Challenge # 4, 5, 6, & 7

It feels like ages since I have blogged....Welcome to Catherine, Robyn and Splashfish. Thanks for following my blog........If you have been coming back to see what's happening...I hope you found something interesting to read about....I've been setting myself more challenges....and I guess I've been overdoing it....falling asleep on the couch at 5pm is not a good way to start preparing the evening meal.

Challenges I have set myself lately are:

• cleaning out the kitchen drawers - (amazing how many duplicates I had in those drawers)
• de-cluttering the kitchen cupboards - (I have sorted all the plates, cups, mugs, bowls etc, but haven't gotten to the underneath cupboards as yet)
• de-cluttered the laundry cupboards - (I still need to do the shelf above the laundry sink and washing machine)
• I finally sorted out the sock basket....we have pairs again..yay!

I think that's it for this week....some of it still needs tweaking, but it's nearly done....and I am so pleased with the work I have achieved. and I'm really starting to see the differences. 

Have you been following along and joining me in any of the challenges? Maybe you have been setting some different challenges for yourselves.....I'd love to hear what you have been up to too. 

Challenge #3 - A grand entrance-It shall be

I wonder how everyone is going with the cleaning challenges I have set up...Have you cleaned your washing machine? Or what about your oven?  If you haven't been following the challenges, or maybe you haven't had time to take anything else on lately.....that's ok....we all have different lives, some more busy than others too....

If your up to it; I have a new challenge for you...What is the front entrance of your home like? Does it scream Welcome!? or does it curl up and cry out for help? My front door and the state it is in..well; it is not very welcoming...and frankly it has recently started being a dumping ground...Many things get dumped on the front veranda...I want it to be somewhere I can sit in the summer...somewhere to showcase some lovely plants if they are out in flower.....no-one sees them if they are in the back yard, and Mum certainly can't get down there to admire the orchids or cacti when they are out in flour.....I have already started sorting the front veranda,...so my challenge for myself is to finish what I started.

I have moved some Zygo Cactus out from the back yard to display...and when mum comes over and sits in her chair, she is able to see them....Mum has a love for all that is colour in the garden, and until recently I just didn't get it at all. Sure I like flowers, but I don't need them, at least that's what I thought anyway.....I do need flowers in the garden, Flowers attract bees to the garden, and bees pollinate my edibles...So bees, if your listening...come summer; you are all more than welcome to come visit my garden.

Now here is what I have already started with...the smaller pots are new Zygo Cacti from Bunnings...when I seen the new colours I had to get some of them...they really are lovely.

On the table that my DS16 made last year in school; you can see the huge flowering Zygo Cactus in the front....it sure is going to  be a lovely display if they all bloom at the same time.....behind them are two orchids that need re-potting badly....I have to get around to that too...Another thing to add to that never ending, forever growing list.. I think this corner looks much better now...Sure there is still room for improvement, and I have the other end of the veranda to finish yet, but it's a start....AND Mum can view all the coloured plants from the lounge-room when she comes over (Mum lives out the back in her own little unit)

Here is the other end of the veranda....yep! there's lots of room for improvement here....We dont sit on the bench seat either because when all the kids in the street used to hang out here, they used to unscrew the bolts....so I guess it's time for a re-vamp so the seat can be used again......

Some of you may be wondering why I have a nappy box...No, it's not because there are grand-babies around that I haven't told you about..(hubby says we are too young for Grand-babies yet) .........it's almost full of persimmons, which I picked off Tammy's tree when I visited her in Canberra.....but that's another Challenge in another post, but first they still need to ripen more before I can do anything with them....but I haven't forgotten Tammy....The persimmon challenge is still on!

Challenge #3 to finish cleaning up the front veranda and make it more  welcoming.

 On another subject....I took a peek under the cardboard today....and it's starting to happen....all the cardboard that I collected and held onto was finally used to mark out a new garden bed for the front yard.....

The plan is to have all the Kikuyu Grass die off, over how ever long it takes....As part of the prep for the new garden bed...I want to eliminate all the grass underneath....without chemicals or pesticides. Kikuyu grass is awfully hard to chip away....Regarding starting a new garden; I have heard that it is better to kill it off, I hope to illiminate it completely, then I can begin building the garden bed.

2 weeks on and the grass is looking
pretty sad underneath the cardboard.

Part of the prep work for the new garden bed is gathering plants.....Today I re-potted the fruit trees I bought not long ago.....While I cant plant them out into the garden yet...I can still make them happy by giving them more room for their roots to spread. Happy plants means healthy plants.

Hello Rusty!

Challenge #2 Cleaning the Washing Machine

We've just finished tea, I'm sitting down now...and planning more and researching more on improving on my housework journey.....

