I was fairly well prepared, but still more to do....

With the disasters and tragedies of last week, I have been trying to make sure that I have been as organised as possible, and that we had plenty of food and supplies to see us through in case we were cut off. I purchased frozen vegies in the week prior to the floods, and I have also stored some milk in our freezer and we have plenty of powdered milk as well. I re-stocked the bulk supplies cupboard last week, and we have plenty of meat in the freezer. I also purchased a large bag of bread flour the week prior to the floods, so I can make bread if needed. The shops have been in very short supply of flour and bread and milk, so it is reassuring to know I have plenty here to see us through a number of weeks if needed. We are also lucky enough to have our own generator, in case of power failure, to keep the fridge and freezer running. However, I would like to have some rainwater tanks here for water storage, and that will be a priority this year. There were some rumblings on a forum that I follow that our water supply in this area had been comprimised, so to know that we have our own water supply would be good. Our girls provide us with plenty of eggs, even though they aren't laying a lot at the moment as 6 of the girls are still to start laying so I only have 5 regular layers, and I am only getting 1 - 3 eggs per day at the moment as they are a bit off the lay, I think with all of this horrible weather, they are a bit out of sorts, but we still have enough eggs for us.

I have been trying over the last 18 months or so to scan all of our older photos, so that I have an electronic copy of them all, so that if ever disaster does happen, those memories are not lost , I haven't got them all done yet as it is quite time consuming.  Our computers are all backed up a couple of times a month, so that data isn't lost either. I am also currently filling out our home organisation manual, which will hold all of our information on bank accounts, loan details, super details, card information etc etc. So in an emergency it's just a matter of grabbing the folder, and my external hard drive and we can leave. It is reassuring to know that I am at least this organised. I still have to get together an emergency kit, but that is something I will concentrate on next.

One thing that has been quite disappointing is that with all of the wet weather, my vegetable garden has been basically wiped out, other than a few of the long term plants like the asparagus, shallots, strawberries, chillies, and the sweet potato. My rhubarb was decimated, but it is starting to come back now that we have had a few dryer days. Everything else has either gone to slush or is in the process of doing so. So I am not prepared enough in keeping fresh produce coming from the garden, at a time when produce is going to become quite expensive. So I have been busily sowing some seeds over the weekend, to try and get things coming along again. I have filled a pot near the back door with pick and eat salad lettuce, so that should start to sprout soon. I am also going to put another pot in the same spot with some grape tomatoes, so I can just pick these and throw together a salad for lunch, without having to wander up the back to the vege garden.

We also purchased another few chickens yesterday, I managed to get hold of some plymouth rock girls from the markets, I have been wanting some of these, they are still quite young, so it will be about 3 months before they start to lay, but they have some attitude that's for sure! I don't think too many things will give these 3 a hard time. I kept them in a separate cage in the chook house yard overnight, and I have let them out with the others this morning, and they have been loving having a big scratch around, and I have left the cage door open so they can retreat in there if the big chooks start to harrass them at all. One of the new girls has a sore eye, I think it has been scratched, she is keeping it shut and it was weeping...I have bathed it this afternoon with salty water, and have put a tiny bit of Rawleigh's above and below her eye to try and pull out any infection, so I am hoping it looks a little better in the morning, but I will keep bathing it until it looks better.

There was basically NO fresh produce at the markets yesterday. It just goes to show that the bigger sellers that are usually there get all of their produce from the rocklea markets instead of being local growers, so that is disappointing. I will have to try and source some more local growers, as I would like to support local farmers and know that the food hasn't travelled from god knows where...lots to think about here, and lots of things still to organise.

Even though some of what has happened here in Qld over the last week, happened so fast that all of the planning wouldn't have helped anyone in those areas where tragedy struck, a large proportion of areas had some notice to be able to move a good amount of property out of harms way, but not having a bulk storage of food and essentials, or backups of photos and computers etc. have left a lot of people very vulnerable and with a huge amount of loss of precious items.  So many people who were able to stay in their homes, but were isolated, seemed to run out of food and essentials within a day of the floods, I am glad that I could rest easy knowing that if we had to, we could get by for a number of weeks on what we have here.  It does make you realise though, just how reliant we all are on other people to provide goods for us....and how far off being anywhere near self sufficient most of us really are....

