Friday - Catch Up

By Friday I am a bit over all this racing around getting things done and most of the time I am thinking "Yeay the end of the week." However it also means a day of catching up and getting things done.

It's rubbish day for us and every second Friday the recycling is collected as well. We are lucky in that we can burn all our paper rubbish either inside in the winter time or outside in the incinerate. We also burn all our tree trimmings and weeds that we don't want to compost. All our food scraps either go to our hens or into the compost bins as well as any grass clippings or ash from both fires. We recycle our plastic, paper that doesn't get burned, tins, aluminium and glass. Any clothes or items we don't want either get re-purposed, or if in good condition  given to someone or go to op shops. So come rubbish days we only put out the recycling bins every second week and a rubbish bag about once every two months!


So off to work like any other day, but Fridays are busy. There is the newsletter to finish and print off along with the "Whats on" window notice. Kitchen supplies need restocking and things that haven't been finished during the week need completing for Sunday.

Hoping no-one calls with other urgent needs I sometimes manage to get everything done by 12 mid-day but most Fridays I can be there well into the afternoon.

I do enjoy my work and feel like I have had a good week when I leave with my desk clear and know there is nothing waiting for me to finish sorting on Monday as there will be a new amount of tasks by then.

Once back home I will get on with any basic housework (washing, dishes - that sort of thing and give the living areas a quick vacuum just to make it look tidy for the weekend.

I will also check to see if there are any tasks that really need to be done, that I either didn't get done on the day during the week that they are rostered on to do, or if they really don't need to be done. I also attend to anything I may be procrastinating about.
You know, making dentist appointments or paying a bill; making a phone call about something or doing a task that just has to be done but you would rather it just went away on its own accord!

Starting the weekend with those little things annoyingly coming to your mind all the time, because you know they have to be done, but you have put them off - again - does not make for a restful and fun weekend.

And nine times out of ten once they are done you wonder why you kept putting it off in the first place! Then you declare that you will never let that demand fester away in you again, and with all good intentions you believe you wont let it, but before you know it - there it is again. If you have started down that road of 'good intentions' and don't really put anything in place to help you be honest and stick to what you want, you end up digging yourself into a slippery hole of  self loathing.

So for me I make Fridays my Catch Up Day so I break the habit!

This quote from scripture may not be about what I have talked about, but it certainly says to get on and sort things out and don't let what you may have said or allowed to happen come back and "bite you" so to speak!

Proverbs 6 - Warnings Against Folly

1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

    if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

2 you have been trapped by what you said,

    ensnared by the words of your mouth.

3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,

    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:

Go—to the point of exhaustion—

    and give your neighbor no rest!

4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,

    no slumber to your eyelids.

5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;

    consider its ways and be wise!

7 It has no commander,

    no overseer or ruler,

8 yet it stores its provisions in summer

    and gathers its food at harvest.

New International Version 

Thursday - Treat Day

So, I try to stick to a healthy diet and it means I don't eat a lot of baking, lollies etc but Thursday's became my treat day.

Every Thursday during the school term we have Mainly Music at Church which is a time of music
and movement for preschoolers and their parent or guardian. They come to the hall and after being greeted and given name tags and a mark on their card, the programme commences with songs shown on a power point and they are invited to sing and move with the actions and sometimes props. The adults who bring/come with the preschoolers are encouraged to join in and participate. After half an hour the children have morning tea and then play under supervision while the adults get a home cooked morning tea and are encouraged to sit and chat with each other.

I tend to come in for the morning tea (and the home baking) and help where needed, maybe in the kitchen, chatting or doing some errands.

The first treat.

While Harry was still working I used to go and meet him for lunch every Thursday and we would go to Ronnie's Cafe in Matamata. It was somewhere he would like to eat at and as from very early on, he found his job hard  (but stayed there for ten years) this was for him. We would always have a flat white and Harry would have three crab sticks with chips and maybe a chocolate leamington. I would spend ages trying to find something healthy but because it was a sort of standard bulk cafe style food I would have to just choose something usually a bit stodgy but at least something I would enjoy.

The second treat.

The next treat was not really for me. But it was for my plants.

I collect all my indoor plants and give them a soak in the kitchen sink filling it to the brim once I  arrange them so they all fit in! They soak for about half an hour and then I pull the plug letting all the water drain away. At the same time I remove any dead leaves and check for bugs or anything then they all get put back.

I soak the deck plants as well in a large bucket, taking them out and letting them drain in a low tub so they don't leak all over the firewood under the deck.

The third treat.

When that is finished the deck gets a good sweep and tidy up. The plant soaking takes a while so I use this time to do the ironing in between swapping the plants around.

If Harry is not inside I will also have a favourite CD playing.

The fourth treat.

As I am our church's Session Clerk/Parish Secretary, once a month I prepare for and attend the Councils meetings and they are always on a Thursday evening. I must admit I can't really say that that is a treat!

But
I get to take a day off in lieu
So

The fifth treat.

They may not be big things for some but for me they are the little things that make up a good day!

Wednesday - Kitchen Tidy

Well Sue as promised I will finish my week at a glance….

My kitchen before the clean

So Wednesdays are, what I call (echoes of Miranda there!) kitchen tidy days. No it’s not the rubbish, that’s Fridays; it’s when I spend an hour in the kitchen giving it a good spruce up. If it’s not already done, I remove all the dishes from the bench and sink and put them in the dishwasher. Filling the sink with hot soapy water I scoop out some of this in a cup and put it in the microwave. I heat it on high for about two minutes (sometimes it explodes in there!) and then let it ‘steam’ for a bit. Then I take it out and give the sides, roof, turntable and lastly the outside a good wipe.

Next is the fridge. Starting at the top, I wipe every shelf, one at a time, moving items from each shelf and biffing any ‘science projects’ – you know those things that are growing and you have no idea what they were originally. Actually now that I do this once a week there aren’t really any but there used to be before I got into this routine. The vege-bins get taken out and have a wash in the sink. Then the door shelves get cleaned last. Its surprising the dirt that sits in there where the milk containers go

Because of the plan of my kitchen the next thing I do is the stove. I take out the element supports and trays that go under them and soak them in the sink for a few minutes. They get a good scrub and get put in the dishwasher. I also put my dish scrubber in as well and by this stage I’m ready to set it off. I use homemade cleaning products so I spray and wipe down the stove top with my surface cleaner

By now the sink water is past its best so I empty it giving the sink a good wipe around as it empties and then re fill the sink again with hot soapy water. With a clean cloth I wipe down the whole bench moving items out from their spot as I work from one side to the other but not taking everything off at once. As I go I will wipe down the jug, toaster and other appliances and dispose or put away items that just shouldn’t be there. I take this opportunity to give the wooden shopping boards a scrub with the scourer and then rub a little cooking oil into them.

I keep an old tooth brush under the sink and use this to give the taps (the joins in the piping and where they come out of the bench) and all around them a scrub then shine them with a cloth. When I have emptied the sink the second time I scrub the plug hole with the toothbrush as well.

We keep our food scraps in a bucket in the cupboard under the sink (the go into our compost rather than the rubbish) so that part of our cupboards gets a good clean before I empty the sink again giving it a scrub.

When the dish washer is finished, I unpack it and then remove the filter system at the bottom and wash all of that. It can be quite gunky with food scraps and sort of wet fluff, so not a pleasant task, but great to know its clean when it’s finished. The door and seals get a scrub with a cloth. I don't use a commercial dishwasher cleaner but every now and again I run a wash with the machine empty but have  a sprinkle of baking soda all around and I always use white vinegar in the rinse aide part. As the sink empties again I give it another good wipe around and then actually dry it so it’s clean and shiny.
All the cloths, towels, my oven cloth and apron get put out to be washed even if they have been replaced recently and I set out clean ones.

Kitchen after clean

So now the kitchen is clean and tidy.













Today, being a few months later (than when I first started this week for you Sue) we are into the feijoa season, so I spent time gathering the fallen feijoas and bagging some up to leave out at the gate. We have done this for the past couple of years and people just help themselves to the bags. I am pleased that people take them rather than have them rot on the ground as there are always far too much for our family to get through.

I also prefer to gather my own so I get to keep the ones I like and also not have people walk all over them.