Simplifying Life

ceridwen

Welcome INeedSome Order - glad you're finding it useful.

Feeling a bit encouraged by that gardening blog I found and the fact of having made some headway with work on the house - I have spent the afternoon doing a "slash and burn" - well, slash anyway - on the courtyard garden (aka backyard) ready for a bit of food-growing with visions of Mary43 saying "I dont know where you get your energy" at intervals:D . So - thats my food plants I have acquired to date now out in pots out there and the yard looking a good bit tidier all round. Just got to get a couple of "trays" of salad leaves going on the kitchen windowsill (a first for me - so hope it goes okay).

Mary - thinking of your comment about how busy I am going to be when I retire - too true - it is very frustrating not having the time for everything I want/need to do right now because of w**k. Oh well - I'll get there. Bet theres people thinking "if this is how much she does when she has the restrictions imposed by a full-time job - wonder how much she'll be doing when she's free all day?":D

mary43

ceridwen - I have to say it...........where do you get the energy ???:rotfl:
I've had the weekend a 'kid free zone' and done nothing except paint Dads tray and make some cards.............lol Mind you, think thats more like me being lazy that anything else.
I would have been in the garden had the weather been ok but it rained most of the afternoon so that put paid to that.
Oh well..............tomorrow the weather forecast is just as bad so I'll set to and have a minor blitz upstairs..........clean bathroom/bedroom etc. and then see how the mood takes me..............lol
I really wish I'd stuck to my list of 'stuff to do'..............I did for a while then lapsed .........hard to get back to it again.
SinceI got my paints out my den has become a bit cluttered again.......not much and nothing that I can't quickly put away but just goes to show how quickly it can overtake you.

Greenshieldstamp_2

Hello everyone, I wish there was a thank everyone button as I have had a lovely time catching up with everyone and their simplifying so thank you.

As usual I haven't been around for a while. I was lucky enough this time for part of the time to have been away on holiday. I had a brilliant time having a simplified holiday - not spending too much and stretching the money as far as possible so we could stay away a little longer. Great fun and we learnt a lot more about the places we visited than if we had spent loads of money.

Now back into decluttering with a vengeance and will be doing some meal planning too.

Moaney moaney - best wishes to you, thinking of you.
Mary43 - good to catch up with you, and I really enjoyed hearing about the progress of the tray. Is the plant trough settled now? Where did you end up placing it?
Ceridwen - have added your blog to my reading pile. Thank you.
Aril - I am enjoying your quotes and point of view.

Take care everyone and Happy Simplifying for this next week.

ceridwen

mary43 wrote: »

ceridwen - I have to say it...........where do you get the energy ???:rotfl:

Well....to be honest Mary....I have learnt quite a lot of "strategies" to cope with the combination of having a job that bores the heck out of me (but interferes as little as possible with my life;) ) - so I'm looking for intellectual stimulation outside work - and a temperament I suspect is slightly depressive - hence I give myself quite a long list of things that I want/need to do to work my way through in my leisuretime to "keep my spirits up" and ensure I have some "constructive" things to do.:D

To me - it helps a lot that I do have a sustaining overall "belief system" - if of a somewhat patchwork character - that provides me with a sense of purpose/much greater "peace of mind" than I would otherwise have.

mary43

originally posted by Greenshield
Is the plant trough settled now? Where did you end up placing it?

Plant trough is now happily situated just inside the door of my den/office/comp.room I never did put a top on it, left it open and it holds my brolly and shopping bag (pretty floral one). The bag acts as a sort of 'out tray' for stuff that I need to take into town and post.That way I don't forget them...........and so far nothing else has been added to it........I was afraid it might become a 'hot spot' again.
With Dads tray finished I so wanted my Mum to know what it looked like so this morning I did a little water colour of the same design of flowers. I write to her every week and can use it as a notelet. Whether she'll realise what it's all about I've no idea, depends on what sort of day she's having but it's done me good to know I've done it for her.

