The World Within our Walls. Easier ways...

With Chloe getting married in October I have been writing up recipes and tips for her.  Years ago I made the girls books containing all my best household tips and family recipes... but time has gone by and now I have lots more of both!  I have learned so much since then!

The books contained recipes from both Nans, Mum and me.   There were tips on all kinds of things and many photos, mementos and even Birthday cards given by my Mum to her Mother and so on.
So now I am adding to the books!

First I make some recipe cards and gave Chloe some of my more recent recipe suggestions, many of these are slow cooker recipes.  I decorated these with stamps given to me by Barb.
When life is busy and especially when you have a baby and little children nothing is a help like the slow cooker.
If you want to get started on Slow Cooking this is an early post on some slow cooking basics  Your number one handmaiden.
and part two Crock pot cooking series part 2.  After that there are lots of posts, see my index Crockpot cooking series...

So this is my number one helper.  Having soups, stews, baked apples, curries, etc going is so good and most of your work is done when that busy time arrives late afternoon, early evening.
These things are all good winter meals.  In summer I still use my slow cooker as who wants the oven on?  Even if we are having a BBQ I might have filled the slow cooker with corn or potatoes for an easy side dish in the evening.  And when there is fruit I stew lots and freeze portions and in the slow cooker.

All your winter stews/casseroles always add lots and lots of veggies!  Make it go as far as you can with sides like rice, mash, rolls, pasta... anything!   Your left over casserole will make the most beautiful meat pie fillings!   Pies seem to be a completely different meal and they freeze so well for when you need something fast.  Also you can make child sized ones in muffin trays or family sized ones.  Casseroles, Pies and Curries.

If your slow cooker is really baked on and messy oil it with hot water and a dishwasher tablet or some fabric softener.  Ignore it until the next day. Then it will clean so easily.
Actually this applies to most baking dishes.

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This is my Grandmother (Dad's Mum)  Ivy. 

Harper is Harper Patricia (my Mum) Ivy.

 Meat is pretty expensive to VERY expensive.  I go between a few main ways to save on meat.  My husband loves his meat and I do too...

Method 1.  Buy the best deals and markdowns and know your prices.  Check the fresh meat section, the deli section AND the frozen section of your supermarket.  The difference across these can be huge. See if you have a wholesale butcher near by and sign up for the specials.  At the moment here the best buys are chicken, pork and roast lamb.  Lamb is really expensive unless you buy a leg and then I can get it at $8 a kilo.  Otherwise I can get port at $4.50 a kilo and chicken for less.  Yet it is also easy to pay $44 a kilo for lamb.  So it is not just the type of meat is it the cut.  Knowing all this I still watch for mark downs as well.
If you buy roasting cuts then you also have your own deli meat for lunches.  So you can buy a leg of ham for $8 a kilo and slice your own or pay $22 a kilo or more for shaved ham.  That is so much difference.  Small packets of deli meat are even more some up to $40 a kilo.

Method 2.  Serve meat with a ton of sides.  A curry it easy to do this, by the time you serve Naan, raita, salad and rice it is amazing how much actual meat you need.  This continually amazes me.
Our Nan's served a roast with many veggie sides, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, gravy... the meat itself went a very long way.  They knew what they were doing!

Method 3.  Use a small amount of a stronger flavoured meat to give the impression of meat but really there is hardly any.  Bacon is awesome for this a few bits of bacon in a salad and a man might like it lol or some chorizo in a pasta or some salami on a pizza..... it is just a bit but it packs a big punch.

This page is in Lucy's book.  It is a page about having a dress up box. 

Dress ups were a major hit at our place and I had enough for all friends to dress up too. 

Set aside or hide your left overs.  If you want this all to become tomorrows lunches, sandwich meat or a freezer meal make it disappear so it doesn't get hoovered up before you have a chance.  I hear this problem a lot!

Don't waste bread.  If you always have bread going stale divide it up and free portions.  Otherwise put left over bread to good use!  I have heard of people that buy a loaf a day and throw out half of it.

Here are some uses for left over bread... Never waste one slice of bread.

Use up all left overs.  If you keep a bag in the freezer for odds and ends for soup or stock then even the ends of a bunch of parsley or the leaves of a bunch of celery will be wonderful and almost free goodness for your next cook up.  Restaurants don't throw these out they would soon go broke!  The same with bones,  left over veggies etc.  It is all valuable.

When you make something make extra.  If I bake cakes, biscuits, scones, anything I am not just going to bake one batch.  Always double (or more) and freeze some.
If you are roasting veggies add a lot more and the next night use them in a pizza, frittata, salad.

If you have left over stone fruit this is a good recipe to use it up Economical and yummy cake.

This recipe is for sweet or savoury muffins and will turn almost any bits and pieces into lunch box fillers...  Miracle Muffins.  And they freeze perfectly!

