KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

MMF007

I've kondo'd my voice! Infection has attacked larynx

I did do a mini kondo of komono that had made an incursion onto top of CODs. Only got there because i have been under the weather.

kittie your garden sounds amazing :T

LizzieR

I'm shattered today. Been doing some more kondoing at the allotment this afternoon - returned looking like I've been in a fight with a tiger! Attacked the gooseberries and lots of brambles and they definitely fight back..... Some of the gooseberries haven't really been pruned for the past few years so have become quite unruly! With that and all the pruning I did yesterday to try and get all the fruit trees and bushes under control my dad now has a car load for the tip - well probably just enough room for me to sneak in a couple of things from my flat too :-)
Also did a load of cleaning this morning. As part of my KM journey I'm trying to reduce the number of cleaning products I have - I'm allergic to so many things that I'm always a bit nervous about what I use anyway. I tried a couple of 'new' things in the bathroom, vinegar on cotton wool around the taps to get rid of limescale - amazing how well that worked! I then used neat fairy liquid on a kitchen sponge to do the tiles and grout - I have a coloured grout so can't use most products as the grout would fade. I only did a section of the tiling but it looks really sparkly :-) So much nicer to use simpler products that don't smell really strong or cost a lot.
Think I'll spend this evening kondoing a bit of yarn and do a bit of crochet - need to take it easy.
Hope everyone managed to enjoy some sunshine today!

[Deleted User]

MM, I hope you are gargling often with warm salt water. A sore throat is horrible. Lizzie, what a lot of work but so satisfying. I attacked my gooseberries last year, had far too many on a very thick and low growing, very prickly bush. I really attacked it and 6 others, scalped the 3-4 foot stems to leave just a couple of buds near the top. Then hammered supports into the ground. I am aiming for standard plants, so I can sit and just reach up to pick. One mature plant died, I am surprised it was only one. I will move one two year old into the mature plant space. So far so good, it looks as though it will work. I think I will move it this week, should be ok.The reason I have so many is that I bought one plant to find it was four tiny plants, hinimaki plants and they are extremely prickly

I have a blown glazed window, triple glazed and they will replace the glazing but I have to pay for the fitting. Just in case they need better access, I took a massive and very heavy woollen curtain down, thinking I could stuff it into a drawer, no chance. Trouble is that I have been looking at those home magazines, bought a bundle in sainsbury, never normally buy mags. All those fancy homes that make your own feel not quite right. I was thinking about my heavy curtain and going back to 2010. Why we bought it? not for style but for warmth in winter. It will go back up afterwards, not coming down again. Looked very clean but I`ll just hoover it on the rail and completely forget the minimalistic idea of blinds alone

Doing that made me notice all the grotty cables in that area, horrible. I have ordered something I used to have, curly cable wraps. They do make a difference but actually that curtain does hide them

Thank goodness the grandchildren went to sleep ok. I am shattered

GreyQueen

Your garden sounds a stunner, kittie, no wonder you love it.

My allotment is getting there, we are in that brief lull where cleared ground still stays cleared, which will not apply much longer, especially if the rain comes again, been very very dry here for weeks.

I had a knock-down drag-out fight with the Last Wildersness, the top right-hand corner of the plot, the area infested with interloping brambles and nettles from the three other plots which touch mine (the row behind is slightly off-set with my row, so I have two neighbours over the back.

Have removed a lot of nasty stuff from underground inc roots, glass, crockery fragments, metal odds & sods. Recalls to mind one of my lottie neighbours who isn't from these here parts and was hauling all kinds of improbable carp out of her plot when she took it on; Before these were allotments, what were they?!

I think she was expecting an answer along the line of 'the town dump' but they've been allotments for generations and before that were fields.

I have hustled and bustled and have got most of the WIP blanket sown up so the big section is bagged and ready to be loaded into the parental charabanc tomoz, and I am about to load myself onto the couch with a pot of mint tea and a trashy novel.

Sleep tight my lovelies and enjoy what is reckoned to be a scorcher tomorrow - have taken the battered sunhat up to the lottie already as a precaution.

Frogletina

GreyQueen wrote: »

Could it stand behind or beside a sofa, Frogletina? Something which serves as a sort-of shelf behind a sofa is surprisingly handy.

That's a thought.

I currently have two sofas in the main room which is open plan.

I have one sofa which slides back and is currently against the kitchen island and that is proving useful as I can reach back and put my empty glasses there - oops, should not admit to not washing them asap after use...

The other sofa splits the living area from the dining area. I have a dining table there. Currently behind that sofa is a desk which is temporarily there while another room is being decorated.

What I have found is that sofa slips back too and often reaches the nearest dining room chair and I am forever having to push it back into place. I am wondering if I could place the formica table there. It could serve two purposes - stop the sofa from moving and it could be used as a console table too.

I will get up and take a look after I've written this. Maybe try it tomorrow if I can think of somewhere else to temporarily move the desk.

cheers GQ

frogletina

MMF007

Frogletina have you tried putting the rug gripper stuff under the feet of the sofa to stop it moving? As you know carpet pile allows items to 'walk' but this stuff stops that. It also makes rugs safe on hard surfaces because it is slightly tacky and so the rug (or whatever) doesn't slide.

