Gobnait takes photos

[Gobnait]

So I have soft goals of getting the house clean enough to really live in and limiting screen time.  Right now, I'm spending all of my time uselessly wandering the internet because I can't stand being here, but the feeling intensifies after I've been somewhere and come back.

 

Some of the decluttering and organizing is up to hubby, so I'm not going for a firm milestone in progress.

 

What I do want to do is really documenting how much effort I'm putting into what I can do and post it on tumblr.  Password is: ilovenerds  The old stuff really shows how the house has been worse.

 

The text part of my check-in will be here.

 

A rough guideline is that I should snap pics of the kitchen and any other room I plan to work on in the morning, and again when I'm finished cleaning.  I think every room downstairs should get at least one snapshot a week.  (Skipping the bedroom and the bathroom since there's no space to really get messy besides a few stray blankets.)  The upstairs only needs to be documented if I'm working on it or manage to build the "fun" area.

 

For the limiting screen time, I'm talking about not sitting down at the computer, especially before breakfast or getting something done.  I can use my tablet to grab morning pictures, my phone to get the tv going, and the kindle if I'm up for reading.  Otherwise, there's really only one thing that's important enough to turn my screen on first thing, and I haven't been writing lately.

 

 

 

[fffffinn]

Hey! I like the decluttering thing you got going on. I've lurked on the druids forum for some time and I think this is an ongoing thing, no? Hope you get this beast in leash this time around. P.S. I noticed you gave the password for the tumblr thang but am I supposed to give an email address as well? I'm confused. Should I have a tumblr account… :/

 

Anyways - hope the best for your challenge. I like the overall theme of it. It's like before-after photos, but only with rooms.

[Gobnait]

Today I've decided to hyper-focus on the kitchen since its almost-clean state was inviting and I need to deal with all the meat I've been over-buying.  I had bought chicken and cheap steak in family packs, I managed to leave two pieces from each whole for the freezer, got the rest creatively cut up.  Then I started tearing apart the ham.  Most of it's getting chunked for soups, but one part will slice nicely now that I pulled it away from the bone. 

 

Hopefully once I've gotten dinner cooked, we can survive long enough by eating leftovers and pre-prepared stuff to work through the weekend without impacting the kitchen too much.

 

Break

 

And I gave up on the day... got chicken-fingers ready for dinner, spent all day after the break doing onlining except for that, and I made the blandest breaded chicken possible without using a meat-grinder or resorting to pink slime.  (Basically I dumped two leftover eggwhites in a dish of sliced raw chicken, dunked the chicken in unspiced breadcrumbs... I should have oiled the dish or put parchment down.)

 

I hang out on fat reddit for some bizarre reason and managed to find a really balanced story that makes me understand their dividing line... https://www.reddit.com/r/fatpeoplestories/comments/257jnr/chibiham_juicy_me_the_aftertaste_ending/ Basically they term anyone in the fat range that is willing to struggle out as "going to make it."  Mostly they mock people that are jerks in relation to their weight, but there is occasional stories that are too positive for the mold there.

 

I complained about the cat putting clawmarks in my chair, but I can't get too mad since I stuck it in the other room and she's been allowed to damage other furniture.  Hubby offered to clean the castors for me, and I phrased it, "You don't have to, but if you're willing, I'd be grateful."  I've been sitting on the backless remains of my old chair, and it's not bad except I tried to lean back at one point.

[Gobnait]

Hey! I like the decluttering thing you got going on. I've lurked on the druids forum for some time and I think this is an ongoing thing, no? Hope you get this beast in leash this time around. P.S. I noticed you gave the password for the tumblr thang but am I supposed to give an email address as well? I'm confused. Should I have a tumblr account… :/

 

Anyways - hope the best for your challenge. I like the overall theme of it. It's like before-after photos, but only with rooms.

 

Hmmm, I guess only account-holders can access password-protected blogs?  I'll look into it more later.

 

 

This is what an upstairs room looks like.

[Silverwitch]

I couldn't access the tumblr thing either...

 

The picture of the upstairs room reminds me of some corners in our basement. Sometimes, it looks disheartening at first, but I believe that by the end of this challenge, you will happily look at spaceous clean rooms and feel the nice absence of mess also in your mind.