When you are a bit low on food have a baking day.  Scones and pancakes are great fillers when the budget is low.  So is soup.  A little bit of ham or bacon is enough to make fried rice or a pizza.  You can extend a lot and seemingly make something out of nothing!   There are some cheap recipes here The Money Saving Baking Day.

If your home needs a brighten up a day of cleaning and re arranging makes a world of difference.  Clean windows do too.  It is amazing what a difference a day can make!

I use a timer all the time.  I will put it on to remind me about the oven but also for many other things like to put the washer on, bring clothes in, anything!   So many times that timer reminds me of something I have already forgotten.

If you can get more done in ten minutes when you hear a visitor is coming then use this technique to get lots done. Put on your timer for ten minutes and go go go!   Flylady has it that you put on your timer for 15 minutes.  She says you can do anything for 15 minutes.  And it works.  If it is something you really hate than put it on for five!  It will still get done!

Many times getting things done can be helped by thinking about the order we do things in. Some things are obvious like getting the washing hug out and it will be drying while you are doing other things.  But thinking about the order you do things can really be helpful.  There is a post here  The order of the day.

Another helper is to get your handmaidens working.  When I get up I like to get the dishwasher, slow cooker, washing machine and often the mix master going.   Get all your helpers working!  While these are working I can get on with other things.  This really gets things moving!

Both books have stores about the Great Grandmas and photos.

I also wrote up the family tree as far back as I could get. 

In school holidays we would have re arrange the bedroom days.  The girls loved this!  They would dream up a new place for the bed and furniture and we would shift everything.  It was a spring clean and total new look.  They loved it.  It was a win win for me. Sometimes this all took three days of activity and the end result was a "new room" normally it was just a zero or low cost makeover. 

Another school holidays activity was a baking day.  This was usually one or two days before school went back.  We would bake, decorate and package lots of lovely things for school ad some for friends.  It added to the freezer too.  As they got older the part they did became more and more so they learned a lot.  Decorating biscuits and cakes was the most popular though.   We did Gingerbread girls wearing bikinis and other mad things.

A fast and massive lift is to make your kitchen/dining room table loo beautiful.  Plus on a  tablecloth or runner,  some flowers or an arrangement of things in the centre and set it nicely.  This always looks so nice.

Keep bars of soap in your linen press and blanket box to make everything smell lovely. Dove pink soap is perfect for this and cheap!  It smells so good!  Then you always have spare soap and when you open the doors things smell heavenly. 

I am always hearing "my family won't eat leftovers" 

And "my family insist on brand name products"

When you go to a restaurant you are likely to be eating left overs.  They don't waste anything even the onion skins and celery leaves are used.  Left over roast veggies might become soup.... 

If you are inventive with left overs no one knows they are left overs!  And don't tell them either.  That casserole is now "shepherds pie" or "beef and mushroom pie"  and those veggies are now "gourmet pizza" ... you get the idea! 

This is along the lines of when someone says they will never buy thrift store linen.  They imagine the linen in a hotel is brand new every night!  No, it is just washed! 

I use decanters, jars and tins.  In go my Aldi (or other bargain) products.  No one has ever known what brand I am buying as packets are history fast and they have always just eaten what is in m containers.  No questions asked.   This can be a good way to save a fortune.

Keep a gift, card and wrap cupboard.  When there are sales stock up on all of these things or make them.  This will save so many trips to the shops and a fortune. 

When choosing a recipe think of what you have rather than what you are dreaming of.  Apple muffins are really just as good as blueberry and a fraction of the price.  

If there is something you run out of that sends you to the store regularly stock up on it.  We keep fresh milk but also long life, canned and powdered.  I am not going to the store for one thing.

Keep a good pantry and never pay full price for anything.  When you get ahead then you will be able to just wait for the next sale cycle.  Then stock up.  This means you are paying half price for all your regular items.  What a saving. 

Also know your substitutes or learn to use the internet to find them.  If you run out of something find something you can substitute.  

Stain treat things straight away.  I have soaking buckets so that anything with a mark is soaking until it is washed.  If anyone has a stain they can't get out guess where it comes!? 

Never put clean dry clothes in a basket.  A basket is a crease machine!  Even lightly creased things will come out of there deeply creased!   I dry things on hangers and fold from the line.  Never add crumples this defies logic!  It is making so much work! It is like punching yourself in the head. 

When you go from one room to another take things with you.  So much putting away happens automatically then. 

Ask and you shall receive.... if you are wishing for a slow cooker, a bread maker, anything... tell your family and friends.   Most likely someone will have one they never use and give it to you.  This applies to canning equipment, jars, fruit, herbs, veggies, yarn, fabric and pretty much anything.  Put the word out there.   You will be amazed. 

