Wednesday Evening/Thursday

Wednesday Evening

After our tea which was a salad and pork pie platter, I set too and ironed for four hours until my back started to play up.  I eventually got sat down at about 10:00am. However am pleased with what I got ironed which included a couple of complicated, layered gypsy skirts, with pin tucking, and lace insertions.  Bit fiddly to iron but they look lovely once done.  I have a steam generator iron which I find very good whether I am using the steam option or not.

I then sat and watched a little TV before deciding on having an early night as I was tired, and had been cold for most of the day.  So snuggling under the covers seemed the best option.

Plans for Thursday

I intend to be in the bedroom sorting for the best part of the day today. I am attempting to clear as much as I can in order that I can get more items away into their relevant storage. This will be ongoing until I get to the end of the ironing pile. I will get as much I can cleared and then will iron for a couple of hours tonight to try and decrease the ironing pile that I currently keep adding to. Once all the clothes are sorted I will then start on the house linen.

The bags are disappearing in the bathroom although still a way to go. It will be with a sigh of relief when I come to the end of the washing pile and the ironing pile. However it will be a job well done at the end of the day as everything will be lovely and clean. The bonus is that I will the be able to have the pick of what I wear when I want to. I have a lot of lovely clothes and I will be able to access things a lot more easily. This is not only clothes this is also dress jewellery, all sorts of accessories including scarves, hats, gloves, belts, shoes, boots, and hair accessories. I have always been a "girly girl". I have never been a minimalist yet I have always looked after anything I have to the best of my ability which makes them last.

The trouble with this kind of clearing is you end up making a bigger mess than you started with in the process of getting everything organised.  In reality that can get you down.  What keeps me going is the thought that this room is going to be organised and spotless. I like things to look nice at the best of times.  It is not only the house that I am focusing on, but also my own self-care at the end of the day.

Achievements

A different breakfast regime today than normal.  G had promised to give his son a lift to an appointment and had gone before I could even sort breakfast.  When he came back he had his usual as did I. Then I started.

I managed to get all outstanding washing on the line and dried, plus two more loads of washing have done today.  So the washing is progressing really well.

I got into the bedroom again for a little while until G decided it was time to take Missy our elderly Jack Russell for a little walk.  She is not too clever on her legs these days and we took her out the other day and she really enjoyed it.  Today, she seemed a little more mobile than she has been and we are being careful not to push her too far.  She really loved it and was running a little here and there and even ended up in the river for a paddle.  Her little old tail was going round and round.  At the moment she has crashed out.  Will take her in another couple of days - want her to get out because of interest - she loves to sniff and rootle but do not want to over-tax her.  She does have extremely bad arthritis which has deformed her front paws and her right back leg is very stiff.  I do massage her everyday and she is also on meds.

I was hoping to get back into the bedroom when I came back but decided in the end to do some batch cooking.  G had bought 1.5 kg of minced beef the other day as it was on offer, but as I only have a fridge, and you only get so many days to use up, I decided to do some bulk cooking.  I have prepped up a Cottage Pie, Lasagna, Chilli and Ragu for Spaghetti Bolognese.  There should be at least two meals out of each dish cooked.  There are also Gloucester Old Spot Sausages which I am going to cook roasted mixed veggies with and also a couple of large Barnsley Chops which I intend to serve with veggies and like I would a roast dinner.  So there is plenty to eat this week.

Tonight we have had the Cottage Pie and that has gone down well.  G has been back for seconds.  We have Strawberries and Cream for pudding.  I have cut the tops off the Strawberries and am going to plant them and hopefully raise some Strawberry plants for next year from them.  It is worth a try.

Carrying on from my foray into the bedroom earlier on, this room is where the work really begins.  I have a box I am filling up with odd items to clear the area I am working. I will then go through the box at a pertinent point and put that stuff away.  Probably when I am sat down later on.  Then return to the tidying.

Today I tackled my hanging rail which is where I tend to store a lot of my heavier coats and jackets.  Decision time today as to whether I am keeping some of them or forwarding them to the Charity shop.  I will probably keep the woollen coats as I still think that I will use them, but I will give them a good going over to make sure that no repairs are needed and whether any cleaning is necessary.  I have decided that I am going to keep them for the time being, but they do need a little bit of TLC.  I shall deal with them in one fair tranche and probably run the steam cleaner/iron over them before I actually get them back on the rail.

There were several things under the hanging rack which have also been sorted out.  Now to set about hoovering under there and then getting what Items that need to be there back.

There is then a pile of stuff which needs to be worked through but this is going to take a little bit more time than anticipated, but things are slowly moving.

I have also moved the boxes and set about the tops of my two chest of drawers and sorted and tidied that out.  I use the tops of both pushed up together as a dressing table top.  Unfortunately at the moment I do not have a proper dressing table, but this works for the time being.  I also sorted out the drawers in both chests and added in freshly laundered and ironed items.

I had intended to iron again later on.  However in retrospect I am going to carry on with the bedroom.  Depending on how I get on I then may be able to get all ironing done to date back into its relevant storage. I have been doing a little at a time. However I would like to be able to get it all sorted.  However I need to get into this particular corner wardrobe to see if there is any free space that I can get items into.  Will see how it goes.  Needless to say I am working at it.

So a very busy day all told, probably only the first of many more to come, but tiz only the depth that varies.

Hope everyone has a lovely evening.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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