One project a day- 2nd thread!

[BlueLobelia]

Welcome to everyone, old hats, lurkers and newbies.

This is a thread where we try and achieve something, no matter how small, a day.

This was the preamble to the previous thread ;

''......many years ago when i was first on MN I started (or maybe just actively participated in, cannot quite recall) a one (house) project a day. It made the most profound difference to my home. The project could be time consuming or not. It could take seconds, minutes or hours. I recall things like changing the lightbulb and lampshade in a hallway table lamp for example as a single day project. One day i also threw away holey and raggedy cushion covers and bought news ones. Little things, that really mattered.

If anyone is interested I wish to start another thread.

Today, as my one project a day, I cleared out my dehydrated and weed-ridden window boxes (2 of them). I put new compost in them and planted them with lobelia (obviously!); red geraniums and some dianthus. I am happy looking out (and in!) my front windows now. :) ''

everyone welcome!

DS was really hard to talk to about it and would just get embarrassed. DDs were easier, and are pretty open about 'women's things' as adults. With good boundaries of course, nothing inappropriate, but periods, menopause, sexual health is not off limits, plus chats about more current concerns. I'm grateful that DS seems to have become a decent chap as the sort of discussions re consent etc didn't really happen then. I gave them books and said I was open to questions. Pre easily available porn too, for which I'm also grateful! You younger families have your work cut out and I salute you

@Peridot1 I'm sorry, I missed your update. Very best wishes to your dad.
My mother is requiring some assistance more recently, but she is at least local.
Day off today and have plans to do a batch cook. Maybe do something about the grout in the bathroom too. Bits of it looking a bit grey.
Have a good day everyone!

I'm feeling like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, my dad had been taken ill, but he's all better again. I tried not to avoid my feelings and emotions but also not to wallow in them! I'm 40 and I'm just getting to grips with emotional regulation! Isn't it just a sort of journey though!

The paraphrasing really made me laugh out loud! When you came back to clarify parallel!

I'm doing some tidying and clearing up tomorrow.

Thanks FNib. He’s still in hospital but not too bad. For someone with two cancers, heart issues, mini strokes, diabetes and vision issues! Actually three cancers as he has prostate cancer too!

Glad to hear your Dad is ok @DownUdderer.

Laughing at the sex education stories. I remember DS coming out of school the day they had had the talk saying “I can’t believe Mr X had to tell us about sexual intercom!” Then a while later I told him he was an ivf baby and he thought it was ‘cool’. I did wonder if he was just relieved DH and I hadn’t had to use the ‘sexual intercom’.

Yesterday’s jobs were to vacuum upstairs and the stairs and that led to talking the vacuum cleaner apart to clean the filter. Also had to make up a bed as my sisters came over for dinner and one stayed. First time we have all been together since my Mother died over five years ago.

Today I will clean Dad’s bedroom and get it ready for him. Not sure yet when he will be home. I’m also going to try to see if the hospital have an idea of when he is likely to be home as if it’s not this week I may go home. Have an idea the hospital will want a care package in place before he comes home and that will take time to sort.

sexual intercom!

Glad your Dad is better @DownUdderer

@Peridot1 I hope all goes well.

I think DS2 was slightly grey also!

He asked so many questions that I had to focus on that I ended up in the wrong lane at one of the roundabouts and had to detour to a side street and have a rest for a minute.

Hope your mum is okay @Fnib.

@mamakoukla at antelopes!

Popping my head round the door....

I have an ongoing list of STUFF but my main ongoing task is to spin fleece into useable wool. The unprocessed stuff takes up such a lot of space! (It lives in DS's old playhouse in the garden, so at least it's not in the house, but...)
Today's other task is to get the humidity in the kitchen below 60% - we had massive issues with flooding at Christmas which are now solved, but due to certain, shall we say, oddities with the way my kitchen is constructed there's a gap between the draining board and the sink and it seems that for the last 6 months draining water has been running down the gap and seeping under my tiles. (Old house, no foundation, slate floors, so no damage.) Anyway yesterday we ran the dehumidifier from 75 to 65% and today we're down to 63% - got a while to go yet but at least it's heading in the right direction. Aiming for under 40%.... one day at a time!

