fifty shades of dust and clutter

A bit of a moment this evening,
passed DD my mobile which has a handy flashlight thingy to look under our fridge freezer in the hope of finding a missing 'Toy' lost by little grandson.
No toy but apparently plenty peas, fluff and crumbs.
So first job tomorrow....

Yes a small piece of lego that can't be found until grandma stands on it, a car on the back of the sofa and a pocket full of acorns

Ooh I forgot about the stickle bricks! The dog loved sitting under the high chair when DC were little and I am sure they threw food down on purpose!
My adult DC are both very tidy now so as mentioned before it's probably a reaction to growing up with clutter. My cousin grew up in a grubby ,messy house ( they were pretty poor as uncle was disabled) She now has an immaculate clutter free home and gets distressed if it is untidy.

Happy moments (unless trodden on!)

Well hopefully they served to bring back memories of happy moments!

invariably in bare feet one would walk on Lego or sticklebrick!
I thought I was reasonably clean and tidy now the DC have all gone and had a good vacuum round after the and DGC came to stay - so how come I was finding tiny bits of Lego weeks and weeks afterwards?
I found a stray Christmas card yesterday, tucked behind a piece of furniture.

2 of our AC have immaculate homes which I think must be a reaction to the clutter they grew up with.
Please take your shoes off at the door etc.
DD has a dog who sits expectantly below the baby's high chair.
A friend said to me when we were discussing housework, referring to dust and dirt "it'll still be here in 100yrs, long after we're dead and gone"

As a child my home was, by turns, either meticulously clean (when stepfather with OCD lived there) or totally grimy (after he left). I opted for clinically clean with my own first home and gradually entered a sort of middle ground. We always have visitors or a lodger (or both) staying with us so the house is now in a perpetual state of 'clean and tidy, but with personality'.

During a family holiday to Hornsea when I was nearly six and my youngest sibling was nearly one, our mother was ill and had to stay in bed for some of the time at least. Apparently she told dad, who was looking after the five of us, to remember to sweep the kitchen floor in our holiday house every day. Dad told us years later that his reply was: "Oh, there's no need, the baby crawls around and eats everything the others drop". We were a healthy bunch ?

When I was working and doing home visits I am sure my jaw dropped in some houses where there were yards of clear kitchen surfaces and no clutter. Even the lounge didn't give away that children lived there except for framed photos of smiling children. In contrast in my house it was hard to find room to prepare meals without moving stuff first and invariably in bare feet one would walk on Lego or sticklebrick!

That's what I miss now seasider - our dogs would have been on the cheese and biscuits like a shot, they didn't care about clean floors! One of them was always useful for hoovering up around the high chair and DD got wise to that fact, a good way to get rid of food she didn't want.

Framilode, I am surprised that 'Perfect Pamela' didn't relieve you of your coat, put it on a coat hanger and hang it in the cloakroom. Not much of a hostess.

Jamila my dog would have dealt with your spilt cheese and biscuits before you had time to fetch the mop. He's a living Hoover ready to pounce if any food that is accidentally dropped!

I shall be seeing a dear friend this morning, it's been such a long time since she came out. Yes folks, the steam cleaner is coming out to play on the kitchen and bathroom floors, so I must prepare myself for a reunion and fun and games. Such as, where did I put the cleaning liquid and trying to remember how to actually fill the thing.... And then the cats will think it's fun to march all over the newly washed floor.....now where did I put the brush?

The other thing besides visitors which can prompt a clear out is searching for something.
I have been looking all over the house and attic but all I've done is fill a bin bag with rubbish and hoovered.
The missing thing is still missing.

Framilode I hope your house is immaculate enough to invite her back. If it was me we'd have to eat out.

Went to someone's house for lunch. She was boasting that she was called 'perfect Pamela' by her friends as her house was always so immaculate. Would only have white flowers in her outside pots anything else was common said she. Everything in the house was matchy, matchy. I took my coat off and put it over the back of her sofa. She asked me to move it as it clashed with her sofa and spoiled the look of her room.

I quite like clean and tidy but loathe housework, and also find it increasingly tiring as I grow older. DH is not too bad apart from having the dining table covered in all sorts of books, papers,maps,cuttings -you name it. I have to beg him to clear it when anyone's coming to eat, preferably more than 5 minutes before they are due to arrive. He's good at shopping and cooking, but totally hopeless at/unaware of cleaning. I realise this may be a deliberate ploy. I have made DD's promise that, should I die suddenly or become incapable, their first task will be to find him a cleaner, then possibly hire a skip.

My dining table is a 'repository for everything' but I still eat off it. I shove everything N,E and W make a little space big enough for a plate

Jalima1108 the expression "her floor was clean enough to eat off" isn't meant to be taken seriously you know!
Mind you dining room tables seem to be repositories for anything, so people aren't eating off them either.

When a young mum,I remember going to friend's houses which, although they had babies and toddlers, were devoid of any books , toys or pictures. I remember one afternoon was spent just discussing curtains. I couldn't wait to go home.
My house I started tidy, but we live in it, and that is evident by the things around the rooms

I like my books and things near me. If visitors are coming, a quick vacuum, a bit of a tidy ( thank goodness for cupboards) and clean bed linen, flowers in vases and hey presto.

I love things clean so the kitchen and bathroom are shiny, but everywhere else is comfy, becushioned and with things to do around me.

When my three were small I remember going to see a friends mother for whatever reason. At that time my Hoover was broken, there was a layer of black dog hairs on a horrible mustard coloured carpet and all the detritus of three little ones. I went to this ladies house and it was perfect and I could have cried. I said how jealous I was of her house and her words stuck with me. She said her happiest times were when her children were young and at home and that I could clear up the house when they leave home. Completely changed my outlook and from then on I made sure I enjoyed the children and didn't worry about the mess.
I would also rather have a messy husband than no husband.

I love my house to be clean and tidy. Children grown up and gone now - so it should be easy. No! Because we're both retired!
For some strange, psychological reason, every time I do a job in the house, husband says, "Do you really have to do that?
Well, there being no housework fairies, Yes, I do!
My biggest gripe is the dining-room table! Laptop, glasses, diary, various books & magazines, unopened letters, ripped-up lottery tickets, screwed-up crisp packets ... Every day!
His response to my moans: "Who's going to see it?"
ME!

trisher you made me laugh.

My best excuse is - I always have time to get things out and yet not quite enough time to put them away again.

But even I get to a point where I turn into a whirlwind and clear and clean until it all looks beautifully neat again.

However, now I have poor sight so I've had to be a bit more efficient on a regular basis - well, I try - so have de-cluttered and given heaps of things away. The less you have, the less there is to shift

I then dropped part of my lunch all over my nice clean floor!
Only cheese and biscuits - oh, and chutney, which is what made the mess.