A gladsome heart

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A glad heart makes a cheerful face,

But by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

Laundry day and I cleaned out the kitchen china cabinet where the dish cloths are kept. 

In the Waldorf tradition:

Monday is purple day...

Tuesday-red

Wednesday-yellow

Thursday-orange

Friday-green

Saturday-indigo

Sunday-white

This morning I hung the purple cloth over the the handle on the stove 

and replaced the white beeswax candle on the kitchen table with purple.

Mondays are also for cleaning the kitchen.

I clean the fridge - wipe everything down and take stock of whatever’s in there.

Wipe down the appliances
Change the tablecloth.
Dust off the hutch and make sure all the recyclables have been put to the curb.
Monday is trash day on our tiny, narrow street.
Put away all the little random things that didn’t find their way home over the weekend.

Kitchen’s make me happy. They fill my heart with gladness.
We very often have music going in the kitchen and my kitchen is for dancing.

It’s where I take care of my family.
It’s where I shine

~

I’m not a fan of window treatments. 

However, I do love the outdoors and the beautiful light, and the view of the harbour

and the old houses in the town where I live. 

I hung a pair of these pretty blue cotton dish cloths for curtains in the kitchen window.

They were just too pretty to use for wiping up spilled milk.

When my children were younger and there were 5 teenagers

My kitchen was a mess...almost every minute of every day....

Dishes overflowed in the sink, trash overflowed in the barrel, food wasn’t put away,

Cabinets and drawers were left open.

I would clean the kitchen, go downstairs to do some laundry,

And come back up to a messy kitchen.

And when I asked who made the mess....no one knew.

There were 5 of them and only 1 of me and my husband wasn’t much help.

I swear I cried every day.

Then one day when I was washing dishes

 I noticed that Mrs. Parker’s apple tree was blooming next door.

I came to the conclusion that I could clean the kitchen with gladness or with sorrow...

but either way I would have to clean the kitchen.

So I asked my husband buy me this sign and I planted pink petunias

in a window box in the kitchen window.

I splurged on flowery scented dish soap and while I washed

I counted my blessings.

I had a lot of dishes to wash back then and once I started counting

I realized I had just as many blessings.

My children never did help me with the dishes, at least not on a regular basis.

But they did move out and into their own houses

With their own sinks and their own dishes.

I have carried the sign through 4 moves since then

And hung it every kitchen. 

~

The coffee is on.

The birds are singing.

Early morning sunlight coming through the window.

And a joyful heart.

~ ~ ~

Make it pretty Monday

All about home

Celebrate your story

Grace at home

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