Simplifying Life

mary43

ceridwen - thanks for that lot. Puts everything into some kind of perspective. I must admit when I first joined this thread and everyone seemed to be doing so well I felt I had to 'keep up' than found I couldn't.......failure and guilt came into play which was daft now I think about it. We all have out limits for all things and its important to know what they are and not try and go over them.
And yes, some things do need money thrown at them.........however much we try to save there are some things that actually need that input of our hard earned cash/savings in order to put something right and allow us to get on with other stuff and not have the worry of it.

misty - you sound like you're being very well organised...........did out bookcase in a sort of 'library' format once but then OH would take a book out and put it back in the 'wrong place' and not being perfect I did much the same more times than I like to mention. Its all in some sort of order now.........history books/ref.books, cookery books, paperbacks, etc. and my own personal little bookcase is pretty well sorted.
I bought myself an 'organiser book' last month.........lovely cream one with pages for each month for lists etc. and it ties with a white ribbon...........almost too nice to use and as a result I haven't used it.......I really should. Seems the only way I can manage is to have lists of 'stuff to do' and scraps of paper and small notebooks aren't really enough. So, out the book will come and use it I will. Maybe if I can look back on a month then and see that I have actually done something, however small, I'll feel better about myself.

As for the worrying........well I read a quote somewhere,can't recall where but it was something to the effect that if a problem is solvable, then it can be dealt with and there's no cause for worry.............if it can't be, then all the worrying in the world will make no difference.
Didn't help this morning much when OH couldn't find his reading specs........lol He always puts them on, reads yesterdays news, takes them off and fetches the daily paper. We looked and looked.............they were nowhere to be seen...............he even looked in the fridge twice..............lol I got my paint out once again, picked up yesterdays newspaper to stand the tin on and his specs sort of slid out............lol he must have folded the paper with them in it.............lol Good start to the day !

My little cupboard is now on its third coat of paint...........why of why did my son paint it matt black ???? Seems to be taking an age.......this coat should be its last of the pale colour, then on with a darker sage green,wait for that to dry, stick on the skeleton leaves, varnish, wait for it to dry then put it in situ..................hopefully sometime on Monday ????
Might have got more done this morning but had a phone call from a dear friend (who's also having regular counselling) and it was good to have a chat to her and not time wasted in my book.

Now I need to make a 'get well card' for another friend and I'll be up to date with at least the 'personal' bits I wanted to get done. Time for a clean up another day when the painting project is done.

Looked at Mums tea set again (the one I remember us using when I was a child...............the teapot and milk jug are really pretty, lovely shape and a little on the 'shabby chic' side...........plates are faded and well used so I might........just might, get rid of the 'not so perfect' pieces and stand the tea pot and jug on the dresser. It'll empty the cupboard out.........ideal place for cook books being in the kitchen leaving more space in the bookcase............
Youngest son is interested in Dads sheet music from the 1930-40's so I'll send him a couple of pieces and see if its what he actually thinks it is.......then either send on the rest of take it to the music shop and sell it.

Now............while the paints out.............I'm still stuck for ideas on my plant trough..................????

do_it_today!

Hi All :hello:

Ceridwen - Im starting to get into this whole bulk buy thing :j boring things like washing up liquid, toilet paper, toothpaste, shower gel - always going to need it so why let it run out? anyway about to pop out with mum and buy 10 tins of chopped tomato and 10 tubes of tomato puree and bin liners for the year.
Last night I also managed to complete a meal planner for four week :j
AND today I baked some wholemeal bread (no breadmaker) with a just add water mix pack from tesco's that I bought a little while back.

Also can relate about the whole worrying thing current worry (taking up far too much thought is about )- my mobile phone - I'd like to get rid of it but life would be harder without it - whole family thrive on mobile communication! anyway i have been offerred to come off my £30pm contract down to £22pm but its a comitment of 18 months and thats the bit that bugs me... I could do pay as you go but imagine that my useage would probably be more than £22pm and in the meantime I am doing nothing but thinking - back & forth in the rocking chair (silly really not exactly life threatening) and in the meantime Im on a higher contract. Must dig that book out - (dont sweat the small stuff!)

ceridwen

Hi mary

No ideas for the plant trough....but being as how you are obviously a good bit more "creatively" inclined than I am....maybe I can raid your brain for ideas for my kitchen wall.

