My home is a mess

EstherH

Hi all, thanks for asking how I'm getting on Buddingblond.

Well, I'm carrying on throwing a few things out at a time. Have gone through the magazine rack and got rid of a pile of stuff, also some letters etc., but really it is like a drop in the ocean with them. I have bills and bank statements going back two decades. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't be doing anything because what I am doing seems so minute, but somehow, I think that it can make a difference. I heard a story once about a lot of crabs washed up on shore and a young boy throwing them one by one back into the sea. A man came by and asked why he was bothering as he couldn't make a difference, there were so many. The boy carried on throwing them back and said "it made a difference to that one...and that one...and that one".

Keep going everyone. And thank you. Esther

laurel7172

Been to college this afternoon.

It has just struck me how much coursework I have to hand in over the next month (and haven't done while I've been chopping out tree roots over the holidays).

Panic is beginning to set in.

Still, with the long weekend, and DD studying for her GCSEs, I think we're both up for a four day lock-in...no excuses.

Gulp.

snookey

Hi kt welcome and thanks for the inspiring words.
Parsnip stop ,slow down. I forgot to mention that I threw out a bag full of pillows that were past their best ,thanks to oh sweaty head,lol. Thought Id get that in incase I forget that Im now, a domestic goddess,lol.

*KT*

laurel7172 wrote: »

Been to college this afternoon.

It has just struck me how much coursework I have to hand in over the next month (and haven't done while I've been chopping out tree roots over the holidays).

Panic is beginning to set in.

Still, with the long weekend, and DD studying for her GCSEs, I think we're both up for a four day lock-in...no excuses.

Gulp.

Laurel, I'm right there with you. I'm half way through second (final) year of my course and I know I have 1 and half things still to hand in from first year. That is just scary. But I will catch up, little by little and I will graduate on time in November. I can't really afford not to now.

Do you find that you some times feel stuck between a rock and a hard place? When you're doing course work you feel you should be tidying up or doing any of a hundred other things and feel bad for not working whenever you're doing anything else? That's my problem, trying to find both motivation and balance.

soupdragon10

Ester I know exactly what you mean about the endless official paperwork. I managed to break an electric paper shredder (think it gave up with all the paper I was putting through it). Why do they send endless advertising with bank statements - I really need to sign up to not receive junk mail as well. Best of luck with your paper mountain.

Ellie83

Awww KT, that is such a lovely message, thank you so much! It's the first time I got called a domestic goddess

I'm a student too, finishing my second year. And I feel guilty when I don't do housework because I feel I should. DH is working to support me through uni and my little student job doesn't pay for much, so I feel like I should "repay" him by giving him a perfect house He never asks for anything though, it is just me placing silly expectations on how our home should look

Taliahmai

Good morning guys n gals How we all feeling today? Ive actually woke up in a good mood and feeling quite positive, i didnt get anything done last night as i was been taumented by the BIGGEST spider ever....i swear it was almost as big as me lol. I ended up calling my neighbour at 10.30pm and getting her to come save me lol. Im such a wimp!

Anyhow, plan of action for me today is my dreaded kitchen, living room is still quite tidy so just going to give that a quick once over before my girls get out of bed. I start an open uni course in sept and im hoping to have my house gutted and clean, upstairs and down, before i start so i can hopefully do both in tandem

Hope you all have a great day x

Taliahmai

Also....what do you guys use for cleaning your bathroom /kitchen? My cupboard under the sink is bursting with all different kinds of cleaning product of some kind or another....i want to condense it right down as i have a big issue with space.....so what would you guys reccomend as a must have?

Ellie83

Taliahmai wrote: »

Also....what do you guys use for cleaning your bathroom /kitchen? My cupboard under the sink is bursting with all different kinds of cleaning product of some kind or another....i want to condense it right down as i have a big issue with space.....so what would you guys reccomend as a must have?

I have one single product for the whole house: white vinegar and water, with some essential oils ! It's harmless, effective, cheap and green (I have to confess to having a bottle of bleach in the cupboard for when people are sick )

What are you studying with the OU Taliahmai? I am going to try to start a maths course, their equivalent to AS level, but I wonder if I am clever enough to succeed

GreyQueen

Thanks for the collective compliment *KT* it's made me grin. I haven't got the excuse of OH or kiddies to tend, just me, a job and a lottie (and ME/CFS) and a magpie mind which is easily distracted. Oooooo, something shiny! A new website! More MSE!

Ahem. Please excuse me. I didn't manage to seduce the postie yesterday. In fact, I have never even seen our postie who may be, but probably isn't, lovelier than Brad Pitt, as he arrives about midday and I'm either at work or out and about doing stuff.

Didn't do the washing up either. And now there's more.:o

On the upside, the bin men have BEEN and a couple of freecycle pickups are nestling in the cupboard to be collected.

The list of not-done-housework expands daily as I have an allotment and it's a busy time of the year. Although, in all fairness, I must vacuum the living room as it's getting to the state whereby it's a toss up if I should vac or rake the rugs........:o

Taliahmai I have kept house in a laconic but sanitary sort of way for about 30 years and my weapons are; washing up liquid for anything which can be done with detergent and hot soapy water, cream cleanser (Tesco Basics is 32p and every bit as good as the pricer stuff), soda crystals (heavy duty degreasant for vile jobs plus chucking down the drain followed by boiling water if it gets too manky), an anti-limescale toilet cleaner, a bottle of emergency bleach, little used but handy to have by me.

Other than that, it's soapy water and newspaper for windows, microfibre cloths and water for mirrors, sugar soap solution to wash really mucky walls or painting prep and that, my lovely, is that.

Also, provided the moon is in the correct phase, I have been known to do something called, if memory serves, DUSTING. 'Tis important to do this after vacuuming and with a damp cloth or you are just re-arranging the wretched stuff.

Best cleaning product isn't in a bottle; it's the circular dusting brush on the vacuum cleaner.

Homework; There's an American cleaning guru called Don Aslett and I highly recommend his books on decluttering etc- funny as well as practical- and he has one called something like How to Make your House Do the Housework. It's in my local library, maybe in yours? All about designing out the dreaded stuff.

Remember, if you haven't got it, you don't have to clean it and I must rush off to www.missminimalist blog in order to gird my loins for another lot of decluttering.

PS You should always have a pile of rags somewhere. You don't have to actually use them but it's evidence of the proper housewifely demeanour and useful to have should a MIL call your bluff one day.