Some serious satire,,,

Keeping house is not to be confused with housekeeping. At our age we keep house and leave the housekeeping to people, much better equipped for the job than we are. Let’s face it, we are not as strong as we used to be and scrubbing toilets or baseboards is well beyond our capabilities. Scrubbing anything other than our teeth we now mainly leave to the young that are so much more willing and able.

Willing may be somewhat of an overstatement, and come to think of it, so is able. We searched long and hard to find the right people and practically had given up. According to my darling Lea, my spouse for close to a hundred years, our house was getting filthy, and our yard overgrown with every kind, variety and species of weed that the fertile soils of Georgia are willing to nourish. In my previous post I wrote about the fabulous trees we have so many of, and how their young at times attempt to infiltrate our home. Well, that’s nothing compared to the nuisance  offered by the weeds. .

Enough of that and back to the help we need for our house and yard keeping. I used to mow the lawn and weed the yard myself. I still have a shed-full of mowers, trimmers, chainsaws, shovels, rakes and I even own a couple of axes for chopping firewood. Me swinging an ax? I can barely swing my own you-know-what.

Housekeepers, we tried several. I remember one who charged only $20 an hour, but spent hours and hours chatting and telling us about her life, her husbands, her kids, her grandkids and her soon to arrive great grant kid. If I remember correctly, she had seven children, seventeen grandchildren and was only 56 years old: buxom, strong as an ox, but not a very good housekeeper, and as she put it herself, neither she nor her kids believed in birth control, as that’s not what the Lord intended.

                                  

One day you will inherit it all, my darling….

We tried several and just recently our luck turned. It started with this young man who showed up out of the blue and offered to mow our lawn and kill our weeds. Not very experienced but willing and he went after it with gusto. Mowing and trimming and killing our weeds with an enthusiasm that could only be admired. Monsanto must love guys like that. Why shovel and hoe, if you can get much “better” results with a couple of ounces of weed killer from a nice bottle. 

George is still taking care of our lawn and also referred us and our housekeeping needs to friends of his. A middle aged couple who work as a team and do all sorts of repairs apart from keeping our house clean and proper. The man is an absolute marvel at doing all types of repairs, including plumbing and electric as well as woodwork and roofing. 

So, we are a happy couple of old farts again. Our floors are so clean we could and sometimes do eat off them. Saves dish washing… Satire?

                    Even a young(er) guy and his dogs deserve a break now and then…

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