You are not behind

Talking of homemaking I had been in a roller coaster for years: sometimes things went well, sometimes they didn't.

Even being a working outside woman with four children everything went well - or pretty close - till I had a change in my working times and everything went down the drain.

Add to the mixture several depressions along the years. Do I need to say that I still struggle ? But I have good news, I'm getting better and better.

Now I try to remember several times a day that Flylady says that there is no such thing as falling off the wagon. Jump in where you are, she says, you are not behind ! And do you know something ? She is right.

My house is getting better and better and I am too.

If this house - that is your real house and your body, in and out - is in need of a good tidying, don't feel down, just jump in. You are not behind !

I saw a post I did years ago when I was looking back to some goals and difficulties I had and I must say some are done and others I still struggle with.

Let's see them:

- To get up at 6.15

Oh, well, I don't need it anymore now that the girls have grown, no babies anymore and they help with their clothes and all so I don't need to get up that early.

Don't I ? That's why the clothes are piling to be folded and put away, not to mention other chores in the house.

So I will now have again that goal of getting up early and have some work done before going to work.

Maybe not waking up at 6.15 for now, later but not late and trying to get up a little earlier bit by bit till reaching the most convenient hour - and maybe that hour is not 6.15.

Even so, the "she rises when is still night" is still very important to me.

- To fold 40 pieces of clothing everyday

Just let us aim to 20 and we will see how things go.

- To put away those folded clothes everyday instead of leaving it in the basket.

Very good goal, I must say. I do like to do the laundry, to wash it, to put it on the line, to pick it up and, sometimes, to fold it. To put away is my struggle. I must work on it. Again.

-Declutter the Laundryroom everyday a little bit.

Major problem, the laundryroom, for years. Some time ago, and I mean just months ago, I managed with the help of my eldest, to have the dreaded laundryroom done. But you know what? Things are not anymore as good as they were. I really must do some work there. Again.

- Pray the Rosary everyday

That is very important ! I always prayed the Rosary but I must say that some days went on without it. Not good as Our Lady in Fátima said to pray it everyday.

Do you know what? I now pray the Rosary everyday without failing a single day ! This is going for months and months now ! And I can see the results. Do you doubt it ? Ok, just try it and you will see.

Most people just have things for granted and there is no much prayer in their life. I always had and I'm having more and more prayer in my life, thanks God.

I can see that I still struggle with some of those problems but I'm very pleased to see that on some others I am better.

And what about the others that I didn't mention here ? I jumped in and I'm getting better and better.

Yes, I'm not behind !

Partying at :
Dishing it & Digging it at Angie the Freckled Rose
Amaze me Monday at Dwellings
Inspiration Monday at Refresh Restyle
Inspire me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Cleaning fridges

Oh, well, my fridges were in good and overdue need of a good cleaning and the freezer of defrosting.

Yes, I have two because when we bought this house there was already a big, for European standards, fridge in the house but I had bough one, in the previous house, some time before.

What to do, I thought and asked my husband, very sad with the idea of getting rid of my new fridge. Oh, we will keep both , he said, as we are a big family - again, for European standards, mainly for this corner of Europe.

So we kept them both.

I like that idea very much because it's so good to have plenty of room for everything. The problem is when the time to defrost arrives. So I delay it. Procrastinator as I am I always find a good way to procrastinate about it the most I can - till the days when we can hardly close it because we have so much ice in it that is more a box of ice than a freezer and it's difficult to keep things in and close the door.

So...we abstained to buy fridge food the most we could so it was possible to move everything from one to the other and clean it.

So I did it and also the fridge. Everything clean.

But then... I though, oh, no, it's not at all like so many people in those blogs I see where fridges are so neat and beautiful with everything so well organised in pretty containers.

Ok, never mind, it's clean and nice with some containers I had previously.

I will not give my fridges as an example on how to keep a perfectly organised fridge and freezer. But mine are clean and tidy and that is good enough.

Did I say I cleaned both fridges and both freezers? Well, I did and I am very happy about it.

I know my blog will never be an inspiration for people who want to have a perfect home but it will be good enough to inspire people to cope with a non perfect home.

