Taciturnly » chores

Not so good at cleaning.

elle — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:39:33 +0000

I’m really not too good at cleaning, I had it going for a while in the summer. With University and work, I decide to sit down at 8 on my computer rather than clean. I need to change it, I actually want to. I do enjoy cleaning once I start… I just need to start. The idea of having a nice clean house is something I aspire to, but not well, I’m naturally messy and so my house is generally quite messy. Why did I not realise when I moved out that I needed to set up a routine to clean my house? Silly me. We’re moving soon, so time to change that.

I’ve started working on my daily, and weekly tasks. I tried to think about monthly tasks but I couldn’t think of any. I thought I’d share it with you and see if anyone had any more ideas. I’ve broke it into daily tasks, and five days out the week to focus on one room in more depth. This is my first draft of a cleaning list, help!! Also, as a side note. I’ve completed ignored outdoors, maybe that can be in the second draft.

Daily:

General:

tidy up clutter

Bedrooms

make beds
put dirty clothes in the hamper

Kitchen

clean dishes
wipe down counter tops
sweep the kitchen floor
clean off dining room table

Lounge

sweep the lounge floor
arrange couch and coffee table

Bathroom

wipe Sink
give the toilet quick scrub
disinfectant wipe the rim of toilet

Laundry

load of laundry

Weekly:

Monday: Bedrooms

vacuum floors
dust all surfaces
change sheets
hang or fold all clothes

Tuesday: Kitchen

mop floors
wipe down kitchen appliances
scrub and disinfect kitchen sink
clean stove/oven
clean out fridge

Wednesday: Lounge

dust all surfaces
vacuum floors
spot clean walls

Thursday: Bathroom

mop floors
clean and scrub bathtub and shower
clean and disinfect toilet
change towels
clean mirrors

Friday: Laundry

mop floors
finish all loads

I think the best tips I read where to keep the tools you needed all together, so you don’t have to travel around the house to do a two minute job. To do small things whenever you think about it. Not to go overboard with cleaning products, jsut stick with general ones (vinegar and bi-carb). Any more tips?

Time to move.

elle — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:02:30 +0000

The boy and I rent a lovely little maisonette and our lease was for a year. Unfortunately, it’s the end of the lease and they are not renewing it. We have four weeks, well probably three now, to find a new house and to move into it. We’ve seen some nice places, one was a nice unit about the same size as this house, and a house which is much larger. Obviously the price is slightly more, but definitely something we can afford, and I think we both agree the larger one is best suited for us (boy, me, puppy, and three year old).

Finding a new house, moving, and cleaning this one, is not only so much effort. It costs so much money. I swear this is the last time we’ll do this. The next time I have to move, I want to be moving into my own house. That’s is my goal for the next year, to have the money situation to buy our own house.

We have the income to afford the mortage repayments, it’s the intial outlay of money, and needing a loan while having some debt. Time to reorganise our very unneeded (and unpaid because we’re lazy) debt. I’m thinking of rolling the two credit cards together, since that’s is our whole source of debt and then I can pay it off in dramatic chunks. I’m thinking of looking at a credit card which offers a lower interest rate, credit cards Australia gives a run down, which makes it easy to compare. That way every time I make a huge payment I see most of its’ benefits. The next thing I need to do is actually save some money to use as a deposit. It’s not the lack of cash, it’s the lack of planning and effort.

So turning some tables when we move, more money smart and I gotta clean properly! Where is that timetable of cleaning I started to put together?

Garden Gnome.

elle — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:52:03 +0000

We don’t own a house (yet) so we rent a nice little two bedroom place with a garden the right size for Paul Anka. I’d like a three bedroom, with less “garden” and more lawn, but the house is newly renovated, and the kitchen and bathroom are lovely. Neither the boy or I are gardeners, as in we pay someone to come mow our lawn.
On Saturday the boys’ folks came down and pruned a couple of the dying plants, we kinda got carried away and dug up one (or two..) of the more dead bushes. Of course we planned to re-plant new plants where we pulled up the old ones, but our owners are a little scary about their garden. As in when we had our inspection, she spend mere minutes in the house, and the rest outside.The whole garden needed pruning and weeding, and the ones we pulled up were dead. I’m still worried she’s gonna kick our butts when she sees them.
So today we’ve replaced one of them, weeded the area, and turned the dirt over. I think it looks fairly good. Especially when we can get it all like it.
We’re not good gardeners, so the fact this looks “OKAY” is great!! And, yes I’m very impressed with us.

Today, we also headed to McLaren Vale. Mainly because I deal with wine tours up there quite often for work. It’s hard when you’ve never been there and have no idea where you are sending people, so we headed up so I felt more confident for work. I loved the views, and the pretty cellar doors. We ended to Bracegirdles for breakfast, so yummmy. We ended up going to a few wineries, but I don’t drink wine. We just looked around the cellar doors and headed to Lloyd Brothers, which has Alpacas and Olives. Cute and Yummy. (Spent some money there.) And then onto Maxwells to try some of their Mead, and buy the book “Wine Dogs“. This is definitely my favourite purchase of the day. The boys’ mum had shown me this book on Saturday, it’s classic. A book full of amazing photos of dogs who live in wineries. Tells us their name, where they are from, naughtiest deed, favourite toy, obsession, etc. I actually met one of the dogs featured in the book at Maxwells, standing in the cellar door, sniffing the customers. It gives the wineries that have world known names, such a family feel. It’s amazing, such funny puppies. (It also cemented in my mind my dog is definitely a Jack Russell terrier cross, not just a terrier cross.)
Below are our purchases from McLaren Vale. Be jealous.

McLaren Vale

I don’t cook.

elle — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:37:49 +0000

Everyone who knows me, knows I don’t do the cooking. I don’t really know *how* to cook, it’s all a little scary. But alas, the last few days I’ve cooked tea, and baked goodies. I must say it’s a lot of fun, and I did not to do badly at all, if I do say myself.
We tend to spend a little too much money on semi prepared food, I’d like to change so we are fully preparing every meal.

So I took the opportunity of the boy going to Football, and having the little one all to myself and we made cookies. She did quite well, only got bored at the end, stood carefully on her stool, and laughed at my lameness when I put flour on her nose. The cookies came out well, tasted good, and was a great late night snack before the little one fell asleep watching ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ (Can you blame her?).

I am very thankful that she’s nearly three and will still start to fall asleep on me at night. And that she is feisty enough to tell me to ‘go away’ when I tell her off, and that she starts to walk herself to time out as soon as she says it. That she will dance to Michael Jackson now, and will know him like I know Elvis. That she’ll eat my attempt at a tart for tea, and give me a kiss for my effort. That when I get her out of bed in the morning or after naps she’ll hug me extra hard. But mainly I’m thankful she takes the chance on me to be involved in her life even if I’m not related.

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Somewhat homely.

elle — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:17:53 +0000

Who knew I’d turn into someone who gave a crap about how my house looks? I’m fairly sure I never did a honest days worth of chores at my folks house. Now? Now, I’m grabbing my vinegar, microfibre cloth and scrubbing the mirror clean, getting excited about new vacuums and complaining about dust.

My mum would be proud. (And annoyed that I never helped out as a child.)

I’m attempting to come up with a list of daily/weekly/monthly chores that I must do, rather than the random schedule I keep at the moment. Instead I do it all at once, and get bored and end up distracted playing guitar hero with the boy.

Not so good at cleaning.