wow....LONG absence!

You know that decluttering I was doing of the centimetres? Well, its working.

It worked so well, that I have only just started to get enough energy left to DO stuff. Like catch up on Flylady! I've done the missions this week, and I've made a start on the spare room. Or..ANOTHER start. Coz it got quite wretched in here. Yes, here. I am BACK in the spare room. I have a table again. I even have a floor. There is NO bed, and there are 6..yes 6 boxes gone from in here, plus a stack of books. I've given away stacks of linen, and the tv has been offered on Freecycle. The little white cabinet is in the bathroom under the sink, but I don't like it there. I may well Freecycle that as well.

There are still a lot of things that need to be done in here, but now the bed is gone, I have room to move.

The list I wrote up a coupe of days ago reads thus:
Get white cabinet out - bathroom? ✔
Move blanket box under the table ✔
Rehome tv
Move coffee table under the big table ✔
Display cabinet back in corner - or where cat post is? ✔
Blanket box under the window ✔
Desk off the table and back against the wall ✔

Flylady does have something when she tells you to get dressed to shoes. It makes getting out for a walk MUCH easier. A couple of days I've gotten up and put a dressing gown on, and have been very sluggy ALL day. Days when I get up and dressed in 'walking' clothes, I am far more likely to do it.

I've sewn some new couch covers and am slowly but surely managing to walk at least 5 times a week, AND get the house sorted. Its not been easy, coz the early days I walked and died in the ass for the rest of that day. Not that I was overdoing anything, my brain was just working lots.

Now that the laptop is in the spare room I can plug it into the wall in here and get the extension cord back for the vacuum cleaner! yay!!

But now, its getting on, and I should be walking again in a bit over half an hour, so I better get walking clothes on (I went out today so I have 'good' clothes on) and do the dishes.

decluttering weight and more

Today was a somewhat hard day to get OUT for. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I woke up TOO relaxed?

It rained over night (hence the relaxation), and before I went to bed last night I expected that I would try to talk myself out of going for a walk, because it would be too much like hard work to find my gumboots and umbrella. Because I know myself well enough, I got my clothes out and ready (Thank you Flylady) and put the gumboots next to the door BEFORE I went to bed.

No excuse now...so nyyyyyyyeeerr.

Yesterday I almost had a coronary when I hopped on the dog scales in the pet feed store. I sincerely hope they are wrong. They shows 5 kilos/10lbs more than what I thought I was/ought to be roughly.

But, four days out of four I have gotten up and OUT. That is four days more than I have ever done in my life.

The back yard is now a boggy mess again though, with the girls cage on the grass even. I have little faith that I can move it. I was out there yesterday morning tidying up some, and watching the chooks look for new nesting places. They are very inquisitive creatures. They watched me put hay behind the guinea pig hidey hole and went over to check that out. This morning they graced me with an egg each.

yard pics

Phil on the garden chair



Me trying to get a good picture of the not dead Lilac.


Good picture of dirt.


Crockpot Lasagne that was cooking while I was doing stuff.



Guinea pig


Chooks scratching in the guinea pig poo.


Tidy yard. Well..mostly.


Other end of the yard. Old cages...what do you do with them?


Worst 'problem area' - I have no place to keep the wire. maybe I could hammer some nails into the fence and roll it up to hang on them?

In further decluttering news..I'm am trying to disappear a few pounds. Or centimetres. Centimetres might work better seeing as I have no scales. I've stayed at a stable weight for many many years, but its time to think about trying to DO something about getting to a lesser BMI. The yard work has been a meagre 10 mins or so of added exercise a day (which is about 10 more than I usually would have) and I am popping out for a walk of a morning. Its always been too much like hard work to get up, dressed and OUT of the house of a morning, but for the last two days I have managed it. I think the slip on shoes from Avon has helped in that regard. So far, (and I dont want to go too hard, too fast,) the walk has been around the 'block' taking a total of 7 minutes, which is about 700 metres..or so. I can cope with 7 mins. We are advised to get 30 mins a day. 10 mins of yard work and 7 walking is half way there, and that was without trying. I plan to increase the walking exponentially. a week of 7 mins, then maybe onto 10 mins (depends on how long the new route is) then maybe moving to twice a day and 15mins each time. This will be in ADDITION to the exercise to get every day, not trying to tell myself 'oh, you will be walking to that place later, you can skip this mornings walk' - I've already tried that with myself. Who knows if I will keep it up, but I plan to for 21 days, which is what it reportedly takes to form a new habit. How to start the exercise habit.

I've managed to make the bed every day (some days its better than others, but its DONE) and I have easily slipped back into the dishes before bed routine.

I can do this.

Life is good

I bought a new rake last week, and have spent time in the back yard with it tidying up. Having a rake that has all its ...tines? works WONDERS. Tidying that bit there leads to satisfaction of a job well done, and then I move onto the next bit.

All the cannas have been cut back, the elder berries listed on Freecycle, (with one interested woman who hasn't gotten back to me about when she can collect - the offcuts will be burnt or binned next weekend if I cant offload them).

The girl piggies were shifted out of their huge cage and put into the smaller flight cage for some grass time out the front and to allow me to clean their house out properly. All the poo and leftover hay went onto the gardens - yes, plural. The wire part of their cage had matted stuff. Which is why they had to come out for me to clean it. It needed to be put on its side and poked.

I hosed down the path and tried to burn some of the canna bits. They were too damp to do much. There are some fence palings out the front that I might um..borrow...to use as fuel for the fire.

