Monday, 13 July 2009
Thursday, 9 July 2009
"A HANDBAG?!!!!" "Yes, Lady Bracknell...."
I have gone from one extreme to the other! The new purple bag was purchased at Innsbruck airport (not handed over in the cloakroom at Victoria station!). Having gone from no handbag as a student (pockets will do!) to small handbag with various compartments, I now find myself with a fashion item (shock horror!) into which I have emptied the contents of my previous one. This has filled about 12% of the space....The 4 pockets within the bag are each almost the size of the previous bag alone! So within these generous openings I have placed...Pocket 1 house keys, Pocket 2 (placed behind) car keys, Pocket 3, phone and Pocket 4 purse. Smaller zipped up section contains "pharmacy" loosely termed! The main section of the bag...EMPTY apart from the notebook and pen (nib retracted..of course!)! So I am walking around with a stylish making a statement in purple, bag which will no doubt become filled with "useful" things like empty egg boxes and double up as a shopping basket. My shoulder will begin to ache under the pressure and I shall never find anything in it unless I allow myself a "rummage window" in my day. My dear friend, Stuart has already placed a number of small rocks in it....and I was still finding them days later....But, I love my new bag...and maybe one day I shall have a netbook inside it and then there will be no stopping me blogging! I forgot to mention that this is the whole point of the need for an increase in size!
Typhoid alert! Pre India preparation! Dick's practice nurse jabbed the needle in and presented me with this! Thanks Vicky, the aching arm is beginning.....!
You will need to click on the photo to see it properly!
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
The Tree of Magic Faraway memories....
A tree...that has been climbed on by small sons...at different times, that catches my eye as I walk by and the memories come back. So why do my eyes smart with tears at the sight? A sentimental indulgence, a quiet smile and a knowing that now new adventures beckon, different challenges are faced and I am their biggest Cheerleader!
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
LISTS "To do or not to do!"
That really is the question....
I am almost cringeing as I write this as it's going to sound SAD to most of you, but I am on a campaign which involves a "Cleaning Experiment" for a few months, by then I hope it will either have developed into a habit or I will have thrown the idea out as ridiculous!
The aim is to have the housework and home responsibilities under control so that I have more time to enjoy and explore new things without there being an imbalance....have my cake and eat it? Perhaps...enjoy life to the full, embracing new challenges...definitely.
So here's the thing (where have you all gone?!!)
5 Areas in the house
Bathrooms B1
Bedrooms x2 B2
Kitchen K3
Living Room and Study L4
Middle Area,Hall, Stairs and Landing M5
So there is a 5 week rolling programme which runs from Mon-Fri. I have tried to keep it as flexible as I can so that I don't get all legalistic about it.
The idea is this:
The house itself has to be fairly together ie carpets hoovered, sinks wiped, sort of acceptable.The idea is NOT that everything else gets ignored until you get to the allocated week for that Area!
Week 1 is the Bathroom which means that for 5 days I concentrate on that area particularly. Some days I may spend 15 minutes tidying a shelf or folding the towels in the airing cupboard. On another day I may spend an hour on something. Last week I touched up the ceiling paint in the shower and cleaned between the grouting. They were the long jobs, but I know that in 5 weeks I won't need to revisit that area for long at all so I can concentrate on something else in that room which had to wait until I came full circle again! It has been a good feeling to look at a room, that you have "attacked in stages", without it being too onorous at all.
This week it is the Bedrooms and I was appalled to discover 5 hankies under the bed, covered with thick dust! This led to me going to extremes and moving the bed across the room so that I could wash the carpet. So there's a job I shall not be repeating next month! I even cleaned on top of my wardrobes and I found a box of scapels up there...hmmm. The furniture polish I made was a bit overpowering on the Lavender essential oil front so next time I will take the advice that 2-3 drops really IS enough! The olive oil and vinegar combination worked well though. Little by little the cleaning chemicals are disappearing from my cupboard and are being replaced by simpler recipes.
So that's it really. Of course decluttering, simplifying and organising happens along the way, which tick my boxes, so I'm happy!
At the weekend you have 3 choices:
Have a rest!
Continue working in that Area...
Start the next weeks Area...
The main thing is not to become a slave to it and enjoy yourself as you potter around.
In the meantime I will keep trying to get some photos and images on here!
I am almost cringeing as I write this as it's going to sound SAD to most of you, but I am on a campaign which involves a "Cleaning Experiment" for a few months, by then I hope it will either have developed into a habit or I will have thrown the idea out as ridiculous!
The aim is to have the housework and home responsibilities under control so that I have more time to enjoy and explore new things without there being an imbalance....have my cake and eat it? Perhaps...enjoy life to the full, embracing new challenges...definitely.
