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

PREPPER FRIDAY - Where to Begin - Replay

 

Since the onset of Covid-19, there have been a lot of people joining the prepper forces. 2020 will go down in history as the Great Toilet Paper Shortage... except for those of us who've been stocking up on necessities for years. 

I purchase stock-up supplies on a rotation, many of the items I buy from Dollar General. They are closest to me and while they are a chain store, they put money back into my small community of around 650 people.  Every penny counts. 

We often have a $5 off $25 coupon to be used on Saturdays and I take advantage of that extra $5 to buy a couple extra things. While not in any particular order, one week is all paper supplies, another week, personal hygeine, the next week might be canned good items and the final week fills in the gaps or holiday items. We can't be totally practical, after all. :-)

Many of the newbies on this journey began buying willy  nilly and panic buying bulk items they'll probably never use because someone on YouTube said that's what they should stock-pile. 

I thought for this week, we'd go back to another post from February 2014.

* * * * * *

Anytime someone wants to start something new, their first question is usually something to the effect of 'how do I start?' or 'where do I begin?'  My Mom always said any project is best started at the beginning. So I'm going to start this whole Prepping series at the beginning.

Start with DECLUTTERING a space to use as your new storage area. For us, that is in our utility room. Even with the wood burner cranking in the middle of winter, our utility room is the coolest room in the basement with two exterior (while well ground-insulated) concrete walls. One West and one North.

Aside from shelves on the West wall, we turned a wall separating the Man Cave from the shower room into a rotating can storage similar to this one on My Family Essentials. The link will take you to the page where she talks about food storage and the picture of her can rotation system. For a quick look, I have a pic on my Pinterest Board - Emergency Preparedness -   CAN STORAGE  I really like this and wish I could turn more of the walls into this system. 

We use this cabinet to store our bath necessities as there is a shower in this room as well. But we also store the overstock of personal, beauty and paper products here.

A storage area can be one location in your home (ideal) or have zones throughout your house. Under the bed for instance, is a great place to store cases of bottled water. Think about repurposing various pieces of furniture such as an entertainment center (most people don't even need these now with the flat screen now a common household item.  Can you put shelves on the wall above the toilet area for extra rolls of toilet paper or personal products. While having them in plain view may not be the prettiest, how important is pretty when you need to have those items on hand?  A wooden chest doubling as a coffee table, end of the bed seat or even a hassock that has an opening top can be used to store canned goods.  

If you have a garage, how much can you declutter this area and add shelves for bulk items such as toilet paper, paper towels, detergent, etc.

Your assignment this week if you choose to accept it is to take a tour of your home. What can you get rid of and what necessary emergency supplies could you store there instead.

Start a blog about your Prepper journey and link me. Sharing ideas could save numerous lives!

Kelly

FLY LADY - Living Room/ Dining Room

 

The first full week of October is dedicated to the living room. I'm not sure a lot of  deep cleaning will get done as we'll be focusing on the changes we need to make to the green house and reorganizing the garden shed.

Traditionally, when Deep Clean week for the living room, I make sure to do the following:

* Detail the recliners

* Clean the ceiling fan blades and lamp globes

* Dust the Entertainment Center

* Sweep/ Mop  floor

The Living Room also includes the Dining Room since we have an open floor plan for this part of the house.

* Clean off the sofa table

* Dust china hutch and clean glassware

* Go through the garden book shelves

* Detail the pet food corner

* Sweep/ Mop floor

This month may be left to what I can do around the outside chores that have a specific deadline... they must be done before Bob goes back out on the 13th. 

Are you a Fly Lady Follower? Whether you are or not, I'd love to hear your cleaning schedule in the comments below!

~Kelly

PREPPER FRIDAY - What's It All About, Alfie? - Replay Post

 Wow!

That was a rough ten days. Right after posting on the 14th, I got hit with a serious sinus infection and did a lot of nothing and very little of anything else. 

Friday's will continue to be Prepper Posts - but more regimented than in the past.  As you'll see from today's replay post, I began talking prepping in 2014. I've always been someone who prepared for any situation. I was raised my a step-mom who lived through the Great Depression. I consider myself a 1950s housewife. Often times, blog posts don't go up because family and home always come first for me. 

I'm still not completely over the sinus issue, thanks to all the autumn leaves beginning to fall. There's the last of the garden to take care of and we're redoing the green house these last two weeks Bob is home. I can spend days in October reconfiguring how I'm using the inside as far as seed tray placements and that type of thing. 

While I try to get things caught up here I thought since I have new followers/ readers, I'd go back to early posts and shine new light on them. In coming weeks I'll be sharing what I'm doing as well as introducing you to some of my favorite YouTube preppers.