That is enough for today!  I already lost one whole blog post as my laptop seems to be playing up.

What are your best household tips?   I love to find new ones.  Sometimes ONE tip can be a game changer.  A couple of years ago one tip from The Cheapskates Club saved me $600 that year and has ever since.   These are the times you think WHY didn't I think of that!?

I hope you are having a good week!   Busy here.  I have three fruit cakes in the oven and the timer is on! xxx

Your time.

Being the beginning of the year I wanted to talk about our time. This is an extra post so I can get it in while we are still maybe planning our year and what we want to achieve, what our priorities are etc. There are so many demands on us and there are only twenty four hours in a day. And we need to sleep!

Here we are with a year in front of us and plans and dreams for it. I have a whole lot of goals. Some are small and some are big like painting the house.

But if we are not careful things chip away at our time and we wonder what ever happened to it!

There are always so many things to distract us and people who have suggestions for how we should spend our precious time. There are people who would love you to give all your spare time to them as well. Yep, there are always many helpful suggestions on what to do with your time and energy.

Whether you work full time, part time or at home it still amounts to time management and there are limits to what we can actually do.

I was very lucky that once I had children I knew what my mission was. That helped me enormously and I attribute that to my upbringing, Laines Letters, a ladies fellowship I attended and scripture. I had no doubt raising my children was my number one job. Also I was a single Mum. I couldn't muck around I had to get it right or try to.
But even knowing all that I remember how much pressure there was to do all kinds of things I couldn't really manage.
I ran a routine and that's how I got everything done. (most of the time!) I seriously wondered how to fit much more in?! I even wondered why I was expected to?

I am pretty sure there was writing on my forehead that said "ask me to help out I have nothing to do!"
When Chloe started Kindy (pre school?) I noticed a big leap in requests for time on committees, charities, working bees, fund raisers and so on. It interested me that many were at night. To go out at night I would have to hire a baby sitter. It seemed counter productive to me to pay for a baby sitter while out fund raising or attending meetings.  And I didn't. I said yes to some things but many no's.

If we say yes to everything and everyone we end up not living our life at all. We can't get our own work done, we have no hope of completing our own mission. Dad used to say to me that the best thing I could do for society was bring up the girls well. That took a lot of pressure off.

This isn't to say there are not times we need to drop everything and help someone. That's not what I mean. I mean all the unimportant things (in the greater scheme of things) that we can end up doing and basically wondering why!

I have worked out that there is a season for everything and we can't do everything in one season!
Living in the season we are in and knowing our mission really helps to prioritise.  Knowing this it helps to easily decide what to say yes to and what to say no to.

As well as demands on your time you get many demands on you money. Oh, yes people love telling you what to do with your money!
Just the same... if you do not know what your mission is there is plenty of ways to part with your money!   This includes charity. We need to think about what to support and how and not be coerced into signing up for some automatic debit scheme that basically pays a commission to the person who signed you up and a Limo to the CEO. Many of them are cons and not a charity at all. We have a right to choose! I say this as I keep seeing very aggressive tactics.

To avoid all these pressures we need  really good and clear set missions and goals.
Then you kind of see some of what is coming at you as sabotage. It is really easy to be derailed from your good plan and intentions or persuaded away from them.
In the army this is called deserting your post. They used to shoot you for that!

I have made millions of mistakes but at least basically I felt determined about my role and I am actually quite stubborn. lol  I became a single Mum before Lucy was born. After she was came along I had a 22 month old and a new born. My Dad helped me get a little cottage in a country town near the sea. This was a dream come true for me. This was a life changer.
I was sworn off men at that point! I decided I would 100% focus on bringing up the girls and doing a good job and that I would not date until they were grown up. I was quite sure about it.
Plenty of people had a lot to say about that! It's not that I went around declaring it but if someone asked why I didn't go out I would tell them.
I was told I was wasting my life.
I would regret it and be lonely.
And a hundred other dire regrettable consequences.
But anyway I stuck to it for sixteen years.
(I am not saying anyone else should do this. It is just what I decided to do.)

On top of that I was constantly told I needed a career as I was wasting my life.
I should start a shop (this one was constant)
etc etc.

I was very lucky that I could stay home as that was what I wanted to do and it fit my mission. I also cooked for a cafe,  sold sewing and vintage things I found in my op shopping. Other than that I gardened, cooked from scratch and all the things I do now.
But still I was "wasting my life" according to critics.
Lucky I knew what my mission was!

You know what? I loved every minute. The girls now talk about their fairy tale childhood. That is what they say about it. At Lucy's wedding Dad spoke of me as like a Mother Hen protecting my children. I was so proud he said that!

This is Lucy dressed in one of her best outfits. Fairy wings I made her and an old nightie. Sparky shoes and for some reason a shower cap. Also her dog Rachel. Oh, and glittery shoes!

