Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Bin Love


I've blogged before about how I am not the most efficient cleaner in the world and that sometimes Mr FF just grabs all the cleaning stuff and does a blitz around the house. I keep things tidy, after all I'm not a slobby type - it's just that I don't clean in the little corners of things that I have trouble reaching or the top of picture frames. A sunny day will always make me think about cleaning the windows, but why does it have to be so often? Why don't they stay clean for longer? Well, one of the reasons that our balcony doors are smeared all the time are those pesky greedy little flying scavengers blue tits. They are so used to the fat balls being laid out for them that if I miss a day they decide to remind me by hopping up and down against the balcony doors.

Now we've established that I am quite slow in maintaining due orderliness and sparkality, what possessed me to buy a new kitchen bin that has to be cleaned every time I put something into it. It's only the pushy stainless steel bit that has to be cleaned but it does smear each and every time I actually put something against it. It now has its own dedicated cleaning cloth hanging on the door handle beside it. In fact each time I use it - about ten times daily I reckon - I feel like one of those fifties housewives, always seen with a feather duster in their hand, only mine is an e-cloth because I'm a millenium home manager.

36 comments:

Henry the Dog said...

Well, my mum's an obsessive tidier, but not keen on cleaning either. She loves clear surfaces but like you she can't seem to find her way into those corners. She ends up blasting the place every month or so 'cause Uncle Hugh is bloody useless and he is the messiest guy you're ever going to come across. His bathroom and dressing room looks like the proverbial bomb has hit it and his desk is always covered in loads and loads of papers. He kind of leaves a trail of himself as he goes through the house. I'm going on aren't I???? Guess I've missed blogging xx

Carol said...

Honey.....Only dull women have immaculate homes :-).

C x

Anonymous said...

Oh - Carol and Chris - I love you! I must be very very exciting!

Those swing bins are useless - my sister has one in the Uk and the rubbish just ends up swinging on the metallic push thingy.

Talking of housewives from the fifties - you must have been reading my mind, or my post before I actually published it...

Blu said...

Now if you had only cut up that linen shirt to use as a cloth you would have had something nice to hold everytime a wipe is required.

tee hee hee.

Blu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Good Morning from Chicago! I hopped over from Blu's blog. Have a wonderful day!

A Woman Of No Importance said...

I'm so with Carol and Chris, and with Henri, as ever!

I coveted one of those kind of Fifties' bins with a stainless steel top for my kitchen that will be, but thinking I am going to have to clean it each and every time I go near it is sooo not me!

I use those e-cloths too, whenever the fancy (French or otherwise!) takes me to dust - Which, I have to admit, is rare!!!

A Super Dilettante said...

I quite like cleaning. I find it quite therapeutic and catharsis. One thing that I can't control is the messy bookshelves. Books, art newspapers and more books are everywhere. I think oderly clutter is acceptabtle. Quintin Crisp once said, "After four years you don't notice the dust."

A Super Dilettante said...

Oops, correction in spelling -Quentin not Quintin!

French Fancy... said...

Henry - I think your ma and I must have been separated at birth. It's very good to see you back here.You go on as much as you want - then I won't feel so bad the way that I do waffle on when I leave comments everywhere

Carol - I liked that, very much. No doggy household could ever be immaculate really - although the bichons don't shed, they are what is known as hypo-allergenic dogs (so I can't even blame them)

Ladyfi - it's not a swing bin as such, there is very strong spring in the PUSH bit but you need to make contact with it (der) and it leaves fingermarks or rubbish detritus. Oh well, I bought it for the colour really.

Blu - if only indeed - well remembered. My e-cloth is a nice shade of blue as well though - I always try and get blue things - in honour of your name.

Megryansmum - hello and welcome. Hope it's not too windy (sorry, bad joke)

AWONI - if I'd realised I was going to have to polish it so many times a day I probably would not have bought it. e-cloths are brilliant, especially for window cleaning (which I've just done - blast that sun)

ASD - now I'm different from you - I like the books to all be on their place on the shelves, not lying all over the house. I fight a losing battle though.

French Fancy... said...

What on earth is up with Blogger? that's two days in a row now posting comments on blogs is proving to be almost impossible

Rosaria Williams said...

