My decluttering efforts - I've shifted out of first gear finally!!!

Been a bit busy the past couple of weeks since we returned from holidays...  I'll post about holidays another time I think, but tonight I want to share with you the efforts that I've been making in the past couple of weeks with the help of some Help-x people...

In case you don't know what Help-x is, it's basically Help Exchange.  You give free room and board to a person or persons, and in return they give you 4 - 6 hours of work for free each day.

We had an absolutely delightful French gay couple, who cleaned our outside patio, and did a lot of sanding and re-shellacking of my silky oak dining room table.  Fabien was a wonderful cook we discovered too!!!! 

We followed the boys really quickly with Laura also from France, who was very young, but boy she also did a great job!  I put her to work cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, washing windows etc., and that's how my decluttering efforts got off the ground....

Here's a couple of pic's....

The after shot of under the sink after Laura had attacked it....  I'm secretly pleased there's no before shot, because it was most terrible!!!

Ditto as above for the "crap" drawer...

This is the almost before shot of the desk tonight.  I had taken a bit off the desk already, as is pictured below.... 

I spread it all out over the kitchen bench.  Look closely and you'll find my dinner in amongst it.  Shitty day at work so comfort food of baked spud with sour cream :)

The end result...  Yes, that's a mighty pile of filing, but I will be sorting that in about 4 weeks at tax time.... 

 

 

What I have found with this decluttering and cleaning caper is that once you're on a roll, it's easier to keep being on a roll.  I know you've probably heard it a zillion times before, but just starting, making that first little step, is what works.  It's working for me, and I'd have to say that I'd be one of the hardest nuts to get going.  However, now that I'm off the mark, I need to keep travelling.... 

 

Holiday photo's soon, promise!

Wow... how time files.

Yep - I've posted a bit about this in the past few months.

Sorry!

In the last post, we spent the weekend on a houseboat.  In the pictures was Graham, my stepfather.  He has grey hair..... from that I'm sure you'll identify him.  on Thursday last week he was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer....

His symptoms were that he was tired and constipated.... tired because he turned out to be anaemic... constipated because he was bleeding into his bowel.

If you have an abnormal body, for more than a reasonable time (a week or two or three - depending on what it is.....) go and see your doctor.  Graham now has a CT scan complete, and tomorrow sees a surgeon.  We are so desperately praying it's caught early. 

He and mum were due to come on our cruise departing Monday.  Don't think it's going to happen, but who knows..... 

I've not been touched by cancer before in my close family.  I've done lots of fund raising for the Qld Cancer Council, and known lots of people who are touched by cancer.  Kinda brings it home though.....

We head off on our holiday on Monday 8th April.... Back Monday 6th May. 

Don't know if I'll blog.  Who knows.  Feeling really flat at the moment and probably not being as kind to myself as I could be. 

The rains came!!!!

And boy, didn't it rain!!!

Our drought broke on the Australia Day long weekend.  In just 4 days, 544mm of rain fell from the sky via our rain gauge.  Yep - more than half a metre!!!

Along with it came intense winds on one day, flooding both locally and in Gympie where I work, and some people in my town without power for 5 days.  We were fortunate - we lost power for only 18 hours, and we do have a generator, so just as we had decided to unpack it and get it organised, on came the power!

Gympie did not fare well - they had a 21.3 metre flood, and then just this past week have had an 18.5 metre flood.  I so feel for the businesses up Mary Street and on River Road that have been inundated.  It's terribly terribly difficult, and even though the local Gympie community bands together and supports each other, there are many businesses who will not open again.

Do you recall the Traveston Dam debacle?  One of the reasons that the dam was stopped was due to the endangered lung fish that inhabits the Mary River that flows through Gympie....  Check this picture out of one of the carparks near Mary Street...

Do you remember the crocheted ripple blanket that I have been making for Ken's nieces' baby?  Bubs was due to arrive this week sometime, however arrived about 4 weeks ago now, which was good as mum is about 5'2" and dad... well, he's 6'7"....  Baby was never going to go full term!!

Anyway, the gorgeous little soul arrived, a little girl, Gracie Elizabeth.  Woo-hoo!!!

