Updating - the 100 Day Challenge Begins

I've talked about the 100 Day Challenge before and we've just started a new round as of May 1 - and by we I mean a large number of people I don't know and never will get to know who are doing this and also the members of the small closed Facebook support group started by a friend a while ago. The group I find keeps me accountable because we post updates and the need to do that can turn a day when you think you can't be bothered into one where instead you do at least one thing towards your goals. That's the whole point really  - to do at least one thing, however small towards your goal every day. We all know how easy it is to let things slip and that's why the group is so important.

My goals this time are more concrete - the last couple of times they were too big and so I never felt I was achieving enough. I was making progress but it was swallowed up in the magnitude of the tasks I'd set myself. So if you're interested - and to keep myself more accountable (if I tell you what I've got planned I figure I'll be able to guilt myself into keeping going) - here they are:

1. To dig out or otherwise get rid of the couch grass infesting the sweet potato bed. I don't like to use weedkiller so I'm not sure exactly how I'll do it if digging doesn't work but I've got 100 days to figure it out, haven't I.

2. To finish the decluttering and reorganising of my office/craft room. I was doing well with this but then I hit a wall for no apparent reason.

3. Declutter and reorganise the linen cupboard. Linen cupboard is something of a misnomer because, while it does store towels, sheets, other bedding and table cloths and so on, it is also home to some camping items like sleeping bags, a small portable gas stove, mantels for the Aladdin kerosene lamps as well as a few other smaller bits and pieces that I was afraid would get lost elsewhere. I'm definitely going to have to rethink that, aren't I. I'm sure there are more practical places to store them. There are also the picnic basket, several cold storage bags, a coffee maker which makes very good coffee but is really too big for two people, some first aid materials and a lot of jars - and that's just what I can see. Who knows what's hidden at the back. There was a wine rack complete with bottles of wine until a few hours ago but those bottles - mostly gifts back in the day from people who didn't realise neither Pisces nor I drink alcohol - were obviously no longer fit to drink due to the corks having rotted so they've been emptied and dumped in the recycling bin. If anyone happens to look in there they're going to think we had quite a party.

4. To finish the novel I've been working on - it's about three quarters done that should be feasible. Shouldn't it.

5. To find somewhere I can practise spoken French and German. I'm doing quite well in reading and writing and understanding other people speaking but I'm very nervous about actually speaking either language myself so I need conversation groups of some sort.

So there you are. Wish me luck.

Tidying Up A Few Things

in particular my sewing storage and it's been instructive to say the least. I have always enjoyed sewing - I used to make most of my own and my children's clothes and I've been a patchworker and quilter for many years - and although these days arthritis has made it much harder to do either I still have an interest in both. For a few years a lot of things (mostly health related) have forced me to do only the bare minimum of sewing - repairs and minor adjustments mainly - but for a while now I've been working through the house decluttering and generally organising things better, thanks at least in part to having reread The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

I've always gone with the theory that's there should be a place for everything and everything in its place but if I'm honest things had gotten a tad out of order and that was no longer working. The reread of Kondo's book a year or so ago inspired me to get 'stuff' - and we do seem to have an inordinate amount of 'stuff' - organised. I could see the task was pretty monumental, though, and I've made the mistake of looking at what needs to be done and being overwhelmed by the task before. I knew I needed help if I was ever going to get anywhere and that's where Julia Bickerstaff's 100 Day Goal (I've talked about it before) came to my aid, that and a closed Facebook of fellow 100 Day Goalers which helps keep me and my micro actions accountable.

It has helped even if I've fallen by the wayside for a while when health and other problems have overtaken me. So far I've reorganised my clothing cupboards and drawers going along with Marie Kondo's recommendations, worked my way through the dining room and family room and I'm currently tackling what is known here as 'the playroom'. That's the room that contains my office and all my sewing and craft equipment. The office section is fairly orderly but the rest ... well, I'd rather not admit to the state of it. I knew it needed attention and kept putting it off but now I've bitten the proverbial bullet and have been working through the mess - and it really was a mess.

While I'm not quite finished - I still have one drawer to sort and tidy - I'm discovering a treasure trove of useful items among the dross and there is certainly a lot of dross. Some things have been gifted to Miss Three and a Half for dress ups - she went home the other day draped in necklaces that I'll never wear again and truth be told it's a mystery  why I ever thought I would. But there's a lot more. I found enough assorted fasteners - hooks and eyes and press studs - to last for several lifetimes I suspect. The same applies to zippers, a motley collection of bias tapes in colours I cannot ever remember sewing with, hemming tapes, iron-on patches, inter-lining and ribbons - so many ribbons. Then there are containers of different kinds of pins. I have no idea why I ever bought some - wedding and lace pins are not something I have ever had a need for. Oh and the sewing needles - there must be hundreds of many varied sizes and types. Along with all that there are tape measures, marking chalks, belt makings, buttons of all shapes and sizes, a punch for putting rivets in belts and a collection of travel sewing kits - why those are there or where they came from I do not know.

