The Home-Office: Part One

Well, the home office is taking longer than I expect; as predicted.  I've done a lot with it so far and I'm damned proud of how far I've come with it (as I am with the rest of the townhouse).  I'm just amazed at how much crap one person can accumulate in 8 1/2 years!  And believe me, it's a lot!

I got off the internet at noon - as usual - and turned my chair around and just looked at my office!  What a mess!  I almost expected the cleaner from the Pro Hart commercials to come through the door and say that with a sigh; but she didn't!  Instead, I opened the door of my wardrobe and began unpacking it.  I was totally surprised to find how much I had crammed into this wardrobe; and didn't wish to cram it with this much crap again.  I needed it to be easily accessible and I wanted stuff to be found, not hidden to the point of embarrassment.

So, I took the two legs from my bedroom mirror downstairs where I found I had to unpack the storage facility to fit them in laying down and right at the front.  Then, I pulled out some of my brother's massive posters (which I tried to ask if he wanted them, but I've yet to hear back from him).  Anyway, he and I will talk about them tonight and see what he wants to do with them.  I won't do anything unless he says so.  I moved them to my bedroom wardrobe and laid them down at the back behind my box of journals.  Then, I took all the handbags off the doorhandles and put them on my bed and found out I had a set of rolled up posters that I had laminated but haven't used; the reason is because I don't have the space for them around here.

The set of plastic drawers were put into the wardrobe once everything was taken out - which included two pieces of luggage, a box of boxes which house my LOTR goblets and a large glassed-in print of LOTR which has to have the glass replaced - and three bags of macrame.  I put two briefcases of Grandpa's into the wardrobe, my Rollerblades - with safety equipment, minus the helmet - and my Christmas bag and Halloween bag (these bags house all the things I use for those times of the year).

I looked around, grabbed a rubbish bag and began sorting through a pile of rubbish next to the first bookcase at the door.  It was going really well.  I sorted into piles of books, notebooks and bookmarks, shredable and rubbish.  The notebooks are where they're supposed to be - so are the books and bookmarks and the rubbish is in the wheelie bin outside.  I went through each pile systematically and found my fair share of notebooks and a lot of printed up stuff I had written (which ended up in a 3-ring binder) and then I vacuumed up all the paper and crap as I went along.

By around 2:30pm, I put anything I didn't want - and was going to a charity - into an old IKEA bag outside the door, the rubbish was sat on the other side of the bathroom door, all my books had a place to live and I have found I have more floor space than I ever thought!  And now, there's only three bags to go through in front of one bookcase... and that's it!  after that bookcase, I'll have the room I need for this home office.  But that will be part two of the Home Office Clean Out.

Well, that's all from me for now.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

The Bedroom!

Wow!  I'm so tired!  And I did the easiest room of them all:  my bedroom.  Seeing I do most of my living in it, it didn't take long to clean out what needed to be cleaned out, kept or sent into a 'charity bag'.  I was online until around 11:30am when I shut it off hoping to get myself going and working on the second-last room of my townhouse... really I couldn't wait - seeing I'm on a roll - to get this done.

The vacuum was brought upstairs with the extension cord and the duster had its fluffy thing replaced with a new one and I grabbed the 3-step ladder and I was set the to do out the bedroom; starting with my chair.  Now, this chair is one of a pair that Mum and I are sharing. There's one at her place and one here; and both are in our bedrooms holding onto one thing or another.  Mine was mainly holding cushions, shirts I've been looking for since Summer and bandannas with cool patterns on them.  So, once they were cleared away, I put the chair in the office and poked at a large black rubbish bag that has been sitting behind it on the floor for about 2 years... yep, anything could be living in it by now!  However, nothing was; but I did put it out in the back yard to deal with it later on.

I grabbed the vacuum and plugged it in and then went over the floor, along the skirting and collected a lot of dirt and dust out of the carpet.  Then, I moved the old Singer Sewing Machine Cabinet and vacuumed under and around that and put it back.  The chair came back in and I put two orange cushions on it and put the boomerang pillow and other two cushions away in the linen closet (where all my sheets go normally).  

