Spring cleaning

Hi neighbors. It is finally starting to feel like spring! I've seen crocus in bloom and the brave little dandelions are popping up all over. It was this proclivity to bloom early that inspired early immigrants to bring dandelions with them. Once in the New World they made themselves at home.

The leaves, before the flowers bloom, are said to be good as a "green" for salads. The bright yellow blooms themselves are useful too. Dye can be made from their color and I think they are edible. (Don't take my word on this. Ask a professional gardener.)

I've read that even the roots were once dried, ground and used to make a beverage similar to coffee.

I can understand after a long winter with no green leafy vegetables any edible leafy plant would be mighty inviting.

My grandmother used to take me for walks in the pasture and point out lambs quarter, poke, wild onions and garlic and other wild plants that were safe to eat. I have to admit I don't remember enough about any of them now to feel safe picking them for consumption. We have the ability to buy fresh salads in the supermarkets these days and most of us have lost our "grazing" skills.

Many things come to mind in the spring. For me, the biggest thing on my mind is always spring cleaning.

I have a new saying I plan on living by for a while. It is "simplicity leads to harmony" and I will implement that with throwing out everything I don't need. I may need a bigger trash container.

As far as I'm concerned if it works, keep it. If it doesn't work, and you can't recycle it in some way, toss it out. I'm all for donating things to others; but most things I buy I need.

I've never been one to buy something just because it is the new thing. If I have one of whatever it is; and it still works, I won't buy a new one just to have a new one.

I'm one of those people who, if I ever bought a portable phone, would still be carrying one of those from the '80s that were the size of a boot.

Back to spring cleaning plans. Since I'm now considered a "senior" I no longer have any guilty feelings associated with getting my adult children to do my dirty work.

One weekend (or two) I will invite them all to come to my house for a spring cleaning party. Maybe I'll make a game of it and let them draw cards out of a hat listing various chores.

Let's see, what needs doing: window washing, carpet cleaning, cabinet cleanouts, closet sorting, checking and cleaning out the roof drain spouts, trimming bushes and trees, washing off the porches, moving out and cleaning the BBQ pits, fixing the leaky roof on the storage shed (tree fallout) and moving furniture around in practically every room in the house.

Well, that ought to keep them busy for a while. When they are too exhausted to move, I'll fix them a nice meal and force them to hear genealogy stories till their eyes cross.

My granddaughter, at least, enjoys my stories of the old times and the old folks. Mostly she loves the old photos. "Why are they all only black and white, Grandma? Why don't you have any color pictures of great-great grandpa?"

"Because our family was too poor to pay a portrait painter to paint them and because no one in our family could sit still long enough to get painted."

Then I'll take down the old Brownie camera and the negatives from the old pictures and explain that whole process.

I figure by the time everyone hears all about old cameras, old people and old places they will have finished eating and be more than eager to get back to work.

Until the next time, friends, remember, family is a wonderful asset: don't be afraid to use them.