the kitchen!

I've been completing a little bit here and there in the kitchen for months now. From the start I thought I would like to have it completed by the end of the year.
Well, I've just scraped in!

Here is what I started with:

Surprise, surprise - another embarrasing mess!

Here is what I did with the kitchen, with help from my lovely husband...

I think the pictures will speak for themselves, but I'll still point out a few highlights.

1. Installing a shelf above the bench to keep the space clear for preparing food. ($50 from Ikea)
2. Purchasing a set of tins to keep bread, tea, coffee etc in. ($16 from Kmart)
3. Investing in Tupperware! The Access Mate "Veg Out" containers were $117.65 for both. I justified this expense by repeating a "they have a lifetime guarantee!" mantra in my mind. My husband loves these. They are much more suitable for potatoes and onions than the rotting box we had previously. And they are impenetrable for creepy crawlies!
4. Ikea shelf inserts in plates and glasses cupboards.
5. Large plastic tubs for plastic containers and bake ware. (About $6 each from Kmart). These allow the containers and drink bottles to be a little more organised and I can lift them out easily to access the "occasional use items" in the hidden corner of the cupboard.
6. Moving all the dishes, bowls and platters that I use all the time into a more accessible place. 
7. Getting a new bin. We now have a bin that has two sections; a smaller section on the left for rubbish and a larger section on the right for recycling. (About $70 from Bunnings from memory). Now the recycling doesn't float all around the place in an enviro bag. Much better!

I actually feel excited to be starting a new year with a new kitchen! My whole family has noticed the difference. We can find things we need more easily, and I don't feel angry every time I need to prepare a meal for everyone. I think a happy cook produces better food. 

And, just today, James came in as I was adding the final sparkle and said "thanks for cleaning the kitchen, mum!" Nice to know I am appreciated :)

The challenge now will be to maintain that level of cleanliness. All I can do is try.

Happy New Year to you all. May next year be full of love, fun and organisation!

puddle on the floor

There's a puddle on the floor in the kitchen. Not sure how long it's been there. Maybe it appeared this morning. Maybe yesterday? Pretty sure it's water. (hope it's water). How did it get there?

I haven't cleaned it up yet. I stepped in it a couple of times while trying to put breakfast things away. Cringed as I felt the cold liquid touch my toes. I just walked it off onto the carpet as I went to fetch more things off the table.

I managed to avoid it while getting some toast for the boys. I have memorised where it is now. It's almost invisible on the lino, but I know the spot I should avoid.

Why haven't I cleaned it up? I don't know. Instead of doing that, I started folding some towels. I got through half of them. They are now sitting on the floor in the lounge room.

The puddle is still there. And I'm sitting here writing about it.

Am I lazy? Or don't care? Or just exhausted? I don't know.

The puddle sits there as a reminder of all the things that don't get done - or get
half-done - the story of my life.

I should be mopping up the puddle right now, or finishing folding the towels, or hanging out the load of washing which must have finished by now.
Or getting dressed. I'm still in my pyjamas.

I'm feeling paralysed by this simple "to do" list. It must be time for a holiday.

But first... I suppose I'd better grab that mop.

we have a WINNER!

The winner of the Boon Frog Pod is Paulina Cox! 

Congratulations Paulina. I hope you and your girls have fun with the Frog Pod and that you enjoy the order it will bring to your bathroom :)

I'll contact you shortly to get your details.

Apologies to those who missed out. Thanks for your entries. I enjoyed reading about the toys you and your kids like to play with in the bath. One toy that sounded awesome (thanks Sara), was the Dirty Dishes by Alex that you 'wash' in the bath. How fun!

In the end, though, how can you go wrong with a plastic cup and a face washer?

Happy December everyone.

And the count down towards Christmas begins!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

command delete GIVEAWAY!

In case you didn't already know, I really value all of you who take the time to read my blog. Thank you for reading my posts and for your informative and encouraging comments. By doing this you are keeping me on task and excited about my goals to provide a more sane environment for my family.
So, to say 'thank you' - and also because I'm feeling
a bit festive - I am running a giveaway!

I am excited to be able to give one lucky reader a brand new Boon Frog Pod. Valued at $69.95, this funky bath toy storage system will keep your bath more organised and tidy than it has ever been. It's drainable scoop lets you gather and rinse toys, helping to prevent scum and mildew issues. The wall-mounted base, with built-in shelf, holds all your essential bath products. And it sticks really well to bath walls with semi-permanent adhesive strips, but won't harm tile or wall surfaces. (There's also an option to screw it onto your tiles if you prefer.) 

Bonus: With the Frog Pod your child may actually want to help clean up!

How to enter:

If you would like to go in the draw to win this prize, simply comment on this post, and tell me; what is your child's favourite bath toy? 
OR what is your own favourite bath toy?

Make sure you include your full name in your comment so I can identify and contact you if you are the winner. (If you have been referred by a friend, please include their name as well.)

This giveaway is only for people who have an Australian postal address.

I will be randomly drawing a winner on Thursday 1st of December after 2pm. 

Good luck!

loving lentils

Goodbye meat!

Not forever, though. Just sometimes.

Our family is as carnivorous as they come. My husband's parents are well known for their top notch barbeques. The vast array of perfectly cooked meats they serve up is amazing. My family are into their meat too. Last Christmas my dad fired up the barbie and cooked Kransky wrapped in bacon. What better thing to wrap meat in, than more meat!? (boy was it tasty, though)

With that extremely brief history in mind, you may understand our excitement in making some very yummy meat-free discoveries lately. We never really thought to do anything other than include a meat with every meal. But, I am so glad that my husband suggested that we try branching out a bit.