Up the top of my wardrobe after I cleaned it out

I then tackled the wardrobe; opening its doors wide and pulling up the ladder so I could get to the top level.  I found a lot of X-Rays and bags that were there in no particular order.  So, I pulled the whole lot down, wiped it over with the duster and put up only bags that I would use and wanted to keep.  All up, around three bags went in the bin (being unable to fix them) and another three went into the charity pile).  I put up all the large shoulder bags, back-packs and a cane bag up the top; along with the X-Rays back in the same spot where they were before.  Then, I put another Glo-Mesh in with my other ones and any other evening-type bags on a hook on the inside of the door (which were hanging off my bedroom door).  Two beach bags also went up the top which were just hanging off my linen closet too; making the place look and feel cleaner already!

Then, I moved the little bedside table and dusted and vacuumed around that, put it back and moved the bed and cleaned underneath it completely.  Once the bed was back in place, I did out the duchess by my bed and I found a lot of stuff I didn't need on that duchess; and a lot of dust.  Then, I went to the other duchess up against the wall next to the door and cleaned up all my jewellery - putting it away - before moving my boxes to the bed, wiping it down and then putting all back neatly.  All my jewellery was put away, all the receipts were picked up, looked through and sorted into shredable and binned.  I then put all the stuff that was going to a charity into a rubbish bag and emptied the rubbish bin into a fresh bag and unplugged the vacuum, wrapped up the extension cord and started putting things away.  Yep, this room was almost finished.  I found a place for my Robbie Burns horseshoe Mum gave me (in my office where he belongs - in amongst other writers) and then - once I had the hallway cleared of junk, rubbish and charity items, I went off out the back and sorted out that rubbish bag in the back yard... it had a large white sheet in it.  For what?  I'm not sure.  But I tossed it in the wash to clean it up seeing how musty it smelled and made use of the black rubbish bag.

So, that was my clean out of my bedroom.  It looks better, cleaner and must less dusty than before.  I've left the hardest room until last - my home office - which I'll be tackling over a few days as it will be difficult to do.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

No Rest For the Wicked!

Today, I thought I was going to have a nice relaxing day of reading the paper.  However, I ended up working with my big Spring Clean-out instead.  Before I did that, I went out and bought a newspaper; dropping in on some of my friends on the way.  I found out that Amy Winehouse was found dead in her flat in London and that Norway had another horrible tragedy that could have been avoided.  A nut job went on to a small island to a teen camp and killed 92 people while he was there.  What a waste!  And the survivors of what he's caused will be traumatised for a long time after this.

After breakfast, I finished cleaning out the bag of papers and receipts that I had sitting around, put out the bag of rubbish from it and then I jumped onto the internet for a few hours while I drank my home-made milk drink; just to chill out for a while before my afternoon of work.

Before I cleaned it out...

...and after I finished the floors.

At around midday, I turned off the computer and headed off downstairs to collect together some things for the bathroom; as that was the next thing on my list.  I had to clean that room from top to bottom - complete.  I grabbed the 3-step ladder, washing up detergent, Windex and other stuff that I needed too.  The whole room got a once over it hasn't seen since I moved in.  I completely cleaned the shower to the point it looked good enough for a house inspection, the blinds were cleaned of the dust, dirt and pollution and then the top of the closet was washed down with hot water and detergent too; then I used the surface cleaner to make sure no dust was left on top.  The Windex was used to clean the mirror, window and any glass around the room and then I scrubbed around the doors of the shower screens with Gumption and wiped the tiles down with a cloth especially designed for that purpose.  After the toilet was cleaned and the washing was folded and put away, I did out some of my wardrobe, I was stuffed and very hungry.  I had been up and down that ladder more times than I cared to remember this afternoon; and I needed something to eat.  So, I went out and bought myself a special treat:  a Chiko Roll!  Yummo!  

Tonight, at around 7:30pm, there wasn't anything on tv to keep my interest, so I washed the bathroom floor with Handy-Andy, put everything back, threw the dirty water out the back, washed up and put the rubbish out from the kitchen.  Yep, it was a very busy day!  I'm tired, but I'm ready to work on tomorrow's list of what needs to be done... and that's my bedroom.  That shouldn't take very long seeing I'm always working on making it as tidy as possible (let's hope) and I have to live in it every day and night of my life.

