Will This Work For Me?

Sometimes I tune in to one of Joshua Becker's minimalism videos. He seems a very nice guy, and genuine in his approach. And he certainly practices what he preaches in terms of being generous with his resources. His main premise is that if we have too many possessions they can be a burden to us, and stop us living to the best of our ability*. This little video could easily be included in Michael Mosley's "Just One Thing" list. Joshua explains how the "one less" habit can help reduce clutter gently but effectively. I may try his idea this autumn and see if it works for me.

*JB is an enthusiastic Christian, and elsewhere speaks about how having a faith in Jesus helps him to 'live, and to live abundantly' 

Do Small Things With Great Love...

Mother Theresa has been credited with this quote. I love the fact that the 'rope' thrown out by the bear and mouse to help their friend rabbit back to shore is strung with hearts.

In these days of 'instant gratification' [Order online now and it will be with you within hours...] it is good to remind ourselves that some things take time, love and patience. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step [Personally, I'd struggle with 500 miles, and then 500 more, but I would be do it, if it got me to my beloved] 
I was thinking of the goals we set ourselves [major and minor] which may need a lot of little steps

• learning a new language or skill
• tidying and decluttering the home
• restoring broken relationships
• making a patchwork quilt
• teaching a child to read, swim, cycle
• reading a difficult book
• building a good community
• creating a lovely garden
• adapting after a 'life-event' [moving, childbirth, job-loss, aging, bereavement etc]

This month's calendar picture encourages me. It reminds me

• I'm not doing this alone, friends**, family and faith are there to help
• I don't need to be quick, I can go at my own pace
• Some steps will be small and easy, others may challenge and stretch me
• I need to slow down sometimes, and wait patiently for others to catch up

**September marks the birthday of my friend Christine, who generously gives me The Painted Bear Calendar every year for Christmas, it is a year round gift. Thank you Christine for being there on my journey with me for so many years now. 

 

Is There Life After Housework?

I read this book back in the 80s. Three things I recall

1. Use a squeegee after every shower, it will keep the glass and walls sparkling [at the time I did not have a shower - but in the years since, I have stuck rigidly to this habit - it works
2. When mopping the floor, keep clean water and wrung out dirty water in two different buckets. I use a pad type mop, and have a clean dry pad for drying and finishing off, rather than wringing out the dirty pad. 
3. I did not like his "life's too short" model - with frequent use of single use disposables, both for cleaning and decor. [Especially "don't put all the Christmas stuff back in store, ditch and and buy new next December"] What about saving the planet, Don?
   However, about the same time I read the book, I often walked the girls home from school along with another mum and daughter. One Friday she said "I feel so guilty, I haven't washed down the skirting boards this week"  I cheerfully responded "Don't worry, I haven't done mine for well over a fortnight, and the world hasn't ended!"  [truth be told, I couldn't actually remember when I'd last done it, it may have been after the flying chocolate mousse incident the previous autumn...I was a busy and stressed Mum back then] 

The more I think back to those sunny days, making models, visiting NT properties, climbing over the cannons at the Maritime Museum, enjoying Holiday Clubs and Pancake Parties, the more I realise Mr Aslett was wrong. The question ought to be "Have you enjoyed life before the housework?" 
Obviously there are some chores which happen as part of the daily routine. Habits like pulling out the wheelie bin on Wednesday. loading the dishwasher after the meal, dropping dirty clothes straight in the bin as you take them off, squeegeeing the shower before you get out and dry yourself, putting the milk jug back in the fridge promptly - especially in hot weather...

But the sun's shining and you want to go for a walk, take the grandchildren somewhere fun, or attend a free organ concert in the Church - so forget washing down the skirting or re-organising the sock drawer! 

Another Mum I knew back then said that she had never seen her mother do housework. Cooking and clearing up meals yes - but cleaning, washing, ironing - Mum did all those other tasks once the three children had gone to bed. I couldn't get my head round that - didn't vacuuming keep them awake? If she ran the washing machine at night, when and how did she get the laundry dry? 

According to a survey two years before the pandemic, the average British woman spends 2 hours a day on household chores, and men a little less than that [i.e. a total of 14 hours a week] . I couldn't find out if the 2 hours included meal prep&clearing. If it does, then that seems about right for us. In retirement it is easier to share out the jobs [and he is a better cook than I] Many working women, like my daughters are well organised, busy juggling family, work and home. I know it is tiring for them [so grateful that my two always make family needs their #1 priority] Perhaps I should keep a time sheet for two weeks and see what gets done and when. But not this week - I'm off to London on Friday morning! 

