Party Time..

So its only 4 days till I head off down South so today (Sunday) I organised a party for lunch time - my birthday is next week so its sort of for that too.

Usually it seems only a third of people turn up from the invite list but so far I have almost 30 people coming!!  So just having a "Barbie" and easy food to heat up.

I'm quite looking forward to it and decided to invite so many people coz I'm sick of only catching up with people at funerals as seems to be the case this year.

Owl @ Wildlife Park 2012

Organisation

When I first quit my last job (end of June 2012) - the one I had for  few months - after closing my business in February 2012, I spent many an hour reading from Down To Earth blog.  A great site on living frugally and simply, saving money and enjoying the simple things in life.  I originally started reading this site as I found myself with a lot more time on my hands from when I was self-employed and also I was learning to live on income at least a third or half of my previous income.  Of course a lot of those expenses actually came from having my own business -subscriptions to industry organisations, Professional Indemnity insurance, seminars to keep up to date with industry changes and so on.  By cancelling all these expenses I was able to reduce my bills quite substantially - saving about $250 a week. The job I had (learning to make picture frames and such) and earning $500 a week, just covered my mortgage payments and and bills, after I canclled all my industry related expenses.  Any extra I made on the side by working for a couple of old clients I used for entertainment or extras I wanted.

It was while reading the afore-mentioned blog that I was first switched onto the idea of setting up a household folder and I had also read about this in a great book on being organised (the name of which has eluded me at the moment) but the author was one of the founding members of Messies Anonymous.  As per the book, I listed Daily tasks to do, Tasks by the day and seasonal checklists.  So even I missed one days checklist, it would be done the following week as per the schedule.  This system worked for probably a couple of weeks or so and then it lapsed as I became distracted / absorbed by other things.  So the last few days I have been working on a bigger and better version of the folder after reading some more tips on the website Organized Home.  They have printable forms online but as I don't have a printer right now I am just using handwritten notes for now and probably that is the way to go until the folder is set up properly and I tweak my checklists and schedules.  And I am using a bigger folder!!  So it is not as easy for me to ignore. 

And I have been working off my Dailies checklist and my Monday checklist this morning in between coffees and blogging.  This way it is not so daunting for me either -looking at a whole house to be cleaned and tidied can seem quite overwhelming, so by breaking it down room by room, or chore by chore it doesn't seem so impossible.  And technically each week will get easier as the standard of tidyness increases day by day according to my weekly checklist.

These following tips are helpful

Finish The Job!!  My biggest problem.  Half finished projects laying around when I get distracted by something new or even tidying up after I make coffee (I'm a messy blighter).  My brother is a nightmare when it comes to this.  He seriously cannot/does not even put lids back on jars or milk back in the fridge after making a coffee!!  Dude...

If a chore will take less time than 30 seconds do it straight away - I am perfectly capable of walking over and around, say a piece of thread or similar on a floor.  Instead I should just pick the sucker up!!  For me one of my main 'problems' is the bedroom - if I get changed a few times a day - each old set of clothes ends up flung on the bed or on the floor and every few days I have to sort the piles into dirty laundry, clothes that have another wear in them and so on.  If I could just deal with it straight away it will save a bigger job later down the track.

Speaking of which - I had better finish off my 'Dailies Checklist' and Monday chores - I have almost finished so I can start the day feeling virtuous and under whelmed - is that a word?

 

Great Ocean Road - Jan 2012 - "Stowaway"

Have a great day!!

The Homefront Update & Getting Organised

Well after all my raving on about how much I love to travel, I also love the fact that I have a 'base' to come back to.  But more than just a base I guess - an actual home.  My parents house (that I have recently inherited a 50% of) was my base for a while but never really felt like home after I'd been gone so long and mum went sick redecorating and reclaiming our bedrooms.

 

 

Now I am lucky enough to have a 'home'. And I have lived here with BF for 8 years I guess. After all my years of travelling solo I also now have a wonderful travelling companion. I may not be such a wonderful travelling companion for him of course - I snore, always worry about what I can shove in my belly next and am quick to emotions - just to name a few of my 'issues'...ha ha...

Organisation skills (on the homefront at least) - are completely lacking in me for some reason.  Housework is not a priority on my list - apart from the fact I do like a clean bathroom and we are tidy in the kitchen (more BF than me I must admit).  I have trouble with 'Finishing The Job'.  Today being a classic example - I am surrounded by fabric and half finished projects from the last 3 days, that need to be mostly finished by tomorrow morning to have a stall at the markets.

