Random Thoughts on Housekeeping

Everything begins to feel a bit derelict when it is as dry as it is here now. The goats have done their best with the hillside here and seem to have left for other, probably not any greener pastures. The lake, however, is getting greener again after some kind of herbicide treatment banished it for awhile.

This old water tank looks pretty derelict, but is still in use by the small water district which contains Spike's trail. I'm not sure what is actually done with the water, but I could hear the pump working as we walked by.
Apparently Spike could too as he was interested in investigating.

I gave brief thought to dusting this morning , but then decided that the solution to dusting when one lives in a construction zone is to buy lighter colored furniture, and maybe some curtains which can be closed when the morning sun shines through the windows highlighting not only the dust on every surface within its rays, but even the myriad motes hovering in the air. We've taken to sitting on the porch with our morning coffee and the newspaper which also solves the problem. Dusting with the sleeve of my shirt as I pass particularly visible bits yields little satisfaction, just a very dirty sleeve....

I put sweeping into just about the same category, as dusting, especially as sometimes it feels as if I'm just raising more dust. John is willing to vacuum, but his approach is a multi day affair with the vacuum cleaner left in the middle of the room and the furniture in disarray between rounds. 

I am, however, quite compulsive about keeping dishes washed and out of sight since our kitchen is basically in the living room. And I don't know when I started making the bed as I got out of it...certainly for as long as I can remember, which isn't saying much these days....

Another problem, somewhat unique problem are the nose marks at spike level on every one of the four glass doors to the outside and several of the tight corners that must be negotiated by a blind dog following his nose.

I have no control over what happens in the garden. John has been obsessing for days about digging holes with gopher baskets for plants we have yet to purchase. Digging holes involves numerous tools including a digging iron,  several buckets, numerous shovels of various sizes and possibly a ladder. These too are left out for as long as the project takes...generally a multi-day affair interspersed with naps and puzzle breaks. Once the plants are planted, there will be another round of irrigation installation with its collection of specialized tools. These are kept quite tidily in a bright red bag.

We each have our blind spots, our compulsions and our notions of how things should be done. The criteria for the division of labor in this household lies uneasily somewhere in between....