Tag Archives: cleaning

Moving Forward

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I do believe that cleanliness is next to holiness. Having finally pushed myself out of my quagmire, the upstairs floors are vacuumed. The kitchen and bathroom floors washed. I feel ever so much better. It’s pretty bad when I keep skirting around a dead bug belly up and legs curled on the floor for many a day. I wonder why it is hard to perform some jobs sometimes. I will never know the answer. It’s part of being human so it is best that I just move onward and forward.

One part of the top floor I haven’t tended to is the sunroom, my so called sancturary. I should really give it more respect. The floor is not vacuumed or washed. It is sticky where I had spilled my morning tea. I hadn’t bothered to wipe it, thinking it small. I think I was wrong. At least I’ve washed my little lap quilt before the tea stains take hold. Life is hard and I am not the Wonder Woman I want to be. I’m chugging along as best as I can. My golden lasso is a bit tarnished.

The days are slowly getting longer though the mornings are still ever so dark. The sun did not rise till 9:16 am. It’s no wonder I couldn’t get out of bed till close to 8. It is out in full golden glory at this moment. It lights me up. I put the sadness and heaviness back on the shelf. There’s no place for them now.

A Long time Coming

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Day 16 of the Ultimate Blog has started. Yesterday I posted a vision board to help me attain my goal of losing 17 pounds. It was composed of photos of my ideal self. It helps to keep it fresh in my mind’s eye. Even though I was feeling sluggish and lazy, wanting to be a hibernating bear, I didn’t cave in. It’s hard to start the morning with a cup of black tea so I didn’t. There’s something so delicious about that first cup of sweet and creamy Orange Pekoe. It’s a wonderful start to my morning. Just so you would know, I used just a tad of honey and 3 teaspoons of evaporated milk.

It was hard not to sink into my love seat after breakfast. I forced myself to run up and down the basement stairs. Noticing how dusty the stairs were, I vacuumed them. It wasn’t hard but the getting to it part was. I wondered if our brains have been altered by all our gizmos. I can’t really say I love scrolling but find myself doing it too often and for too long, wasting too much time and making myself feel not good. The scrolling and pushing of buttons make me feel impatient and frustrated. If I can’t get results right away, I’m pissed.

It’s silly I know but I want to lose my 17 pounds right away, at one try. That was in my mindset yesterday at the gym. I was sorely disappointed with the scale. I did not drop even one ounce. I am more reasonable today. I know it will take awhile to achieve my goal. I will focus on slow and steady progress. I will try to regain pleasure in doing hands on work. Some things just can’t be done by pushing a button or twitching your nose. Some things require hard work. There’s no getting away from that. It’s what I am in the middle of now – cleaning and decluttering my sunroom. It’s taken me a year to get to it. That’s a bit long, isn’t it? But I am here.

Summer Time When Living not so Easy

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It’s the 5th day of the UBC and July. I’m counting the days. I used to hate July when I was a child. July meant no school, nothing to do. In small town Saskatchewan, everyone seems to go away to the lake for the summer. Everyone, except us, the Chinese families who have a cafe. Now, in the big city of Saskatoon, everyone still seems to be away at the lake. That is except me and the guy. It’s by choice though.

We did the lake thing for a few years. It was new to me. It’s not that I didn’t like it BUT. We even had our own lake lot and trailer. Though I didn’t hate it, I was not enamoured with lake life. For one thing, it was a bit lonely. I didn’t fit in with the lake community, being a newbie to the scene. There was not a lot outdoor activity. You can only walk so much a day. Besides, the only people walking was me and my dog, Sheba. I didn’t see anyone biking. In fact, I didn’t see many people out and about. Where were they – in their powerful boats and big 4 season cabins?

I guess I’m a city girl even though I was born in a village in China. I remember a time of no electricity, no running water and outdoor toilets. How time flies and how we change. And how I digress. This is not at all what I mean to talk about! I meander and now it is July the 6th. I ran out of energy and failed to finish and post.

