My home is a mess

jpscloud

Emm, a jay - fantastic! They are so impressive aren't they? I've got a lot of juvenile birds fattening up for winter on fatballs and peanuts - long tailed tits, blue tits, sparrows and on the nyger seeds, goldfinch youngsters.

I'm very envious of your butterflies! It's a shame the weather's turned a bit cool and windy here - the butterflies were just starting to appear in the warmer weather but no sign of them today.

I managed to hoover this morning, but I did it sitting down (scooted round on a footstool!) and kept stopping for a rest. It really had to be done as my cat has had a second moult and with the dust of several weeks' accumulation, it was awful. It looks great now.

It did knock me out but I am definitely on the mend. I know it'll take another week or two before I am able to do as much as before I became ill, but I am going to do just little jobs, as much as I can without setting myself back.

Emm-in-a-pickle

Hi Messies!
JPS, I`m glad to hear you sounding so much better - I have this lovely mental image of you scooting around on a footstool with your hoover that made me chuckle, but, hey, if it worked and made the task a bit easier, good for you!
Re the jay, it was great to see this one ?coming back, as we once had a whole family of them visiting! Three juveniles and the parents, seen regularly in the apple trees where the feeders are and on the ground beneath. Think they must have nested very near or even in the garden, probably in the `plum forest` that is now impenetrable! (This year a family of magpies nested there and were very visible - and very noisy!)
I was a bit worried that they might be robbing other nests, but they have to feed their babies too, and we have to live with the fact.
YL - While you`re at it, I need a Stern Word about tidying my bedroom as well....

I`ve been MIA for a couple of days - just had a birthday & a bit of doldrum-gloom about it (daft!) and we decided to shake out of routine and go Exploring Abroad... we live in Wales, quite close to the border, so not too much mileage involved! Had a grand tour of charity shops in a couple of little Cheshire towns & a Shropshire market town as well. Oh what an exiting life I lead! (And I did have a lovely birthday as well!)
I`ve also been in touch with Work -
Lovely chat with ward sister, re my return (phased) - as from Sunday I`m `officially back`, but only 15 hours, and going in Tuesday morning to see her & work out how the rest of the weeks will pan out. I am SO looking forward to getting back to "normal" - ie, looking forward to next days off! I told Sister that & she laughed!

Two things very noticeable in our recent wanderings `abroad`, were Butterflies & Carrier Bags:
Driving along various roads, some quiet, some quite busy, in mostly rural areas, LOADS of butterflies around, mainly white but can`t ID whilst driving! Just hope the car didn`t hit any.
Carrier bags - for quite a while now legislation by the Welsh Assembly banning shops from giving out free carrier bags has been in place here in Wales. And we`ve all got used to it, most folks take a variety of shopping bags with them or if caught without BUY a re-usable carrier bag. So I was quite surprised at how many times I was automatically given (and refused) a free carrier bag in shops across the border! Even charity shops!! I had a large Asda shopping bag- black cloth foldy thing, that they could plainly see wasn`t full, and OH was carrying another Tesco shopping bag.
I know many people use the flimsy plastic carrier bags as rubbish bags, as I used to, but I now use bread bags, pierced by kitchen door handle & hung on the handle. It`s no hardship, and I felt not so much virtuous for refusing the free bags as annoyed that they are still being so thoughtlessly dished out!!! It may seem a little thing but put them all together and it makes a huge impact. I heard that Scottish parliament are soon banning free carrier bags, and think it`s about time they got on with it in England too.
Rant over.
I`m experimenting with curry again tonight, as I had a load of spices & dahl as one pressie, and a big pot of herbs as another... good excuse to ignore upstairs again.
Have a good day all. x

YORKSHIRELASS

Sorry Emm, my stern words have failed miserably with the kids so I am not going to bother any more. Maybe asking nicely is the way to go!

Oh I hate carrier bags. I got an Asda shop delivered this week and was horrified by the number of bags they used! I hate it when shops automatically put the one thing you have bought in a bag when you clearly dont need it.

