…with knitting dishcloths and such…so much so I came up with my own little idea…’design’ if you like…pretty simple but I’m quite happy with the way it’s turned out. I was toying with the idea of being able to sell them but I like them too much!
Part of what I’ve been doing over the last few weeks has been around becoming more aware of how what I do affects the environment – especially as I’m just like everyone else out there like me – add that all up and there’s a heck of a lot of impact being made! The more I read the more I felt the need to change the way I’m doing things. I’ve begun to use all homemade cleaners (I think I’ve mentioned it either here or my other blog at least once). We all now have metal drink bottles and the kids lunchboxes are all the right number plastic – although eventually I’d like to replace them with something even better. Yesterday I made a facial cleanser/scrub as my old one ran out. I also made dishwasher powder sometimelast week and it seems to do a good job – although not as squeaky and shiny, it’s still clean! Next I need to make some shampoo and laundry powder but I’mjust letting things run to the end so I’m not forcing myself to make everything in one hit, get overwhelmed and decide it’s too much effort.
I made Blokey some granola today after finding a recipe online for a frozen sandwich with peanut butter and granola in it. Thing One is after it for breakfast tomorrow and I’m thinking with some yogurt, left to soak for a bit would be just right. I found some recipes for sandwiches which can be made ahead of time and frozen. So I’m going to get some bread tonight and make a bunch up…there’s a tuna one, a chicken one (left overs from the roast, then a stock can be made) and the peanut butter one….the morning is not a good time here to be making lunches so if I can get things like sandwiches prepared in advance then I’m planning to get the kids to put together the rest of their lunch items after dinner or something like that. That way too Blokey doesn’t have to think about what to make as he was the lunch maker for the last two years….but as the kids proved to me yesterday they are all capable of making stuff…so whynot give themsome responsibility for their lunches…that way they might actually eat it…that’s the theory I keep hearing anyway!
My head is full of so many things I want to do I’m having a hard time focusing on anything…and then I tend to do nothing! I have managed to be keeping the kitchen in a tidier state recently, which is a turn-up. Today I tidied up the entrance area – what a mess! We keep two plastic cube-crates at the front door for recycling…if I’mlucky they get put up every week, but if they don’t things fall out and blow around and yuck! So, as today was rubbish day and Blokey made sure he had the crates up last night (two weeks worth) I decided it was high time to sort the abomination that has become our front doorway. I bagged up the left over shoes that the crates had been sitting on, picked up random bits of recycling that had managed to escape due to overfilling and now the crates are half full again! Anyway as I was picking something up out scuttled a rather large speciman of a weta…I called the kids and they all watched as it waddled off in search of a new home! My next task is to wash it all down and get rid of the weeds and leaves and such that have been blown into that corner. And hang out some washing…and get some dinner ready to cook…but right now I’m listening to Oxygene by Jean Michel Jarre in an attempt to drown out the tv and kid noises just a few metres away so I can concentrate on writing this.
There are a lot of things I want to accomplish this year and I know how I can be – full-on for a wee while and then give up. I’m trying really hard not to do that this time…even though I want my home to be clean and tidy, I want it to be a sustainable thing. So far I’ve got it all written down so i don’t have to have it in my head – Flylady’s Control Journal is my template – it seems to work well for me when I actually put it into practise – and of course getting back into the whole routine of things slowly is hopefully more helpful than dumping straight back into it as I have in the past. Although, I think this year more than any other I’m happy to be getting back into it more than not happy about it. Of course, the kids going back to school (and usually me going back to work on the same day) signifies to my pessimistic side the ensuing downward slide into winter which I’m never happy to see arrive.
I’m already looking at this year differently though…partly to do with cutting back my hours at work and partly due to something else I have yet to put words to…mellowing out perhaps but not quite…I can but set the goals and work towards achieving them little by little without pressuring myself that it all has to be done now…or yesterday for that matter…perhaps what I’ve been practising is some kind of ‘not doing’…a way of forcing myself to not cave in to the pressure I do put myself under to have things looking perfect (which by the way never has happened, ever!)…which always ends in my contrary self doing nothing whatsoever…so now I’m getting the jump on that part of me…just not doing it anyway.
Yeah, doesn’t reallt make sense as I type it does it but it does in my head – I simply can’t explain it – it’s a complicated way of getting to the simple solution apparently. I’m slowly getting it into my head that continual small steps is progress – it doesn’t all have to be done now…it certainly took a long time to get to this condition…so I’m going to force it to take time to fix it up.
So…laundry, front porch and dinner….and maybe some gardening if there’s time, we’ll see…I cleared a small patch of weeds the other day so maybe I can plant my broccoli and cauliflowers there…I’ll let you know.
I’m sure Blokey wonders what I’ve been doing all day…nothing much changes…I’ll get there though…eventually…
