I have just found Eva's name written in the dust on the back of a chair in the sitting room of our cottage, just like all the white vans with clean me. I am not humbled , I don't do housework unless I have to.
So the downstairs bathroom is cleaned on the morning before Homegroup, the upstairs bathroom cleaned before my sister comes to stay, the kitchen floor rarely but thoroughly. Spouse is heard putting the Carpet sweeper round the downstairs carpet when I am drinking my first tea of the day in the bedroom above, so I know its done.
I do the Old Furniture with Liquid Gold a couple of times a year, but only to stop it from cracking with the heating from the Central heating. I actually wonder how people actually find time to clean, and have another life.
When I worked for money I always had a 'treasure' , and thank God for the Joans and Anns who managed to make sense of my random housekeeping arrangements. This small cottage is perfect for any one of the seemingly hundreds of the retired of Filey. Its near the shops, near the Buses and Trains, near the Doctors and NHS Dentist, and the sea is seen from the front door. And still I who have everything have no time.
I am organised, I buy fresh food every day and cook from scratch . I know how to wash and never iron , and I batch cook Bolognese sauce, Soup and stews (in the slow cooker). I make wholemeal bread when we need it , and boilwash the whites every fortnight.
Why am I always looking forward to a day with nothing on the calendar? Why cant I be content to be busy?
Lifestyle Check
- Come off rotas at Church
- Don't go to any Meetings unless subject matter really interesting (only 2 good talks in last 5 years, Liz Kitching on St HILD, and Prof Nicky Milner on Flixton Carr dig)
- When people offer to help you, ie. buy flowers for Weddings at St Os instead of me doing it, let them
- Do shopping when shops quiet
- Read interesting novels and give up when you know its not grabbing you (I have just done this and am amazed at how often I plough on with a boring book)
- Flag e mails. What a simple way to not lose important ones , why has it taken me so long to realise this.
- See every essential task as sheer joy to be had , and never moan or be negative . Look for the adventure in them .
- Thank God more often .
An adventure in being positive (when pissed off by something)
Spouse was so good yesterday, bringing me my Ist cup of tea in bed at 5.30am . I heard him put the Carpet Sweeper round, the front door being unlocked. He facilitated my departure for the 7am train to Beverley.
Have you got your glasses, your keys, your mobile, your purse? Have you switched the tap off in the bathroom, Have you thought about what we are having for Dinner. Yes, Yes, No.
Although an Essential Task, visiting Aged Parent in Care Home twice a week is a pleasure because I have made visiting Beverley a pleasure too. At 8am in the morning my day here always starts with a look at the flowers in just opened M and S, followed by a Coffee and a toasted Panattone (no butter no jam) in Caffe Nero. Not only another tick on the blue card , but now I have the chance to sit in a leather seat in the window and watch people going to work : always pleasure that!
I walk quickly to Mother across the allotments and by the field side path and hear the Minster Clock strike the quarter past Nine as I walk expectantly in to Lindum House with Alstroemerias armed with my GOOD IDEA.
Pause here to explain . Today I am taking mother to Morrisons in her wheelchair on the 10 :40am bus. She keeps saying she wants to go to Morrisons, we'll browse the biscuits and sweets, see the price of Harveys Bristol Cream, laugh at how we always came here for Tripe, buy something like useful Value Tissues, have a cup of tea, and walk back in time for her lunch at 12.45, which she always takes alone in her room, and never wants to miss. (Next plan will be a bowl of Chips in Waitrose at lunchtime, when were in the car.)
PLAN IS THWARTED.
Mother is fast asleep, in bed, her day has not yet begun. I made noises off to myself, Did they realise I made a 40 mile journey , left home at 6.45am, have meetings in the afternoon, have a meal to cook, am responding to Aged Ps wish to go to Morrissons? Pissed Off covers it.
My brain and good sense kicked in . Try the route, do a dry run.
When one gets off the bus make sure you use the road crossing with the angled down curbs.
The Shrubs next to the wheelchair footpath needs cutting back.
The path down back to the road home passes a several very fruitful Horse Chestnut Trees.
Inside Morrisons , Tuesday is a quiet day for a browsing Aged Parent.
The Disabled Loo is near the entrance and has plenty of space and very clean..(Also noted 5 wheelchairs for the public to use if we bring her in the car)
The Wheelchair path is direct, but I wouldn't have found it without a rekky.
The Road to Lindum is blocked to traffic at the west as a new By pass is being built into Beverley from Hull ,BUT until yesterday I did not realise that it was open to pedestrians and wheelchairs.
By the side of the path I saw and recognized my first Spindle Tree, and enjoyed all the early autumn berries.
When I got back to Lindum at 10.30 , Mother was up and dressed and breakfasted. No she didnt want to go to Morrisons, infact she couldn't remember having ever been there. But we went out in the garden and sat and watched the young gardener dead heading and tidying . Mother said the grass needed cutting , and how lovely the fresh air was. We had a good laugh when she asked if I lived with Margaret Mary , and I said I am Margaret Mary.
I realised that since February I have been busy doing my Plant Recognition Course with BSBI and doing my allotment, and visiting M twice a week . No wonder Ive had no time to do the housework, or thats my story .
