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Cable Chaos – An Update

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Posted on February 27, 2014

Thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday’s post with their many suggestions. As you can probably guess from the brevity of the post, I wrote it in a hurry and did not go into a great deal of detail.

I have already tried some of your suggestions and while they are reasonably successful, I am looking for a more permanent, long-term solution.

Elastic bands perish over time.
The twist ties are pretty good but things tend to get caught up when they are all in the one box.
Blending with the decor is not a huge issue as the box or other container is stored on top of the filing cabinet in the cupboard.
I made labels from sticky labels but the paper wore out and they fell off.

Shelstar sent me a link from Pinterest which showed this re-purposed bread box. It is clever but not quite what I am looking for.

However, in the same link there was one solution that did catch my eye.

It is only cardboard but I really like the principle of this and I immediately thought of some pieces of plywood that we have and how I could make a similar box.

I am now busily designing a cable storage box and hopefully I will be able to share the successful results in the not too distant future.

Cable Chaos

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Posted on February 26, 2014

Just a quick post tonight as I have a bit of mid-week housework to catch up on.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot come up with a workable solution for storing the various cables for electronic devices – phone chargers, Kindle chargers, camera cable, camera battery charger etc.

Do you have a magical solution for this seemingly perennial problem?

Planning is the Key

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Posted on February 24, 2014

As I sat down at my desk on Saturday morning to write a menu plan for the week, I started to think about how much planning goes into keeping our lives running smoothly.

I have always menu-planned to some degree but I have now developed a routine which works for us. Every Saturday morning I write a plan for the next 7 – 10 days. I keep in mind what food I have in the refrigerator as well as what is available in the garden. From that I then write a shopping list. This generally a few basic groceries such as milk and cheese as well as fruit and vegetables. I buy meat every couple of months and pantry staples about every 3 months.

We have big plans, such as our overseas trip but also small, day-to-day plans that ensure things run smoothly and we work towards achieving our goals. If this sounds like our lives are totally structured and regimented, think again as nothing could be further from the truth.

Over breakfast on a Saturday morning, either The Duke or I are often heard to say, “So, what are your plans for today?” Then follows a discussion about what we have individually considered that we need to get done. It usually centres around shopping, washing, lawn mowing and the like. The next step is to plan.

On Saturday morning we had to take the dog to the vet at 8.30am so we decided to leave the shopping until Sunday morning and do some outdoor work. We needed to finish by 4.30pm so we could be cleaned up and head off to dinner and the movies by 6pm. We planned our outdoor work and achieved a real sense of satisfaction when the jobs were done. All of the piles of mulch were collected from various spots around the yard, we weeded and mulched the garden bed beside the front steps. The Duke lightly pruned the roses and we planted 5 more pineapple tops. The remainder of the mulch was spread under the native shrubs on the front verge.

Since it was drizzling with rain most of the day we then adjourned under the house to start on one of the other jobs on the master list – covering the area which is bare dirt under the verandah with pebbles. The original plan was to build 3 more low retaining walls to create stepped levels to hold the pebbles in place, however, we have decided to retain the sections using some timber sleepers. We will also place some along the outside edge to separate the pebbled area from the garden bed outside. We have calculated how many sleepers, how much weed mat and the volume of pebbles that we will need to complete the job. The ground has been dug out and is almost at the levels we need so I hope we can get this finished over the next few weeks.

Sunday was a different story. I did the ironing early, before we went to do the shopping in a couple of different locations and came home with the intention of more outdoor work. One simple message on the answering machine changed that. A friend had left a message to ask us to come for drinks at 4pm, so I amended the menu plan as I knew we would have plenty of late afternoon/evening nibbles. I then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. I made pizza bases, wraps for our lunches and a chocolate cake (all gluten-free). I made 1 pizza and took that and the chocolate cake with us that afternoon. The remainder of the pizza bases are partly pre-cooked and in the freezer.

So, to round off a fairly long-winded story, I think it is important to have a plan, otherwise things can turn into a disorganised jumble and you end up wasting a lot of time. The organisation that results from these plans allows you the flexibility to change those plans to accommodate things that arise out of the blue. What do you think?

Bare Necessities

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Posted on February 19, 2014

I am constantly astounded by the size of the handbags which many women carry. On one hand, I read about travelling overseas with only carry-on luggage, yet in real life I see handbags that look as though they could be used to travel – at least for a weekend.

I often ponder about what they carry in those huge bags. Have we been conned by yet another bizarre fashion trend which dictates that we carry these bags? What is so important that it has to go everywhere with us?

My bag bucks the general trend entirely. I bought it recently in an attempt to consciously downsize what I carry. I even went so far as to buy a smaller purse/wallet that would take up less space in the bag.

The bag has a single strap which I have at its longest length so that I can wear it across my body. Everything that is in the bag has a purpose and is used regularly and mostly every day.

Contents:

Main compartment – wallet, eco shopping bag, sunglasses in case, pen, handkerchief

Secondary compartment – small notebook, extra loyalty cards

Inside pocket 1 – car keys
Inside pocket 2 – mobile phone, railpass and access pass (work)
Inside compartment (zippered) – internet stick, USB drive, other essential keys, lipstick, migraine medication

Outside compartment (zippered) – iPod and USB charger, USB phone charger

That is it. I have made a conscious decision to only carry exactly what I need. Each item has a specific place so I easily know that I have everything that I need.

This is the bag I use every day. The only exception is a small evening bag which I use a couple of times per year.

What is in your bag? Do you have a large bag?