The photos are all the girls when they were little.

I didn't miss out on anything! And love waited for me in those years and found me after ward!

While I made many mistakes knowing my mission really helped me. I knew without a man in the house that God was the man of the house and that my Dad was the girls role model. And they adored him now as they did as children.

If you decide your mission it will be so much easier to see distractions, sabotage, cons, tricks and time wasters. They come in many forms! The devil comes a calling!

You might have a friend who tires to de rail you from your savings. Or take time away from your family and work. Or a salesman might pressure you to sign up for this or that. Or you might be pressured to take on a committee when you know it is going to be really hard and at night when you are busy helping children with homework or cooking dinner...
When you know your mission it is easier to say no. You need to know which is more important.

I have heard young Mums say they are looking for their mission. I think that is like the acres of diamonds story where all along they were standing on riches they didn't recognise.  We need to accept the mission we have been given first rather than pick out another one we think we might like better.

Saying all this I STILL had trouble saying no even when I knew I needed to. One thing helped me very much, what ever  I was asked to do (I still do this now) I said "thank you for asking me,  I need to look in my diary and see if I can manage it"  and I will reply shortly.  This one thing stopped me from saying a yes that I then had to figure out how to get out of or regretted terribly!
The follow up then would be to decline in a nice way (usually decline anyway) and say what I am able to do to help.  One I can think of is I declined running a stall at the school but I donated a box of jams and produce.

In some instances we do need to be able to say a flat out no. In our shopping centre I notice high pressure sales people and some people are cornered by them. They are trying to get them to sign up automatic debit donations. We need to be able to say no. If someone threatening comes to the door and asks to be let in you cannot be so polite that you just open the door! You have to say no. We need to be able to. It doesn't have to be rude. If you need to practise then do. No can save your life.

Some things can be avoided. The salesman on the phone at dinner time... you know the ones with a script? If you ask a  question they keep reading the script... they know the longer you listen the higher the chance they will be successful. I just never answer a phone number I don't know! Problem solved! A lot of time saved too. We need to protect our dinner time and family time.

Every year,  at every age and in every season of life we need to figure out what does and what doesn't help us and deserve our time and resources. I find a re think now and then is a good thing. Weigh things up. Don't be tricked out of your mission or your gaols and dreams.

My guiding motto is that our role as homemakers and Mothers is priceless above rubies. So being told I was wasting my life did not derail me. I saw it as a lie and not to fall for it.

If you are working in or out of the home it makes no difference. The reason we are doing what we are doing is for our family, to pay the bills, to feed everyone... to achieve our goals. Set your mission and don't let anyone take over your time and resources unless you want them to. Bringing in an income, running the home, looking after everyone is hard work and a long day.

There are worthy things to do for sure but in the main our time is sucked away so easily that we have to be quite protective of it. We need to be. We need to be on guard that we are not dragged away from what we need to be doing.

One of my favourite quotes from Mother Teresa is
"If you want to bring happiness to the whole world
Go home and love your family"

We have talked a lot about being watchful. Usually we are talking in the wider world. But we need to be watchful in our closer world that our goals are not sent into the ditch by those around us!  Good friends help us achieve our goals too. Having a savings buddy is a big help.

I hope this is a great year of building up our homes and families, saving money and achieving all kinds of things that will be helpful to us all.
Set your goals and lets work together. Don't listen if someone tries to put you down or drag you off course. Be ever watchful and guard your time as it is such an important and limited resource. The season you are in is also really precious. It will not last as long as you think! So make the most of everything! xxx

Make your car a happy place.

Recently I had the chance to downsize my car. I had lived in the country and had a four wheel drive as the roads were terrible and so were the kangaroos! It was a great car and served me well but not so good for city living and as the price of petrol goes up it became expensive to run.

Now I have a much smaller car oh my goodness what a saving! It is saving money in several ways but petrol would be number one. I cannot believe the difference!

My car is a small white car with no distinguishing features.... and it didn't occur to me what would happen next... I went to the supermarket and when I returned there in front of me were what seemed like a thousand small white cars. Opps, I didn't even know my rego number! 

Sometime later after working out which was my car I resolved to personalise it so this wouldn't happen again. (nd I took a photo of my number plate!)

I spent $25 and gave my car a Bluebird upgrade. I ordered car magnets based on my business car and cut them out to suit the shape. I really love it. (it is the same on each side)

Then I hung something that looks like me so that I can also spot that and pretty up the inside.

Then I thought about all the things I need and stocked it up with tissues, nail files, hand cream, hand wipes and so on.

My friend Mimi had inspired me. Recently she made over the console of her car so she has hand cream etc. next to her. She has a lovely blog called A Tray of Bliss. Her ideas are always lovely and she is the best cook. Thank you Mimi for the inspiration on this!