Reason being - its one heck of a mess now one way and the other and I've spent all the annual leave from w**k I am prepared to spend on my house now and it will have to wait its turn for any more till next years leave ration. It SERIOUSLY needs repainting now - very seriously - so I'm wondering what I can do to "tide it over" till next year - when I am prepared to use a bit of my Annual Leave Ration again on the house. Stencils/cutouts from magazines/???????? - all suggestions welcome on what will make it appear remotely presentable till I make some time available to redecorate it?

mary43

do it today - you are doing well. We always buy a load of loo rolls and stuff like that if they're on offer (BOGOF) as we know we'll use them anyway - my Mum was much the same and her spare room was usually full of stuff like that and tinned stuff ...........enough for her to survive at least a week if need be without leaving the house. We're not that organised I'm afraid and OH is in charge of food shopping so I leave it to him. Think he quite likes popping in during the week to see what 'special offers' they might have that weren't there are the weekend.
As for your phone...............I'm on a contract ......wouldn't be without my mobile. We've got land line but I need to be contactable if I'm out and with pay as you go I'd always have the fear I'd run out of credit and need to make an important phone call -daft I know but at least I don't have that worry.
I'd opt for the cheaper contract even if it does tie you in for longer if you're definitely staying with the same phone co. and need it anyway. Unless you try around for cheaper deals that are for a shorter time -but then I expect you've thought of that.

ceridwen - your kitchen wall..............if it''s a big wall then a few stencils or a bit of 'canvas' art might do the trick and cover the worst bits. Failing that, put a coat of paint on either the same colour or slightly darker and make sure the brush stokes show then it becomes a sort of random pattern if you know what I mean. Canvas art is relatively easy..............just a piece of board -any board really, doesn't have to be a canvas as long as its fairly smooth, paint a few strips across it in different colours and you've got a bit of modern art. A rug hanging on the wall would cover a fair bit or a good size curtain. Decent size piece of voile would be nice. All you'd need with voile is a length of string and some nails at each end - thread it through. Hope that helps ?

Rowan9

|Good morning everyone - snowing here - eggs boiled and cooling and waiting to be decorated before rolling. The decorators are aged 13, 21 and 23.....and me! OH doesn't want to play though.
Plans for today include getting at least one bag of stuff down from the loft to sort through. I had planned to do half an hour a day but since I set myself that challenge I haven't been back in the loft. Does that ever happen to anyone else? I was trucking along fine and then have hit a hiccup. However, I have my son here for the weekend and also youngest step son so it's nice to let other plans go by the wayside. One thing did make me chuckle - son finished the book he was reading and I offered to give him one of mine - when I looked in the bookcase, all my novels, apart from my wonderful 19th century ones, had gone to the charity shop. I even looked at the bookcase in my bedroom and the few books still in it are my daughter's. I felt f r e e!! But I did relent and lend him one novel I had kept - The Book Thief. Don't know if anyone else has read it but I just loved it.
Everyone is really inspiring me with their stories and day to day achievements and postings here. Sometimes we don't achieve what we set out to, but that doesn't matter. On that note - I'm off to make another cup of tea
w

rosieben

do_it_today! wrote: »

...
Also can relate about the whole worrying thing current worry (taking up far too much thought is about )- my mobile phone - I'd like to get rid of it but life would be harder without it - whole family thrive on mobile communication! anyway i have been offerred to come off my £30pm contract down to £22pm but its a comitment of 18 months and thats the bit that bugs me... I could do pay as you go but imagine that my useage would probably be more than £22pm and in the meantime I am doing nothing but thinking - back & forth in the rocking chair (silly really not exactly life threatening) and in the meantime Im on a higher contract. Must dig that book out - (dont sweat the small stuff!)

I'm working on the basis 'if it isn't used or loved then it goes' and it sounds like your mobile is very used. I have one which I don't use much (less than £5 a month pay as you go) but I wouldn't like to be without it for the convenience of it when I DO use it, IYSWIM? If you're thinking of getting rid of it for financial reasons, then you probably wont have a choice, but I can't see how getting rid of something that's used so much is necessarily simplifying. How much more complicated will your life be when your family cant contact you easily or you cant contact them?

