My home is a mess

rosie383

Hi Messies, one and all!
I haven't posted for a while as I haven't had much time but have been lurking.
I downloaded a free book on my kindle about de-cluttering and it was totally different than other ones I've read before. The usual ones just tell you the usual stuff about one box to keep, one to chuck, one for charity etc etc.
This one told me about always having an 'empty sink'. I decided to make that one small change and what a difference it has made! Honestly!
Apparently it's from flylady, and the idea is that if your kitchen sink is empty and clean it encourages you to keep another bit clean.
I started doing this about 2 weeks ago and am still doing it. I now make sure that there is nowt in the sink before I leave the kitchen. I have also discovered that if I rinse out the basin and leave it upside down in the sink, that the rest of the family will rinse off and wash a cup or plate or whatever rather than just dumping it into the basin. Result!
It has actually made me have cleaner work surfaces in the kitchen, and even the rest of the house is much tidier because I seem to be less tolerant of mess!
This is not like me, but the guy who wrote the book said that it does change how you view mess, and he was right!
I even tackled the kids' room last week. It took me the whole day while they were at school and it is still spotless. I go in there every single day now and make them pick up every single tiny thing, even from under the bed. There isn't so much as one sock or tissue or even a bead lurking that isn't in a toy box.
Sorry for rabbiting on, but I am pretty much amazed at myself and even my dh can't come home and complain about the house now

Emm-in-a-pickle

Morning Messies.
Sashanut - that`s an awful lot of drawers, even if some are only little ones! I seriously don`t know whether to sympathise or envy you having so many, it could be wonderful IF they were organised... who am I kidding, they wouldn`t be if I had them! Glad you got your bath emptied.
Bearcub - I just hate it when a post disappears. I can waste time quite happily in many other ways, but that one always irks me!
Mcculloch, OH & I still have our old teddies. Sympathies re your DS chucking your stuff - I`d hate that! My DS is a dreadful clutter-hoarder, and he does `re-locate` my stuff sometimes to make room for yet another old computer or 2, but he doesn`t chuck out (as far as I know!)
Rosie, the `clear sink` thing works here too - I try to clear sink/drainer & worktops either last thing at night or sometimes first thing in the morning before going out to work, and mostly manage to keep to this. When I do, it gets less trashed by the others! I`m finding the same principle applies with LR windowsill, mantlepiece & sofa too, and I`m having to do a bit less nagging... it`s still a very far cry from Flylady though, there`s still a dreadful state in other parts of the house!

Messy status report -
I have collected a bag of carp from the bathroom this morning - there`s a small bin in there but nobody seems to use it, so the windowsill, bath sides and shelves get well cluttered with defunct shaving tackle, empty bottles & tubes, soap wrappers etc. It`s been a bit of a `blind spot`, but now it`s cleared up I hope the `empty sink` principle might apply there too.
Daftie-dog was quite funny outside in the snow this morning, for once not trying to get back indoors as quickly as possible and actually being quite bouncy while I was filling the birdfeeders. It`s coming down again quite heavily now, and there`s a load of birds plus 2 squirrels having a feeding frenzy out there. I could spend ages just watching them, but I don`t feel that my bathroom binge is enough to show for the day...so
I`m going upstairs now with the timer (30 minutes) for a bit of `current clothes` tidying, as I`ve identified this as a sort of mental barrier to doing anything constructive about upstairs.

rosie383

I like the idea of a 30 minute timer session. I think I will do that now and tackle our underwear drawer (DD1 and I shre one and currently can't even find a pair of matching socks!).

lizalloareds

Hi i am a newbie on this thread but my home is a mess and need to find the motivation to sort it out, made a start today as I bought some plastic baskets from wilkensons today and I have started to sort out the kitchen cupboards so now all the spice jars are in one and baking in another,

gilly1964

sashanut wrote: »

Bath waste outlet must be frozen as bathwater refuses to leave - DD only had a bath as shower was frozen:mad: It's only started to freeze since the loft insulation was fitted a couple of years ago - just shows how much heat must have been escaping up to the cathedral-sized loft.:eek: No good for storage or anything else though........

Hope you don't mind mentioned this to OH (he is a heating engineer). You need to get those pipes in the loft lagged. Don't want to scare you but if you get a crack in them while they are frozen the whole lot will come down on your head when it thaws.

rosie383

Even clearing one kitchen cupboard does help. Welcome!
I managed to do the pants and socks drawer at last and we now have a ridiculous amount of paired socks! Prob 30 pairs between us of varying hues.
What do you guys do with uncomfy pants? I know the cotton ones could be used as dusters, but what about 'nylony' ones? There are some that I have cleared out that are never worn.
Ill-fitting bras are no problem as I have a friend who collects them to send abroad to a charity project which passes them on to extremely poor women in villages as it enables them to set up a business selling them. This is the only source of income for them, especially widows with children who literally have no money.
But what do I do with the pants?

loobylou2

Hi Messies

Hope you are all well and have had a fantastic weekend, welcome Lizalloareds. I haven't been on this thread for very long but now I'm here I love it!!! Its good to know that I'm not the only one with a mess to sort out and the people on here are lovely.

Well I made it into work yesterday, the buses and trains seemed to be running normally so am just hoping its the same tomorrow as more snow is forecast!!! OH offered to come and pick me up but then managed to lose his car keys (again!!!!) It took 3 hours of searching when I got home before I finally found them, somebody and I don't know who it was because nobody in the loobylou2 household will admit to doing it hid them in a little childs coin purse in our bedroom!!! OH would never have found them and it was just sheer luck that I picked up said coin purse to put some coppers inside it and in doing so found the keys!!!

