Wednesday 11 March 2015

I don't just pootle - honest!

Sue over on Frugal in Suffolk often writes about what she has done that week. I find it very interesting getting a glimpse of other people's daily routines, so I thought I'd tell you what I do most weeks. It also seemed important that you don't think I spend my whole life pootling about baking cakes and reading articles!!
I start every day, once I'm washed and dressed, with cleaning out the chickens, having a little chat with them and a quick 'tour' of the garden to see what's coming into life. I then feed the cats before settling down to some breakfast for me - usually eggs and a second cup of tea (hubby brings me my first upstairs when he leaves for work at 7am. At some point in this routine, I have to check that the three school age children are up and getting ready - alarm clocks seem to be a foreign concept to them, although only a matter of  8 months ago, I would have left for work by half 7 and they managed then?!!!
Once they've all gone, I make all the beds, tidy up rooms, load the dishwasher, often put in a load of washing (about 8 to 10 washes a week whilst all six of us are at home!). I sweep the floors downstairs every day too as they are all hard floors. 
I tend to clean the house thoroughly once a week generally on a Monday. I also do several loads of washing and often the ironing on Monday too, so the rest of the week is more flexible. I do the food shop at the end of the week - Thursday or Friday and I try to visit my friend every Friday too for a cuppa and a catch up. 
In between whiles, I do some crafting, although less at the moment as I seem to have lost my mojo a bit....
Once a week I go out on my Homestart visit for a couple of hours too.
Depending on my eldest daughter's shift patterns, we might go out - yesterday we went to the local garden centre to get some more seeds and last week, to Wisley. If I'm on my own, I might go for a walk or take some time out to meditate. I presently have to phone the hospital/nursing home every day as my mother's health has taken a rapid and dramatic turn for the worse - there's going to be a huge amount to sort out there before long and I'm dreading it, but I keep telling myself that I'm better placed to deal with it now that I would have been before I gave up work!

The garden so far.....

I'm also gardening. Little by little, I am bringing 'project garden' to fruition. It might take me a while, but I can space it out over the next few months, so I don't want to rush at it, after all, it's supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable.
Of course, I also bake once a week and cook freshly prepared meals every evening. I read, both books and blogs and I love to listen to music of all kinds whilst I'm working.

My eldest daughter and I had spiralised courgette 'pasta' with a tomato sauce for lunch - delicious and super healthy! 

Now that's made me feel more productive!!  Many of you have husbands who are either working part time or retired now, so it's heartening to read about your shared tasks! It can seem quite daunting when it seems to be me doing the lions share of all the home chores, but when we enter the next stage of our life plan things will be different .... Well I truly hope so!!! 

6 comments:

  1. There's nothing wrong with 'pootling' , I just wish there was more time for it.

    I for one never for a moment thought you just 'baked cakes and read articles', you are always busy and like me do the majority of the 'home' things. Your garden is looking great I love the slightly winding path to the chicken enclosure, it's a real feature.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's amazing just how busy you can be actually. An ex-colleague (a man) asked me the other day what I did all day long as if he was worried I might mummify if I wasn't going out to work!! Bloody cheek!

      Delete
  2. I honestly don't know how I got round to actually getting to work on time 6 months ago!!! I still get up with hubs at 6.30am when he shouts me for the first cuppa of the day. I then shower, hair, etc and then nip to the local shop for a newspaper around 8am ish. I then sort out the cat with her food and litter tray (she very rarely ventures outside) and then I've got into the big habit of feeding the garden birds. The ritual is: add clean fresh water in bird bath or re-fill if empty, bash a load of suet balls up (they like them this way), place onto bird table/tree stumps along with meal worms and seeds and then watch them gather! I then sort out the washing - usually a couple of loads a day depending on who's been at home and hang out weather permitting. I then sort out what we're eating for tea and prepare any veg, etc. THEN THE POOTLING STARTS!!! I seem to wander from room to room thinking what to do with what and never seem to do any of it. The house isn't dirty but it's a bit cluttered in parts and now that there are just the 2 of us here (well daughter is here in the Uni holidays) I really have no excuse to get on with the jobs. Never mind, pootling is healthy!! (I hope you don't think I'm lazy! I do quite a few other little jobs in between which are too trivial to list!!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're obviously a morning person like me! I tend to do the most work in the mornings, then start to faff about a bit after that. I have an ongoing list which I am VERY slowly ticking off!

      Delete
  3. Like Sue Says - nothing wrong with pootling. For years I got up at 6 to get goats milked,fed and watered, sheep checked and chickens let out and water, eggs collected etc before coming in to get children up for school bus at 8.20, fires lit and Col off to work at 7.30. Phew don't know how I did it. 20 years younger then is probably the answer!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was doing everything I do now (except for the craft) and working full time. As you say, it's hard to imagine fitting it all in, but somehow we did!!

    ReplyDelete