Well, until tomorrow, and my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Saturday Clean-Up

Today, the Big Clean-Out continued!  Yep, I had a list and I was stickin' to it!  I found that list and found out what needed doing downstairs and pulled out the vacuum cleaner with all its attachments (yeah, after just tossing them into the storage unit willy-nilly, I actually found them laying nearby.  Funny how things happen like that).  I moved Little Miss Stevie to the screen door where there was a patch of sunshine for her to flaunt herself in and vacuumed up all the seed husks she had tossed behind the credenza from her beloved Millet.  What a messy little bird she is!  I even found a Chi Card I had been looking for behind here and picked that up with tongs before starting up the vacuum.

After I finished that, I did the rest of the room with the small attachment head so I got all the hair, seed, bird poo and bits of knitting yarn I may have dropped.  I also sucked up bits of newspaper and dirt and grass from me walking it all through from the back yard when I did some gardening last month.

then, I cleaned up the front door area - once Little Miss Stevie was put back in her right place and the front window was opened up to let in some fresh air.  And even she took part in the clean-up in her own way... Little Miss Stevie had a few bomb-dives into her bath and sat sorting through her feathers while I dusted and cleaned around her.  Then, I pulled up the inside mat and took it outside to bash it against the bricks and sneezed my head off while I was out there; leaving it outside while I vacuumed and dusted around the front door foyer area of the house; then I put it back where it came from (really, I need a new one).  Then, I did the internal staircase; got halfway up, then grabbed the hand-held vacuum to do the rest.  By the time I emptied it, I found so much more dirt and dust in the filter of that thing, it was unbelievable!  

Well!  That was the vacuuming done!  So, I got out the Windex again and cleaned down the back glass sliding doors and the entertainment unit, China cabinet and any other glass I could find downstairs before putting it all away and throwing out a lot of black paper towel that was once creme!  Yuk... and I'm breathing in all that pollution! 

Well, I looked at my list again and put on some music (yep, it always motivates me to do more around the house when there's a good solid beat of 80's music pumping through the speakers of my stereo).  Once 'Dark Side of the Moon' was on the turntable, I filled the sink up and washed up everything I could find around the kitchen - including the cutting board - and then I cleared the kitchen table and cleared off the bench.  I put most of the I had piled onto the bench onto the table and worked hard to clean the tiles and the bench; using Gumption to get the harder stains out.  Then, when I was happy with the first half of the bench, I sorted out what I needed and put it back, sorted out what I didn't need and tossed it out.  It was easier than I thought.  I did the same thing with the other half of the bench; but it took a little longer... this was because there was a lot more paperwork and I found so many receipts!  So, I sat down and went through them all one by one to make sure I knew which ones to shred and which ones I could just toss.  Then, I went through the little set of drawers next to the food processor and found there were a great many things in that I didn't need either (like a lighter - that works - and one that didn't; and a cigarette butt collector for smokers... now why would I want those for is beyond me).  So, I left those on the piano until I needed a break and walked down to Lisa & Betty's place to give them to them.  Betty thought the butt collector was a brilliant idea; and thanked me for the lighter.

My kitchen - before and after I took to it this afternoon! What a difference!

By this time, it was almost 4pm, I was stuffed and I had played around four vinyls; including Peter Gabriel's 'So', and RHCP's 'Mother's Milk' as well as the Pink Floyd one I played earlier.  After we chatted, we all went our separate ways and I began looking into getting something to eat.  I bought pizza for dinner and baklava (as a treat; which was delicious!) and I have enough left for tomorrow night's dinner ... yummo!  

So, there you have it... downstairs is almost finished.  Just little bits to be done before I finish up and get into doing the upstairs rooms... scary... me?  Doing the office.  Wow... I've half-done it, but getting all done is going to be the freaky part!  Stay tuned for that one (tune in the 'Twilight Zone' theme song... you never know what I may find in this here little room!).  Until my next post, keep warm and safe, and remember, I'm always here.

Busy Cleaning Friday

I decided to start my cleaning early this weekend; a day early, seeing I didn't have any other appointments or anything else to do and the weather had warmed up enough to open the windows of the unit and air out the stuffiness of Winter.  