My latest effort was pasta with lentils and feta. Yummo! Everyone shoveled it down within a matter of minutes. It didn't look half-bad either.
I loosely followed the recipe, adding in any fresh vegies we had in the fridge; mushroom, zuccini, onion, carrot, capsicum and a few cloves of garlic. Also, I used Australian Feta. mmmm

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni has been another favourite.
I have also made an Indian Korma with chick peas and a lentil spaghetti bolognese. These meals have been super-easy to make and are delicious.

One of the boys' swimming instructors suggested I make mushroom rice where you cook arborio (or basmati) rice in vegetable stock and add vegies. Thanks 'swimming lady'! - I'm going to try that one next week.

I think I was expecting to feel like something was missing by removing the meat from a meal. How wrong I was! Why didn't we think to try these things sooner?

I am smiling at the thought of how much money we are going to save by not having to buy meat for every single meal. And we will have much more space in the freezer too! Hooray!

I'm keen to find more recipes. So, if you have any yummy vegetarian meals that you would recommend, please let me know.

Oooh. And make sure you check back in to Command Delete next week. I'm going to be having a giveaway! And that doesn't mean I'm going to be giving away my unwanted, used junk - it's something brand new and really cool!
So, look out for it - you've gotta be in it to win it!

a morning in Fänland

I just spent the morning being treated like a VIP in Tempe
at the brand spanking new
Ikea store! 

I entered a competition on Ikea's Facebook page to win tickets to Fänland at the Tempe store's grand opening. You had to submit your best fan photo or video to enter. They must have enjoyed my crazy photo, because I was lucky enough to be one of the winners!

So, after an early start - which was totally worth it, by the way - my friend, Jacqui, and I were treated to massages (!), hot drinks, a spread of yummy treats, goody bags, and gift vouchers. And all of this while sitting in a luxurious tent decked out with comfy Ikea furniture, cushions and rugs. No lining up in the rain for us. 

We enjoyed listening to some live acts on the stage nearby, including Abba tribute band 'Fabba'. It was great fun. We also got invited up on stage to spin the 'Wheel of Flatpack'. We each won a hotdog. Yeah! haha. I might pass that prize on to my husband. He's a huge fan of the dollar hotdogs.

I was relieved that I didn't win an allen key - because that was a possibility - we have about 50 of those at home already. Note to self: purge allen keys.

The friendly lady, who had been serving us food and drinks all morning, eventually led us and the other lanyard-wearing winners into the store through the back entrance. (So rock star!) We stood amidst a sea of yellow staff shirts and swedish flags while the 'official ribbon' was cut, then joined in with the crowd as they opened the doors.

We marveled at the beautiful styling of all the display rooms, while not really pausing to take too close a look (we were trying to stay ahead of the crowd), and I took many mental notes of the clever storage ideas I saw. I'm filing those away for future reference. We then picked up a couple of things we were after and were out of there. Proud to be still alive and in one piece.

That was one cool, yet slightly weird, morning!

(Last two photos courtesy of Jacqui. Thanks!)

here's an idea...

I have compiled a list of unusual household tips and tricks for you. Some ideas are from friends and family, others are my own. Enjoy!

• If crayon finds its way onto every visible surface, then use a rubber, aka an 'eraser', to get it off.
• Baby wipes will clean almost anything. (Even if you don't have a baby, I reckon you should have a pack of baby wipes handy.)
• Put a bit of Napisan in with every wash and you'll rarely have to
  soak things.
• If, for some reason, non-washable markers end up all over your 'older' bathroom sink, rub toothpaste (yes, toothpaste!) onto the marks and then wipe off with a damp cloth. Best!
• Store all cards / money / play pieces from boardgames in snaplock bags within the game box. Environmentally friendly? Not really.
  Sanity saver? Absolutely!
• If you spill rice on the carpet, or if it gets thrown there, wait til it dries then vacuum it up. So much easier than picking single, sticky grains of rice from the floor. Also, the sound of all those bits 'pinging' up the tube of the vacuum is very satisfying. "ooh yeah. so much cleaning happening right now"
• If you use jar sauces (hey, we're not all out to win Masterchef), rather can spending hours scooping and scraping the last bits out with a spoon, add a little water, put the lid back on, shake it up, then pour it into the pan.
• After chopping onions, rub your hands on the kitchen sink to get rid of that onion smell. It really works! Try it.
  (I must check if that works for other things too, such as baby poo. That smell never seems to wash off.)

And, one more from my husband:

• If you drop zucchini on the floor, rub your face on a tea towel.

I am yet to find a way of successfully removing lipstick from carpet and getting an umbrella stain (??) off our dining table. Who knew that umbrellas could stain things? If I find an answer I will definitely let you know.

Onya Weigh bags

I'm really on a mission lately to rid my life, and the world, of plastic bags.
(You may have noticed).

It's probably my guilty conscience about continuing to use disposable nappies that is really spurring me on right now. It makes me feel better about the nappy thing when I can tell myself, "well, at least I'm -insert eco-friendly thing here-".

