Chores and modern living--

Monday again? 

And it's going to be a shorter work week, due to the observance of Veterans' Day. I'm good with that; I have some more complicated autumn tasks to get done, and a free day added to the weekend is just what I need to get to them. I'll wash a few windows (inside only), take down the lighter curtains, then hang the heavy thermal curtains. Say g'bye to daylight. I can push them aside, but they don't do their job well unless they are snugged up. Mid-afternoons, when the sun is coming into the living room windows, I usually do gift myself some natural light. It's necessary.

I'm tossing around the idea of putting the solar blinking snowflakes out, too, but it just feels too soon. We'll see. I hate doing it when the ground is fully frozen, and it's painfully cold outside to do frivolous things. 

And I hope to see the dishwasher repair man! He's booked up solid, but may have time this week to come assess the situation. I hope it's just a fix, but if it's a new unit we need, then I may have to suck it up. Dishes have become a major operation around here, since pans do not fit in my shallow little kitchen sink easily. It's a huge mess, no matter how I try to keep it contained. My mental health may well depend on getting a new dishwasher, if it comes to that. 

I grew up without a dishwasher-- I used to joke that I had two: my left one and my right one. I never had one in our apartments, all 28 years (in total) we were in there. But then we bought this house, and there was one... and I had to be convinced to use it. Ok, I'm convinced. Mainly, the shallow sink is a really convincing situation. The sink at our old apartment was an  enamel-covered, deep sink from years back. I could fit anything in it! And did! I miss that. 

I feel almost ashamed at how much I have grown accustomed to modern conveniences. My parents were "back to nature" types, at least until both my sister and I moved on. We did not have a dryer--again, it was me, hanging laundry on all sorts of racks all over the living room, almost daily. I learned to cook on a cast iron cook stove. (That's a story for another day.) My mother canned vegetables, and so on... modern living was a little bit of a culture shock for me. My first experience with a microwave was at college, in the common room. I was amazed. 

The skills I learned by doing just about everything from scratch or by hand have served me well, but I really do appreciate running water, a furnace that backs up the pellet stove at the touch of a finger, and lights that come on with a flick of my hand. Doing homework by kerosene lantern was a trial, lemme tell ya. But I can, and do, survive pretty well without those things, if called to do so. I can cook, sew, and generally keep body and soul together quite easily. 

But I don't want to struggle every single day, if I can do otherwise. Homesteading is not for aging folks, and let's be honest, like it or not, some things just take more effort than I can afford, most days. I'm not about to be part of the heat and eat crowd, I will cook and so on, but if I can have a little mechanical help to get things done, I am not saying no.

Have a good day, stay warm, and enjoy any sunshine we get!

C