So, once the windows were open, I put on a load of washing of all my calico bags and hung them all out and grabbed the broom and swept out the carport, front door stoop and out the back (moving the chairs out of the way).  I pulled out the stray bits of sick-looking grass and moss from around the brickwork and concrete around the hot water system; it made the whole back area look clean and nice.  Then, I got out some paper towel and the Windex and cleaned the kitchen window.  Once that was done, I went inside and pulled up the blind to clean the other side of the glass.  However, the blind's brake didn't hold and the whole thing had to be held up by me with one hand while I cleaned with the other.  After I got the glass cleaned, I called my landlord and told him of the problems I had with the blind and he said he'd look into it.  

After the phone call, I looked at the whole blind to make sure it would hold for the weekend (and hoped it would) and then found that the top of the fridge looked disgusting!  So, I pulled everything off the top of that and washed that down with a bit of Gumption and hot washing up water to get the grease off.  It took a while, but it was worth it.  I also washed up everything that was on top of it - the large pot and a set of containers too - so that it looked nice and clean.  Soon, everything was back on top and ready to be used again.

I took a break and had some Cranberry Juice and began getting the washing up together.  I changed the water and washed up as much as I could for the afternoon; but forgot to wipe down the counter.  I put everything back next to the fridge and folded up the 3-step ladder and sat it in the hall just outside the kitchen.

Then, I collected together the newspapers, sorted through them and found out which parts to keep and which ones to toss in the recycle bin; and did just that.  I then, sorted through the bills that I have paid on the kitchen table and put them into a pile and picked up the green bag full of paper that I had put off looking through for the last two months or so, got a rubbish bag and began looking through receipts, paid bills and mail that I needed to file.  I spent around an hour and half just reading and sorting and throwing out while listening to Santana's 'Lotus' (the 3rd vinyl) up loud with the lovely breeze coming through the window and the sun shining brightly.  Then, at around 3pm, I stopped and looked up at the clock.  I was tired; and the kitchen table looked like I hadn't done anything all day.  So, I put the rubbish bag on the floor, the shredable bag to one side and the pile of bills that have been paid next to it; and the table looked a bit more presentable.  

The house still needs a lot of work, but I've made a start.  I did get the lawn mowed and out the back looking a little more presentable yesterday.  And this morning, I cleaned the sliding glass doors - on both sides - before coming up onto the internet; along with all the glass on the front of the china cabinets, the television and the entertainment unit.  And I also wiped up from yesterday and put everything away in preparation for today's clean-up.  So, what have you gotten done around your place that you're proud of lately?  Is is a clean out or a piece of art work?  Is tidying up your car?  Or something else that you've done that's completely different (and not to do with cleaning at all)?  Leave a comment and let us know.  Until my next post, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Thursday and Weekend Plans

It's only Thursday and I've had a big week of stuff happening.  Last week I went out to a Mexican Costume Birthday Party; which went off with a bang (and me burning my face with a party popper - not too bad, trust me, it just stung a little, that's all).

Then, last night, I had a blast at the Triple M studios in at North Quay with Mum where we - along with 9 other people and their friends - hung out in the large back room and listened to 'The Living End's new album due out tomorrow.  We were treated to drinks and food, table tennis and pool and a tour around the studios.  It was a lot of fun... and we totally enjoyed ourselves as we got to meet three announcers (Banger, Jo and Woody) and got to do a promo in 'The Cage's studio; very cool.  By the end of the night, we were given a poster and asked our addresses so the studio could send out a free copy of 'The Living End's new cd to us (this included our guests too!).  Mum loved the music and so she put down her address too as well as I did.

Today, I was off to the chiropractor.  So, I didn't spend much time on the computer as I wanted as I had to do some laundry, washing up and checking of the mail across the road.  It was just a busy morning of work that had to be done before I went out.  On my way to the bus stop, I found my MP3 player kept on cutting out on me and the radio station I had it on (Triple M) was sounding horrible.  I felt like I was either doing a strange type of Yoga in public or trying to hitch a ride off the planet Ford Prefect style... either way, my MP3 player wasn't doing me any favours with how I looked; which wasn't very cool.  This has been happening since Digital Radio came into play; and so it means I will need to update my gadgetry when it comes to portable music.  When I got to Mum and Dad's place, I made a decision:  I told Mum that I'll be getting myself an iPod.  She said that after all my MP3 player is 5 years old and it might be out of date.