I'm excited to share my latest eco-find with you: Onya Weigh Bags!
These mesh bags can each hold up to 2 kilos and come in a 5 or 8 pack. I bought these bags to use at the fruit and veg store. They have been so easy to use. Heaps of people have commented on how great they are and one fruit shop owner even asked where I got them because he wanted to sell them to customers at his shop. I bought my 8 pack on Ebay (of course!) for $16.95 plus postage. That was the best price I could find.

These bags can also be used to wash produce, or store it in the pantry, or not even for food at all! You could use it to store anything really - or use it as a laundry bag in the wash. I haven't been that creative with them yet. I'm just pleased that we've now got even less plastic in the house!

the laundry

The laundry is the smallest room in our house. It was also a dumping ground for all of our bits and pieces that didn't quite fit anywhere else. I'm sure you are fully aware of this, but it is really hard to use a space for its intended purpose when it is full of junk.

The state of the laundry was a major contributing factor to the clothes washing never being up to date. If I needed to use the sink, I had to move things out of it, onto the top of the washing machine. Then, when I needed the washing machine, I just moved things back again.

It was also becoming a bit of a black hole. I had completely lost track of what was in there. The time for purging was long overdue. Here is what I started with:

I know. It was pretty bad.

Even after moving or throwing out things that shouldn't have been in there, more storage was needed. So, thankfully, when I was looking for a storage cabinet for the bathroom, I found a person selling a pair of cabinets! I put the matching one ($60 on ebay) into the laundry. It now holds some cleaning products and chemicals up the very top, as well as beach towels, swimming accessories, enviro bags and left-over plastic bags.

I created more space for the broom and mops by moving the washing machine closer to the sink. It is so much better with them out of the way. I also found a small bookshelf that just squeezed into the space above the filing cabinet in the corner. ($19.95 from DealsDirect). That space is no longer wasted and now holds the dust buster, floor fibres, spare tissue boxes and paper towel, laundry powder, and two small Ikea baskets (donated by a friend) that keep the tea towels and cleaning accessories in order.

A fantastic contraption that I was already using - the only 'organised' thing in the room - is an over-the-door ironing board holder. (I think it may have cost around $10 from Aldi). It's great and frees up more floor space.

A friend also recommended getting a split laundry basket (Ikea Skubb laundry bag $17.99) which allows you to sort dirty clothes and linen before you are ready to wash. So, I got one and it just fit in the space that was left. I couldn't believe how perfectly it all fit in. I was very pleased. I love being able to have things there, ready to be washed but out of sight. So much better than when I was just dumping clothes and sheets on the floor in the doorway.

Well, here it is. Another completed room:

It took a while to find the right things to fit in this small space, but the search was worth it. It has been so much easier to keep the space tidy and functioning well because everything now has it's own spot.

When I walk into the laundry now, rather than feeling disorganised and annoyed,
I actually feel a sense of achievement. Another small victory!

The down side?
I now have one less excuse for not being up to date with the washing ;)

I am now taking a deep breath as I look at the rest of the house. Two rooms down, four big ones to go...

I found the laundry to be a challenging space to work with, so would love to hear what struggles / solutions / stories you have with your own.

the Bokashi Bucket - composting system

I received some great suggestions after expressing my concern about having to buy bags for our general household rubbish. A friend suggested using bread bags for rubbish. A great idea! Very resourceful. But it left me thinking, "that would last about two hours in our house before having to be emptied". The reality is that we just have too much waste.

There are different ways of reducing household rubbish, but one particular thing I noticed about our household is that half of our bin was always full of organic scraps! Cores, peels, bones, fat, uneaten crusts, forgotten fridge food, and more. But, since we live in a unit, I didn't think we had any option but to throw this stuff in the bin.

How wrong I was! Another dear friend introduced me to the Bokashi Bucket. ($69.90 from Todae online eco store for a single bucket and a 1.5kg bag of Bokashi Mix). This surprisingly simple product allows anyone at all to turn their food waste into a rich fertiliser. You can put ANY food scraps into this thing including citrus, egg shells, raw and cooked meats. You can even chuck tissues and small bits of paper in.


It doesn't take up much room and can easily be used on a balcony and even inside. And here's the best thing: it doesn't smell!

After I ordered our bucket, my three year old couldn't wait for it to arrive. He loves to help with our composting and even remembers to keep his banana peels out of the rubbish bin.

Here's how it works:
1. Place your waste into the bucket
2. Mash the waste to remove air
3. Sprinkle a hand full of the Bokashi mix over the waste

You just keep layering your food scraps in the same way until the bucket is full. The Bokashi Mix is made up of wheat, grains and microbes which aid the fermenting process. You can drain off any liquid if necessary from the little tap at the front. The liquid is called 'Bokashi juice'. When diluted it makes a really great liquid fertiliser for your garden.

When your bucket is full just bury the contents in your garden to allow it to completely biodegrade. After a few weeks you will then have nutrient rich fertiliser for your plants! (Or, in our case, for our families' gardens.) Then rinse out your bucket with water and start again.

We are loving our Bokashi Bucket and are excited that our rubbish is becoming something so useful. It has also been a great way for our boys to learn about the environment and how waste breaks down.
Who knew composting could be so fun!?

I have another organised room to reveal in a few days too! Stay tuned.

reusable shopping bags / green bags

Also known as 'green' bags, reusable enviro bags are now everywhere in many different sizes, colours and designs. It seems as though we have one of every variation in our house. We have TONNES!
They love to attack us every time we open the cupboard under the sink.