So tired tonight, its been a really busy week and its only Wednesday! Trying to juggle work and lots of stuff the kids have been up to. I am off to bed soon.

jpscloud

Happy belated birthday Emm! I'm glad you had a nice time - these days I am completely unashamed about not doing "going out" or "partying" and instead doing what feels natural and comfortable. I am also able to say "no" (politely and diplomatically of course) to things I don't want to do.

There are loads more white butterflies around Cheshire this year, apparently elsewhere too. One of the experts on a forum I visit said it's because white butterflies tend to be more mobile and cover larger areas than other types, so if they're having a good year you'll see a lot more of them.

I've seen some lovely peacock butterflies today too, they're just starting to appear here. Haven't seen a comma yet, but I haven't spent as much time in the garden as I would have liked.

Today was strange health wise. The cough is much better, but I still have the odd coughing fit. I woke up this morning to a bit of vertigo, which I've had before, and is understandable after this virus, so it doesn't worry me - but then I just couldn't wake up and ended up going back to bed and sleeping all day.

Whatever the reason, it can't be that bad because I got up at about 5.30 and ate a goodly amount of home grown new potatoes, home grown runner beans (from mum) and some slow-cooked brisket from the freezer. Yum!

I'm still feeling "ill" as it were - weak and pathetic. However... I'm now at the stage where I can enjoy things again, albeit at a much slower pace. I'm not getting my summer projects done, but in fairness I probably wouldn't have got most of them done even if I'd been well!

Emm, enjoy your last few days before the madness resumes... hope the weather is nice for you!

Hope all messies are well and happy - take care everyone!

Fruball

Hello Messies :hello:

Not sure if I am remembered on this thread as I am more of a lurker than a poster but.... drum roll please.... my hallway and stairs are.... immaculate!!!

Living room is work in progress but 60% there! Kitchen is always up and down and bedrooms still awful but the hall and stairs.... WOW!

I cannot take all the credit though. One very good friend came to have the children for me one morning whilst I was working and pulled out literally everything from every corner of the living room and dumped it in the middle of the room!!! She apologised for trashing the house lol! BUT I knew she was helping (she is a major hoarder) and she most certainly did! Even I couldn't live with it like that, and I certainly wasn't about to put it all back so I have had to deal with it

Hall and stairs; another friend offered to come and help and between us we got it completely cleared! I bought a new vacuum today and the stairs look new

I am definitely inspired to get this house sorted asap

I have been offered help from a few friends but always said no as I was embarrassed. I wish I had accepted the help a long time ago so, if any of you are offered help, please accept it and let your friends do what they want to do, which is to help you

Love to all messies xx

alec_eiffel

Well done for accepting the help and getting stuff done Fruball, it's a big step and I take my hat off to you!

There are a ton of butterflies at the minute, we drove the "nice" way to MILs the other night and the amount of butterflies and sparrows trying to fling themselves into the car was amazing. Haven't seen so many of either for years.

Having a big push and a putter today. DH finishes work for 10 days today so I'm preparing a load of food for the freezer, getting all the laundry and housework done and generally getting everything ready so I don't have to think about it while we're on not-holiday. Tomorrow we're having a set up day where we're going to clean the car, go shopping and get any other bits and bobs done so everything is in order. Then it's time to relax.

Have a good day everyone.

sonastin

It is official. My Home Is A Mess. Again.

Work is really manic at the moment. We've got a couple of major projects on and its a real "all hands to the pump" scenario. I was being all smug that I'm only having 3 days of leave in the midst of it when everyone else was confessing to taking a fortnight off but it turns out I've managed to pick 3 days in the most critical period of it all! Which means that I've been working late at the office, getting home and making dinner and then getting the laptop out after dinner and carrying on till bedtime. Cleaning very much takes a back seat!

Only problem is that we were behind on cleaning before it all kicked off at work because we'd been away and/or demessying the garden for the preceding couple of weekends so the house is truly filthy now. Despite me telling OH I'd have to work over the weekend, he declared that we had to clean the house. I've agreed I'll do the bathroom because I have long hair that gets everywhere and gives him the heebie-jeebies but he's going to have to do everything else because I'm swamped. I haven't done my bit yet but nor has he done his. But he does keep telling me how filthy the house is!

