My Tombstone Won't Say 'She Was Good At Being Tidy' :)

Kerry's blog post on Saturday 8th January about her struggles with the 21 Day Getting Organised Challenge initially made me laugh out loud! It was her comment
"I have decided why I don't know many organized people - I think they die off before they get to be my age! This organizational challenge is killing me!"
that made me chuckle!

Kerry ..... if only you could appreciate that you are doing so much better than me :)

The Challenge about cleaning out your junk drawer ..... well, the unit in my living room has four(!) of those, so just doing one didn't seem right somehow. You may recall how my cats were helping with drawers two and three? I didn't show an 'after' photo because I found 'stuff' that I just didn't know what to do with so I wasn't sure if I actually got to an 'after' point!!

See what I mean? The left one now holds lots of school photos, both of James and also Teacher group photos from when I used to work in a school. There are also extra copies of my Open University graduation photo from 2006. I don't want to throw any of them away but they are not things I look at often and I don't have anywhere else to put them.

The right one .......... I had got fed up by then and just shoved the rest in it :(     And drawer four didn't even get a look-in!

Mind you, I did clear some odd bits from the bottom section of the cupboard!

This is where I keep my 'best' dinner service that only comes out on High Days and Holidays :)
By the criteria described on a Bowlful of Lemons, I should probably ditch it as we don't use it very often ..... but I won't be doing that!! In sorting this cupboard out, I found some things that really belonged in our Christmas boxes plus a completed cross stitch that I had forgotten about!!
There are one or two other 'odd' things in there ..... like the small boxes in the left hand corner that will 'one day come in useful' for craft ideas!! ..... but they are going to have to stay there until I sort the room where I keep my craft stuff.

By now, I should have also cleared my computer desk and sorted various areas in the kitchen. Sigh!! I haven't even gone there!!

OK .... I don't actually have a computer desk as I use my laptop sitting here :)
Believe it or not, the coffee table on the right was kept clear over ALL of the Christmas period because that is where we put our little Christmas tree. Now ....... Friday night and Saturday morning, I suddenly realised that I had various things to do for my church that I had to do before Sunday ......... so organising anything else went straight out the window and all my papers and other necessary things went on the coffee table! It still looks like that at the moment ..... well, I still have some finishing up to do!

And the kitchen cupboards? Ummm ..... have quite a lot of those! All stupidly made of white wood with a downwards running grain that show every mark and splash! They weren't designed with cleaning in mind, I can tell you!

Yep! The one under the sink is messy!! Even though a number of products are in little grey baskets! No action so far in there!

As for some of the others? Well .....

I don't happen to think this one is too bad. If I tried to throw anything out that we only use once in a while, I would come across another problem ...... my husband John does an awlful lot of the cooking and he just might complain if I got rid of things :)

OK ..... the last one also happens to be where mult bags of crisps get shoved which can make accessing this cupboard awkward. So yes ..... this also needs sorting ...... but I haven't yet :)

And ..... wasn't clearing clothes drawers on the list of things to do and make by now :(

So Kerry ...... keep you chin up lass :)


You are doing famously! I am a struggling 'also -ran'!

By the way, Saturday evening/night I just could have done some organising, but I didn't! We spent the evening listening to my Gerry Rafferty albums as our tribute to him as he passed away last week at the shockingly early age of 63 ...... whilst I continued with sewing 'The Rug'. A far more pleasant way of spending some time :)

However, I'm not completely 'knocking' the aim of Getting More Organised despite my flippancy :)
It needs to be done, but I think I can only manage small nibbles at it! Still ..... one good outcome from clearing the cupboard section of the unit in my living room ..... finding the completed cross stitch picture I'd forgotten all about.

That was worth the organising :)     Perhaps I'll do a separate blog post at some point about this :)

Day 1 & 2 of 21 Day Getting Organised Challenge

OK ..... I'm starting this challenge a little late and I also haven't really signed up on the Bowl Full of Lemons site. Why's that? Ummm ..... not totally sure I can sustain this for 21 days as work and getting all the things I normally do in the evenings actually done as well could be difficult. However, in principal it is a Good Thing, so I'll try!
So .... thought I'd start yesterday with what was really Day 1 and try to sort out a drawer in the unit in our living room.

For good measure, I also thought I'd try and sort out the cupboard section under the drawer. Both are definitely messy!

So ..... two hours later and with two TV programmes under my belt (is this cheating?) ..... I had thrown away several things, discovered a few things I'd forgotten I had(!), reorganised a folder of greetings cards and wrapping paper, thrown away lots of old make-up and nail varnishes and moved a few things elsewhere. As an aside, my John always says that when I do have these mad sorting out moments, it usually involves just moving things to other places, but I did my best to limit this!!

Ummm ...... doesn't look all that much different?

Slightly better? Not sure!

For today, I thought I'd carry on with the next two drawers in the unit.

Yes ..... definitely messy!!

Got both drawers out and took everything out and spread contents round the floor. However ....

Well, I guess they were only trying to help :)

Perhaps I'm not treating this seriously enough :)

Getting Organised .... and Staying That Way!

One blog I love to follow is KerryKatieCakes. You'll find her in the sidebar of my blog. I can't now remember how I came to find her blog but I love her crazy quilts .... perfect eye candy! I also love her tutorials and examples for using different embroidery stitches.

Anyhow, her entry the other day caught me eye. She has signed up for a 21 day Challenge put up by a blog called A Bowl Full of Lemons and over this 21 days, the idea is to become more organised around the house. In other words ..... no clutter ...... everything in its place ..... everything looking ship-shaped and Bristol fashion!

How I need to sign up for this! Kerry has invited me to, but can 21 days really be enough time to teach an old dog new tricks :)

The thing is, I do like things organised and it is very satisfying seeing the place looking all organised when I do have a 'splurge' day, but I'd much rather be spending my time sewing or reading or ..... anything else really! So things very quickly look very un-organised and dusty and ..... well ..... slightly grubby round the edges!

Take the recent New Year period. We had friends staying and so, looking at the place with fresh eyes, I could see we needed a serious clean/sort out! Between John and I, we had a 'splurge' over a couple of days between Christmas and the New Year and by the end of the time, you would think we always have a straight house! Do we heck!

At which point, I need to explain the cross stitch picture at the head of this post. My Mum made it for me. She was a little worried that I just might take it a teansy, weansy little bit the wrong way. But I loved it! Mind you, only my Mum, who I adore, could have got away with it :) Like all good Mums, she knows what I'm like and loves me all the same :)

Anyhow ..... that 21 Challenge ...... shall I go for it? Ummmm ....... perhaps eliminating procrastination should be on the New Year's Resolution list as well :)