Unexpectedly clean

Sauce nipple

I didn't end up spending my Friday on the couch with a book as I planned. I slept (on an off) until midday then I got up and cleaned the whole flat. I don't know what came over me, but I'm glad the place is clean. I wish I could have the pleasure of a clean house without having to clean it (or pay someone else to). 

I have been reading at bedtime most nights, which I haven't done much of lately. I've read more in the past few weeks than I have all year. I usually spend too long reading the internet when I go to bed, but I'm trying to break that habit (along with my afternoon/early evening napping habit, which I'm doing OK at).  

This is my last weekend before I go to Brisbane (and before Luke goes to the UK). It's come around quickly. 

Test run, yum, mum

Cute, no?

I took my little sewing machine for a test run today. I was pleased I actually remembered how to thread the cotton and the other basic stuff, so I'm not an absolute beginner. I started off sewing a few lines of straight stitch and zig zag on scrap material, then moved on to the project that prompted me to buy the machine: a corsety-belt using some wide, black trim I found at Clegs fabric store. It's decorated with horizontal rows of fake leather, satin ribbon and fancy stitching. I sewed the raw ends with the machine, then hand-sewed a row of D-rings on each end so the belt can be laced up with ribbon.  I didn't have enough D-rings to complete the belt, so I'll show you when it's done.

I cooked corned beef for dinner tonight. Yum. And there's leftovers for tomorrow night. I cooked dumplings again too. I froze half of the last batch of dough I made last week and tonight I thawed it and cooked them in the pot with the corned beef. 

I had a very domesticated day today. As well as the sewing and cooking, I cleaned, did the grocery shopping and even some ironing (which I do maybe three times a year). It was a good day to stay in.

I called my mum for Mother's Day tonight and had a long chat.  

I took this partial rainbow photo from my 

office during the week

 Brightly decorated cars are the traditional way

 of celebrating Buddha's birthday. 

Spotted on Collins Street yesterday

What remains of the Bill & Ted-inspired sign

 I mentioned last Sunday

Button tin, making room

I made a start on a big clean up this afternoon. I do love a declutter, as many of you will know.  I cleared out a fair bit of junk, and I haven't even started on my wardrobe yet. I found about 300 of those tiny snaplock plastic bags with a spare button that you seem to get with every new item of buttonable clothing.

I put all the spare buttons into a biscuit tin, so I'm the way to having a button tin like my mum had when I was a kid. Mum's button tin was an old-fashioned oval chocolate tin with a posh lady on the lid, and it had a lot of fancy buttons in it. I used to love sifting through them and sorting all the matching buttons into piles. Unfortunately, the majority of my buttons are black, which is a bit dull for sifting and sorting, but very handy if I do ever need a button.

I have been decluttering to make some room because I have a new flatmate. A special flatmate. Luke has moved in with me. Yay.

Sunshine, hugs and hot man with shirt off

I went to a real-world Twitter meet up last night in the city. I met some cool people. I got hugs. Ace.

Today was a perfect spring day. Sunshine, blue sky, light breezes. I went to the gym, walked home in the sun and then launched into a cleaning frenzy (a rare event). I even mopped the floors.  I feel pleasantly weary and pleased with my efforts.

I found $2 on a seat at the cinema. Wooh. I saw The American, which was long and rather dull, but at least we saw George Clooney with his shirt off.

I have discovered a new gluten-free breakfast cereal called Cookie Bitez. It's in the same category as Cocopops when it comes to nutrition, but it's yummy.

Boring but satisfying

The last golden rays of the day outside my window

I've had a quiet, but very productive weekend at home.  I spring cleaned my bedroom and organised my wardrobe, and I've just finished backing up, categorising (and subcategorising!) nearly a year's worth of photos. Whew. It feels good.

Of course I had a to-do list and I've taken pleasure in crossing each task off. I even added one job after I'd done it, just so I could cross it off. Yes, I know.  

So far, I've completed 12 of 20 tasks. I won't get to all of them by the end of today, but I feel pretty satisfied with my efforts.