This brings me to this weekend; which I think I'll bring up one day - tomorrow.  I will be cleaning out and cleaning up the place again.  I've been having a lot of fun lately and not had a lot of time to clean up the house and this weekend is the time to do it.  So, I'll be pulling out the vacuum cleaner and duster and cleaning up everywhere I can.  The laundry will be put away, any of my bags that can be put through the laundry will be... and anything that needs throwing out will be tossed, out after being sorted through.  This will be a weekend of catching up with things that need to be done... after all, I've had almost every weekend since the beginning of this month filled with social events; until now.

Well, that's all for now.  It's getting late and I'm ready for bed.  There's laundry - again - tomorrow to be done in the morning.  So, until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Mid-Week Clean-Up

Yesterday afternoon, I got in and did some serious cleaning up.  But I began some of it in the morning by putting on the laundry and washing the blanket from the lounge/sofa-bed.  While it was being washed, I figured out which angle to put it so it folded out with enough room.  Since I received the entertainment unit, I have found that the sofa-bed doesn't have that much room to fold out... so I thought to pull it out while I had the time.  And I found that while it faced the front window, it opened out with plenty of room to spare around the side and end; so long I had it pushed against the unit and not the piano.

After the blanket - and a few other things - were flapping in the strong winds yesterday, I cleaned out my art area by the back door.  The first things I pulled out were a whole of tools that belonged in the sheds in my carport.  So, out they went back into their places.  While I was out there, I reorganised the left hand one; pulling out a Styrofoam box and throwing it away, moving a nice terra-cotta half pot (one that hangs off a fence by hooks that I have yet to use but haven't due to the rotten condition of my fences) to the bottom shelf, then organising my tools so I can get to them quickly if and when I need to.  Once that was done, I closed and locked up the shed again after I checked up on my poisons and chemicals to make sure they hadn't evaporated to nothing (which one had and I tossed out).  

Once back inside, I picked up the red box with all the broken books inside it and took it out the back yard to sort.  Inside this box, I found three bags: one was empty (so I used that as a rubbish bag), one was full of hair brand new hair clips (oops, I forgot about those!) and the last one had really old handbags in it (double oops, I remember I had those somewhere!).  Well, I also found an unopened powerboard too... so I'll open that one this week and use it at Christmas; add it to the Christmas lights.  As for the broken books (which I bought already falling apart and just made worse by pulling apart and making a collage out of them), I tossed them out in the rubbish for pick up this morning.

When I got back inside, I put the lounge back together, put the cushions back on it, along with the torn main cover (which I have to get another one for) and then threw the colourful cushions onto it and cleaned up the place a little before going upstairs to clean up the office.

I took the hair clips upstairs, put them into the bathroom - where they belong to be used - and the handbags in my bedroom and put my cordless phone where it normally sits when I'm online to tidy up the desk.  A lot of books were put away - mainly ones I've read and needed a home to while away time time before I lend them out to friends and family for them to read.  Otherwise, I grabbed a 'green bag' and put a lot of childrens books that had been sitting on the floor into it and sat it under the air conditioner, then I went through a lot of stuff on my desk and made sure most of it went into a rubbish bag; while anything else that could be shredded went into the yellow Daffodil Bag for shredding for next week.  

Then, I did a big rubbish run, collected the bag from the shredder and tidied up the place a bit before taking all the rubbish downstairs to the wheelie bin.  Before long, it was 3pm:  time for a shower and an hour's work on my painting I've been working on for the last few weeks.  Well, that's my clean up so far for this year... got a lot done for one afternoon.  Still got a lot to do today and tomorrow before the end of the week arrives; and then I can relax a bit on the weekend and get in some serious reading.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm, keep safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wine-Tasting and Free Mugs

Today was a busy one; and so I was up bright and early with a shower, breakfast, feeding Little Miss Stevie and off to the Logan Art Gallery to work.  However, it was a very quiet morning.  I worked with a new volunteer, Lori, who keeps getting called in to work at Target and she is always tired.  Well, we had only one person come in and look at the works and a meeting in the workshops that went all day.

