If I can find one, and the funds, I want to take courses in housekeeping, or maybe the art of being a Butler. Though...most of the decent schools are in England. I can keep things sort of together around the house, but I really lack the grace and organizational skills to run things smoothly. Women have done this for centuries, and yet I find myself floundering.
Possibly it's because as an American I have given up the domestic skills in place of convenience. Maybe that's why I flail when I have to do a casual place setting, or iron table linens properly, or fold napkins. Or do daily cleaning so that the house stays in order. I wish my mother were here to teach me - there are so many basics that I don't seem to have an handle on (how do I keep the baseboards from gathering dust!)
I just got a book on the art and science of keeping house. I'm studying, but it seems like so much to take in. I read the section on table settings today, and need to read it again tomorrow - there is so much I didn't retain. And I'm going to have to do settings over and over, I guess, so that it becomes instinctive. Then I'll go on to how to serve meals. So much to learn....
Tonight was my first trial run serving a dinner properly, and while it didn't go poorly I made several glaring errors...so frustrating. I really need more practice. Maybe part of it is the layout of the common southwest house - the kitchen is open to the rest of the common area, so there is no place where I can do prep-work out of view. That, however, has been a common complaint of mine. The next house I live in will have both a full kitchen and a butler's kitchen, and a actual dining room.
I hope I can get better at this....
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