And it has worked! I have no trouble recognising my car and I feel instead of plain it is personal to me. I really love it! Every time I get in to drive I am greeted by things looking lovely and smelling lovely. After adding things that are good to have on hand and making it look nice I made it smell lovely as well. It smells faintly of my favourite perfume. 

On a practical level I have added a good first aid kit, a torch, a bottle of water, a rug and a stock of shopping bags. Now I feel very happy that I am prepared.

We spend so much time in our cars, ferrying people around and running errands. We might as well make it a pleasure. This little bit I did was amazingly simple but really it has made a difference. It is lovely. I love it!

I'm committed now to keeping it clean and sparkly and my little place that I love. 

Flylady has it that every week you clean out your car. Wisely she knows that a few minutes a week keep your car from becoming cluttered and messy and irritating. It's true. Things become kind of depressing when they are a mess and cars seem to easily accumulate rubbish. We may as well make driving a pleasure and make this little aspect of life so much nicer. 

I hope you have had a lovely weekend. It is very cold here! xxx

The order of the day.

A friend of mine is the most amazing hairdresser and always looks beautiful. She once said to me people say they don't have time in the morning to do their hair as they would like and she said to me "yes they do, it's just that they do things in the wrong order". She went on to explain that in the morning if I was to shower and pop velcro rollers through my hair then do everything else and take the rollers out last thing my hair would be perfect everyday. (well more or less!)

I can honestly say every morning when I get ready I think of Holly and what she said.  There are people who achieve so much everyday and people who achive nothing everyday and most of us in the middle somewhere. I think a lot of it has to do with the order of the day. Some clever use of this little phenomenon can make us much more productive.

How can we use order and timing to help us? I think it's the same as with everything else a little planning makes us see things more clearly and saves lots of time overall. Like putting dinner on early and you know it's cooking itself while you are busy with after school things and early baths. It is just cooking away and will be ready when you are. It's kind of an insurance policy against whatever might happen later in the day!

This also involves being realistic. I remember when the girls were babies. Late afternoon just was a bad time, I would be tired and if they were going to be grizzly this would be it. Evenings could be downright overwhelming.  I soon learned to have dinner on way before then so I did not have to try to cook dinner then. And I learned to bath the baby early and did that for a while until this period passed. Just to take the pressure off that time. But babies or not we have times that work mounts up and you hit a bottleneck of too many things in too short a time. Stress! Working out what those times are for you and deciding on "relocating" some things to another time just just save the day.

Planning soup or a crock pot casserole for the next day, knowing I may be late, tired or busy, I will part prepare it the night before. Have the meat thawed, maybe cut some vegies and a few things sitting there next to the waiting crock pot on the bench. Then even getting it going is easy.

If mornings are pure chaos the evening before becomes part of the order of your day. A few things set and ready to go the evening before can make it all go so much more smoothly!

In the morning get all your handmaidens working while you are doing the things you need to do. Then so much is accomplished and you feel like you're off to a wonderful start. Everything is happening and your helpers (washing machine, bread maker, crock pot etc) are all going flat out. it's a great head start.

When you plan your order of the day plan your breaks. You will do so much better and get much more done if you allow and make sure you have a morning tea break, lunch and an afternoon tea break. Instead of feeling burnt out, headachy and stressed you will feel calm and refreshed and ready to carry on. Seriously it took me ages to learn this. Flylady teaches to take regular breaks, admire what you've done, have a cup of tea then move on to the next thing. It truly works!

We all have days that just go wrong! But when every day goes wrong then re planning the order of the day might be in order! Set things going and do what you can while other things are happening and you just sail along nicely! If the weather is going to be sunny, just now in winter, I will do a load of washing in the evening so it is ready to hang out first thing. It gets more things out in that sunshine before it passes! That is how I helped the order of my day last night.

Have a lovely weekend. I don't think we have sun for long so I'm taking full advantage of it! xxx

Organising. One drawer/one cupboard at a time.

For a year or so I have been organising and de cluttering to a much higher level than before. Over the last years I have de cluttered but it is a process!

How often do you have a job in mind that needs doing and you put it off. Then one day you do it and think "really? that took 15 minutes why didn't I just do it in the first place?!" 
Well, my task yesterday took longer than 15 minutes but it was kind of the same. Last night I admired and reaped the benefits of my work and it was so nice!

Seriously, if we tackle one drawer or cupboard, even one a week, we are soon organised. It is amazing how each little session adds up. 

My bedside table was a serious mess. The last frontier really. I use it as a bed side table, home office, coffee station and so on. The drawers were full. I would post a before photo except for the fact that it was too shameful so I just didn't take one.