You can do this!

[Gobnait]

Alright, I've turned off the password protection for a while.  I'm also going to have to make a better note-taking system on my photos, whether it was before or after making an effort, how long ago it  was clean.  (One of the photos had hubby's apple-core sitting on the cutting board, I scooped it off after the photo.  I didn't have to take a snippy tone with him, I just simply told him that he did it and I took care of it and it was enough satisfaction.)

 

I tried the new game that hubby installed on my computer, some sort of survival sim.  He put some old paint cans in the back of the car and managed to push me into going to the hazmat site two hours later... this was supposed to be a working morning, but he was surprised that ten arrived without him noticing.

 

On the way back from the hazmat site, I was going to hit Walmart, but then I noticed that I was near that library that had the hoarding book I wanted, then I ended up doing the last errand next.  I swung by Walmart, but decided it was too crowded.

 

I got some of the ham taken care of and into the freezer.  I took the chicken breast that I had partially sliced into layers and stuffed ham into it.  The rest was beef bits wrapped in foil and a sweet potato.  I also made real mac&cheese, but that's going into the oven tomorrow.  (Basically cheese sauce and cooked pasta loaded into a casserole.

 

I cycled the dishwasher, but I really need to do it again, and scrub the kitchen. 

 

Halloween... I distinctly remember that our porch light was burned out since last year... I suppose I could have fixed the bulb and handed out year-old candy.  I'm not the only party-pooper on the block.

 

I tried to say something on more people's posts, but I wasn't up to it.  Ironically it was introvert advice.

[LittleTurtle]

Hmmm, I guess only account-holders can access password-protected blogs?  I'll look into it more later.

 

 

This is what an upstairs room looks like.

This gets my organizational juices flowing!  

[Gobnait]

I didn't do much today; hubby managed to do more.

 

I forget when I was awake, but I ended up going back to bed after some time sitting at the computer.  When I woke up again, hubby was still lying in bed but awake.  He asked if I wanted pancakes for breakfast and I agreed.  I managed to quickly get the dishwasher empty before he got up and started breakfast.  (I know it makes me less upset about a dirty counter if I have a place to set the mess.)  I would've had time to make tea or get some stuff out of the way if I hadn't wandered to the computer first.

 

I took off for Walmart before I got anything else done, spent longer than I intended.  I almost bought another turkey, but I'll be lucky to get the one pressure-canned.  I bought junk, milk and apples, and another 10-pack of banker's boxes.  (I hope that I'll have at least 8 flat boxes at the end of this, but they are convenient in the meantime.)  (I spent maybe a half of a minute upset that I didn't look at the desserts because I had wanted a little something.) I had an idea to use a hanging file tote for my busy-box, but I won't buy a special one until I test it with less-ideal boxes and I might find a more-ideal box elsewhere.

 

While I was gone, hubby loaded the dishwasher and made bread.  I thanked him, but I have yet to unload the dishwasher.

 

The corner of hubby's office that I wanted him to clean... He told me to take care of what was mine.  Basically I pulled out a table that I want back in if there is room, a laundry basket that drifted away from being his uniforms, and I managed to drag the table leaf upstairs.  https://assets.dutchcrafters.com/product_images/pid_45220-Amish-Split-Pedestal-Dining-Table-Amish-Furniture-401.jpg The mess is stuff that I dragged from downstairs for him to go through, though I may have forgotten to tell him about that part.  There is still stuff on the shelves that I won't remove until he asks or I have a better use for the spot.

 

He did clean the upstairs room that LittleTurtle quoted, and the new banker's boxes helped.  He still needs to go through it, but it's contained.  Now I can work a bit more without being so afraid of losing things because the thing is in a box.

 

All the clothing is not in the hamper or the washer or the dryer.  I have some half-dirty stuff that I need to figure out how to deal with.  There is a lot of clean clothing in laundry baskets still, but most of it should be easy to put away.  (The towels might be a problem, future project is getting some donated to the SPCA thrift.  Either they'll be sold or used as bedding.) 

 

I got sheets washed but not the blankets.  I blame the cat for that because she was annoyed enough that I dare stop acting as a heating pad when I did, nevermind moving her.  She woke up while I was shopping and really made a fuss, and was still complaining after I got home.