So here's the thing (where have you all gone?!!)
5 Areas in the house
Bathrooms B1
Bedrooms x2 B2
Kitchen K3
Living Room and Study L4
Middle Area,Hall, Stairs and Landing M5
So there is a 5 week rolling programme which runs from Mon-Fri. I have tried to keep it as flexible as I can so that I don't get all legalistic about it.
The idea is this:
The house itself has to be fairly together ie carpets hoovered, sinks wiped, sort of acceptable.The idea is NOT that everything else gets ignored until you get to the allocated week for that Area!
Week 1 is the Bathroom which means that for 5 days I concentrate on that area particularly. Some days I may spend 15 minutes tidying a shelf or folding the towels in the airing cupboard. On another day I may spend an hour on something. Last week I touched up the ceiling paint in the shower and cleaned between the grouting. They were the long jobs, but I know that in 5 weeks I won't need to revisit that area for long at all so I can concentrate on something else in that room which had to wait until I came full circle again! It has been a good feeling to look at a room, that you have "attacked in stages", without it being too onorous at all.
This week it is the Bedrooms and I was appalled to discover 5 hankies under the bed, covered with thick dust! This led to me going to extremes and moving the bed across the room so that I could wash the carpet. So there's a job I shall not be repeating next month! I even cleaned on top of my wardrobes and I found a box of scapels up there...hmmm. The furniture polish I made was a bit overpowering on the Lavender essential oil front so next time I will take the advice that 2-3 drops really IS enough! The olive oil and vinegar combination worked well though. Little by little the cleaning chemicals are disappearing from my cupboard and are being replaced by simpler recipes.
So that's it really. Of course decluttering, simplifying and organising happens along the way, which tick my boxes, so I'm happy!
At the weekend you have 3 choices:
Have a rest!
Continue working in that Area...
Start the next weeks Area...
The main thing is not to become a slave to it and enjoy yourself as you potter around.
In the meantime I will keep trying to get some photos and images on here!
Friday, 15 May 2009
"A Crop Palace" Open for business!
A perfect little sign reduced to 25p in "Age Concern" that matches perfectly with the heart shape design on the hen house!
There had to be a ceremony to capture the moment...two grown adults... might even submit the photo and the story to the Battery Hen Welfare Trust...wonder if they would put it in their newsletter! I'll think on that one, could be quite entertaining with the Greek storyline.
Dick had the job of "chicken grabber" from old residence and plonking them down into 5 star luxury whilst I was doorkeeper in new establishment to stop them from running out to explore the great outdoors! There were plenty of contented little clucking sounds and they all went straight into the house for a look around, not sure what to make of perches...will they lay in the nesting boxes, I wonder?
New experiences of feathers being ruffled in the breeze. Blades of grass to tug at outside the wiremesh. They were in their element!
Looks as if they have all gone into the house to sleep, I have yet to creep in and bolt the door as earlier one heard me coming and popped out to say hello! It is going to be fun being able to move around and touch them more. The litter is so deep that it is soft to sit in and they have all come over and pecked at the sequins on my top, which reflect the light!
Ramzi and Dick have both assured me that the wiremesh is plenty strong enough to withstand the jaws of a certain predator, so I will have to chill out and accept that! I still feel very protective of them though!
Prudence eyeballing me!
This shows A Crop Palace in all its glory!
It took 24 hours for them to learn to lay in the nest box!
There had to be a ceremony to capture the moment...two grown adults... might even submit the photo and the story to the Battery Hen Welfare Trust...wonder if they would put it in their newsletter! I'll think on that one, could be quite entertaining with the Greek storyline.
Dick had the job of "chicken grabber" from old residence and plonking them down into 5 star luxury whilst I was doorkeeper in new establishment to stop them from running out to explore the great outdoors! There were plenty of contented little clucking sounds and they all went straight into the house for a look around, not sure what to make of perches...will they lay in the nesting boxes, I wonder?
New experiences of feathers being ruffled in the breeze. Blades of grass to tug at outside the wiremesh. They were in their element!
Looks as if they have all gone into the house to sleep, I have yet to creep in and bolt the door as earlier one heard me coming and popped out to say hello! It is going to be fun being able to move around and touch them more. The litter is so deep that it is soft to sit in and they have all come over and pecked at the sequins on my top, which reflect the light!
Ramzi and Dick have both assured me that the wiremesh is plenty strong enough to withstand the jaws of a certain predator, so I will have to chill out and accept that! I still feel very protective of them though!
Prudence eyeballing me!
This shows A Crop Palace in all its glory!
It took 24 hours for them to learn to lay in the nest box!
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