I went to sort through the bags we have when I started wondering...
"Do we have too many reusable bags?"
"How many do we actually need?"
"Where should we keep them?"
"What happens if they get dirty?"
"What should we do with them when they wear out or break?"
"What does all this mean for plastic bags?"

I started doing some research to find out more about them. I know, I know. Very nerdy.
But you are about to benefit from my nerdiness.

How many reusable bags do you need?
Did you know that, in a household consisting of four family members, the suggested number of reusable bags required is EIGHT? (greenbag.com.au)
I take that as meaning eight for general shopping use because I know we have way more than that, but some are used to store clothes and things in the wardrobes.
After counting them all I discovered that we actually have at least 36!

I'm thinking I should make an installation artwork with them. That would be awesome.
The Green Bag site suggests keeping the standard reusable bags at home and for each individual to keep a compact reusable bag in their handbag or backpack for day-to-day convenience shopping. Tick!

Do you have too many reusable bags?
Yes? Mission Australia gladly accepts donations of any unwanted bags. Most op shops would happily take bags to give to customers too.

Where should reusable bags be kept?
This question had been plaguing me for a while since I am very unhappy with where they are at the moment. We access the cupboard under the sink regularly and they fall out every time the door opens. Also, our garbage bin resides in that same cupboard which can't be very healthy. Germs!

I went to the brains trust (ie, my friends and family) for some ideas:
30% under the sink
25% boot of the car
15% kitchen cupboard
15% laundry
10% on or next to the fridge 
5% garage

So, really, keep them wherever they are most handy for YOU (probably not next to your garbage bin, though). I have decided on keeping a bunch in the car boot, another bunch neatly folded (I'm allowed to dream) in the laundry cupboard and a couple of compact bags in my handbag.
We'll see how that works out. 

How do you clean a reusable bag?
It's inevitable that all reusable bags will get dirty. Things spill, leak, and flake into the bags.
So, it's important to keep them clean.
It is recommended that you clean your reusable bag with a damp, soapy sponge to get the longest life out of them. Occasional machine washing is ok, just don't put them in the dryer!  

What should you do with old, worn out reusable bags?
Recycle them! Green Bag have a recycling program called RED to encourage the proper disposal of these bags. You may need to check with your local council to see where is the best place to drop these off for recycling in your area. Any non-woven polypropylene (NWPP) bags are classed as a #5 plastic which can be reformed into many things, like school chairs! 

So, what about plastic bags?
After we started using reusable bags for all our shopping, we completely ran out of plastic bags. I then had to buy some plastic bags for the rubbish bin! I hated having to do that, but I didn't really know what else to do. Someone did mention that you can buy 'biodegradable' plastic bags but that turned out to be an even less environmentally friendly option - much to my surprise.

Research carried out for the Commonwealth Government found that, compared with ‘green bags’, the manufacture of single use plastic bags created over three times the greenhouse gas and used almost five times as much energy. And, that same report showed that biodegradable bags are an even worse option than single use bags, stating:
“Little or negative gain was found to be derived from the shift from single use bags to other single use bags such as biodegradable bags and paper bags, with potential litter gains offset by negative resource use, energy and greenhouse outcomes.”

And now...
I care about the environment. Why? Because to love God and to be like Him is to care for the things that He cares for. I care about God's creation and everything that lives in it, including the people and wildlife still to come. Having said that, though - I am not perfect. Not even close. A lot of areas in my life need improvement. This is just one that I'm working on at the moment. And, it's a no-brainer - reusable bags are the best option to care for the environment while shopping.

So, right now I'll be sticking with the regular bin liners for the household rubbish and using our reusable bags for everything else. But, I will be sourcing the bin liners from a new shop, since Aldi only stock one size: huge. I'll also keep thinking about possible alternatives for our rubbish.

A lot of the regular plastic bags are now recyclable. A lot of the major supermarkets have a special bin to put them in. They shouldn't be put in your yellow-lid bin with the rest of the recycling, though, because they jam the machinery at the recycling plant and cause a lot of other problems. I also suggest tying them in a knot if throwing them out with the general rubbish so that there is less chance of them blowing away or floating on water and being swallowed by animals.

So, after all that... even though I am currently drowning in reusable bags - they are good and they are 'green' and they are one way of caring for what God cares for.

I now feel like I have some direction. We will cull down to what we need and donate the rest. They will always live in a convenient place and will never be forgotten when we head to the shops.
It will happen. I'm determined to make this work.

I hope this info has been informative and helpful for you too.

the five-tab file

On top of organising all of my existing files, I have taken on board a system for sorting incoming mail. Enter the "five-tab plastic pocket", purchased from kikki.K for $5.95.
I love stationery, so was very excited to get something cool that also served an important purpose!

You can label the tabs on the pockets with whatever you want.
(I also inserted a sheet of textured green paper into the front sleeve to make it pretty.)

My categories are:

to pay
to do
to read
to save
to file


So, as mail comes in, it is immediately sorted into one of those categories, or put straight into the recycling. At the end of each week I will file everything in the "to file" pocket and we're ready to go again the next week!

I really recommend getting one of these if you need a better way of dealing with your snail mail.
When you use it properly, it is wonderful! 