Once home, I cleaned up the house, washed up, swept the floors and put everything away in preparations for a man to come from the Pieroth Wines

company to show me some wines.  How this came about is easy.  I filled out a survey that showed up in my PO Box about two weeks ago and posted it off.  And then I got a phone call last week asking when I'd be free to try out their very exclusive wines; and thrown in to the deal would be a four-pack of coffee mugs.  And they're nice mugs too!  So, I set the day and time and I even made up a nice cheese and fruit platter for them to munch on (which they didn't touch; but that doesn't matter).  

When they arrived, we chatted about what kind of booze I'd drunk in my life, when I last had something to drink and if my Epilepsy would be affected by any vino.  And I said that I mainly purchase wine as a gift for people; and I don't drink it much at all.  But I don't mind wine tastings as you really don't drink it, it's your sense of smell that tells you if it's worthwhile.  Tasting it shouldn't be anything but a coating on your tongue and that's it; just enough to get an idea of what it's like.

So, they showed me three wines.  One was a light, dry one.  It was quite lovely.  The second one tasted very much like vinegar to me.  But the third one had a bit of body to it - but not too much - and was quite fruity.  In between trying them out, I ate some pear to clean my palate, and prepare it for the next one.  It was a lovely hour of trying out wines; however, I just couldn't afford to purchase any at this time, and they understood this.  It's always nice to have something like this to break up my week; at least I know there's other great things out there.

And while these people were here, Little Miss Stevie was at her best.  She didn't show off or anything.  She just sat on her swing and snoozed until they left... and then she became the big show-off and blew kisses at me.  I guess she really is a one human budgie after all.

Well, tomorrow, I'm out again for a few hours.  I'll be heading over to Mum and Dad's house to check on it; to make sure it's okay and to throw out the papers and pick up anything that needs picking up off the front verandah.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and remember, I'm always here.

Easter Weekend

This weekend started off wet with a storm yesterday afternoon.  It was all thunder and lightning and plenty of rain filling our gutters and running down the drains.  But it didn't cool us off; instead making Brisbane warmer.  But that's Easter for you.

That morning, I had done some laundry, washed up a little, thrown out last weeks' newspapers and hung about on the net for a few hours.  Then, by around 2pm, I thought to read a little out the back with Little Miss Stevie to keep me company.  After the neighbour made it clear he was going to mow the lawn, I pulled in my laundry (as he did his) and had to wait until he did his lawn.  Then, I sat and read for about an hour or so with Little Miss Stevie sitting on the white table out the back.  She had a bath and was happy running around her cage and enjoying the fresh air.  I read about ten or fifteen pages of my book on how the Universe started from nothing.  It wasn't long before I noticed some clouds coming over and I thought it was a good time to get inside.

I hung out at one of my neighbour's places for an hour or so waiting for Gabe to drop by to see if his old television would fit in my television unit.  When he arrived - and Dad did too - we got it inside and found that it didn't fit by a few millimeters on either side.  So, we were stuck with a nice television that is front heavy that wouldn't fit at all.  He had to take the television to Mum and Dad's and leave me with mine... oh well. By the time they got the new television back in the Kombi, I had picked up my old one, slotted it back in and plugged in the cords around the back and side.  Dad was impressed I could pick up my set and remember where all the plugs went; but it was good it didn't take long.

Gabe got to look at my self-portrait and he said he had seen it on my Facebook page and thought it was brilliant; and even better in real life!  He said it looked different now I had done more work on it; and it will look better when I've finished it and got it framed.  I'm looking forward to that day.  Then, Dad asked if I had shown him the new view out the back I had; and I said I hadn't and did.  He was amazed how bare it looked and asked how come it happened.  Gabe said it was just wrong for the landlords over the fence to butcher the trees then try and sell the place without a privacy screen as good as trees like the ones that were there; he even said the place might not sell because it's so bare-looking.  I gave him three Easter Eggs for him, Kat and Riley before he left and then put the rest in the freezer for Sunday.