Yesterday I managed to finish off my cot ripple blanket.  It was inspired by Lucy's pattern over at the Attic.  I have done mine in 8 ply Bendigo Cottons, it is just sooooooooooooooooo soft and yummy!  I hope they all like it!!!

 



Last weekend it was mum's 70th birthday, so we hired a houseboat in the Noosa River & went away.  She didn't know about it, although she was a little suspicious that something was going on when they were running late and instructed to meet us at the Noosa Marina!!!  All was good though and we had a fantastic weekend...

 

 



Well - my chook pen awaits my attention... it's flooded, and the chookies are wandering around in mood and slush.  It's not going to be nice, but they give us such gorgeous eggs every day, we have to have responsibility to keep them nice too.  Off to get my gum boots on!!!!

Summer ramblings of a hot woman!!!

Phew – gosh it’s been so hot!!!

My poor little plants that I planted in my herb garden got frizzled, so we had to get out there with some shadecloth and help them along...  they’re doing well now, and the added bonus of putting them under the shadecloth is that the chickens haven’t been able to get in there and dig, dig, dig as chickens do!  The plants haven’t needed as much water either, as the evaporation is much less...

I can hear the ground almost screaming out for rain... the grass is dying, big trees are dying, and the birds and other animals are also suffering.  I’ve put out some grain for the birds, and I have a large bowl of cold water under the back patio for the chooks when they visit.  We seem to be the visiting spot for all the chooks in the neighbourhood, as they all get under the patio to shelter from the heat of the day. 

On the other hand, when the rains do finally come, I am looking forward to seeing the garden burst forth into life.  The garden out from the front door/ensuite is now looking fantastic, and the rest I’m sure will be just as beautiful when it gets some rain into it.  Going to need to buy some more plants sometime soon...

Ken is doing well, he’s back at work and operating effectively.  Can’t wait for his brain to spring into gear and him to start remembering stuff....  it’s difficult when you have a grown adult who needs supervision like a small child at times...  But – we’re getting there and that’s the main thing!!!

Heading off this weekend to the coast – it’s Lindsay’s baby shower on Sunday!!!  Should be loads of fun – I’m looking forward to it.  I might even be able to catch up with another couple of friends, Tracy at the Psychic Fair, and Lesley from SS who is visiting from up north...

Ahhhhh....  gotta love a weekend!  Particularly seeing as last weekend I did nothing.  Zilch, zippo, nada, nothing.  I lay on the couch under the aircon and snoozed.... not very practical!  Good for the soul though...

I enjoy Facebook, but some days....

Boy – are there some interesting people out there!  Let’s just take today....  Actually – let’s just take the past hour or so!!! 

A young friend has posted some things on her page which are written WAY beyond her years.  To me, it’s really obvious that it’s her mother that’s writing these things in the hopes of stirring up the father...  They separated about 18 months ago and the mother seems to be delighting in using the children as pawns.

One friend is upset because their Centrelink wasn’t paid as they were overseas.  They have to prove they are back in the country in order to get it reinstated.  One person comments that “most people on welfare don’t go overseas”, just saying.  Person replies back “it’s not welfare – it’s child care payment”, and has to be reminded that child care payment IS welfare.

Pizza Hut is advertising “the search for the next stuffed crust pizza filling”.  Sausage rolls v’s chicken nuggets....  now – that’s healthy!!!

A friend’s status:  “My 70cm flatty (Flathead Fish) caught and released this arvo” – complete with picture of her kissing it (I loved this one!!)

Mozzie traps on Grass Roots’ status, a young relative who’s had a great morning out with his girl, another friend with a picture of her cardinal vine flowers that a Blue Faced Honeyeater is enjoying, yet another friend whose cat is waiting patiently on the table for his dinner, a recipe for Jelly Cakes from Stay At Home Mum. 

ABC News Radio is advertising that the QLD Government are considering electoral reforms, including scrapping of compulsory voting, and finally, from a friend who loves to try and win stuff, an advertisement for a new site “bloodybargains.com.au”, and finally, the piece de resistance.... “not everything that pops into your head needs to be shared on Facebook”. 

What is it about social media that encourages people to spew forth every thought that ever popped into their mind?  What is it that makes them type before they think?  Or, far worse than that, post every imaginable detail about their life online, laid out bare for the entire world to see???