I have learned a few little tips, many from A Bowl full of Lemons. One is to be realistic about what you use an area for and make it work for you. So I accept next to me I need my diary, pens, highlighters, a calculator. I accept my coffee leaves marks on the top and it really annoys me so I have placed a little plastic tray to sit it on and avoid this little issue. I accept it is only just big enough so I've placed a sturdy tray on top and enlarged the area. (Loving this)

To do it I realised tidying up was not going to do much. I faced the music and emptied the entire contents onto the floor. Re lined the drawers, scrubbed the whole thing down and examined each item before it went back. And most things didn't, they went to the bin, op shop or somewhere they belong.

Simplified right down I used glass bowls for the things I reach for in the night. My torch where I can find it in the dark. Eye cream where I can reach it without laying in bed wishing  it was in arms reach. Pens and highlighters next to my diary.

It's not good to be surrounded by mess and clutter especially when it should be restful, relaxing and calm. The whole operation cost me nothing. An hours time and a re arrange. And last night I was so pleased! I don't know why I leave things that annoy me but I had left this when I could have fixed it in a day.

Some drawers are small jobs and you can sort them while on the phone or in a gap of a few minutes. Other jobs seem mammoth and we know there's a big mess to face before we get to the other side! 

Last night as I settle into bed and this was my view I felt a wave of happiness and peeked in the drawers just to admire them!

While in theory I would like clear spaces like in a home wares store it isn't practical. I live here and need it to work for me. So I have gone with the things I need and try to make that look nice. I have always loved to have flowers by the bed and there is space for a vase when I have fresh flowers to bring in.

Next mission is the junk drawer. That's a beauty. It is like a magnet that drawer. 

I am heading off in search of some fruit and vegetable specials. I want to make soup and a stew. Then I am on a challenge to use up some odds and ends in the freezer and have a half price grocery week. If I concentrate on using bits and pieces, what I have, now and then I can do a half price week. Andy's van broke down and we don't know the cost yet. So this is one thing I can do. It's amazing what you can come up with. My freezer has half jars of spaghetti sauce, turkish breads, chopped onions, bits of cheese, mince and "stuff". It's like a challenge to put them together in meals that are yum. Combined with pantry things it is amazing what you can do. And we need to do this or it all accumulates and is never used. So that is my challenge next week.

Have a lovely day.xxx

Fridge organisation.

Yesterday was lovely! I had a beautiful day. The trip to the nursing home is quite a way so I planned it to incorporate a couple of things. One was a visit to Howard's Storage World where I got two new fridge baskets and the catalogue. I study those catalogues as if I am being tested later! They are so good. Just across from them is Provincial Living. Oh my goodness that was a creative excursion! My heart leapt when I walked in there. And I didn't buy one thing I just looked and got so many ideas! Exactly as a creative excursion should be I felt so excited and inspired! I still feel that way!

I found the nursing home and Kath was basically waiting for me in the foyer. She was knitting so we had a ton to talk about right away. Gosh she is lovely. It was beautiful and very touching. I will make it a regular thing now as I feel it is for a reason that we have met. I have to say there are mixed emotions too. One is sadness. Another is don't end up in a nursing home. Andy says this home is one of the best by far he goes into. Yet I found it amazingly dingy and terrible and thought it is dreadful people are put in places like this. So if that is the best he sees I don't even want to think of the worst. Isn't that terrible? :(  
The visit though was chatty and lovely, beautiful really. It was like meeting old  friends.

Now the reason I bought two new fridge baskets was I got four at the end of last year when I had a major fridge re arrange and re organise. Food is way too expensive to waste any. And I was. I was forgetting fruit and vegies that lurked toward the back and things like that.

So I had a massive clean out and made a whole new system and used these baskets on two top shelves. Now I've made that three. They are inexpensive the small are $5 each. The handles on them mean they work like drawers, you pull them out and can see everything. So things don't go to the back and get lost! You can see everything.

If you go armed with the measurements of inside your shelves you can get ones that fill the space just right. 

I am trying to show how they pull out like a drawer... it works really well.

This is the top half of the fridge and below are two deep drawers for fruit and vegies. 

Now when I shop I check everything before I go and avoid doubling up and make sure I use up vegies that need to be used etc. On weekends I will make things from left overs so nothing is wasted. It is much better than the mess I used to have some of the time!

A lovely blogger I follow The Home She Made put me onto a beautiful vanilla fridge spray. One purchase and I am sticking with it. It is called Vanilla Fresh from Safe 4 U. I got it at Woollies. It smells so nice and when you open the fridge you are greeted by this lovely scent. It makes me wipe out the fridge or just a shelf or two all the time and keeps everything lovely. 

Really I'm conquering one area at a time and the fridge was last year and it has worked. It's so nice! 

