Sunday Morning Clean

It's a Sunday, and usually I don't do anything on these days - usually I chill out and read the paper.

But today, I had to get in and organise a few things around the living room. You see I've been given some art gear and I've yet to put the books away - and there were so many books! So, this morning, after breakfast, I got into organising them. 
First, though, I looked at them. They were gorgeous... not only that, they were all in Chinese and a study of how to paint and draw in their style. I noticed they were written in particular volumes. And so, after I separated them into their own sets, counted them and then found a place for them, I knew I needed to do more cleaning up for the living room.

I had found a place for my canvases I had received, which meant I had 2 unusuable canvases. These are canvases which I had tried to use, but they just didn't work out. The old painting either showed through my new work, or the water-based oil paint I've put over the top of the traditional oil paint just doesn't mix and I've found the canvas isn't usuable for me. So out those two canvases have had to be tossed - into the big recycling bin out the back of the unit complex.

Otherwise, I've still got a few things to get in order. I've begun to hang some of my new paintings on the walls and taken down the older ones I've done in the past. Not only will the hanging of the new paintings help them dry better, but it will help the feel of my place change too. And I'll have other canvases to either sell or reuse; as my older work is all acrylic paint.

But yesterday, I got in and cleaned under two sinks in my house - as Peter Walsh had challenged us to do on his Facebook page - and I was very successful! Not only did I throw out a big bag of rubbish, but I also filled one bag of things I added to the Donation Box too. How cool is that? Yep, I'm so happy with myself! And I found no leaks under my sinks in the kitchen and bathroom... very good indeed! How's your cleaning out doing so far this year?

Christmas Shopping Made Fun

You know, I enjoy this time of year. 

I get in and do my Christmas shopping and make sure I get things for my family which are special and endearing to them - things they'll use for years and remember I bought them or made them for them.

This year, I am op-shopping and hand-making things for them - and this has made things a lot different for me.

I'm not only going to charity stores for my Christmas shopping but also I'm going there to donate more bags and boxes of goodies for other people to buy from those stores at this time of year... which makes me feel better about my house and life as well.

Today, I donated a bag of clothes which have been sitting by the side door to my car port for weeks and found it was a good day to window shop.

Yeah... sure... window shop... me?

Anyway, I found myself a nice ladder for the bathroom, a tea set from the 1960's and a set of rosary beads (why I got the latter things I'm not sure; but they've always fascinated me to no end). Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the things I bought there.

I'm going to fix up the ladder and make it look good. Otherwise, it's going to be another day out for me to look for Christmas presents.

So, how are you doing with your end-of-year cleanout? Seeing I'm working from my local library, and not at home, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning out of my house in the next few days... not a bad trade from my computer monitor dying on me. I'll get the house cleaner for Christmas. 

Small Things

I've been busily working away at smaller things lately. There's the entertainment unit - which was filled to the brim with VCR tapes I'd like to see on dvd. And then there was my wardrobe that I worked through again rather successfully.

And now, I'm looking at the smaller things in the house. You know those things around the place, they make the machine of the house work more efficiently, smoothly and easily. I had to only look around for the past week because I had no money to put towards it.

But today was pay day, and I went out and did my grocery shopping and bought the things I needed to make the house run better again. 

I bought two of these work caddies to use around the house. One is for the upstairs bathroom, and the other is for the downstairs area. I think they'll work really well! And them being both red will make them stand out too. I'll be able to put them away in the same place every time and they'll work out for the house each time too. 

Then there was the garden hose connections I had to buy new ones of because the old ones were broken by people stuffing around with them too much. So, I bought good, expensive ones and I just hope nobody screws with them. I hate to use profanity on here, but really I just don't need somebody stuffing with my property when I'm not here. And disconnecting my own hose when I need it there to use to wash my car or water my lawn isn't a choice. If everyone else around me can have their hoses connected without a worry, why can't I? 

Anyway, I hope nobody breaks these ones. 

But the house is coming along so well! 

I've begun knitting a throw for my bed; using all my yarn that I have in the suitcase up the top of my wardrobe. This will get rid of the yarn stocked up in there... and make something nice and colourful. Otherwise, I've been getting rid of crappy yarn I no longer need and can't use or want to give away either into the bin.

I scored a new iron through my Fly-Buys and it's a Panasonic... it's lovely, light and I could iron with it forever! I used it the other day and didn't want to put it away. Now, that's a first for me!

Anyway, I'm still going through my bedroom and looking at things to see if I need them. My money box collection is bigger than I first thought; and yet most of them are empty. And I'm looking at what clothes I really do wear compared to the ones I just love to have because they look good.

Yep, it's the small things that I'm looking into this time around... really, isn't it the devil in the details that keep things going? Of course it is.

Bathroom Clean-Out

Just like everything in life, I find that the bathroom is the most neglect room. It's also the most mouldy, disgusting and strangest room to clean out. 

You find the yukkiest stuff hiding in the back of the cupboard! Honestly you do!

From the old shampoo and conditioner you bought when you had that perm five years ago, to the bubble bath you bought for your 5-year-old niece (who didn't even use it - and now they're in high school), you'll have to clean out your bathroom and make sure you give it good spritz from top to bottom with air freshener. 

First things first: you must give your toilet (if you have one in your bathroom) a good clean. Wear gloves and make sure you have the window open. A lot of cleaners you put in a toilet have bleach in their and are not good for you if you inhale them. 

You wash the floor last... after all, you'll be walking around on it all day with your feet and shoes cleaning dirt and dust off everything. 

Clean you toilet, your vanity and your shower and bathtub. Take your time - it's not a race. Wash the towels - floor towels and all - as it'll be nice to have them back in while you're cleaning the room out.

Then, once the usual cleaning is done, get some rubbish bags and bin and make sure you have access to a bedroom. Yep, you're pulling out all those bath towels! But, go shelf by shelf... don't pull them all out and then realise you've taken on a job bigger than Ben Hur! Take on one shelf at a time, figure out the pairs and which towels are frayed and don't match and aren't as absorbent as they used to be. 

These old towels go into a rubbish bag for an animal shelter near you. These shelters use the old bath towels as bedding for dogs and cats - just make sure they're nice and clean and your animal shelter will love you. I do this every year and drop a large bag off to the RSPCA in my area.

Once you've got one shelf done, go in and clean that shelf off with spray'n'wipe or vinegar and make sure it's all clean and then put the towels back in nice and neat.
Each shelf will be different. You'll have hair accessories, hair dryers, curling irons and other things for the bathroom. Allocate a shelf for each thing you think will be needed and you'll have it all done in no time.
Some of the cupboards don't reach the ceiling. This is where a ladder comes in handy. Now, you clean up there before you clean anywhere else, because it'll be really dusty up there and a lot of the times the dirt will get a bit of liquid into it and dribble down the inside of the doors. To save on double-handling the cleaning of the doors, do the top first, then work on the inside of the closet. 

Then, there's the medicine cabinet above the vanity. I found that instead of having a First Aid Kit on top or inside the cabinet underneath, allocating a shelf for first aide is a lot easier and faster to find things. So long everything is in date and up on the top shelf (away from little hands), you'll have a great place for your first aide things to stay when you need them in a hurry. Plus you won't be trying to pull things out to find a box, it'll all be there for you to see at any time.

Once the linen closet and medicine cabinet is all done - and underneath the vanity as well - you can wash the floor and splash back. Then, once the floors are dry, it's time to put the floor towels down again, the one around the toilet and the bath towels back on the racks. And doesn't it look lovely? You know you've done a great thing - and the next time you have a shower, and you need a towel, you're not rummaging around looking for a towel. You can just reach into the closet and find one.