Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Busy Season

 

Saturday:  We didn't do anything today.  Outdoor programs were cancelled in caution.  When Katie and Caleb were going out this morning to shop for new shoes for that growing boy, I came in and told John the skies to the north of us were heavily dark and sure enough it began to rain within minutes of their leaving.   As far as John was concerned that put an end to any of our personal plans.  I settled down with my book and a cup of hot cocoa and enjoyed having the house to ourselves.   He played guitar for a couple of hours this morning which was lovely to hear.  

Thrifty Thursday: Start As You Mean to Go On

 

Thursday:  It was a busy hectic morning.  I had Millie.  Did I do anything to save today?  I did!   Every piece of fruit and the yogurt that Millie refused to eat, I allowed Caleb to have.  He is not fussy about food.  Millie is the sort who wants it on her plate if someone else has it, but then will refuse to eat it.  Not so with Caleb.  If it's on his plate, it's usually GONE within minutes.

Equipment, Cleaning Products and Tips.

 

As I finish this series of posts on keeping our homes clean with our routines, I thought I'd do one last post with a few extra tips, equipment, supplies I find handy, etc.   My inspiration was something that I was doing this evening following supper.  We'd cooked two food items, and both stuck to the pan pretty badly. 

I Wonder As I Wander March 2023: Things I Miss

 

I thought I'd do one of these posts once a month but somehow, just as quickly as I thought it after posting last time, I forgot.  I wonder why we forget such simple things as even this?  

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Spring Cleaning

In my home this week,  I have decided that in this fresh season before me I'm going to put my hands on something green every single day.  I have a wealth of plants indoors and out that need a little love and care.  Repotting, trimming and deadheading, pruning, weeding about the bases of plants...It's the season and I need that direct connection with nature which I find deeply soothing and satisfying and vital.  

The routine things will be gotten to, but I'll not do them to the exclusion of those daily moments when I shall put my hands in dirt and dig among roots.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Use What You Have

 

Saturday:  Today we were out and about for a little while.  I have started calling these Saturdays "Sanity Savers".  Honestly without this day out each week I don't know if I could go on with each week, but we do have this day, and Sunday and once or twice a month an evening at church.  It makes a huge difference in my attitude.

Thrifty Thursday: Bits and Pieces

 

Thursday:  Last night's supper was really good but John and I ended up being the only ones to eat it.  I put enough into the freezer to have another night.  

I used the steak from last week, a can of Nacho Blanco cheese (won't be buying this canned item again, it doesn't get enough use in our pantry), and caramelized onions.  I rolled into burritos and baked them lightly in the oven, just enough to warm them nicely.  They were really good.  I love when a meal I've thought about all week long prior to making ends up being so very good.

Monthly and Seasonal Cleaning

 

Now that we've got basic routines and zones sorted out, we can begin to determine what it is we want to actually do in our homes.  Some like to have every area of the home pristine and spic and span.  Some don't want to do much more than simple routines.  It's really up to you and your family how clean you keep your house.  There are no house nazis going to come around and give you demerits for not keeping it perfectly.  

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Spring is HERE

 

In my home this week, I am running behind already.  And I've really no idea why...

I suppose the weekend was busier than I'd realized it would be.  I'm certainly tired at the moment, but a good night's sleep will help put that right once more.  

 By the time this is posted and most of you see it, Spring will be HERE.  Does it feel like spring outdoors?  Not in the least.  It's cool and breezy and meant to be frosty in the morning.  I don't know how the peaches and strawberries have fared thus far.  I don't know how the budding Easter Lilies will handle it or the single red bud that tried to bloom today on the rose at the back steps will last or the iris.  Or all the lovely new leaves that positively make your eyes ache they are so very green.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Frazzled

 

Saturday:  I did not go to sleep very well last night but I think I know the culprit.  I'll make sure in the future to change that bit of routine.   Once I did go to sleep though I slept very well indeed.  It turned off quite cold in the night, so the heat came on.   As I write this afternoon, the AC is running.  I dislike days when we must use the heat pump day and night, especially to play the cold/hot game.  Give me one or the other!

John and I went out to breakfast this morning and got out of the house without hearing the first little 'Grampa? Gramma?' from the boy.  We had a nice meal out at Cracker Barrell.  If it seems we are eating out more lately, well we are.  These Saturday dates are our sanity savers and I for one plan to budget them in and will trim elsewhere if necessary.  I don't mind if we do inexpensive options, and once the pollen is decreased, we might well resort to a Saturday picnic somewhere but in the meantime, to get away and just be Terri and John and not Mom/Dad, Gramma/Grampa is awfully necessary.  

Thrifty Thursday: I'd Like to Marry Him

 

Thursday: Last night's steak dinner left us with 1.5 steaks leftover.  There are bones as well that I'll trim away from the meat and put into my beef broth bag.  We'll be making another meal off the leftover steak. I could do steak and onion burritos or make steak sandwiches.  I think we'll be eating a Red, Black and Blue Salad though, which is nothing more than a big salad with steak, tomatoes and blue cheese crumbles.

Zone Work

 

The FlyLady didn't invent the principle, but she made it vastly popular.  The original system was copyrighted by SHE, Sidetracked Home Executives.  They suggested that one keep an index card system with tasks that should be completed daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, bi-annually and annually.  It was a good system but slightly more complicated than the FlyLady system.