What's not so 'wonderful' is the human in this equation. We have (mostly) managed to avoid random papers around the place, but my old self is trying to ruin the system. I am not sure where to keep this file, so I put it in the bookshelf near our dining table, so it would be out of the way. I then forgot about it for a little while until I got a letter in the mail to tell us our bills hadn't been paid. Whoops!
So I took the file, complete with the unpaid bills, in to my computer desk so I could pay them. The entire five-tab file then went missing for a couple of weeks!

Any suggestions on where we should keep our five-tab file?

the undies in the fridge

Now there's a thought. Putting on a pair of undies straight from the fridge! Brrrrrr

I would have to say that is the weirdest misplaced item I've found in our house to date.

I don't need a lot of help with spreading random junk around the house but, when small children are involved, you can end up with hilarious results. Often they are just things that have gone walkabout. Sometimes they are things I have confiscated - so end up out of reach near wherever I happen to be. This blog entry features just some of the strange things that I have discovered around our house.

Undies in the fridge (still don't know who put them there or why)













Basketball on the kitchen bench (confiscated item)

Play phone in the utensil drawer (who knows, while I'm cooking I may suddenly need to make an emergency call to Thomas the Tank Engine)

The ride-on-train. (You name it, we have found it in the back of this train. Keys, mobile phone, half-eaten food (!), kitchen utensils....)

The ever evasive 'Teddy' could turn up anywhere. Particularly annoying when Teddy goes missing and our dear child will not go to bed without him - I'm pretty sure Teddy gets lost at least once a day. (check the dirty laundry basket. yep, there he is. eewww)

Rock hard stale bread and one corn flake in the mini drawer from the book end. (must of been there for a while... placed inside so delicately)

Bowls from the kitchen turn up being worn as hats. We are often missing containers and mixing bowls. They become hats, 'fruit salad' mixing bowls, shopping baskets, drums, and more!

As an aside... funny story. James (left) holds two large bowls up in front of his chest and says "Look mum! I've got big booms!"
"You've got what!?" I reply
"Big BOOMS!" He repeats.
So, yeah - he had big 'booms', that is, two big loud drums. He usually calls them drums (or, more acurately, 'grums'), just not that time. Haha.


If we've ever lost a baby we look in the toy box. (actually, any box or opening)









Other things:
Egg whisk in my sock drawer, three matchbox cars in my shoe at one time (had to put my foot in before I noticed), play money down my top, my wallet in the cot (took me two days to find it - I didn't think to look there), last-nights left overs in the cupboard with the platters instead of in the fridge, entire car garage in the dirty clothes basket... actually if I keep going we may be here all day.

I mentioned my idea for this blog to a dear friend of mine who recalled finding a rolling pin in her freezer. She was living with two other ladies at the time and they still don't know how it got there.

Would love to hear about the weirdest misplaced item you have found in your house.

the balcony

I'm ready to share another victory in my organisational battle... the balcony!

We love to spend time on the balcony. We eat, we chat, we sit, we play, we paint.
But the setup used to be a bit of a disaster. While it did often become an explosion of toys, the major problem was the outdoor dining setting.

We only bought the table and chairs two years ago, and we bought it for this balcony. We spent so much time focussed on whether the table would fit, that we didn't even think about the chairs. Because the chairs were a 'laid-back' style, they took up so much space. We had to position the table and chairs in a 'diamond' configuration just so they would fit, and even then, it was quite a squeeze to get in and out. If you were unlucky enough to get a seat near the end wall, then you were stuck there til someone else moved out of the way. So it just didn't fit well, but we made do.

Also, when choosing a WHITE setting, we seemed to completely forget about the fact that we live next door to a freight train line! Oh, the soot. So much soot.

What were we thinking!? We weren't.

So, we agreed that we were both getting increasingly frustrated with the big, white, dining set, so, I was given the go ahead to sell that one and find something more appropriate. Boy was I excited!

Here is what we started with:

A mess, basically.

So I set to work researching different dining settings and configurations. We wanted to have at least four seats with a table, but we wanted to maximise play space when it wasn't in use too. So I was doing google searches for "compact outdoor dining" and the like. There were a few possibilities that popped up, but I think the final choice well and truly ticked the "compact" box.

Here's what I came up with:

It is a wicker dining setting with a tempered glass table top ($499 brand new from ebay). I added picture frame dots (approx $5 from Mitre 10) to the table top to keep the glass from sliding. You will see in the photo bottom, right, that all of the chairs slide in together underneath the table when not in use. Look at all the space!! I have also been covering the table with a nice cloth to keep the table top clean between uses. (Thanks for the suggestion, mum!)

Bit of a shame it only came with cream cushions, though. They are now cream, with pink and green chalk, and small dirty foot prints. At least they zip off and are machine washable.

Thankfully, I was able to sell our old setting for $100. (Yay ebay, again!)

I also bought some brick grip hooks ($20 for a pack of two on ebay), as you will see bottom left. These are brilliant. We can hang our candle lanterns on the balcony without having to drill into the wall. Plus we can move them around if we want them somewhere else. These hooks just "grip" the bricks, as the name suggests, and you hang your stuff on them. All this wind lately has put them to the test, but they haven't budged. I thought it would be good to be able to have something a little bit decorative out there since we don't have enough direct sunlight to support any plant life. We couldn't even grow a grass head out there!

It looks so nice on the balcony now with the new setting and the candles lit in the evening. During the day, the boys run around like crazy out there, and they use the table and chairs as a cubby house too. (They find so many uses for these things!) We are getting better at putting away the toys when we are finished with them. I also decided that the tiny magnetic letters and numbers from the white board should be hidden away for a while. They are a pain to clean up, and too many of them were ending up on the balcony below. Oops!

