Well, now 2 1/2 years later, the dishwasher broke down again. I told Tom to give me a week before getting it fixed to see if I might enjoy going back to doing the dishes by hand. At the end of the week, I said I wanted to try another week. And so it has gone on with nary a negative from me. In fact, I kept saying what a relief it was to just wash up the dishes as they were dirty instead of loading and loading the dishwasher and then waiting hours for it to be done. Or waiting an hour for a "quick" load that I can do by hand in 5 minutes! It is a satisfying feeling to do the dishes and have them done rather than "do" them in the dishwasher and wait. And there was a sweet side benefit that I never thought of. I texted my sister-in-law that day and said "can't do this with a dishwasher, can you!!"
It has now been almost three weeks, and all the big dishes have been washed like the crock pot, bread bowl, 9x13 pan. I'm still smiling, and I'm dreaming about just what might go into that space after Tom removes it.
In Anne Tyler's If Morning Ever Comes, a grandmother says that "the only thinking time she has is when she's doing the dishes." Sometimes I listen to music, or a good radio program, and sometimes I just sit and ponder while looking out the window.
Our dish washer still works and I use it. But I can see why 2 people don't use one often. We often wash up our few dishes. Our dish washer gets a real work out when we have company or if we get really busy for some reason. If I had a window over my sink I would be more inclined to stand there too.
ReplyDeleteWe probably use more dishes than some "two people" only because I cook and bake a lot. It just shows how dishwashers have changed kitchen design. Always there was a window above the sink because it gave (mostly) women something to look at while washing the dishes. Kinda sad, in a way.
DeleteI stopped using the dishwasher a few years ago because we are only two retired people. I actually like changing my dishtowels and cloths and keep my dish detergent in a vintage jar. Growing up, our kitchen looked out over the garden and quite a lot of time was spent at the sink.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming by and leaving a note! I'd love to see a picture of your detergent jar. Is it hard pouring it into the sink? I guess I mean, does it come out too fast?
DeleteGreat picture and thoughts about washing dishes. You know, I remember that my grandmother (my mother's mother) got a dishwasher before we did. It rolled across the floor and then had a hose to hook up at the kitchen sink. It ran and then you unloaded it and rolled it back to the corner. I was fascinated with it when she first got it. We didn't get one until we moved to the Dallas area when I was 10. Otherwise, from about the age of 7 or so, that was my job. Ha!
ReplyDeleteMy next door neighbor had one of those dishwashers, but my mother never did get one. My house had this wonderful double cast iron sink and one of the sinks was really deep. I wish I still had it. You know, I never had any "jobs" when I was a kid. My mother was a whiz who did everything well and fast, and probably had no patience with slow, dreamy me. hahaha
DeleteI never had a dishwasher until we moved and only use it if there's company for a meal - hardly ever! I don't quite get the "gist" of loading it properly and it takes so long! Now it's only me and I wash my few dishes by hand, quickly and quietly. I so miss my old kitchen -we moved due to health/aging issues - where there were big windows and it was so cheery. It lacked some space, conveniences, but was lovely.
ReplyDeleteMary
Are you set there, or might you move again at some point? Or could you make improvements in this house? Like make the windows bigger? If I lived nearby, I could be your company, and we could wash the dishes together!
DeleteIt's a condo for over 55s and there's plenty of windows, just not in the kitchen area. It's not possible to make those kind of alterations. I really don't see another move - I'm living in the same area, close to all my friends, etc. which is why we choose this place which is very nice, just so different. There was quite an adjustment period, and then my husband passed a year ago after a battle with cancer. I would love to have your company!
DeleteI'm so happy you are close to your friends, and in the same area. That really does make up for kitchen windows!
DeleteNan, I love this post! With four daughters, my mother never had a dishwasher until I got married and left home. And the first one I had was a roll to the sink kind, like a commenter above. So much trouble! Why did we do it? Maybe as a way to hide dirty dishes during the day. When I handwash the really big stuff or china I don't want to put in the dishwasher, or the silver that I started using daily instead of saving for special occasions, I wonder why I don't just do it all the time. I do see the advantages of it and even agree with something I read years ago by Gunilla Norris, I think, about thinking of dishwashing as being sacred time. I know that some of the best conversations in my life were held while doing dishes with someone. But, I do love how the dishwasher I have now doesn't require rinsing and takes the nastiest pans to sparkling clean. But you're right, you have to wait and wait till it can be unloaded. And it is a treat to wash dishes looking out a sunny window, especially if there's a granddaughter by your side! Pros and cons and I hope you continue enjoying the old task that we just can't avoid, one way or the other. I'm not sure I'd even want to pay someone to do that for me, but I sure would pay them to scrub the bathtub!
ReplyDeleteOf course, I had to look up Gunilla Norris, and she has written some books I really would like to read. Thank you!! You have much bigger get-togethers than I do. You would spend all night washing the dishes! I think I have heard of people hiding the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Haha
DeleteNan, I have to tell a story on my young married self: I put our black iron skillet that had been used for breakfast into the oven with the spatula in it to hide it and then forgot it was in there when I turned on the oven later to preheat for something. A burned smell reminded me of the pan and I had just grabbed the skillet out of the oven, the black plastic handle having melted over the edge of the skillet. Just then the neighbor's child knocked on the kitchen door to borrow something for his mother and he said, "It always smells so good in here!"
