Sorting through clothes

Today I sorted through the younglings clothes cupboard. There was so much stuff packed in there that I had difficulty finding the clothes that I wanted to find.

I took everything out and I cleaned the cupboard before sorting through them and sorting out for charity the clothes that no longer fit them, finding a new home for the clothes that should not be there due to them taking up too much room and then neatly putting away the clothes that can go in there and that they wear on a day to day basis.

I am really proud of what I have managed to do this morning.

This is what it looked like before:

This is what it looked like after:

This is the pile of clothes that I had to sort through:

This is the pile of clothes that went to charity:

The living room

Today was the turn for me to work on decluttering the living room. It is one of the most used rooms in the flat so it get cluttered very easily and during the day the younglings toy gets scattered around.

My partner took the younglings to him mums house today and that gave me the peace that I needed. I moved the computer desks out and I cleaned under them. I was very happy to not discover any mouse poo. I had got rid of a family of mice recently and it was a good sign that there are no more in our home. There was only dust and a few toys there.

I also started clearing the sides of clutter and moved things to better places (I moved board games to my computer desk where I had cleared some space)

I am really looking forward to the time when the whole flat is organized and nice looking together.

Freshening the kitchen sink

Once a week boil the kettle and put the boiling water down the plug hole to freshen it up.

Unblocking pipes

To clear a pipe that is not flowing away very well use a cup of bicarbonate of soda with two cups of white vinegar. Leave to soak for at least an hour and then pour some boiling water down after.

Housework while not well

It was a challenge getting the housework done while not feeling well today.

I did not get much done at all until the afternoon as I have not been feeling good. I have just done what I can get done. Thankfully though I have now picked up so I was able to get something done. Not as much as I would have liked to have done.

My step daughters friend is staying over tonight so I have managed to clean my bedroom where they will be sleeping. It looks great again, it will also mean that when I next sleep in it the room will be nice and clean again. I really have enjoyed spending time in there now that it is tidy. It feels so much more relaxing and it has made me determined to keep it like that.

Hopefully it will not be too much longer before I can maintain the whole flat like that. It is not easy when there are so many people in a small space then I should manage well in a bigger home.

I did do one thing today though. I cleaned the toilet. that is one job that I really do not like doing. It was not looking good, so after something that I saw on How clean is your house I gave it a good scrub and it is smelling much better. There is still some limescale that will not shift but I will eventually get rid of it. The thing that I saw on the programme was them mentioning about how smells can come from under the bolts that keep the seat on. I them took the toilet seat off and gave it a good scrub. I also cleaned it with old toothbrushes.

Here are some tips that I saw on How clean is your house

Polishing silverware

You can use toothpaste to polish silver (not silver plated) You polish like you would normally do but with using toothpaste instead of polish. You do need to wash off the toothpaste afterward.

Cleaning tiles

With really dirty tiles you can clean them you can clean them by putting salt on the tiles and them putting lemon juice on a cloth and wiping the tiles.

The cleaning bug

It seems that the cleaning bug is catching. My twins have started joining in with the cleaning. It is really sweet to see them cleaning. I have to be careful and watch what they are doing but they are doing a good job It is nice to see them learning from what I have been learning.

Sortting through the clothes

This has been delayed but on the Saturday (19th) I decided that I would organize the wardrobe. I spent most of the day sorting through and getting it organized but it was worth it. It looks so much better now. Hopefully we will be able to keep it like this for a while. It makes it much easier to put way clothes and find them.

I have had to put some magazines back in the cupboard, but they are nearly placed on the floor and they will be easy to sort through and can get that done once the kitchen has been cleaned.

This is what it looked like before:

This is what it looks like now:

After sorting though that my bedroom was sadly a bit of a mess with things that needed to be sorted that had been taken out of the wardrobe. I did that today. It is nice to see the room looking nice and tidy again. I was enjoying getting used to it being tidy so I did not want to get used to it being cluttered again.

I did do something today that I was very pleased about. Because it has been really hot today I managed to get nearly two wash loads of clothed washed and dried. As I was bringing them in I was sorting them out and putting them away. I have not done that before and that is how the clothes mountain builds up. I am really proud that I managed to put the clothes away so quickly. It did not take me much time (much less time than having to sort out the big piles of clothes) I must work hard that I keep doing this as it was much better.

I am also pleased with my partner. I think he is getting inspired by my resolve to keep our home clean. He cleaned his desk cleared and cleaned today. Hopefully he is able to keep it clean.

Still clearing through the clutter

I had planned on really working on the kitchen, however plans can often change when something else happens. I have done a little work in the kitchen, but it really does need properly cleaning. I think I will be spending time in there before I go to bed. I have cut up a lemon, filled with salt and put in the fridge. I have just been to check it and it smells lovely and really fresh. The smell of proper lemon is great.

I spent some time in the morning working out in the shed working clearing the clutter. I managed to get rid of five black bags of garbage and filled my neighbors bucket (I discovered that there was only one bag in when I put it out, and while I tried to ask for permission to do this, the bucket was emptied this morning so it did not become a problem)

While there is still lots of stuff in the shed, it is ninety five percent of the clutter that we have got. So it is not going to happen over night (especially as I have not got the help like what they do in the programmes) though to be honest I do not think I would like to have the help, I think I need to sort through the clutter myself (I do ask my partner if I come across anything that is his as it would be wrong to get rid of anything of his without him knowing)

I am managing to maintain a clean bedroom though. I am very pleased about that. It is so nice to be in my bedroom. I have found myself spending more time in there that I ever did before. It feels so serene. It will be better once I have sorted out the wardrobe. That is my challenge for tomorrow.

