Things you wish you'd never started

Now that all makes me feel a bit better about the Christmas decoration I found under the sofa today!

I went to see my DD and DGS2 instead of doing any tasks! had fun playing and then a mosey into town to swap the wrong blusher from Liz Earle for the right one..... back home thinking about what to prepare for supper for me & DH who is busy inspecting a school today!

I found a mistletoe sprig under mine! Fine except I haven't been at home for the last three xmas'

I now feel better about the bedroom curtains which I had been intending to take to the cleaners. Now I will chuck them in the tumble drier and freshen them up! Thanks merlot

I now feel better about the bedroom curtains which I had been intending to take to the cleaners. Now I will chuck them in the tumble drier and freshen them up! Thanks merlot

I looked at my bedroom curtains recently and thought about taking them down to clean and to sort out the curtain tape which has been wrong since we moved in six and a half years ago. The curtains were in situ then, and still are, because I forgot about taking them down while I was admiring a cobweb on one of them. The cobweb is still there too.

And anyway garden work was calling and some creativity with fabric. I'll have wasted my life if I clean curtains instead of doing things that are more important to me.

'Course, if curtain perfection is important to one, then it must be indulged! No doubt about that

Since I've been learning to sew, I've made roman blinds fo many of the windows, and got rid of plenty of dusty, grubby curtains!

Don't roman blinds get dusty too, though?

I've just read a fascinating book called Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience by Elizabeth Shove and I've picked on the point that cleanliness has become a commercial pressure in that there is a cleaning product for everything item. As I don't like a lot of commercialism and I certainly don't take to being pressured to do anything it has given me a good excuse to rebel and have a cup of tea instead

I think a glance under my kitchen sink would show the jobs I hate doing/never do. I have about 4 different types of window cleaner, dishwasher cleaner, silver polish, endless all-purpose kitchen cleaners, at least 2 furniture polishes and assorted sponges/e cloths/"special" polishing cloths. Oh and one of those special mop thingies for cleaning wooden floors plus "refills".This is all because as I go round Waitbury's I get a guilt complex about the jobs I knw I never do, buy the product, lob it in the cupboard under the sink and sit back, conscience assuaged

The cupboard under the stairs is a particular horror. Ours is very narrow and deep. It's supposed to hold things I might want to find in a hurry, so why is whatever I want always right at the back? Having unearthed the wanted item I then set about re-organising it in a logical fashion, which means half the stuff won't fit and it all has to be piled dangerously in the doorway ready to fall out on the next person who opens it

gracesmum, your under-sink cover sounds just like mine. I am having trouble closing the door on mine.

! cupboard!!

That's why I wish I could have shares in Lakeland because most of what I buy there is really wanting to buy a Kitchen gnome. My DDs as children had a book called Hobberdy Dick who did the housework for people who were respectful to the Little People. I think I go round Lakeland .looking for a potted Hobberdy Dick. My kitchen cupboard is full of ecloths and potions White Wizard andAstonish . House is still a mess

I vacuum my curtains using the upholstery attachment on my Henry. Then hang them out on the line on a nice blowy March day. Works for me.
I had them dry cleaned once and they shrunk to buggery.
On the subject of cleaning - white vinegar is all the rage here in France - whats that all about?

Gracesmum my under-the-sink is like that, too. Trouble is, I forget what's there, so I keep buying it and squeezing it in. I'm usually horrified when I get it all out! Doesn't make the house any cleaner, either!

Yes, Ana' roman blinds get dusty too - much easier to brush down, though. And I can always make some more...

Yes, I thought that after I'd posted....

In fact, I'm a great believer in throwing things such as curtains out when they get too dirty, and buying or making new - drives DH mad!

When I was young my mother had a friend who swore by vinegar diluted with water to do all the cleaning - she said it removed all marks etc from furniture and she then buffed it up to a nice shine. She used this method when working as a cleaner in USA.

My mother used to use diluted vinegar to clean all the furniture, apparently takes all the old wax polish off. She then used to repolish everything. This was done every Friday and left the house smelling of vinegar and lavender.

Just think yourselves lucky you are not obsessives! I love turning out cupboards, understairs, cellars, attics, garages, etc. but there is not on inch of untidied space in my little flat. Still, I do get to do my sister's dark corners for her when I visit. I don't need to do anything for my daughter here in NZ, although I would be happy to help. She is another tidier-upper, but I have noticed that she is not nearly as fussy about this timber bungalow as she was about her elegant Edwardian villa in Yorkshire. A few cobwebs seem acceptable here, amongst the hen food, chick food, cat food, dog food, hay and straw for horse, bags of manure from the stables, dried seeds, garden implements, etc. etc. People are just more relaxed here in every way, and it must be catching! (The weather helps - who wants to clean when it is 26C every day for months and the beach/river/forest/mountains beckon?)

Ana When my curtains get dusty I just move house!

Ella!

I managed to talk OH into getting rid of every curtain in this house, including the nets he insisted we have up 'in case anyone saw us in the altogether', we now have blinds in every room except a back bedroom and I love them, I close them and hoover with the little brush attachment to get rid of the dust as they do get dusty as the windows are open a lot and they stay relatively clean.. the trouble with dusty curtains I found was when you draw them the dust just flies everywhere every time...