The home is divided into four separate zones, and you concentrate on one zone each week of the month.  During that week you determine what tasks you wish to get done.  You decide if these are tasks you wish to do monthly or every other month, or less often.  If you do these tasks a little at a time over a three-to-six-month period, you can eliminate the need to do a major fall or spring cleaning entirely simply because you stay atop the normal work that is required to keep the house really clean.  You also determine what each zone encompasses.

Over the Fence: Sisters

 

Do you want to chat over the fence or come sit on the porch?  Or shall we retreat indoors and try to escape the pollen?  I can't promise you peace and quiet, but I can promise you something to drink.  Peach Tea perhaps?  Or would you prefer that lovely violet tea?  I can serve them hot and not iced.  It's plenty cool enough outdoors today, not even topping 50F yet.

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Do Something

In my home this week, I am currently listening to the dishwasher.  The house about me is calm, quiet, and clean.  This state of affairs is not due to last overlong.  Within the next hour or so it will once again jump to life and be noisy, messy, and busy but right now it's quiet time and I am relishing my quiet space.  John's napping.  Supposedly Caleb is too but the sound of little feet running back and forth deny that fact.  My feet are up and I'm resting my legs after a morning of puttering all around the house and being in the kitchen.  Supper is simmering on the stove.  Laundry has been washed, dried and folded.  Two meals have been put on the table...I can see this day winding down.

Diary of a Homemaker: Marking Things Off My Weekly Work List

 

Saturday:  When I made out my list of work for the week, I really didn't expect I'd tackle it right away.  Saturday is typically one of my days off.   However, this morning, I gave myself a lovely pedicure and manicure, took time this afternoon to set up several outfits for the week or two ahead, returned some borrowed items to Sam and Bess across the field, and loaded up donations from my bedroom closet and the shed.  I feel accomplished today!  That's three items on my list done and one extra task (returning the borrowed things).

I also got a lovely visit with Sam and the three kiddos across the field that I hadn't thought I'd have any time soon.  I'm hoping sometime this week to have Millie come play with Caleb.  I think they both will appreciate the play date. 

Thrifty Thursday: Creative Savings

 

Thursday:  John had a chiropractor appointment this morning.  I decided to go along.  We took off trash on our way.  

Cheapest play date ever: 1 bottle of juice and one hour of full-on activity for the Little One at a fast-food restaurant's outdoor playground.  He had a ball. There were children his age there playing, and they all played together.  Three fire trucks went by at two different times, with lights and sirens. He was fascinated by this.  I was grateful for an hour of activity that I hope will wear him down enough for a proper nap.

Home Blessings and a Reset

 

Homemaking can be made as difficult, thorough, or uncomplicated as you choose.  In the end, it's up to the individual homemaker and the occupants of the home to determine what level of housekeeping is necessary for sanity and function.  

Just doing the daily five will cut down on the chaos you might naturally feel in a home.  Adding just a few extra tasks that can be done twice a week, help maintain the home at a slightly higher level.  I've used these two days each week to keep my home running when I had no time at all to devote to the usual weekly and monthly tasks and yet we felt the house looked rather well.  It won't do to go too long on just these two extra routines, but it can certainly hold your home for at least six to eight weeks.  

The Homemaker Plans Her Week: In Bits and Pieces

 

In my home this week,  John is feeling rather smug because we had two successful outings with Caleb.  I won't burst his bubble and tell him it's NOT the outings that are at issue with the child.  And yes, I'm using his name and will in future use all the other's names once more as well.  You all know who everyone is anyway and what's going on because you are smart enough to figure things out.  No secrets shared, just returning to normal, ok?  

Diary of a Homemaker: Sprung

 

Saturday:  John and I always plan some time away from home on Saturday.  It is, as he says, our day off and we know that if we stay home, we are going to inadvertently end up doing some level of childcare.  Not that Mama isn't trying to avoid having us do it.  No, it's trying to explain to a 3-year-old child that Gramma and Grandpa are off duty when he sees us right in front of his eyes same as Monday-Friday.

That said, we generally aren't gone all day on a weekend, though I'm personally looking into the possibility of a weekend away simply because we NEED the time fully away from things to really rest and relax.  However, we aren't there yet.  We are still here.

Thrifty Thursday: February 23 - March 1

 

Thursday:  John asked for cereal for breakfast this morning.  Easy enough and since the bananas are perfectly ripe just now, good timing.  

I made a Leftover Makeover meal for supper tonight.  It was more labor than the original meal had been but since it netted me a casserole for supper and another for a future meal, it works fine for me.   I had leftover chicken and broccoli the other night.  I cooked rice today and made up a simple cheese sauce.  I used lactose free milk and broth to the make the sauce and cooked the rice in broth, so have boosted the flavor and the protein of the casseroles.  

Zones and Routines: The Daily Five

 

Every few years someone asks about my cleaning routine or the Zone Work I do.

The original idea came from FlyLady back in the day when she'd send out about ten emails a day detailing in each one what task needed to be done.  The moment I'd sit down to the computer, I'd open my email account and there was a long list of reminders of things I hadn't done yet! lol.  It was like being nagged but in a very uplifting and nice way.  Some days I didn't get it all done but I did something and doing something was the key.  It helped me get my home under control.