Still, it's my home and for me it's the best place on earth !

...

And now I'm going to this Party:

Amaze Me Monday@Dwellings The Heart of Your Home

Declutter and tidy up the fridge

The Kitchen is one of my favourite places at home, not only to cook but also to clean and tidy up.
So many things in the house that need to be done but I keep procrastinating about it. Not the kitchen. Or at least not so much. It feels really good when I have the trouble to get out of my comfort and procrastination and decide to get things done there.
So, today, after work, I will tidy and declutter one of the fridges. It's clean, only needs a bit of care. A clean, tidy fridge really makes me feel good.

Most times, homemaking is so anti-depressive.

Work after work

So, yesterday after work, when I arrived at home I:

- hoovered seven rooms, including the bathrooms
  

                                           (no, not the deck of a boat, just my stairs :) )

- sweeped the stairs

  

- cleaned two bathrooms

  

- dusted
  

- and, in the end, I made the dinner.

I will see what I can do today but usually I'm not so energetic in the end of the day, I'm more a morning person.
I dream with the day I will not work outside anymore !

Pictures from AllPosters.

Planning

Oh, well, as everybody knows because I'm always saying it, I work outside, which means I am NOT a Stay At Home Mother. Painfully. I really don't like it, I wish I was a 100% housewife. But I am not and I have to live with it.

So...it means I don't do much each day of the week, except on Saturdays. I do like Saturdays. I do like Fridays too because when I wake up I always remember what day is and that makes me jump out of the bed very happily.

All this to say that my mind was wondering all Friday about things I intend to do.
I plan to play in the kitchen for hours, cleaning it , tidying it and prettying it.
I will do also a lot of laundry and that means wash it, put it on the line, picking it up and fold and, the part I don't like, put it away. And ironing at least some of it.

Thinking on that makes me plan also to sped some time on my bedroom tidying and puting some clothes on its places. And dusting. It will be fun.
Obviously I can't forget the entrance, on the outside. I need to sweep. And the inside too.

Back to the house, the inside, I need to vacuum and mop, dusting everywhere.
What a lot of work I have to do but at least it means I will play house all morning - I can't stay in bed till late.
And in the afternoon I will seat in the sofa watcging a movie and because it's Autumn already, I will be so cozy with a throw drinking hot chocolate.
Saturdays are such fine days. And then it comes Sunday. No hard work on that day because it's the Lord's Day, just Mass and not much more - other than one more movie to watch. Or two.

A corner of my kitchen

The kitchen is a place in my house I like very much. It's not picture perfect as some I see in other blogs, it's not ready to be pictured in a magazine and it will never be but it's my kitchen.

I have great plans for saturday related with my kitchen.
Sometimes I see posts by people that, when they say they have plans to their kitchen, they mean to build a new one or to redecorate a part of it. Not me. I have plans to clean and tidy it. It needs and deserves more attention.
Life has been taking me to so many places and I was forgetting my house. Now I'm back. I'm expecting a lot of help from above and a good deal of peace so I can concentrate on the good things of life, like reclaiming my kitchen back.
I hope I will post more about it soon.

A full pantry

...or being prepared.



We are a family of 6, a big family for european standards - and what to say for this corner of Europe standards! We need to be prepared and have a full pantry.
Well, looking to several blog's well stocked cupboards, I reminded some pictures I took of mine some time ago. (So, maybe some of you have seen them already).



I must say, also, that my cupboards are in a urgent need of tidying up so they can be prepared to welcome the lot of things we need to buy before Christmas.



I'm always so much afraid of needing something in the days before the big event that I always buy a lot. I don't mind if, in the end I don't need as much because it stays for the days after.

For instance. It's a tradition, here, to have several fried wonderful things for Christmas Day and Eve so, I can't buy only two bottles of sunflower oil, I feel I must buy four, the same with flour, sugar and so on. It's quite ok because the result is I wouldn't need many things in January and the feeling of buying a lot makes me feel more in the season, a bit like the ants, storing things for Winter.



Well, time for homemaking now. I'll let you know about the progress in the tidying up.
The buying will begin is some weeks.



For Blissfully Domestic.