 

I wanted a food processor and a new rice-cooker.  I forgot to look at those at Walmart, but that's okay because I've got a better choice of stores for small appliances.

 

I decided to try "cart judging" but I was so self-conscious I was only glancing and not really getting complete pictures.  What I did catch was mostly healthy stuff.  (Little old lady had a box of cupcakes in a sparse cart.)

 

Tomorrow, I want to get the laundry to not be a problem and the kitchen scrubbed and dinner made.  (I could probably get away with leftovers.)

 

I'll load fresh pictures tomorrow.  The only one I got right now is the couch under impressive amounts of clean laundry.

[Gobnait]

This is what happens when I don't kitchen every day, especially when I don't do a complete job on previous days.

Also, I need to stop taking panoramic photos indoors because lazy methods produce horrible results.

 

I unloaded the dishwasher, cycled it twice, and I think I'm finally loading it without needing to run it until tomorrow.

 

I futzed with hubby's office, it's mostly on him now.  (I do need to work on the bookcases.)

 

I really should get laundry out of the baskets.  I didn't do anything in the living room, but hubby thought I had.

 

Dinner was leftovers and I didn't cook anything, but I should slice up the rest of the ham, chop onions, and get the fresh green beans ready for the pot.  Wednesday should be quiche, so I can just cook a little bit tomorrow if I slice things now.  Or I could do that tomorrow morning if I don't want to go anywhere.  (We're running out of CO2 for the soda stream.)

 

Sometime this week, I should go through and find more people to follow, say hello, and make sure I'm following and said hello to anyone who's following me or responded to the junk thread.

 

At least I got bored with the survival sim already.

[Silverwitch]

Hm, looks actually like a very nice kitchen! Judhing by the picure, I think it would be two hours max of work, and it would be done.

 

My kitchen gets "attacked" with a certain system: food gets packed away first. Then collect dishes, sort into those that go in the dishwasher and those that do not, get dishwasher started. Clean oven, wipe counters, do handwash dishes (I like to have clean counters first to have room to set them down somewhere). Put dishes away -- and happily walk away from scene.

Oh, sometimes I breathe down my husband's neck, to get HIM to do something in there.

 

Concerning food, I sometimes tend to over-buy too., which is bad, because if I can't get it all somehow used or freezed on the weekend, it is bound to spoil due to lack of time. I hate when that happens.

Isn't the fact that the laundry in the baskets is clean, a very inviting one? I love the smell of fresh laundry, and like to touch it. Husband benefits from this, because I don't mind putting it away.

 

Does it help you to write out plans of attack? As in meal plan for one week, chores to be done?

I made a plan for my husband, and he likes it because it is not a very tight schedule, but still leaves him with the feeling of getting stuff done.

[Gobnait]

Hm, looks actually like a very nice kitchen! Judhing by the picure, I think it would be two hours max of work, and it would be done.

 

My kitchen gets "attacked" with a certain system: food gets packed away first. Then collect dishes, sort into those that go in the dishwasher and those that do not, get dishwasher started. Clean oven, wipe counters, do handwash dishes (I like to have clean counters first to have room to set them down somewhere). Put dishes away -- and happily walk away from scene.

Oh, sometimes I breathe down my husband's neck, to get HIM to do something in there.

 

Concerning food, I sometimes tend to over-buy too., which is bad, because if I can't get it all somehow used or freezed on the weekend, it is bound to spoil due to lack of time. I hate when that happens.

Isn't the fact that the laundry in the baskets is clean, a very inviting one? I love the smell of fresh laundry, and like to touch it. Husband benefits from this, because I don't mind putting it away.

 

Does it help you to write out plans of attack? As in meal plan for one week, chores to be done?

I made a plan for my husband, and he likes it because it is not a very tight schedule, but still leaves him with the feeling of getting stuff done.

 

I don't remember how long it took me... probably too long since I rely on the dishwasher.  Our first apartment together didn't have a dishwasher.  Things got out of hand because hubby was just my boyfriend roomie at the time and we were splitting chores somewhat equally.  He wouldn't do his share, so I wouldn't do mine until it got out of hand.

