Spring Cleaning, Spring Cleansing

Tis the season – to be throwing open the windows and doors to our little farmhouse, welcoming in that warm air (warm!) and dusting off our Wintery cave ready for the longer brighter days. Throughout the cold months our home is a cosy and warm nest, and although I do love the fire, come about September I am completely over the dust and ash that comes along with it. As we’re emerging from our Winter hibernation thoughts turn to filling our home with the scent of Spring blooms rather than wood chips and pine needles. My eyes start to wander to the cobwebs, the dust, the grimy windows and the muddy paw prints on the back door. Spring cleaning is on my mind.

Our domestic duties are very much shared in this household, shared but very much sustained by my complete neat freak husband. He is borderline OCD when it comes to cleanliness, not that I’m complaining, but I’ll give the house a once over clean…two days later he’ll be remarking on what a sty we live in. Hmph. Yesterday he did no less than six loads of washing, two sets of sheets, towels, nappies, he’s the washing man! Of course there’s the regular once-a-week cleaning routine, but this time of year I start compiling a bit of a list of cleaning and cleansing jobs I’d like to complete (y’know in all my spare time in between feeding Eleanor, playing with Eleanor, putting Eleanor to sleep, washing Eleanor’s clothes/nappies/bedding, cooking something of substance for us, oh and working somewhere in there, blogging, sewing for Little Miss Emma…gah!) Seasonal cleaning jobs like window cleaning, wiping down our doors and skirting boards, maybe pressure washing the weatherboards of our little house, sorting through wardrobes, cleaning out gutters…all those jobs are popping up everywhere I look.

Our back porch is my main concern, always is. It’s the main entrance to our home (despite having a front door which nobody but Jehovah’s Witnesses use) and as such is always cluttered with shoes and boots, Winter coats, the wheelbarrow full of wood in Winter, gardening tools, dog food/bowls/bones/beds. The dogs lean against the back door (or rather, slam against it when they hit the brakes too late!) in all their muddy splendor, my beloved white doors are splashed with Thorpdale red mud constantly, yes Matt just as you tried to tell me when I wanted white doors. It’s top of my Spring cleaning list, a deep cleanse of the back porch. I’ve also been giving all our worldly possessions a deep cleanse – sorting through all the stuff, listing on eBay or local buy swap sell Facebook sites, filling bags for the op shop. This little farmhouse has zero storage, no wardrobes, no pantry, no linen press, and a growing family means I’m being ruthless with The Stuff. If it’s not useful, needed, desperately wanted…it’s gone. Simple. Spring cleaning, spring cleansing.

I find once the warmer air and longer brighter days emerge, so too does a bit of motivation and inspiration to feather my nest once again. Birds are zooming about our garden, bees are buzzing in our lavender, there’s general busy-ness in the air, and I think it’s contagious. The change of seasons definitely means a change in my mindset.

Are you a Spring cleaner?
Got an ever growing list of seasonal chores?
Want to borrow my OCD husband?