On Living the Fantasy in a Basket:

For a long time now Lady Deathwatch has been living a fantasy life of living with a dragon here at Dragon’s Breath Manor. This in no way refers to sex or any other parts of loving goodness that do reside in the lady’s world. No, this is a fantasy of cleanness. Or more specifically dust eradication.

Back in the days of my pre cancer world I dusted more often. And in the back of my mind I started to think of the woodstove that continually belched dust into my house as the dragon I lived with. I can dust today and in a few days it will look like I haven’t dusted for over a month.



















This is not an idle exaggerated statement to get your attention. Within a week you can literally write in the dust on my furniture. And when I haven’t dusted in a few weeks it can hang from the ceiling and try to strangle you as you walk through the rooms. (I have to say I didn’t mind the haunted way my house looked with all the cobwebs hanging about, but really, some cleanliness must be maintained.)

After I got cancer my priorities changed. I was tired of working for the dragon, feeding him wood, twigs and even the bones left over from the animals and fowl Mountain Man eats, only to have him belch out dust and smoke at me and my home. And I was very tired of the cleaning of all the dust my dragon leaves behind.

But once a month or so in the winter months when the house is closed up and the dragon heats the house almost continually, I have to take the dust in hand or the cobwebs will start to fall and choke the life out of whoever inhales them.

So, on Ceiling Dusting Day I become the dragon’s lowly hand maiden once again as I remove all the baskets from the beams and rinse them off in the bathtub. Once they are down I take my ceiling sweeping broom (Yes there is a broom just for the job.) and clear the cobwebs from the rooms. The baskets are then hung, but not to closely, by the dragon to dry and be returned to their perches.













The mud in the bottom of the tub would astound you by the time I am done. (There are 72 baskets in the kitchen/family room area alone.) While the baskets are down I take my ceiling sweeping broom (Yes, there is a broom just for the job.) and clear the cobwebs from the rooms.





















Today is such a day. In the end we will be breathing cleaner air but for now I’ll be wearing a kerchief over my face until the job is done.

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Reminder: The Thankfulness Tea Party is on this coming Sunday, only a few days away. I hope you can join me in being thankful for the good things in your life and have a fun time doing it.