I have learned more cleaning tips from How clean is your house today. I do wish that they would show the other cleaning programme that I like. I cannot remember the name but I will know it when I see it. I will have to find out to see if they are showing it.

Anyway back to the point:

Cleaning the bath

To get off stubborn stains.  Take two cups of biological washing powder and put in the bath and fill it. Ideally it should be left overnight and then use a nylon scourer to clean (Never use a metal scourer as it will damage the bath - if it is plastic) Afterwards rinse the bath off.

A more restful day

I have decided to have a bit more of a relaxing day. I have still been doing some jobs but I just have not taken on a big job, that will happen tomorrow when I tackle the kitchen again (I just do not seem to be able to keep that room tidy)

I did however manage to look through the shed and get rid of a couple of black bags of stuff. The buckets will get emptied tomorrow so I thought it was the best chance for me to do it. I was really pleased that I did that. There was nothing that I needed but I am tired of having clutter.

I have got some records that I need to get rid of. I might try and sell them first on E-Bay first before taking them to a shop. I will see about selling them for £1.

Another thing I did was clear out the cupboard in the bathroom. I can now fit all of the toilettes in there. The top was black with dust, but it looks so much nicer now. When my partner ran the bath later he could not find the bath stuff as he was not expecting it to be in the cupboard.

I was watching How clean is your house in the evening while I was cleaning the living room (I have to wait until the wee ones have gone to bed before I do so.

I have managed to get some useful tips from it:

Cleaning the washing machine

Put a cupful of white vinegar in the drum and then put the machine through a normal cycle to get it nice and sparkling.

Freshening the fridge

Get 1/2 a lemon and scoop out the fruit. Then fill the empty half with salt and put that in the fridge.

Freshening the room

Turn the light off at the wall before handling the light

Get some essential oil (one drop onto a cloth) and wipe onto the light bulb. You will get a nice smell every time you turn on the light.

Cleaning the bedroom

I have been meaning to clean my bedroom for ages but today I decided that I would actually do it. I shut myself away in the room in the afternoon and I managed to get it clean and it looks so much nicer. I still need to sort through the wardrobe but it is great to get something done.

This is what it looked like before:

This is what is looks like now:

I am really proud of what I have managed to achieve today. I just need to make sure that I maintain it as I know that it will be lovely to sleep in this bedroom. I am looking forward to getting it decorated as well. That should hopefully get done in September. My mum and dad are coming up to help us decorate the whole flat.

I have also found a funky looking website with some home craft projects to do. Once I have got the home sorted out I would love to get some of these done.

Craft at home

Decluttering like a woman possessed

I have been in the process of decluttering for years.

We have got lots of DVD's and many of them have not been watched for a long time. I am a member of Love film so I have started renting out DVD's instead of buying them. I think it is much better as there are things that I want to watch but after I have seen it I do not want to watch it again/

I decided today that I would go through the DVD's and get rid of a lot of the ones that not only had not been watched for a while but would be unlikely to be watch again. I managed to get a big pile of DVD's and it cleared out one the places that were used to store them. That place is now going to be used to store computer games.

This is the pile of DVD's that I have sorted out.

I have discovered something interesting today. I was making soup and I started cutting up the onion soon after I had got it out of the fridge. Part way through the job I noticed that my eyes were not watering as they normally do. In fact by the end my eyes were only stinging a little. That is much better than normal as they are normally streaming at that point. I will try it out again but it seems that cutting the onion when cold seems to work out much better.

This is the recipe that I used:

Onion and Lentil soup

Ingredients

500gm Lentils
1 onion
1 medium sized carrot
2 ltr water
Vegetable stock
2tsp yeast extract
Sunflower oil
Whatever herbs you would like to add.

Cooking instructions

1. Put the oil into a pan and cut up the carrot and the onion into small pieces. Cook until soft.
2. Add the vegetable stock to the water and add to the onions and carrots along with the lentils.
3. Add the herbs and simmer the soup until the soup is ready (I must confess that with this soup I do not time it but I just see when it is ready (the lentils will be soft and the color will change)
4. Add the yeast extract.

I make up a lot of soup. This will easily serve two adults and three children and still have lots left (I like to keep some for meals the next day) The recipe is easy to adapt to make less. Just reduce the amount of lentils, liquid and yeast extract.

This soup is the most popular of the soups that I have made. All of my younglings love it and my stepdaughter will eat it as well (she is very fussy)

The perfect housewife

When I was growing up I was never taught how to keep my room clean or much about home making. So I never learned about it. I have been for a large portion of my life been a messy mare.

Before I had my younglings it did not really matter, but now they are here it is very important to maintain a clean and well organized home. There are five of us in a two bedroom flat so it is especially important that I clear all of the clutter out as soon as possible. I know we have not got much space but if things are set up properly we can make the space work for us.

I have over the last few years been doing my best to learn how to be the perfect housewife (I really got told off by my twins health visitor after a home visit about the state of my home) I do not think I will do it by the book but I would like to find my own way of making things work.

Recently though I have been watching Anthea Turners perfect housewife and How clean is your house. It has inspired me to really finish of the job that I have been doing for a while. I have started looking through sites to find information on how I can make my job quicker and easier.

I have started this blog as a way of recording my progress as well as putting any useful tips, recipes and home crafts that I have find.