(For the Bead Soup Blog Party click here.)
I had a wee bit of a sit and think this week about why I find it so hard to get motivated to de-clutter. There is always an excuse - too tired, too busy, someone's sick etc. and while all of these things may be true (and often all at once) I am not so run off my feet that I can't fit in an hour of de-clutter a week.
I've actually known for a long time what the main reason for my prevaricating is. It is this room:
Nutty week this week.
I have no pictures and I have a school Principal that I want to yell at but I have done a fair bit of decluttering so just a quick report to touch base with my fellow de-cluttererers.
It has been weeks since I've truly been able to kick back and take stock. I love my family more than anything in existence but I am human and I need a break from being a Mum and wife or I go slightly loopy-la-la.
My better-half was home nursing a cold yesterday and my littlest-one was over tired from swimming lessons so I left them both huddled in a blanket with hot drinks, chicken sandwiches and trashy TV and attempted to tackle the "Kitchen Cupboard of Horridness".
After three weeks of having all my brood (including big ol' hairy boy) all at home I am a wee bit weary.
It feels like I am a one-person fast food outlet, constantly cooking to the tune of "Mum, I'm so hungry my tummy is folding up".
And when not on kitchen duty I am entertainment manager for both the small people AND the large hairy one. All of whom struggle to entertain themselves without my input. Apparently none of them can even watch TV unless I am sat watching it with them. Gah!
It's school holidays so we have been at the beach!
My bestest, most favourite place to be wherever in the world I am.
Packing for holidays! Woohoo off to the seaside!
No more de-cluttering for a week or two....
I had a rest from major housework this week since we are all a bit tired. De-clutter was replaced with some much needed therapeutic clay play.
I've found a fabulius way to get my other half to pitch in with the tidying up! Invite his Mum and Dad for lunch!
Together we spent the best part of five hours freeing the dining table and surrounding area of STUFF. Five hours! We haven't been able to use the table since before Christmas.
The past few weeks have seen full blown germ-warfare in our household with various forms of flu, gastro and nasty allergic reactions. To top it all our septic tank went kabluey and erupted poo-water everywhere. Yuck!
Never-the-less I thought it was time to start tackling the worst area in our house, the dreaded 'family room', even if only in a small way.
This week I feel totally, utterly bleurgh. I've got a sinus infection and I know I should probably go to the docs but I am trying to will it away without resorting to yucky antibiotics.
In my bleurghness I have only managed to de-clutter 1 small bag of baby cutlery and 4 T-shirts and I complained the whole time about my bleurghness whilst doing it.
To stop my grumbling and grumping I have spent my time doing this instead (sorry for terrible picture):
Owl on the right is based on the following tutorial (lots of good stuff on this site):
http://www.free-macrame-patterns.com/owl-pendant.html
and the left hand owl is based on this very high quality youtube video:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SAqNNIu1s8I&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSAqNNIu1s8I
Both are built ever-so-slightly differently with the left hand one being slightly more tricky around the eyes and beak but only requires one thread through the beak which gives more options in terms of beads. The one on the right requires two threads through the beak but on the whole is just that little bit easier for a novice like me.
Hope everyone else is having a less bleurgh week.
The past couple of weeks have been a wee bit fraught with most of my time spent away from the house for one reason or another. But I was determined to remove some clutter. So a boot full of stuff found new homes on monday:
(If you are looking for the Grow your Blog Giveaway it is here.)
I don't know how the rest of you feel but I am currently a bit overwhelmed at the task before me.
It seems that my de-clutter efforts have simply made a bigger mess than before :-(
To be expected I suppose since there's ten years worth of stuff hidden in cupboards and boxes and sheds and a simple task like tidying up one cupboard produces a flabberghasting amount of other stuff to sort out!
We've got one week left of summer hols before my eldest goes back to school and my youngest starts kinder (woohoo! 3 mornings a week to myself! / boohoo, my babies are growing up).
So we've been playing lots and making a big mess insode and once the nasty fiery heat receded we went out and found sand and water to frolick in.
Yep, nuthin' happening this week. When it hits 30C I start to wither. When it tops 40C I melt. I break into a river of sweat making a simple sandwich. I carefully position each body part so that nothing touches. Cuddles are done at a distance of 3 metres. All activity is restricted to what can be achieved either sitting in water or laying starfish-like under a fan.
This week I thought I'd tackle the upstairs closet, with no expectations of finishing it in one go since a third of the space is taken up by stuff belonging to my better half. Here is the naughty cupboard in all it's chaotic glory:
And this is only half of it.
The rather wonderful Bonnie of Jasper's Gems suggested a year long de-clutter project for 2014 with weekly progress reports on our blogs.
I did have a wee bash at a de-clutter last year - which didn't get much beyond clearing out two drawers. Not very successful!
But with the added encouragement of Bonnie, and with the promise of 3 child-free mornings a week when my youngest starts kinder, I fully intend to kick clutter's botty this year.
