Tag Archives: cleaning

Embarrassed

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As I sit here on my ever-expanding backside, I am embarrassed that I have not posted much of anything recently.  After the dinner dishes are washed, I usually sit in my favorite chair with my iPad and check my email and play various solitaire games or Sudoku.

The biggest time suck for me is Pinterest.I love it and can’t seem to close the app and do something constructive such as:

  • make the gifts for a bridal shower on April 6
  • make a cheesecake for Easter
  • get our tax information ready for the tax preparer
  • knit booties for my grandson
  • knit another sweater for my granddaughter
  • felt the CCM hat I made months ago (and never blogged about)
  • declutter and clean (that’s an ongoing issue for me)
  • and burn some calories

It’s Good Friday and I have the day off.  I’m going to go and DO something.

Oh, one more thing:  Happy Birthday to my son and son-in-law.  How nice that they have the same birthday.

Miscellaneous

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A BIG thank you to all the veterans for making it possible for us to pursue our lifestyle.  Without your dedication and service to our great country our lives would be very different.

Knitting:  I decided to knit fingerless mitts for office gifts this year to match the hats I gave last year.

Office hats

I still have yarn leftover so it won’t be a problem of matching dye lots.  These will be very basic using 2-3 colors in some simple striping.  It’s only four pair and I don’t have to buy more yarn.  I needed size 6 double point needles for this pattern and looked high and low for them.  I knew I had two sets but could not find them.

So I used my 40% off coupon at Joann’s yesterday and bought 2 sets of 4 needles.  Guess what I found when I was searching for the leftover yarn for the mitts?  They were in the bag with the Fetching mitts I made, ripped apart and restarted last winter.  They’re almost finished.

Oh, well.  It would cost more in gas to drive back and return them.  Besides, can one really have too many sets of size 6 double point needles?  Don’t answer that.

I really wanted to show you my progress on the Garter Stitch bag I started when I went to Vegas as well as the Linen Stitch Scarf.  No pictures of those today.  Plus there are some finished projects to show but that will have to wait until I can get the camera, knitting and daylight all together at the same time.

Cleaning: I was off for Veteran’s Day and I started cleaning the house as soon as I got up this morning.  Our son and family are coming for the weekend and the house needed some tidying up.  And the big aquarium needed a partial water change.  Mr. Aitch does everything else with the 5 aquariums we have but he needs my assistance to do the big tank.  That took about an hour.  Lunch, a quick trip to the market, more cleaning, dinner, and I finally got to sit down to knit around 8:30 this evening.  Too dark to photograph knitting.

Future dinner:  While I was fixing dinner tonight, I spied these two turkeys running around our back yard.

Each stood about 36 inches tall.  They were “talking” to each other then something spooked them and they flew away.  Maybe one of them will end up on my table for Thanksgiving …

One down…

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…several more to go.

Remember last week when I was off balance and wimpering telling you about my want/need/have-to-do list?  I crossed off one of the have-to-do things this weekend:

I cleaned out the pantry.

The before:

The after:

The only things I have left to do are to buy a couple of baskets for the opened snack bags and pastas, organize the cookbooks so they don’t take up half a shelf and make a wooden box with casters for my cookie sheets, cooling racks, large trays and cutting boards which live in the box on the floor for now.  Know anyone with a table saw willing to make a 1/2 inch plywood box with casters 18 inches wide by 18 inches long by 17 inches high?

The big bag of candy on top of the pumpkin basket (that my very talented sister made) will be given out on Halloween.  I hope.  (I buy candy that I don’t like so I don’t eat the leftovers.  I take it to work.  Mr. Aitch disagrees.  He thinks I should buy candy that we like so we can have the leftovers.)

ALL my extra food used to be stored in the basement but I decided to bring the boxed goods upstairs into the kitchen.  We do have a dehumidifier but I still worry about dampness getting into the dry goods.  The canned goods are still down there.  Going to the basement for something is part of my exercise program.

Expired foods, things that didn’t belong in any pantry, and stuff I don’t remember buying went into the garbage.   The setup isn’t ideal as the shelves aren’t adjustable so I have to work with what I’ve got.  Once I get the crown molding installed, the rooms repainted and the craft room finished, I’ll think about redoing the pantry with adjustable shelving.  It’s all about priorities.

Time allotted for this project was two hours.   Actual time from start to almost finished (this stage) was…four hours.  Deciding how to put it all back took the most time.

I found a 1,327 pound griddle that came with a gas grill we bought in 2003.  Maybe we’ll remember we have it and actually use it.  For what?  I don’t know.

Not sure why I had over 200 brown paper lunch bags either.

Off balance

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My tag line says “Finding the right balance between life and clutter.”  I’m off balance.

We observed Columbus Day yesterday so I was home.  (Thanks, Chris.)  I so desperately wanted to post at least one tutorial, clean off the kitchen island, organize my current knitting corner.  I failed at all attempts.  I did wash my car and motorcycle.

My Garter Stitch bag is complete except for the straps (I-cord takes me a long time to do) and the lining.  I’m still debating on the fabric.  I tried to make a tutorial on lining this bag and spent far too much time failing redeveloping my idea.  I’m about halfway done on the first one.

I also worked on the travel case for electronic chargers tutorial that I promised months ago.  The text is written but inserting the photos is challenging.  Plus I still need someone to test it for me. 

Nothing was working out.

I’m off balance.

It’s that time of year when I start to feel overwhelmed with clutter.  I try to declutter but it never seems like I’m doing enough.  I’m constantly being pulled between what I want to do and what I should do.

I want to:

  • knit
  • sew
  • paint
  • make Christmas ornaments
  • redecorate
  • repaint the family room, kitchen, guest room #2, three bathrooms, the master bedroom
  • buy and install a closet organizer
  • get crown molding in the living and dining rooms
  • hire someone to make my craft room
  • display my mother’s dishes that are still in boxes from 2007

I need to do:

  • vacuum
  • laundry – it’s the putting away that drags me down
  • dust
  • iron Mr. Aitch’s shirts
  • cook
  • wash dishes – somethings just have to be washed by hand
  • find the right piece of furniture to display my mother’s dishes
  • organize my craft stuff: yarns, wood, paints, fabric, threads, paper, glue, beads

I don’t want to do but have to do:

  • file papers – seriously I have 4 file boxes of papers that need filed
  • clean out the closets – will I ever get back into those size X suits?  Will they still be in style?
  • clean out the pantry
  • clean out the basement – full of stuff I “might” need
  • Get. Rid. Of. Stuff. Tied. To. Emotions.

That list is what gets me overwhelmed.  I was reading Laurie Perry’s (Crazy Aunt Purl) post from last week and can really relate to her decluttering mind-set. Defcon 1, 2, 3.

I am a crafter and I keep things that I can use.  Is it ok to keep these things as long as I organize them?  A place for everything and everything in its place?

Can I tackle/declutter one drawer, shelf, flat surface, box, or pile and do it for 15 minutes a day?  Can I commit to this every day?