My home is a mess

jpscloud

Hi messies, first week over... and it's an 8 week half term this year so feels like a long haul. 5am starts are quite a challenge after being off for six weeks as well! I've had a great week work wise, the kids were lovely (if a bit lively and cheeky but they ARE kids after all :cool:)

I have been lurking but not posting, please accept my continued apologies for not responding to posts. I am laughing and crying with all of the ups and downs and loving the cat pics. I'm a rubbish photographer so unlikely to produce anything discernably a cat, but I will have a go maybe!

I think this weekend will be the last blast of summer, so I was up at 8, sorted bedroom out (not a deep clean but a quick tidy up and bed changed), washing on, lawnmower unearthed with a nifty game of shed tetris, and I'm going to garden for England today! I'm out tomorrow, but hope to get a fair bit done today.

Welcome new messies, well done with that weight off snookey, I have stayed the same for a couple of weeks after losing half a stone - at least it's not going back on! Must have another bash.

Ok off to get the front bit of grass mowed now. See you in a few mins (I have to rest every few minutes in order to keep going through the day).

Edit: Emm, I have some sedums just coming into flower and they're covered in bees and insects of all colours! Was also watching the bird feeders when a sparrowhawk decided to try its chances, but it missed - I always think "whew" but then I don't want the sprawk to starve either - very ambivalent of me! A juvenile goldfinch has taken up residence on the nyger feeder now so they're not too upset.

gettingready

One load of washing done and hang outside (my bedding - sleeping with 4 cats and a dog means needs to be washed /changed every week LOL)

Onother load in the w/m.

Washing up done.

On to litter boxes (complete change/disinfect/clean/put new litter in), dog's bowls (standing ones, few parts to it, need to wash all).

Sigh.....

Have to get all ok-ish by 1:30 as a friend is coming.... Hmmmm

Beter get my skates on

Emm-in-a-pickle

Welcome, Lavandula. I always find piles of crumbs & grot, when I have the time to go looking for them. And I`m not even going to mention dust buffaloes today!
Wilf - I love that "some of everything but nothing finished"!
Bearcub - glad Star is getting a bit more confident - she looks so fragile next to Garfield, but they (like us) all have different personalities. Speaking of longevity, we had a b/w cat who made it to 19 (Ozzie, she was DS`s first cat and he`s been a cat person ever since). Re work - today was strenuous, so I was glad of the early finish,
but it isn`t always strenuous. And even when it is, like today, and the patients are lovely (like today) you do get a buzz - it`s just vital to get a proper break as well, 2 days off is that little desert island to swim for - one day off is no use to man or beast!
Snookey - good to hear from you! Well done on the weight loss & the tidiness. I`m quite envious (on both counts!)
Sassia, well done. At the moment there`s not a single room here that I can say looks lovely. Nearest thing to a de-clutter I`ve had today was doing a wet shave this morning... dear old chap doesn`t quite look lovely, but no longer looks like Desperate Dan!
YL - It`s all go up there by the sounds of it. I`m glad your son`s tutor sounds like she`s hitting the right notes, also glad your dad`s diagnosis & treatment are early - it`s when they`re left that they`re nasty...and remember, when you`re planning about your new job - don`t let them make you take on more than you are happy with.
GR - don`t stress about getting your place perfect - with your lovely animals I`m sure your visitor won`t notice anything else!
BB - meal plans are a biggie for me too. I seldom manage to plan a complete week though, I tend to lurch from 3 or 4 days at a time to the next few days...and then often change to `plan B`!
Alec Eiffel - bits of hay are the redeeming feature of tidyness...
JPS - Don`t worry about the lurking, you always make up for it with a lovely post when you can. I`m glad your week went well, now ENJOY your weekend! Sounds to me like you`ve earned it. Re the sparrowhawk - OH saw one take a goldfinch in our garden a couple of days ago. The feeders were deserted for a short time, but then back to business as usual. When OH went out to re-fill the feeders later, he found the sad remains (mostly wings & tail) with our cat proudly standing over it as if she was responsible. As if! (She only catches & persecutes small rodents.)
My triffids (nasturtiums) are beginning to choke some nearby nettles now. I have great hopes of taking over the world...well, my little patch of it... I gathered lots of seeds yesterday, and will try to gather more when I get a chance.
I`m off for a quick potter before I start cooking. Early night tonight before my 2 long days. Enjoy the weekend gfolks, and the weather while it lasts.xx

Sassia

Thanks Emm. It's only because I've had last week (and next week) off work that I've managed to get as much done. I normally leave the house at 7.30am and get home 6.30pm-ish. That leaves precious little time to get anywhere looking nice so Sunday is my usual mad, housework rush day. Hopefully we will keep it nice and clean now with just a few minutes each day.

