Full of the joys of spring!!

The weather's been glorious here - I've had FOUR loads of washing out today!! 

It's inspired me to start sorting out the back bit of the garden (which was clearly used as a dumping ground by previous occupants but we finally got the council to come & clear the majority of the junk...).  It's going to need a lot of work doing to it, but a little every (dry) day should hopefully soon see it right for at least planting some annual flowers in...

I've also just about finished the big boys' bedroom - I promise I'll put some pics up just as soon as I've got the coving put up!

And being full of the joys of spring, I'm ready to crack on with my habithacking....
I looked at my spreadsheet just now to see where I'm up to & coincidentally, the next step is to start customising the routines - which is just what I figured I'd blog about today anyway!!  Seeing as how 2 steps ago was to add in a half-assed housecleaning hour (or half-hour as I'm hoping to make it!) & the habithacker does hers on a Monday...  Now that doesn't work for me for a variety of reasons.  So I thought that I'd do it on a Wednesday, as I've got to get rid of all the rubbish on a Wednesday anyway to put out for the binmen on a Thursday.  Then I realised that I just don't have the time on a Wednesday...  Plus I like to change the bedding at the weekend...
So I finally figured, the best thing for me is to split it up - so now I'm doing some on Wednesday, some at the weekend but most of it on a Thursday (when I have the most time).  And that's going to work best for me, so I should actually DO it - which is the important bit about this whole getting organised malarky - making things work for YOU, not just doing what some book or website tells you to do....

Onwards & upwards!

Habithacking....

Well, I promised that I'd get round to telling you about habithacker.com

I came across this lovely lady's site a couple of months ago & I have to tell you, I way prefer it to Flylady - only one email a day & she tells it like it is - a shitspot is a shitspot not a "hotspot"!!

And she's transforming me!  You should see my living room - it only takes me 5 minutes these days to whizz round my living room, including vacuuming!! I'm not saying that it's immaculate, cos it's not, but I'm not going to be apologising for the state of it if someone calls unannounced!!

I will admit to you now, even though I've been subscribed for a couple of months (71 days to be precise) I'm actually only up to Day 7.  This is because of the way my inner rebellious teenager works...
I really really was trying to add a step a day, but then earlier things weren't getting done...

So I decided to start again at the beginning & add a new step only when I was into the habit of the earlier steps....  And that is working much better for me...  I may not be doing everything every day, but step 1 ("Polishing my place") is definitely ingrained now...  In fact, I do that several times a day!!  Even the monsters are getting pretty good at tidying the living room!! (My "place" if you're wondering is my living room floor...)

I also finally got round to putting the key rack up that I bought months back cos of this (day 3)
And I'm getting pretty good at shovelling the shit (day 5)


BUUUT, I'm stuck on step 7 - putting clothes out for the next day before I go to bed....  I really want to move on, so my goal for this next week is to do this EVERY night....  including the boys (although uniform's not challenging to think about so no excuse there!)

Anyway, in case any of you want to follow along with me, here's the links to the steps so far...

Step 2 Do your do

Step 3 Stash that key

Step 4 Polish twice

Step 5 Take a break

Step 6 Shovel the shit

Step 7 What to wear?


And yes, I know, you can always sign up to get the emails yourself but if we can cheer each other on, then maybe we can finally get organised (ok, you're probably already living in a tidy haven, so maybe I can finally get organised!)

And if you did want to do the steps alongside me, then honestly, these first 7 steps are easy to do a step a day, so this time next week, you can be at the same stage as me....  (if you really want to be!)

And maybe I can put some pics up as well as we go along!  *wonders if there's a way that you can share pics with me???*

Have fun everyone!

Goodbye 2011/Hello 2012!!

Well, here we stand on the verge of a new year.  The sun's gone down, so it's officially New Years Eve!

Highlights of 2011?  Moving to this house & seeing Motley Crue again.

Plans/goals for 2012?

Firstly, I need to buy tickets to Download, as we've heard a rumour that Poison will be playing...  If they are it'll probably be the only chance we'll have to go see them.....

I'd quite like to go see the Olympic Flame pass through town as well...

Goals-wise:

Have at least 4 rooms decorated by the end of the year.  That gives me 3 months per room to strip & prepare the walls, then repaper (if necessary), paint, accessorise etc.  If I stop procrastinating, that's more than easily do-able...

Get a lot more organised & Domestic Goddessy about the house...  I say this every year, but I say it as a resolution, rather than a goal....  So as I've decided to set measurable (& hopefully attainable) goals I can break it down into steps on route to the holy grail of spick and span-ness... 
As I said in a previous post, I'm signed up to Habithacker (I promise I'll blog more about this in a very near post) & that does seem to be helping (having broken down the steps for me!!! )

As part of this becoming more organised thing, I aim to actually be organised & zen about next christmas.  I say every year we're going to start getting sorted for it early so it's not a mad rush & every year we don't (other than getting veggies pre-prepared & in the freezer - & that's kind of ingrained in me after 30-odd years of it!!! so it doesn't count!) 
So I'm going to start a spreadsheet of what's needed, from pressies, to decorations, to food.
I'll add on what we already have & tick off what we need as we get it.
I'll start a plan of action with deadlines for when everything needs to be done...  honest gov!!!!


Anyway - I promise to come & break these goals down and share them properly with you, but you need to share your goals for 2012 with me!  Let's support each other to achieving them!

 Right now, I wish you all a Happy New Year! xxx

December already...

and yes, apologies are needed as I seem to have been rather lazy this week & completely missed out my mid-week posting...  Oops.

So, what have I been up to?  Well, I HAVEN'T been decorating my eldest boys' bedroom.  But then, given their behaviour recently, I'm not convinced I really want to.