Over the last 2 years I have been reading and researching organisation skills - yes- it is possible to learn this and it is possible to be lacking in this too.  Because I am prone to distraction easily I can quite easily 'forget' about sweeping the floor or hanging out laundry.  Or at least not prioritise it as I should.

Last night after much 'research' on the net, I started to put together a 'Household Folder'. This is to include such things as Cleaning Schedules, maintenance schedules, Daily clean list, weekly clean list, recipes, budgets, bills, instruction manuals etc etc.  Most of this I already have half organised due to my attempts previously and so once I finish this rambling I will work on that for another half hour before tackling my daily chores.

De-cluttering is the other most important duty as well as being organised.  Usually if there is crap laying around everywhere, it is one of two things - the item doesn't have a proper home or there is simply too much crap.  I am going to have another purge today (which will also give me more to sell at my markets tomorrow).

So my plan is that by de-cluttering the physical space around me, it may also help to de-clutter and calm my mind into actually being able to get my act together.  And if not, at least I will have a super clean house and would have got some exercise.

Distractions...

Singapore - save the elephant campaign 2011

 

 

Focus - I have to tell myself that all the time - I am soooooo easily distracted - I have so much running around in my head. And I try and do too many things at once without actually completely finishing anything. And so the house and outdoor area looks like a bomb has hit it - half finished market stall stock ideas, the recycling has built up and I need to cash it in, we have moved furniture out of the house and the stuff that was inside said furniture is still awaiting my inherited furniture to arrive (which won't be until at least November)  .  So today starts with a list - housekeeping first on it!

In saying that - I feel I have actually achieved something this week.  I was going to list what I had finished this week, but true to nature I realise how little I have finished but how much I started. 

So what I started this week that I need to finish:

Registration at employment agency
Tax for Accountant
Market Stall
Housekeeping


I just realised that Housekeeping ended up down the bottom of the list again - but if I finish the first 3 things on the list, it all means money in my pocket.  I am housekeeping in between paragraphs though, as I have spread out with trying to organise stock for my market stall.  

I'll do a separate post on the market stall later.

Well as much as I would love to keep on about being distracted - I'd better go and do some stuff (sigh)....

Homefront Update

I was just looking back over my posts of the year - didn't take long - ha ha but it was interesting and thought I might provide an update - more for my records and for future motivation.

My crocheting is going well - have spurts - the original rug is huge - and after the next pattern finishes I will finish the rug.  Its too big to take with me so I used to make cushion covers instead during my lunch hour. I made our dog a wee blankie too - a bit chilly this dry.

The vegie garden was going okay - until the scrub fowl got in there while we were in Bali and dug 50% up. So I will replant, repair the fence and go again.  Still getting good supply of chillies though and a few tomatoes (if I can beat my chooks to them) and my Lime tree is flowering heaps so I am hoping for a good supply this year - its only ever produced 2 limes 2 years ago for first fruiting.

My first attempt at preserving (Dill Cucumbers) was a flamin' disaster - the recipe asks for 1 cup of salt in the brine!!!  Completely inedible!!  Yuk!!  Although I did a fair bit of banana chipping there for a while and I experimented with a loaned food sealer - love it!! I also bought a 4 tiered sprouter (must put some in today) which is awesome.

And I have been doing maintenance (like the chairs below), and tiling and grouting the new shed bathroom - looks great - if I do say so myself.

Feeling lethargic...

Lack of motivation and energy seem to be the issue today, although I have left the yard to actually do some paid work.  I was only thinking yesterday arvo how busy I've been since finishing work a week ago.  Usually I try to squeeze in a 'nana nap' on the days I don't work and I haven't even been managing that, so maybe its time to slow down and maybe head back to bed with my crocheting for a couple of hours.

Yesterday I did some painting in our linen cupboard, delivered extra eggs to a friend, crocheted and then helped B grout the new tiles in his shed bathroom. I did manage to squeeze in a nana nap too.

Homemaker Day

Monday's lately have been my homemaker day - cleaning, gardening, diy hobbies etc

Currently in my food dehydrator are seasoned tomatoes, with bags of apple and finally bananas  (to make banana chips) to also go through the dehydrator in the next two days. Preserving fruit and vegetables is something I am keen to learn more about especially since our vegie patch only produces mainly through the dry season and also the price of some of the supermarket vegetables at certain times of the year is double what it is at other times.

Online yesterday I ordered some organic vegetable seeds and 3 different fruit trees - Ice Cream Bean tree, Mandarin and Strawberry Guava to add to my vegetable garden.  And I will pot up some spring onions also bought from the supermarket today - repotting keeps them fresh and they continue growing on in the pot for months.

