Take Back Your House

I started a course earlier in the year called "Take Back Your House". It is not a do this "thing'" week one or even every month but more of a thinking course, with lots of advice. Three You tubers I have followed for years, worked together to combine their knowledge of organization and decluttering to produce it, Minimalist Mum, A slob Comes Clean, and Clutterbug should you be interested.

Several things have finally clicked which were, What is your Clutter Threshold, The Container Concept

and Your Fantasy Self. 

A Clutter Threshold is how much junk and stuff on flat surfaces and in drawers can you stand till suddenly you have to deal with it, which takes forever and depressing.

 

Hanging basket on verandah just starting to flower.

The Container Concept is when the container is full that's it. No 2nd. container choose what fits and donate the rest. A Container is a drawer, a wardrobe, a pencil box, or a shoe cupboard, you get the picture. eg. If your clothes don't fit in one wardrobe and bedroom drawers, maybe you have too much.

Although I don't go the way of Minimal Mum with one cup, one glass, a bowl, a plate and a set of cutlery, per person with a "Guest Box" with a few extras packed in a cupboard, it is worth thinking just how many of these things, whether its kitchen gadgets, bathroom or bedroom linen, mugs, cups and dinner sets or cutlery you have or kept  for those dinner parties you never have, crowded in to your containers.

 

First flower of my new roses.

 

Your Fantasy Self. This is a big one for me because I love craft, and it takes up so much space. I can never have my craft room looking nice, plus I spread it around the house so I realised that I am not going to be making jewellery, of porcelain dolls anymore. Out it all goes.

• That "The Country Look" is probably not coming back in style so it is time to get rid of lots of craft magazines from the 90"s of Handmade, Homespun and Country Threads.
• I never cook from a cookbook anymore, as easier to look up the internet.
• I knew a lot about gardening and do not need all my books for that either.
• Decorating for Christmas has become a chore, even though I used to love it, but John couldn't care one way or the other, so will declutter and sell off.
  

My Fantasy Self is starting to get real!

New White Azalea for the side garden.

John has been really sick with a heavy cold this week and wouldn't stay in bed so inevertably I was going to catch it despite him wearing a mask when near me, and being on the computer all day and night, but as I had to use the washing machine in the same room Office/Laundry, and he used the kitchen etc. germs obviously were on surfaces, so I now have a cold and surviving on Panadol. 

It has given me the opportunity to go through my magazines one by one and pull out anything of interest that I may do, but at least it is one folder and not take up a lot of space on the bookshelf. So boxes have been packed for donation.

I put together a 3 tier trolley from Kmart and will put all my craft I am currently working on in that rather than leaving bits and pieces everywhere, and wheel it around to where I need it.

 

Next to the washing machine is a 2 section modular unit I put together yesterday, to corral all the bits and pieces that seem to clutter on the bench my computer also sits on. Soap,sprays, suncreams, etc.

Current Veges growing.

The dining room table is still full of stuff while we decide what to do with the floor in order to get the cupboards locked in, but it has been like that so long now I don't really think about or miss what is there, so I may keep a few for decoration but 90% of it will be packed up. 

 

I have made new daily and zone lists to tick off , set up my planner for the next 6 months and ready to go again.

 

It is a work in progress but I am getting there, and loving this course. My Grandma's advice was always a place for everything and everything in its place, I just wish it had stayed that way.

 

 

 

Till Next Time.

Review of Synthetic Grass 3 years later.

 Back in February 2018, we renovated the front garden with new garden beds and false synthetic grass laid between them all. I must say it is the best thing we did. It has held up really well despite the very wet weather we get, hail and the hot humid summers.

It has been laid on weed mat and the grass itself is rubber backed. John has found the scraps as I want to experiment with it in the back garden, hopefully on the paving in front of the shed and  new roses and also in the back veg garden area to start with. We originally bought it from Bunnings so it wasn't too expensive, and comes on a roll by the metre.

Scraps from 3 years ago.

This garden is riddled with nut grass and I can only assume the rubber backing has made a huge difference as I have laid weed mat down before, and it grows right through. 

Some weeds do grow but it is on the surface and easily pulled up. The only problem I have found is at the edges, we allowed a little height of grass, but things grow up behind that.

Weeds growing in sides behind grass.

Surface weeds top left, probably zinnia seedlings.

I don't do anything special to look after it and it has taken a hammering from dirt, weeds, and prunings dumped on it. Pots filled with soil leaves a mark but it comes back when moved.

Today I decided to clean an area to show you. There has been a lot of leaves dropping and plants overgrowing because of the rain.