However, today I've managed to get my christmas veggies prepped & in the freezer.  Yep, 2lbs of carrots, 1lb of swede, mountains of brussels - all done & dusted.  And the chestnut stuffing & bread sauce....  *polishes halo*

But don't go getting the wrong idea - I haven't suddenly gone & got organised on you (you should see the state of the kitchen just now!) - it's just that I really really can't be bothered to be doing all that stuff on christmas eve....  no way, jose - not a cat in hells chance!!  Other than the fact that I'm working this christmas eve, it should be about relaxing, singing loads of crimble songs & tracking Santa on NORAD....  Maybe a quick trip out as early as humanly possible to get milk & bread.  But that's it - not flaming well peeling mounds of vegetables (apart from potatoes that is - but if I could work out how to freeze them in advance for mash, I'd do those early too!!!!)

What do I still need to do?

Cranberry sauce, mince pies, order the turkey & trimmings & a handful of pressies (oh & order the food from Tesco!) & I think I'm good to go!

So how are my lovely bloggees doing?

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat....

and I've done my Christmas cake & pudding!  I normally use my Mam's recipe but put it on my computer using the Microsoft Works database (rather than word) then stupidly threw out my scrawled paper copy....  (yep, you know what's coming next, don't you!).

My laptop went kaput.  One of the lovely dad's at my sons' school managed to rescue all my data off the hard-drive for me, but my new laptop doesn't have Microsoft Works...  I've downloaded a program that can open Works files but still - no recipes......

So this year I'm using Delia's recipes for Christmas cake & pudding....  I've had to adapt them cos a) I've developed an allergy to nuts, specifically almonds & hazelnuts (with walnuts & possibly pecans thrown in) & b) none of us really like currants...

So, cashews in place of almonds & extra sultanas/raisins in place of currants.  Mind you, stupidly I substituted prunes in place of some of the currants in the pudding & then realised that prunes are dried plums & almonds are a member of the plum family..... (it's a good job I just get a rash & a tingly mouth really, isn't it!!)

What else have I done?  I've knitted one small green elephant for one small green elephant (gorgeous boy number 4 seems to think that he's a green elephant!) I'm just about finished one hat (one down, 3 more to go) & I'm hoping to have time to make a larger green elephant.

I've found a recipe for homemade FROZEN roasties - so we're going to test that out this week to see if it actually works - if so, they can be pre-prepared when I do the rest of the veggies & the gravy some time in the next 2 weeks....

I've ordered a couple of presents for the boys & we have a rough idea what else they're getting....

Just the food shopping & present buying for himself to do then.  How many shopping days left?

Till next time - mwah xxx

My bathroom - finished at last!!

Well, I say finished - there's still a couple of teeny bits to do.  We'll be replacing the doors soon, so I haven't painted the doorframes & there's a little bit of sealing to do.  (oh & the lights could do with replacing with nicer ones)  Other than that it's good to go!!

Here's what it looked like before...

Look at the nasty wallpaper...

 And the horrible floor...

Oh look - more of that wallpaper, and as for the toilet.....

Sooo, we stripped off the wallpaper - to discover that underneath the horrid yellow painted blown vinyl it was pink - with a layer of mould....

And underneath the sink, we discovered this...

So at some point in the past, the bathrooms been a fetching shade of orange.  With the distinct possibility that it was black as well.  We also found scraps of a dark blue flowery wallpaper...  tasteful!!

So, a lot of wallpaper/mould removal; tiling & painting later (oh & toilet replacement!)  May I present...

Waddya think?

Dishcloths

Mabu multi cloths to be precise.



These cloths are made from 100% biodegradable WOOD - yep, it's true.  But as the packaging says, once the starch has been rinsed out, it's hard to believe that this lovely soft, thick dishcloth is made from wood.

I bought some a few months ago from Waitrose, moved house & promptly forgot about them (you know what it's like when you move house - everything is in boxes & things get lost!)  I've rediscovered them & you know what?  I'm never using another make of dishcloth again!!  They do what it says on the packaging & rinse clean - they don't smell, even after washing up the smelliest of dishes & they are highly absorbent. 

There are many many uses on the website for them, including bathing babies or as a make-up removing cloth & yep, I'd happily use them for both those purposes, they are that soft!

I highly recommend them - they are soooo good!

As I already said, you can get them from Waitrose, but for those of us nowhere near a Waitrose (I'm one - we were in Newark visiting family at the time) you can also get them from Lakeland.

Try them - they're fantastic!

Organising tips

So in the spirit of trying to be less complete slattern & more Domestic Goddess (like that's EVER going to happen!!)  I've borrowed a whole load of organising tips from the lovely Damsels....

1) Divide the day into hourly slots.  (use a diary!) slot in the important stuff (work, appointments etc) then use the remaining time slots to book in the housework.

2) Meal plan & do grocery shopping online.
     -have a list of what's in the freezer/cupboards
     - list meals that get eaten regularly (including recipe info if necessary)
     - have a list of "future" shopping to write things as they get low.

3) Wash up after every meal (guess I need to go wash the dishes now!!)

4) Set up present/card file - wrapping paper, sellotape, cards, stamps etc... (use the Ikea carrier bag recycling container...) 

5) Deal with paperwork as it comes in (although another tip is to put all post in file & deal with it once a week - I'll try both & see which one works best for me)

6) Leave the washing out on the line till it's dry.  (although how that's going to work in winter I'm not sure...)  Another washing tip was to just do it all once a week, although I think that's one that would only work if you had a dryer, which I don't...)

7) Premake sandwiches for lunch & freeze.  Take out night before.

Soooo, I'm hoping that these tips will help me.  Of course I've also got my babysteps written in my diary to be added every 3 weeks.  I WILL get this place under control!!!