Today, I used a Dyson Vacuum to clean my carpets that one of my neighbours offered to lend me.  She said it's amazing and the suction on it is brilliant!  Well, I was absolutely surprised at how good it was!  I got my cleaning done in around 20 minutes; and not once did I sneeze!  But you should have seen the crap it pulled out of my carpet!  Because it's bagless, it doesn't throw dust up in the air and didn't make me sneeze - or make the bird sneeze either.  But it was exhausting pulling it around the place!  I had sweat pouring off me by the end of the time... and I had vacuumed my bedroom, lounge, office and bathroom.  It was amazing how much of my hair ended up in it!  And how good my house looks now... how little I cough now too!  I'm going to see if I can trade in my present vacuum for a small Dyson to find out how much it'll cost as they're brilliant cleaners.

For the rest of today, I'll be reading, writing, dusting, washing up and mowing the lawn (if the weather holds out) and putting away the laundry.  It'll free up the rest of my weekend to do whatever I want; after all we all have until Tuesday off... our first five-day weekend... very cool!

So, what are you up to this weekend?  How are you celebrating Easter?  Is there going to be an Easter Egg Hunt and a morning at church?  Or is your day going to be more relaxed around family and reading the paper?  For me, it's the latter as we're not that religious.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and remember, I'm always here.

Off To The Doctors Tomorrow.

Well, this cold of mine has brought a long a nice little cough with it... and it hurts like hell when I need to clear my throat.  So, this morning, at around 11am, I made an appointment with my doctor so this cold doesn't turn into anything more nasty than it already is.  I'm already eating cough lollies, using inhalent and taking hot showers to try and control it; but I do get the feeling they're not working as well as they should.

But today, I woke to a nice clear day, my head a bit clearer than it was on Saturday and no fever... yay!  I'm through the worse this cold has served up to me.  Now, all I need to do is get through the cough and I'll be home free!  This always happens at around this time of the year; just when it's beginning to get cold, when a cold or flu is going around.  I feel at my best and then suddenly, I get something from somebody... and it really tests me.  

Strangely enough, I really get into housework and tidy up the place.  For some strange reason, I get the impulse to have my house to look good for nobody.  Oh well, I guess it's probably because I have had emergency people in here and it's been a mess and it's been embarrassing.  So, to have a place a little bit clean it probably the best thing to do.  

I have been washing up every night after dinner and have found it really nice to get up each morning to find a nice clean kitchen looking at me.  And even when I put all the stuff away on the lounge, it's nice to see it tidy at times.  So, I'm looking forward to the time when I get into the habit of putting away things after I'm finished with them straight away... then it'll be a real achievement.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep safe and remember, I'm always here.

Cooling Off

This morning, I woke to overcast clouds and a cool breeze.  Normally, it warms up to a nice hot day and windy weather; however, today it has stayed overcast and there's been a few drizzly showers and rain.  It's good reading weather.  

But I'll start with yesterday.  I was tired again; but not as bad as Sunday.  I got reading 'Legacy' by David Suzuki and read up to page 40 of 'Baudolino' by Umberto Eco (I'm getting through a lot more of it than I thought I would).  They're both good books.

the kitchen got a good clean up as I washed up everything and put away a lot of other stuff.  I also wiped down all the counters and cleaned the stove.  Then, I moved onto my bedroom.

This room has been ignored for the last three months... now that's dreadful; but true.  I attacked it yesterday.  I put away all my clothes I wanted and put the clothes I didn't want into a bag for the next charity store run.  All my bath towels are put away as are my jackets, dresses and clothes that Mum gave me last year in her clean out.  I have also taken the laundry basket downstairs and put it back where it's supposed to be - and hasn't been in the last three months.  Then, I tidied up the reading area next to my bed so that the books I'm currently reading are closest to my bed and the ones I've got next in line are not too far off

These are books I find a challenge to read; or are reference books.

