My home is a mess

Emm-in-a-pickle

Bailey`sBabe- welcome back!
Gilly, sounds like you`re doing really well all round - but Flylady scares me!!
Re the debt thing - I`ve always done as my parents did, which was make do & manage without taking on a debt, scrimp like mad and save up to buy the needed item, and/or make do with second-hand. Like my parents, the only real debt we had was the mortgage, but that was considered better than paying rent & just part of cost of living.
I did get a credit card a few years ago, but that was for `online` shopping, mostly stuff that you can`t wander round the high street & find, and that gets paid each month by Direct Debit if I`ve used it.
Re Science - I always loved Biology & Chemistry right from the start. Geology is another fascination. But Physics always creeps in somewhere in all the sciences, and that`s the bit that spooks me!
Bearcub - my 13 & half hour days really aren`t so bad, it`s only when you get a run of them and some short shifts too that they are killers! We DO get 2 half-hour paid breaks, plus 2 20-minute unpaid breaks, (enough to top up caffeine & nicotine levels!!) and the advantage is being `on the case` with patients for their entire day - NOT having to spend chunks of the day giving or receiving `handover` reports except first thing then last thing at night. We have been told that the shift times are changing soon, there`s a plan to end the day shifts at 8pm instead of 9, and that will be very welcome if/when it happens!
Messy Status report -
Yesterday I did a quick `2 bags of stuff` (rubbish & laundry) upstairs, but no real impact..
Then I had a blitz on the kitchen windowsills & worktops. SO many small cluttery things, & so much Grime on them & under them. I spent hours washing, sorting & chucking stuff, so much work in such a small space....is this what we call `baby steps`?! My kitchen is really small anyway, but my working space was much smaller than it could be because of the clutter. Because I love experimenting with food I`m a sucker for buying spices/spice mixes and whacky sauces...then because they`re stacked 3 or 4 deep on the worktop corner I can`t find what I`m after, so end up buying more...the actual cupboards are like someone said about wardrobes - full of `stuff` that isn`t getting used!
So, this morning I`ve made a start there again, cleared a load of stuff out of one cupboard, and taken out a drawer to sort in comfort with a coffee! The kitchen looks bigger & lighter already, and I feel I`m getting somewhere.

alec_eiffel

Hi Emm, i don't know if you have space on the back of any of your cupboard doors but a hanging accessories holder or hanging shoe rack with clear pockets are good for storing spices. I have loads of spices and keep them on a set of those expanding shelves, makes things really easy to find and you can get a lot into a small space but as they're stepped nothing gets lost. It was the best thing when we had a teeny kitchen.

I think people make Flylady more complex than it needs to be. when it comes down to it the system is -

declutter in 15 minute sessions

have a routine you do last thing at night and first thing in the morning plus one in the afternoon if you want (10 minutes max each). These are the important things that keep the household moving - getting work/school clothes ready, make lunches, get bags packed, give the bathroom a quick wipe, wiping worksurfaces etc.

clean something in a room every day, anything from hoovering (middle of the room only, not pulling out all the furniture) to wiping the front of your kitchen cupboards to going through a single shelf in your airing cupboard.

Everything else is fluffing.

Bexterragga

Hey Messy folk,

I really am rubbish at replying daily, so forgive me. I work a variety of shifts and they leave me feeling tired a lot of the time, hence why my home is always a tip!

I've been quite homely over the past few days, made a soup using the leftover chicken, have vacuumed downstairs and done lots of washing up!

Today on the way home, I popped into the garden centre and bought a houseplant. I felt the house needed cheering up a little! To be honest I don't really know how to care for a houseplant but it can't be that hard can it?

Hope you're all having a good day

Emm-in-a-pickle

Morning Messies! It was nice getting downstairs today to find my kitchen looking so much better...still a work in progress. No doing any more today, won`t be home till 9.30!
AE - all my doors have hooks etc and stuff hanging off them!
Bexterragga - good luck with the houseplant.
Have a nice Thursday folks xx

alec_eiffel

Having another day of general puttering, I call them "just keep moving" days. There's not much to do really. It's drying up too outside so maybe laundry would be a good idea.

Have some December planning to do, this year it is a big deal for reasons and purposes and if I don't do it now it'll never happen.

Have a good day everyone.

gilly1964

Got to share this with you, you have all put up with my whinging about pain and not being able to do much

Biopsy results are BENIGN

I am so happy right now, I am crying xx

alec_eiffel

Amazing news gilly.

bearcub

Evening messies.

And, Gilly, :j:j:j:j I am SO pleased for you, I am almost crying with you - and we don't even know each other. allow yourself a celebration or several!

Welcome Bexterragga! Hope we can help in some small way.

Emms, it sounds as if the staff are being looked after, anyway. Not always so in hospitals, I know.

Alex e, routines in the morning and evening? There's a bit of flylady in me after all, then, as I clean the bathroom every morning, and clear up clothes and papers/mags every evening before bed. Well, there you go, Flyladies are us!

Emm-in-a-pickle

GILLY that is such wonderful news, Bless you!!!XXXX Reading your post puts everything else into perspective somehow.
Have a nice Friday everyone. I`m on a `formal` day out today - OH has a work-related thing to attend in the next town, so I`m going along as transport/moral support/ hoping for a quick pootle round the shops (CS!) afterwards. No housey stuff before we go as I got dressed `tidy` when I got up!

Ellie83

Gilly, I read all your old messages and I am so so so so happy for you!!! What a huge relief you must have felt!!! I bet it's giving you a nice boost

Well I have not been posting much because I am so so so busy. It's crazy. We complete today on our house but we're leaving ourselves until the 16th to move as I have too many things to do in one go here. But DH is taking a day off so we can go and clean the house from top to bottom next week :j I'm so happy to be able to start afresh!

On the plus side, cleaning is easier now in our current flat as a lot of things are in boxes and do not clutter surfaces. It made me think that more decluttering is in order...

Alec, thanks for directing me to the hoarding thread. It was such an eye opener! I'm not sure I feel ready to speak about my parents' hoarding just yet but reading the messages have allowed me to understand some things. And to understand why my sister and I react the way we do to any mess present in our houses...

The day was supposed to be sunny yesterday so I decided to attack the laundry pile... Result: I could only put the clothes to dry for 2 hours before it started raining again! So annoyed with this weather. Now I have a lot of half humid clothes waiting to be dried.........

Have a lovely Friday everyone