 

I think keeping up with emptying the dishwasher is the biggest step in keeping up with the whole kitchen.  It gives me a place to set the dirties, which gets them out of the way.  I just need to get less fussy about hand-washing things.  (Other than the wooden cutting boards and the nice knives, hubby seems to be the only one who goes after hand-wash-only dishes.)  I think my biggest pitfall is that I have trouble putting dishes away, and when my mom comes, I'm going to tear apart the cabinets and have her help me with putting them back together.

 

A plan of attack helps a bit, but is also frustrating to just hit the "good enough" point and getting too tired to do the rest until that becomes survival mode.

 

I got the rest of the ham cut up and frozen, there's a bit of scraps left that I'll hopefully use for something soon.  I cut up an onion, half for tonight, half for tomorrow.  I snapped green beans, I threw half away because I was tired of worrying about them and they were going soft.  The beef for tonight was something that I sliced up last week.  Technically I prepared tonight's dinner because meat=meat.

 

Other than milk, eggs, mushrooms, onions, carrots, undressed coleslaw, and ham trimmings, I don't think anything is actively rotting in my fridge.  Oh right, the rest of the cheeses will get used, but I have to figure out how to deal with the feta by December.  And the roma tomatoes... The quiche is going to be roma mushroom feta.  Then I guess it's lentils or dried peas or pinto beans with the rendered ham broth, and some frozen cooked chicken leftover from the summer.  Hopefully I'll pull out the meatloaf before the taco meat or convenience food.  I pretty sure we have non-orzo pasta... I shouldn't have to think about cooking right after dinner.

 

Fresh laundry smell... since I didn't know what brand my mom bought when I was a kid, and I hated the smell of certain used clothes, I just bought scent-free laundry detergent from the start.  (Hubby developed a sensitivity later.)  I've never seen the point of dryer sheets or fabric softener.  Clean laundry is just a lack of dirty.  If it does smell like anything, it's sour because the dryer can't do 100%.  I got some of the laundry poked at, I just have no idea what to do with his pants right now.

 

I poked at a bookcase yesterday and decided that I need to partially read all the non-fiction and then read all the fiction that isn't hubby's.  I have a book that I bought through Amazon used for probably shipping, it has a 25 cent tag on it, and I can tell that it's never been opened by anyone because the spine isn't cracked.  A book collection is one thing, but these need to be somewhat useful books.  Four feet of cookbooks is plenty for someone who mostly throws stuff at the stove and hopes for the best.

[LittleTurtle]

You need to post "after" pictures too!  

[Gobnait]

You need to post "after" pictures too!  

 

Yep.  There just is no "after" except for that upstairs part that hubby did.  The narrow window between "this is as much as I'm going to get done today" and getting messed up again is so narrow that I miss it.  (I think I recently got a lot done predawn, sat down to read comics, and it was a mess an hour later.)

 

I'm tired now, so I'll see if I can get something early tomorrow morning.  (Just gotta load some things into the dishwasher, it's mostly empty so it should be easy.)

[Gobnait]

Some good advice from Jakkals. http://ittybiz.com/strategy-and-planning/

 

I woke up about 3:am and got the dishwasher loaded and started.  It's weird stuff that requires thought to put away, and I'm not looking forward to it.

&

 

I'm thinking quiche tonight.  (Frozen pie shell, pre-sliced mushrooms, I chopped half an onion already, just need to do tomotoes and cook it.)  And lentil or pea soup for tomorrow with some cooked chicken legs that I froze a few months ago.

 

But first I'm going to wait an hour for the store to open and get more CO2.

[Balsquith]

I am also battling a constant buildup of clutter. In the kitchen I have had at least partial success by setting some rules about where the clutter can go, so that it at least doesn't take over the whole place. My first key realisation is that when dirty dishes start going into both sinks, then it is a much bigger task to start washing up compared to if they are only ever allowed to go in the left-hand sink, leaving the right-hand always free. I know that you are a dish-washer person, but could you set some rules for where things get put after they are used so that the clutter only affects certain areas.

 

This comes from someone who is a decluttering novice and clutter making expert, so I'm not sure if it contains anything particularly helpful.