This took about two hours to do and I found it very much worthwhile.  I threw out three or four plastic bags, put away an X-Ray that had been sitting around, tossed out a belt that broke and can't be fixed and put away about seven pairs of socks, all my undies and found my favourite belt (which I bought from at the Queen Vic Markets in Melbourne) and also found a place for an Oroton purse I had purchased a few months back too (bringing my collection to around 15 handbags or so).  

Once this room had been fixed up - and I found the chair we had put into it - I was pleased to know how big it actually is.  The next room I'll be attacking is the home office.  I've left this one until last because I do spent a lot of time here and I need to find out exactly what I need in here; and what I don't... and that doesn't mean getting rid of my books.  There's other crap in here I need to get rid of and storage room which needs to be utilised. Until my next post, take care, keep safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wet Old Weekend

After a week of pretty good weather, we've had a weekend of pretty horrible, cold, wet weather.  It's good reading weather, good dvd weather, good anything but go outside and enjoy the day weather; and really when it's raining 90% of the time, it's best probably to just pull the old duvet over your head again and ignore the phone.

But really, I didn't.  I went out and bought the paper, talked to some of the neighbours and had my first bowl of rolled oats for the year.  And Little Miss Stevie was kept behind one of the front curtains for a good part of the day just to keep warm; and she still is.

The rain began at 4am Saturday morning; and it hasn't really stopped.  It's been good dull, drenching rain; and so, last night, when I felt like take away food, I cooked a nice pasta dish and jumped into that... it was so lovely, I really didn't want to be full because it warmed me up so nicely. 

Then, I watched 'Paris Blues' starring Sidney Pointier and Paul Newman and Louis Armstrong.  When the people in this film weren't talking, the filler music was jazz and blues.  I had this turned up really loud and loved every minute of it.  And the band that played all that beautiful music was the Duke Ellington Jazz Band... what a great band!  I love his work.  And Louis got a good talking part as a big Jazz musician; instead of a few lines in the beginning and a few at the end; in this film, he meant something and played his best!

Today, I've been on and off the net all day talking to my friends and Googling things, checking on the bird, listening to music and hoping to get my house tidy before the end of the day.  I ought to be able to make it soon.  Otherwise, late last night, I got within 30 pages of the end of 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho; and so I'll be able to get through my fourth of fifth book this year soon and onto my next one, I can't wait.

Anyway, enough from me.  I haven't mentioned half the stuff I want to do - and have gotten done.  There's mail to organise for tomorrow, the lounge room to tidy up (and keep tidy) a bag of paper to get through, a the kitchen to keep exactly the way I've gotten it and the bathroom to clean up.  And I'm trying to get through it all in good time.  Last year, I worked on cleaning out the house, this year, it's a matter of cleaning it up.  There's still things to clean out - which I'll do as I go along - but still I need to clean up more than anything.  

So, what are you getting done - or planning on getting done - that you've put off?  Leave a comment and let us know.  Until my next post, keep safe and warm.  And remember, I'm always here.

The Big Clean-Out & Tidy-Up 2011!

Yes!  It's under way again!  Just like last year, I'm going to clean out, tidy up and organise my home again and try to keep it as clutter-free as I can.  Now, it's not going to be easy, but all I can do is try.  

The places I have succeeded in keeping in clutter-free from last year are:

In front of the stereo and television

The credenza - front and back and inside

The piano - now I'm really proud of this as I have kept things off the lid and have kept the dust off it too.

The pantry has been organised to the best of my ability... I clean it and the fridge out each fortnight around the time I go shopping.

Now, these were the problem areas in the past; and now I have to start on a how lot of new problem areas that haven't been addressed.  These are mainly:  the kitchen counter, kitchen table, lounge seating area, my bedroom, my wardrobe, my office, bathroom and the garden.  They have been left to go more than a little wild and really need to be pulled into line.  So, I'll be concentrating on one of these things every now and then and they will be looking good and kept good for the whole time. 

There has been an underlying problem to do with my next door neighbours that has been stressing me out, but I will try not to let that bother me; as it's being worked out by the Body Corporate (I hope).  

Otherwise, there's other events that are going on this year that I'll keep you up-to-date with as we go along.  I hope you enjoy this year's blog entries - as much I as I enjoy writing them - and you'll be finding out a lot more about me and how I live my life on a pension.