I have planted out heaps of last seasons garlic that was shooting and if it all grows I will have garlic coming out my ears. I'm thinking of selling it.

As a result of the longer days (IMO anyway) the inside has becoming tidier. I'm back to doing the dishes before bed and with a ..romantic interest who is allergic to cats, the floor gets vacuumed more often. Its a flow on effect, like outdoors. Do the floor and you see other things that have cat hair that could be washed or wiped down to alleviate allergies.

The bathroom is being wiped down more often too. Nothing like having a guest who might use the loo to make SURE the toilet doesn't need flushing and no tooth paste spits in the sink.

I've been sleeping much better as well. I think its because the bedroom window is open at night again. Or it could be all my 'hard work' in the yard.

I *will* get the couch and other arm chair to a 'visitors' level.

But now, I better go and get my washing in. We haven't had any sun all day, and it looks like rain is on the way.

catching up

I can see a couple of warm spots in the lounge room, but these are/will be easily dealt with. For some unknown reason I simply CANNOT keep the couch and other arm chair free of crap! I don't know why. I don't use them as a rule, so there is no need to absent-mindedly put things on them.

But anyway. I've been in the spare room today, taking down the curtains (and putting them in the washing machine straight away!) and thinking about other options for curtaining in there. Currently the main curtains are a halved double bed doona cover. Not ideal. But I refuse to spend a fortune on real ones. Something also needs to be done about the Queen size bed and mattress in there. The bed has been broken down, but it is still in the way. I'm not sure I want to put it on Freecycle, but I am also fairly sure I will never get around to calling the op shop to see if they want it. I'll likely leave it to deal with 'later' until mid summer. I am really looking forward to having that room back to what it was with the computers and sewing machine set up in there. I now have an overlocker (with issues) so that will also need a place to live. I'm thinking the drive shaft is worn or something, but we'll see. Having everything back in there will free up a LOT of loungeroom space.

The back yard is being worked on a bit at a time. This morning I was out there for all of 10 mins cutting the branches, on the fence side, off the elderberries. I've been trying to get them to be screening plants on the dividing fences. It has taken a few years, but I am getting there. if I can remember to do the fence side pruning while they have no leaves I'll be doing well. Last year I offered the prunings on Freecycle. I may do that again this year.

The boy guinea pigs, who are free ranging, are doing an admirable job of keeping the grass in check. They even get along the fence better than any whipper snipper would. The girls are probably hanging out for some grazing though. The ground has been way too boggy for their cage. Not that the grass has been growing. Cleaning up the girls poo from the concrete path is proving good for the actual garden beds.

Well, the curtains are finished, so I better get them out before it rains again.

Spring!

Ok, technically Spring is officially another month and a bit away, but TODAY is very spring like. Even if the temperature online says its 14.

I've been keeping up with the dishes before bed again, and even willingly wiped down the bathroom. This makes a huge difference to my mornings.

I've stripped the bed today, to wash the sheets and take advantage of the weather.

The car has also been washed, inciting dread to all my local Facebook friends.

All but one of the windows in the house are open to get the breeze.

Additionally, with the spring like feel to the air, yesterday I parked at Kmart and walked into work. Its a mere 10 minute walk, that I almost skipped because 'rain was forecast.' So that 20 min walk to and from the car also boosted energy levels.

The weather and energy wont last, so I plan on making the most of it!

thoughts

I watched an episode of Hoarders last night, and even though I spent half the time seeing 'things that are still good' one sentence stood out. That was where the 'professional' said that so and so had just tossed the stuff into a room and shut the door on it.

Guess what? that is what 'everyone' suggests when you are having a rough time (sickness, baby problems, too busy) - but I'm not sure I have ever heard how to get back on track. Say you are a new mum, just home from hospital. A partner who is little to no help and who bitches coz 'nothing is done.' So, you tidy up by shoveling everything into the spare room, where he and the guests never go, the main living are is tidy, but you are still knackered. Baby is fussy and wont be put down for 8 months...you've still been 'cleaning up' by filling the spare room, except, by now, the spare room is full, so you start on the babies room. Baby sleeps with you coz thats the only way you can get more than 5 mins sleep at a time.

You see the pattern here?

Or perhaps you have been ill...done the same thing, but the thought of facing all that stuff is too overwhelming. So you shut the door. Out of sight, out of mind.

So how to you get started again?

I had a baby here yesterday. Hes been here a few times, but yesterday I also had a house inspection. I knew he would be coming, so I did getting organised things before collecting him. It made me wonder how I managed when I had my own kids. Especially the first one. Its hard enough working out how to cook baby food and go to the loo and do STUFF when you have experience. But the first advice you get when lost with a new baby was..let the housework go. Now that I am older, and presumably wiser, Flylady's 15 mins a day would be easily achieved with a baby sling and fractious baby. 20 years ago baby wearing wasn't common, and I didn't know about Flylady. :s

The house inspection was a breeze. I wiped down the sinks and vacuumed. Even finally putting the clean sheets that were washed a couple of weeks ago. he is here to check the condition of the house NOT my housework skills. As nothing has changed, there wasn't anything to report. but is is very nice not to stress out about the housework.

I'm still not even looking at the missions for the day. I should. They would give me something to do. But now that the days are getting longer and also nicer, I feel more motivated to keep things tidy. Laundry can be hung on the line, rather than on the clothes horse inside. The back door can be open to let fresh air in. I guess as long as I can keep the house at a sustainable level, a few months 'off' over Winter is ok.