On the messy front I've had a fairly productive day, I visited Asda and Morrisons this morning and managed to get the weekly shop done for 5 people for just over sixty pounds which is a good result in my eyes. I've also washed and dried and sorted 4 full loads of laundry ( didn't do any yesterday which is why it built up), given the bathroom a really good clean, hoovered the hall,stairs and landing and our bedroom and cleaned the kitchen (sort of!!!) including cleaning the dishwasher and storing all OH"s junk in a cupboard out of sight and not on the kitchen worktops!!!

I'm working all week this week so demessying will have to wait until I get home from work, just hope that when I stagger in I'm not too tired to do anything at all. Its strange I finish work at 4.30 and if I can manage to get home by 5 I usually manage to summon up the energy to do a lot more than I can do if I'm using public transport and don't get home until 5.30!! Think I might use a timer for when I get in and just time myself to do half an hours de messying if nothing else, its a brilliant idea but right now I am going to get DD 2 into bed and have a final go at sorting the laundry.

sashanut

Hi all:j

Not an awful lot of de-messying done today as we were out all afternoon - but did get a vac through dowstairs, dw load on etc etc etc, the usual stuff but nothing extra IYKWIM:mad: However - when getting ready to go out, found it really easy to locate all my stuff, including thermals, gloves, bag, boots etc.....normally I can't find half my stuff so an unintended outcome there already!!

gilly1964 wrote: »

Hope you don't mind mentioned this to OH (he is a heating engineer). You need to get those pipes in the loft lagged. Don't want to scare you but if you get a crack in them while they are frozen the whole lot will come down on your head when it thaws.

Don't mind at all you mentioning my puzzle to an expert - I'm always pleased to get advice as I know nothing much of plumbing etc !! I assume that is the problem, because as I said it has only happened since we had the loft insulated, before that never. The shower is not frozen now - it works OK atm no doubt because it is a bit milder than it was. We will just have to hope it doesn't freeze again until we can get someone up there - as I said, it is a really high ceiling with a tiny opening to get into the loft. Then you are in an enormous space - except you're not, there are beams, walls everywhere & of course it's unboarded & pitch black. Not a place for an amateur - although I have been up there. I don't think DH would even fit through the hatch:rotfl:Not that he does 'man-work' anyway, hence my need for an expert. Do thank your OH for us:T

farmerswife75

Morning all!

Woke up at 3am to see blizzard like conditions through the window, we must be the only part of the country that hasn't had any snow till now! It's mostly melted now though, lots of slush on the country roads so it was an exciting drive to school this morning! :eek: I'm waiting for my grocery delivery, i picked an 8 hour slot so it could arrive anytime, i'm just hoping it come before 6pm or there wonn't be any supper tonight as the cupboards are bare!! Meal planning is going very well but i never have any 'extra' things in so i've bought a couple of things for the freezer in this fortnights shopping in case the weather stays like this.
I've walked the dogs and done the ironing pile this morning and changed our bed, i can't wait for bedtime cos i love 'new bed'!! haha!!
Homemade soup for lunch when Mr Farmer comes in, he'll be cold as he's working in the milking parlour all day, and there's some gooseberry crumble for pud.

On the up side, the Farm Assurance man has been snowed in and can't make it for our inspection today :rotfl:!!!!!! He's hoping to come on Wednesday instead (praying for more snow in his neck of the woods;))

I'm off out to fetch some logs in for the fire, hope everyone is ok in this cold weather!!

Jxx

Emm-in-a-pickle

Hi Messies!

Welcome Lizalloareds - I`ve got some of those Wilko plastic baskets too, I`ve had them ages, and had a few different uses for them. Now I`ve got them stacked 3-deep in a corner of the kitchen worktop, takes less room than a spice rack etc (no wall space as kitchen is small & I have lots of utensils/pans hanging up) If most of the tubs/jars are the same height the stacking works fine, just keep the most often used ones in the top basket. It`s a bit of a faff to shift the baskets to get something out of the bottom one, but less of a faff than rummaging in the cupboards for small items.
Rosie - well done on the socks & pants sorting. I`m afraid I couldn`t think of any useful purpose for uncomfy nylon pants when I had a sort-out a while back (some truly ancient stuff I couldn`t believe I`d ever bought!!) so I binned them.
Loobylou - I know what you mean about the difference getting home even just half an hour later. I think it`s psychological, at least partly. Even though I drive to & from work, sometimes a `handover` to the next shift can take ages if there are new patients or have been lots of changes...other times there`s a comparatively simple and quick handover - a half-hour either way! If I`m home early it`s always a bit of a boost to my morale.
FW- I always imagine farms as pretty much `seige-ready` and almost self-sufficient, but I`m probably living in the past! Hope your delivery gets through soon.

I`m waiting for a coal delivery, but there`s enough for a while yet, and plenty of logs.
Glad I went to farmshop on Saturday, so no need to go anywhere now. There`s been more snow overnight, & more forecast here. DGD is still in residence, and is also being very helpful.
Today`s Big Success? I`ve been in spare room of Doom & cleared another load of old paperwork, mostly old course work, enough to fill a MrT shopping bag. Took ages even though very little needed shredding, having to check everything just in case! Also filled a shopping bag for CS just bits & bobs.
There are small spaces beginning to appear - if you hadn`t seen it before you wouldn`t know, but I know and feel I`m getting somewhere.

Wrap up warm, Messies, if you go outside, and Walk Slowly...x