8 o’clock Sunday morning and the sun is shining bright. I look up and out the window. Two little birds are perched on the deck railing and one in the hanging basket – a lovely and cheery sight to start the day. My deck is another sight to behold. That was my big project yesterday. I was tired of the dust and dirt, all my seeding trays, containers, potting soil and what have you on it. Then there are our shoes that we never put away/rid off. I set my mind to at least cleaning it. So by gosh and darn, I did it. It is not perfect. I haven’t thrown out anything and it’s not all put away. But it is ordered enough there’s room to sit and to walk around. The big carpet is hosed off and drying a covered raised bed. The sky just clouded over. Oh, summer time when the living is not so easy.

energy

LIFE AS A PROJECT

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Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

Lately I’ve been in a bland blue funk, a lover of words and pictures, adrift and lost in a sea of no interest. Nothing stirs me. I’m plodding through my days by rote. It’s a good thing that I’ve had many interests and hobbies in the past. I can still rely on them as pastimes even though they are no longer as pleasurable. It’s not a good or sustainable way to live. Dissatisfaction has driven me to take on life as my next project.

It’s a pretty broad subject. The question now is where to begin. It’s stirring up a bit of interest/curiosity. I’m not quite as bland and morose but I am sick of it all – the whole nine yards of what I’ve been/was. I think I had to come to this to make any meaningful changes. I’m casting my mind’s eye back to the distant past, to as far back as I can. I’m just gathering memories now. I guess I can call them data and go from there. In the meantime, I am cleaning and clearing up my physical space. Hopefully this outer cleansing and cleaning will help do that for my insides.

It is a slow and painful process. I have lived amidst loads and loads of useless and outdated physical and emotional stuff. It will not be easy to let them go. It will be a tug of war. But it does promise to be interesting. At last I am yanked out of my malaise.

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels.com

I CAN’T DO IT ALL

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Egads, it is 6 pm already! I’m as tired as can be. I’ve been busy being Martha Stewart all day long. I made yogurt in the morning. Then soup with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving for lunch. Seems like not much if it was just the makings and no cleaning up after. I had alot of mashed sweet potatoes left from Thanksgiving. I made muffins with them after lunch which resulted in more washing up. I bet Martha never did any stuff around the kitchen. She just writes about it and somebody else do the cooking and cleaning up. Well, it’s all done, the cooking, baking and cleaning up. I’m finally here for another Ultimate Blog Challenge post.

I’m glad I was reminded about choosing my battles yesterday. I can’t fight/do them all. I did pause and thought about the more important ones. It’s prioritizing. I can have my cake and eat it but I can’t do it all. It’s a good thing we have the walk-in cooler in the garage. I’ve harvested 4-5 ice cream pails of grapes couple of days ago. I got my bottles for bottling juice from Amazon yesterday. They are washed and dried. They are ready but I’m not. There’ll be alot of sorting and washing grape before they can be juiced. They can keep in cooler till I can muster up more energy. I will aim to juice one pail tomorrow. It’s not about all or nothing. Just one thing will suffice.

It’s another day when I can only write my post for the challenge. I will pass the daily thread again today. I’m choosing what is the wiser thing to do today. I am tired and need to wind down for the evening. Tomorrow is another day.

MY EVERY DAY BATTLE

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It’s a grey cool Monday. I’m feeling the weather again. I’m sipping on a cup of decaf while contemplating what would be my best moves. I hate letting the weather get the better of me. But it might not be a bad idea to just take it easy for the rest of the day. I’ve already stormed out after breakfast and did a whole pile of work before 10. I planted the last 4 squashes between the haskap berries in the backyard and the rest of the celery in the squash bed. Yes, I got a little crazy with the squashes this year. I’m sure I’ve planted 30 for ourselves. Then there’s the giveaways. I will take an inventory of plants and produce in the fall for better planting next spring. It’s what I keep saying. Now I will have to do it.

I am feeling better for having started this tapping out. I sure felt like hell when I came in from the garden. I’ve done some work in the greenhouse, too. It’s nice and warm there, out of the cold and wind – a good place to clean up the pots and trays. I can put them up on the rock wall to dry. I am trying to have a better handle and not let them scatter all over the place. It’s hard to develop good work habits. So easy to just drop things drop wherever they are. But then there’s the hard part later picking them up.

