My home is a mess

Cat501

tata well done!! Fantastic news!!:T:j

welcome lizzie - that sounds like a long day! Look forward to hearing from you later

sonastin, you know what I would love? A utility/laundry room, and one that was big enough to leave the ironing board up all the time. Such a faff getting it out!!

BB that was a lot of work!! You definitely deserved to chill out after all that, hope you found something good to watch! I'm trying to get to grips with my hall again too. One of the first and best bits of advice I got on here was to start there x

bearcub, thank you x I ended up having a couple of slices of DS's pizza - stuffed crust too - so the diet starts again today! It'll need to before I go to my friend's house for dinner and drinks tomorrow night and ruin it all again:rotfl:

tatabubbly

No decluttering done today, it's off for celebratory liquid lunch and a spot of shopping for new work clothes.. Need to do all of this cos I'm not off until next week at my current job and I'm waiting to hear on a start date for my job.

jpscloud

Well done tata, brilliant! :j:beer::j

Welcome Lizzie, lovely to have a new messy to share ups and downs with!

Bearcub, I start off being all very professional like, using the right brush/roller for the right place and so on, even using masking tape - but after about half an hour I'm sweating, cursing, covered in paint, and throw paint at anything that doesn't move out of the way quick enough in the hopes that it will get done before I lose the will to live!

Last time I did any painting, my neighbour asked me why I just didn't get a white cat in the first place!! :rotfl: (she is white and grey but was considerably more white after an encounter with the emulsion roller tray )

Just hopping in to say hi this morning, as I'm trying to keep going, am reading but apologies for not mentioning everyone's news or acknowledging posts etc. - I will catch up later!

alec_eiffel

I'm about to start painting again too. I'm not very good at it and can't concentrate on it for any longer than 72 minutes but I've found that babystepping it is ok and a better way for me to get things done. I've learned to make sure I stop before I'm too bored to do the cleaning up. Then I just wrap the brush in clingfilm and it's good to use the next day.

Today I have started rearranging the kitchen. I don't know how much I'll chuck away, although I've found some old recipe sheets and leaflets we don't need.

sonastin

Tip from OH re: painting... cover the roller tray in a plastic bag (one without holes) and then pour the paint onto the bag. When you're done, peel the bag off turning it inside out and voila - no need to clean tray. If you're stopping part way through, peel the bag partway back to cover the paint and seal it off somehow (he seems to tuck the loose ends underneath or stick an elastic band on them). It would appear that the paint doesn't dry out too much, but that might be dependent on how much paint he leaves in the tray. At this point it becomes apparent that I am not permitted to do any of the painting in our house.
Tip from sonastin re: painting... find a man-who-can who is also a perfectionist and then demonstrate that you can't live up to his standards, thus making it all his responsibility :rotfl:

Tata- awesome news on the job. Good luck with it when it starts :T

Lizzie - welcome. You don't need to go all the way back to the beginning unless you really feel the need. I know I'd lose interest if I had to read 1000+ posts. Just pull up a pew, chuck whatever is on top of it onto the floor and join in with the chaos. We forgive mess and encourage de-messying. But only to the extent that you want the encouragement. Otherwise we'll tell you how OK it is to live with the mess - after all, we all do it!

alec - 72 minutes sounds like an awful long time to me. I think I could just about manage 7.2 minutes. As long as there was time for a tea-break included in there (see above info on my input into painting )

jpscloud

sonastin wrote: »

Tip from OH re: painting... cover the roller tray in a plastic bag (one without holes) and then pour the paint onto the bag. When you're done, peel the bag off turning it inside out and voila - no need to clean tray. If you're stopping part way through, peel the bag partway back to cover the paint and seal it off somehow (he seems to tuck the loose ends underneath or stick an elastic band on them). It would appear that the paint doesn't dry out too much, but that might be dependent on how much paint he leaves in the tray. At this point it becomes apparent that I am not permitted to do any of the painting in our house.

