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Sunday 14 September 2008

A-Z of Homemaking




I found this meme on Codlins and Cream, where it had arrived from allybea's blog. I always enjoy these little insights into other people's lives (I find it very hard not to look through windows as I'm passing houses – at the very least I content myself with a good stare at someone's garden), so I thought it would fit here, though I don't think I would ever have described myself as "homemaker". "Slut" would be more to the point!

If you decide to have a go, do please leave a comment and a link here.

A ~Aprons--y/n If y, what does your favourite look like? If I can find it, red and white stripes; more often these days it's a teatowel tucked into my waistband.

B ~ Baking--Favourite thing to bake? Puddings, although we don't eat them very often, maybe once a month. The thing I make most often is apple crumble, both at home and at my parents' house – my stepfather loves puddings, but the range is limited because he is diabetic. Oh, and I love making soufflĂ©, it's just so satisfying to take it out of the oven all golden and risen.

C ~ Clothes line? No, it's usually too windy. I hang things over the fence on good days.

D ~ Donuts--Have you ever made them? Once, and they weren't bad, but I resent using all that fat once only, so I haven't made them again.

E ~ Everyday--One homemaking thing you do everyday? Bleah, washing up. My husband cooks, so I have to do the clearing up after a meal, it's only fair. Oddly, if I cook, I still get to wash up.

F ~ Freezer--Do you have a separate deep freeze? Just a fridge-freezer, and it's always so full I can't get anywhere near it, which is a pity, because I make passable ice-cream.

G ~ Garbage Disposer? Yes, 5 chickens, 2 dogs and a compost heap. Oh, and a bin full of reluctant worms.

H ~ Handbook--What is your favourite homemaking resource? That depends. I have various favourites among my cookery books – Mary Berry's Fast Cakes is one of the most frequently used, and there are several books of farmhouse cooking I like very much. Best of all, I think, is a gardening book: Creative Vegetable Gardening by Joy Larkcom. It has beautiful pictures and she's an inspiration.

I ~ Ironing--Love it or Hate it? Or hate it but love the results? Hate it, don't do it, except for absolute necessity, i.e. for work.

J ~ Junk Drawer--y/n? Where is it? Junk everywhere. I'm quite tidy, my husband categorically not

K ~ Kitchen--colour and decorating scheme. Our kitchen is tiny, and open-plan with the living-room, so it's cream walls to match. Which reminds me that I never finished painting the cupboards. I'll get round to it one day.

L ~ Love--what is your favourite part of homemaking? Cleaning out the chickens! Obviously, I prefer it in good weather, but they are so appreciative, and sing delightful little crooning songs to me while I do it. I used to like making butter, but I don't do that any more because we can't get farm milk.

M ~ Mop--y/n? No, dog towel.

N ~ Nylons, machine or hand wash? Only wear them when I'm in the office, so they mostly get handwashed in hotel rooms.

O ~ Oven--do you use the window or open the oven to check? Using the window would mean cleaning it first.

P ~ Pizza--What do you put on yours? Tomato, basil and mozzarella.

Q ~ Quiet--What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Usually, read, or if it's warm I take the dogs to the other end of the paddock and just sit quietly.

R ~ Recipe Card Box--y/n? What does it look like? Yes, my card index box has been on the go for over 30 years, though these days it is supplemented by a file on the computer. My sons and I share recipes with each other, so if one of us can't find something it just takes an email.

S ~Style of house--What style is your house? It's a farm cottage and much too small for 3 adults, but I would rather put up with lack of space than move because I love where it is. We did some refurbishing a couple of years ago, and there is still work to do, but it causes so much upheaval (my husband has chronic fatigue and finds the process very stressful and tiring) that we can't face finishing it, so we live in a degree of chaos that I can't quite cope with. Ho hum.

T ~ Tablecloths or Placemats? Tablecloth.

U ~ Under the kitchen sink--organized or toxic wasteland? Tottering piles of baking tins and trays, but sort of organised.

V ~ Vacuum--How many times per week? Not often enough. Senior Dog sheds constantly and I sometimes wonder if the dust clumps won't spontaneously transmute into a third dog.

W ~ Wash--How many loads of laundry do you do per week? At least one a day.
X's--Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off? No, but if there is anything urgent I have to leave myself a reminder. List-making is reserved for work.

Y ~ Yard--y/n? Who does what? Husband does the grass-cutting and hedge-trimming and has sole access to the garden shed, so obviously he's "in charge". This extends to the pruning because he thinks I don't cut things back hard enough, so he always does it when I'm not here and can't protest (come to think of it, that's true of anything he thinks I won't like). I do the vegetable garden, with help from both sons, and all the fiddly stuff – sowing seeds, potting on, planting out and so on.

ZZZ's--what is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed? In summer, letting the dogs out and shutting up the chickens. In winter the chickens can be shut up much earlier, so it's just the dogs.

10 comments:

Nan said...

Gosh, I loved this! I'll go back and read it slower, and maybe join in myself. I learned a lot of delightful things about you!

Jodie Robson said...

Nan, I think you just learned what a dreadful, idle person I am - I got more and more appalled by how dreadful I sounded, but by that time I had decided I was going to go ahead and post it anyway!

Susan Moorhead said...

Okay, not to be a dolt (but I guess I am one when it comes to blogging know-how)but how do you play? What exactly is a meme? Is it different than a "tag" (and I am not entirely sure what a tag actually is or how that works either).
Also curious - how does everyone figure this stuff out?

Jodie Robson said...

Susan, a meme is just something that gets passed around, really - pass the parcel for bloggers (do you play that in Canada?) A tag is also like the game - you can pass the meme on by tagging someone else just as if you'd caught them and now they are "it"...? That's how I interpret it anyway. I don't mind being tagged but don't like tagging other people, because a) I don't like asking people to do things and b) I'm usually at the end of the list anyway, by the time it gets to me everyone else has done it! So I usually just pick up on memes I like, and lots of people don't tag but say "join in if you'd like to".

How do people figure it out - not always successfully, and I should have explained this one better in my post, so mea culpa, but here goes: just copy the A-Z questions and provide your own answers (if you'd like to!)

Susan Moorhead said...

Thanks! I have seen "memes" before but never quite knew what it all meant or how to play :)
They remind me of questionnaires my high school girlfriends and I used to write up and pass around which were always great silly fun.

Marianna said...

Love this meme! I did it...here is the link:

http://cardinalacre.blogspot.com/2008/09/homemaking-z.html

Anonymous said...

Aha. Now I know a bit more about you. We have organised chaos here too - which is all very well until we get unexpected visitors and then you see me panic!

Jodie Robson said...

Thanks for visiting, Marianna!

Jennie, we don't get visitors very often, which is just as well. But at least we got the kitchen light fixed today, which means I can see to wash up again.

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

I loved this one and may have to do it too. I might even pass it on to the blogging circle I belong to (www.purple.dreamhosters.com have a look, a slow look is best).

Jodie Robson said...

Oh do, Elizabeth - it was fun.