Danielism

Daniel: "Mom, you know that fruit that you put in my lunchbox that looks like a bum, what was it?"

Me (after I stop laughing): "An apricot!"

You gotta give him some credit, it does look like a bum!

Noahisms

1) My friend Ellie was supposed to be popping in last Friday morning. Noah was very excited that she would be coming as he was hoping she'd be bringing her son Joe for him to play with. He kept nagging me constantly, "When are they coming? When are they coming?" I explained to him that they would have the same school drop of routine that we have and then they'd have to drive through from Preston, which would take half an hour. Then he commenced nagging me about where Preston was. Even though I tried to explain it to him he kept asking. Eventually in exasperation I just snapped, "It's EAST!"

Noah's eyes got big and round and he asked in awe, "Where the Easter Bunny comes from??"

2) We rotate the boys' toys, putting half in an enormous plastic tub with a lid on in the cellar. We had the tub up from the cellar for toy switch the other day and when Grant went to take it down again he was teasing the boys about taking the whole tub full of toys and donating it to the charity shop. Daniel realised he was teasing so Grant said to Noah, "What do you think? Should I just take this tub to the charity shop?"

Noah: "Yes you should. But don't forget to take the toys out first."

3) He had to go to Weight Watchers with me the the other week. As we walked there I explained what would happen - first we'd stand in a line and get my little record card. Then we'd go into a big room and I'd wait in line to be weighed. After that we'd sit together on the chairs and wait for a long while until the weighing was all done and then the lady would speak to us.

Noah piped up with, "That's why it's called Weight Watchers - because of all the waiting."

Marigolds

"There is nothing - no circumstance, no trouble, no testing - that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is - that is the rest of victory!"

- Alan Redpath

Fresh-picked garden peas

"Don't waste your effort worrying about what you have not done.
Spend your time working on what you now can do.
It's amazing how much you can accomplish when your heart is in it.
Drop the doubts, self-criticisms, and anxieties, and positively put your heart into what you're doing.
Enjoy the delicious feeling of making real progress based on your own focused efforts.
Have fun watching yourself accomplish as you complete each task.
Taking effective, meaningful action will put you in a positive frame of mind.
And that will open the door to many great new possibilities.
Go beyond wondering about it, or thinking it through, or planning for it.
Just go ahead and get it done.
Choose your destiny and delight in the fulfilling effort that makes it happen.
You can do it, and now is when."

- Ralph Marston

Down the garden path

Don't think Grant was goofing off while I was away at Laura's. We were very kindly given some paving slabs by a neighbour after I offered to buy any extras he had after he'd finished a job he was busy on. We were so grateful for the slabs and they were my favourite price: free! Grant used the slabs to create a path through the gravel from the patio to the lawn. Now we can tend to our vegetables and traipse to the lawn and back in comfort, even in bare feet. Didn't he do an amazing job?

Laura's shed

Not quite as dramatic a makeover as her study, Laura and I also worked on her shed. She'd recently done some sorting out so it wasn't a huge job. I forgot to take proper before pictures, but here are some during:



It doesn't look too bad here, but remember the shot above - all of the stuff that we'd taken out of the shed still had to come back in:









After (the lawn roller will soon be going to a new home):











And a gratuitous sweet little hen picture - meet Linda and Bridgette, 12 week old silkies:



I am considering offering organising and home staging services as a business once we settle in New Zealand and would like to build up some experience and a portfolio, starting now. If you are interested in having some help organising or staging your home for sale, please email me at jennifer[at]glowmail[dot]net (use the traditional format - I only typed it like that to foil automated spammers). There is no charge, although I would ask that you pay my travel, food and lodging expenses. I promise it will be more than worth it.

Laura's study

I've just come home today after spending a couple of days with my friend Laura, who lives about an hour and a quarter away. It wasn't a relaxing break, although it was very enjoyable. We spent almost the whole time organising (one of my favourite pastimes!)

