Prairie Home Therapy

January Goals: Accountability Report. A Bad Month.

2012-02-01T22:41:00.001-07:00

I apologise--I haven't had time to prepare pictures for this post.

Strangely, the disintegration of my hard drive earlier this month derailed nearly every single project. I'm not sure why: but, in many respects, it felt like grief.
.
So, I did not manage the first task.
.
Project Life: Scrapbooking.
.
I managed to take a photo and jot a note every day just until the computer crashed. I could have continued. But I didn't. I don't know whether I will try this again or not. Our days are really very dull.
.
Project Housekeeping.
.
No surprise. This, too, was an epic fail. I had plans to integrate my basic housekeeping checklist with the more extensive and thorough one from Motivated Moms up to the end of March. Fortunately, I had downloaded and run off MM's list for the year before the computer collapse. Also before the collapse, I'd managed to integrate the two until the end of January. I hadn't printed any of those sheets, though. Nor did I have a hard copy of my on basic weekly housekeeping check list before the hard drive disaster. (I did a huge paper purge the day the hard drive died). I had to come to the blog and re-create it from blog entries I'd made in October.
.
I found, though, that for the week I did try to combine MM's tasks with my own, I was quickly overwhelmed. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next month, yet.
.
Project Basement Declutter.
.
Finally, there has been some success on this front. I dealt with the stuff under the stairs, Hubby agreed to let go of a box of dusty old trophies, and I spent a bit of time clearing some floor space.
.
Project Style:
.
I did get my hair cut. Still loving it.

.
I did not buy foundation.
.

I tried to wear make-up before I left the house. I didn't manage it every time, however. Some trips were spontaneous --quick runs to the grocery store or Home Depot and I didn't think of it. Other times, I forgot to make time for it.
.
Project Debt Reduction.
.
I am still working on cutting down our trips to the grocery store. I tallied up how much we spent on food this month. It is atrocious.
.
We've signed up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and attended to sessions. All I can say right now is that I'm scared.
.
Project Self-Improvement.
.

Major fail. The first week was great. The second week, Daedalus was home working on the tiling project and it just never felt like the right "time" to pop in a video and work out. Maybe I was just too self-conscious with him around?

I just picked up a book from the library called Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain." I've read less than ten pages, but it making me wish I could pop in a video and do some exercise, but it is too close to bed-time.
.
I also gave up recording what I ate (the forms I made and used died with the computer)--and even worse--continued eating crap with abandon.
.
Project Homeschool.

Planning work until the end of March didn't seem that important without access to my own computer. I have to share the one we have with my son who is using it to get each day's work done. Sharing is tough on both of us. We're just doing the next thing.

Project Winter House list.
.
Egads.
.
No kitchen curtain panel.
.
No plants for the living room.
.
As for painting the ceiling planks in the bathroom white, they have been primed.
.
BUT the kerdie is up and the shower and tub surround is totally tiled and grouted. Hooray!

Grouting begins--Hooray!

2012-01-30T10:49:00.009-07:00

I feel better this morning than I have in a long, long time.

We started grouting last night. As soon as our first 3x3 patch as done, I knew everything was going to be OK.

We put in the last tile on Tuesday of last week.

We gave the honour to our son who helped a lot.

I spent five days staring at those three walls in horror and disappointment. They looked awful. The lines didn't match up, the tiles start out one width at the bottom and are quite another at the top. Tiles bulged and dipped. All three walls are wavy and crooked.

Not what I thought we would end up with after 10 weeks of work.

Nonetheless.

Now that two walls are grouted, the waviness and the crookedness are still there, but they don't accuse me quite so loudly anymore.

The top niche is grouted, the bottom isn't yet. Huge difference.

And they are shiny.

Whew.

Next, we have to caulk where ever there is a change of plane, paint the ceiling over the tub and shower (or, at least cut it in before I caulk).

and finish this bit of wall with new baseboard and corner round.

Then, Daedalus says we can take a shower at home again.

Tortoise like Progress

2012-01-24T13:23:00.006-07:00

They worked hard at it all weekend.

The back wall has been finished for a while. Still need to fix a hole in the ceiling in the left hand corner, there.

Both kids fixed tile to the exterior wall. We're not exactly sure how we went crooked. That orange peaking from the top is kerdie. At least the horizontal lines match in the interior corner.

Unfortunately, we can't say the same for the plumbing wall. Daedalus figures the wall just wasn't flat enough. Don't know. Almost don't care. This project has just about beaten out of me every last ounce of perfectionism I may have ever had.
We may be ready to grout on Thursday. Or Friday. Or whenever.

I need to pick a colour to paint this south facing bathroom with bad lighting. I'd like to pick up on the colours in this tile over by the sink:

Any suggestions?

I'm liking the light green over by the seahorses head--but it may make a bath mat etc., hard to find.

Bathroom Progress

2012-01-17T13:43:00.011-07:00

All I have are photos from Friday onwards. The tower really is dead and unsalvageable: the hard drive itself just choked. No virus.

I have to admit I kind of gave up on the bathroom tiling project on Thursday--the day we started to lay the tile. The kerdie membrane itself is thick--and I had not figured it into my calculations for building the niche and tiling it. So, the niche is smaller than I'd anticipated resulting in a lot of careful cutting. The distance between the niches turned out to be slightly more than three tiles--like an 1/8th of an inch more.

I couldn't deal with it. Sad, but true. I just couldn't wrap my head around it at all. There was also one of those "displacement" fights where a huge ruckus blows up because tension is high, tempers are short and semi-innocent people get yelled at over minor unrelated issues.

That was Friday. I bowed out and began cleaning the house (and boy did it need it.) Daedalus stepped in and took over and dealt with all the finnicky cuts and made the decision about how to handle the 1/8th inch "gap."

This is where we were at when I bowed out Friday morning.

By Saturday morning, Daedalus had got this much done:

On Saturday, I sent him to do a bottle drive ith Emma for her Girl Guide trip to San Fransisco this summer. I did about five of them last winter with our son for his trip to Nefoundland. Badly timed, but it was his turn.

By Sunday night, he had made a tremdous amount of progress.

Monday, feeling under the weather, I lay on the couch and atched CSI while Daedalus went back into the bathroom. I'm not sure he even ate. By the time he came to bed, he'd completed the back wall and started on the non-plumbing end wall.

I took these pics this morning. Daedalus is back at work, now and I don't think we'll be finished for yet another week.

My son does his work on this computer--so it is doubtful I'll be able to post much for the next while. You can bet I will let you know when we're all done and ready to take showers and baths again.

That will be a happy day.

(PS. I have been double spacing between the paragraphs but noticed that they didn't space out once blogger published the post. My apologies if it happens again.)

Death of a Computer

2012-01-14T14:50:00.007-07:00

I really think the tower is dead. It hasn't been officially diagnosed, but it made strange whirring, chirping and clicking noises until it just seized mid-chirp, stopped doing everything and made a sound like it had flatlined.

So, I am using the laptop we bought for the boy last September. It's keyboard is quite strange and the "w" is wonky. Apologies.

Other than all my personal pictures from 2011 (and 2012, so far) and Microsoft Word (which I purchased less than a year ago licenced for use with one machine) I'm really not worried about losing what was on there. Actually, I just realised, honestly? I'm trying not to think about it too much--that ay I can't remember all that I've lost. Fortunately, I transferred just about everything on that hard drive to an external hardrive at the end of 2010 so everything prior to that is OK.

But still.

After the beast flat-lined, I turned it off to work on the desk.

I removed old files for doing our taxes and made up new ones. Sorted, filed and tossed the rest, you know the drill. After a couple of hours (or so) here we are:

At least now there's a clear path for the power cord.

Five Minute Friday: Awake

2012-01-13T16:07:00.003-07:00

Assignment: (from The Gypsy Mama): For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

The theme this week: Awake.

GO.

Awake!

The ceremony is about to begin!

Jim Morrison and The Doors. William Blake. The Doors of Perception. It was all about seeing clearly. It was all about trying to get at the truth. Truth--though the Universe, as we saw it then was amoral. Not immoral--just, neutral. People made up morality People decided what was right and wrong. Questions of how we decided and who decided and all that were for the future. We were existential teenagers, born past the age of drugs and on the cusp of AIDs. We had the books, though. And music. We read, we talked. We looked, we felt. We did all we could to be alive, and awake.

But, truly, looking back now I see it was all through a glass, darkly. We hadn't the eyes to see or the ears to hear. Our quest was impossible--as it always is for the young and idealistic. The romantic.

Yet, I cannot imagine what life would have been like without the quest. Quieter, perhaps. Less disappointing? Who knows. It was what it was and we are left with our memories and our love among the ruins. We won't re-build. We'll find something new.

STOP.

Small Snag

2012-01-11T11:32:00.007-07:00

Literally, 3/16th of an inch or one half a centimeter.

That's the thickness of the tile.

Daedalus has been wondering how we were going to deal with the pipes--you know, the spout faucets (shower and tub) and the tap faucets. (How come we don't have a word for the two very different kinds of faucets? Would one word each be too much to ask a language with more that 170,000 words (or so)?

Our problem was with the tap faucet cartridge thingy bits.

The question was: How were we going to get the handle bits back on the threaded bits once the tile was on the wall?

You can see we were already in trouble without the tile:

We consulted the library book we'd borrowed. We looked at the pictures, really.

Then we shuffled off to Home Depot.

Buddy there said, "Just pull the pipes forward."

So, we took a look. The access panel is in our coat closet.

We determined that someone--someone who lived here before --maybe the someone who installed wall board grooved on the bottom edge so the tub flange could be inserted up and into it, maybe the someone who installed a tub surround which turned icky yellow and fell apart--maybe, maybe not-- but someone had placed 2x4's in front of the pipes. Yes, In front.

So, we had to hack out more of the wall in order to chip and chisel away at the 2x4's.

One half day later, we were done.

The taps are now barely where they need to be.

That grey stuff is a sealant which turns to rubber to help waterproof things around the faucet thingys.

The adventures continue....

Progress Report

2012-01-10T08:22:00.010-07:00

There's been some progress in the basement and the bathroom!

First, I had to put all this:

and some of this:

under here:

(Yes, that's our stairs. It does worry me a bit that it seems to be sort of cobbled together.)

It just took time. By the end of the afternoon, I had it done:

I have needed to get this donation station packed up into bags and boxes for drop-off since the beginning of November.

I did it Friday--but it didn't actually get out of the house until Sunday--so I didn't want to show you it was done until it was, well, done.

As for the bathroom--the tub and shower surround is all orange now.

We have to put up another corner piece and line the niches as well as put up a few more pieces around the plumbing (and glue the bottom of the Kerdie to the tub flange) and then we will be ready to tile.

Hooray.

Our Haircuts

2012-01-07T13:52:00.008-07:00

Whoo hoo.

