One thing: The verandah clean up

In all that hot weather this week and while the cleaning mojo had hit me good and proper I decided to tackle a job that I have been meaning to do, in you know, years. While my name could be sweeper McSweeperson, always sweeping the verandahs for a bit of therapy (controlling the controllables and all that) it was due for a big clean up and a hot afternoon and a cranky baby that needed distracting and I had my #onething for the week.

For those of you not playing along, #onething is where I do just ONE THING from my to-do list, but not your every day to-do list. Oh no, this is the list of non essential items that sort of kind of need to get done but it’s no biggie if they don’t get done until next week, or next month, or um, next year. Those things. Just one. Every week.

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I started off by removing every single thing from the verandah. All the chairs, table, the mat, the scooters whatever and then I hosed the SHIZ out of those tiles. Whilst the high pressure hose would have taken things to another level all together, this was just as good. All those dead star jasmine blooms. All that general mess…washed away!

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I even tackled the walls and cobwebs…organisation crack I tell you! After it was all dried off and put back together I made myself a cool drink, sat on the verandah and soaked it up for approximately 4 minutes before looking at the grass and realising that I had to rake the grass. One day I will sit still…

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What was your one thing this week?
Anyone else tackle a corner of the home they have been meaning to do in that long? Years!
Go choose something, right now, just have a look around and there will be something waiting…

Comments

  1. I bought the fabric and inserts to make new cushions for the lounge back in September and finally got around to making them this week. Hooray!

  2. incidental excersise is the best too beth! … can’t spell it but I do it!
    don’t need the gym when keeping moving all day long! … good for ya!;)
    your verandah area is gorgeous! … well done hun! … I had noticed some cobwebs! because it’s a job I need to do too!
    my studio is a constant battle ground! what to keep and what to throw away! … next on the list but not today hun! … going out!
    I did a major vacuuming after the guests left including all hard to get to places!
    enjoy your day! love m:)X

  3. Hi Mrs McSweeperson. I’ve officially joined the “one thing” party this week. Been looking at the four very dusty open glass shelves in my kitchen for far too long. Finally found the motivation to climb on a chair and clear those puppies of every piece of white ceramic wear ( you know the stuff- quiche dishes, pasta bowls, jugs etc that get used on high rotation). It took all of 20 minutes to wipe the shelves down, dry them with a soft cloth, rinse the dusty pieces that aren’t used often and then replace them. Result? A sparkling display and immense satisfaction. Why didn’t I tackle it sooner?? ?

  4. I tackled our garage yesterday. It was full of leaves from all the wind we’ve had lately. De-cobwebbed the corners, swept, packed away other shit in our bigger shed (ha, his!). Much tidier now. Giving his Weber a birthday this afternoon and tidying under the pergola. Got a date loaf in the oven for arvo tea. Ooh, and our new lounge suite is being delivered (by my bro-in-law)!

  5. My one thing this week was our laundry. I had crap everywhere. We had had a few days away and hence the piles of washing were huge. Tackled that on day one, ironing tacked on day two and once that was all done I loaded the Salvo bags of clothes and toys into the car. Cleaned out the cupboards, spray and wiped all the benches and stood back and admired it. An empty laundry basket, empty ironing basket and clean benches…..my kind of porn!

  6. I haven’t heard of this #onething before but I am liking it! My fiance and I tackled our backyard for the first time in two years the other day. We live up north in government housing (as a teacher), so hadn’t done much to it. Glad to have the big job out of the way so that maintenance is easier!
    Amy

  7. Mine has been going through all my recipe books – creating an Index of recipes I want to try from them and adding to my now decluttered and more organised recipe folder. Quite a few Baby Mac recipes in there that have been tried and enjoyed 🙂 Meal planning is a 2016 focus for me so all the above will make it just a little easier!

    • Good one Linda…I wish I had the mindset to meal plan I have never been able to do it.

      • Hi Beth- For meal planning I have created a Mon-Fri guide

        Mon= Grill – might be chops or sausages or hamburgers etc
        Tue= Chicken – might be a stir fry, snitzels,roast
        Wed= Pasta – any pasta, lasagna
        Thurs= Fish – salmon, prawns, tuna or salmon patties, seafood pasta
        Fri= Steak
        Any combination of side dishes, salads and lots of veges

        This gives me a reference point to shop for or refer to my recipe books for fresh ideas or favorites.:)

  8. Well done on the ‘one thing’! I think the linen cupboard will be my ‘one thing’ this week ?

  9. Lisa Mckenzie says

    Looks gorgeous Beth,love your verandha and little magpie sitting in her high hair Xx

  10. It started with the kitchen sink. It looked GROSS. It was needing a good old scrub. So I grabbed the marble paste and gave it the once over. Better.

    It was like opening the flood gates. While I was moving things out of the way to clean the sink, I couldn’t find anywhere to put all the little bits of crap that had accumulated on the bench into the drawers. So then I started on the drawers and got rid of all the shit we don’t use that has been in them for years. That then made me move onto the cupboards. Then the dreaded under the sink cupboard that was FULL of all sorts of shit. I threw out at least 4 laundry baskets full of detritus. Some I could have perhaps donated or sold with some effort but I was on a mission. It needed to be GONE.

    A couple of hours later, I FINALLY have a kitchen that has free bench space, cupboards that (for the most part) have space to put things AWAY rather than on the bench.

    We’ll see how long it lasts….

    (PS. Hubby was away when I did this. If he was home, it would NOT have happened. He has an aversion to throwing away ANYTHING! I am waiting for the backlash that has yet to happen…

    Although on his return, when he looking for a lid to put on a tin, which BTW hasn’t been needed in neigh on ten years, I happened to have been thrown it out!) Backlash was minor…. for now.

    • It’s a domino effect for sure! Once you start…but it’s a good thing…when it’s done that is! Half way there are always regrets for me.

  11. I moved into a ‘cleaners delight’ in September. My one thing sometimes takes a few days and some trips for hardware bits! This week I have checked off correctly installing the dishwasher (old appliances needed disposing off) that the so-called tradie didn’t bother to attach to the side walls. Large problem with a dish drawer as it toppled over when full and you open the drawer. Also am checking off windows and fly screens. Have been removing panels and cleaning window grooves of the hardened nicotine that made me think their colour was brown, turns out they are cream!! One bonus is my children are so disgusted I don’t think smoking will ever tempt them.
    10 fly screens done and I think I can call myself an expert.

  12. we moved back to Sydney almost 3 years ago; there are 3 boxes in the roof labelled “beautiful vintage stuff Melbourne” I am not allowed to touch them until the house is properly tidy. It’s a semi self imposed ban, maybe 2016 will be the year…

  13. I cleaned out the tracks of the sliding doors in the lounge room. Absolutely no-one but me will notice. They were disgusting and I feel so much better about the world in general. Window washing is next – we live near the beach so they’ll be salty the next day but at least I’ll have a day of shiny windows. Yay!

  14. I cleaned my kitchen windows the other night (as you do)…small window over the sink and French door out to the deck…the next morning I decided to clean the lounge room windows and remembered why we’d put the house facing the way we do…hello views! But that led to me removing every bit of furniture from the lounge room, sugar soaping walls, skirting boards and architraves, so then the floor had to be mopped, furniture vacuumed or polished, throws and blankets washed…8 hours later I put it all back together and can’t tell the difference O_O …eldest daughter came in and said it looked really clean and smelt great, so it must have worked…oh, and that view xx

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