In the end, though, I think my eldest is just pleased that he now has a great spot to "sit and watch the world go by."

nothing really matters... except for these things

I am still chipping away at organising each room of my house and am close to being able to reveal another completed room. (Yay!) While I have been doing this, I have also been pondering ideas about organisation, and how it (or the lack of it!), effects me.

I like to think that I'm a pretty easy going person when it comes to household matters. I don't really mind how things are done, as long as they do eventually happen. But, there are a few exceptions. Some things that I'm, for want of a better word, 'anal' about. My husband even believes that my genetic makeup contains a small percentage of obsessive compulsiveness! Here's what we've got:

1. The dishwasher
I am extremely particular about how things are stacked into the dishwasher. There is a certain place for things. That is where they must be. That is where they fit best. I have been known to restack the dishwasher on numerous occasions if things are not in the right place. I do appreciate it when people 'help' me by offering to put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. But I will just have to redo the job later. Unless my husband gets to it first and starts it washing before I see it!

2. The blinds
Vertical blinds have a front and a back. It is true, and you can tell. They have unslightly folds and joins which should never be seen. Never. It is the smooth side that should always be seen inside a room when the blinds are closed.

3. The toilet roll!
The free end of the toilet roll should always be coming over the top of the roll, never from underneath. It looks better and is much easier to roll, stop, and break when in this position. If I come to your house and your toilet roll is not on the holder correctly - I will fix it. I really will.

 

4. Books
The books on our bookshelves are always sitting in height order. I will chose which side the tallest books look best then taper the rest down from there. The only exception to this, is children's books that are really long and stick out too far. I can't have them sticking out in the middle of nowhere, so they get placed among the larger, taller books, so their weird length can be absorbed. (See Old MacDonald in the photo as an example.)

5. Power Points
Unless they are being used, they should be in the 'off' position. In stair wells and in other people's houses, if I see an unused powerpoint that is switched on, I have to turn it off. I also maintain that leaving them on must be some kind of safety hazard. As well as them being switched off, we have outlet protectors on all of our low and unused powerpoints.

6. Computer Files
As I mentioned in a previous blog, the computer files must be named and arranged in an orderly manner. In particular, my work files. I have naming and filing systems for these.

7. Pens
While not strictly a 'household' issue, I think this deserves a mention. If I start writing on anything with a pen, I must finish it with the same pen. Not merely the same colour, the exact same pen. The main things that pop into my mind are crosswords and official forms. I do remember an occasion when I was planning on spending a bit more time on a cryptic crossword I had started, but ended up doing something else because I couldn't find the right pen! Seriously, though, there are all kinds of shades of black and blue when it comes to pens. They even have different thicknesses when pressed to the paper. Some just 'write' differently. Not sure why this matters - but it really does. The satisfaction of having a lovely, neat, completed crossword... mmmm yeah.

I am happy to share another pen-related thing. I did give up on my need to arrange my children's pens and crayons in colour order a while ago. I realised quite quickly that if a child sees you packing something away, they want to play with it. Even if they haven't touched it for days. So, they are now shoved back into their packs as quickly as possible just so that they can be put away.

And there you have it - your suspicion that I am a strange person has been confirmed.

I'd be interested to hear about your obsessive ways too! If you are brave enough to share....

the bathroom is complete!

That's right, folks. The "Get Sorty" project in my bathroom is, more or less, complete! While things may have seemed a little quiet on the blog front, I have actually been at work. Chipping away here and there and getting all the more closer to realising my organisational dreams.

The reason I began with the bathroom is because it is a room that contains items which I have absolutely no emotional attachment to. It was very easy to get in there and turf unwanted and unused items. After I threw away (or gave away) a few bags of toiletries and other random items, I planned my solution. It took a little bit of time to research and track what I was after, but I think it was worth the wait.

This is what the bathroom was like before...

One problem I had was that everything was just shoved into the drawers or cupboard wherever there was space. This meant that no one could ever find anything and when you did locate what you were after, you would end up pulling out about five other things with it.

Another thing was the assortment of towels piled onto the towel racks. Not only did it look dreadful,
but nothing ever dried properly either. I don't know about you, but I prefer not to 'dry' myself with a damp towel. (shudder)

Finally, I thought the storage of the bath toys could be improved too.

So, here is my solution...

 

To address the major problem of clutter in the vanity, I invested in some drawer dividers ($4 from Kmart), a shelf insert ($4.99 from Ikea) and large woven bags ($16.99 set from Ikea). These allow us to keep most of our bathroom bits and pieces within different categories. It looks a lot neater and we can actually find things!!

I also spent quite a while looking for the ideal cabinet to fit towels and other toiletry items in. We were fortunate to have a space of approximately 400mm between the toilet and bath to fit something in. I'm sure you'll agree that what I found looks great and fits so much in it. It is originally from Ikea, but I paid $60 for it on ebay. I really love the frosted glass with floral design.

Initially for our towels I thought a freestanding towel rail might be the go, but my husband suggested that he could simply install another double towel rail. Genius! He had installed an extra towel rail two years ago, but unfortunately they no longer make that style in white. So rather than have a chrome towel rail sticking out like a sore thumb, we opted to get the cheapest white rail we could find. A hard task since the current 'in' thing is chrome. ($50 from Bunnings)

I also bought a plastic basket for the bath toys to keep them contained at the end of the bath. ($4 from Kmart) I chose this kind because I assumed that it would be likely to end up in the bath with the boys. And I was right. It ends up in the bath every time! 

