Saturday morning...

[fajrdrako]

Is there something wrong with me? I woke up at 8 a.m., full of energy, and instead of going for a walk in the sunshine, or going to a Tai Chi class, or reading, or going out for breakfast with maaseru and maaboroshi, I chose to do laundry and housework. There's a corner of my living room, you see, that hadn't been cleaned since I broke my ankle (because cleaning it would involve moving furniture), so today, well, I moved furniture.

The room looks great. I even did work in the bedroom. And bought groceries. I found the pliers that Patrick lost last week under the television stand, but I didn't find my TV remote anywhere.

It can't be age; just about everyone I know gets less interested in doing housework as they get older.

I listened to Terry Pratchett's Jingo as I did all of this. Great fun.

Comments

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

If you have a great book like that to listen to, no wonder you got lots done.

I think it must be the missing remote calling to you that's inspiring this housework -- but, in any case, you can feel accomplished.

Try going for a walk this afternoon -- it's gorgeous out, and we're not going to get many more beautiful days like this. I actually wore shorts when I rode to the grocery stores this afternoon -- and was quite comfortable. ($150 of groceries in the bike trailer -- now THAT was heavy! And now I get to see whether we like beet greens or just the beets.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's the joy of having an iPod. You can listen to things - read books and still get work done. Still hard to hear over the vacuum, though - that's what the pause button is for.

If only the remote would call to me, maybe I could hear it and find it! As it is - resounding silence. Absence. Perplexing.

Wasn't it beautiful today? I walked along Third Ave. and it was gorgeous: sky so blue it looked painted, and bright orange trees with bits of scarlet. Superb.

Funny: I had beet greens at Lisa's place just last week. David had a fancy recipe for them; quite good, though I'm not sure if I want to try buying and preparing them myself.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I couldn't find beets w/o beet greens, so I guess we'll see if we like them. If we don't, that's what a compost pile is for.

In David's recipe, were they flavoured with garlic, or ginger, or lemon, or anything else obvious you could tell?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to remember what David's recipe was. I can always ask him! I seem to remember both garlic and lemon, and it was a little bit like spinach and a little bit like kale.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I made them tonight: I washed them thoroughly and cut off the stems, then melted some butter in a big frying pan and slowly cooked a large clove of garlic which I'd run through a press. Once that was golden, I put the beet greens in: they very quickly reduced to about 1/4 of their previous size.

I quite liked them, though they would have been better if they hadn't sat on the stove for more than an hour waiting for the spouse. They have a stronger taste than spinach, but a pleasant one on the whole. (The spouse said they were OK, but was not enthusiastic. He ate most of the peas; I ate most of the beet greens).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I didn't feel enthusiastic about the beet greens either. They were all right, they were interesting, but I like spinach better.

[blackbyrde.livejournal.com]

I love organizing the house! I spent today moving boxes and organizing the basement. We are box addicts - I think we have the boxes from every appliance, toy and computer accessory we've ever bought. We're getting rid of those now. :) I discovered that we also have two sets of National Geographic dating from the 1960s - one from my dad and one from hubby's mom. There is something sacred about National Geographics that makes them impossible to throw into the recycling. What I am going to do with them I have no idea.

It's a good feeling, to have everything tidied so.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Box addicts

Hee - you've the space for it. But I am a bit of a box addict too, and I'm fighting the tendency.

There seems to be National Geographic everywhere. I'd suggest donating it to the Boy's Club or a school library. I often use them as wrapping paper. (But then, I'm into the make-or-find school of wrapping paper.) I also use pages for origami.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I find it next to impossible to do housework without a book on tape. Glad you had a good one to keep you going.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Books on tape are so useful. Housework is one thing that they enhance immeasurably. Exercise is another. I don't know how I ever coped without them.

Bujold especially.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the decisiveness. And the moving of furniture! Yay, you!

What do you mean by "less interested in doing housework," dear? How can there be any lessening from the original "no interest at all"?

Well, as for housework... here I am, all energized and excited in planning my next trip to Frostburg to do minor repairs on my sister's new (rented) house: window caulking, possible window sill and jamb painting, and front-door-glass caulking, as well as door painting. And a floor problem in the upstairs hallway by the heat register. And curtain fixtures. And scrubbing a few decades of leftover coal-furnace residue from the upstairs walls and ceilings. And I'm utterly happy to be doing all of it. Yay, me!

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

The nice thing about all those tasks -- they're one-time, not repetitive.

It makes all the difference.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Unless someone has not done them in 20 years. And then, suddenly, someone has to. In this case, 'twill be I. Hee.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, go for it!

I plan to clean up a few shelves today.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I did some more moving of stuff this morning. That tree at the far right corner of the apartment, by the window - I moved it to the corner by the kitchen, next to my writing desk. I am increasingly happy with the state of things. Not just that it's getting better all the time, but it gives me a sense of control over my immediate environment. I want it to be beautiful, and dammit, it's going to be!

So glad you're enjoying your sister's house.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

You moved a tree! Whoo. Mighty. Remind me not to make you mad at me! I wouldn't stand a chance.

Yes on the sense of control. And goodness knows you've been yearning to get that back again. So, good for you on the moving of things and clearing up of neglected corners. Strive for beauty... balance.

I am, too. Ironic -- did I tell you this? -- the house they are renting is almost an exact copy, especially on the second floor, of a house my mother inherited from her parents on Rosina Avenue in Somerset which she rented out and then sold, eventually. The lay-out of the rooms upstairs is exact, almost even for size. The stairways are placed exactly the same. Only differences are this place has a higher ceiling in the cellar (I couldn't stand upright in the Somerset one) and its first floor has that cunning four-room walk-around thing that some older houses do, with a room at each of the four corners and doorways from each room to each room on both sides of it. I wonder if my sister remembers that our great-aunt Maggie's house had this lay-out on the first floor? Another familiar connection.

Yeah. I'm liking this. And she's only two hours away from me by car, now. I feel energized and happy! It's fun to get up in the mornings again!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You moved a tree! Whoo. Mighty.

Of course. Kara Zor-El, last daughter of Krypton, that's me! Landscaping a specialty. (especially when it's indoors.)

Strive for beauty... balance.

Working on it!

It must be cool to be in a house that's like one you used to know.

So glad you're feeling good about mornings.