We're off to Germany for a long weekend away as of tomorrow so that'll be a good chance to wind down and forget work. And have someone else make my dinner for a few days! There is that little bit of me that wants to clean the house before we go but I might just conquer that urge. Might do the bathroom though!

Emm-in-a-pickle

Hi Messies!

YL - I`ve tried `asking myself nicely`, that didn`t work either!

JPS - OH has seen a couple of peacocks and a comma, also a ringlet - I`ve only seen the one peacock and that was today! I`m glad to hear your appetite is picking up, but most of all I want to say WELL DONE YOU - for having the wisdom to rest when you need to and accept that you can`t do Everything!
Just feeling better is a bonus, and being able to enjoy some of the stuff that you can do without overdoing it!

Fruball - of course we remember you, and nice to hear from you again -especially with so much de-messying to report! A bit of help from one`s friends ( or family, anyone!!) goes a long way. I am open to such offers, but not getting trampled in the rush....

Alec E - enjoy your `not-holiday` and the anticipation of it too. Sounds lovely!

Sonastin - I`d be telling OH if he`s that bothered about messy status he should have made a start while you`ve been so overwhelmed with work! Enjoy your visit to Germany and remember not only will the messiness keep, but it won`t get any worse while you aren`t there to add to it.

I`ve completely fallen off the wagon with my `use up freezer` mission, got a load of YS meat &fishes at Mr M`s, and I`ve had to do an urgent freezer tetris to accommodate. Back to Square One - naughty Emm!!

jpscloud

Welcome back Fruball, yes I remember you! Well done on your de-messying :T

Alec I love the sound of your not-holiday. I'm just starting to feel well enough now to enjoy my own version of not-holiday which involves pottering in the garden and doing bits of washing but mostly watching butterflies, and birds on the feeders :cool:

Sonastin enjoy Germany! Don't worry about the mess, as we always say, it'll be there when you get back and it's not worth exhausting yourself before you get away.

Emm I feel so much better today, not sure why I was so out of it yesterday but I must have needed that sleep. I slept through the night too!

I'm actually amazed at how much I've done considering how weak I've been. I've pottered in the garden - I had two giant tubs to make mini water gardens with, and finally found the time to put those in place and fill them up. I've got a mature pre-formed pond, but it has goldfish in and I wanted to have some water bodies for aquatic insects to live without hassle from fish. I'm secretly hoping for damselflies, but might be a bit late for them this year.

I've started something now, I just want more and more water garden pots! I keep drooling over google images of ceramic pots as mini water gardens.

I'm still too weak to do housework :cool: honest!

Edit: Latest butterfly news - a red admiral, first of the year!

Emm-in-a-pickle

Hi Messies!

JPS - I`m having to do the very opposite to your `mini-ponds` - I have to go around emptying any tubs etc., after we`ve had rain, because my dear old Daftie-dog seems to prefer the contents to fresh water in a clean bowl! If there are `Things living in it, Basil` it doesn`t put her off, and the smellier, slimier, the better she seems to like it. If I don`t interfere with these microcosms she will ingest them anyway, then puke and poop... I`m just cutting out the middleman. I`m just glad there are folks who are able to do natural stuff I can`t. There are some very damp mossy patches(OH is into mosses) in the plum `forest` beyond Daftie`s reach (and mine, to be honest!), and this area may be home to lots of critters - we have seen quite a few blue damselflies earlier on at start of `heatwave`, but whether they were resident or just passing through we`ve no idea.
I`m also really glad to hear you sound so much better, but still take it gently, OK? Garden potterings is one thing, but heaving furniture about and scrubbing behind/beneath is another!!
(PS - OH saw a willow warbler this morning, hopping on the heap of mega privet cuttings. That`s a first here)

Messy Status report -
I made some `spag bol` type sauce the other day, using up a load of tomatoes, peppers, did a big roasting tin full of roast veg/olive oil - DGD had hers veggie, with spaghetti and I made lamb meatballsd and cooked them in the sauce for the rest of us. OH & I ate ours, went to bed early and left DS to get his later - and DGD having `seconds` later too. State of kitchen this am was somewhat Spattered... I have dealt with it, and am now calm.