One last thing I would still like to do is get my husband to make a small shelf insert for the cabinet. (I'm yet to tell him this - The Ikea ones were about 10mm too deep. Bummer!) This will allow us to fit our medicine bottles in a safer place high up in the cabinet

And there you have it! One room down, five to go...

the refrigerator of doom

We returned home on Monday from our week long holiday to find that there was a bit of a 'smell' coming from the fridge. The 'sorting' of the fridge was meant to have been carried out soon after I wrote my last blog entry but it never happened. So all of the problem items inside the fridge had been there significantly longer than the time we were away, but that extra week seemed to tip them over the edge.

(And, needless to say, I won't be including any photos with this blog!)

I browsed through the upper shelves of the fridge thinking back over the meals of dinner-times past,
"oh yeah, that was once a yummy shepherds pie..." and finding all of the small plastic containers that I had lost. "So THIS is where they all got to!" Some had a few left over veggies, or bits of pasta that I had intended to use later. I also found half a lemon face down on a dish that had become as hard as cement! You should have heard the sound it made when I tapped it with a butter knife.

Embarrassingly, it gets worse...

I took one look inside the veggie drawer at the bottom of the fridge, quickly shut it and walked away.
Oh my goodness!! Most of the veggies were almost completely liquified! I could make out some sad looking capsicums and the remnants of a bag of green beans. There they were, all dissolving away into a putrid juice. Liquid gold, er, mould...

I buy fresh fruit and veg every week, but don't keep a good track of what is there already, so just keep taking from the top of the pile. Dear oh dear. Mistake.

While there is absolutely no excuse for the state things were in, I am going to make one anyway:
More often than not, at the time I am accessing the fridge, I will be grabbing things to feed hungry small people. They love their food and don't take kindly to waiting any longer than they have to. So I may notice a container with food from two weeks ago, make a mental note to remove it, then walk away and promptly forget.

I have decided now that I should put up with an extra couple of minutes of whinging and remove the suspect items straight away. I am sure it is a massive health and safety risk to leave bad food sitting there. At least, on this occasion, the bad things seemed to be restricted to their own containers or bags.

I have also begun dating things when I open them, such as tomato paste, so I can plan to use them up before they start to rot. And less waste is also an extremely good thing!

My husband suggested that a good time to remove things is before they turn to liquid. Noted. And a fair call too, since he and his iron stomach are the ones to clean out that drawer and completely wash it with soapy water. It is so lovely and sparkly now. (A million times thank you!!)

Together we have turned our refrigerator of doom into a refrigerator of DESTINY!

and the food lived happily ever after...

Well, it's certainly looking that way at the moment. A few people have asked how I went with the rolling pantry. I can finally give you an update.

I took a two minute walk around the corner to Mitre 10 a couple of weeks ago. A member of staff saw me standing in front of the castor wheels looking a bit perplexed (there were a LOT of wheels!), so asked if he could help. [Sure. That would be great.] So, I explained, in detail, the issue I was having and told him I needed two inch fixed castor wheels.
He told me the kind that matched my description were out of stock.
[Of course they were. Sigh.]
So, he ordered them in for me.

Almost a week later a got a call saying they were in. [Yippee! - never in my life have I been so excited about wheels.] I took the boys with me straight away to pick them up.
I was just about to pay for them, when [hang on a minute!?], I noticed that they were SWIVEL castor wheels!! [how can it be this hard to find wheels that don't do anything fancy?? They just need to ROLL for goodness sakes!]

I returned home empty handed and a bit grumpy. I wanted the food out of our laundry. So, when the boys had their naps that afternoon, I headed straight for my trusty ol' pal, Ebay! I found exactly what I wanted within five minutes and for a fraction of the usual cost! They were shipped from Queensland and arrived two days later. I then attached them to the pantry myself. I had to sand back a couple of lumps on the wheels to get them running smooth (you get what you pay for), but the end result is a fully functioning rolling pantry.

All of our food is now either in the fridge, beside the fridge in the rolling pantry, or in the two drawers underneath the oven. My friend upstairs informed me that those drawers are the only place in the kitchen that cockroaches can't get into. Win!!

So, I am feeling extremely organised in the food department at the moment. We can see (and reach) all the food we have, it is fairly neatly arranged, and we now have a sensible amount of everything too. I am surprising even myself! Although, I haven't really sorted out the fridge yet. I have been stalling. I am very very afraid of what I might find. Will definitely be wearing gloves for that job!

But, I guess I got my happy ending.
Or is it the beginning...?

wash the dishes, dry the dishes

I am always just delaying the inevitable. I pretend not to see the stack growing and growing. But really, it can only be put off for so long. When there are no clean pots left to cook dinner in, I know it is time.
Washing the dishes is yet another household chore that I like to avoid. My dear husband usually does the washing up - which makes me very happy! - but sometimes the lot falls on me.

The dishwasher is one of my favourite modern-day luxuries. (And helps us save water too!) As many things as possible are maneuvered into the dishwasher. This is something I am very particular about, for some reason - which I will go into more detail about at a later stage. Another bizarre thing is that I really do not like to touch the dirty dishes at all. If my hand touches some food residue as I'm stacking them, I must wipe my hands immediately. And I will gag if my hand accidentally touches a cold, slimy piece of leftover food. I shudder at the mere thought.