My daughter and I both got our hair cut at a fancy schmancy salon today.

I love it! All the stylist did was put some sort of gel through my hair and then twirled it around her finger for the curl. Talk about easy! Emma loves hers, too. The stylist used a hair straightener on hers.

Here's my before:

The difference is nearly unbelievable.

Quick Declutter

2012-01-06T12:43:00.008-07:00

I've been procrastinating getting down to the basement--and that means nothing else is getting done. That's not hard to understand, is it?

The basement is supposed to be "what I'm doing" this month--it's supposed to be my focus. Ergo, I have license to ignore everything else. Except that the license seems not to have been renewed for 2012. The blinders are off and my skin is beginning to crawl..

In the darkness of 7:45am this morning, this cabinet was particularly repugnant.

PS: Cold wax? Doesn't work.

So, I decided to tackle it right after lunch. (I was out all morning. Yes, I wore my make-up! oooh. aaah.)

And here we are:

I think we have every type of floss known to mankind.

It's inspired me to actually go down to the basement and do something. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow.

Linking to the ever-inspiring Nony at A Slob Comes Clean and the exceptional William Morris Project at Pancakes and French Fries. They made me do it.

Goals for January, specifically

2012-01-04T21:29:00.007-07:00

First, here the list of things to do in January: January get organized checklist from Aby of Simplify 101.

I've been working on this list, off and on, for a few days. I started with the goal of "not taking on too much." After all, the bath tub tiling project will consume quite a bit of time as it is. (My husband is taking the week of January 8th to the 15th off, so IT WILL BE DONE!)

But now that I see it in its entirety, it's just exhausting.
And although, I suppose, one doesn't NEED to set goals (see the guest post at Zen Habits, today) I find that for me I am much more productive if I put it all down in black and white. If I don't, I just drift. As a sahm, there is no one and pretty much nothing to ensure I even get out of bed in the morning--let alone do much of anything once I am out. So, without further preamble, here's the list of things I want done before the 31st.

Project Life: (Scrapbooking)

Keep notes on what happens every day

Take a picture everyday, preferably of someone doing something.

I figure that if I can keep this up for a month, I can committ to buying the bits and pieces I need to actually put together an album. It's all sold out, now, anyway.

Project Housekeeping:

Keep up with the daily tasks and report to the Blog when motivation flags.

Update and personalize the Motivated Mom's Cleaning checklist to the end of March.

Project Basement De-Clutter:

Get Christmas stuff put away under the stairs, Catalogue it properly.

Take out and deal with the other stuff under the stairs.

Spend 15 minutes a day down there, working on it (except for the days I'm working in the bathroom).

Project Style:

Get hair cut

Buy foundation

Wear make up every time I leave the house.

Project Debt-Reduction:

Keep grocery trips to once a week.

Project Self-Improvement:

Work out twice every three days.

Record what I eat, every day.

Finish Photoshop course from Jessica Sprague

Finish reading Great Expectations.

Find and join a bookclub.

Project Home school

Plan work until the end of March.

Project Winter House List:

Kitchen-- Make curtain panel for sink window.

Living Room -- Buy a plant or two and keep it alive.

Downstairs Bathroom -- Paint wooden ceiling planks white.
-- Put up Kerdie and install Tile.

I'll keep you posted!

Monday Night Check-In

2012-01-02T21:21:00.005-07:00

Wompf.

That's the sound of me sitting down in my office chair after fetching my 14th cup of coffee.

Wompf.

That's the sound of everything I thought I'd get done hitting me up the side of the head.

Oh well.

I focused on the important, so I'm happy.

Done! 1. -- take an inventory of the pantry and freezer, plan all of our dinners for January and make a shopping list.

Done! 2. --Finish running off the duplicates of the calendar I made for my Mom.

Done! 3. --Take the calendars Staples to be bound. Mail them.

uh, no. 4. Write up my Statement of Intent for Cathy Zielske's Big Picture Class: Move More, Eat Well (MMEW).

nope, not done, either 5. Finish my pre-class assignment for MMEW.

eeew. Not done. 6. Vacuum the stairs.

in progress. 7. Work on my goals for 2012. Create a list of specific ones to work on for January, specifically. In other words, get specific!

not going to do. Too late. 7b: Finish post of top 11 accomplishments in 2011.

in progress. 8. Create my project list for January.

Done! 9. Get out to a scrapbook store and buy kraft coloured cardstock.

1/2 done. 10. Find a hair salon we can afford and within walking distance and make hair appointments for my daughter and I. (I found a place in B.C. which will accept 9" pony tail of my grey hair to make into a wig for Cancer patients.)

I made some calls. The one nearest me charges $50 (average $60) for a women's cut. If I want the epynonymous owner, however, I have to pay $85.00 (yikes!) A child's cut is $25 to 30. These folks are not open on Mondays (the only day I have the vehicle). They are, however, within 10 minutes walking distance.

The least expensive place is a little farther away, (maybe 15-20 minutes?) at $40.00 for a woman's cut and $20.00 for a child's.

By the by, I am aware that there are "chains" --like Supercuts-- which will hack off my hair for $20 or so--but my experience with places like that is what drove me to grow my hair out in the first place!

Oh and MOST important--I'm 2 for 2 for exercise! Two sessions in two days--yay! AND, I signed up for a class called "women on weights" which starts next Sunday.

I'm feeling super anxious and excited about everything I want to do this year, this month, this week. But I really can't think about it until we get out and shop, get home and put it all away. Tomorrow. Then, I'll breathe again.

Welcome 2012! A Year of General Improvement.

2012-01-01T13:42:00.006-07:00

What a year this will be.

I had to laugh when I saw the cover of Real Simple in the grocery line yesterday:

Their list and mine--nearly identical!

I have been thinking about how best to approach this year of change, and though I love, love, love Gretchen Rubin's month by month approach--after trying all week to schmoosh my stuff into that particular format--I've realised--it's just not for me. I sort of have to tackle everything all at once.

But here are the broad strokes, thanks to Real Simple:

reduce your debt
We're going to pay down some debt this year--and not let it creep back. I'll be signing my husband and I up for Financial Peace University. Daedalus says it'll be great to "learn a thing or two"--while I want to commit to the entire program--so we'll have to see how it goes.

lose weight faster
After dithering around with weight loss and exercise for the past few years, I'm going to get serious for a whole year. My goals are to exercise 1x a day, 6 days a week and eat according to plan (which, right now, is following the Mayo Clinic Pyramid Plan for 1400 calories/day.)

learn to say no
Actually, I do not have to worry about this one--unless it's saying "no" to all the stuff I want to do!

cook smarter
Absolutely. I've been steadily trying to move us away from pre-packaged food--and even though I stay home and have more time than most--I still find it a challenge to make chicken nuggets and french fries from scratch--and have the kids like them and eat them! If I could do it over again, I'd never ever let a packaged or pre-made food into this house. Seriously, modern "convenience" food is engineered to wire your brain to crave it. Anyway, enough soapbox. More oven fries!

clear the clutter
My goal is to make the basement a completely functional and liveable space. In the past, I have merely wanted to organize it--but it was still just a giant storage room. I have vague ideas of turning it into a work out room or an old fashioned "rec room" or a craft area. We'll see what happens.

reenergize your style
This assumes I have one, of course. I don't. But I would like to have one. I want to present myself better every day. I want to learn to dress well--even though that seems impossible at my current weight. I want to get some proper make-up and I'll be cutting my hair too, soon. Here's a un-touched up picture of me taken this afternoon as you were oohing and ahing over the last image. (I do not want to misrepresent myself!)

But wait, there's more!

There's the on-going ,Winter Project list, of course.

But more than that, I want to stretch a bit--grow. I want to learn something new every month: take a class, take up a creative activity like cross stitch or embroidery. This month, I'm starting with a "weights for women" class at 9am on Sunday mornings. Ugh. But it's only for six classes--how bad can it be?

I have some plans for improving a few relationships but I'll save those for later. The only other thing is scrapbooking. I'd like to take it up again--for the family and what we do--but I'm not really sure what to do. Project Life which is a daily/weekly project seems like too much for me--but I want something just as streamlined.

So, that's it for now.

Do you have anything special in mind you'd like to accomplish in 2012?

Winter Project List 2012

2011-12-31T00:49:00.003-07:00

update: (January 11, 2012)

This post was originally written before the turn of the year. It is a list of projects I feel I need to do.

But why?

Nester has posted a list of great questions to ponder.

At the moment I am in the midst of preparing the tub and shower surround for tiling. We hope to start the tiling today.

The rest of my house is in shambles. No surface is clear. It is very hard to envision what my home could be like while it it is in it's default state of showing the signs of our messy lives.

My children are going to leave this nest, soon. I feel like I am running out of time. I want these years to be calm. (I tend to get over-anxious and upset easily when there's this much chaos around me.) I want these years to create a sense of welcoming. I want the kids to be happy to be here--to want to be here, rather than somewhere else.

I'm not sure that any of the projects below will accomplish that.

Nonetheless, here's the to-do list.

*******************

Some of these items are carried over from the Summer Project List and some are projects I've started but haven't yet finished.

I don't actually expect to get all of these done before March 22, 2012, especially the painting tasks, but when I get something done, I will link the "final reveal" post back to this list --or the next, whichever is most recent.

So, without further ado, here's how I plan to keep myself busy over the next few months.

Kitchen:

Make curtain panel for sink window.

Decide on a colour for the walls.

Paint walls.

Hang some black and white plates.

Back Hallway:

I'll make the back hallway match the front hallway. Photo from the Hybrid Spring Cure 2011.

Remove popcorn from ceiling.

Paint walls. (BM Edgecomb Grey)

Paint doors and trim. (BM Cloud White)

Stairwell and Upstairs Hallway:

Paint walls. (BM Edgecomb Grey)

Paint stair risers. (BM Cloud White)

Install a better light fixture

Living Room:

Buy a plant or two and keep it alive.

Install trim on wall above fireplace.

Finish resizing and re-sewing couch slipcover.

Spray paint lamp.

Buy new lampshade for silver lamp.

Downstairs Bathroom:

Wow. That looks even worse than I thought. The shelves, I mean, not me. Hi!

Paint wooden ceiling planks white.

Sew new curtain panel or shade.

Find and install new shelves/cabinet for over the toilet.

Put up Kerdie and install Tile.

Master Bedroom:

You know, now that I see the bed with the adjustable lamps I purchased a few months ago, I may not need to raise hubby's bedside table. I'll ask him if he finds the low height inconvenient. (I would.)

Decide on a colour for the walls.

Paint walls.

Create height for husband's bedside table.

Purchase (or make) new Duvet Cover.

Outdoors:

The house in May 2011

Plan and cost out front yard and garden.

Look into having the front sidewalk professionally removed.

Plan vegetable garden.

I have other, more personal goals, too. Later.