My Life Laid Bare

Too Hot to Declutter?

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Posted on February 16, 2014

It is easy to make excuses as to why you should not do things. After not achieving much last weekend, we were keen to make some inroads this weekend. It was hot yesterday and we managed to fritter most of the day away until late in the afternoon when we did a few jobs in the garden. I will show you that in another post. Today was actually predicted to be hotter with a forecast maximum of 36C so we adjourned to the coolest part of the house. We call this area a cellar although it is not in the true sense of the word. It is the space underneath the internal staircase, is partially below ground level and 2 walls are concrete block. All all these things work together to keep the space reasonably cool.

The Duke removed everything from this space so I don’t actually have a before photo. We dismantled the low shelving which we had placed there when we first moved here. It was 3 planks of wood and several concrete blocks. It was the concrete blocks that were the catalyst for this flurry of activity. We will need them for building more of the low retaining walls under the verandah. You can see the first one we built here. The others will not be as high, no will they have the screening on top of the bocks. More about that another day.

Once everything was out of the cellar we swept it thoroughly and then decided what would actually go back in. We replaced the dismantled shelving with the shelf unit we built from old explosives boxes. Next, we repositioned the wine rack from one wall to the other. This entailed removing all of the bottles so it was a good opportunity to reassess what we have and replace the bottles in a logical order.

Finally, there are a few things stacked under the very low part of the stairs. Card table, boogie board, folding chairs etc. We did get rid of/move a few things that had been on the old shelving. We still have plenty of space on the shelf unit to store other things that we find in the workshop that would be better located here.

In the meantime, we are very happy that the cellar is clean and tidy. It was great to be able to finish this job on a day when it was really too hot to tackle much else.

Do you struggle with getting things done if it is too hot or too cold? Is it a form of procrastination to blame the weather?

Project 333 – Planning Ahead

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Posted on February 14, 2014

The forecast here is for temperatures to be in the low to mid 30’s (Celsius) for the next week but already my thoughts are turning to my autumn wardrobe.

This photo comes from the original Project 333 post from Courtney Carver.

One of the things I would really like is a white shirt, probably linen. It would be a really useful addition to my existing collection of clothing. “White shirt” sounds fairly simple but it will need to be just right before I consider adding it to my wardrobe. In fact I am contemplating making one if I can find/draft the perfect pattern.

What is on your wishlist?

The Rhythm of Life

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Posted on February 10, 2014

…….or just a Never-Ending Story?

The jobs that seem to fall together under that all-encompassing title of “Housework’. Do you embrace them as a steady part of your routine and rejoice in the satisfaction of a job well done? Or do you constantly rail against the monotony of having to do the same task over and over again?

During the past few weekends we have made substantial progress with what The Duke refers to as our bucket list. It is not a bucket list in the generally accepted sense but more like a ‘to do list’. We have bought and planted the shrubs outside the boundary fence, prepared the fence posts (cut to length, cleaned and painted), created and planted the rockery and started on building more raised garden beds.

However, the last couple of days have been a bit different. The combination of a very busy week at work and drizzling rain yesterday meant that I did very little outdoor work. In fact, I could say I did nothing much until I actually list what I did do.

Washing
Ironing
Prepared meals
Menu planned
Shopping
Picked beans, tomatoes, corn and mangoes
Sorted contents of freezer
Prepared and stored mango (pureed, frozen, dehydrated)
Prepared and froze corn
Swept floors
Dusted sideboard and bookcase
Refilled pantry containers from storage buckets

There were probably a dozen other little tasks that have not even made it onto the list.

The Duke also washed several loads of dishes and emptied the compost numerous times while I was making a mess in the kitchen.

Most of these tasks will need to be repeated the next day, week or month but that does not bother me particularly. I am constantly looking at ways to simplify my life and one of the reasons to reduce the amount of time and effort that is expended on routine tasks such as many of those that I have listed. A good example is shopping. This my shopping consisted of buying cheese and vinegar at Aldi (the vinegar was for the chutney), a small quantity of fruit and vegetables at the local fruit stall and The Duke bought some bacon at the butcher when he went in to town on another errand. The flow on effect was that putting everything away took about 2 minutes so that is a huge saving as well.

So, what do you think of repetitive homemaking tasks?

Mango Madness

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Posted on February 5, 2014

First it was the figs that I dried, then the corn being blanched and frozen. Today’s glut is mangoes.

We have 2 mango trees, one large one that is about 20 years old and does not fruit. I have no idea why there are no fruit and I am not sure how long we will maintain a non-productive fruit tree when the space could be better utilised. The other tree was planted about 3 years ago and has produced a few mangoes last year and this year there are 2 that have reached mature size so we are waiting for them to ripen. So the glut is not from our own trees.

As we were going out on Sunday I noticed several mangoes lying on the driveway of a property not far from us. I knew that the was a mango tree in the front yard but I can honestly say that I had never noticed fruit on in previous years. Since the owners are not permanent residents I contacted them to see if I could collect any fallen fruit. With a positive response to my enquiry I headed off to pick up the fruit this morning.

I discovered that there are actually 3 mango trees and there was an abundance of fruit on the ground. 2 supermarket bags were filled with rotten and decaying fruit which I took home and put in the compost. The usable fruit filled 5 calico bags!

Some of the fruit were very ripe and others were partly damaged so it as important to salvage what I could before they deteriorated any further. I decided the quickest and easiest solution was to puree the pulp and freeze it. Remember, that I had picked the fruit before 6am and I still had to go to work.