For this reason, I must wear rubber gloves as often as possible. One of my biggest dilemmas occurs when I put one of the gloves on and realise some water has got inside it. Ew eww ewww! Cold, old water! But, then if I don't wear the gloves I have to touch the dirty dishes! Eww!! What to do??

I wear the dry glove on one hand and make the bare hand the 'scrubbing brush hand' - even if it means I have to awkwardly scrub at things with my left hand - as long as I'm not having to touch anything, then great. Problem solved! Unless both gloves got wet!? In that case I flip the gloves inside out and wait for them to dry. (Actually, my new, slightly more organised brain tells me it would probably be even easier to just find a more suitable place to store the gloves in the first place. Hmmm. Good idea, brain.)

So now you know my strange reason for avoiding doing dishes.

When I actually get to the mountain of pots and such, I have to lay out a couple of tea towels on the benches, as well as the drying rack, just to fit it all.

In this picture you will see a prime example from just a couple of nights ago. These are the clean objects laid out to dry. Two pots, a frying pan, a wok, a strainer, four baking trays, about ten containers, a knife block worth of knives, measuring cups and a few other odds and ends. It would be so much easier to just wash a couple of things each night. I know this, but I can't seem to do it.
(And, yes, that is a basketball you can see on top of the potato box in the corner.
Why is it there? That's a story for another blog.)

the 'rolling pantry'

We are lucky enough to have a decent sized kitchen. Unfortunately, though, it has one major flaw. There is no pantry. Which leaves us with 'the food cupboard.' When we moved in, this is the cupboard that seemed to make the most sense as a food storage area. To our dismay, after a few years of using this cupboard, what we are left with is an absolute atrocity!

Tins, jars, bottles and packets of food are crammed in, pushing whatever was unlucky enough to be there first further towards the back. Most of those items never to be seen again. I am certain a black hole has formed at the back of 'the food cupboard'.

Most of the time, in searching for, lets say - a can of diced tomatoes, we will remove half the contents of the cupboard only to discover that there are no canned tomatoes left. Instead, we find seven tins of tuna (!?) and a couple of packets of out-of-date pasta. As you can tell, there is absolutely no way to keep track of what is there or what we have run out of. It has been a source of much annoyance, too, when we reach in to get something and knock a dozen things onto the floor in the process. I feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it.

Enter the rolling pantry! In my Google search for some in-cupboard storage solutions, I came across this fantastic contraption. It roped me in with it's blurb... "Imagine having six extra shelves for storing your packets, cans, bottles and jars!... this mobile pantry will wheel out of the way or roll into the narrowest space." This is the answer to our problem! I wrote down the measurements and set to work with the tape measure. Yes! It will fit perfectly next to our fridge!

So much hope was pinned on this fantastic pantry on wheels. I waited in anticipation for weeks. When it finally arrived, the box seemed far too small. Upon opening it, I discovered that this thing required a significant amount of 'assembling'. All I saw were planks of wood and a million tiny screws and wooden pegs. Basically, we had to build the thing from scratch. My husband and I actually had a fun time building the rolling pantry on Friday night, which is just as well, because it took a good few hours.

I was so excited to see it completely assembled in all it's glory! We nudged the fridge across a couple of centimeters, adjusted it's feet (it seems our walls have a slight lean to them) and rolled the pantry in beside it. It fits! I grabbed the handle to roll it back out again and it wouldn't move. It was stuck! What was going on? We quickly realised that the swiveling castor wheels were swinging out from beneath the edge of the pantry and into the wall as they were turning. Garrr!

Long story short... gaffer tape fixes most things but won't stop wheels from swiveling and the pantry is now in the laundry. I am going shopping for some fixed castor wheels some time in the next few days. Will this solve the problem? Time will tell....

I really hope this story has a happy ending.

what do you do with a didgeridoo?

Here is a somewhat unique situation. My husband comes from a very musical family and I have also been known to play an instrument or two once upon a time. Therefore, we have managed to acquire a rather large number of musical instruments.

We currently have an upright piano, an electric keyboard, a Fender Rhodes keyboard, an acoustic guitar, a Spanish acoustic guitar, an African guitar, a trombone, a flute, a melodica, a tambourine, a various assortment of percussion instruments (one of which looks like a frog), a Nepalise flute, a full size djembe and a didgeridoo (pictured above).

My ridiculously clever husband can play all of these instruments and many have made appearances on stage at gigs. (Except maybe for the African guitar. It is a bit hard to tune and is more for 'decorative' purposes.) Our boys really enjoy listening to, and playing them. They are all used and well loved.

The problem. Where do we store all of these instruments!!??

The upright piano is like a piece of furniture, so has it's place. But as for everything else....

We have been using our garage to store the larger items that can't really be carried up and down the stairs. Also, things that my husband needs regularly for his band are down there to save lugging them around. But our garage isn't a very safe place for these things. I would have also added two more flutes (don't ask) and my super-sweet bass guitar to the list above, but they were stolen out of the cupboard in our garage last year. We also had been storing a complete drum kit in there but were finally able to move it elsewhere!

And there are only so many things we can fit under our bed...

A thought had entered my head that maybe we could put one or two on display. But then that is more things for me to not dust. Hmmmmm.

Help! What should we do? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!