How have your housekeeping habits changed over the years?

Do you have any help? [humans or gadgets]

An Ancient Prayer Of Grace And Joy

On Friday we watched a fascinating programme about Bamburgh. Much of the early history of this ancient village on the Northumbrian coast comes from the writings of Bede, an ancient, well respected abbot. Known as The Venerable one.

After that we watch a fabulous Prom Concert - Beethoven's 9th, including the wonderful "Ode to Joy"

On Saturday I was doing more book sorting and a little card fell on the floor. It was Bede's Prayer. More Grace and Joy...

It Started With A Book...

Liz taught me the phrase cascade of chores when one task leads to another, and another...and eventually,  maybe, some of them get completed.  A few weeks back, I said I would lend a book to someone. I put it on the table - then left the house without it. I have apologised to her now, because neither Bob nor I have seen it since July. "I must sort the bedroom bookcase" I declared "It is really overloaded" But it was too hot for housework

It has been baking in our bedroom "The fan is not very efficient" said Bob. I pointed out it was rather old, dusty, and tired [like me] We have had it 20+ years. He looked at it, and declared the the back of the grill looked rusty. But when dismantled, the brown rust proved to be a thick layer of dust. Bob cleaned it all up, it works much better. Back to the book sort. 

Technically the top 2 shelves are all Terry Pratchett, the bottom 3 are craft and cookbooks, and in between, "current reading" with ½ a shelf designated "borrowed" [from library or friends]

I cleared 5 shelves onto the top of the drawers for sorting. And soon realised it was a dusty task. I grabbed an old washing up brush and brushed down each book in turn [just like the NT conservators in Blickling Hall library]

Oh so very dusty! And there were far more books which were not craft or cookery than I'd realised. Some have come from the lounge "fiction" selection and need to go back there. Some need to leave the house forever. And that missing book is still missing [sorry, Heather!]

This is still a WIP, as I have realised there are cookbooks in the study and kitchen. But only 5 in the borrowed pile.  I am embarrassed to have found three CS books bought in Essex in March which I'd forgotten about. I'm giving books a good shake, dislodging all sort of random cards and clippings. Some to be recycled, others will be kept as bookmarks because they bring back happy memories. Like these from 1992!

How often do you sort or dust your bookshelves?

I know some of you are former librarians,  so I'm sure you are more diligent than I am!

What A Tangled Web!

 I have been collecting stranded embroidery floss since my teens. In 80s, when I was at home with young children, I became really keen on cross stitching. I bought a divided box for my threads. Later I was given another box ¾ full of threads - their late owner had wound them on cards and neatly written the DMC number on the top. Over the years, lots of people have passed threads on. 

I have used them in many, many projects - not just my own, but with children's groups and for all sorts of things. They were used for the Names of Jesus  decorations which our church in Dorset put in a local tree festival, Christmas 2015. 

And of course, for the last 4 years I have used them for our collaborative stitching. As we commence TwoByTwo, I knew I needed to tidy the tangles in the tins and boxes. I'd even put it on my 70s List. Look at the result of my efforts

There's the regular 6 stranded stuff, and random dye skeins. A few cotton a broder  colours and some finer stranded silks. All wound neatly on dmc plastic bobbins. Tightly knotted lengths, and those less than 30cm long have been ditched . 

This should make it easier to find the right colours for my stitching in future!

How do you organise  your threads?

Random Conundra

Why is it, that when I get up early and have washing on the line soon after breakfast, I get so busy with other things - and it is only at 11pm when I am climbing into bed, I remember it is still on the whirlygig outside in the garden? And although it was probably bone dry at midday, it's got a bit damp - so I end up leaving it out all night!

Why is it, the morning I wake up and brush my hair and it falls into a perfect, frizz-free bob, the sort Anna Wintour [left] spends ££££s to maintain - that is the day I'm pulling on a cycle helmet and flattening it all? And the day I'm going somewhere important, however long I spend arranging it, my hair blows every which way.

Why is it that I carry the Nectar vouchers in my purse for days but do not manage to get to Sainsburys until the day after they run out? And petrol vouchers come the week after filling up, and will expire before we need to buy more fuel.

