KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

maryb

We're in France for a few days and it was perishing cold today. I've seen BBC news reports that there were snow flurries as far south as Norwich. Probably means frosts in London so our potatoes will probably catch it. We earthed them up as far as we could on Sunday but the ground is so dry and our soil so sandy that it just trickled down again and we couldn't get them covered. If we were at home we could cut off any frosted bits but we'll just have to hope for the best

And they were doing so well, too. NOT something I want to kondo

Slinky

We had a couple of orange tipped butterflies in the garden at the weekend, and what sounded like loads of bees around the rosemary.


The apple tree is beginning to blossom, but experience tells me now that we won't get much fruit. We used to have a second tree but since having it removed when the garden was made over, there's nobody close by with apples so we're lucky if we get any cross pollination.

Floss

I now have a permanent bean / sweet pea frame (DH's construction) with 1/2" mesh fastened by staples, so birds don't get caught in it. I also use a brassica frame (Wilko's) covered in fine green screening, which I also use on a couple of cloches that go over seedlings.

[Deleted User]

I have 3 obelisks doing the job of bean support, I bought them very cheaply from amazon, five years ago and they are in a row, I put them in a fixed position three years ago. Normal bean supports are too high for me, so last year I just used the obelisks and they were absolutely perfect, they had previously been used to support squashes and cucumbers. I gave them some strength, as can be very windy on the open allotment, by threading a few canes through and tying each obelisk to the cane. I also use wind breaks to protect the plants, just debris netting with hm sewn channels for canes.This year some of the circular supports have finally collapsed but I have gorilla tape and will patch them back together, for this year. The vertical uprights are all still fine so I think I can keep `fixing` this system for some time to come, heath robinson like. I am only putting a few beans, moonlight, down one side this year, I used one side last year and picking was very easy but I still have a lot in my freezer so will just have six plants. I have clay soil and the soil is tougher than the metal, was very hard to get them in without bending, they are staying put

Yesterday I did the watering, lots of watering cans on the veggie raised beds, eight 8 x 4 feet beds just for veg and I covered where I could to keep moisture in. Yesterday was a minute sprinkling of rain, thats all. The romans used to grow grapes on the side of the hills that protect us here, very dry, very sunny. I await the nematodes, maybe today and will divide into 5, into small poly boxes. One for home and one to 2 raised beds, I need to prep at home as it is harder without home facilities. One into a watering can, stir well and sprinkle over two beds, one more can of water and that is it, then I will cover again as they need damp, not wet, for two weeks. The slugs are killed in three days, 95% live under the soil, the tiny black ones are the worst

I made yeast buns last night and used a heavy small size aluminium tray and they all stuck tight. All three small tins look manky as they are used for veg roasting as well as baking. I decided to kondo them but after googling lakeland and only finding rubbish tins, I set to trying to `clean` them. I originally got them from lakeland many many years ago, when they sold good solid bakeware. I tried all sorts, eventually resorting to bar keepers friend plus soaking them all night in bicarb solution. They are okish but really now I would like good non stick trays of the same heavy quality, which don`t buckle. I have a miele oven and the large trays in there are superb, the same quality is what I am looking for but in small trays that fit side by side. Bakery bits has the same quality but I would eventually get back to square one, whereas I am looking to make life easier for the future. In the meantime I continue using the ones I have

Bike service this morning, I did the necessary 100 miles in three weeks and yesterday took my allotment bike out, crikey doing 4 miles on that was like doing 10 on the brompton, however doing 4 is quicker and I got more puffed so it`ll be good for quick spurts to get a bit breathless

oh yes, at long last, I found the perfect sweet pea pots with tall supports. I bought three from thompson and morgan. I think they would be prone to blowing over when fully laden but I intend to use three small canes to `tie` them together, like the obelisks but keeping a triangle shape for support and uprightness in the wind. It means that the sweet peas will be flowering on my patio and I will be able to cut them easily for the house

Floss

Kittie if you have a Sainsbobs near you, they have very good heavy quality baking tins, and I think it is on offer at the moment. I've replaced some of mine from there.

greent

Kittie - I bake a lot of bread/ rolls/ similar - I line all of my trays with baking parchment and reuse each sheet several times, keeping them in the appropriate tin in between use - the rolls just peel away. I also use my trays for roasting veg/ potatoes even meat sometimes. Our local baker lines all of his trays when making rolls/ yeast buns, s I figure if it's good enough for a pro then I will copy!

VJsmum

Morning all. This is a procrastination post prior to cleaning and tidying the house.

It has got rather out of hand, to the point where I don't really know where to start..... Shall I start one end and work around each room? Shall I do the harder / worse bits first? What do you do?

I usually don't clean it all in one go, I will do bathrooms one day, kitchen another, dust another, floors on another ( not all in one week - I am not obsessed :rotfl::o). The whole lot usually gets done once a fortnight, with bathrooms maybe getting a bit more attention...... I stress the maybe....

Ok, as DS is at school till lunchtime (he is year 13 and isn't there the whole day) I will do bathrooms and mop floors while he is out. Oh but that means I ought to do the kitchen first so I don't spill anything on the floor once it's done.. Groan...

Ok ready, steady, GO

GreyQueen

I'm sure I read somewhere that it's best to clean kitchens and bathrooms last as they're the rooms which get messed up in the course of cleaning other rooms.

GQ Cleaning Plan:

1. Remove large foriegn objects from area to be cleaned (eg; house guests, pets, spouses, footie boots, ice skates, encylopaedias).

2. Return said items to their permanant storage areas if possible. If not, take them to the charity shop (not guests or spouses, most don't accept these).

3. Pick up smaller items, rinse and repeat as above.

4. 90% of housework is now complete. Pause, brew up, check MSE.

5. If unavoidable, get out dusters, vacuums, microfibre cloths, hot water and cleaning products. To be stressed; only if unavoidable.;)

Righty, am now putting this pooter away for the day and will shortly be saddling my pushbike and crossing the city to meet with alternative health practioner.

pandamonium

Kittie, might be worth checking TKMaxx for baking tins. I get Circulon ones there and they are brilliant. In fact, so non stick you have to be a bit careful taking anything on a flat sheet out of the oven. I will add that I never ever dishwasher them. I'm sure this ruins the surface, and these trays don't need it.
Oh and to bend or twist them, you'd probably need a sledge hammer .

wort

Kittie if your trays aren't non stick at the moment and just need cleaning ,I use @ven pride on my oven shelves and I tries on my trays last time and it worked brilliantly!
My trays were from !Kea the @ven pride is really easy to use just put items in bag supplied pour in the chemical and leave over night , I leave in the garage, then in morning quick rinse and they are sparkling 😊 I bought it in home bargains for £2.99 I think.