So asks the blurb on the back of this little ode to housekeeping. This and... whose footprints are on your floor? If the kitchen is the heart of the home, what is the heart of the kitchen? If the purpose of cleaning is to remove dirt, what is the purpose of dirt? What fills empty spaces? And finally, what is the colour of clean? White, blue, or to my mind a certain shade of watery eau de nil...? Who knows? But this is exactly the kind of question I find myself meditating over while splashing about in washing up bowl full of frothy bubbles... After violet cremes, (lest they be forgotten) housekeeping and more than that, reading and writing about housekeeping remain my most enduring passions. While there will also be somewhere on my person or abandoned on my bedside table, a trashy novel or two, a fine example of early twentieth century domestic literature in the basket next to my reading chair, and the pages of a new to me recipe book waiting to be turned during idle kitchen time, I always, always, always have (oh joy!) a book of vintage household hints or the latest thoughts on homemaking on the go, desperately hoping, that by some form of literary osmosis I will be transformed into a Domestic Goddess. (Ahem... Oh alright: yes, the very same kind of Domestic Goddess I insist does not exist, but heavens, where would we be without ambition Darlings??) And so this week I am thoroughly enjoying Zen and the Art of Housework, which may not offer anything even remotely new in theories on homemaking, but is such a darling little reminder that a) Housework HAS to be done, b) Doing it mindfully makes it more tolerable and, c) Resentment gives you wrinkles. Well OK, I made C up but I stand by it because I am willing to grant permission to resent the air wayward husbands breathe but resenting something you have to do daily FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE is clearly ludicrous, and so applying a little Zen-mindset might just do the trick! At the very least knowing and understanding that your home is an inanimate object and not an evil monster intent on dictating every spare moment of your day with the relentless spillage of filth and chaos, should help you come to terms with how utterly daft it is to project human emotions on to something you are absolutely capable of getting a grip of, should you ever work up the energy to do so. What colour is clean anyway? P.S: The Vintage Housekeepers Circle will open for Season two sign ups tomorrow and in the meantime you can get into uber-vintage-housewife mode by downloading the best of Season One... Think zen Sweeties. Zen and vintage doilies...