Layout:
Home > Plenty of doings!

Plenty of doings!

November 5th, 2017 at 09:09 pm

Today, I:

1. Took a bunch of area rugs and seat cushions outside and beat them mightily across a folding table I set up in the driveway to get rid of all the diatemacious earth I'd sprinkled on them 3 weeks ago. Tired of tracking the white powder all over the place and concerned it would fry my vacuum cleaners.

Now I just have the powder on my family room carpet and bedroom carpets, both too large to take outside for a shake. (Not sure exactly how I'll get rid of the powder. I might try a stiff whisk broom and see if I can get some out without creating a dust storm. I have a mask I will wear.)

2. Then I sprayed the upstairs and basement with a flea spray recommended by someone at the animal shelter. It has no odor and you just have to keep pets off it until it dries. Then it kills fleas on contact and lasts for 30 weeks!

I closed off both areas for 2 hours and have just now regained access to my office. I plan to spray the downstairs and lock me and Luther up in the upstairs after dinner.

We may have turned a corner with the 2nd Frontline application this past Wednesday. Today he is not scratching much. I'm amazed.

3. I switched out about 20 CFL bulbs throughout the house with new LED bulbs, including ceiling fixtures and even in the basement. I could use another 10 or so.

I've packed up the CFLs and they're destined for the next household hazardous waste dropoff, probably in the spring.

4. I made a kale salad with orange juice, dried cranberries, scallions, walnuts and raisins for work week lunches.

5. Whipped up a double batch of my granola, which will last about 2 weeks.

6. I drove to neighboring town to return the composter I'd purchased. The woman was supposed to meet me there but she never showed up. She had said she'd already refunded the charge on my credit card. I will continue recycling my kitchen organic waste at the transfer station.

7. I changed the bed sheets.

8. I did 2 loads of laundry.

9. I did an inventory of 5 spent smoke alarms I have (some were my mother's). They're from 5 different companies. I'll have to call the companies tomorrow to see if they'll accept them becus household hazardous waste drop-off does not take them. I've determined that I can throw away one of these in household trash. Hooray for me.

I've decided there are 3 home improvements I'd really like to do in the next 6 months:

1. Get a whole house generator.
2. Beef up my attic insulation.
3. Replace my warped wood garage door with a metal one.

The time to do these is while I'm working.

7 Responses to “Plenty of doings!”

  1. rob62521 Says:
    1509916477

    You have been quite busy!

    Fortunately we can take our CFL's to the local hardware store to be recycled.

  2. PatientSaver Says:
    1509916761

    Oh, thanks for mentioning that! I can call our local hardware store and see if they do anything like that.

  3. Dido Says:
    1509920708

    Wow, busy bee! I never manage to make my weekends productive in that way--my mind seems to need time for mind-wandering, reading, reflecting, planning, and daydreaming. At most, I do my laundry, run some errands like filling the car with gas and grocery shopping, do some batch cooking for the week, pay any necessary bills, and get out for a long walk. Anything other than that requires a 3-day weekend. I try to take a 3-day weekend at least once every 2 months if not monthly. But in the meantime, stuff accumulates and the house accumulates clutter, which I wrangle back down to acceptable levels once every 3 months or so. I'm impressed by someone who manages such productive use of their weekend time, but I know that I'd be much more stressed if I didn't hoard my weekends more to have time for mental rather than physical activity.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    1509926570

    Wow--you're a whirlwind! Home Depot will take our CFLs.

  5. Amber Says:
    1509929033

    Wow you were super busy. My fingers are crossed that the second round of the Frontline will work.

  6. PatientSaver Says:
    1509965929

    Thanks EnglishCastle. I'd forgotten abut Home Depot. I'll be bringing them there this weekend so i don't have to wait til spring. The smoke detectors are more of a hassle.

    Did, everything you described in your typical weekend is pretty much what mine is...with just a few extras squeezed in. Groceries, gas for the car, laundry, straightening up around the house, cooking. Believe me, I'd like nothing better than to have unstructured time with nothing to do, but I just feel I need to stay on top of things, cus no one else will do it for me!

  7. Dido Says:
    1510010591

    And what's the worst that can happen if you don't stay on top of things?

    If the car doesn't have gas, you won't be able to get to work, and that is important at the moment, so, high priority.

    If the groceries don't get bought, you will go hungry or go out to eat. Since you value eating healthily, high priority.

    Cooking...see above. Simplify with batch cooking. I use an Instant Pot and make a pot of soup (3 or 4 quarts) weekly. Most weeks I buy a 6-pack of organic chicken breasts and roast them, which takes less than half an hour in my countertop convection (Nu-Wave) oven. I also use this device to roast lots of veggies--usually a big bag of cauli-rice, which I buy pre-chopped, then maybe some green beans with a red pepper, summer squash with mushrooms and mix in spinach to wilt it at the end, etc. I also buy some of my veggies pre-chopped to save time--especially things like butternut squash which are hard and time consuming to chop myself. Yes it's more expensive, but I'm trying to cook mostly for myself and not spend more than 2-3 hours per week in the kitchen. When I cut back on work hours, I'll do less of the pre-cut veg. In winter I seed a dozen apples and cook them in the Instant Pot to make homemade applesauce fairly often. I cook a cup of steel-cut oats or grits or buckwheat at a time--one cup dry makes 3-4 breakfasts, so I do this about 2 mornings a week. Cans of tuna, "miracle noodles," and potatoes are in the pantry and frozen veg in the freezer for meals on the fly. Then I go out a couple of times a week for variety.

    If you don't do the laundry, you won't have clean clothes, but perhaps you have enough clothes to let this go occasionally. Underwear is most critical; many other clothes can be worn a second or even third time between washings when you work at an office job. When the clean underwear runs out, high priority, but not necessary every weekend. I do it every second or even third weekend--it's one of those chores that does well when you batch it with others.

    Straightening up around the house? If you don't have company over, then it's a matter of your own tolerance and values. If it's a choice between picking up and cleaning around the house OR having more time to read or socialize, I'm afraid my values are on the side of having time to enjoy myself. I have a house guest every summer and that's when I take a day off work and the house really gets cleaned. I probably spend 2-3 hours on a Sunday morning maybe once a quarter to clear off and clean the countertops, and things like vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, etc, are a matter of my tolerance for having things messy, which is fairly high. I'm a middle-aged woman who lives alone, how bad can it get? I'm nowhere near Hoarders, not even near the messes found on Clean Sweep. Yes, I'd feel a bit embarrassed if someone came in most days, but just moderately, and I know when people are coming over and can prepare for the most part. The one thing that I am strict about is making sure the dishes are washed--and food is only prepared in the kitchen and eaten at the dining room table. Dishes (and most days, making my bed) are the only "daily" chores, with a quick vacuum done every week or two because of the cat fur.

    No one else does things for me--which is why I daydream of hiring a housecleaner (but I need to declutter first!), and I do minimize and outsource the yard work. Time is a zero-sum game, and I'd rather have unstructured time than a clean house. Everybody's going to draw that line in a different place!

    Also when things really get busy there have been times that I have taken my laundry out to a service rather than do it myself and when I end up grabbing too many meals at the convenience store because I haven't had time to do a proper shop and cook, but that's only the occasional week here and there.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]