Black.bird
VIP Member
As a child, I used to love going to stay with relatives during the school holidays because they always kept a very neat and clean house. One of their habits was to eat at 5pm - all together, at the table - then do the dishes immediately afterwards and have everything spic and span in time to sit down and watch the 6 o'clock news. At about 7pm, they'd make supper and clean up afterwards.
I had a wonderful childhood with an incredible family, but housework was not my mum's strong point, and she was a bit of a hoarder which made things chaotic. It wouldn't be unusual for us all to have to eat our dinner on trays in front of the TV because the dining room table was covered in stuff. When we were teenagers, my sister and I had chores, among which were to do the dishes, but it was always frustrating because the cupboards and drawers were full of stuff trying to escape, and there was very little bench space (there were massive benches but they were covered in 'stuff'). It was all very manic and a lot of the 'stuff' never got used as it was intended 'for best' (which never came).
It was like comparing night and day - if you opened a cupboard at my relative's house, you could see gaps on the shelving and everything was neatly put away, like with like. It felt very calm - much like the residents who lived there.
When the time came for me to move out and get my own place, I followed my relatives' formula, which really helps to keep everything just the way it should be. I don't really like 'surprise' visitors but if anyone does come, I never worry about the place being in a mess because it's always clean and tidy. I don't like 'stuff' - you won't see lots of display items at my house (aside from a blackbird ornament on my hallway table, I don't tend to have any).
Sorry for the novel ... I got carried away
I had a wonderful childhood with an incredible family, but housework was not my mum's strong point, and she was a bit of a hoarder which made things chaotic. It wouldn't be unusual for us all to have to eat our dinner on trays in front of the TV because the dining room table was covered in stuff. When we were teenagers, my sister and I had chores, among which were to do the dishes, but it was always frustrating because the cupboards and drawers were full of stuff trying to escape, and there was very little bench space (there were massive benches but they were covered in 'stuff'). It was all very manic and a lot of the 'stuff' never got used as it was intended 'for best' (which never came).
It was like comparing night and day - if you opened a cupboard at my relative's house, you could see gaps on the shelving and everything was neatly put away, like with like. It felt very calm - much like the residents who lived there.
When the time came for me to move out and get my own place, I followed my relatives' formula, which really helps to keep everything just the way it should be. I don't really like 'surprise' visitors but if anyone does come, I never worry about the place being in a mess because it's always clean and tidy. I don't like 'stuff' - you won't see lots of display items at my house (aside from a blackbird ornament on my hallway table, I don't tend to have any).
Sorry for the novel ... I got carried away
I have cleaned it all out but it still smells. I saw a tiktok that said not to put any water down the hose. It is a Shark hoover the purple anti wrap chorded one
going to have to keep this going