Well, so much for taking it easy. We’ve had lunch and the dishes done. I find the cleaning up part the hardest. My mood drops and my energy deserts me. I have to talk myself through each step. It happens most days. You would think I could overcome this by now. No, I have to battle it every day but I do win every time. I’ve gone out again to the greenhouse to finish cleaning all the little pots and plant trays. The lettuce there are past their prime. It was hard but I’ve pulled them and planted 2 eggplants in their spot. I tend to wait and hang on to things too long, even lettuce. Well, no more of that!

It seems my keyboard is my best tool for working things/my moods out. It doesn’t give me any back talk either. I can talk myself out with no criticism. Sometimes I just need to put it out here on the page, sounding myself out. If I pay attention, I can hear/see wherein my problems and solutions lie. It’s worth it to make the effort of showing up on my self scheduled days.

AM I HAVING FUN YET?

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Day 23 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge and day 3 of my daily ski and day 2 of my daily cleaning and decluttering. Am I having fun yet? Yes and no. When words come easily off the tips of my fingers, it is fun. Not so much when I have to struggle for every thought and sentence. I don’t care much for proofreading and editing. I force myself because sometimes I can think faster than I can tap. Yesterday I caught a few omissions and errors. Good thing my patience and discipline are improving. Sometimes good enough is not good enough.

Am I having fun yet? I had a wee rest after lunch. I worked steady and early this morning, wasting no time. I stirred my scrap apple vinegar fermenting on the dining room table. It’s my second batch. I quite like it as a substitute for regular vinegar. Mostly I use it for cleaning. I put a bit in a spray bottle with water. I spritz it on my mop to damp mop my hardwood floors. I also use it on my dust cloth for dusting furniture, etc. It leaves everything shiny and with a pleasant scent. Then I fed Oscar, my sourdough starter. I like to get the daily things done and out of the way. When I procrastinate, sometimes they don’t get done at all. It’s no fun falling behind and having catching up.

After breakfast I did a quick dusting in our bedroom followed by damp mopping of the floors. Then we hit the ski trail at the park. I did 3 laps around the park, working up a sweat. Was I having fun yet? Not quite but almost. Not sure if I got my ski legs back yet. I am slow as a tortoise. No kick and glide yet. Have to review techniques on YouTube again. At least I haven’t regressed. I could do double poling. No falling down today. My boots got on and off the skis like a damn. No struggle like last year. I won’t win any races soon but I’m burning calories.

The sun has disappeared. I will have to set out to put the greenhouse to bed soon. Without the heater, the low in there today was -1.8℃ this morning at 8:30. The high 8.6℃ at 3pm. All the greens are doing well. I cover them with row covers for the night and uncover in the morning when sun comes up and temp. above freezing. We’ll see what happens when the temps dip toward 20 and below at night. This is our first winter. I don’t think it will be fun covering and uncovering in the depth of December and January. I might take a break from it till February or March.

MOOD SWINGS

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Day 22 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. 8 more days. I can do it. It has become a habit again. These days my mood can turn on a dime. It’s better to pound on the keyboard than on someone. Not that anyone has given me any reason, but you know how it is. It is the question of which comes first – the chicken or the egg. In the case of moods, is it the mood or is it the stimulus. You are on the edge. Then along comes the straw that broke the camel’s back. Kapow!**

I’ve been wary and vigilant though. In these moments I try to keep calm and not behave like my usual old self. I try to use the not-so-good vibes toward decluttering and cleaning. It’s a good tool and choice of activity for me. It’s what our mothers used to do to de-stress. It’s what I used to do, too, but somehow have lost the habit. Cleanliness no longer was next to godliness. They both got tossed aside for sometimes meaningless scrolling through social media and the Internet. Regardless of how I got here, I’m turning back to more hands-on living.

It’s not easy to change back, let me tell you. In the middle of my cleaning this morning, I got more depressed and wasted. There’s so much clutter and so much dust. I felt pale and drained just thinking about it and seeing what laid before me. I had to console myself. I tell myself that if I just sort out one small box, it will be enough. That did the trick. I dug in, cleared some dust and a box. What I learn today is:

  • baskets and boxes are hazards for hanging onto things forever.
  • I have trouble throwing out pens.
  • I can clean and declutter faster than I think I can.
  • cleaning and decluttering can be enjoyable.
  • I can control which way I swing.
  • I can be a clear bug as well as a cluttered one.