My shiny sink...step 1...

Ok..so my sink is usually pretty tidy, the dishes are put in the dishwasher throughout the day and the sink is wiped down regularly. However, in my quest to become a more organised person, I am going to try the flylady way..(.again...)  Step 1 is to shine my sink...this step apparently leads on to other areas of my life and the house...so yesterday I shined the sink by filling each side with very hot water and bleach, leaving for an hour, and rinsing out, and then I cleaned the splashback with sugar soap, and gave it a nice wipe over, and then polished the sink. I also soaked the dishcloth in the bleach to get rid of any germs in it while the sink was soaking. I replaced the hand wash, and put it in a nice new ceramic dispenser that was sitting in the ensuite not being used, and moved the plug, dishrack and detergent underneath the sink. Now how long the dishrack and detergent stay under the sink for, will have to wait and see, as life needs to be practical as well, and if it is a pain taking them out and setting them up, then I will leave them on the sink...but I will try and make it all work.  Sooo..presenting my nice shiny sink....tahdah!!

To fit my dishrack in the cupboard underneath my sink, I needed to clean out this cupboard (So, there you go, already leading on to the next step)  I threw out a bag full of junk, and relocated a few things that didn't belong there.

So, I have achieved step 1, and I feel like I have gotten somewhere constructive, and I have got some decluttering done at the same time.

Organising the organisation manual....

I have today started to fill out my home organisation manual that I was sent by a fellow ss member. It is very comprehensive...so far I have printed out an a4 calendar showing school terms, pupil free days and public holidays for the year. This is page one of the manual. I have also noted down in the appliance section details of the fridge so I could make a note of the part number for the water filter for the fridge, so I can thrown the old one out that has been sitting on my sink for nearly a week. Now I will be able to order the correct cartridge number when required. I have also started to list the details of the cards in my wallet in the cards list. Hopefully, between this, and the flylady control journal which I hope to start putting together over the next few days some time, will ensure that things really start to get sorted, and I can get over the Non routine part and start to actually flow from one day to the next without being a bit aimless. It's a start, which is the main thing. Depending on the weather tomorrow, we will be going to the zoo for the day. They have lovely park grounds where you can sit and have a picnic lunch, or cook a BBQ. I have invited one of Kasey's friends to come with us for the day, so if the day isn't good for going out, they should have a fun day together playing here. Anyway...bed time I think...

Bugger......forgot again...

arrghhh...I have forgotten Kasey's full dress rehearsal this afternoon for their Christmas ballet concert next week....I have rushed her down there an hour late :(  but they are still running through another time yet....I felt pretty silly running Kasey in there, and the teacher was very gracious, but what she was thinking I don't know, I forgot her normal weekly class last week as well, as I am still getting used to her having classes on a Monday....  I thought I was so organised today, I was busy making lots of phone calls and organising things I have put off for months, I made some soap, and went and organised the quote to get the car fixed from where it was damaged when it went in for a service recently, I just forgot to write today's rehearsal in my diary..... where is my organisation???  Whoever stole it....I want it back.......

Back home after a weekend of scrapbooking

I have been away a couple of days on a scrapbooking retreat.  Had a great time, will post pics tomorrow hopefully. I am pretty tired tonight, so will update the blog in the next few days.  I have come home to a bit of a disaster though unfortunately...the whole place falls apart when I am not here...  Kasey had hayfever when I got home, and a bit of asthma, and was soooo tired, and would cry at the drop of a hat, Damian is pretty tired as he had a really long day at work yesterday, and Toni had left dishes all over the bench in the kitchen, clothes all over the floor in the bathroom and her room is a mess.  There was no sign of dinner being cooked, so baked beans on toast for dinner.  It is very annoying to go away for a cople of days and come home to a disaster zone.   So the first part of this week will be trying to re-organise things here...stop the world...I need to get off for a while! 

