FLYLADY WEEK 1 - Kitchen & Laundry

 Good afternoon, friends!

I'm still on a deep cleaning around here and trying to get stuff put in some semblance of order in the office. 

But it's also Week 1 of the cleaning process for the rest of the house.

This would normally be the week I deep clean the laundry room & kitchen but since I leave Wednesday for a writing retreat/ conference, I'm doing the quick pass-throughs.

Aside from clean sheets for the bed this week, I've tossed a cleaning bomb into the washer. I always wash the cat beds and dog sheets last thing so the cleaning cube for this washer is mandatory. I've also cleaned/ deodorized the kitchen sink drains (I have a dual sink).

To do the drains, I put a 1/2 C. of baking soda into each drain, followed by 1-1/2 C hot white vinegar. Once that's worked a bit then I follow with 3-4 C of hot water to flush the drain through.  I normally only do this once a month but if the drain seems sluggish later in the month, I follow the same process. Easy clean and no stinky drain or chemical tablets.

I also have the #MealPlanMonday series on my YouTube channel. Here's this week's video. It's not overly exciting but maybe a tidbit or two will catch your attention.

That's it for me this week. I have other things planned for this video but I'm really pushing to finish Book 2 of my Ozarks, Planned To Perfection series. An Ozarks Christmas has been out for several years. Time for Book 2 - An Ozarks Homecoming - just got away from me in much needed research and live in general.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

A NEW MONTH - Decluttering Continues!

 Good morning, everyone!

I'm still waiting for cooler weather to move in and STAY! Because I'm such a hot box, I've still be running AC in the afternoons. I'm so going to hate my power bill.

First week of the month means I'm back in the laundry room & kitchen. Thankfully, since the laundry room has been decluttered I just have general cleaning in there and I can put up the Fall/ Halloween decor. That makes me happy!

This week, I plan to declutter the kitchen. I probably won't get to all of the cabinets as I have a jam-packed creative month over on the creative YouTube channel and Blog. If you are a paper crafter, I'd love for you to check them out!

The space above the cabinets really needs a deep clean. I'll start with taking down glasses & cups we don't use and packing them up for the thrift store. I also want to declutter & reorganize the food cabinets. I tried a rolling can dispenser type of thing but it just isn't working out. I also have canned food up there from 15 years ago!  Yeah, sad, huh? Thankfully, it's veggie pasta additive so I can spread that in the compost, wash the jars and can something I'll actually eat. Lesson learned.

Lots to accomplish today, and none of it involves the cleaning list. That will come later in the week.

What are you working on this week? Decluttering? General cleaning? Prepping for holidays? 

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

CATCHING UP!

 Good morning, everyone! Welcome to another soggy day in southeast MO. 

I woke up to rain yesterday morning. By bedtime we had just under 1".

Woke up to rain this morning with just over 2" in the rain gauge (total of about the past 26 hours)

I'm tired of rain. 

Why blogger has decided to doublespace my posts, I have no clue. As I type this, I have 7 squirrels complaining their feeders (mind you the feeders are actually for the birds). Nuts, the alpha male of the group comes up on the deck and scratches at the metal feed can to get my attention... then sits on the railing and looks in the window to see if I've heard.  This is only a couple of my critters. Nuts is the one hanging from the woodpecker suet cage:

After my post last week, I had to jump full in to a 7-day creative collab for my day job. The project required working up multiple small art projects, filming and posting a video each day. I am currently uploading my last required creative video as I write this post. I'll have one more 'final' to do then this collaborative project can be put away... and the next one started. The next one won't be as intense. 

First week of the month means Laundry/ Kitchen detail. 

Laundry room includes, taking recyclables in, putting the shelf lines back in place, filling all the laundry cleaning items, sanitizing the cat counter as well as deep cleaning the floor and the litter box.

I still haven't put the summer liners back on the shelves nor hung the cafe curtains up. I'll get that done so the storage tub can go back out to the warehouse - out of the dining room.

The kitchen this week won't be as intense. I do want to get a set of glasses down off the soffit area to be washed then put in the donation box for the thrift store run this week. Everything else up there needs a serious cleaning but not this week. Next month when I can move more normally. While I can do stuff, I'm still having to be careful how I move so as not to re-injure the rib and muscles. 

Tuesday should have been the travel post I promised you. That is coming tomorrow. That 7-day collab just pushed a lot of things back. I have the pamphlets here and pictures handy to write that post as soon as I'm done with this one.

My approach to Fly Lady is proof I am a 1950s housewife at heart. Those women did specific deep cleaning tasks on certain days, as seen here by these recreations from PINTEREST   Do you have a cleaning schedule? 

Please share in the comments below. Maybe you do something that would work for me.

Whatever you choose to do today, Enjoy the Journey

~ Kelly 

FLYLADY - November 2

 

Welcome to a new month, everyone!

We've enjoyed a few days of warm weather. The cooler temperatures are moving back in. What else can we expect for November. I'm hoping for a warm weekend as Bob and I have so much to get done outside, including putting the new cover on the greenhouse.

The first week of the month is dedicated to the Laundry Room and the Kitchen. I did the laundry room last weekend because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I also detailed the kitchen floor.

This week I want to get the baking counter under control In just one month I'll be diving into full-on Christmas baking mode. Aside from the 60+ cookie trays we pass out to businesses who've served us throughout the year I will need to get two boxes in the mail... one going to IL and one going to WA. 

The other thing I'm hoping to do today is to clean out the soffit area above the kitchen cabinets. We have glasses/ cups up there we haven't used since they were put up there. If I can tackle the area on the North and East wall then I can move to the soffit above the baking counter at a later time. That entire soffit on that side is all cook books. 

When we moved here twelve years ago I got rid of two HUGE boxes of cookbooks. I need to go through them again. My main keepers will be those from or associated with entertainers. From there I'll start recipe-testing select recipes from all of the others to create one single keeper book (or possibly one for each category). 

If I can accomplish that this week, I will be thrilled. I already have a box ready for the cups/ glassware to take to the thrift store tomorrow.

As we make our way closer to the holidays, I realize we may not experience the gatherings of the past but it's even more important to create an atmosphere we want to be in.

Let's get busy.

Be Safe! Be Prepared!

~Kelly

FLYLADY - Basement

 

To say things have gotten a bit off-kilter around here is an understatement. That said, I think I've found the light. 

Since I plan to be really busy next week diving back into  my novel process during NanoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month. org), I want to get the laundry room/ kitchen done this week. We've been through the list of what I do normally, but I'm adding to the list this week by degreasing the microwave shelf (mounted above the stove), finally getting some dry goods into jars (that post coming Friday) and giving the floor in the combined rooms a good steam cleaning. 

Temperatures have really turned cold here in the Ozarks. I need just one 'sunny' day to get the garden stuff stripped out, as well as emptying the green house in prep for a new covering. We hope to get that done the first weekend Bob is home. Winter is coming!

As we approach the holidays, I know many people start thinking about a winter cleaning in prep for holiday decor and family.  While the 'family' part may be scarce this year, throw up the holiday decor and cheer the place up!  I'll still be baking for the usual cookie box recipients and I love my Christmas decorations even though  no one ever comes to visit. I do them because I enjoy them. 

What's on your cleaning list this week? Share? Maybe you do something I've not thought about. 

Blessings

~Kelly