Spring Cleaning

I know it is November, but that’s when we spring clean around here. The week before Thanksgiving I usually turn into a house cleaning machine. We do it all – Swiffer the walls, wipe down all the woodwork (and there is a lot in this house), wash floors (by hand), wash windows, wash curtains and the list goes on. Why do I do this? Because I host Thanksgiving for my family and that alone is the perfect motivation to make this house spotless . . . because it never shines like this any other time of the year.

So we began the process today.

Ironically, My Farmer usually begins his “spring” cleaning about the time I do mine, unless of course they are still harvesting.

You might wonder what a farmer has to clean. Livestock farmers clean pens for the health and well-being of the animals they raise. Grain farmers clean tractors and equipment to ward off rust, dust and other unwelcome causes of performance failure. In general, farmers keep farmsteads well-groomed and easy on the eye. When you have pride and feel good about your work and your life, it serves as motivation to keep things clean.

My Farmer’s cleaning list goes like this: Clean sheds, even the ones that are used for nothing more than storage and reorganize the stacks of stuff inside. Clean the grain storage facilities, wiping down the counter and computer station in the power room, sweeping the concrete around the bins (as in outside exposed to the elements, no one would see but him), and empting and washing the grain dryer (thankfully today it hit 60, because sometimes the washing happens when the temp falls below zero). Grade the driveways to smooth out the tracks of all the semi-trucks and trailers that rolled in and out during the year. The list goes on, and on, and on.

I shouldn’t tease. I am proud of my type A, first born, perfectionist farmer. He loves what he does, and takes pride in our farm, which he shows when his spring cleaning routine becomes crazier than mine.

Read more 30 Day blogs starting with My Generation. And follow more of my 30 Days of the Not So Glamorous Life of this Farm Wife: