Messy

I grew up in a messy house, at least my memory of my teenage years is such.  My parents have had a empty nest for around eighteen years and moved into a brand new house recently and still their house is far from tidy so I feel I am safe to assume that my childhood home was messy.  I am not a fan of constant mess and clutter.

We used to spend time, every week, at a friends house which was untidy, no I am going to be honest, it was more than untidy it was cluttered, messy and dirty.  That is of course my opinion I would never judge anyone on the state of their house if I had I wouldn't have stayed friends or visited the house so often.  There were times, particularly in the winter when it was too cold to sit outside that I wondered what on earth I was doing there it was with mixed emotions that we stopped visiting a few months ago.  I felt relieved and slightly guilty.

In my own house everything has to have a home, a place it could be put away.  There is a finite amount of places that things can be put away in our house so usually, around birthdays and Christmas time we have to give something away when we receive something.  I was discussing this with some friends recently and the FlyLady came into the conversation, perhaps my friend and my parents need to heed her advice.

I have perfected worked hard at the art of decluttering my house but other parts of my life, well they are messy, not in a my life is a mess sense, but more in a disorganised, flitting from one thing to another sense.  I am easily sidetracked and very fond of displacement activities when I need to do something that I would rather not be doing.  I have come to realise I am hopeless at planning ahead and saying no, so I end up with too many things in the diary and not enough time to prepare for each of them, for different reasons I was in the exact same position last year.  Hmm perhaps I could do with learning from my experience.

Everything we do outside the house involves some form of preparation be it a few bits and pieces of clothing, a picnic or a fully packed car.  When I am planning what we will do I forget about this bit.  Over the winter we tend to do less outside or that involves lots of packing, but that doesn't mean we spend the whole time at home!  But come the spring and warmer weather and suddenly we are like caged animals and I go mad putting so many things in the diary that I forget the bit about preparation.   So in a need to do better kind of effort I have once again reached that time of the year when I feel like I am going mad and have backed off organising much for the rest of the summer to keep myself sane.  What I could with doing is remembering that in the Spring, keep the bigger picture in mind, and to remind myself constantly it is ok to say no.  I am not sure how I am going to remember this so if you have tips you can share.........

Weekending

I haven't done a catch up of the week post for ages.  It has been neglected due to holidays.

So, this week started with my birthday.  We were at a friends house in the morning making our way back home from our hol's.  We stopped by for the night to pick up some stuff we left from the previous week.  We journeyed home and then had the delightful task of unpacking, never my favourite job.  Our house is not particularly big and is very easy to feel overwhelmed by all the stuff that comes in from the car.  It was a lovely sunny day which made it easier to get dry the wet things we had such as the tent.  My lovely husband cooked tea which was my own request for the day!

We ventured in to town on Tuesday for our weekly trip to the library and to do a much needed food shop.  We usually go on a Monday as it is quieter, it is not really that busy on a Tuesday compared to some places but I do like quiet.  The afternoon was spent putting stuff away and generally pottering around and enjoying being at home.  That evening whilst enjoying a quiet night by the fire a mouse ran across the floor in front of me, it didn't get far before a shouted and it ran off.  A closer examination of the house the next morning revealed that they had most likely taken up residence whilst we had been away.

So the next morning we spent cleaning and looking for evidence, they had visited every room in the house it seemed.  The pantry were we keep the food is shelves with wicker baskets, no door in sight keeping them out is a nightmare and they had been in.  We had to throw a fair amount of food out, actually we put it on the bird table.  I don't think the house has had such a thorough clean in ages.  My husband set about sealing various places that they could have got in and we set several humane traps. Later than usual, we set off to join our friends who who we usually meet on a Wednesday, after lunch.  It was good to catch up with them for a play and chat.

On Thursday we had friends join us for lunch.  They bought me some beautiful flowers as a birthday present.  The children played all afternoon, the adults sat and chatted to catch up.  It was good to see the little ones reconnect after a few weeks apart.

Friday saw us popping into a local town to pick up a few bits such as more mouse traps!  The rest of the day was remarkably productive which was unexpectedly fulfilling, not that I don't enjoy my days at home with the children!

The weekend continued with more productivity.  The weather was dry so we ventured into the garden for a much needed tidy up, there'll be more on the garden next week, weeding, pruning and dead heading.  We filled two green wheelie bins with stuff plus our own compost bin and womery are looking pretty full.  The garden looks much better but there is still more work to do.  I managed to get the sewing machine out to make a Christmas present, a bag for a friends son I will share pictures on that tomorrow.

Throughout the week my eldest has been continuing to expand his knowledge with all things World War II, he has drawn many pictures of battles at sea and on land, read books on rationing, the blitz, tanks and planes, watched programmes on HMS Hood and Bismarck and episodes of Wartime Farm, set up battles with coloured bricks to represent armies of each country moving them about as if on a battlefield and built tanks and planes out of Lego.  He has also been asking me and my husband if we ever met anyone who was alive during the war.  He is looking forward to talking to my parents when we visit in a few weeks time as although they were both born at the end of the war their parents all played an active role during the war.

Hope you have had a fruitful week too?

Gratitudes

I am joining with Taryn for the first time for her Sunday heartfelt tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I've felt grateful for....

...a tea cooked for me on my birthday.

...feeling recharged after our recent holiday.

...catching up with friends after time away

...the produce from our garden which has fed the family this week.

...the fine weather this weekend which has enabled us to tidy the garden ready for the winter.

...the beautiful flowers from this lovely mama for my birthday.

...the seasoned wood my husband has been chopping and stacking all year which is now keeping us warm each evening.

...the lovely books I received for my birthday which I am looking forward to reading.