Emm-in-a-pickle

Sassia, I know what you mean - a `holiday` means a chance to clean/de-clutter etc., try to get on top of things. I`ve got a week off in 2 weeks` time, once again making mental lists of the wonders I shall perform.. and any progress I do manage to make I`ll try to keep on top of - for a bit. In this household I`ve come to realise that I just have to prioritise, and that it`ll very soon get trashed unless I nag/rant/growl constantly. I don`t have the energy for that though. That`s why I`m here - a Messy!

Sassia

lol same here! I've also found that where you live play a huge part. When we lived in a 2 bed, new build, 1st floor flat, it was spotless and took no time at all to get all showhomey. Since moving to a 1920s, 3 bed semi, I seem completely unable to keep up.

jpscloud

Emm hope your long shifts go well, good luck!

I managed to get most of the garden done but the "wooded end" (aka piles of leylandii brushwood and two years' growth of weeds!!) is still very wildlife friendly, if you take my meaning.

I am truly knackered now.. just had tea (fish fingers and savoury rice) and am going to crash upstairs with the lappy (so will still be lurking).

YORKSHIRELASS

Well done on the gardening JPS. Like you I decided this lovely weather cant last forever and had a bit of a blitz yesterday. My Cosmos I proudly grew from seed have grown to about 4 foot tall and have about 6 flowers on the whole bed. They look a nightmare and I really need to pull them up but decided to leave them a bit longer in the end. Oh and Emm I love Nasturtiums, remind me of being little for some reason and I like things that run a bit wild!

Well today I did yet more washing and ironing, some baking, a general tidy and hoover and made chilli for tea. Need to be up early for the kids footie tomorrow so it wont be a late night.

bearcub

Evening Messies.

BB, we never meal plan - well, rarely more than two days ahead. OH does all the cooking, and we make sure that we keep a fair amount of meat in the freezer, and veg in the fridge, andm, being retired, we can manage fine. DD1 works full-time, and plans a week at a time (she posts on the meal plan thread) - I admire her greatly, because I've never done that in my whole married life of 38 years!

Emms, I hope the rota is much better for you now. I can see that a single day off isn't much good for catching up with anything except, maybe, the basics.

Jps, I hope your gardening was very therapeutic after your first week back. Personally, I can't see that any kids are lovely en masse, butif we all liked the same thing, the umemployment levels would be even higher than they are!

GR, don't let yourself get too down about the perceived mess; if you had it all under control, you wouldn't be on here! And I hope you had an enjoyabe time with your friend.

YL, well done on the domesticity front. Baking is the only type of cooking I've ever enjoyed, apart from jam-making, and I don't do any of the latter, and a minimum of the former nowadays.

Sassia, our 3-bed semi was never very clean or tidy, because we much preferred gardening, and we had a big garden. We had the two DDs at home, too, for most of our time there. Now we have a small bungalow, which should be fairly easy to keep clean, but is rarely tidy nor, for that matter, very clean, simply because there are so many other things I'm involved in. I do get cleaning and tidying 'urges' occasionally, though, so take advantage when they occur!

Alec e, hay, straw and woodshavings are now part of the general decoration in our house. I've mostly given up.

Today, I cleaned paw prints off various bits of furniture, dusted and polishing as I went, changed the bedding on our bed and put the bedding in the WM for tomorrow. Spent a fair amount of time in the garden with OH, then by myself, trimming back a jasmine, so that OH could repair the arch on which it was climbing. Mum came over for a while to see the cats. At 83, she got down on the floor, even got shy Star to come to her and rub round her, then got up again with no help from me. Hope I'm that fit when I get into my 80s!

Emm-in-a-pickle

Good Morning everyone! I`m feeling quite good this am, partly because I was asleep by 9.30 last night, partly with a back-to-normal (!) feeling. Almost enthusiastic even...
Have a good Sunday Messies xx