Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-06-11
Spring Work.

The cloud that responds to the touch Of
the broom when we sweep our carpets, the
growing dingiuess Of white window shades,
aud the general untidiness that oreeps over a
house in the early part of April, suggest that
the days Of trial to the souls of men and of
women are close at hand. So we begin to
hunt up the whitewash brushes, to study
recipes for ~kalsomining, to calculate the cost
Of wall paper and paint, to dream Of new
carpets and curtains, and to fancy how nice
the house will look when everything, some
time in May or june, gets into " apple-pie
order"
Somehow we have a fancy for taking this
particular industry of house-cleaning leisure
ly, and managing it in a peaceful sort of a
way SO that there may DO distributed along
with the inevitable disorder and upside
downed- mess a good many hours Of solid CON.
fort aud genuine self-complacence. When
closets and drawers are thoroughly over
hauled, all the old shoes and rags, dilapida.
ted hats and old -fashioned boGnets are gotten
out Of the way, and everything is in its APP
propriate place in these test places Of house,
wifely order and n%eatness, then we take a
iObH DlNoAh .ANsb unullO, IGhu u new
book, or make a fresh frock for the baby by
way of diversion, aud contemplate the next
raid upon the enemy. 1t will be the attic
and then the guest chamber. The walls
shall be carefully wiped down, the carpet
shaken, the bedding left outdoors in the sun
and air all day, the bedstead be busted and
carefully cleansed in every part, the curtains
washed, aud all things put back 10 place and
given the last touch Of nicely. There is one
room done, and we breath again. Some.
what fatigued we rest on our oars, and next
day take another room, and so on to the end,
going from the top down, from the front
back, and every day during the process hav-
ing a little time to sit quietly and rest, or
read or sew, having a place where the guide
man " can sit in the evening unmolested and
read the newspaper or think over his busi-
ness cares without a suggestion of house,
cleaning about him, while we cit and dream
of palaces fronting on golden streets, that
will never need cleansing, of white robes
ever innocent of smirch or stain, and of ever
lasting rest, or, what is better, incessant oc.
cupatien u~naccompanied by fatigue.
Gradually our foe is dislodged white
walls, clean paint, snowy curtains, polished
furniture, fresh carpets greet US as we pass
from room to room, and nothing remains but
the cellar, which we proceed to overhaul
thoroughly. Not a rotten potato or cabbage
leaf, not a sprouting turnlp or withered car
rot can be permitted to vitiate the air that
underlies the whole house and permeates
every apartment in it. When all is done in
that subterranean Enclosure, we give 1t, as a
parting beBediction, a coat Of lime-Wash
made yellow with copperas. This will
quench every foul odor, Danish rats and
mice, and dislOdge any possible typhoid that
may Turk there, waiting a favorable hour to
attack our vitals. We do not throw AWAY
what is left Of the whitewash far otherwise;
we save it for the sink-drain, and to use in
the hen-house to kill any odoriferous invita-.
ton to that pest, the house-hy, that may by
carelessness or chance infest the air around
the premises.
Now the jar of whiting and the bottle of
ammonia with which we cleaned paint are
set away for the nonce, we no longer save
cold tea to use on the granting; the step
ladder hangs unmolested In its corner, the
carpet-stretchsr takes a long stand in som
dark closet, the paint and varnish brushes
are nicely cleansed and carefully laid away,
the window cloths are rolled up and reserved
for future use, the Ay-nets are all in the win
dows and doors, and we are ready for the
flowers, the glories, and the visitors of mid
summer, aud as we look back over what has
been accomplished, we will rejoice in our la
Dor, for that is our portion under the sun.