********************

Update: posted to The Nester's Home Goals Link-up Party. Check out some really great goals and project plans here.

Finish It Friday.

2011-12-30T15:31:00.011-07:00

So much to do!

I want to get it all done before the New Year (Sunday.) That's not going to happen--but maybe by Tuesday?

1. Speaking of Tuesday, it's the Big Shop, so I have to take an inventory of the pantry and freezer, plan all of our dinners for January and make a shopping list.

2. Finish running off the duplicates of the calendar I made for my Mom.

3. Take the calendars Staples to be bound. Yikes. I hadn't realised I'd left it so late! Mail them.

4. Write up my Statement of Intent for Cathy Zielske's Big Picture Class: Move More, Eat Well (MMEW).

5. Finish my pre-class assignment for MMEW.

6. Vacuum the stairs.

7. Work on my goals for 2012. Create a list of specific ones to work on for January, specifically. In other words, get specific!

7b: Finish post of top 11 accomplishments in 2011.

8. Create my project list for January.

9. Get out to a scrapbook store and buy kraft coloured cardstock.

10. Find a hair salon we can afford and within walking distance and make hair appointments for my daughter and I. (I found a place in B.C. which will accept 9" pony tail of my grey hair to make into a wig for Cancer patients.)

What do you think? Would something like this be cute?

Created with the assistance of the Instyle Makeover Tool.

It makes me want to laugh!

Five Minute Friday: Open

2011-12-30T12:12:00.007-07:00

This is an experiment I am going to try this year. I want to improve my writing. I found Five Minute Friday, hosted by Gypsy Mama a long time ago and I did not have the courage, then, to try.

But I might, now.

Gypsy Mama offers a topic each week. Here are the terms and conditions, straight from her site:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Most important: visit, comment, encourage the person before you.

This is my first attempt.

GO

Open.

Open doors. Open windows. Open minds. Open.

Change. Winds. Fear. Future. To be open is to be accepting, to be willing to receive what may come. But no. I want to be out in front of the change, directing it: bringing it myself.

I am scared of being open. Open is not good. ZOpen means access and there's a gate on that, thank you very much. I can't post this. I have nothing to say.

But I want this year to change me. I want to stay the same: I don't want my comforts to disappear--I want the need for them to disappear. But how can that happen with out change? Without a willingness to be open?

But, I do control the door, the window. I do stand in front of it and raise and lower it. I can be open and protected, too right?

(Wow. Five minutes is a long time).

So, maybe I can open my arms, at least, a little way. Change will come anyway whether I'm in front of it or not.

I guess that's OK.

STOP

That was awful.
Well, I suppose that just means there's room for improvement.
(I really don't want to hit publish, but I really must, mustn't I?)

Similar Yet Totally Different

2011-12-29T16:29:00.016-07:00

It is an odd feeling to walk into a house with exactly the same floor plan as your own--and have the experience be utterly alien. But intriguing and interesting, too, because it's a bit like stepping into, well, not to go too sci fi on you, but something like an alternate dimension.

I have had the privilege of stepping into not one, not two, but three alternate house universes. One was a long time ago now and has since passed to new owner. The other two are somewhere in the neighbourhood. They were all built in about 1948 or 1949.

Today, we'll just look at the kitchen.

Firstly, to orient ourselves I've drawn a really rough sketch of the ground floor. The arrows with circles indicate where I was standing and the direction I was facing when I took the picture.

We'll start with view A, and then go around the kitchen to the sink wall, view C, then to the end wall, view B, then the last wall Vvew D. Only one house is featured for view E.

As you can see, the kitchen is situated at the back of the house and has three entry points. We will begin at the back door. Go up two steps and in my house, you see this (view A):

There is a window to the left in every house.

In house A, you see this:

This counter makes this kitchen a "U" shaped kitchen. The other three are L shaped kitchens

In house B, this is what you see:

The kitchen layout in House C is similar to this one above in that it doesn't have a counter against the wall to the left.

Already there are significant differences. I have no cabinets of any kind here. One has a stove, the other, the dishwasher. It's hard to judge (and I didn't measure) but our sinks all look to be in the same place.

Here's a better view of the "sink wall." (view C):

My house:

House A:

House B:

Interesting choice here not to put up cabinets.

and, now I have a shot of this wall for the third house:

The previous owner told me that originally her kitchen counter had ended where mine did: but she insisted she wanted a double sink--and more cabinets--so she got them in the mid-sixties when she moved in.

The end wall, the one opposite the window to the left where you come in has the doorway to the dining room. If you take a look at the diagram above, it's View B. (I hope this makes sense.)

So, we'll begin with my kitchen.

House A also has the fridge in this position:

In House B they've put the stove here, instead:

and House C retains the original cabinetry:

This area was re-purposed for the dishwasher and microwave. (Our lower cabinets were built at 34" high--too low to accommodate a dishwasher and keep the original cabinetry.)

That leaves the last wall, view D. It's opposite the sink wall and chopped up by two doorways and a chimney flue by the back door. The flue been camouflaged in each house.

Here's mine:
The flue is right beside the door to the right and behind the little cabinet and the spice rack.

The chimney flue is behind these doors in House A:

I've often wondered what it might be like to put my table and chairs in this exact spot.

House B has cabinetry brought flush to the wall:

and in the last house the chimney flue has a fairly decent sized closet built in front of it:

The last view is E --and I only have it for House B. There's a neat corner cabinet built next to the fridge:

We all have the same elements: a sink, fridge, stove and microwave. Each of us is working within the exact same footprint. One doesn't have a window where the others do, three have dishwashers and one doesn't. Only two managed to squeeze in a table. The resulting feel in each kitchen is very, very different. And, oddly, given how much it frustrates me, but luckily, cause it is mine, I like my own best.

I don't know. Maybe it is just me who finds this sort of thing interesting!?

A Quick Lick and A Promise...

2011-12-28T18:38:00.006-07:00

Hello!
Don't mind me.

Are you familiar with the expression, "a lick and a promise?" It means to just do something very quickly and not at all thoroughly. That was me and housecleaning today. I did just the bare minimum.

So here's the run down:

Weigh myself --yes

Make bed --yes

Wash breakfast dishes --well, they were from last night. They took all of 15 minutes.

Pick up house --I made a half hearted attempt. Things are still looking pretty good after yesterday.

Swish and Swipe --both bathrooms. I just used my bare hand for the upstairs sink, though. I'm out of cleaning cloths.

Laundry: I took one load out of the drier (didn't fold it though there were only three items. Sheets. Shudder. I hate folding sheets. They inevitably touch the floor and when they do they feel contaminated, somehow.)

Make To-Do list. Nah.

Do One Essential Task.
Well, actually, today there's two.

One is to glue my son's bed back together. I'll do that with my husband later this evening. (I have no idea what happened.)

The other was to vacuum.

Which I gladly did.

And that's that.

If you like seeing different houses with the same floor plan, you may be in for a treat tomorrow. We're currently bringing in mail from two houses which are almost exactly the same as ours. I think it's very cool how different all three look and feel.

The Post Christmas Cleaning Blitz

2011-12-27T15:50:00.007-07:00

There have been many years when this day has been painful.

Many years in which the love expressed in giving and receiving has been twisted by the pain of debt and compulsiveness. For many years, my mother suffered from bouts of compulsive shopping. Her love language is "gift giving." As you can imagine, Christmas was a perfect storm.

But not this year.

She gave us three gifts as "jokes" from Santa's Sack which my nephew handed out:

Then, after dinner, she gave us one major gift each. Every single one was received with happiness and gratitude.

This was my gift:

Two sets of our "wedding" silverware. We only had four. At Thanksgiving this year, Mom noticed and asked me why there was kitchen silverware on the table along with the fancy stuff. Somehow, we'd just forgotten to complete it.

Daedalus (my husband, not his real name) and I also made an effort to keep the gifts to a minimum.

So, today, I went about cleaning up and putting things away with a much lighter heart than I have in the past. I woke up with the intention of putting the house "back to rights" and it has taken me just about all day. But it was a great day.

Daily Checklist:

weigh myself: yes

make bed: yes

wash breakfast dishes: yes, and lunch too.

Pick up House: Are you ready?

Kitchen:

Dining Room:

Front Hall:

and the Living Room:

Swish and swipe: Down, yes. Up, no.

Laundry: Started 2, Transferred 2, Folded 3, Put Away 2.

folding on the cleared Dining Table so I can listen to more of Great Expectations.

Make To Do List: no.

Do One Essential Task: wash and put away cutlery. yes! (above).

There is one thing I got too much of, however.

If, of course, it is possible to get too much chocolate.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:33:00.010-07:00

Thank you all so much for being here for me this year. I am so grateful for your readership, support and encouragement. I love sharing things with you all.

I hope each and every one of you has a terrific holiday--and that it brings you what you need and want.

Today will be a bevy of activity: cleaning up, making tortiere and wrapping things last minute: but it will all be OK.

So, without further ado, this is the house all decked out for Christmas. Remember, my children took it upon themselves to almost every bit of it and I'm very grateful to them for getting it all done.

Welcome!

What you don't still have your pumpkins out on your front porch?

Immediately to your right as you enter are the cards on the wall.

The living room is on the left, of course.

Most of everything is concentrated at the far end.

the tree:

the faux fireplace:

A few treasures on the mantle:

Ben/Caius made this in kindergarten, I believe.

and to the far right of the mantle, on the shelf, our creche:

My husband built the stable years ago when the kids used to put their plastic animals inside.

This is our only set.
My Mom has eleven.

On your way out of the living room, tucked in the corner, is this message:

The dining room is quite minimal.

I cleared out a cubby for this prize.

Emma/Aurelia won it in a draw at school.

The kitchen is quite low-key this year with just this garland.

I think it's a nice touch.

And that is that.
Thanks so much for dropping by.

Calendar: One Down, Two to Go.

2011-12-23T15:05:00.008-07:00

Whew.

I have finished the version of the (8x8) calendar I will give to my Mom. Just in time! As for the copies to be mailed to my Mother-in-law and my Grandmother, the pages are scanned and the months of 2012 are typed into the computer: I just can't finish printing them out until I can get out and buy a black ink cartridge for the printer. Urgh.

Still.

January to June:

July to December:

I did this the quickest way I know how: the same background cardstock (kraft--I had just enough), a patterned paper for the photo mat (just because I love patterned paper), one embellishment and one quote on coordinating cardstock. I picked the embellishments, first, before the papers, by the way. Much easier to coordinate that way! Then came the patterned paper, and, then, just as paint should be picked last because there are a thousand colours of paint, the cardstock.

I had been dreading this. All year. That's partly the reason the pictures are so lousy. I wasn't trying. Last year, I kept track of my hours--and I think it took me about 40. (I used a kit--never again!) This year, I bet it's taken only half that--or less.

Now, I need to eat (and more than the cookies we baked yesterday, too!) and get dressed!