One thing I will not do is ACTUALLY SHOW my space. To me, that is just inviting trouble should the SHTF. So let's take a step back to February , 2014:

* * * * * * * 

Prepping is nothing new. 

People have been preparing since the beginning of time. From the first man killing/ preserving food for winter to the Cuban Missile Crisis and more recent. For generations people have planned for a 'rainy day'. They kept their food stock in root cellars in case of long winters when what they preserved might be all they had to hold them until Spring. How many families prepared for 'the big one' like our folks in Blast from the Past. Though the movie was meant to be a comedy, there was nothing light about the importance of how prepared they were to live below ground.

But over the past few years, 'Prepping' has taken on a new meaning. Some have extended the term into 'survivalist' - preparing for everything imaginable from a natural disaster like a tornado to Armageddon. Several months ago I found a book by Bernie Carr called - THE PREPPER'S POCKET GUIDE - 101 Easy Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For A Disaster.

Bernie breaks prepping down in to 101 manageable tasks to having everything you need for any emergency that might arise. Disasters, like tornadoes, will knock you off your game if you are not prepared. My plan to kick-start this blog is to take you on my journey as I work my way through the booklet and prepare our home for an emergency and put our Prepper Plan into action.

In the mean time, I recommend you order Bernie's book and join me on this journey. If you are already a Prepper or know someone, link me to their sites. I'd love to share what others are doing.

As an added bonus, I thought I'd share this video from Dionne Warwick. Is this Prepping sitution really for the moment we live? 

Be Safe, Be Prepared

~Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 3

  Hello, everyone!

I know I'm coming in the door late. My apologies. Glorious day in the Ozarks. I've put six loads of laundry on the line to dry in the fabulous breeze and warm sunshine. I've also made Carrot/ Zuccini muffins (recipe to come at a later date), baked my first buttercup squash of the season (there's a story for later in the week) and gotten a bit of housekeeping done, both on the computer and in the house.  I've had a busy morning. :-)

I will be working on future posts later in the week and getting them scheduled. My goal is to have all blog posts running by 9 a.m. We'll see.

Today's post, as well as all subsequent Mondays, will be about my Flylady Cleaning Schedule. If you're not familiar with the Flylady System, you can read about the program HERE.

In essence the key is to have a home you're not afraid for people to see when they just 'drop by'. Many people, once they get the hang of the system, customize the schedule to fit their individual homes.

I have broken my system down into five areas and assigned each area their own week on the calendar:

Week 1 - Kitchen/ Laundry

Week 2 - Living Room/ Dining Room

Week 3 - Bedroom/ Bathroom

Week 4 - Office

Week 5 - Basement

This week, I'm all about deep cleaning the Bathroom and doing some pitching out of the Bedroom. 

My tasks will include fresh sheets on the bed (which I do every week), dusting/ mopping the floor, dusting all of the furniture as well as decluttering my night stand.

I also want to go through my closet again and see what can go in the thrift store box I'll be dropping off later in the week. 

Cleaning the bedroom also means taking the air can to the electronics. You're electronics will last longer if you give them a frequent dusting. If you have animals, the dust bunnies really do multiply at a rapid rate.

I also do the bathroom this week which means aside from a good mop of the floor I will run soda/ vinegar down the tub/ sink drains, wipe down the baseboards, shine up the bubble tub,  mirror and fixtures.  I will also change out the Sensa melts and clean out the medicine drawers.

While this seems like a lot to do, keep in mind I'm not doing it every day or all in one day. This is DEEP CLEAN Week. I will work on these tasks throughout the week. After that, I simply give them a swipe and shine daily when we're finished with our morning routines to keep things presentable until their week rolls around again the following month.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a Travel post but I'm holding off on that until next week. I have a FUN place to take you to. So much fun in fact I need TWO parts to share everything!

Until next time...

Be Well, Be Safe 

HITTING RESET!

 

Today's post is all about that big red button. Kind of reminds me of Red Nose Day from Walgreens.

I've sat for over six months,  not doing much of anything. Not even completing most of the journals I have started through Julie's challenges. Why?

Well, the reason finally came to me last weekend. I haven't been using my blog/ editorial boards or my planners since the end of February... when I started the reorganization of the studio/ office. 

I am a VERY visual person. Even during my days of selling Christmas Around the World, House of Lloyd and Undercover Wear whenever there was a promotion, I would buy a sheet of poster board and create a chart to track my progress towards a goal.

Saturday, I pulled out mynotepad and decided there were changes to be made.