Our efforts to organise are so worth it. They save us money in the end too and make life easier. Today is grocery day for me and this system helps so much.

Also we have a really warm breezy day and rain is coming over the next few days. So the washing is out on the line, all the sheets etc. to make the most of it. Getting into bed tonight I know I will feel that oohh lovely sun dried sheets feeling. It's a beautiful feeling you can't describe, even the smell of sun dried sheets... who can describe that? But it is so good. Simple pleasures!

De clutter your home and your heart.

The stuff we keep in our homes means something. It is not just stuff! Objects have meanings, memories, feelings, emotions attached to them... they may symbolise something, they can hold us back or bring us joy.

I'll tell you about a very personal example. I was divorced and very depressed and after that divorce I continued to wear my wedding ring and jewellery my x had given me for a year. That was one bad year, by the way.

One day I woke up with a thought that maybe I should stop wearing this jewellery. Take it off! Set myself free and just get rid of it! (about time but still...)

It was a big deal to do it. And it was one of those moments that you remember so clearly. So there I stood and took rings off and placed every item together. Being good jewellery I offered them to the girls if they wanted them which removed them from my home as well. 

As I did it I said a little prayer. I said something like "I want to be free now and put all this behind me. I am open to what You (God) might send into my life and ready to move on".

That seemed sufficient. And good. 

I felt physically lighter! And relieved! I was amazed that I FELT different.

Well, this comes with a warning! Do not do this if you are not ready for good things to come into your life! It is true that new good things will come in when you have released old bad things! I am sure this is with physical things as well as things in our heart.

THAT evening I came home from work and I had an email. It was from Andy's secretary and it said "you do not know me, my name is Ruth. I am Andy S secretary and I have listened to him talk to me about you for eight years. Would you like to hear from him?" she was trying to push him to contact me and stop talking about it! 

Andy had been my first boyfriend when I was 15/16. I was happy to say yes! I would love to hear from him and the next day he began writing to me everyday....

Can you believe that was the same day I let go of that jewellery and freed myself up?

Why on earth did I keep, and worse still wear, something that had bad memories? Why do we keep anything with bad memories?  Why do we hang on?

Todays Flylady reminder was about getting rid of stuff. Getting rid of stuff that is useless, ugly, has bad memories.... we don't need negative reminders! So many people have items they don't like, worse they think are ugly. 

I knew someone who kept all her divorce papers and x husbands bits and pieces in boxes in her home and lugged them to everywhere she lived. And she lugged it all everywhere in her heart and daily existence too. I said why not toss it all out and free yourself up? Why keep it? She had not been ready to let it all go in either way.

I am sure physically tossing things out helps you to do it in your heart. 

Now and then I realise an item doesn't make me happy. I had a tray some time ago and every time I looked at it I was reminded of a past friendship that I felt sad about. Every morning I saw that tray and had a negative thought! When I realised it I gave it to the op shop, even though it was lovely. Gosh that improved my mornings!

Instead have things around you that remind you of happy wonderful things. Plan things so you see lovely reminders of beautiful people, times, thoughts, where you know you will see them. The things you know bring you joy... for me they include flowers, family photos, reminders of holidays, things to do with comfort like a lovely cup and saucer, a soft rug. 

I am so aware that things can carry guilt, obligation, resentment and all sorts of terrible feelings. Or they can carry happiness, inspiration, joy, beauty...

I am forever adding photos and snippets to my memory and inspiration boards so that I see them and they lit me up. It really costs nothing to do it. But it has become a conscious decision to make sure I keep these things around me so that I see them all the time.

The cost of lugging a load around of negative things is huge. It really is true that you have to get rid of the stuff you don't want to make room for the stuff you do want! 

The little bits and pieces of life.

The little things seem to be the trickiest to store and keep track of and possibly get in the biggest mess!  I have just been sorting cottons, bobbins, sewing machine needles, safety pins....

And the other day I was asked how do I store nail varnishes by a lovely girl who has a big collection stored in a plastic bag. So this got me thinking of things I could suggest.

Well, the nail varnishes were easy. This is how I store mine. A $4 op shop spice rack. 

Sometimes I see these full of little jars which would be wonderful for buttons, safety pins and bits and pieces in the craft room. But really perfect for nail varnishes. A great present for a teenage girl. If all else fails you could actually use for spices!

Another great one is the hang on the door plastic shoe compartments. In our last house I had one inside my pantry door. It housed all the little jars and packets of soup mix and those kind of things. It totally de cluttered the pantry and I could see everything at a glance. But also they can be used to house anything, dolls, toys, bathroom products, pantyhose, cleaning products etc.

A similar thing is a hanging/foldable jewellery holder. They make a different version for makeup. Just rows of little pockets. This would work for nail varnish too, just fill and roll or hang up. Add files, cotton pads and polish remover and you have a kit.

