My Place Mondays - No.3

2nd Week in October

Gosh, we’re already on the 3rd of this series. Each week we have a little “behind the scenes” peek at what’s been happening on the organising front in my house.

“For every minute spent in organizing an hour is earned” – Benjamin Franklin.

Well, I’m not sure if he’s got the exact calculation right but I do passionately believe that all our efforts, however small, really do count. Definitely a good return on the investment ! And it’s been the little things I’ve been noticing this week.

I went for a pre-emptive strike on the “charger” front earlier in the week. With the darkening evenings we had a look at the bike lights situation and realised that we needed a few extra to get us through this winter. We’ve gone for the compact USB rechargeable ones. Each of them comes with its own charger, just like most electronics these days. This would be fine if we didn’t already have our own little spaghetti of micro chargers living here ! So, all the new chargers went straight into the “moving on” box.

Talking about the “moving on” box - it’s emptied. (That’s a crate in the garage where we put all the bits and pieces from the house that we’re done with!) It was well and truly overspilling, having built up over quite a few months. I swung by the recycling centre with most of its contents -clothes into the charity banks, an old cd player to electronics recycling and the lightbulbs into the bulb bin.

I had a few other things (Puzzles and soft toys) that I dropped off at Blythswood (Easy parking). The box is now re-set to zero and ready for action.

I’ve been a bit geeky on the cleaning front these last few days. As I mentioned in the last round up I’ve been using “E-cloths” with just water on surfaces, dishes and windows for some time. YES, they have definitely reduced our need to buy and store umpteen cleaning products. And, importantly they work. But I feel we can do MORE, which is why we opted for a trial of some “Enjo” cloths. If you’re interested in HOW micro fibre cloths work this is a fascinating little insight.

I have to admit I do enjoy a good clean and it was actually quite exciting getting the trial kit dropped off – I couldn’t wait to give them a whirl. The company have some big claims – not least of which they suggest you can ELIMINATE 90% of the cleaning agents in your house. Not only is this great news for reducing clutter but is also so much more beneficial for the environment.

So, with the trial pack I’ve made a conscious effort to use the cloths wherever possible. I have to say the fibres are fab! Effective and easy to use on most things. Ok. So there’s no “just cleaned” smell once you’re done and even the duoglove (Hardcore cloth for stubborn dirt) couldn’t get the really baked on scars off the baking tray. However, for pretty much everything else, including spills and grease it works a treat. I’m convinced, I’m ordering a couple to join my e-cloths. Time will tell if these alternatives will last the distance and reduce our chemical load further.

Fingers crossed, I’ve done the final mow of the lawn for this year! There was a small window this week, in between the downpours and the gorgeous autumnal sunshine, that allowed the grass to dry out just enough. As I shut the door on the garden shed, shoving the flymo in to ensure it’s not poking out, I’m reminded of what a state it’s in.

This place could do with some TLC. However, with the time we’ve got and the things we want to do, this just doesn’t reach it onto the list right now. And that’s cool. It does its job well enough. I try and avoid using “should” (In both my internal dialogue and my day to day lingo) when it comes to all the household jobs. On the whole I’ve found that comments like “I really should be better organised with the ……..” just make me feel like I’m not doing ENOUGH, even if the reality is different.

And anyway, at least I can still reach the rake easily for all those leaves that are being decluttered from the trees!

Lastly, I want to pick out one thing I’m thankful for on the organising front. HOOKS! Weird, I know. They are just so handy.

The “Command” ones are super strong and come off without damaging the wall if they need to. We have them dotted, mostly inconspicuously, around the house for odd jobs like sellotape holding, e-cloth cradling and dog collar guarding (As shown off by Beth below!)