I will tell you a secret of American households. We have built-in drawers that contain plastic bins with plastic disposables. They open up for disposal, they close to contain the clutter and the mess. At the end of the day, or whenever, the maid comes in and disposes.

Of course, this maid worries about fingerprints and small grit on the drawer pulls. Bummer!

I want to thank you again for nominating me for that lovely award I now display so proudly. I am still in shock.

Lulu LaBonne said...

I do a scruffy version of Lakeviewer's solution, a cupboard door hides the festering bin-lined box where I throw my rubbish.

Jennysmith said...

Hi sweetie.

No, we got a posh bin last year for xmas (From the out-laws), shiny steel and everything. Well, the bloody thing looks like Steptoe's yard now but it started off shining and immaculate. You soon get tired of it. Sod the thing! xxxxx

Cynthia Pittmann said...

Mrs. FF...absolutely agree about the relaxed home front domestic management! What a wonderful hubby who deals with the cleaning details. I suggest you cover the shinny steal push door with a pretty contact paper. Then you wouldn't have to clean it quite so often. Of course, that changes the look of your lovely stainless steel trash can...hum...but it is 'stealing' your time...you decide. Bravo for the fat ball (?) server...what is that? You should be a happy bird, too. <3

Steve said...

I used to be almost obsessive-compulsive about cleaning... and then I had me a young nipper. Now his greasy fingertips and his half chewed bits of bread crust liberally littered about the house make me smile. Almost. If only I could control this damn twitching...

claire p said...

Housework? Saying that I did a blitz yesterday, should do for three months or so! My excuse is that I'm short sighted so don't see cobwebs, or dust, or fluff....

Anonymous said...

Thank you for visiting my blog since I took it away from my mom. I will have a link to your site on my blog Friday when I get to answer all the nice people who wrote to me. Dah BICHON Lucky!

Deb said...

Hi ~ You and I are cleaning twins. I keep my house mostly picked up and organized but I don't get in the corners or the tops of the cabinets and that is where my husband comes in. He took our entire stove top apart today - including taking knobs off...and now I am scared to cook on it. Hope the pasta sauce doesn't splatter!

French Fancy... said...

lakeviewer - your comment had the most magical word I've seen this year - *maid*. Oh I would so love a maid. I think I could get those sort of drawers here but I do love my blue bin - the photo is of our kitchen - I put the bin on the table to get a better angle

Lulu - we used to have the bin behind the cupboard door system - then we got dogs. Now we need a dog-proof bin - and it is such a lovely shade of blue.

Jenny - I still have my blue bin love- although I don't like my distorted image in the PUSH bit - it's like that fish-eye look (or maybe that's just my fish eyes)

Cynthia - that's a very good idea about covering the PUSH bit - I might even have some metallic blue drawer liner left from when Mr FF sorted out all our kitchen cupboards.

Fat balls are those little balls one hangs out for the birds during the winter. they contain seeds, nuts and lard/oil (hence the 'fat' reference)

Steve - it sounds very cute now but when he is 14 and leaving his half-chewed sarnies about the place - yes, I'm sure you'll smile.

clairep - yes, myopia is an advantage really. How are the guppies?

Dana - how nice to see you here. Bichons are the best.

Deb - but pasta sauce always splatters. That is the rule. No matter how little the bubbles are bubbling there is at least five that pop out and make their mark. I actually have a little burn mark some 7 months later - from a stray splatter. Your OH sounds just like mine.

Phil Lowe said...

OMG! I haven't cleaned the top of my picture frames. Thanks for reminding me (goes off to get feather duster and pinny and puts on hits from the 50's music to clean by). Ah, I feel much better now. where's the beer?

Helene said...

lol
This is my first time visiting and I am sitting here thinking that it must be a good blog if you can post about a bin can and make it funny! lol

I love the can, and I think that subconsciously you were probably trying to make your cleaning more enjoyable when you bought it. Something pretty to dump all the used paper towels into! lol

You could always take the top off it when you get sick of cleaning it... (of course putting it back on when guests come over lol)

Cheers!

Troy said...

I like the idea that the bin has "PUSH" written on the lid so that you don't have to get the manual out everytime to operate it.

Perhaps your french neighbours will think that the word "PUSH" means clean(after each use).

nikkicrumpet said...