Don’t get me wrong – I love Facebook....  but it’s so, well, “out there”.  So many people can share what you post, and so quickly, that your chances of any sort of anonymity are almost zilch.  Even blogging puts it out there, although in a much less “open” way. 

What is it that allows people to use terrible language, swear, carry on and put other people down? 

Have you ever pondered this?  Or am I being too deep today???

2013 – wow, it’s here already???

It’s funny – I can remember sitting down to write my review of 2011...  now I’m thinking back on what I’ve done in 2012!!!  (FYI – the review of 2011 is not a post that is up on my blog any more, I have it hidden now).

So – what have I accomplished in 2012?

·         I’ve done a bit of decluttering...

·         I’ve changed the way I do things around the home – more quality, home made things rather than buying what I need

·         I understand what it’s like to have someone who can’t look after themselves in the house, and learnt that it’s okay to call on others for help

·         I’ve spent a lot of time on myself...  crochet, sewing, cooking – all the things I love doing.  It’s been worth every minute!

·         We’ve spent a bit of time away camping and enjoying our neighbours’ company

·         I’ve been true to myself

The last one has been the hardest, but also the most rewarding.  I haven’t done anything I truly didn’t want to, or that went against my values.  Of course, I haven’t wanted to do lots of stuff, like cleaning the bathrooms, changing the beds, doing the washing etc., that doesn’t count!!!  You know – it’s the inside your heart stuff, those things that you just KNOW if you do them, you’ll regret...

For 2013, I am going to set just a few goals... 

1.       Continue my decluttering journey.  People, things, stuff... you know!

2.       Ensure I spend time doing the things I love.  Crochet, sewing, perhaps knitting.

3.       Pay down debt.  This leads me towards my next large goal – “Goal 2020” which I’ll talk about next.  I haven’t got an idea yet of a realistic goal – let’s say $10,000 off the principal of all my debt (not joint debt) – I’ll revise it when I see if it’s realistic... 

4.       Lose weight.  10kg will be good... 

That’s it – just 4 goals at this point.  I did have “stick to my budget” in there, but if I stick to point 3, that’s really a superfluous goal, as I will have stuck to it very well!!!

So – what’s this 2020 goal stuff all about....

Last time I did this, it was Goal 2010, and I started it when I lived in Sydney.  I wanted 4 investment properties, and I wanted shares – at least 10 different companies.  I must have started that in about 2003 or maybe it was 2004?  No, I’m sure it was 2003 when I bought my first Investment Property.

Well, I’d blitzed that goal by 2007, although I only had 3 investment properties and one house that Ken and I bought together.  I figured I was happy with that...

Fast forward to now, and I’ve stagnated a bit.  Sure, we’ve bought and done lots of things, but now it’s time to really start thinking about the future, working less hours, having debt paid off, having the ability to travel for longer than a long weekend. 

So – Goal 2020 is about paying down debt.  Are you ready???

By 2020, ALL of MY non-tax deductible debt will be gone from my life.  I’m okay with the tax deductible stuff, which are the mortgages on my investment properties.  The rent will be enough to cover those properties well and truly by then anyway, and they will be well and truly positively geared by then.  I say “my” non-tax deductible debt as Ken and I own the house together, and at this point I don’t have a plan for getting rid of that debt.  I will make one though!!!

Goal 2020

Zero non-tax deductible personal debt

Tough couple of weeks....

It's been a tough couple of weeks.  Ken has been unwell again, and it's resulted in me needing to stay home from work a few times, and calling in his sister to come and provide backup so that I could go to work for a bit. 

It's been tough, but at the same time I'm remarkably calm about it all.  I have some very dear friends, each with their own lives and issues, who keep checking on us.  We have great neighbours who are doing the same thing, and even though they probably think they aren't helping at all, actually are helping a HUGE amount.

In the meantime, Lorraine and I have been playing tag in the kitchen and taking him places.  It's been so lovely having an additional pair of hands.... 

I'm getting quite a bit of crochet done!!!  Hope to be back with you soon!!!!!

It's time to let go...

Yesterday I spent the day with some fantastic friends John and Tracy.  Tracy is the proprietor of Sparkle Connection and I can truly recommend all that she offers from her website. You'll notice when you get there that it's not an "airy fairy" sort of a website - Tracy is a very down to earth person, and takes what she does very seriously - I think that comes through in the products and services that she provides...
 
