Sunday, July 31, 2011

keeping house 1945-style

We spent the past month at our cottage in northern Michigan. (My daughter Katie insists it's a cabin; only bright, cheery places at the beach are called cottages. To me, a cabin has little more than cots and a screen door and we have more than that. Ha!)

Anyway. Built in 1945, the cottage has undergone very few changes. Some might describe living here as indoor camping. No microwave, air conditioning, or washing machine. We do without a disposer and TV, too.

The fridge is at least 50 years old and still hums along. Katie, Jenny and Jill say it's "so cute." It would be cuter if I didn't have to defrost it!


Running the kitchen with this fridge isn't so bad with just two or three of us, but if there's a crowd to feed, it becomes more challenging, as you might imagine. I got by with just one defrosting this month. I remember my mother having to defrost our fridge in the 1960s and it wasn't a pretty sight.


Now for laundry. About once a week, we run to the laundromat in town. But if I'm down to a last pair of underwear, my old Girl Scout camp skills kick in. Bucket (metal wash pan), soap, water and clothesline. It's a good life skill and humbling, too: washing out your underwear by hand.


Dishwashing really isn't a big deal. When I consider loading, running, and unloading a dishwasher, I'm not sure much time is saved: we get it done in a jiffy in our ceramic sink and dish pan.


It isn't the Hilton. But then it's so much more. The call of loons every morning. God's power in a storm bearing down in the night as we rush to close windows, rain spraying our faces. Wind softly rustling the pine and birches. Time to read, pray, talk together, and just come away from the mindless noise and distractions of everyday life.

4 comments:

Donna Boucher said...

That's roughing it. Sounds like camping with more solid walls.

But. The fridge. I want!

Barb said...

Ha ha - you'll have to get in line behind my daughter and daughters-in-love, Donna! I actually found a company (in Arizona!) that outfits old fridges with new compressors, so they look old, but work like new.

-d said...

The cabin/cottage looks dreamy. And as a tent camper, doesn't look so much like roughing it to me. It seems very inviting and charming. And best of all, you can call it your own.

Kathleen said...

Your blog brought back memories of my Girl Scout trick for laundry. Turn your undies inside out and wear them another day! I think that earned us the Most Disgusting badge :)