Christmas Stockings

I picked up my new sewing machine today......yay...very excitng.  My first project was at embroidery club today, where we made up embroidered Christmas Stockings.  These are made in the embroidery hoop, and the only straight sewing involved is joining the lining to the outer stocking, other than that it is all sewn in the hoop.  I have decided to put names on them of the nieces and nephews, and in them I will put their Christmas gifts...currently on the agenda are movie tickets, chocolates and popcorn...like a Movie Pack in a stocking!  So this is stocking number 1

I have now made another, and am on to the 3rd....
Tomorrow I am going to be sewing for the day, trying to catch up on quite a few unfinished projects, such as the Xmas tree skirt, the some more stockings, a shirt, a bun warmer etc....phew....the list is quite long, plus I have a few other unfinished Xmas gifts to work on as well...I had better spend some serious time with the sewing machine over the next couple of weeks.  I was planning on being so organised this year with Xmas....hmmmm...don't quite know what happened there.... 8>\ 

The last few days updated, and routine still out of reach....

What a beautiful few days weather wise we have had, beautiful warm days, cool nights...lovely. Friday I went to an overlocker session at the sewing centre as they were doing a demo on the babylock overlockers. These are definitely fabulous machines, they thread themselves and tension themselves automatically, and threading my overlocker is the most frustrating part of using the overlocker. They are very expensive though, $3500 for the model I would look at, which is insane for an overlocker...so I will be sticking to my trusty Janome for now...I don't use it enough to justify that sort of money, if I was sewing in a commercial environment then I would definitely look at it. 

Had a scrapbooking crop on Friday night, haven't been to one for a couple of months because Damian had been away, but it took me a while to get back in the groove, and I forgot the bag with my ribbons and inks etc in it, so couldn't finish the pages I made, but I had a good start on them. Kasey starts ballet lessons this afternoon, she has been begging for months to go, but after doing the insane running around for years with Toni at ballet I just was not wanting to go down that path. But Kasey spends almost all of her time dancing like a ballerina around the house that I felt bad not letting her go. I found a ballet school close by.....in fact it is only 2 doors up in the same street!  I didn't even know they were there, but it is a fully operational studio, and they are going to put her in the end of year production etc..and we can walk to class, which is absolutely fantastic. So I need to go this afternoon before class and purchase her leotard and shoes, all of the shoes I have kept from Toni are from her later years and are too big for her unfortunately.

Damian did a bit more work in the spare room yesterday, we have had to pull almost all of 1 wall out now as we found damage further up the wall, and the door frames are next. We are going to pull the carpet up in there as well and replace it, as the carpet is 18 years old and is starting to look a bit tired like many other things here including the owners! I have been to the dentist this morning and had the tooth that broke off repaired, so that feels much better now, and I only need 2 other very small holes fixed before they start to become a problem, other than that my teeth are all good...nice to know. I think that is everything that I have been up to the last few days updated now....

I am still desperately trying to get some sort of routine happening....I am trying really hard to get up at 6am in the mornings, but it's not happening, I heard the alarm going off this morning on my phone, but ignored it...6 times!......before finally getting up at 7.....I was asleep by 9.30 last night so I should have been able to achieve it.....I haven't been able to implement my daily routine that I put in place a few weeks ago, I have been writing a list each day though and have been getting through that, which is a good start.  I might have to put some more thought in to how I can get past this issue though....perhaps 1 thing a day at the same time each day and expand on that....

Tuesday's a bit more organised now

I am feeling way more organised now, I am so glad I didn't go to my class this morning, I was definitely feeling overwhelmed, and spending the morning in my home has made me feel much better. I have made muesli bar slice... 

Dinner is in the crockpot - curried sausages

Vegetables are cut up and ready to go on later this afternoon for an early dinner

Yay :)