Anyway - how yesterday got started is quite a few years in the making.  My good friend Michelle plays the Bodhran (an Irish drum) and I have enjoyed having a bash at hers from time to time.  Then when we were in Glen Innes in May this year for the Australian Celtic Festival, Kathy and I attended a Bodhran playing workshop, and we both loved it.  So much so that Kathy has now purchased her own Bodhran from Ireland (to which she actually received two - go figure!!!).  I also decided that I wanted one, but didn't kind of get around to buying one...  which turned out to be a good thing!
 
I saw on the Sparkle Connection newsletter earlier this year that she was running Drum making workshops - one in Victoria, and one in Brisbane.  Less than 30 seconds later I'd shot back an e-mail registering for it...
 
Here are some of the pictures that I have taken and a brief description of them.  I am still absolutely amazed with my Drum, and I am now excitedly waiting for a month for it to dry out so that I can play it!!!
 

 



 

By this stage, we had journeyed to meet the Deer who had gifted it's hide to us, and I had received a message from the Deer for my drum. I had cut out the circle from the centre of the hide, and at this point was (successfully this time!!!) cutting the lacing in one continuous strip like a Mintie wrapper (I was never very good at that and on the first try promptly cut once around the hide and cut my lacing off -d'oh!!!)

 

 

 

 

This is a bit closer up of the lacing that I am creating from the hide. 

 

 

 

 

 

It actually took quite a bit of effort cutting out all that hide! The day was quite physical...

 

 

 

 

There's always room for a little silliness!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Some of the other ladies who didn't want to sit on the floor to do their drum, working on the tables.

 
 

 

This is Di - we shared a table together for our cutting out.  Tracy nicknamed us the "green pants" table...

 

 

 

My pile of lacing and the drum hide.We had punched 24 holes evenly around the edge of the drum so that the lacing could go through.

 

 

I'm starting to lace the drum here.This was really hard to do if you're just one person - I didn't manage it and needed both John and Tracy's help.If you’re doing it yourself, you need to sit on the floor as you need to use both your feet and your hands to hang onto the slippery laces. It turned into a bit of a contortionist effort, but the laces kept slipping away from me!

 

 

Getting closer to the end of the lacing!!!

 

 

 

The lacing’s finished!

 
 
 

 
 

Here I'm tightening and neatening up the laces on the back.  You wind the rest of the lacings around and around, and make a lovely Celtic shape from them.  This helps to keep the drum and the lacing taught. 

 

 

Here's the after photo - the drum's still quite wet, and we're holding it quite carefully!!!  Note it's quite light in colour here...

 

 

The back of the drum when it was still very wet yesterday...

 

This is some of the gorgeous Medicine that Tracy makes. I was really drawn to the smudge fan in the front of the two smudge bowls and so it made its way home with me!!!
 
 
 

 

Tracy has made this gorgeous pouch.  I was really drawn to this too, it's just so lovely and soft. 

 

 

This is my drum today, the morning after the workshop. It's darkening up, and you can see that it's getting tighter as it dries. 

 

 

 

 

The back of my drum today - you can see it's dried out quite a bit already.  It will still take a full month though before I can play it...

And the message from my Deer?  "It's time to let go"...  I have a good idea already of what that will mean for me, and it will be really interesting to see what else comes from that message.  It's really all about the journey that I've been on the past 12 months or so, with some additional connotations.  I understand a couple of them clearly already - now to put them into practice! 

 

I'll let you know how I go...

Says it all really...

Kerrr...................thunk.

Today's Monday, a long weekend Monday.  Nice to have a public holiday this late in the year - something new for us Queenslanders....

This weekend past has been busy.  Mal has been here and has removed 8 out of 9 trees, he'll be back tomorrow to remove # 9, the one that started off this whole process....

In the meantime, I need to whinge....  Really, I do. 

I belong to a website that's all about people doing what they can, saving money, saving resources, just doing the best that they can.  Having said that, there's... well, there's... well.... mixed messages.

Here's some....