Keeping On

2011-12-22T10:35:00.010-07:00

Thanks so much for your encouragement.
It means the world to me.

So, on to today's Daily Checklist.

Weigh myself: oops.

Make bed: check

Wash breakfast dishes:

Well, they weren't so much the breakfast dishes as they were leftovers from last night. The dinner dishes were done--by my daughter. I had to run an errand last night. Came home to Aurelia/Emma standing at the sink nearly over flowing with water, dish rack nearly full and in the middle of a noisy, ugly, crocodile cry. I didn't ask.

But look! A completely cleared counter. Haven't seen that in a long while.

Pick up House: done.

Swish and swipe:
downstairs: yes
upstairs, yes. How quickly it went given yesterdays marathon!

Laundry: started two, transferred two, folded one.

Review Calendar, make To-Do List:
1) Bake cookies! I'll do this shortly when my daughter gets home from school.
2) Work on calendar
(I've put in about an hour or so, today. I'm somewhere in Chapter 10 of Great Expectations.)
3) Vacuum back entry: no
4) Vacuum stairs: no
5) Put recycling out for pick-up (last chance until January 5th): Will do this evening.

Do One Essential Task: The cookies.

Weekly Chores: Thursday
file papers: no

Pay bills: yes.

Our electric/water bill came yesterday: it was extraordinarily high. My first thought was: I'll kill those kids for leaving the computer/x-box/TV on all the time--when I suddenly realised it was a bill for two months, not one. I checked my household management binder, and sure enough, I'd forgotten to pay the bills I normally pay in the first half of the month. I was mortified. And scared. It's been a long time since I've fallen behind paying the bills.

It's like some housekeeping Dementor came and sucked two weeks out of my life. (My daughter and I are now well into The Order of the Phoenix.)

wash Kitchen floor: no

wash bathroom floors.
Downstairs: my son did this for me yesterday.
Upstairs: no

I purchased and downloaded my Motivated Mom's 2012 chore list today. My plan is to use it as a reference--which makes it sort of silly that I purchased it. I have copies of previous years' on my computer and it doesn't change.

I thought I would go through it and schedule in those things I haven't got already on my list. I'd like to do this all at once--for the whole year--and run off my own week per day list to keep in my home management binder, but the chances of that are probably slim.

Most of the cleaning on this list will be done tomorrow. I actually think I just may get the calendar done in time for my Mom on Christmas Eve. Cross your fingers for me!

Committment

2011-12-21T15:36:00.007-07:00

We're having power outages in the house: so it may be a miracle this gets posted at all!

I apologize for yet another housekeeping post. But, if I don't report what I did (and did not do) today--I may do nothing at all tomorrow. I'm tempted. I feel Christmas breathing down my back as I am doing my best to work quickly on this calendar for my mother (copies of which go to my Mother-in-law and my grandmother).

I checked out an audiobook of Great Expectations from the library to keep me company. I fervently and heartily wish I had thought of this in November!

OK: the checklist:

weigh myself: no

make bed: check

wash breakfast dishes: again, they were some of last night's dinner dishes. I really must do them after supper tonight!

Pick up house: no. But things are still looking half way presentable from yesterday. Well, OK, if you ignore the hallway outside the bathroom, of course.

You were all so kind about my living room yesterday, I thought I'd treat you to a box-free view!

the kids did all the decorating by themselves

swish and swipe bathroom:
upstairs: after neglecting this bathroom for about two weeks, it was an intense S&S, I assure you.
Downstairs: yes.

Laundry: Folded a load, transferred one, started one.

Calendar review and To Do list: no.

Do One Essential Task: No.

Weekly Tasks:
All caught up on Sunday and Monday's.

Tuesday's:
Vacuumed front entry way carpet and the living room (and removed ketchup stains). I still have to do the back entry and the stairs (which really, really need it!)

Wednesday:
Wash hardwood floors (a quick vacuum will have to do!)
Clean microwave, inside and out. yes! Finally. We had a container of honey spring a leak while it was inside, recently. Is that TMI?

Probably.

Happy Winter solstice!

The Checklist: Rerun.

2011-12-20T14:18:00.010-07:00

I wanted to build on yesterday's momentum: and so I began going down the list of things to do on my Weekly Cleaning Schedule.

Weigh myself: check.
Whew, things are not quite as bad as I had feared, but the scales are definitely creeping back up. No surprise, there, really. I am thinking of doing a January "daily" of accountability on the blog, focusing on daily workouts and eating well at every meal. Today, I saw that Cathy Zielske is doing a year long course on just this subject. I'm thinking about signing up.

Make bed: check

Wash breakfast dishes: Well, they were really last night's supper dishes. But, yeah, what the heck, check.

Pick up house. check.

Right now, this could easily take most of the afternoon if I let it. So, I set the timer and focused on the living room and getting the ornament boxes and stuff put away.

Swish and swipe: downstairs, yes. upstairs, no.

Laundry: check.
I folded and put away a load. The rest of the process is held up waiting for a load of towels to dry (again).

Review calendar, make to-do list:
1. bake muffins (done)
2. make soup
3. bake cookies
4. start working on calendar. (oh yes, I'm doing housework, actually, as a way of procrastinating this task.)

Do one essential thing: check. Yesterday when I went through all those papers, I made a list of things I needed to do. Today, I took action on some of the items on the list. Go me.

As for the weekly tasks:

I'm catching up on Sunday's and Monday's tasks.

Tuesday's:
Clean out purse: check
dust: no. (surprise, surprise.)
vacuum living room, front entry, back entry and stairs: well, no, but I did vacuum the master bedroom and I'm quite happy I did.

Moving Forward.

2011-12-20T00:59:00.001-07:00

Ever get stuck in a rut of nothingness? the blahs? the "I can'ts and I won'ts" --a toxic mixture of ennui and procrastination tinged with non-motivating panic?

My cold which hung on for two weeks had a lot to do with it, the fact that these are the darkest days of the year had even more, and the fact that Christmas is bearing down relentlessly probably made a substantial contribution as well.

I am behind. Every day this month I have bemoaned this fact to myself.

the table on December 1st

But I felt completely powerless.

the desk on December 2nd

Days steamrolled right on by and there was nothing I could do but pop in videos of Mad Men and watch from Season One to Four all over again. Once in a while I resolved to do something about it all. I know because I took "before" pictures.

the desk on December 13th:

the table, the same day:

I'm not showing you these nasty pics to embarrass myself, but to try and show you the sheer oppressiveness of it all. This, some would say, is the state not of my dining room only, but the state of my mind--tuned inside out and exposed for all to see. And if it isn't, it might as well have been.

Today, something changed. (Thank goodness)

Maybe it was simply getting out of the house for a while to go to my periodontist appointment, but something in me shifted. (Treatment did not go as well as hoped. They now have to peel back my gums and really clean things up under there closer to the bone. It isn't gum surgery, though. Not quite. Fortunately, I don't have to fret about it until February.)

When I got home, I took a couple of "before" pictures and got busy in the dining room.

desk:

table:

After working in the room for half an hour, there seemed to be some progress.

desk:

table:

Another 15 minutes and things began to shape up.

desk:

I know it looks worse--but look closely at that top tray--it's empty!

table:

Things looked like this after an hour. An hour!

desk:

table:

I kept puttering about while chatting with my daughter about her day at school, my husband calling to tell me he was on his way home (my cue to thaw the meat for supper in the microwave) and so on. Still, I was shocked to see these "done for now" photos time stamped a whole hour after the previous photos.

This isn't done. The two piles on the left need folders--the pile on the right is a mish mash of stuff that needs to be squirreled away somewhere.

I'd love to put a Christmasy centrepiece here, but for now it is home to boxes of tile. (sigh). That lampshade is going to be returned. It's lined with a shiny blue fabric and I don't like it.

I can't promise I will get cracking on all the Christmas stuff left to do, but at least now I feel like forward movement is possible.

Bit by bit.

Christmas Card Laundry Line

2011-12-19T08:42:00.006-07:00

There are lots of ways to display Christmas cards. This one is my favourite.

They are on the wall of the front entry hallway with a candy dish of clothespins in the little alcove..

It was quite easy to put together!

Progress in the Bath

2011-12-13T11:07:00.006-07:00

But not a whole lot.

I wasn't able to shake my cold and sore throat last week so the project stalled once again.

On Sunday, I marked where I wanted the niches. Daedalus cut them out--and we discovered that I where I wanted the top one interfered with the stairs. We'd forgotten about them.

So. instead of going into work for over time on his day off on Monday, Daedalus stayed home. He bought yet another board but has yet to trim it.

So, in essence all that's done is both niches are now framed out and ready.

I am having the worst time ever getting into the Spirit of Christmas. I don't know if its because the project is still lingering or if its because of the cold, but the last thing I want to do is decorate, shop and bake.

Tuesday Check-In

2011-12-06T11:42:00.008-07:00

I have fallen prey to the first cold of the season--and is it a doozy! Most of it is in the throat, so though my breathing is clear (thank goodness) I cannot talk or swallow without soreness.

Nonetheless, I got quite a bit accomplished this weekend.

Cards: done!
1) Finish editing Christmas newsletter and print.
2) Stuff envelopes with newsletter, photos and cards.
3) Address and stamp cards.
4) Buy Christmas stamps.

They are even mailed.

Food: done!
5) Plan Christmas eve menu
6) Plan New Year's Menu
7) Plan all the other meals for December
8) Do the pantry and freezer inventory

I've planned the baking for the teacher and Scout leader gifts and included the ingredients I need in the grocery list. I may or may not be able to get all of it, though. The store could be cleaned out of baking items by the time I get there, today! It's happened before.

General: not done.
9) File papers on desk
9a) Take action on anything needing it.

This is worse than ever.

Looking Forward:
10) Purchase scrapbook calendar for project done.
11) Start gathering supplies for Science Experiments not done.

Depends on Hubby:

He went into work on both his days off this weekend--and still managed to get this done. I am pleased.

12) Take down cement board done!
13) Cut and install backer board done!
14) Plan tile layout not done. I'll have to get to it tomorrow. The rest of the project is now up to me.

Fun:
15) Go to the Festival of Trees.
Sadly, we didn't go. I think the kids have outgrown it.

Today, I really need to clean off this desk and sit down and do some more Christmas planning.

And, of course, there's the daily housekeeping checklist, too.

Finish It Up Friday

2011-12-03T11:53:00.007-07:00

Yeah, OK, it's Saturday, but whatever.

My Big To-Do's this weekend have to do with getting the newsletter and Christmas Cards out and preparing for the Big Shop on Tuesday. Here's the list:

Cards:
1) Finish editing Christmas newsletter and print.
2) Stuff envelopes with newsletter, photos and cards.
3) Address and stamp cards.
4) Buy Christmas stamps.

