Here’s a poem by Lila about those who might clean too much to the detriment of wildlife.

I’m not one of those people…

I Have Killed no Birds

I have killed no birds with cleanness

By window panes that lie

Reflecting blue sky fly-through

Causing birds to die.

 

She washed her windows weekly

Hated dust and rain

Caused scores of birds to kill themselves

Against her perfect pane.

 

My windows, rarely washed,

Get her critical survey,

But I have killed no birds,

Nor lost a sunny day.

 

Love, Lila

Now that you feel better about yourself that you’ve killed no birds, you may still have the need to wash your windows, especially after this year’s rough winter that has blown lots of junk against your windowpanes.

One of the best things you can use to clean the gunk off of windows is Dawn Platinum!

I know if you go to other websites searching for what to clean windows, you’ll get search results that mention ammonia, vinegar and the like. What I recommend is just two ingredients; hot water and Dawn Platinum. Just run hot water onto a squirt of Dawn Platinum in the bottom of your bucket. Swish your window-scrubbing mop in the bucket and scrub off the window. You may have to do this two or three times, depending on the mess you have on the window. Rinse off with a hose and then squeegee the water off. Be sure to wipe off the squeegee with a dry towel with every swipe.

Here are the final results! CLEAN!!

Sugar-Crusted Rhubarb Squares

Every farm has a rhubarb patch. Mine is probably seventy-five years old!

This recipe is from the Country Fair Cookbook by the Editors of the Farm Journal, copyright 1975. Sugar-Crusted Rhubarb Squares is a winner!

I increased the rhubarb to 2 or 2 ½ cups to justify the Sugar-Crusted title. You could maybe decrease the brown sugar to 1¼ cup. All you need is a bowl and a wooden spoon to mix it. It’s good stuff! After you’ve worked hard washing windows, you can maybe afford to eat a few extra calories, but watch yourself!

Sugar-Crusted Rhubarb Squares

Tools You’ll Need:

• Bowl
• Wooden spoon
• 9X9 baking pan

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ C flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 1 ½ brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 C oil
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 ½ C finely diced fresh rhubarb
• ½ C walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven at 325˚. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt into bowl. Mix in brown sugar.

Combine egg, oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Add this to dry ingredients stirring well. Stir in rhubarb and walnuts. Spread batter into a greased 9 inch baking pan.

Topping:

• ½ C sugar
• 1 T butter, melted
• ½ t cinnamon

Combine and sprinkle over batter. Bake in a 325˚ oven for 55 minutes or until done. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold. Makes 9 servings.