YIKES....I obviously am an American who firstly doesn't understand all the Jargon over there...and secondly has a very warped sense of humor....because I got stuck on the blue tits and fat balls and couldn't stop laughing. I hate to admit it though...it advertises how crass I am...but I'm still giggling.

Ian Lidster said...

But blue tits are so cute. I remember them fondly from my time living in England. Of course, they'll also drink your milk if you don't get your pinta in on time.

cheshire wife said...

We have a satin effect stainless steel bin that does not really show the dirt or maybe I am becoming short sighted.

Mrs Pouncer said...

You seem to be ludicrously understaffed. Instead of wasting your precious time in thankless drudgery, why not find some minimum-wage type to take it on for you? Good heavens, it's not rocket science! I haven't handled a panscrub since 1979, and have no notion of what antibacterial surface-cleaner looks like.

Tess Kincaid said...

I keep things tidy, too, but I'm pretty laid back about scrubbing in the corners. But with an old house, you can scrub those corners and they still look dirty. So, what's the point?

French Fancy... said...

Phil- you must do the white glove test along the top of the pictures - a la Anthea Turner. I do have quite a few pairs of gloves but none of them white, I am pleased to say.

Helene - hello there and welcome. I think your theory is quite an accurate one - I also love the colour blue and it goes very well with the kitchen tiles - as I think my photo shows (although I always wobble a bit with the camera)

Troy - that did make me laugh - I do love it when things sold over here have a prominent word in English. I mean *Poussez* wouldn't have looked half as good on the bin.

nikki - yes, I guess blue tits and fat balls are a bit absurd.

Ian - ours are French blue tits - and I don't know what they are called here. I don't think anyone has their milk delivered here - I've not seen any bottles of milk on doorsteps.

cheshire wife - It is so seldom one sees something bright blue and modern looking at our local bricolage that I just grabbed it. Cleaning consideration did not even enter my mind. I'm getting quite used to it now - push and clean, push and clean

Mrs P - my neighbours already think I'm 'quite unusual' - my man is younger than me, my dogs have their own car seat to enable them to see out and getting 'home help' would just confirm to them that I am indeed a Russian princess in exile.

willow - I know exactly what you mean, but your dirt is probably very charming.

2:21 PM

Rob-bear said...

I've just wandered in, and into a difficult situation. Behold, Dana and nikkicrumpet arrived before me. «C'est la vie.»

My first thought is, «Quelle domage» (as in, "what a pity"). It is yet another example of style over substance.

They (whoever "they" are) say that cleanliness is next to godliness. Out here, in the hinterland of one of the (English) colonies, cleanliness is next to impossible.

You'll get no sympathy from this bear (who hibernates in a dirty old cave most years). Just be glad you have a house in which to store the grungy bin, and be thankful it's not a Bin Laden. (Otherwise, the Americans would be all over you!) Then, what would the neighbours think?

justme said...

Oh! Oh! Oh! Entirely on your reccomendation on a previous post, I purchased TWO E cloths this week! One for windows, and one for....other stuff! I am going to attempt to clean my windows.....something I have not done in a LONG time! So you may not think of yourself like this, but to me, YOU are a cleaning GURU!!!

justme said...

Grrr! Sorry for spelling bads! I really should check before hitting the keys...

Glennis said...

I like the sound of those pushy Blue Tits demanding food and leaving smears on your doors, made me smile, and I am sure it makes sure you don't miss a day with their food!
Pity about the kitchen tidy bin getting all messy, but it looks neat.

Reasons said...

I would have thought one of the perks of moving to France is that they are less fussy about immaculate cleanliness - go with it, life's too short!

French Fancy... said...

Rob - it's not a grungy bin - it's beautiful and blue and I like the shape in the corner and it's now the cleanest thing in the house with its own dedicated cloth.

justme - trust me

Glennis - those tits have had their come-uppance now. We cleaned the balcony yesterday and now no more food till the coming winter (it's now spring in my book)

Hello Reasons - my mum was one of those who thought that life was too short to clean. My dad used to go on about getting her a cleaner but she always refused. She preferred to read a book than dust and I grew up in a far from pristine house, even though she was very elegant herself. Consequently I do like a neat and tidy house.

laurie said...

whenever i clean, i think, there, i'm done! i will never have to clean again! and yet....

it's kind of like dieting. there, i didn't eat chocolate! now i can eat chocolate forever!

neither works.