DeleteI don't think I've repeated that mistake since then and by the way, I just told him thank you and never explained what the good smell was.
I absolutely love that story!!! I'm smiling.
DeleteI've always handwashed the big pots, pans and good knives, as well as plastic storage containers simply because they take up too much room in the dishwasher. My hubby and used to run the dishwasher about once a week, mainly with plates, bowls and glassware/mugs and flatware. Now that we're with my mom, it seems like we run it every other day. Of course, we're home for all three meals now that we're retired, so that adds to the volume of dirty dishes. I really don't mind washing by hand, though. We have a beautiful view with two large windows that look out into the forest. And just like the Anne Tyler quote, I listen to music, NPR or simply gaze out and watch the birds, squirrels and people walking by with their dogs. Luckily, my husband is very good about drying the dishes as I wash. Much faster than the 4-5 hour cycle on the dishwasher!
ReplyDeleteWow, yours runs a lot longer than ours! I don't have enough dishes to not use it twice or three times a day. Now I just wash 'em as I use 'em. So easy-peasy.
DeleteHi Nan, it is so nice to meet you! Thank you for visiting my blog through Dewena and leaving such a nice comment. I just took a quick look around your blog and see that you love a lot of the same things I do. I can't wait to read more of your posts and look through your book, movie and poem lists. I'm sure I'm going to find some great recommendations. I'll be following your blog now and listing it on my blog's sidebar!
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing! Nice to meet you, too!
DeleteBefore I replied here, I went back to your 2016 post about washing up, and what I wrote then in my comment still applies:
ReplyDeleteI actually LIKE washing up :-)
There aren't enough muesli bowls and coffee mugs to fill the dishwasher in any reasonable time when I am on my own during the week. My few items are quickly done, and I only use the dishwasher when I've had guests and it fills up quickly.
On weekends, O.K. and I do the washing up together.
Dishwashers are a great invention when there is a lot to wash up and you rather dedicate that time to your guests, but in my day-to-day life, I don't use mine.
I don't have big get-togethers so I never have too many at a time. Hazel's here today, and she already washed and rinsed some dishes. It's worth it just for her!
DeleteMy favorite dish washing story. A lovely friend from Hawaii told me when she and her little sisters washed the dishes, and when they wanted to play instead, they would toss some of the dishes through the kitchen window into their mothers hibiscus shrubs, they eventually got into big trouble!xx
ReplyDeleteThat is SO funny! I don't think I could have scolded them. I'd be laughing too hard!!
DeleteI do use my dishwasher, but rinse everything almost clean first. It's not a very good dishwasher, even with Cascade Platinum detergent! And some of the dishes I inherited need hand washing anyway. They are too old, from a time when things were not all dishwasher safe....What you might do with that storage is an intriguing question!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to find a "perfect" dishwasher. I don't know how many we've had, and they all had different qualities.
DeleteMost likely we will put in a sliding metal drawer, like we've done with all our lower cupboards.
Dishwashers cut the bacteria to nothing. You might try scalding your hand washed dishes then scalding them.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how something as everyday as washing up can evoke such vivid memories..it takes me straight back to the kitchen I grew up in and that ambition to be allowed to wash the dishes..haha I remember finally being aloud to stand on something..stool? box? so I was tall enough to plunge my hands in the warm foamy water and my desire was finally achieved..it was such a shame that I didn't really like the feeling on my arms where the tide of water ebbed and flowed ...that sting of disappointment must have made the memory stick ..clear but bitter sweet ..how silly is that! Now I have fonder memories and I'm finally coming round to my Mother's view point ..She always said it was relaxing, she would happily perch on her stool and quietly chat away and I can remember washing up with dishes in one sink and a toddler playing with a boat or duck or empty margarine tub in the second sink alongside ..much jollity ..can you believe that she'll soon be 18 ..crikey (Oh and can I confess I've never actually owned a dishwasher lol)
ReplyDeleteOne of your girls is turning 18! Unbelievable. Seems like yesterday you were telling me how much your little girls were liking my recipes. I'm shaking my head in amazement.
DeleteOh and I love the cow tiles!
ReplyDelete17 days to turning 18 I'm reliably informed by the vegetarian on my left making herself a fresh pizza ...see what you started!
ReplyDeletehaha! Well, tonight Hazel ate sesame chicken at a Chinese restaurant. I think she is maybe too young to figure all this out yet. Happy about your veggie girl. College or work plans?
DeleteBSC in Mathematics at our local College ...so we're lucky to have her close for a little while longer!
DeleteWe parents just never, ever know. We went to see our son in The Little Mermaid today with our daughter and grand daughter. It was an hour away. There is a part in the show when the father lets his daughter go to be with the man she loves, and I was crying. Afterwards, I thanked my daughter for not moving away, and I will say the same to my son. So, your girls may stay close, too.
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