Glad you had a good holiday.............we intend to do similar when we visit MIL for her birthday mid-June. She lives in Liverpool and as its City of Culture year there's bound to be a lot going on and hopefully.......free ! I want to go round the cathedrals and art gallery there.........haven't done that for years.
So,with any luck it'll just be petrol costs as we'll stay with MIL.

ceridwen - maybe its the 'sense of purpose' that I lack. I don't have a belief as such..........well suppose I do but not anything thats recognised if you know what I mean. I really need to have better structure in order to stick to my list of 'stuff to do'...............I get so easily waylaid into doing something else.............(today I should have been cleaning bathroom and bedroom this morning but no...........I got my water colours out instead ) and tell myselfI'll do it tomorrow...............which actually I probably will as if the builder turns up he'll be in and out so I can vanish upstairs and be out of the way apart from providing him with sustenance..................lol
It doesn't help when something 'negative' happens -like sticking my head under the taps only to find we've run out of shampoo !! All of a sudden my brains taken up with a 'oh well, thats that!' attitude.
Oh well, maybe once the builders finished, baby grandsons been for his birthday, we've come back from our holiday, life can get back on an even keel again.

ceridwen

mary43 wrote: »

ceridwen - maybe its the 'sense of purpose' that I lack. I don't have a belief as such..........well suppose I do but not anything thats recognised if you know what I mean. I really need to have better structure in order to stick to my list of 'stuff to do'...............I get so easily waylaid into doing something else.............(today I should have been cleaning bathroom and bedroom this morning but no...........I got my water colours out instead ) and tell myselfI'll do it tomorrow...............which actually I probably will as if the builder turns up he'll be in and out so I can vanish upstairs and be out of the way apart from providing him with sustenance..................lol
It doesn't help when something 'negative' happens -like sticking my head under the taps only to find we've run out of shampoo !! All of a sudden my brains taken up with a 'oh well, thats that!' attitude.

Re the structure - its not unknown for me to get "waylaid" as you put it - but I try and do my best. Right now - I have a list up of housework things to do this afternoon (including breadmaking) and its written in order of priority for me to work my way through. That way - I usually manage at least most of it.

No shampoo - one can use washing-up liquid in emergency. I'm nowt if not resourceful. That "lateral thinking" again that I advocate:D

I'm thinking that if one got a combination of weezl, myself and Rosengeranium (from the Indoor Gardening blog I found recently) together we could work out a fair number of "solutions" to problems (just one slight problem - Rosengeranium is in Sweden - still - think we might find a way round that - lol).

mary43

I did thinkof washing up liquid but by that time I'd combed through my wet hair and resigned myself that today was going to be a 'non-wash hair' day..............OH has since found some Vosene shampoo and conditioner I got as a freebie.............was in the bathroom cupboard......why did I not think to look there ? Maybe that was it...........my 'thinking' process was on hold...............lol

Greenshieldstamp_2

Thanks for the update on the trough Mary43. It is great to hear how people's projects end up. Sounds the perfect solution. And don't worry whether your mum will understand what the notelet picture is about. She will enjoy looking at it anyway and know that you care very much for her by taking the time to paint something especially for her.

Managed to cut the grass today and it didn't look too bad.OH usually cuts it and although my stripes on the lawn aren't quite as neat they are not too bad.
Surprisingly satisfying, and I enjoyed the time out in the garden just seeing what's what.

I wonder whether anyone has any Old Style solutions to getting rid of bindweed?

Hope everyone had a good Bank Holiday.

mary43

We aways moan about bindweed yet happily plant Morning Glory and thats a close relation.
Where ours grows we put up a small tripod affair for it to climb up........that way it seems easier to get at it and funnily enough while its climbing up there its not trailing around the garden.............it actually looks quite pretty.

Just been and surveyed the back garden. Its turned chilly these last two days and the osteopurnams I bought on Thursday are looking a bit 'unwell'..........maybe they'll perk up when we get some warmer weather......weekend the weathermen said.

ceridwen

Remembering weezl here....guess what...apparently one can eat it (both leaves and roots). I spotted a page on it on

www.off-grid.net/

somewhere.

Still working on my new motto - a variant of "If life gives you lemons make lemonade". Mine being "if life gives you weeds - eat them".LOL

(NB: Interesting article on the current "front page" re off-grid energy - never mind the phrase "I'm ready for my close-up now Mr DeMille" - my variant on that is "I'm ready for my solar panels NOW Mr Brown" - as in a hefty Government grant towards the cost of them. I've spotted a kit for about £3,600 including installation at a major British DIY store. So - like the proverbial cat (that got the cream) - I'm watching and waiting and ready to pounce - once the Govt gives those hefty grants towards alternative energy that there is, as yet, no sign of.)

Well - if the Government can subsidise air travel as heavily as it does (with letting them off taxes) (black mark time) - then there is money available for the huge percentage grants we need towards alternative energy for our homes (charge those airlines that tax and use this money for the grants).