

I've finished the 3rd week of following Flylady's routines, certainly not perfectly.  I was proud of myself when I realized that I wasn't going to get to everything on my long list this week.  I would have liked to have vacuumed under the seat cushions.   So, I'll get them next time.  We (yes, the kids helped) got baseboards done in two rooms.  Something that I normally wouldn't do very often.

I love being a homemaker.  It's challenging.  It's a blessing to my family.   It's a gift from God. I wouldn't trade my job for any other.

*Photos from my mom's lovely new home.

Leon's Sour Dough Sponge

Tucked away in one of the journals I'm reading, in my grandmother's hand, I found the recipe card for my grandfather's famous sourdough bread.  He made this bread all my life.  I remember the joy of eating a loaf out of the oven with them during a sleepover.  Grandma would rub the top of each hot loaf with butter, delicious!  I plan to make this bread this week, just need to get some flour.  He also used this sponge to make pancakes.  They were delightful, but I suspect they were mostly wonderful because I loved him so.

Leon Huber 

Sponge:
1T yeast
2 cups warm water
2T sugar

Mix above and  add 2 cups of flour.  Set over night in a covered bowl.

To make bread next day, add:
2T oil
1 egg
2T sugar
1t salt
5 c flour, one more if needed, as you kneed.  (Didn't say how long to kneed, but I will use my Kitchen Aid mixer and try 8 minutes.)  Makes a soft dough. Put in 2 pans and let double.  Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I'll let you know how it turns out.
~Jenn

UPDATE:  I made two batches of bread over the weekend.  It is excellent!

Baby Steps, Again

I greatly admire people who are solid in their cleaning routines.  I mean, they clean on a certain day and they do it for YEARS.  (Yes, dear JoAnn, I'm thinking of you.)  I tend to be blown with the wind on this one.  My house is not supper dirty, but it doesn't get a regular once over consistently.  Well,in my defense, it does get a good cleaning every other week when we host small group, but not weekly.  On the off weeks, things slide a bit.  And I admit I am fine with this.  But, at the same time, I would think I could do better.  So, I decided it was tine to revisit my old friend, Flylady.

Once upon a time, I was a big Flylady fan following her word to the letter for several years. I still appreciate her ways.  I've held fast to her daily routines, faithfully.  But cleaning in the zones had fallen off.  So, last week, I started doing her zone missions again.

Flylady says not to do any detailed cleaning until your house is decluttered.  I do purge my house on a regular basis, so I think it is as clutter free as is possible for a homeschooling family.  Let's not go into the garage, though, OK.  :)

Last week the zone to work in was our bathrooms.  This week is the master bedroom.  I was happy when my husband even noticed that I had been working on our room.  It is not in a horrible state, but it did have a hot spot or two brewing and it is rather dusty.  Flylady says your master bedroom should be the cleanest room in your house.  Ouch.

Today, I am going to finish the zone cleaning up there.  I am going to dust the baseboards, dust everything for that matter!  I'm also going to sweep the carpet behind things that never move, and change the sheets.  Earlier in the week, I washed our pillows.  When was that last done?  Never, I think!

In the process, I have discovered that I enjoy a little outside help reminding me of little jobs that need to be done.  It's fun knowing that others around the world are working a little harder on their bedrooms this week right along side me.  It also helps motivate me in the afternoons when I'd rather been lazy.  Ah, there is that lazy word again!

So, as I baby step my way back to good health, and I am also going to baby step my way to a cleaner house!

Remembering the Good Old Days

Lately,I've been reading my grandmother's journals from the late 1980's.  I am so thankful for these gems!  She wrote every day for years.  When I read them, I can hear her voice.  I am transported back to her wonderful, humble home.  I can almost smell the smells when she writes of the cake she baked or bread that Grandpa made!  

She's now 90 with dementia, wheelchair bound, too, living in a nursing home.  I know that I am blessed to have her here, still living.  However, her mind is, well, pleasantly confused at best.  She doesn't carry on a conversation.  For awhile, I was feeling as if I had lost her already.    

These journals are quite simple.  She tells of the people she talked to.  She writes of what she ate and did.  She will sometimes comment on current events.  She mentions the weather.  These are all very simple things. Yet, they are so interesting!  It's hard to read only a few days at a time.  

For the last two years, I have been keeping similar journals on paper in addition to my blogging.  Even today, my kids will ask to hear what we did just two years ago.  It amazes me how in such a short time we forget all the little details.  And I am so glad that I took the time to write them down.  Actually, it doesn't take much time at at.  Usually, I have to limit myself because of space.

Perhaps one day my family will take these journals and read them to their kids.    

WW: Sledding

Happy New Year

From the diary of a 1892 farm wife...

"January 1, 1892.  Clear and fine.  I have a great deal to be thankful for -- all the mercies of the year that has just passed.  May I be more faithful this year that has just commenced. May my children repent and turn unto thee.  Thou knowest how I want my children to give their hearts unto thee and in thy good time wilt thou answer my prayers." 
Josephine Jordan
http://1892farmwife.blogspot.com

Another great diary I'm reading is :

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/SteHome.html. 

We have so much to learn from those who lived before us.  I find their diaries fascinating.  This year will be the third year that I keep a paper diary.  Perhaps 100 years from now, someone will find them equally interesting.  I have access to my own grandmother's day planners. I plan to read them again soon.  They were from 20 years ago.  We used to laugh that she wrote little bits down each day.  Now I do the same thing! 

I apologize for there not being links above.  I'm learning to use my tablet to blog and I can't always copy and paste when I want too.  :)