Cleaning Day!

Young Woman Cleaning the Floor; Willem Joseph Laquy (1778)
Tuesday at Vance was a relatively slow day for me. I spent the day working on homework and greeting any guests that came in. Upon getting there, I was informed that a representative from Friends of the Vance birthplace was coming to rearrange our gift shop and that I should be aware that she wasn't the nicest of people. I didn't get to meet her though, she came after I'd left for the day.

Thursday on the other hand was a flurry of activity because it was Cleaning Day!!! The boss of Kimberly's boss was coming on Friday to do an inspection of the site, so upon arriving I was put to work. My  first task was to dust and sweep the main cabin. Dusting was not pleasant, it sent me into a sneezing fit. But it was fascinating to watch all the little spiders scurry across the kitchen floor as I removed their webs. I also hadn't realized just how big the first floor of that house was until I had to sweep it with a straw broom. I didn't have to sweep the two bedrooms upstairs, but I did have to dust up there. I have to admit I was severely creeped out being upstairs by myself. The whole time I was up there I felt like I was going to turn around and see Venus the enslaved nanny or one of the many Vance children watching me. Irrational, I know, but it really is creepy up there and the antique dolls in the girls bedroom doesn't help the situation.
The Laundress; Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1761)

After cleaning the main cabin, I swept the back porch and then helped Lauren sweep out the slave cabin. Following this we all took a lunch break before tackling the exhibits in the visitor center.

With lunch over, I was tasked with sweeping the classroom, the main exhibit and the main area of the visitor center. I also dusted the History Mystery artifacts and cleaned the "Other Brother" exhibit cases. I learned that Plexiglas has it's own special cleaner and must be wiped down with a microfiber cloth to prevent scratching the cases. Another thing we all learned, I can't clean the cases in the main exhibit because I'm too short and my arms are not long enough to reach the back of the cases! LOL Oh well!

Next week should be interesting, we have a school group of 52 eighth graders coming for a visit on Tuesday! Pray for us!!! hahaha
Location: Leicester, NC 28748, USA

Comments

  1. AndraSeptember 2, 2018 at 7:11 PM

    Did you ever think to dust and sweep at home? Just' sayin". Nice report.

    ReplyDelete

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