"I have spent too much money so what can I do to cut back"
"I bought an XYZ - it will save me so much money"
"I love my routines - it keeps me under control"
"I'm so out of control - what do other mum's do to keep track of things at home"
"Studying - I have so many units to do to keep up with where everyone else is at - how do I catch up"
"I've sent in 6 out of 10 of the units I have to do with my TAFE course"
"I love spending time with my children - we are doing XYZ during the holidays"
"God I wish that others would do what they say they're to do with the kiddies"
"Why am I the only one that thinks of XYZ when the kiddies are going out with their father/grandmother/aunt/uncle etc. that never ever ever has them and probably has zero information about their special needs......"

ARGH!!!!!

Just in case you need more.....

20 mins is the same as weeds pulled, straw for the chickens chucked and collected. Such a small amt of time and stess but makes a huge difference to how it looks out there :)

Nice full garbage bag of clutter removed from my laundry cupboard and 3 whole shelves to go LOL... amazing how much just gets shoved outta the way

Most yard work done in a while LOL... full length of the driveway weeded and rubbish out :D Garden still looks blah but it looks heaps better already

Vines pruned and garden is much more 'light' now :P Full trash bag collected of rubbish from around the yard, 1.5 green bins full and 3/4 recycle bin full :P Yard is looking SOOOOOOO much better!


Seriously - how much can be done in one backyard???????

ARGH!!!

Must have had enough for one day - bed time for moi!!!!!

The Fridge is clean!!! Just the top to do next!!!

I finally got the clean fridge!!!  Woo-hoo!!

 

Just the top to do now!!!!

 

 

 

 

This is the inside of the pantry door now.  Yes, it's got lots of stuff on it, but we use it all.  It's easy to use, conveniently placed and all there so I think it'll be good...

 

 

This is the table after I'd just started with the metho and steel wool.  I did about 3 or 4 goes with the metho/steel wool.  Each time I used a new piece of steel wool and a cloth, and it got progressively cleaner.

 

 

 
Here's the table after I'd sanded it lightly.  We bought a new triangle shaped sander yesterday, which was really good!!!

 

Here's the table with one layer of the shellac on it.  Wow - it was sooooo easy to do the shellac, I can't believe it!  I used a thick terry cloth and just wiped it on.

 

 

We've been doing all sorts of oiling and protecting the timber around here.  Yesterday afternoon I sealed each of the beams here with more decking oil.  They look really good when they're not weathered!!!  This is a job we'll need to do about every 6 months, but we won't need to sand them each time any more...


I reckon I'm going to go and do another coat on the shellac, then I might skive off and go do something more fun for the rest of the afternoon..... 

Fridge Organisation

I promised you that I would show you a little project that I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks now.  Here it is!!!

I got inspiration from the Organised Housewife – where I’ve been following the challenge but haven’t really been doing all the tasks every day that she sets.  Anyway, one of them was to organise the pantry, so that took me a whole Sunday. Then I saw on here website a photo and a post about organising the inside of the pantry door, so I started on that (yes, I know the title of this blog is fridge organisation, NOT pantry door organisation!!!)

The thing I really wanted to achieve was a clean fridge.  God there was so much stuff on it, it was awful.  I’m still a little way from the fridge being clean, but I do have pics of the cork board that I’ve put in the pantry door. 

This is the cork board inside the pantry door.  Not quite finished yet, but you get the idea...

 

 



The other thing we did was de-furminate the kittens.  Wow - lots and lots of fur...  check this out!!!  From two short-haired kittens, that's a lot of fur...   

 

 

 

'tis a lot of fur on two kittens!!!

I'm off to paint the beams on the patio this afternoon, and sand and oil the chairs on the outdoor setting.  Photo's later!!!!

I'm getting a bit enthused about this decluttering and organising business!!!  I didn't declutter the froggie though that we found in one of the chair backs... he got to go and sit in the plants!  If he's still there I'll take a photo...

How did I go???

Not toooooooo bad I guess..... 

Friday

Finish off bookmark & get ready the things that I’m going to send to Corinne
Pick out 5 things to list on Gumtree for sale from the “pile”
Spend 15 minutes decluttering my office desk
Paint the first coat on my clipboards
30 minutes of crochet

Saturday

9.00 am – Sewing
2.00 pm – leave sewing and head home.  Shower and change and go to Brisbane
6.30 pm – TS Norfolk (Navy Cadet) Dining In night at Redland Bay.    (I stayed at mum’s place...)