 

The kitchen in your last photo looks lovely and tidy so you are clearly good at this already

[Gobnait]

I am also battling a constant buildup of clutter. In the kitchen I have had at least partial success by setting some rules about where the clutter can go, so that it at least doesn't take over the whole place. My first key realisation is that when dirty dishes start going into both sinks, then it is a much bigger task to start washing up compared to if they are only ever allowed to go in the left-hand sink, leaving the right-hand always free. I know that you are a dish-washer person, but could you set some rules for where things get put after they are used so that the clutter only affects certain areas.

 

This comes from someone who is a decluttering novice and clutter making expert, so I'm not sure if it contains anything particularly helpful.

 

The kitchen in your last photo looks lovely and tidy so you are clearly good at this already

 

Well, when we moved in, I was going to have one counter for dirty dishes, but it's where the blender and coffee-accessories are, so things get plunked down in the middle of the work surface.  (I think in the previous house, all the counters were useless and I just used the table.)  I think that things getting plunked in my work area is fine a long as I keep the dishwasher cycling fast enough.

 

So I was waiting for the store to open, and I decided to get the dishwasher emptied... it was dreadful but it only took ten minutes.

 

I need another car totem.  Most car totems are BS, but I need one that will either clip to my keys or use my gearshift as a butt-plug.  My car doesn't ding when I leave the lights on, so I needed to be jumped again.  (Fortunately I insisted that the cables be stored in my trunk after the first time.)

 

Other than making pea soup and finding some chicken legs in the freezer, I didn't do anything useful.

[Silverwitch]

Hey, you do get it done! The after-pic shows that clearly.

I'd give the oven a good scouring - makes it much more fun using it.

 

It seems that the diswasher is one of they key pieces to keep the kitchen tidy. So cycling and emptying it at a regular basis should be a priority.

How about putting stuff immediately in the dishwasher instead of waiting to let it pile up and then load it? If stuff crops up, unload dishwasher, put stuff in. Sim ilar at my place, I had to explain to my husband how certain occurences are interconnected.

Now I just have to convince him that it is neither necessary nor sustainable to cycle the dishwasher with just two pots and one glass in it...  

[Gobnait]

Hey, you do get it done! The after-pic shows that clearly.

I'd give the oven a good scouring - makes it much more fun using it.

 

It seems that the diswasher is one of they key pieces to keep the kitchen tidy. So cycling and emptying it at a regular basis should be a priority.

How about putting stuff immediately in the dishwasher instead of waiting to let it pile up and then load it? If stuff crops up, unload dishwasher, put stuff in. Sim ilar at my place, I had to explain to my husband how certain occurences are interconnected.

Now I just have to convince him that it is neither necessary nor sustainable to cycle the dishwasher with just two pots and one glass in it...  

 

Heh, checking in here first-thing actually had some benefit.  I woke up about five, hubby's alarm was for about six.  I managed to get the dishwasher loaded before he got up, and it'll need to be run again tonight even if it's not completely full, but that just means I'll have room for the frying pan.  Other than glasses, I don't want to load things completely as I go because I have a few different loading patterns depending on what's dirty.

 

Target sold me some empty soda stream bottles.  They'd better not give me any trouble about getting a refund.

[LittleTurtle]

Looking goooooood!  

[Gobnait]

Target gave me my money back and about $6 worth of coupons.  I got gas and shopped at the NEX for a food processor.  I should have gotten the rice-cooker there because it's the cheapest even though the other one got squirrely after 6 months.  Then I got my CO2 bottles at Walmar and got overwhelmed at food-processor choices. 

 

I have a new song to love to death. https://youtu.be/AvLJTmu248g

 

Random link that might come in handy to someone... http://www.diycouturier.com/post/47249603128/21-tips-to-keep-your-shit-together-when-youre

 

I didn't get the quiche started early enough, so we had this frozen dinner with complicated instructions.  I had room to add cabbage, and rice was a natural side-dish..... Now I need to scrub the microwave, I wish we had kept the larger one.  (We had hubby's college microwave, a hand-me-down from a friend, and one as a marriage gift.  We kept the marriage gift, gave the hand-me-down to the brother going to college, and I think his good microwave that could do rice is still in my mom's garage.)  And we have a quiche for tomorrow's dinner.

 

I need to decide what to cook for the weekend... I have my heart set on getting the front fifth of the garage clean, so it's probably going to be pizza delivery unless I get meatloaf or stew prepared tomorrow.