BEFORE ( path closest to the footpath) leaves and soil damp

This one adjoining it at a right angle.

Once pulling out all the minor weeds on the side I grabbed the straw broom and swept everything up.  Also cleaned some of the garden beds. It rained two days ago so was a bit damp.

AFTER  ( path closest to the foot path.)

After right angle one.

If I want to improve it a little more and be a bit OCD I could get the vacuum cleaner, to suck up the soil left after the sun drys everything out, but it will do.

Laying it down originaly

Would I buy it again? YES and in fact we are considering doing so and covering all the pavers with it. They are really hard to weed and we have two choices one to spray weed killer around every 6 weeks or so, then clean all that up. As I expect John to do that I can't see it being done on a regular basis. Two  is  to change it all over to grass then get it mowed, which is a lot of work pulling it all up, getting rid of the pavers, then getting the grass laid down. 

Current paving at the moment. 

This is hard to pull nut grass which is going to seed.

We will spray the whole garden once the weather settles to sunshine everyday, then go from there, maybe even get the Karcher out and I will pressure clean it all first. Definitely the steps will be concreted. I am getting too old to cope with this on top of weeding  the garden regularly, so something has to be done, and John doesn't want to move to an easier house and block, and spends a great deal of his time at or for the Community Garden, which is doing really well.  

The good news is we were notified Friday that we have the Caravan Insurance, after waiting for them to decide 7 weeks later. So booked a spot to go to Burleigh Heads to choose colours, but I liked the sample one gray and white, and will probably stick with that. Apparently now, the  company Pickles will come and get our old one and put it in to Auction, they do that for every caravan written off. Then we get the money. Things are looking up.

Till Next Time.

Closing Down the Back Garden.

 This week we have been up to Brisbane and back, staying overnight with my niece and dropping off a pair of chairs that I purchased from the op shop years ago. I was going to do it myself even had the fabric but as my nieces partner is an upholsterer, he is kindly going to do it for me. My sister sent some photos she quickly took to show him on her visit, I forgot to take some.

Foam needs replacing and wood refinshed.

Fabric is cream with black writing.

Brisbane means visiting my RA specialist. Finally he was able to feel every joint so see how I was going as the blood workup wasn't brilliant for inflammation. I am in active rheumatoid with an inflammation reading of 13 which is quite high. I was surprised and as he said "the body gets used to the pain". That is not saying I couldn't feel it as I did, but not to that extent. So now I am on steroids(prednisone ) for 3 weeks, to try and calm it down. Still taking the injection but has upped my methotrexate medicine to double ie. 20mg. 

Oh well such is life, but I am "upright and walking" like my dad used to say. In fact now that the Prednisone has kicked in, feel I can do anything so while I have the chance 3 grandchildren came to help me yesterday. It was overcast so I asked Miss P to start her fortnightly help, but the twins wanted to come as well. Miss V is a good worker and got a dollar more than her brother who disappears regularly, but this may teach him though, the intricacy of working hard.

This is how overgrown with weeds the back is.

After the first weeding, another garden, left some rocket.

Before

After.... Finding Rhubarb, Strawberry and Blueberries.

Basically to shut it down, I will leave the permanent things, but  the round  and side beds will cover with black builders plastic. This will sterilize all the seeds, and hopefully nut grass. We can spray some poison on the pathway and I will get it concreted over as well. I always look to the future sale of this house and feel that the front beds will be gone as they are portable, and grass can go down, but this area is permanent and would make a nice little garden for veg. or flowers for a new owner.  So making it easy to weed on the path is the best thing. It has been 2006 since we improved it originally. As we get older, little things like this will make it much easier, for me.

The twins carted all the weeds up to the front, which is a bit of a steps climb, onto the veranda, then out to the front, haul. Saved our legs a lot. By morning tea, it was hot and we changed over to the verandah and sorted out the junk there, threw out gloves, many, many pots,old plants collected for seeds, empty bottles etc. Miss V dipped all the Heucheras and  Rex Begonia collections into water, watching the bubbles, they were so dry. I have had to change the pot stand as the one I had rotted. Still a work in progress and the verandah is still covered in stuff but both the green and red bins are now full, to the top for tomorrows collection. A nice feeling. 

 We worked hard and after I took them home, I had to have a lie down after lunch. It is a good feeling to know we have started. It has been raining most of  yesterday afternoon and last night, which the garden needed, there has been a fair bit of drying wind. 

Today is Valentines Day and I wish all the couple a Happy Day, and hope you make an effort to celebrate.

 

Till Next Time.