Nothing much has been done here. Between being too darn hot at work to be bothered to do anything at home and various brownies commitments.
However I am watering the plants now as the promise of rain has not appeared.
Tomorrow
Take cat food to friend
Ring next
Hair cut at 1.30 quite exciting
Plant the other plants I bought
That's it for tomorrow

No projects going on here - period pain has knocked me flat this month so I’ve barely even kept up with normal housework. Trying to do some planning stuff instead, especially home ed stuff for DS (nearly 12).

Morning all.

I have a long list today as I have booked to fly back home tomorrow morning. Dad will be in hospital for a while longer and I’m just hanging around really so I may as well go home. And get started in all I need to do there as my sister and her family are coming to stay in August and both spare rooms are rubbish dumps at the moment.

So today I am packing, clearing out the fridge, making up Dad’s bed, picking up some of his washing from the hospital, sorting out the room I have been staying in etc. Generally getting the house ready to be empty for a couple of weeks and ultimately for him to come home.

It will be good to be home.

@Peridot1 I'm glad you get to come home. Sorry you're dad is dealing with so much.

I've been cleaning and tidying today. I've potted up some succulent cuttings so I'm hoping they root down. I've started up a small compost. It feels good to save any fruit and veg from ending up in the main bin.

Tomorrow I need to sweep, mop and hoover. Clean the bathroom.

Looks like everyone's been productive (especially @Peridot1, I feel tired looking at that list!)
Running at 59% this morning so hopefully down to about 55% by tonight. I still get mildly scared when one of the tiles squelches (!!) but I have to remind myself this is about 6 months of a pint of water a day or thereabouts soaking into the tiles....it's not going to go overnight. The joys of old houses!

This weekend I have a number of costumes to make for the Year 6 school play. I don't know how they will be doing it, but I'm making the costumes as if they're still doing it....

@Peridot1 hope you have a safe journey home

Cat food dropped off
Parcel picked up from Asda
Took Dd uniform to school (she left this time)
About to try to get the old plants out of the pot so I can plant the new ones

Safe journey @Peridot1

Today I intend to clear the clutter in our hallway. I also have a couple of bills to pay. That's all I can cope with after work I think.

Yesterday I did some cleaning of building dust.
Today I went to the tip with the rubbish and old skirting boards, then went to see about new smaller skirting.
Wickes has doors for half price and we need to replace 2 so I will be going there after work tomorrow as only I can drive a car with doors in the back and even I need to pull the seat right forwards!
Footie now though.

Good luck with the dehumidifier!

I've been busy today. I've got a few jobs for tomorrow. We've got air conditioning being fitted on Monday so I just need the whole house to look reasonable. I don't need the house to be perfect, but I'll be happy if it all looks reasonable.

Morning all. Well done for all the achievements! Today I have disinfected door handles and light switches as my extra job, and I will clean out a kitchen cupboard later i think.
I've managed to be consistent with drinking water, and coffee is down to one first thing, which I relish as I listen to the dawn chorus.
Daily vitamin has also become a habit, and after 30+ years of having my own home I've mastered knowing what we're having for dinner and doing something about it the night before.
So I'm quite pleased with myself, even though it's all been a very long time coming!

I'm aware i sound old, and old fashioned on this thread. I worked part time eves and weekend when children were little, and DH very much did his bit around the place. But we were a bit cluttered and very chaotic.

Kids all flown, though very much part of our lives still, but I still only work part time while DH is full time. So I have taken on the role of 'housekeeper' because I really enjoy having the time and head space to do it. DH is brilliant and cites it as a luxury for him rather than being resentful that he works when I don't. How I love that man! He still picks up any slack so he's not ducked out completely. I just wish I'd had the tools (flylady!) years ago as I spent a lot of time just lurching from one day to the next. It was fun, but so tiring!
Anyway so ends my therapy session, and my best to you all

@Fnib I do not think you sound old fashioned at all!

I don't work Mondays and try and do alot of the housekeeping then. I also have a secret addiction to house organisational you tube videos

I want more time to be able to do what i want, which is make my home and space comfortable, clutter free (unlikely as DH is a hoarder...... I feel overwhelmed).