I 'inherited' an old phone from my daughter and got a free payg sim card from orange and its brilliant! Could anyone in your family donate a phone when they upgrade?

do_it_today!

Hi All :hello:
Thanks Mary43 - I keep thinking (wishing more like!) that my circumstances may drastically change in 18 months time ie - Im at home all the time or I move to another country (somewhere warm!) Although reality is this is unlikely! and would be annoyed about being tied into a service I would no longer need. I think you might right to opt for lower contract plus it's less hassle - no need to port mobile phone number / find new supplier blah blah blah
Its very grey and has been snowing today - Im keeping indoors for as long as I can! HAPPY EASTER :j

mary43

do it today - I spent years thinking 'things will change/improve etc..........one day but I think now if I were going to be very comfortablly off (won't say rich........sounds a bit obscene somehow.........lol) I would be by now. But we've got a roof over our head, smashing kids, lovely friends and neighbours and of course, each other - money can't by everything can it.
Bought OH a mobile phone a year ago...........he hates them but reluctantly kept it for emergencies. When he's working he's in the middle of nowhere and I'd have no way of contacting him in emergencies and he couldn't contact me so he doesn't use his much at all and its pay as you go. Mine has been invaluable when I've been visiting Mums and needed to contact people for something so I make good use of it.

wmf Deep snow here when I got up............plus dead starling in the kitchen and feathers everywhere (now which cat do I say thankyou to ????:mad: ) Still, I've got the last coat of paint on my little cupboard.............now watching it dry......hoovered around everything cos can't be bothered to do it really thorough and made get well card for a friend of mine so had productive morning ...........so far. (makes a change for me..........lol) Good luck with the egg rolling...........how on earth will you manage that in the snow ?


Oh dear.............suns shining now and showing up all the dust.............still, with a paint tin on the floor should anyone pop in they'll not expect the house to be that tidy will they ?

mary43

Well - to add to the above..............why is it that when everything seems to be going so right all of a sudden there's the proverbial 'fly in the ointment' that decides it won't be so ?
Last coat of paint dried lovely, just the effect I wanted............out came the skeleton leaves to glue to the door panel.......(done it before so I know its possible). PVA glue in one hand -leaf in the other and I paste away only to find as fast as I stuck it down it came off again............much muttering and perseverance and eventually I got three of them on and I now wait with baited breath to see how long before they fall off ??

OH is now having further technical probs. !! Last night he tried to play a video but its an old tape, made dreadful whistling noise and we got picture and no sound ! This afternoon he decided to have a look at it...........tried a fresh tape and don't know what he's fiddled with but now nothing plays at all.........not even the new dvd player. Mind you OH doesn't plug things in like anyone else..........oh no....we have to have tele wired into stereo speakers so we can have megga loud music is theres a concert on the tele so spaghetti junction is even more messed up now than before ! No point in asking him whats wrong.........he doesn't know and continues to fiddle with it !
So, best laid plans and all that.................oh well, three quarters of the day went ok so should I really sit in my rocking chair ???
Twins loved their retro sweet boxes I send them as a change from Easter eggs and even the cat hasn't pood on the rug (as yet !)

Sorry..............just had to have bit of a moan....................:o

ceridwen

Well.....I'm still getting there....if not quite at anticipated pace. It helps a lot now stuff in loft is duly divided into storage boxes and get-atable in a trice. So I'm washing my way through loads of dustsheets - and being very un- O.S. about it as I'm drying them all as I go in the tumbledryer in order to get the job done pronto.

Been sitting here writing out Slimming World mealplans as things are getting clear enough that I can make a start in removing the odd few lbs weight that crept back on again - just need to write out the shopping list for it and then make sure I keep this in case I need it again in the future when I've done a few weeks of gritting my teeth to get this bit off (I'd better not:D ).

Right - back to a bit more springcleaning of sitting room - the bookshelves in there are looking a lot tidier and clearer now from yesterday. So - onto the rest of the storage space there now....

Happy Easter all.