Tomato flowers

Another project I started this morning - due to the cold weather - are some crochet rugs for my dog to sleep on and I pulled out a patchwork quilt that is only half finished.  Scrounging through my clothes drawers and old fabric remnants I found some more pieces I can cut up and add on and hopefully also finish this project this Dry season.

My fish aquarium pump gave up so I spent some money today on a new filter and some more fish - I figured no point having "stuff" if its not working properly. 

And that was pretty much this Monday....

June 2012 Update...

Wow!! Incredible that its been 6 months since I last posted.


Mid - February to present - I was offered work 3 days a week with one of my ex clients in February.  I enjoyed learning a new trade - even if just in training. And I kept 2 clients from my old business also for a little extra income.  One weekend I also got asked to work on the ticket box at a local rodeo - so earnt an extra $100 there.  My extra time after work I spent on little projects at home.  Work at this new job finished this week so back to job searching.  Being on a tight budget again re-iterated the value of money so that was a valuable lesson.

One of my projects using scraps from work.



My car has failed to sell so far and even worse got vandalised.  So I am still using it and will put it up for sale a bit further down the track.  

De-cluttering is still underway with possessions and I am noticing a difference - however slight (with construction of a shed in our yard still underway).  Most of it I have donated as my advertising of a few items went mostly unsold.  

My latest passion is to upcycle "stuff".  Mosaic above from leftover and new tiles.  Partially, a patchwork quilt has been made with my huge collection of fabric and cut up old colourful clothing.  Waiting for some more clothes to cut up for squares to complete that project.  Crocheting is back in full swing too - I started a blanket last dry season and have been working on it again plus practicing a few other crocheting stitches. Wondering whether to start a market stall on weekends for these projects??


On the homefront - my vegetable garden is going well however still not producing as much as I would like (except for chillies).  I have tomatoes, brazilian spinach, chillies, strawberries, basil etc etc in and so hoping for a bumper dry season crop.  My food dehydrator got a work out on some cheap bananas a few weeks and I sealed up a heap of packets of banana chips. (Long since gone).


So thats the update so far.... pretty much back to where I was since my last blog - looking for income....

Freedom...Getting rid of crap...

Photo: ponypics Spider Lily Dec 2011


Clutter adds stress I've noticed. Interestingly the definition of the word clutter is


"a confused or disordered state"...


and that's how my brain feels I guess when I look around and see "stuff" everywhere.

My collection of 'stuff" started 10 years ago and then went into overdrive when I was on a higher income and more settled.

As I had backpacked pretty much since my late teens, through my 20's and early 30's I was always too broke (spent all my money travelling) to acquire much crap and also having to carry all that crap on my back.

So when I met BF and moved into his house after selling my bus (converted into mobile home), I became more settled which freed up some money and I had more room to store all this crap.

But now all I want to do is get rid of as much as I can!!! I feel smothered and restricted!

In preparation to advertise my car for sale I emptied out all the rubbish - stuff in the boot I was meant to have donated, camping gear and while I was on a roll I unloaded some clutter from the house - and amazingly I feel a bit liberated already!!!

Beer Bread

The concept seemed perfectly reasonable when I thought of it and as I combined ingredients in the bread maker (a can of beer to replace some from the packet of powder yeast spoiled in the humidity). I googled beer bread
after I pressed the start button on the bread machine and found it to be an Irish Recipe and IT IS meant to be firm and moist!! Thats how mine turned out anyway and it tastes okay toasted with Vegemite and Butter. BF not so sure and leaving it up to me to finish the rest!!


My Homemade Bathroom Cleaner (Recipe from Down To Earth Blog) turned out great (as far as the Simple Living concept goes) - half a cup of bicarb soda and slowly dribble in small amounts of liquid laundry detergent, stirring until it is like a thick custardy texture. I used a toothbrush to get into awkward areas and was really impressed!! I took photos which I will add later - we had been on holidays for 4 weeks and the house-sitter hadn't done much with the wet areas so it was great to experiment on.

So I expect to know the financial damage for the car repairs tomorrow and I will send out some invoices for my work last week hoping someone is floating around their offices during this Christmas break. Today I launched another blog which will hopefully lead to some interesting opportunities in the next 3 months. I also contacted a Virtual Assistant agency for information on their services and have been working on a very detailed "To Do List" for my first use of my Virtual Assistant. I have been spending every waking hour the last few days researching income opportunities when I could be paying someone else to do all that while I try to drum up some income!! Thats the plan Stan!! I STILL have not even listed one item on Ebay and missed the local flea market listing today as I was in "my zone" on the net and forgot the time and hence the deadline today. Rats!! Banning myself from researching until I hear in the next few hours from VA.