Carpet

It has been a long time since I had carpets on my floors but I grew up with them. My mother did not care that I could be allergic to the high-pile carpet topped with Persian rugs made of camel hair. As for my allergies I never sneezed nor did I suffer from watery eyes. My itching and eczema were triggered by something else.

By the way, the high-pile carpet was wool white, and wearing shoes in the house was forbidden. The home was cleaned all day and vacuumed at a stretch. We had at least four hoovers, two of which were Hoovers. The hoover bags were always full. Not because our house was so dirty but because the wool was loosened from the carpet and sucked up. As the Hoover advert of the time said: it knocks, it sweeps and it vacuums.

The hoover was therefore my mother's best friend. If it broke down, she was happy to drive a hundred kilometers to the shop where the Hoover was bought. That man made a good living from my mother because she got every hoover broken. The salesman must have sighed a lot, especially when the heavier Hoover hoover broke down in her hands. The hoover's weak point was the handle, at least when my mother handled it. The salesman lost the bet and had to pay hundreds of guilders for the hoover out of his own pocket.

Only in my first apartment did I have carpeted floors. Not high-pile because I couldn't afford that. Later, I switched to linoleum and laminate and also tiles. All these are easy to keep clean with children and animals. We still don't wear shoes in the house because you never know where those shoes have been. It saves a lot of cleaning, but you are more likely to have cold feet. I do miss walking in socks or bare feet. It has been a long time since I felt the soft long wool of the carpet. It was also blissful and nice and warm to lie on.

I do have a few loose rugs now but don't use them. It's too much work to keep them clean and with animals not really suitable. Maybe I will put them down later. A house with a carpet on the floor is more of a home anyway. It looks and feels warmer than a bare floor.

#kittywu #carpet #freewrite #memories #forthechildren #lifestyle #november