Spring Housecleaning Begins

  Mom was big on spring housecleaning. Well, actually any house cleaning. And it's something she won't let me forget, even though she's been gone for nearly five years.

 In the evening when Tom and I are watching TV, I'm often looking at the curtains and thinking how  dingy they're  becoming. I have to admit it's been two years since I washed and ironed them and in  the years we've lived here (now 35) I don't remember Mom ever going more than a single year.

 Of course when she was alive she helped. I'd wash the windows and  she'd wash and iron  the curtains. It was an important division of labor because we were both doing what we did best.

 When she died, I had my sister-in-law  join me to do the ironing. But I could see that that wasn't necessary. I could certainly iron well  enough, couldn't it? And so several years ago I tried and found the job I did - while not to mom's or Nancy's standards - wasn't that bad and was certainly presentable. It would have to do.

 I've been  thinking about getting started on my spring housecleaning and the windows were at the top of my list. So, before lunch I  started a load of white wash and I added a good quality laundry detergent, a water softener and a cup of bleach. After they all mixed I stopped the machine and let the load soak for two hours while I fixed lunch, ate it and then did dishes.

 Ironing, I feared, was always going to be my weak point. But I've found I can do it reasonably well. I iron each panel one at a time and leave the others in the dryer tumbling. I then take the completed panel into the bed and lay it out uniformly with the others, sandwiching them one atop  the next.

 Eventually I have the entire stack waiting to reinsert the rods.

 I have always confused which side goes in, which goes out. But I think I've got it now. In any case, on the two windows all four panels are hung the same. With my tremor it takes a bit of cussing but I eventually manage to get them all back up, all turned the same way.

 And so the spring housecleaning is underway for another year.

 Does the curtain look white? Is it hung well? I can just hear Miss Mary telling to move that ruffle a little bit to make it more even. She was eventually satisfied - but it didn't come easy. For either of us.