Food:
5) Plan Christmas eve menu
6) Plan New Year's Menu
7) Plan all the other meals for December
8) Do the pantry and freezer inventory

General:
9) File papers on desk
9a) Take action on anything needing it.

Looking Forward:
10) Purchase scrapbook calendar for project
11) Start gathering supplies for Science Experiments

Depends on Hubby:
12) Take down cement board
13) Cut and install backerboard
14) Plan tile layout

Fun:
15) Go to the Festival of Trees.

Target Date for Completion: Monday.

The Daily Housekeeping Report:

Make Bed: Yes. And I got the bright idea to take the kleenex I've been picking up off the floor for the past three days to the closed bathroom garbage instead of putting them back in the bedroom garbage basket. Dratted dog.

Dishes:
Last night, no.
Today? My son did a load. He's re-washing it. Then, I'll step in and finish up.

Laundry: folded one, transferred one, started one.

Pick up and put away: As well as I was able.

Swish and swipe: down, yes. up, yes!

Review Calendar, make to do list: yes!

One Essential Task: (Print off newsletters): in progress.

A Week of Indecision

2011-12-02T14:37:00.011-07:00

To anyone joining me for the first time: welcome! We will be using Schluter/Kerdie membrane as our waterproofing system for this shower and tub surround. Otherwise, you would never take down cement backer board to put up tile backer board in a wet area such as this.)

I want to build two shelves in the tub surround.

One will be a niche self in the long side wall, tucked into the studs. It will be accessible to someone sitting in the tub.

To do that we have to remove this cement backer board and install tile backer board instead. It is just far too difficult for us to cut cement board.

Once it's cut and the 2x4's installed to support it, we will be good to go--of course, we have to still install the Kerdie. But the floor elf has that covered for me.

The other shelf will be on the back wall (an exterior wall). I want it to be at shower height to replace this one:

This shelf is causing me all sorts of problems.

Here's a mock up of what I want to build (only imagine it in 3x6 rather than 2x6)

(In case this looks strange, I built this on the dining room table and flipped the picture. When it comes time to build it for real, I'll construct a box, hang it on the wall, cover it with Kerdie and attach the tile to it.)

The issue is how to do the outside corner.

Option A:

Raw, unfinished edge is to the side on the vertical plane.

Option B:

Raw, unfinished edge is to the top (and bottom) horizontal plane.

Option C:

Raw, unfinished edge is both vertical and horizontal, top and bottom.

See those rough, raw edges?

I could grout them and then coat them with a clear epoxy to ensure they are waterproof, but I don't know if that will work. I'm afraid the grout will just fall off, in time.

The most sensible option is to use tile with rounded edges on two sides. Playing around with my real-life 3 dimensional knock up I realised what I need and how to build it.

It's OK, you can laugh.

I can't find this tile on the shelves: it's a special order.

So far, so good--except the manufacturer of my particular brand of tile, I have discovered, is notoriously unreliable when it comes to shipping special order tile.

How long can we wait?

Will hubby even agree to wait?

Meanwhile, we're stalled because he is exhausted when he comes home from work. December is one of the busiest months for him.

So it just may take a long time anyway.

The Return of the 30 Days of Housekeeping and the Advent Activity Calendar..

2011-12-01T13:36:00.009-07:00

November is gone. I don't know where it went.

I kept promising myself I'd "get back on track" with the housekeeping and some days I did and some days I didn't. I really don't know how I did, housekeeping-wise, project-wise and decluttering-wise.

I do know that I feel utterly overwhelmed. And I know from the 30 day Housekeeping series I did in October that as chaos is cumulative--so is cleaning. And I also know that I need help.

Blogging about the housekeeping checklist every single day took a lot of time, however. I need to keep the posts brief and I'm afraid that cutting down on pictures will help. And I will be blogging about decorating for Christmas, and keeping you all posted on the bathroom progress, if there is any.

I mean "when." Of course.

So, to the checklist:

made bed: not really. Just pulled up the covers.
swish and swipe upstairs bathroom: no
swish and swipe downstairs bathroom: yes.
laundry: transferred the wet stuff from yesterday into the dryer. I'll do some folding while watching The Sopranos (on DVD) tonight, if I don't forget.
wash breakfast dishes: Yes, with the lunch dishes.
pick up house: A little. Didn't need much. But there are too many things in progress and sitting out, still.

Dining room table cluttered with tiles, the Christmas cards to send, and decorations I haven't decided what to do with yet.

review calendar: yes
make to-do list: I didn't make a list.
One essential task: Yes. Booked flight for my daughter to go to San Fransisco with Girl Guide troop this summer.
2nd Essential Task: Got the list of activities figured out and printed up for the Advent activity "calendar." (above) Still need to buy the chocolates and stuff it.

Projects and Housekeeping

2011-11-29T12:32:00.008-07:00

Projects and housekeeping don't live well together.

Not in my house.

One crowds the other out. It shouldn't. But it does.

It's weird.

The bathroom is still chaos. We're just about done...but not. I've no idea how much longer it will take.

The chaos was supposed to be contained to this area outside the bathroom (and my son's room, where my husband did some work) but it spread...

to the living room,

to the dining room,

to the kitchen, oh the kitchen!

and to my bedroom.

After the first couple of days, I stopped doing housework. Completely. I didn't wash a dish, I didn't sweep the floor, I did nothing.

But today, there's a lull in the project. My husband has returned to work and there's not much I can do. So, I decided to clean the house.

A logical move, you'd say. The right thing to do, even.

Regardless, even if I wanted to do something else (like work on the Christmas newsletter) I couldn't. I couldn't focus on anything.

All I could see in front of me--everywhere I looked--was the chaos. It was the only thing I could do today.

But still.

Still, there was this voice in my head, saying:

Why are you cleaning up? It's just going to get messy again. You should be working on the project. You need to get that done. All this can wait. It's not important.What are you doing this for?

I just let it natter on....

I made the bed and picked up the master bedroom.
I did some laundry (though I can't find the bottle of bleach.)
I tidied and picked up and put away--with the timer.
I tidied and picked up and put away--without the timer.
I washed the fixtures--and the downstairs bathroom floor. (You should have heard the clamour in my head--and yet--the satisfaction when I was done was deafening.)
I did dishes and swept, and swept, and swept.
My son vacuumed.
I washed the kitchen floor.

And, now, at the end of a most excellent day, I present to you...

The living room:

The kitchen:

(Don't mind the extension cord. There are no three prong plugs in the dining room and we needed to plug in the laptop.)

The dining room.

Now, I can think about other things.

Like those dratted newsletters.

Tales from the Tub Surround

2011-11-24T13:48:00.017-07:00

Warning: We are the slowest DIY renovators in the Universe. Seriously. You will have to have your super spy-ware X-Ray vision glasses on to see the miniscule changes from one day to the next. Got 'em? Ok, let's roll.

Day Minus One
Saturday.

We order the kids to take one last bath.

Day One:
Sunday.

I take my last shower inside the nasty, nasty thing.

The shower curtain is still wet when Daedalus (my husband, not his real name) takes down the shower curtain rod. There's our first surprise: It is white underneath where the rod was attached. What we have been living with is not the odd off-white choice of someone with bad taste but with yellowed plastic.

It takes only minutes to remove it all. Underneath we find two different kinds of drywall. This is the same corner as the first shot: the top (blue) has what we think is original to the house the brown stuff is what someone else put in.

The brown stuff is all water damaged, so we decide to rip it all out.

And then we discover mold--on the other side of the studs--in other words, inside the wall.

Day Two:
Monday.

We take a trip to the hardware store. We get a crash course in using waterproof materials in the aisle of Home Depot and all the various methods available to us.

At home, we decide to take down some more wall to see the full extent of the mold. It's bad.

This picture was taken after I'd begun the clean up.

That wall includes the stairwell. See those horizontal boards in the upper left corner? Those are the stair treads!

Its also the wall in our back entrance way.

We drilled a hole through the gyp rock to figure it out. Here's the hole from the bathroom side: (I put a red pen cap on the drill bit to help you see it!)

I took this photo today.

and from the entrance way:

We decide it will be beyond our abilities for us to take it down and build a new wall: so I get on the Internet and figure out how to deal with the mold.

I followed the directions on the CMHC web site: namely, wash with water and detergent and dry it. Where the wood was contaminated, I washed it and then had my husband sand it. We then vacuumed everything.

I have no idea if what we did was the right thing to do. There's a ton of advice out there--and there are products available in the States--but not here--which you can use to prevent it's return.

Whatever. We dealt with it. Hopefully, forever.

Day 3:
Tuesday.

We decide on what we're going to use: cement board on the long wall and some sort of "backer board" for the two end walls where Daedalus wants to patch into the existing walls. I argue for ripping out all the walls around the tub all the way to the ceiling (and replacing the insulation on the outside wall) but I'm not successful.

We also decide to use the very pricey but state of the art Orange Schluter/Kerdie membrane for waterproofing.

Daedalus rips out all the old caulking around the tub. It was one of the things we hated about the tub: the caulk seemed to go on forever--and mold grew through it.

Then, I began to research what we're going to do about the lip of the tub, or tub flange.

It's that vertical bit at the very edge of the tub--some of it disappearing behind this old wall. That bit of wall will be removed by the end of this post!

We learn about all kinds of things, like

1) the flange will move when someone gets in the tub.

2) thus, the board you are using for your walls should not touch it.

2a) One option to avoid touching it is to build out the wall so that goes out over the flange and encloses it supposedly without touching it. We didn't have a lot of faith in this option, actually.

The folks who installed the walls we took down--why yes, the very walls with the water damage--had cut a groove into the drywall and installed the flange up and into that groove.

Nonetheless, picture above notwithstanding, they had not brought the wall board down to the edge of the tub, but left a gap--and did nothing to fill it. No tape! That was why our caulking seemed to go on forever--it did! When we caulked we were simply filling the gap underneath the wall to the flange. Does that make sense? If it doesn't, not to worry. I'm over explaining. As usual.)

3) there is such a thing as fiberglass "tape" and this is what we need to "connect" the wall with the tub.

4) "Thin-set" = "drywall mud" in the tub/shower area.

We decide that we don't need the furring strips where the cement board is going to be installed and we take them out.

Good thing, too. There's more of the nasty black stuff underneath them.

That takes most of the day, actually, in between bouts of cleaning the dry wall.

Day 4:
Wednesday

Daedalus spends a great deal of time cutting the board which will fit over the plumbing.

I research how I am going to build a niche into the wall for holding shampoo and soap and such-like.

Day 5:
Thursday

I decide to go over all the previously moldy areas with a solution of bleach and water.

Hard to believe it's the same wall, isn't it?

We put up one of the cement boards.

Daedalus fits out the wall with the plumbing.

We install the backerboard.

At the other end of the tub, the hole in the wall goes from this:

to this:

Daedalus is going to let me remove the old insulation in there (what appears to be water stained paper bags) and put in some of the left over pink from the basement. Wish me luck. I really have no idea how we're going to get it in and up.