My task today is exceptionally misery-making. Our very old very incontinent dog has had dreadful diarrhoea all over our dining room turkish rug (which is HUGE). It has taken us 90 minutes to clear the dining room (see 'hoarding above' ) and now we need to shampoo the carpet, then drag it outside to hose off. The two of us (DH and I) struggle to move it even dry so wet, God knows. Then how the heck we find somewhere to dry it is beyond me. The whole thing is depressing me badly. I hate all the clutter in our house (clutter and chaos describes ir perfectly). I need to really put my foot down I think. DH has an auction habit and last time came back with 12 dining room chairs. (our table seats 6 and we already had chairs). What do we do with 12 extra chairs? Not least because the covers are all ripped. His excuse is 'well they were cheap!'. I'm seriously fed up with it today. I think I am going to devclutter and charity-shop by stealth but the whole expense of the constant purchasing depresses me.

Sorry for the moan. :(

Oh that sounds really tough @BlueLobelia I have a family member a bit similar to that and I understand how hard it would be to live with There are no easy answers, are there?

So sorry about aged dog and all that goes with it ♥️ You really do have your hands full!

Thanks. I am feeling a bit more chipper now but am going to collect everything in each room that is just clutter / duplicates/ stuff I don't like and suggest to DH we 'auction the other way' so sell rather than buy. The only time ever we sold something (A glass cabinet of Victorian taxidermy [boak] ) we made about £600 so I will remind him of it......

Yes our poor old dog. He is ancient and the end is coming. He is not in any pain I think, but he has started to be very confused and not really sure of what is going on. He has another vet check next week to see how things are going. :( It;'s been a blessing to be able to work from home for so long as we can just keep up with his needs more easily.

Slowly, slowly! Sounds like a great plan.

The Minimalists have a good podcast and YouTube video about living with a hoarder which is quite helpful.

One thing that stuck out for me was about dealing with your own stuff first, and having your own spaces clear (your side of the bed, for example) It's so tempting to want to get the entire family on board from the beginning but this worked for me, as it turned out I had a lot of my own. By the time that's dealt with, it's possible that the benefits of less stuff becomes evident to everyone else. Even if not, having your own personal peaceful spaces (even little ones) is balm to the soul.

The relief of having less stuff to clean up and around is an enormous boost, in my experience.

Wishing you the very best in your endeavours @BlueLobelia

I have lost elderly dogs and cats fairly recently. It's really hard isn't it One in particular was incontinent and really wanted to be on our bed in the last few days. We did a lot of washing. It was like the princess and the pea with a mountain of towels. So much love over a lifetime meant that we went with it, knowing it wouldn't be for long. Can't bring myself to get another dog (yet!) Love to you and your doggie ❤

Sorry to hear about elderly pets. I joke about mine but I will be lost when they do go. The little sods.
@BlueLobelia I found that the more clutter I cleared from the house, the less DH brought in. It was as though the house was so shambolic that he was always buying something to try and make it look nice when in fact it is the space which makes it look nice. I also cleared my own stuff first so that it couldn’t be said that I was contributing to the mess with having too much stuff.
I also always try to have somewhere to put everything- I said to DH Christmas 2019 that I wanted to clear the house and make it more future proof as we were turning into a family of 4 adults. We are slowly getting there albeit with only 3 of us here now that DD has flown the nest- not taken all of her stuff though has she?!
We haven’t been able to fit the new window unit this evening as it has rained for the past 3 hours but we will get to it. I did go and collect the new doors from Wickes though after work. Not when we had planned to get them but at half price, they couldn’t be left there!

Thanks @Fnib and @Sparklynewname

I broached the topic again with DH and he got defensive so I will check out the podcasts you recommended @Fnib for hints.

I often buy storage boxes to try and get things sorted. Which usually means we end up with loads of full storage boxes. I need a strategy. And preferably a strategy that works.

But for today my project is to learn (quickly!) how to make hollandaise for Fathers day breakfast. Then I am going to look at the stacked paintings in the dining room and separate them out as 'keep' 'probably sell' and 'definitely sell'.

(and then run them by DH. Even if he agrees to sell / chuck 1 thing it is a start.).