This afternoon Rhonda over at the Down to Earth Forum...started a post called the Small things Challenge....
Such good timing Rhonda.....I wrote the following comment on the forum.....

I'm in, I actually posted a beginning of a series of Challenges on my blog today....I plan to tackle a problem area in my home each week...sometimes two challenges, depending on the challenge....

I started with the oven the other day after everyone chatting about their ovens....now today I have tackled the Washing Machine........I have also printed out the dte journals to go through.....I am thinking now that I have the bathroom done...the washing machine and the oven....if I add challenges to my daily tasks; then work out a weekly schedule....I should be able to improve in my household chores...and maybe improve the state of my house.....

So each day now; I tidy up what I need to to be back to equal with the cleaning, then I am adding another cleaning or working job to the day...be it cooking, cleaning, gardening or whatever....before starting on something new...I am trying to get what is SUPPOSED to be clean already....done......

It didn't quite work that way today...as the kitchen is messy, but that's ok...I am taking it as a learning curve...I know that I didn't get it done and I know there will be days like today....because that's life..............I just really wanted to tackle the really yucky washing machine....

For my weekly tasks....if I clean up the Washing machine on a Wednesday...w for w.....that sounds good....but I wash two big loads of work clothes on Thursday night and friday morning....so I guess after the last load of work clothes on a Friday would be the best time to wipe over the washing machine...I am thinking if I do this chore weekly...it shouldn't get as bad as it was today.....
I also do a lot of baking in the oven....so I am setting myself a challenge to clean the oven if I have a spill...

I can see spots that still need a clean on the bathroom, washing machine and the oven...and I will get to those spots in the next few days....but I need to focus back on the kitchen again now.....to get all the things that are supposed to be clean; CLEAN.......
then I will focus on a new challenge...maybe cleaning the ceiling fans, or the fridge, ....or something else...who knows.....



I think it will be the fridge, but we will have to wait until I post another challenge.....


Over the course of the day, while on and off cleaning the washing machine....I took some photos.....some I really don't care to share, but I will for the sake of the challenge.....


Your washing machine may be cleaner than this, and that's great, but if it is as dirty as mine was...well I know what you have ahead of you....


The cleaners I used for this was a 5L bucket of warm water with a tablespoon of my home-made washing powder and a tablespoon of ammonia added to the water....


I first sprayed the machine with my citrus-cleaner, then hung the last load of washing on the line outside, allowing the citrus to do its work.  


After coming inside I then rung out a cleaning rag (made from an old towel) in the bucket and got to work..........

Yuck! this one will need the
bottle-brush on the inside.

 Some tools you will find handy are cotton buds, a bottle brush, and maybe a wooden skewer to gently clean some edges that don't work with a cotton bud. After cleaning a section and rinsing your cloth as you go....dry it before you move on to another.
If you have a hard greasy spot and you feel you need a scrubber...sprinkle a little baking soda on your cloth as that is not as harsh as some scrubbers can be.

Cotton buds are great for nooks and cranny's..

More Yuck!

Ta Dahhhhhhhh

This is a huge improvement....I really want to keep it clean now....I will certainly get back to the bits I have missed...but tomorrow I am working in the kitchen....


I've just set myself another challenge with this...I usually leave the power on to the machine....now I am turning it off at the wall when it's not being used....so a power saving challenge has just been started too.....this also includes my dishwasher....
I can reach the switches for both of these...so it shouldn't be a hard challenge....


If your following along, I hope you get your washing machine clean soon...It feels great!

Challenges #1 & 2 _Oven & Washing Machine

I recently wrote about a challenge I set myself....You can join in too if you like...each week I am going to set myself a challenge, which will improve my road to a cleaner house.....Sometimes there will be more than one challenge in a week, so I hope you can keep up...lol.......sometimes the challenges may be related to other things besides cleaning...as I just know that having a weekly challenge on cleaning will be a challenge in itself...lol........

Challenge #1 - Cleaning your oven
Today I also wrote about cleaning my oven....while it's not 100% yet...I will keep working on it....But for today, I need things to do standing up...as the old hip will complain if I get down there in the oven again today....

So here is my next challenge, which I will tackle today......

Challenge #2 - Cleaning your washing machine
I took a photo of my washing machine yesterday....while I'm not proud of the state of it, I knew that you would appreciate my honesty in sharing a photo with you.....I have yet to clean this one, so there is no photo before and after yet...but there will be shortly....
For now....here is a photo of my yucky washing machine....I don't enjoy lifting that centre piece out, I just know it's going to be slimy................

As I used the machine last night for a soak....I better get that load finished first before tackling this challenge.....
If you would like to join in....leave a comment and a link on what your upto...What is your first challenge going to be? Is it the washing machine or the oven?