Why is it, when I go confidently into the loft to get a piece of fabric from my boxes, it isn't where I was sure I saw it last week? Although I am glad to find something I was looking for in May, I have to abandon my search because now in June, it is too hot up there.

But these are trivial issues. I am fortunate to have a garden where I can hang washing, and a head of healthy [if greying] hair. My stash is a useful resource, its untidiness is a problem of my own making. And having our own transport to get to the shops is a blessing in a village where buses run hourly, if at all.

In Which Ang Enjoys Fine Dining

On Tuesday, we decided to have a day out. Whilst Bob was in the shower, I went into the loft and filled a bag of stash-stuff. We popped across to Wymondham. At the Big C Craft Emporium, I dropped off some craft bits I had sorted out - wool and fabric I have no use for. I spent £2.10 [all my profits from Saturday!] on two cards, a set of metal dies, and some self-cover buttons. Then on the way out of the shop I spotted a knife. It was only 10p, but it was a gorgeous WMF stainless steel knife. It felt lovely in my hand, and I dashed back to the paydesk, "I am over 18 so I'm old enough to buy a knife" I said and gave the lady 20p for it. Here it is on the right, next to one of my regular knives. Slightly smaller, it will be good as a butter knife 

Our wedding cutlery was called 'Celtic' in 1979, but inexplicably renamed 'Domus-Brasilia' 5 years later. I have eight 8-piece place settings plus serving spoons, salad servers, a pie slice, and a child's set [50p bargain] 
What amazed me was that I found my new knife online, it is the Virginia pattern. I could buy this now from WMF in Germany for €30!** I got back to the car and found Bob admiring the 3 LPs he'd bought [he does love his vinyl collection] and we went on to the Wymondham Furniture Warehouse so he could look at old tools. He bought nothing, but I fell in love with a casserole.

Six years ago, I gave Liz and Steph some of my wedding present Le Creuset pieces. I kept my frying pans, and the largest and smallest casseroles. Once or twice since, I have missed the middle sized piece. It was oval, with a 'strap' handle, not the round knob, and also Volcanic Orange. 

OK, this one is brown, but it is pristine inside, and clearly never been used. And at £28, just one tenth of the price of the LC casseroles in John Lewis. There were matching casseroles and saucepans, all unused. I did not want them! 

Having splashed the cash on fancy cookware, we thought lunch ought to be cheap and cheerful. So it was time to tick off something else on my 70s list, and visit Angie's Big Baps alongside the A47 [I've wanted to do this for ages]. The burgers were excellent. I very much hope that when her layby disappears as the road becomes a dual carriageway, they let her have a new pitch a little further along. I hope to eat there again. As Bob said, we have been to more expensive burger outlets and not had such good food!

** I went right through the baskets of cutlery, this was the only WMF piece. Who donates one knife from a set?

Here A Dodo, There A Dodo...

 Whilst looking for something else last week, I discovered my 2006 DodoPad. This amazing "memo-doodle-engage-diary-message-ment book" was first devised in 1965 by Sir John Verney [an eccentric bayonet, soldier, writer and illustrator]
I used mine as a calendar and to-do list through the year, then as a scrapbook for clippings and cards and recipes. "I'd forgotten this, **I wonder if they still make them?" I mused, as I read again instructions for making play dough in the microwave, a thank you card from an old friend, a list of "What to pack for a weekend away" and a brilliant article by Rabbi Jonathan Sachs on Assisted Dying. Wildly eclectic ephemera. I will keep the Rabbi's wise words, but much can go into recycling. Here are a few of the pages, with my scribbles and clippings, and the Dodo's doodles...

At the Museum on Friday we saw this fabulous automaton "The Last Dodo". A crew of sailors banging their knives and forks as the captain prepares to carve the roast bird. "I have a notebook called a DodoPad" I told Julian. "It was my diary in 2006 - and I found it again only last week..." 

Then in a charity shop in Lowestoft, there was a sign "10 books for £1 unless otherwise priced" - and on the bottom shelf was a Dodo book [labelled £1] Would you believe it! Unlike the regular ringbound diaries, this was a looseleaf folder dated 2011 - and unused. I suspect it was a gift, which had finally been decluttered. 
It is a Women's Wellness Logbook, with sections on health, exercise, weight, relaxation, etc. Each section has a pocket for cards etc, and there are charts to fill in [food diary, weight loss tracker etc] as well as lots of blank pages with a dodo logo in the corner. I may not use this specifically as a wellness tracker, more as a general notebook.