 

Hubby whined at me because I started hanging his shirts up... his pants were still in the laundry basket, and he got confused about how I had managed to do just the pants of his uniforms.

[Gobnait]

I don't think I did anything except futzing with the bookshelves.  I whined at hubby that I didn't feel like cooking and that dinner was his problem.  (He knows that there is a quiche in the fridge, so we had some fun about it.) 

 

He was trimming a sapling by the driveway, and I pointed out that we should have the power company get the higher branches... I somewhat helped him get the top off and he's planning to just cut down the rest later.

 

I had rinsed the sand for my fishtank earlier this week, hopefully I lost enough of the lighter particles that they'll stop clogging the filter.  Today I started filling the 35 again.  (I have two minnows in a 5-gal.  I hate them and they hate me.)  Hopefully I can get some goldfish in the 35 because they like to interact with the one who feeds them.

 

This is what the kitchen looks like when I clean it before cooking dinner and then let it sit for all of the following day.  It didn't even feel like it took very long to get the dishes tidied into the machine.

[Gobnait]

I found myself not knowing what to do except start cooking food for tomorrow.

 

Frozen beef bones are in the crock-pot.  A very small container of moussaka base is thawing on the counter.  There is a little quiche left, and another packet of complicated instant stir-fry.  I should chop carrots and an onion.

 

Hubby is sick again.  I kinda wrote today off as a rest-day since the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.  I really want to do something to the garage, but I know that I can't do it without backup.  I didn't catch his last cold as far as I can tell, I've just been in a general malaise for a good while.  (I did have periods of nice mucus-flow.)

[Gobnait]

Cleaning out the garage together... we don't really fight, we just get tense about a situation and yield at enough weak points that it works out without exploding.  The garage isn't clean, but we got it good enough so that poking at it in fits and bursts is possible.  He's sick, and I sound like I'm catching it, so getting that to that and quitting as quickly as possible was good.

 

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and hubby was already lying in bed awake, so he told me that I could turn on the light.  He asked me to go to the drugstore later, and I questioned "why not now?"  I got dressed and decided to hit the grocery store.  (I love shopping pre-dawn, though it does get a bit weird since I buy so much in one trip.)  Over $100 dollars, though eight of that was easily blamable on no breakfast.  Coffee, cat food, cold medicine... halloween cupcake liners... a big bag of produce...

 

The kitchen situation went from not needing to do anything to a complete mess with no forks available.

[Gobnait]

I've pretty much got the kitchen damage-controlled, just loading the dishwasher before dinner so I had room to work.  I put the frying pan in today, but last night's plates wouldn't fit because of blender, cat-plates, and a backlog of lids.  (The flip-down prongs in the back had to stay down because of the crock-pot.)

 

I don't feel sick, but I also don't want to do anything.  Nose is a bit runny but it's intermittent, throat feels fine, I just can barely function well enough to chop veggies for dinner.  (Made guacamole and started taco meat.)

 

I forgot to buy flour, but that's okay.  We have about a pound of bleached stuff, a bit of the light whole-wheat, and plenty of "weird" stuff like buckwheat, barley, and rye.  (Hmmm, buckwheat waffles don't sound too bad if I drench it in enough of that stupid frozen fruit that's taking up freezer space.)

 

I noticed that the upright freezer had a collapsed shelf that was pushing against the door, I did just enough to fix the upright and realize that I have a problem with freezer stuff.

 

Tonight was porkchops, cabbage, canned beets, baked potato, and some mini-pies I found in the freezer.  I don't like beets, but fortunately hubby does.  

 

I gotta unload the dishwasher first thing tomorrow.

[Gobnait]

I did not unload the dishwasher yet... kitchen is working on being trashed again.

 

I've got a sore throat, and the lack of motivation is really lingering.  At least I don't have anything that needs dayquil.  I spent the day looking up how to make temari and I found some good videos.  I can't figure out how to make thread thimbles though.

 

Today would have been a good day to write down a list of the hobbies I want to collect.  I'm not actively doing any now, though I do have the mats for a lot of them.  (Fortunately, half of my hobbies are so similar that covering all of them doesn't take up much room.)