Thanks for reading through all this. I'm sorry it was so long-winded!

Christmas Progress.

2011-11-19T14:04:00.008-07:00

Sunday is planning day, so here goes.

Done:
--Outdoor Lights

--First draft of the Christmas newsletter.

--Photos selected for 2012 Calendar.
--Quotes selected for 2012 calendar.

--I have made a list of Christmas events we want to attend and entered the dates onto the calendar.

--All addresses for Christmas cards entered into one document onto the computer and printed out and put with the cards.

To do this week:

(Aby recommends that after you have made the Master list of everything you need to do that you sit down and plan each week as it comes. That way you can keep the overwhelm to a minimum. I hope it works!)

--Determine Teacher Gifts
--Collect materials for a homemade gift for my nephew.
--Shop for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.
--Plan holiday decorations.
--Plan Advent Activities
--Design Calendar.
--Get photos for Calendar developed
--Get photo for Christmas Cards developed

Of course, this week is also all about the downstairs bathroom: fixing the wall, tiling the tub surround and painting the ceiling.

Now there's an even BIGGER hole in the wall. Wait--there's no wall there anymore.

Just in Time

2011-11-19T09:03:00.005-07:00

Yesterday:

Four windows upstairs, two down.

Before:

After:

Then we went to my Mom's and plastic'ed up two skylights in her eating nook.

Today:
Minus 20 C right now( -4 F)
Expected high: -17 today (1.4 F).
We're not even going to mention wind chill.

I cannot say how grateful I am that a fund raising bottle drive for Girl Guides scheduled for today was cancelled. I just found out minutes ago.

Christmas Motto

2011-11-15T20:49:00.006-07:00

In Get Organized for the Holidays, at Simplify 101, Aby recommends we come up with our "Holiday Inspiration" statement --you know, something to capture your vision--or the feel-- you want for the holidays.

My inspiration statement goes something like this:

This holiday season we will be cheerful, kind and gracious to one another as we create and celebrate the joy in every day.

Yeah, OK, a bit of a wordy mouthful.

But the expression "Be of Good Cheer" resonates perfectly. I'm calling it our motto for Christmas this year.

Aby encourages us to find a way to "artistically express" our inspiration statement. Being the unimaginative sort that I am, I had thought I would do a simple fabric banner.

When I couldn't find the fabric I wanted (teal and red seem to be hard to come by this year). I decided I'd do it in scrapbook paper.

Before I could let the idea of all that hand cutting of the letters get me down, I saw this fabulous sign at La Famille.

for purchase at her etsy shop.

I want to give Alicia full credit for this: there's no way I could have thought this up on my own.

Here's my version:

I had fun making it.

Quick Before and After

2011-11-15T12:35:00.008-07:00

I couldn't resist.

Once I had my project area cleaned up, I had to do a project!

Before:

After:

No, I haven't painted the walls. This is what happens to them when there's snow outside my ginormous front window.

Inspiration:

source: Porter Design Company via House of Turquoise

Good grief. I just noticed the feet! I thought the idea for the feet had come from a post Jenny had done eons ago at The Little Green Notebook.

Linking to the 40th Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style.

The View From Here

2011-11-12T14:44:00.008-07:00

the dining room window (taken yesterday)

and here:

the living room window (also taken yesterday)

is dismal.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you will know that I have been wrestling with landscaping my yard since the summer of 2008.

The way things were.

I planted a Mock Orange and a Hydrangea near the house this year: I think both have died.

I found this fabulous web-site by a visionary landscape designer/garden planner which I know Anne will love. The blog is called Vanishing Threshold and its author is Tara Dillard.

She believes in creating views to be seen from the house, establishing a diverse habitat in the lawn to maximize pollination, using shot pea gravel and not using foundation plants. (Which is perfect for me--have I mentioned my Hydrangea and the Mock Orange? How about the Dogwood I planted the year before last which is barely hanging on?)

She posted this image of a garden and it instantly captivated me.

from The New York Times. photographer: Randy Harris.

No surprise, I've been up to the wee hours of the morning planning my front yard.

This centre box would be planted with hellebores, ferns and hostas. (One of Tara's Trinities.)

Can you imagine it?

I can. And it is the first time I have had something captivate my imagination so completely I can see it almost right down to the last detail. Almost.

Remember Spring? I want to hit the ground running next year.

Pro: I may already have the materials I need for the centre planter box. We have old railroad ties waiting by the side of the house.

Pro: I get to rip up that sidewalk.

Pro: It's not a big planting area. I just may be able to take care of the small number of plants this requires.

Pro: I love the idea of a partial "tapestry" hedge. Moving my shrubs out to the front would not only give me a gorgeous view of them from my front windows but it might save their lives. Have I mentioned the Dogwood, Hydrangea and Mock Orange?

Pro: This plan allows me to expand. If I want to plant sedums or rudebekias or pupera or phlox or grass even another Thuja in the corners I can.

Pro: I fell in love with gates, recently.

Pro: It will hide the foundation--without planting up against it.

Con: I may get really annoyed with having to skirt around the centre "plant island."

Con: I need a focal point. I don't want to spend a ton of money, yet I want something tall and architectural.

Con: Boxwood doesn't do well here.

Con: I really don't know what to do about that flagpole.

Con: This plan may be altogether too formal for my modest little house.

From the street sidewalk, opposite the front door, taken today. Just look at that wonky sidewalk--I mean, what else is there to look at? (sigh).

Lest We Forget

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

In Flanders Fields
By John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

source: Wikipedia.

Kitchen Soffit Stencil--Done!

2011-11-09T15:33:00.012-07:00

All scrubbed and touched up--she's ready for her close ups!

Please note how imperfect this is. I did it by hand, of course, perched precariously on my counters--or on a ladder. There was no way it could be perfect. And you know what? It doesn't matter, anyway.

This is where you see it.

When I started painting my kitchen cabinets and window trim, I hadn't intended to paint the soffit. I'd wanted to, but my daughter put up such a fuss that I thought I'd let the old stencil be.

But that was before I painted the cabinets.

Awful! Dingy! Too 1990's! (Though, I did it in 2000 while I was pregnant with my daughter. I'd ripped off an old strip of wall paper that had been up there--and without priming--stenciled right onto the plaster. There was no way to clean up all that yellowing.)

If the white cabinets sang, the soffit was like a relative who stands next to you in Church singing cheerily off-key. (I have one. She's charming. Just not singing.) So, one day while my daughter was at school, I slapped a coat of primer all over those grapes and vines.

And then I painted it white, like the cabinets, just in time for Thanksgiving.

My mom mentioned they looked "cold." A bit stark. "But knowing you," she said pointing upwards, "you'll do something with that space." I pointed to the photocopy on the fridge.

She laughed.

I had seen a stencil on a soffitt a few years ago, somewhere. It was a trellis or a bella porte design or something. It might have been in yellow. I think it was over an island, maybe. I spent a few evenings on-line trying to find it again but I couldn't.

So, I started looking at stencils on-line. I found quite a few contenders from Royal Design Studio. But I decided to go with one I had found as a free download many months ago.

I played around with scale to get the best representation of the design to fit the space I had. I ran it off the computer, taped it to a file folder and began to cut it out with my eXacto knife.

I wasn't going to make it.

My hand was already cramping and cringing. I couldn't see how I was going to do such delicate work with my head pressed up against the ceiling. This is not the Sistine chapel, I am not Michelangelo and the Pope isn't paying me, either.

And I was beginning to realise something else, too. To get it the way I wanted (black lines against a white ground), either I was going to have to paint the soffit black and pounce/stencil the white paint into the spaces (which is nearly impossible without stencil paint which I can't get locally) or use the stencil to draw the design onto the soffitt

and go back and fill in the lines with black paint.

Which, obviously, is what I did.

So, today, I cleaned up all those graphite smears and touched up the obvious splotches. I didn't tidy up the lines.

I love it. I think.

Does it look a bit like embroidery to you?

Linking up to The 147th Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. Welcome to all visiting from the party!

Housekeeping Update

2011-11-07T15:43:00.009-07:00

Now that the 31 Days of Housekeeping are over, I've pretty much stopped dead in my tracks. Well, OK, that's an exaggeration. I've done a little something almost everyday--but not the full blown routine every single day--which is what it takes to keep this place from overwhelming and paralyzing me (which leads to more mess, more overwhelm and more paralysis).

So, today, I vowed, I would do absolutely every little thing on the list and get caught up. Of course, getting caught up means doing more than what's on my little list; chiefly, more loads of dishes and more loads of laundry.

So, I weighed myself (distressing: the numbers really are trending upward.) Made my bed. Oops, forgot to swish and swipe the upstairs bath!

But I did manage the downstairs bath and did about three loads of laundry or so. I picked up most of the main floor. (The desk is still a mess.) Where I fell down, of course, is in doing the dishes.

Not to worry, though, I'll have them done before I hit "publish post." Honest.

What's left?
The fun stuff: the One Essential Task.

I thought it might be cleaning up the soffit now that the stenciling is done.

But no.

Then, the part for fixing the bathroom faucet was delivered. That came much more quickly than I'd expected. I thought I might get that done.

But no.

I suddenly remembered that I had purchased 2 bags of tulip bulbs yesterday-- 1/2 off. (Less than 24 hours in my possession and already I'd forgotten!) There had been another customer beside me when I'd been considering them and I'd asked her "What do you think, is it too late to plant them?"

"Not if you can dig a hole," she said.

I've always intended to have tulips encircle our flag pole. (We inherited it with the house.)

So, I marked out an encircling horseshoe with twigs and spray paint and felt very clever.

The ground was frozen.

Solid.

Daedalus (my husband, not his real name.) came and stood on the shovel. (I did too.)

But no.

So, I quickly changed my plans and decided to plant them in the boxes in the back yard. We amended two of them this year, so in order to leave the other two boxes free for working in next Spring that's where I decided to plant them.

Actually, I only got as far as planting one box (4'x 4') with one bag (28 tulips). The soil wasn't frozen solid--it was just frozen in big chunks. So, I did a lot of whacking with the shovel. Gardening at my house is not for wimps.

I also attached these house numbers to the boxes so we can keep track of them. (#1 & #3 were amended this year, an odd year, and #2 and 4 will be amended in even years. Of course, we came up with this genius plan after we'd already gone ahead and double dug the planting boxes: thus the weird order to the numbers.)

Now I've another reason to look forward to spring--and winter isn't even here yet.

Improvements in the Home Office/Dining Room

2011-11-05T18:20:00.005-06:00

I admit it.

I was embarrassed when I last showed you around the home office/ dining room. I kind of want to cringe whenever I think that that's the incarnation which the world saw when they took the Prairie Home Tour.