I have almost filled up the notes and scribbles book I have been using for the last 6 months - a French school timetable. [**yes, they do still make DodoPads. and more besides]
Have you ever used a DodoPad?
Did you enjoy it?

Resting My Legs...

Some books are definitely ones for reading in the summer - ideally in the garden, with a floppy straw hat and a long cool drink. Two of my favourites are One Summer's Grace- the story of a  family summer holiday spent sailing round the coast of Britain [by broadcaster Libby Purves] published in 1989 - and Three Men in a Boat, a fictional account of a holiday boating down the Thames [by Jerome K Jerome] which was published exactly a century earlier.

I read Libby's book the year it came out - my girls were at primary school, and much of it really resonated [not the sailing bit, I can feel queasy on a 4 foot deep boating lake] The JKJ one just makes me fall about laughing. The opening of the tin of pineapple in chapter 12 brings tears to my eyes. I was reminded of the older book this week, because the narrator tells how he once read a medical book, and was convinced he had every malady listed - except Housemaid's Knee.

This week I have had dreadful HK. I know exactly why - I spent Friday afternoon on my knees, scrubbing the tiles of the Futility Room. They are hard and cold. But they were filthy, having seen a lot of traffic [and food prep] during the ongoing Kitchen Project. I've had it before, and know all the correct actions to ameliorate the symptoms. It will pass. 

I have been doing quite a bit of housework. The spare bed is completely clear now [OK there is a cupboard in this picture but that is temporary] All the kitchen stuff is stacked in boxes in the corners. It is not all going back!

But there is at least somewhere for Julian to sleep when he arrives later today. It will be so good to have him with us for a few days.

I will go on resting my knee, using ice packs and taking ibuprofen. It is a good excuse to sit and read!

By the way, the K in JKJ stands for Klapka. He was named for General K, hero of the 1849 Hungarian War of Independence. His father was called Jerome Clapp Jerome, and was allegedly a very funny vicar. They called him Parson Clapp. What a crazy family!

Speaking of crazy families. I have recently realised how many J's there are in our family. On our Sapphire Anniversary photo, we have Julian, plus Jessica, Jacob and Jon [and Rosie's second name is Jean] Almost as bad as the K-Kardashians!

I need to sit down with my knee on an icepack for a bit...

Eureka!

The Back Bedroom is an absolute tip. I really must try and get things into some sort of order. Everything from the kitchen went in there in March, and I took the absolute minimum of crockery, cutlery and foodstuffs through to the Futility Room Temporary Kitchen. But every so often, I need something which has been packed.

It was lovely to receive flowers for Mothering Sunday and my birthday - but the boxes of vases was totally inaccessible, so they had to be displayed in a coffee pot and a kilner jar. I have put the two lids somewhere 'safe' but now I cannot remember where!

Monday night, we had some air-fried salmon with a sweet chilli coating, I thought I should add extra Blue Dragon Sauce, as it seemed a little dry. But I could not find it - Bob suggested a splash of the IKEA dill instead.

I got the jar out of the fridge., "This is almost empty, we must buy another jar in Nottingham" I said. But on Tuesday I was hunting for my book about felt mice - and I found two new jars of the dill sauce [I got them in Lakeside IKEA in February, and had forgotten about them] I did not find my mouse book. I spent an evening drafting paper patterns from scratch...

On Wednesday I was looking for my Mixed Herbs, and unearthed the pattern book underneath a bag of baking sheets...Along the way I am discovering kitchen bits and pieces I have not used for ages, and probably do not need any more. So I have a Charity Box in the corner which is filling up with decent, usable stuff to donate. And another box which is for rubbish.

I'm still not sure why the crown from the dressing up box was in with spare Tupperware though. I wore it all Thursday afternoon as it made me feel important [and made Bob laugh]

Refitting the kitchen is both a Steep Learning Curve and a Voyage of Discovery....

When Archimedes shouted "Eureka!" was it really because he'd discovered a new scientific principle, or was it that he had found his bar of soap?