Also for jewellery, makeup... how about Barbies shoes, handbags and accessories! How cute would that be! Or little toys. Or for a boy in red or blue full of little cars to travel with. Just so many things!

I use cake stands, as you have seen before, for things I want to see and lay my hands on. Perfume, skin care, nail varnish, anything you want to organise and use.

While working on my craft room I am using jars for sewing notions, bobbins, threads, needles etc all those bits and pieces. I love that you can see what you have at a glance. Jars are brilliant for so many things.

I really love the see through drawers my makeup is in. I would happily have a few more sets of those for stationary, for one. Rubbers, pens, pencils, sharpeners and so on. Goodness, so many things. The little bits and pieces can be tricky!

I also love purses and little bags. I have little handbags I would never use as actual handbags (too small) but they are fabulous for other things. One has all my hankies in it. Another larger one is my travelling kit for my hairdryer and brushes. Another becomes my writing and notebook carrier when we travel. I look at handbags I don't use as cosmetic bags too. Mostly they look much nicer than the plastic ones from the chemist shop. A larger tote bag might make a great knitting bag. The possibilities are endless. If you don't use something think of what else it might be great for. One of my best ones is a glo mesh cigarette case that holds my camera just perfectly. It looks fabulous and protects my camera. Another is a glo mesh glasses holder that I have used for so many things. I had a crowd of teenagers gather around me admiring my camera holder and several wanting to buy it lol Sometimes the old stuff is the best!

Snap lock bags come in every shape and size. I really love them for so many things. What a help.

It is so nice to be able to find things, see what we have, and make them easy to access. Life is easier when we are organised!

Do yourself and someone else a favour.

My heart honestly skips a beat when I find an idea or image I really love and even more so when I find a concept that is a !!! moment. The other day I stumbled onto a lovely blog called The Modern Mrs. Darcy. (There is a link on my fb page)

Essentially she had been pinning pictures of gorgeous rooms and eventually noticed a pattern. This is interesting, however we collect our images, this is a great thing to do. Take a look and notice what do they mostly have in common. This will tell us a lot about our taste, what to aim for etc.

Anyway, she noticed they were all light and airy, clean and uncluttered. Things we can mostly achieve ourselves, at home, for free. My taste is the same. Number one is a room has to be light. Light in actual sunlight,  light also in colours. I do not like dark and heavy it has a depressing effect on me.  Fresh as in actual air, fresh as in something alive like flowers. ! Then clean and uncluttered. 

Do this for yourself. Go by what you like but also go by how a room makes you FEEL.

Many times we can get well on the way to the look we love by removing stuff. Sometimes heaps of stuff!

Which leads me squarely to my craft room! The most cluttered space. The room Flylady says.... you will know the room you need to work on everyday. It's the room you don't let visitors see! So I have been following Flyladys 5 minutes a day in that room. And it works. Five minutes a day sounds like nothing that will get you nowhere! But wow they add up and everyday I faithfully have done my five minutes. Sometimes if I haven't been able to sleep I have gone and done some more.

It meant making some ruthless decisions about what to keep and what to donate. I have a nearby favourite op shop which raises money for Doctors Without Borders. I chose to support this one.  I am also going through my wardrobe so between the two areas I was boxing things up and putting them straight in the back of the car. The car was getting fuller and fuller...

There were some items that were tough decisions. One was a designer dress with tags that I had bought in an op shop with dreams of selling on ebay or wearing (swing tag was $800!) 
and a whole heap of things that amount to delayed decisions, should I sell? should I alter ?etc. etc. 

What I really want most is a craft room that is peaceful and functional that I can actually craft in! I have a table that gets so cluttered I go work on the dining room table! Defeating the whole purpose of why I have a craft table! Sometimes I amaze myself.

So on Monday I went to the op shop and went in and asked if they like some donations? Like a whole car load? The lady said to me that I had arrived just at the right time. They had nothing left to unpack and the volunteers had nothing to sort, price tomorrow. Plus she told me that she had just sent a cheque to Doctors without Borders for $4000 for the month of Feb. Each month they are sending $3 to $4000. (after they pay the rent). They are all volunteers. They work passionately to help this cause as they know people get medical help in so many countries where they otherwise would get none.

So suddenly I had no second thoughts about any items. These things are the crumbs from our tables, the excess and they can help someone so much and free us from clutter!

Continuing on with my five minutes a day I now have a clear desk. I used my five minutes yesterday to paint the top Annabel pink! It looks clean and fresh and inviting!

I have just used things from around the house for my organisational containers. I still have work to do but I am nearly there! It is like having a whole new room.

Try the five minutes a day method for any challenge that seems too daunting. It's absolutely amazing and will deliver you to the uncluttered peaceful space you dream of!