A Homemaker before Homemaking was Cool

My mom would have celebrated her 82nd birthday tomorrow, had she not taken a detour to heaven when she was only 56. I'm still working on that. But while she was with us, and especially while I was growing up, she was my model for homemaking.Okay, so she wasn't Martha Stewart. But what she lacked in finesse, she made up for in determination. Her hamburger stew was frugal cooking at its...not-so-greatest. Sunday pot roast dinners were better. Holiday cooking was sublime, with nut rolls, carrot pudding, and cut-out cookies galore.Cleaning was a bit...manic. When Mom cleaned, she turned on some music, opened the windows, emptied each room of all its contents and then washed walls and polished the hardwood floors. THEN the room was clean. Laundry for her family of six kids was done at the old, run-down laundromat in town, because somehow buying a washer was never a priority for Dad. But when Mom brought the 10 loads of laundry home, it was all hung out on the clothesline--eco-friendly before there was such a term.Homemaking had to be put on the back burner after Dad left, as her priority shifted to being the primary breadwinner. So she went to work as a waitress, and then went back to school, eventually earning an RN degree at the age of 54.  But she still enjoyed making her home a welcoming place of rest and hospitality. Her last apartment was color coordinated in blue, rose and white, and a visit to her place always included a cup of Constant Comment for me, and a big box of toys and books for Taylor and Peter. Mom loved making a home, and instilled in me a desire to be a homemaker, too.Who, besides Martha, has been your homemaking mentor? What part of homemaking do you enjoy the most/least?