Ooh thanks sonastin (and Mr sonastin!) That is an excellent tip and I shall use it.

sonastin wrote: »

Tip from sonastin re: painting... find a man-who-can who is also a perfectionist and then demonstrate that you can't live up to his standards, thus making it all his responsibility :rotfl:

If only!! I pride myself on being a resourceful singleton but sometimes I would just love to defer to someone much more competent!

alec_eiffel

Well, if I don't do some of the painting then it won't get done. I'm a housewife so it's part of my job to do it, I really really want it to be done so I just have to push through it. Takes me ages but it's getting there. I never need to clean the paint tray though as I just use the paint straight out of the tin!

bearcub

Afternoon Messies.

Well done, tata! :T You see they did need a scientist, and you were obviously the right one!

Welcome, lizzie! As sonastin says, we'll encourage you, but never judge you for not de-messying. As you'll see when you read, we're about a lot more than just clearing the house. I've not been on here all that long myself, and it's a lovely thread.

Do you know, jps, I thought for a mo that I was on the wrong forum, when you said you were just hopping in. The other forum I'm on is known as the Bunnies. How often do I type 'Afternoon Bunnies', then have to change it! The cats we've had were always good at getting white streaks, especially the non-hunters, that always stayed closer to home. I'm not keen on painting - that sort, anyway. I start off ok, then find myself getting messy, and I get fed up with it.

Our previous house always had papered walls, and OH hated wallpapering. The walls here are nearly all plaster/painted, so he's a lot more enthusiastic about re-decorating now. For some reason, part of the lounge wall still has paper so, next time we plant to decorate, assuming DD2 and her bf sort themselves out, we'll ask bf to come and re-plaster that wall, since that's his trade.

Alec, I can understand that you want the painting done, so you feel you should do it, but you feel as if you have to do the painting cos you're a housewife? :eek: Or did I misunderstand?

Sonastin, my OH feels he has to put the ironing board away, too, when I've finished, although that may be because it's usually right by the door into the conservatory. Maybe he thinks he'll knock it over. Mind you, we keep the ironing board in the garage, so I'm more than happy to let him clear it aways. :)

Not sure about the de-messying chez bear today. Went riding this morning, and had a small argument with Big Bear (our horse), which I eventually won, but my legs ache as a result. Have picked the raspberries and tomatoes, and deadheaded the roses. Have done one clothes wash, and washed two saddle cloths. The latter take ages to dry, so a warm sunny and breezy day like today is ideal. When OH goes out, I'll probably get the vac out - so much easier when he's not indoors.

alec_eiffel

No, you haven't misunderstood. I do the painting because I'm at home and it means we don't have to spend holidays and weekends inside painting and playing with drills when we could be at the beach or doing something less dull.

When I stopped working it was our agreement, we talk and negotiate things but yeah, I'm a housewife so I do things in the house. Dh goes out and earns cash I stay at home and do stuff. I get the best deal as I get to choose what I want to do and when, he has to wear a suit and deal with people.

DH does stuff I don't like doing - washing up in the evening, clearing the sink, doing the recycling plus reaching high up spaces and painting ceilings and I do the nice things like making the place look good, spending hours on the internet and making quilts. There would be no point to me being at home if I didn't have stuff to do.

bearcub

Ah, I understand better now, alec. I thought you were implying that painting the house is part of a (ie any) housewife's 'duties', but it's actually that you're at home all day, so you are able to do it, and feel therefore you should. We've always shared, too. I hate cooking meals, but I always did so during the week when OH was working, then he'd often cook at weekends. Coming upto retirement, he worked 6 months part-time, and I was working part-time, too. Whichever of us was home first cooked the dinner. Now, he does the lot. :) I was a housewife for about 8 years after having the DDs, but got bored. Loads of hobbies, just missed conversation about things other than kids - no computer in those days! My brain needed exercise, so I got a part-time job. Strange when, like you, I could choose what and when to do anything. Didn't suit me, but it's ok here. I can always go for a walk by the sea!