Lent 6: Release

The calendar picture is a little late - because I took it down from the hook in the kitchen, and then couldn't find the 'safe place' where I had put it!It turned up on Tuesday, when Julian was helping me go through the stacks of kitchen stuff in the back bedroom. 
It seemed a very apposite message - not everything that came out of my kitchen cupboards is going back! I even managed to let go of a beautiful NordicWare Bundt pan.  On sale at £50, it cost me £5 in a CS, but I have never used it [it was 'as new' when I got it] And my gran's glass jug [never used, as I was always afraid I might break it!]

There is no point in hanging onto things like this. They can go and bless others. But more than material items, it is important to let go of other 'stuff'

• bad, hurtful memories
  
• grudges or ill feeling because of past slights
• aspirations you will never realistically achieve 
• worse, aspirations for your children [they may not want to be doctors or lawyers or whatever]
• envy because you do not have as much money as someone else
• resentment because age or health is limiting your activities 

As we get older, we need to let go of things which have may been an important part of our lives in the past but we are just not able to do them anymore. Maybe we don't have the stamina, or the flexibility for the activities we enjoyed in our youth. We need to learn to  let go of these things with grace, rather than resentment

I spoke with a lovely lady on my Hospital Volunteer Visit this week. She is a widow, with no children-or grandchildren - she asked the head of a local school if she could give an Easter Egg to every pupil. She's done this for a number of years. The village children speak to her when they see her on her mobility scooter. She was so bright and cheerful [even in a hospital bed]  

In her eighties, she reluctantly had to give up knitting because she can't manipulate the needles anymore. So she gave her wool stash to a knitting group - and also made a donation to a group which provides "angel blankets" for mothers of stillborn babies. Rather than become embittered by her lack of family, and her loss of craft skills, she is using her resources in a positive way. She's making an impact.

I had a friend who used to say of things she was letting go of"it was mine for just a season, but now that time has gone". Release what is past to make room for what is to come. It will sometimes take courage. Don't dwell, don't dither, step out in faith.

Who knows what that new found freedom may bring?

Newsround

Hands Up if you loved John Craven's Newsround. The first guy ever to read the news on BBCTV wearing a sweater! I was always so impressed by the careful way in which they reported the difficult bits of the news in a way which was appropriate for their young audience, The Falklands Crisis, the Challenger Disaster [the news actually broke on British TV on Newsround, as it had happened just minutes before the show aired] But always delivered by John and subsequent presenters [like Julie Etchingham, who came originally from Kirby Muxloe]
Here is my Newsround reporting of the last week or so

SUNDAY The Christmas Pie came out of the freezer and provided us with three good meals. A proper pie, shortcrust base and puff pastry top - filled with chicken, pigs in blankets, brussels sprouts, carrots, roast potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries. It was a splendid use of leftovers

MONDAY A fabulous rainbow appeared over the close, just as we were going out to the car. 

TUESDAY The sunlight through the new front door in the morning made beautiful sparkly patterns, some rainbow-edged, on our family photo wall

Mum's picture is fading to a strange sepia colour.

WEDNESDAY I did cook Bob a Chinese meal - from scratch - sweet&sour chicken, beef chow mein, eggfried rice - 

along with prawn crackers from our last takeaway [one of those Sainsbury Box Deals]

THURSDAY All the seeds got sorted and labelled and into a box, with an index card for each month and a tick chart on the front. So I shall know what to plant and when and where. The chicken brick is not becoming a herb garden - Liz has requested it for her kitchen, Which is fine by me.

FRIDAY Put on Radio 4 extra** and did serious tidying in the back bedroom. The Duplo box is definitely going at last. Some bricks in there date back 40+years! But the Sylvanian Stuff is staying...

SATURDAY Went to the licensing of the new vicar who is coming to the church up the road from our chapel. It was in an incredibly cold church, you could see the Bishop's breath when she spoke. The Bible passage was Mark 4 [Storm on the Lake] When the reader got to

verse 38 "Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?" Bob nudged me and whispered "Is that the text for the sermon?" They did serve a splendid tea afterwards though, in the cosy little village hall!

**I was listening to SandiToksvig talking about old family photos. "There's my Grandma, looking like a little Sylvanian family rabbit. You can see a lot of her in me" This made me chuckle, and i took it for confirmation that keeping the SF is the right thing to do, for now!
There have been other happenings too - but these have been a few of the highlights, I hope next week is as good, and I hope you are enjoying your days too...