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...

We're down to 6....

It's been a quiet couple of days here since the start of the new year. We have all just been sitting around doing not too much at all.  We lost another chook yesterday..I wasn't expecting this one, not too sure what happened as she was only 2 years old...I am wondering whether she may have eaten some rhubarb leaves as they are toxic....it's the only thing I can think of other than a snake bite as she was showing no signs at all of being unwell. So we are now down to 6 chooks, we have lost quite a few in the last 12 months, so I will have to look at getting a few more again.  I would like the heritage breeds this time, so I will keep my eyes open and start to accumulate a few more. There were some lovely ones offered on freecycle yesterday, but I missed out on those...gotta be quick!   Kasey has gone to her friends house for a sleepover, so we took the opportunity and went to see a "grown up" movie last night, instead of the usual PG offerings!  We went and saw The Tourist...very good movie. Not sure what is on the agenda today, Damian is heading out to the dump to get rid of some rubbish now. I wouldn't mind taking a drive to see the latest prize home and get some ideas for our home renovations we have planned for this year, but will depend how Damian feels when he gets back. He is going to get rid of the roller doors he took off our garage on Friday and he is trawling around trying to find other "stuff" and rubbish to take at the same time...he left his side gate up when he drove his ute out, and took out the middle section at the front of the garage, so he has pulled it all out so it is all open at the front, as we have plans of getting a full panel lift door for it, but that is a little way off yet, we want to get it bricked in first, and we also have to deal with the flooding issue that we have in heavy rain, as the water flows through the garage in heavy rain, so we need to divert the water some more to get that right before we do anything else to it.  Always something to do!

Seeing in the New Year with Max...

Sooo...I am currently sitting up babysitting our big tough cattle dog through the New Years Eve fireworks.  He was just about knocking the door down trying to get in the house he was so scared as the fireworks have been going off since about 8pm, I have let him in and he is happily asleep beside me in the dining room.  I'm really tired and want to go to bed, but I know I will be woken up in a little while when the midnight ones go off with him trying to get back in....yawn.....not long to go now and then you're outside Mister!!

Putting the chickens to work today...

I have put the chickens out to work today....they are all in the vege garden for the day, weeding and eating the bugs and slugs, and contributing some fertiliser to the soil! They will be in there for a week or so, cleaning it all up for me, I will put them back in their pen at night and they can go back in to the garden each morning.  They love to do it...I don't...so everyone is happy :)  The plan is to build a moveable chicken run so they can concentrate on 1 area at a time in the future, and turn it over and weed it for me in preparation for new plantings.  Everything here is sooo wet and slushy...it is very overcast today but no rain so far...hopefully things can dry out a  little before the next lot of rain comes our way...I am going to tidy up a little today and put the Christmas tree away and re-organise the sewing table a bit. I have managed to get through most of the leftovers from Xmas day, just a little bit of chicken to use up, which I will make in to a creamy thai curry for dinner tonight.  I had better do the floors this morning as well.... now I just need the energy to do it all..

The girls hard at work

Xmas 2010

We had a lovely Xmas Day.  Kasey was awake a little after 5am....Mum was awake with Kasey at this point, I went in to wake up Toni at about 6am...I thought I would jump on her bed to wake her up....but tripped over her shoes on the way to her bed, landed on the corner of the bed and then bounced and landed on the floor on my arm and shoulder...very funny at the time, I did end up with a heat pack on my arm and shoulder all day on Boxing Day though.... we then spent the morning opening gifts and we had home made waffles and icecream and maple syrup for breakfast...it was the first time I had used the waffle maker so the first couple were a failure, but once I worked it out, it made some yummy fluffy waffles which were very well received.  After this we headed down to Damian's family for lunch, and came home about 6pm.  All of my hand made gifts were very well received, especially the chilli jam...We were all pretty worn out and spent Boxing Day just relaxing at home and having fun with our new gifts. We have spent the last few days just relaxing....watching a few movies and just being very lazy.  The weather has been pretty wet and horrible, so a good time to spend time inside and catching up on some rest. I have been making notes on the gifts I made this year, so I can organise next year as the year progresses....Xmas Day at home might be on the cards for next year I think....we'll see what pans out....Damian heads back to work tomorrow, so I will have to start making some plans for the rest of the school holidays....

Home made Christmas Gifts from the heart

I have finished all the wrapping and prepping, and now just waiting for Santa to come...

I have made up a few little gifts for a few people that I just wanted to give something small to..

Jams and Christmas cake in a gift box

Jam and soap gift box

A Secret Santa gift including a gift voucher, soaps, jams etc

Another secret santa gift including a cd, giftcard, wine, soaps and chilli jam

Boxed chiili jams

Boxed chilli jam and Onion Jam

A soap and chilli jam gift box

So, some nice gifts given from the heart, which won't cause clutter, and all handmade, other than the couple of gift cards and wine and cd in the secret santa gifts. The chilli jam was made from home grown chillies I have been growing and freezing throughout the year in preparation for making up a large batch for Christmas gifts. The christmas cakes I made in tuna cans to make up single serve cakes, and they are beautiful and moist this year, as I taste tested one today...yummy!!

So...Merry Christmas everyone...hope the day is a beautiful one....

A few more Christmas decorations

I had some Christmas baubles left over after decorating the Christmas tree, so used these in a big glass vase as a decoration.

This is a table centrepiece I picked up at Lifeline for $2.50.  I have added a couple more decorations to it, and the candle, but mostly it is as I purchased it.  I will add some more to it for next year.

I also thought it was time I brightened up the front door wreath.  I didn't originally make this one too fancy, as it actually has fairy lights entwined around it, but I don't plug them in very often, so thought I would brighten it up so it looks nice when the lights aren't turned on. 

 I had a few xmas picks, and I sprayed the flowers red, and sprayed the apples green, and then sprayed the whole wreath in glitter spray for some added sparkle.  It looks much nicer now.

At the moment I am making onion jam, and then I will put together the last minute hampers for the last couple of gifts to go under the tree.  I was in and out of the shops nice and early this morning, and I was home before 9.30, just as the shops looked like they were really starting to busy up...I'm so glad I was out of there nice and early, the traffic was getting quite congested even at that time of the day.  I got quite a few nice little last minute gifts from Aldi as stocking fillers...anyway, better go and check on the onions...my eyes are feeling a bit better now, I was crying profusely after slicing 1 1/2 kilos up!!