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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

And I thought it could all fit!

For years, I have used a box to store all my usable fabric scraps in my sewing room. The box has been overflowing for quite some time, so on Sunday I bought a laundry tidy to replace the box. See the difference!


No wonder it couldn't all fit into the box. He who helps says it is really good not having to walk over the fabric every time he goes into the sewing room.

This morning, I have cleared a pile of paper from the computer desk...

It is now completely clear!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

The diskette reader is working

Until today I had a drawer full of diskettes. No more!

I decided that I needed up to 70 diskettes for the future. I separated the diskettes into those which were original software diskettes, and those I used for the backup, and for other things.

One of the things about Slow Tidy is getting the equipment I need. One of those was a floppy disk reader. Unfortunately, the first one I bought didn't work. But the second one does, and I have reformatted 80 diskettes today that I will keep. There were about 10 duds, but that is to be expected when the diskettes haven't been used for 10 years.

The duds are being recycled, the original software diskettes will go to someone who can use them, and the remainder will go to work - free to a good home.

I have also cleaned out four shelves in my computer desk today, and removed other old computer gear. The diskettes now have a home, and I have a free drawer for something else.

Al together, a good day's work!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Friday...

So what have I achieved this week?
  • two piles of paper sorted in the study - beginning to see the piano now!
  • the mess on the couch has gone
  • still maintaining no mess in the areas that have been slow tidied
  • the pile of folders in the study has been reduced by half
  • and of course, the kitchen drawers and cupboard I did last weekend!
It's probably about time I concentrated on one room, but there is progress, so does it matter?

The one big problem is where to put all the junk, and what I will do with it? Should I run a garage sale, or give it all to St Vincents, or what?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Printer Cartridges

Today I will take printer cartridges to work to dispose of them in one of the special cartridge disposal bins available.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sorting out the cooking stuff

I have been doing slow tidy for two weeks, and already there is an improvement - the kitchen benches are now clear, the table is clear and the kitchen chairs are now clear. This has not happened for two weeks at a time since we arrived here, so it is a major breakthrough!

He who helps is off this weekend, so I can sort out the cooking stuff.

There are three drawers and a cupboard to look at. I know this is slow tidy, and I only need to do one shelf a day, but this stuff is a real problem. The plastic stuff is distributed throughout a cupboard and two drawers, the pyrex glassware that can be used for microwaving or baking is in any of two drawers and the cupboard. I can never find a mixing bowl. He who helps (who does all the washing up) keeps on putting things in the wrong place, and I can never find things when I am cooking!

In response to my complaints about not finding things, he took to leaving things on the bench, so the bench filled up! And because it wasn't empty, it used to have other things on it - like letters that had been opened, letters that were unopened, things that had not been put away...

So I have put everything from the two drawers and cupboard on the kitchen floor...
Big saucepans and casserole dishes 


More stuff
Silicone baking dishes






















How could all of that fitted into the space!!! And I am not even doing the saucepan drawer yet! Or the place where I put my metal oven trays. How can I have so much? The big saucepans and casserole dishes need to go into the cupboard - these saucepans are too big for the drawers. Six of the casserole dishes are the same size - I can't use them all - EVER! I use the preserving pans (especially when I am making two soups at once), so they can be kept. 

The plastic containers that are incomplete are going into the recycling. Excess casserole dishes, microwave cookware and pyrex is going to the op shop. 

However, to keep it apart and not end up with the mix up I had before, I need to have four drawers (not three) as well as the cupboard. I moved all the stuff from a fourth drawer, somewhere else (that hasn't been slow tidied yet - hopefully there will be enough room!). I have put all the silicone bakeware together in one drawer, all the microwave dishes in another, all the plastic containers in a third, all the cooking utensils in a fourth, and the cupboard has all the big stuff and the casserole dishes. Everything fits nicely into the drawers and the cupboard, and they have all been cleaned - LOOK AT THIS...
Casserole Cupboard
Microwave cookware drawer

Silicone bakeware
Mixing bowls and other cooking utensils

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Where we start...

We moved into our house more than a few years ago, and dumped everything in the allocated rooms ... You know - saucepans in the kitchen, papers in the study, beds in bedrooms - but nothing actually had a home, so it was NEVER TIDY.

Everything has been hidden away several times in the years that we have lived here, but nothing remained that way for long. I think it was because nothing had a home. Things would just stay out instead of going back into their place. The coffee table in the family has junk on it that has been there for years. Things wouldn't magically disappear back to where they lived - and I think that is because they don't live anywhere.

I have heard that if you do some routine for 20 days it will become a habit, so I have decided on SLOW TIDY...
  • SLOW TIDY is taking a long time to clean a room - I have allowed eight weeks per room
  • SLOW TIDY is doing a small thing each day - tidying one drawer in the kitchen or filing one pile of papers...
  • SLOW TIDY is finding a home for each of the things that get tidied that day
  • SLOW TIDY is KEEPING what has already been tidied that way
  • SLOW TIDY is getting rid of things you never use... in a sustainable way