During my bedroom clean out, I found a lot of old family and personal memorabilia - letters, cards, photos and the like that I haven't looked at in ages. I didn't have time to read them, but I'm looking forward to sitting down one day soon to go through it all.

Domestic goddess is happy

I have had a very domesticated weekend, which is unusual for me. I'm not much for the cleaning and cooking and stuff.  I do what I have to do to avoid living in squalor and starving, but I'm not dedicated to the domestic arts. I am of the opinion that there is almost always a more enjoyable and life-enhancing way to use my spare time.

But you know, I actually feel really pleased with my efforts this weekend. I've grocery shopped, cooked food for my lunches during the week, had a mini-spring clean, ironed clothes that have been sitting in my ironing basket for months, taken up a hem by hand on a new pair of trousers, mended the hems on several other pairs of pants, washed and folded my laundry (including sheets and dooner cover) and made my bed both days.

I actually feel a sense of achievement, which scares me a little bit. How can I be so easily pleased by such mundane things?  Things I don't even like doing? Domestic drudgery, for god's sake! Am I that small minded?

Apparently, yes. It is nice knowing my flat is clean. It is nice knowing I can reach into my wardrobe and find that pink shirt to wear to work next week. It is nice not leaving a new pair of work trousers in the wardrobe for months until I get around to having them taken up. It is nice actually doing the job myself. It is nice knowing that my work trousers are looking a little bit smarter than they have been (even if no one notices). It is nice to have a fresh doona cover on my bed, all my clothes washed and neatly folded and put away ready for the week ahead.  It is nice having something different and tasty to eat which I made myself from scratch (even if it's only because of this allergy elimination diet I'm on which virtually precludes eating anything that isn't homemade).

It probably isn't that small-minded really. It's not just that I enjoy everything looking neat and clean and organised - I actually get a real feeling of being in control when everything in my living space is in order.  An orderly physical environment seems to clear a little psychic clutter as well, and that's always a good thing.

It's also the case that I wrote a to-do list this weekend - as I do nearly every weekend (yes, I know) - and most of the tasks I completed were on that list. If you've been reading this for a while, you will know I love crossing jobs off my to-do list.

And anyway, even if it is small minded to some, I believe it's far easier to be happy when you can derive satisfaction and pleasure from the unremakable events and activities of every day life. Which is the idea that underpins this whole blog!

Zhoozhing and lamingtons and greyhounds

A veil of cloudage

It's nearly 10.30 on Saturday night and I have spent all afternoon and tonight cleaning and tizzying up my flat. Once I started I couldn't stop! I didn't eat dinner until after 10 - I didn't realise how late it was.

I've been on my feet almost non-stop since about 11.30 am and I'm utterly worn out, but the place looks good and it's satisfying knowing that it's clean - or cleaner anyway. I have more to do tomorrow before a woman arrives to look at the room.

It only occurred to me when I woke up this morning that the place could use a some freshening up - a bit of a zhoozh - so I walked to Ikea (about 4kms according to Mr Pedometer) and went a little loco. I got a new rug and a floor lamp for the loungeroom, some storagey things and a few things for the bathroom. All it needs now is an indoor plant...

By the way, Mr Pedometer says I've walked about 43 kilometres in the past seven days.

Reminiscing

After Ikea I ate a yummy lamington muffin, Muffin Break's Australia Day offering. It reminded me of when I used to help my mum make lamingtons when I was a kid. She'd dunk the sponge cake in the chocolate sauce and I was in charge of coconut application. I used to end up with lamington fingers.

I patted a whippet on my way home. Lots of people don't like greyhoundy type dogs, but I love them. We had a greyhound when I was a young un and she was a beautiful, placid dog. When the greyhound races were shown on the sports report, my brother and I used to pick out a white dog like ours and yell, "Go, Bessie!" at the TV. Makes me smile thinking about it.

Last year I saw a couple walking their two greyhounds - well, walking one and wheeling the other in an old fashioned pram. It must have been injured. It certainly looked very embarrassed. That makes me smile too.

On the way home last night