So, I spiffed up this incredibly hard working room over the last six months or so, and now I'm happy to show it to you again. There haven't been any major changes: just little ones which make me just that much more content.

Gracing the entrance to the room from the front hallway, our knotty pine door remains the same.

I spend a lot of time in this room. The TV is in the next room (to the right of where I'm standing to take this picture, actually). Having a glass door between me and it has to be one of the best things in this house. It's genius. I can be visually connected and yet acoustically apart. Perfect.

I arranged the stuff on the Expedit. Some by colour: some by other criteria. I took great advice from the comments and changed things up a bit. I made some Bird Art for the top.

I lengthened the curtains.

I also made some lovely changes to the Walnut breakfront. To the top of it, that is. I'm still just stuffing things inside.

I didn't style these shelves, exactly. But I made a few small improvements.

And, moving around full circle to the desk area, no, I did not re-cover the office chair. Perhaps the next time we have a tour! I did, however, declutter and make the area brighter and more cheerful.

If you followed along during my struggle to establish a housekeeping routine during the 31 days of housekeeping series, you will be familiar with this area!

And here is a gratuitous artsy shot of the centre piece on the table.

Talk about a colour palette!
Yum.

Linking to the Dining Room Party at Cottage and Vine.

Lovely dining rooms there.

DVD Box Project

2011-11-04T10:46:00.008-06:00

So, here I have my first project for November finished--and it wasn't even on my list!

In the ongoing effort to lighten and brighten the living room, (and make it coordinate better with our "new" curb-found teal carpet) I took it upon myself to switch out the dvd boxes in our TV cabinet.

I chose the infamous Kassett boxes from Ikea. I wanted to use the green ones, not just because I knew I had some kicking around (as it turns out, I only had to purchase two new ones) and not merely because they would coordinate with the other green Kassett boxes I have in the dining room, but because this colour of green is pretty darn close to the green in this fabulous mood board:

Room Rx.

So, I changed them out.

But they lacked a certain je ne sais quois.

An easy way to get at them, maybe?
A way to tell what was inside, perhaps?

So, I set out to fix both problems.

Did you know that a 3 1/2" x 5" index card can be cut to fit six labels for the Kassett, exactly? I didn't either. Thought I'd pass it along.

For the second problem, I found a rather obvious but elegant solution, I thought. Ribbon! I had purchased this ribbon for another project and hadn't used it.

I simply inserted it into the part which holds the label, and folded under the raw edges about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) at both ends. I used that piece to measure and cut the rest. (Total cut length is about 2 1/2" (between 6 and 7 cm.)

I ironed each piece, tucking under the 1/2" (1.5cm) and then folded it in half (with the folded edges touching) and ironed that. Some dye from the ribbon transferred to my ironing board cover so you may want to put down an ironing cloth or towel or something to protect yours.

Then, I put them in the label holders again.

Then, I was stuck.

How was I going to close these up and actually make these handles?

I could use iron on tape: but I couldn't see how I was going to hold the iron, the ribbon, and the box all at the same time. Machine sewing was out. So was hand sewing. (I'm terrible at it and I've lost my thimble, to boot.)

So, a simple staple it was. Too, too easy, really. (Hold your applause, please.)

And so here is my newly "lightened and brightened" TV cabinet.

Shall we see that again?

It's a start.

Linking to the 146th Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

If you're visiting from the party, thanks for stopping by!

November Goals.

2011-11-03T03:34:00.010-06:00

First and foremost, I'll be planning and preparing Christmas for the family. I want to keep it really low-scale this year: but I want to make sure our time together is planned and deliberate. For example, I have to put "skating" or "sledding" on the calendar--or it won't happen! This way, I can also plan to have hot chocolate and maybe a cookie or two on hand when we get back! Stuff like that.

As for house projects, I'm torn between not wanting to take on too much--and to take on everything that's been nagging at me and just get 'er done!

To keep this easy to follow, I'm going to break this down by room.

First up: The Horrid Bath.

You could call this Bathroom month there's so much to do in there! But let's not.

1. Repair the wall.

2. Tile tub and shower area.
Thanks for all your input on that! I've decided to forgo the black tile: but now I'm wondering if I should use white bullnose to finish things off around the edges. I'll have to see if that'll be easy to get or not.

3. Faucet. (above)
It leaks. We need to fix it.

4. Enlarge exterior hole for larger exhaust fan vent egress. (This would be a project for Daedalus (my husband, not his real name) but he doesn't have a clue about what's involved (neither do I!) --so we're not sure how exactly to proceed with this one.)

5. Paint wooden ceiling planks white.
Not only do we have a dropped ceiling in the shower area--but we have one over the sink and toilet, too. It is currently outfitted in short pine planks. (It's hiding the exhaust fan and ventilation tubes.)

Yes, the bathroom really is that small.

Living Room:

1. Finish re-sizing slipcover.

2. Hang curtains from clips and rings and hem.

3. Spray paint lamp, find new harp and lampshade.

Kitchen:

1. Finish stenciling.

2. Sew cafe curtain #2.

3. Hang some black and white plates.

4. Reframe duck needlepoint.

Finally, I know what I want to do with it! I just hope I can find the frame I want.

Basement:

Get wrapping station ready.

Yes, there is a table in there somewhere.

Exterior: Put up storm windows.
Interior: Put up plastic for extra insulation on interior windows on second floor.

Oh, there's more I could list, but I won't. That's plenty!

The Horrid Bathroom

2011-11-02T12:07:00.012-06:00

Thanks all for your kind words about all the projects and the little bit of decluttering I got done last month.

During the third week of November, my husband has another week off. He has promised me we will work on the downstairs bathroom.

I want you to know I am profoundly embarrassed to show these photos. We have let things get really bad because no matter what we do --it doesn't look good.

1. We need to fix the wall

2. and remove the nasty plastic wall surround.

3. Then, I will install white tile.

I regret that I purchased square tile for the project: I would rather have brought the bathroom into this century and used subway tile. Instead, I chose to keep the bathroom in the era in which it was originally built. Oh well. We purchased the tile last spring so we'll be using it.

I have been going back and forth on the decision whether to outline the edges with a 2x3 bull nose black tile. One reason to do it is to add more visual interest without adding colour. Another, is, again, to give the bath something of a retro look.

I was happy to see that the current bathroom at Young House Love has the old square white tile with the outline in black.

We plan on installing ours only in the bathtub/shower area and not all over the whole bathroom as theirs is. As well, I would run it as close to the ceiling as possible.

Reasons against: there is a false ceiling in the bath. There isn't a lot of space between the shower head and the ceiling.

Usually the "line" defines the edge where the tile stops and wall begins. We don't have any wall! If I put a black band around the top it may feel claustrophobic. (And I tend to feel claustrophobic in there now.)

This is what a "normal" height bath looks like:

source: bhg

I can't believe how high the ceilings are in these images.

This one is lower: but still higher than in my bathroom.

source: bhg

I'm afraid with the black edge we may just wind up with a bath which looks and feels even more cramped than it is. White all the way to the top may open things up.

Maria Killam design via Colour Me Happy

This is beveled subway tile and it is professionally and beautifully installed--mine won't look as nice, but you get the idea. Take the green wall at the top out of the picture and you get an idea of what my bathtub/shower surround area could look like with one solid colour.

What do you think? I'd love to get another opinion on this. I'll have to order the black bullnose pretty quickly if I do decide to go that route.

Decluttering and Project Report for October

2011-11-01T13:32:00.009-06:00

"murdered pumpkin" in leaves, plastic, wood and metal.

The most surprising thing to me about keeping house during the 31 day blogging project was how much time it took. Doing the routines themselves wasn't too bad. Taking pictures for the posts and editing them were time consuming on some days, but not on others. Writing the blog entry took time. A lot of time. I mean how many ways can you talk about the same thing over and over again? (It turns out the answer is 31.)

But the project as a whole did not leave me a lot of time for decluttering or getting things done on my project list. Still, looking this over, I managed to get a fair bit done what with hosting Thanksgiving and a family Birthday party for my newly minted fourteen year old son.

The Project List: (from this post)

1. Finish slipcover
2. Finish the kitchen cabinet project: doors back up, hardware cleaned and back on.
3. Insulate and construct wall in basement
4. Paint son's room.

Optional:
1. Stencil soffit in Kitchen
2. Sew cafe curtains for Kitchen.
3. Paint window trim in Kitchen.

Kitchen projects:

I'd started painting my kitchen cabinets. I finished them--and I did the window trim. I love the brightness!

I couldn't resist starting the other two "optional" projects too.

I've painted most of the soffit with a stencil I found free on the web. That took an enormous amount of time and it's still not done. I have to stand almost completely motionless on the counter and it is very hard on my feet.

What do you think? It looks a bit "off" somehow to me--does it seem that way to you? Any suggestions? I am thinking of painting the bottom cabinets a deep dark teal blue--would that restore some balance?

I managed to sew one curtain for the kitchen. Have yet to do the other.

Laundry Room Wall:
The basement was completely my husband's "staycation" project. He worked leisurely and almost finished.

Left of the sewer stack before:

Now:

Right of the sewer stack before:

Now:

Slipcover:
The slipcover will have to be put on November's list of projects, I'm afraid. Actually fear is the reason it will now appear on its third monthly To Do list. I will have to cut the fabric--and once that's done, there's no going back. Perhaps the third time's the charm to undo the paralysis.

My Son's Room:
When I mentioned painting his room to my son a few days before I'd planned to start, he told me he didn't want me to paint it red and blue. He said, "I thought we were just talkin'" As money is tight, I didn't really like the colours chosen and I was up to my eyeballs in work already, I let it go. He doesn't like change--that's all it is--and it's OK.

There was one spontaneous shelf paper project in the kitchen just before Thanksgiving

I also worked on two unplanned projects in the dining room.

1. I lengthened my curtains. (Outstanding from the summer project list.)

2. I installed lights over my desk.

Decluttering:

As for my decluttering I did take time during the 31 days to do the seasonal clothing switcheroo. Here's the donation pile.

I also purged old tablecloths from a drawer in this dresser while searching for my table linens for Thanksgiving.

I snapped a picture of everything on the floor but I didn't notice there wasn't a card in the camera until I was finished.

I was ruthless. So ruthless, in fact, that when I went to set the table for my son's birthday, I had only my winter snowflake vinyl tablecloth. I had purged the all because my (new to me)kitchen table is round--which is where I usually use the vinyl--except, of course, for birthdays.

There was one other small bit of decluttering. I decided I could get rid of a few books and dvds from the shelves over my desk including one with the title: "Everything that Linguists Have Wanted to Know about Logic (but were ashamed to ask.)" It's obviously a book I purchased while I was in University--and I kept it because I thought the title would impress anyone who saw it on my shelves.

Are you impressed?

Good. I can let it go now.

And that my dears was that. A fairly productive month, I'd say. I'll be making my plans for November, soon.