 1- Work only with blogs that bring me joy.

I had six blogs. I made the definitive decision to close the Living Through Weightloss.

I find being motivated hard on the blog when there are no responses to posts... and only a hand full of readers. I thought that through my journey I could inspire others. I've gotten to the point where my time is to valuable for something that is not having any affect on me or others. As of today, that blog will be closing by end of the month - with the last post being today, similar to this one.

THIS NEXT ONE PERTAINS TO THIS BLOG!

Please Read and Share your Thoughts in the Comments below

Thank you! 

2 - Still In Debate

I started this blog back when I first met the Polish Sinfonia and needed a place to post pictures from the grade school students so that the orchestra members could all go look at them. I still like the blog idea but I'm making a couple of changes.

I want to keep talking about prepping, my garden and household. I was talking 'household' on the weightloss blo, after all a clean house does make for a better self-journey but something in me decided I could keep the household with the Ozarks Journal. I mean, I LIVE in the Ozarks. LOL So OJ will be more about my corner of the Ozarks and our home here.

 

3- Staying on Task

This required evaluating what I really want to do.

I want to write

I want the Etsy shop or some other sales form to destash my stuff and let it bring joy to others.

For that reason, I am putting a more solid YouTube stream in place, getting my shop open and Keeping THIS blog but with a few changes. I'll be talking about those on Friday.

 4 - More time to craft and to write.

I still have book series I want/ need to write. I'm starting back to a regular writing schedule next week. Hopefully, by the time Bob comes home I will have a routine where even if I only take thirty minutes, the words will flow.

Overall Goals

To create beautiful things while destashing our home

To stay more on Task

To write more books

To have a financial plan in place that has the house paid off in two years.

 

I'm not saying these goals will be easy, but with visuals in place  I have a much better shot

I'm spending the rest of this week getting posts written/ scheduled, batch-recording videos and putting the office back together from company last week.

I will see you back here on Friday (September 11)  to talk about the new schedule and give you a final flip-through of my Ausgust Assembly Line Junk Journal Challenge journal.

 until then...

~Kelly

WEEKEND TRAVEL - West Plains

Hi Everyone!

This was supposed to be last week's post but I've been down with my back for over a week. Before that, the weekend of this 'travel', I managed to drop a battery operated chain saw on my right foot and torqued my back taking out the garbage. That was the beginning of this more than a week-long aggravation.

While the swelling has subsided in my foot and most of the lovely purple tones are gone, the back is still being a pain - literally.  So bear with me, please as being at the desk isn't the most comfortable right now.

Okay.. off to my weekend travel.

West Plains is one of our go-to shopping spots. Our supercenter/ $ Tree/ ACE Hardware are our main stores to visit, though I've also been in Ramey's grocery for specific items. Last week I learned via the internet that our CashSaver is also the same as the 10box store in Poplar Bluff that I shop at frequently for our meat.

CashSaver bought one of our Ramey's locations several years ago. I checked out the store right after they opened and found it not very clean nor organized. I realize West Plains is in one of the top five poorest counties in Missouri but do our stores have to reflect that statistic?! I've never been back.

I've noticed that while the sign doesn't say 10Box, the Cashsaver sign is less predominate so I'll be checking the location out again soon. If I still see problems, I'll write to corporate.

Anyhow - while in West Plains a couple of weeks ago, I took a very hot stroll through the farmers market in the Endurance Church parking lot. There was a very nice variety of fresh meats/ seafoods as well as vegetables/ baked goods and hand-crafted items. 

The Church is located at 805 Worley Drive - West Plains MO  

Next to Hirsch Feed & Farm Supply

Here are a couple places for you to investigate.

My #1 choice is SGT. DAN'S REDNECK CATTLE CO.

Don't let the name fool you. Dan Crowder is a reallyl nice guy and a veteran. All Veteran's receive a 10% discount on purchases.

All meat is grown and raised in Oregon Co or just over the border into Randolph Co. AR, USDA inspected. 

He is currently working on a delivery route and will be happy to try and work a route close to you if you give him a shout. 

You'll find him on FB - Sgt. Dan's

Give him a call: 4179384834

Email: DanielCrowder7@gmail.com

Tell him you saw this on KellysCountry!

Next we have:

KELBY HUTSLER

Kelby is the seafood outlet.

Fresh from the gulf via SS J-BELK GULF SHRIMP AND CRAWFISH

Give him a call at 417-372-2015

He sells out quick so get there early!

I hope to be more mobile later in the week to take you along.  There is a cave near Van Buren I want to tour. 

Safe Travels & Country Blessings!