Her study was the first space to be tackled. You couldn't even walk into the room at all, it was that full of stuff that Laura had stored with the intention of sorting it out later. (Come on, we all do it!) The door couldn't open all of the way.







Can you spot the futon underneath the stuff in the picture above? I was faced with the prospect of sleeping on the living room floor on an air mattress, and I was determined to unearth the futon. I'm motivated that way - I have an unhappy back and air mattresses and I don't get along.

We worked for 4 hours on Monday and then I spent some more time finishing up on Tuesday. Here's the result:

















Stuff thrown away: 2 bin bags full
Stuff put aside to donate or sell on eBay: 1 shopping bag + 1 board game
Money spent: NOTHING

The very happy Laura, enjoying the futon:



And yes, I had two comfortable nights on the futon, which is just as well considering how hard we worked during the days.

I am considering offering organising and home staging services as a business once we settle in New Zealand and would like to build up some experience and a portfolio, starting now. If you are interested in having some help organising or staging your home for sale, please email me at jennifer[at]glowmail[dot]net (use the traditional format - I only typed it like that to foil automated spammers). There is no charge, although I would ask that you pay my travel, food and lodging expenses. I promise it will be more than worth it.

Jewellery organising

I just thought I'd share how I organise my jewellery. You may have noticed a couple of boxes in my bathroom cabinet (bottom right):



They are bead organisers and they're perfect for containing rings, pendants and earrings. You can buy them at most craft stores.





Then if you turn around and look at the side of the shower cubicle ...



... you'll see a set of over-door hooks. This is where I store my necklaces and hoop earrings.



My bracelets are stored in, you guessed it, a plastic punnet in my chest of drawers.

How do you store your jewellery? And do you love necklaces as much as I do?

A little reminder ...

Sometimes my little boys need a little reminder.



Did you know that whiteboard markers are great for leaving notes on glass, mirrors and smooth tile? (The pictures are for Noah, who can't read yet.) When your note has served its purpose you can quickly wipe the surface clean with no residue. It comes off easily - you can see here that some of the writing has rubbed off a little when I brushed up against it today while cleaning the bathroom (I was dusting the picture frames above).



We've used whiteboard markers to leave notes for each other for years. When Grant and I were in our second flat in England, I left a note for him inside the toilet lid so he'd be surprised by it. Okay, I'll admit it ... it said, "Hello sexy!"

And then it wouldn't come off!!! I was mortified (I mean, it's not like we even call each other "sexy" to our faces - I'd written it because I knew it would make him laugh) and thought we'd have to leave it there for the next tenants. How embarrassing. Replacing the toilet lid wasn't an option since it was an old grey suite - they don't even make that colour anymore.

Luckily Grant (a.k.a. "Sexy") managed to scrub it off and ever since then I've been very careful to only use whiteboard markers on very smooth and non-porous surfaces.

Do you use whiteboard markers on anything other than whiteboard? What do you use them for? And have you ever had a mishap with them??

Organising tool

An organising tool that is free, almost always available, highly versatile and green.

Does that sound too good to be true? I'm betting you have some in your home right now without even knowing it.

Okay, I might be setting you up for disappointment if you live outside of the UK. I'm not sure how your fruit and vegetables are packaged abroad. But over here, this is how we buy our pre-packaged produce:



"Er ... very nice, Jen, but what does fresh produce have to do with organising?"

Well, you see those plastic punnets? Here they are, empty:



They are ideal for organising drawers and shallow cabinets. Here's how I've used them in my kitchen drawers, studio cupboard and bathroom cabinet.











Remember my plastic tub which contains my ... er ... plastic tubs? And the nested yellow basket which contains the lids?



Well, if you look inside the yellow basket you'll find a little punnet for all of the small lids and bottle tops:



Now tell me, do you get your goodies in plastic punnets? Could you actually use this idea? If so ... go forth, eat well and organise! And don't forget to send me pictures of your efforts.