Sunday

Paint second coat on my clipboards. 
Put up the corkboard & admire the progress!!!
Water the long suffering plants
15 minutes decluttering on my desk
30 minutes of crochet
4.00 pm – Lance & Christine’s for Sunday afternoon “before they go away again to Adelaide for god knows how long” drinks  (This turned into drinks & then dinner at our house...  you get that around here!!!)

What is interesting is that I didn't get the crochet done that I wanted.  I guess part of that is that I wound up with such a sore arm and wrist that I put Nurofen gel on it.  Ouchies!!!

I have just about finished my cork board organisation thingy, and will share it with you soon...  Just a few final touches to go!!!

Have a lovely week everyone - mine is busy, with dinner out tonight, Katie Rose Cottage tomorrow night, a haircut on Thursday night, staying down at Noosa on Friday night, and my brother coming for a visit on Saturday night.... phew!!!

Decluttering musings... it's Friday again!!!

I’m still feeling really good inside about all the work that I did last Sunday on the pantry.  I feel very satisfied each time I open the pantry door and everything is neat and tidy and, more importantly, I can see everything!!!

I had a little surprise this morning – I went to look at our joint bank account and discovered that the interest only period on our home loan had finished, with the result that the loan repayments had increased.  By quite a bit!!!  Ken and I had a chat about it and decided to keep it as principal and interest – the interest rates are quite good at the moment, and we’re going to have to start paying off the principal eventually anyway.  That then led me to do our budget for the house.  Not real hard, and it’s a good opportunity to add in the things that we buy that we haven’t budgeted for, like cat food etc.,  Ooops – better go and put kitty litter in there too!!!

This then got me to thinking about what I’m going to tackle this weekend in the cleaning up/decluttering of the house challenge.  It fits in with my HBDI profile – when I’m under stress, I head from my normal “square, 1 foot in each quadrant” profile to a little less yellow, lots more green (detail) shape.  So it fits perfectly that while I’m a little stressed over other things, I plunge headlong into being organised!!!

So – this weekend, my plan goes like this:

Friday

Hmmmm.... what will I do tonight???
Finish off bookmark & get ready the things that I’m going to send to Corinne
Pick out 5 things to list on Gumtree for sale from the “pile”
Spend 15 minutes decluttering my office desk
Paint the first coat on my clipboards
30 minutes of crochet

Saturday

9.00 am – Sewing
2.00 pm – leave sewing and head home.  Shower and change and go to Brisbane
6.30 pm – TS Norfolk (Navy Cadet) Dining In night at Redland Bay.  Still haven’t decided if I’m staying in Brisbane or coming home!!!  I’m procrastinating because I know I really want to go but I’m a bit afraid of it at the same time... 

Sunday

Paint second coat on my clipboards. 
Put up the corkboard & admire the progress!!!
Water the long suffering plants
15 minutes decluttering on my desk
30 minutes of crochet
4.00 pm – Lance & Christine’s for Sunday afternoon “before they go away again to Adelaide for god knows how long” drinks

Whatever you have planned this weekend, I hope it’s a lovely, productive one.  The sun is shining here, and it’s likely that it will continue to do so over the weekend with only a slim chance of some showers on Saturday.  Hopefully on Tuesday the prediction by the Bureau of Meteorology of rain will come true!!!

Organising - it's time to get back to it...

I've kind of been following an organising challenge from The Organised Housewife.  I signed up, I get the e-mails, and I've done a few things but that's been about it...

Friday I was looking at the website, and they had some lovely fun looking things to try, and they revolved around the pantry.  Kinda handy, because Thursday's (I think) challenge was to declutter the pantry.  So - I decided that today would be the day...

I got up sorta early and had a cup of tea and got stuck into it.  Nearly forgot to take the "before" photo's!!!

A before photo

Close up of the main shelves...

The "in progress" shot...  note that I have two bins operating here!!!

The "after and God help anyone who messes it up" photo...



4 bags of rubbish departed that pantry.  Gosh, you can hardly see where it went from.  Still, it's a lot neater, I know what's in there, and it's the first step of many in my attempt to organise (but more importantly KEEP it organised) my house...

I bought some things to help me keep organised in the grocery buying and note keeping stakes, I'll post that soon.