I shall dedicate the rest of the month to doing more cleaning and clearing daily. 8 days are do-able. Then I shall set a new schedule. Baby steps doesn’t work for me. And I hate that phrase. Not enough time left for baby steps. I have to take giant leaps forward. Onward ho!

CHINESE NEW YEAR IN APRIL

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April/Day 4/20 for the Ultimate Blog Challenge

These days of challenges keep coming at me, at everyone. We need to keep informed of how the world is but the numbers keep climbing. They get scarier and scarier. I’m trying to stay grounded and all but I worry. I worry about my mother’s upcoming appointment at the Eye Centre at the hospital next week. I worry about her vulnerability. At the same time I worry about her eyes not getting checked. I weigh the pros and cons. I will phone Monday to see what they say.

We are in a lockdown. They tell us to stay home. Life goes on though. Sometimes we must go out and sometimes we must let others in. When to go out and who to let in? We never gave it a thought before. Now everything is a dilemma. In the end we called and let the plumber in. A not well draining kitchen sink can be very stressing. Lucky or unlucky our kitchen sink upstairs is connected to the one downstairs. The plumber need not come up at all. Well draining pipes can make me diliriously happy. I’m happy to wash, clean and wipe things down.

It is still winter in April. Snow came down in buckets. It was enough for me to tell Sheba: No walk today. You can have a treat. She paced, gave me a few looks but plopped down on her pillow. She’s an old girl. She got her treats and was satisfied. I am just too tired today to fight the wind and snow today. Sometimes it is good to take a break and give myself a break and a rest.

How are you all doing out there? I will be alright in a minute or two. I’ve learned today that if I keep up with maintenance, life could be easier. I wouldn’t get so stressed in tricky times. But I am learning. I’ve cleaned out 3 under the sink cupboards. I got one more to go – the one in the basement kitchen. I’m cleaning house for Chinese New Year. It’s late this year but it’ll bring so much happiness now that there is room for it. That’s our tradition for New Year. Clean house before the new year. You don’t want to do any sweeping in the new year. You might sweep out good fortune. But we’re making a new tradition in these times. Happy Chinese New Year in April.

 

THERE’S ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM

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November 13, 2018  9:52 am

I have wasted a bunch of time scrolling through this and that in search of products and answers. I was caught up in the number of choices that we have at our fingertips. It is a burden rather than a freedom. Now I’m left with a bunch of information running amuck in my head. They’re like gerbils on treadmills in their cages. I’m much like them, a slave to my human nature.

At least it is still morning. The sun is shining. I’ve dug out a jar of soup from the freezer. It’s defrosting in a pot of hot water. I will tap out a few more sentences and leave my frenzied thoughts on the page. There’s the routine of vacuuming and dusting to do. It settles and grounds me for the day. Having a clean floor without all Sheba’s hair makes me feel so much better. It’s as if I am clearing the debris and cobwebs in my head.

I’ve been tackling the dust in one room/day. Amazing how much there is when I pay attention. Amazing how clean the air is when I do. There has been much that I’ve avoided to do. It’s as if I am afraid to move/change anything. I worry that things would never be the same again.  These feelings have been beneath my consciousness though they do weigh on me. I now know the meaning of ‘There’s an elephant in the room.”  I really do have lots of elephants in my living room. They sit heavy on my mind. I clear my mind and air every time I dust them now. I try to let go of the fear of change. It’s what I need – change for the better.

4:41 pm

I’m just having a cuppa before taking the fur baby out for her walk. I treated myself with toast and jam. Yup, it’s the comfort rather than the hunger thing. I’m feeling the weight of being a child of immigrants. It makes me feel like my parents’ keepers, they being poor speakers of English and understanding less. Things tend to fall on me, the eldest child, not that I’m a child anymore. My shoulders are not wide nor strong but I manage most of the time. Sometimes I need the toast and jam to give me a little extra support.

I’m not complaining, just saying. I’m faring well, having dusted my computer screens and desktop. I can see what I’m tapping now. I’ve been out and about mailing letters, returning library books and to London Drugs.  I dropped off dead batteries, bought a memory stick and Nellie’s Dishwasher powder. I was impressed with Nellie’s laundry soda. No scent, eco-friendly and effective. I am passionate about doing what I can to save our planet. It’s nice to know that I still care about something.