Menu plan for November

2011-11-01T01:24:00.004-06:00

Thank goodness that's done!

blue: seafood
yellow: pork
green: vegetarian
red: beef
purple: chicken

We'll also be eating at my Mom's on Friday nights this week except for November 11th (Remembrance Day.) It should be interesting. She turned 65 this summer and she decided to learn to cook. Go Mom!

She says she needs folks to feed.

Day 31: How to Build a Cleaning Routine

2011-10-31T00:50:00.018-06:00

Please, grab a coffee or tea and settle in. It's a long one, today.

Well, after 31 days of this, I just may know something about it!

Far more important than the content of the checklist for cleaning is the structure you build for yourself for doing it.

Seriously. You are the crucible.

#1 Know thyself. You are the most important thing in this process. First and foremost you need to know how you change. How do you "do" success? Think back to a past success. How did you bring it about?

#2. Give up perfectionism. If you suffer from this, please, let go. No one was perfect but Jesus--and He didn't do housework (as far as we know).

This is why I keep the dining room table clear!

#3. Give up all or nothing thinking. This is my constant battle. You are not a failure because something didn't get done: but neither are you Mrs. All-That when you do get it done. Oh, it's OK to celebrate when you get it done just as it is OK to feel sad and reflect on how to do better when it doesn't go the way you wanted it too--but please do not get on that spiral staircase of thinking it's "all done" and you "deserve" a day off 'cause you're so awesome. You are awesome. The work still needs doing. I'm not even going to talk about going down the spiral staircase. That trip isn't fun either and it certainly doesn't put you in a place where you feel like doing housework, of all things!

Here's my staircase. My daughter's things wait for her to take them upstairs. The walls and risers wait for me to need re-paint them.

#4 Accountability. How are you going to stick to it? Change takes tremendous effort: some days more than others. This 31 day series was the perfect way for me to do this. Perhaps you might be able to call a friend every day. Would posting on facebook work for you?

Even with the Blog, I missed two days completely and on several I didn't do all the items on my small list. Those aren't the days that matter, though. It's the next day when you face the mess and start over. What helps you then? What brings you to the next day? The day that really matters? (By the way, you all taught me that. Thank you.)

#5 What has worked before? Now, I'm talking about cleaning. Have you followed Flylady in the past? Are there parts of her routine which worked for you? Can you implement those bits? Myself, I found the "hot spot fire drill" to be crucial to my success. I expanded the idea to include my whole main floor: it started out as a timed fifteen minute pick up and put away. I don't set the timer anymore: but it is the thing which has the biggest bang for my buck. It's magic.

Technically, this is a hotspot. Now, it is just part of the house that gets picked up.

#6 Start small--or big--whatever works best for you. Doing one thing (even if it was washing the dishes four times a day) would not have been enough for me to feel like I was making any progress. I needed to do that and other things as well. On the other hand, don't schedule two hours of cleaning a day--not at first! What's reasonable, for you?

#7 Evaluate not only how much time or how many tasks you will do each day, but sit down and figure out which tasks will mean the most to you. Seriously. What nags you most? What, left undone, makes you start talking nasty to yourself? If you're lucky and escaped self-esteem issues related to housework, then what tasks will make your house run more smoothly? When I started, it was dishes and laundry.

#8 Add cleaning tasks as it feels necessary and comfortable. For example, I have vacuuming down once a week on my list. I would actually be happier doing it every other day or so. I haven't committed to it yet, but I might. And don't worry about it making sense. You can add "mop kitchen floor once a week" before you have mastered "sweep kitchen floor everyday." You can even decline to make up a list of "regular cleaning chores" and instead pick one or two or three things you want to do in addition to your "must haves." It's totally up to you. You have my permission, should you need it, to rock your housework whatever way you want.

#9 Reflect and evaluate your progress. Add or subtract--not just what you're doing, but your expectations. For example, in June of 2009, I made it my goal to wake up to a clean kitchen counter every morning. I tried that for a week. It was too lofty a goal. I hadn't even developed the habit of doing my dishes directly after supper yet, so the work involved in trying to achieve this was beyond me. (In order to be able to do the supper dishes, I have to do the dishes before supper, too. And in order for that task to be manageable, I need to do them after breakfast. So, that's where we are now. If I do the dishes after breakfast I know that the day will run smoothly. I still wake up to a counter full of dirty dishes. I'll change that when I'm ready to give up a piece of my down time to take care of them.)

Remember to adjust for busy seasons. And hardest of all, realize it's OK: you can't do it all.

#10. Learn it, do it, teach it.

As it stands, my morning routine consists of the following:

Weigh myself.
Make my bed and pick up the master bedroom.
Wipe down the mirror, counter and sink in the upstairs bathroom.
Wipe the toilet. (The bit where the seat connects to the bowl is always bad.)

Walk around the main floor and pick things up and put them away. Put the dishes in the kitchen.

Go into the downstairs bathroom and wipe down the fixtures.

Gather the laundry and head to the basement to sort and start a load. Transfer if necessary. Fold, if there's anything still in the dryer.

Do the dishes, before breakfast or after, but certainly before lunch!

Do my weekly tasks.

And today, because I did want to end this series all caught-up--so far, I've done everything but the weekly tasks!

Boom da da boom.

I am so, so grateful to you all for following along with me and cheering me on--and reassuring me when I needed it. I appreciate it so much. Thanks to the Nester, too, for putting forth the idea. I wouldn't have done such a crazy thing, otherwise!

So, to sum up, build a strong foundation. Get some good scaffolding. Watch, listen and learn. Get 'er done. It'll be great.

Day 30: Nothing.

2011-10-30T22:48:00.003-06:00

That's what I did today.

Oh, there was lots of car travel. In the darkness, before lunch, after lunch, after dinner. I dropped people off, picked them up, dropped them off and then picked them up again. I looked at fabric that wouldn't satisfy; I looked and looked and looked for white wrap-up velcro; and I struggled with making decorating decisions without knowing the whole picture first; but house work wise? I did nothing.

The bed lay crumpled. Nothing was swished or swiped. No one was weighed. Nothing was picked up and put away. Stuff was just shuffled all day from one surface to another, like the clutter was merrily playing musical table tops.

My husband did the breakfast dishes, and no one did them after supper. None of the plans and schedules which desperately need doing were done.

I wanted to end this series with a bang, but instead it's a whimper.

Playing

2011-10-30T14:35:00.001-06:00

The windows in this room face North which means I never, ever see direct sunlight in this room.This remarkable effect was created by the sunlight reflecting off the window of a car parked in front of the house. It was so cool, I took a photo.

Browsing the 'net I came across Songbird's tips on how to dress a bookcase, as she puts it. I was reminded I wanted to deal with these shelves over the computer desk in the dining room/office.

I also wanted to put up a couple of new NON lights I got at IKEA.

So, I played. I dusted, too, but it really was mostly playing.

I decided to weed out a few books and dvds while I was at it.

I arranged the books at the top by colour.

I took the shells my son had collected for me on the beach in Newfoundland this summer and put them in an old clear glass candle holder.

I fussed and arranged and read over her tips. I rooted around for screws to fasten the lights.

The great thing about a board and bracket system for shelves, of course, is that the shelves are removable.

All in all, it was most satisfying.

The shelves and desk at dusk:

Light truly is a most amazing decorating toy, don't you think?

Day 29: Smooth as Glass

2011-10-29T18:23:00.007-06:00

Thank you all for your encouragement. It seems odd to me that you don't mind hearing all about my housekeeping every day! I'm grateful to hear that as I've tried to make each post interesting, even though I'm talking about the same subject all the time!

Both kids had activities related to Scouts and Guides scheduled today. My daughter sold cookies with a friend and her mother, leaving me free to help out my son and his troop clean up after a rummage sale at the Church which gives them their meeting and storage rooms.

So, I had a deadline this morning and it worked out well.

Made the bed, picked up things in the Master bedroom, wiped the glass counter, mirror and sink in the bathroom. My pick up and put away dealt with a lot of stuff left over from last night's shopping errands.

What the kitchen table looks like sometimes after a pick up and put away. The table is the holding spot for taking things to the basement.

I wiped down the fixtures in the downstairs bathroom and hemmed and hawed about doing laundry. I'm not entirely sure what's happening downstairs: I think we're close to the end, but Daedalus is working tomorrow so it will be a while before it's back together. (The dryer hose isn't connected to the exterior, yet, and I really hate running it). Line drying won't work: not only do I not have a line, but it wouldn't occur to Daedalus to take down any laundry hanging up before running the power saw!

I also did up the breakfast (and lunch) dishes before I left. I knew that would make me happy when I got home and it did.

Please forgive me the nasty drainboard. I bought the one that "comes with" the dish drainer and it wasn't big enough. There was a mess of water absolutely everywhere. I don't know why Rubbermaid didn't get it right!

"New" Curtains.

2011-10-29T00:40:00.006-06:00

I have always maintained that I need to decorate my home in order to be motivated to clean it.

Hah! I now realise, that was just an excuse!

As a result of my 31 days of housekeeping project, I have this utterly fabulously clean home. Right. We know that. What I didn't know and could not have anticipated--was how much it motivates me to decorate!

I feel like it's become a sickness.
(But maybe it always has been. It was just half-hearted under the squalor.)

Nonetheless. Let's get to the curtains without further ado.

Before:

This photo was taken as part of the tongue in cheek "room tour" I posted back in March. What a lot of changes writing that post has brought to this room!

I bought the fabric sometime in the summer from a lower income department store here called Zellers. (Sort of like K-Mart.) It was a twin sheet. By happy accident, I discovered that a twin sheet is the perfect width for curtain panels 54-56" wide. There is extra fabric at the sides: but I just turned them to the back, pinned, and sewed through all three layers together.

I got one panel done just before Thanksgiving (October 14th).

I desperately wanted to finish the second one. So, the morning of our big dinner, I came downstairs and decided I'd take an hour and see how far I could get on the second one.

I got as far as measuring it, cutting it and pressing under the raw edge. Then Daedalus (my husband, not his real name) came into the dining room where I was working, plunked himself down on the computer and tried to rustle up the Thanksgiving Monday Canadian Football League game with the Montreal Alouettes. (He grew up there. He's a fan.)

That was it. I folded up my fabric, put away the iron, ironing board, and sewing machine and wandered into the kitchen to start chopping onions for stuffing.

Yesterday, almost two full weeks later, I finished it. Took about an hour, maybe two--between writing up a blog post and making dinner.

I grinned all night.

(Here's the photo which shows I got the second panel to line up perfectly with the first--and, hey, that hem's not bad either!)

Linking up to another inspiring 31 dayer: Marianne at Songbird. Her topic was "getting things done" and boy, did she ever! She was inspiring.

PS. You may remember I promised a tour of the dining room/home office/project room. I haven't forgotten. It just may take just a couple more days to happen.