HOW OFTEN DO YOU CLEAN???

How often do you move your refrigerator and stove to clean behind each? According to some article about how to take care of your house, you should move each one once a year. Hah!!!

In December, more or less stuck at home by the weather and having been annoyed by the greasy fingerprints on the cupboard doors for a very long time, I decided I’d give the kitchen a thorough clean. Let me tell you I did not accomplish what needed to be done in a single day. As a matter of fact, I still have one section of cupboards and the stove front to go.

I began with the east side of the kitchen. For some cupboards, I removed the contents, gave away what I knew I’d never ever use again, cleaned and replaced what I was keeping. I washed the outside of the cupboards, upper and lower.

Then it was time to tackle the fridge. It seemed like I had just cleaned it last week, but when I realized just how long it had been…could it have really been over two years? True, I do keep track of what’s in there and toss what’s bad, but I guess I hadn’t removed, cleaned and replaced anything since I went through it in 2020, tossing the huge ketchup and mustard bottles as well as the horseradish and weird mustard John preferred.

Funny story here. I’ve never liked ketchup except when it’s on a Dick’s cheeseburger. John knew that early on, but for almost 53 years, he always offered me the ketchup. I made the mistake of telling Haley that and now she is the one who offers me that condiment even though I don’t like the stuff. She thinks its funny just like her grandfather did. I guess I don’t understand their senses of humor.

Okay, back to the fridge. OMG, what a mess beneath that appliance. The dirt and cobwebs, the dropped stuff that had slid beneath it. It was a good thing I’d already eaten breakfast because it was enough to make me lose my appetite. Still, when I slid the fridge back into place, I knew there were sparkles beneath. Then it was remove everything and clean. Just how do those vegetable drawers get so nasty?

The stove resides on the west side of the kitchen. It hasn’t been moved since it was installed in 2011. One of the reasons I wanted to move it was because it appeared Kuma had lost a toy…or two…or three…beneath it. I didn’t want to move it and am not sure I would have been able to, but after the oven was cleaned (magically), I removed the drawer from the bottom.

Do you use that drawer for anything? Mine holds cookie sheets and cooling racks. It also held a ton of crumbs and other detritus…again, very nasty. Not only was the drawer nasty, but the floor beneath the drawer was…I have no words; however, if I lived where cockroaches roamed free, I would have had some visitors, I’m sure. Besides the cobwebs, dirt, crumbs, lost pills, etc., I also found not one or two, but four things Kuma had lost beneath the stove. I also found a couple that had to have belonged to Kaizer or Karma.

So, I’ve begun (almost since I still need to do the cupboards and stove as mentioned above) the new year with a clean kitchen that holds appliances that have been cleaned inside and out. Since I don’t do this very often, it just might be the last time I ever look beneath the stove or fridge…that would be just fine with me.