We applied some to MIL's floor mats because, despite all the advice NOT to have mats on hard floors she insisted on it. Visiting one day, DH nearly fell when the rug literally went from under his feet. Luckily he is young enough to have quick reactions and good balance.

M

wort

Thanks for the ideas for the garden. When we moved in its a new house and the "garden " was just grass. I got carried away and bought anything I liked the look of and stuck it in. All shrubs bulbs and perennials, it's more wide than long and as you come out of conservatory the doors are at the side I have a gravel and sleeper curved path with a patio on the right and pots to the left, if you follow the path you end up at another patio at the top of garden.
After the pots is an circular lawn, with flower beds round it at the top of lawn another past curves round the bed this side of garden is shadier and has pots and climbers up the wall.
It's all very full and quite private. I do love it and should perhaps of made raised beds.

Today started nice so took dgson to the country park there's a wooden play park and a high rope thing similar to go ape which he had a go at :eek:
Back this afternoon, and I have filled the cracks that have developed in the new plaster round the door in the conservatory with caulk. Will need to paint them later in week.

GreyQueen

Please 'scuse the jim-jams but I had an early bath after a mucky day on the allotment. We were there by 9 am and left just after 2 pm, back to mine for a quick cuppa then they headed off.

We have swopped (incoming) two scaffold poles, a length of steel linen line and a re-hafted - from a cricket stump - onion rake. Outgoing; a large shopping bag full of books, mags, DVDs, a ladle ...... and another large bag with the WIP blanket, two terrracotta planters and a bottle of wine, which we'll share over Easter.

All parties pretty pleased with the day. Scaffold poles and linen line in situ, two IKEYA blue bags of nasty roots had an express trip to the dump in the car, whereas they normally slow-mo it on the pushbike. Oh, and some fencing posts were switched out for slightly-less-knackered examples, and the rotten ones sawn up for firewood, which a pal knows is being kept for her in the plastic dustbin up there. If she doesn't need any more this season, it can mind its business tidily up there until autumn.

I've also sorted the contents of the rubbish bucket, which is things I've removed from the soil into glass, rubble and metal, and they will go into the appropriate recycling containers/ bays. The glass even had a wash so it won't contaminate the cullet.:rotfl:

We've dug up the last of the leeks and most of them have gone home with the folks, as has a quantity of parsnips.

The weather's due to break tomorrow but today was 21 c and would have been a glorious day by June's standards but especially lovely by early April's. I saw the first honeybee on 2017 (on a dandelion) although I've been seeing bumblebees about for weeks.

Very tired but feel great for having been out on such a lovely day and that we've cracked on and got a lot done. Lottie's lookin' good.

greent

When we moved here 11.5years ago there were lots of big trees and shrubs and some very thin, mean borders in the garden (not very big, quite modern 'estate' house) We took a lot of the trees and shrubs out after a few years - they had got too big. We never replaced them with anything, though, so the garden is boring. It also needs the walls redoing and the top patio is broken up, so needs removing/ replacing. Not very joyful at the mo, although better with colourful pots at the very least. However, the house is more of a priority this year.

Beautiful weather here today and yesterday. Spent a very joyful afternoon yesterday having afternoon tea at a riverside pub in the garden, followed by a short walk along the path DD and bf are back here today for uni Easter break. Today and yesterday has meant lots of water fights in the back garden with combinations of my 4 and DD's bf and DS1's gf - good fun and plenty of exercise too

DS3 has agreed that he will get rid of his In the Night Garden and Octonauts toys - this is a massive step!! Not that they will be leaving the house yet, but my aim is to get them sorted, cleaned and priced up ready for the next nearly new sale. I might fleebay the Octonauts, as there is stacks of them and I can possibly sell them in a couple of large batches. They fill a huge storage box in the family room/ playroom - I've mentally earmarked it once empty for DD's things form uni over the summer which aren't easily stored elsewhere (all her crockery, kitchenware etc)

Next weekend (assuming weather ok) sees the annual garage empty/ clean/ sort - always a good opportunity to get rid of stuff - there's a large ottoman of outdoor toys which needs revisiting and the things in the loft definitely need to come down, as mice were up there Mainly sentimental stuff up there (other than Xmas decs) so I can see some of it heading to the bin/ recycling.....

Too hot for a 'traditional' roast here, so we're having a chicken roasted with lots of garlic, warm potato salad with bacon, warm bread rolls, vegetable rice, salad, coleslaw, hummous etc. I may sear some asparagus which is lurking, too. Followed by icecream afterwards. ALso have half a bottle of pink fizz and a bottle of rose chilling nicely to go with it

GoingToDoIt

I hope everyone has had a good day, lurker or poster, minimalist or hoarder!
I'm a sun worshiper so I've been out for a walk and a picnic. Summer dress out of storage and back in circulation (for now?!) a lovely day and straight out the house with appropriate clothe/accessories/picnic ware with the minimum of fuss