I have no idea what I am going to do with much of this. For the moment I have simply discarded the obviously useless and sorted the rest into groups which will have to be sifted through again when I can find a way to find anything useful a new home. I have a idea that there are charities that might find a use for some of it but that will take some time and investigation. Wish me luck.

Well That's One Person Who Reads My Blog

On Christmas Eve a friend I don't see often - he lives and works in Canberra now although he's originally from here and we used to work at the same place - called in during his visit home for Christmas. It was lovely to see him and Pisces and I had a very enjoyable catch up and chat. In the course of conversation he mentioned that he reads my blog. I was delighted to hear this because, although my stats (helpfully supplied by Blogger) show that people read my blog, they rarely comment on it so who they are is a mystery for the most part. I do link to the blog on Facebook and get responses and comments there but it would be nice to know who outside my circle of Facebook friends reads it.

To that end I'm going to finish setting up the writer's page I've been fiddling with on Facebook and never quite getting around to finishing. Then I'll try sending my little blog out into the wider world via links on that - and among my New Years resolutions (AKA the100 Day Goal challenge) is the plan to write/post a blog post at least once a week.

If you've never heard of the 100 Day Goal (which I think I wrote about earlier in the year) and you are a born procrastinator like me I highly recommend it. The idea is that you achieve big things by micro-actions and it really does work. It's free, too. I also belong to a small, closed Facebook group of fellow participants and that I find is very helpful in keeping me accountable. The next challenge begins on January 1 and if you want to learn more about it this is the link to the website. 

Oh Yes, It's More Than Time

I've just been reading the latest blog post on Yarn Harlot. This is where Canadian knitting teacher and writer, Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee, blogs. I've been following her blog for a long time as she takes us through her life with knitting, her family and, more recently, her part in the annual Toronto to Montréal Bike Rally - that last is a 600 kms bike ride. Makes my eyes water just thinking about it.

I love knitting so that's where I first got interested in her blog where she posts patterns and a commentary on what she's currently knitting. She also doesn't shy away from the joys and sorrows of her life so we got to share the sadness of her mother's sudden death and the grandmotherly pleasures of a small grandchild along with her struggles and successes in other areas.

Today though her blog post really resonated with me. She's had a hectic year and this time she's talking about chaos in her home. I've heard of the CHAOS acronym, otherwise known as Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, before. It was invented by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley. Truth be told I've been living it for sometime. Before health issues - both mine and Pisces' - disrupted our lives we had started on much needed renovations. When you've lived in a house as long as we have  - and I'm not going to tell you just how long that is - things wear out. So far over a few years we've renovated the bathrooms, laundry and kitchen - and very nice they are, too. The final major job is to put in engineered flooring and, before everything went pear-shaped, I had pulled out the existing carpets and packed up a lot of the house contents ready to move on to the next big step.

That's when Pisces got sick and with the worry over that and the time it devoured - it was serious involving a number of hospitalisations but now several years on he's recovered well - neither of us had the energy to focus on things other than survival. Then I came down with a debilitating and still undiagnosed illness that had me bed-bound on and off for well over a year and I suppose I should also factor in a slow healing broken bone in my foot, not to mention that we've both had multiple surgeries that took much longer than anticipated to recover from and things ground to a halt as far as the renovations as well as everything else.

When all these sorts of things happen something has to give and housework is definitely one of the things that suffers. Did I mention clutter build up? No? Well that's the other thing that gets too hard. Stuff I had packed had to be unpacked and didn't get properly packed up again. It just sat there because I was going to need it again soon and other things accumulated as well. Sometimes I swear things breed around here and it's not helped by some folk having the habit of picking things up that might be useful - no, we don't need a beanie with an advertising logo on it just because it's free and the same applies to the plastic poncho and so much more. It all just got harder and harder.

Now, though, we're both as good as we're ever going to be I suspect so it's time to deal with the mess and with that in mind I've signed up again for the 100 Day Goal. The major goal: to declutter with a view to getting the new flooring done early in the New Year. As well I'm going to find time to write, garden and keep up with my studies every day. Gulp. With daily micro-actions I might even succeed. Wish me luck!