An unexpected gift from Ecover UK

 I got an unexpected padded envelope in the post today. When I opened it

This was inside!

And when I untied the ribbon, look what I found!

Special Christmas washing up liquid :) 

Thank you Lauren at Ecover UK for my lovely festive smelling washing up liquid and the lovely card. The washing up liquid smells delicious - like a Christmas Grotto full of cake :).

A very satisfying morning's work

One thing about the return of a bit of sunlight - it does show up the dirt and the dust...!

Looking around yesterday morning I realised our sitting room - the heart of our home - was looking more than a little dusty and cluttered.

 

The throws were all crumpled, the cushions needed de furring ( we have cats!)and a fine film of dust ( well mainly fine woodash) covered most surfaces. A woodburner is a lovely thing to have but it does cause a small amount of mess :-)

And as for the table end of the room - well you can tell I have been busy with crochet and sewing for the last few weeks!  I can't actually see much of the table surface as there is so much stuff on it! Added to my clutter were books and papers and pencils and writing and crafts of Compostman's and Compostgirl's - all largely left where last used and you can see it was getting a bit - well - cluttered.

It all showed that we three have been inside a lot more than normal and have left a lot of stuff around.

Now, I really am not bothered by a bit of surface mess, in fact I think it shows we are all a creative lot, both with "things" and with our time, but when I can't actually even put down a mug of coffee becasue there is so much stuff on the table - it is time to do something about it.

So - the throws and cushions came off the sofa - and the sofa was moved out from the wall. The rug was rolled up and put outside for a shake and then a vaccumn.

I cleaned all three windows and took all the plants and ornaments off the window sill and cleaned them and the sill. I use a water/vinegar spray for the windows and a microfibre cloth for polishing them clean. The sills were damp mopped with a home made cotton flannel cloth ( very old and worn out  t shirts or sheets are ideal for this!)  and hot water with a few drops of lavender essential oil. I use this for most wiping down type  jobs, where soap is not needed, and also for a final rinse.


I dead headed and watered all the plants -some went into the polytunnel for re potting and some were moved to other places in the house.

I removed all the items from the surfaces of all the furnature and dusted it all with a just damp, cotton flannel cloth.  I then gave all the wood a  good polish with beeswax polish and buffed it all to a shine. I use different cotton cloths for polishing and cleaning jobs and yes! They are colour coded to show what they are used for :-).

Having put back what I wanted, and put away other stuff where it lives (and had a bit of a declutter into the charity shop box/recycle box/bin as well) I gave all the throws a good shake outside - put them in the wash and put clean ones on the sofas - I vaccummned the cushions and then the floor.



Having got the floor clear of "stuff" I then moved the furnature around so I could wash the wooden floor - I used a small amount of linseed floor soap for the washing followed by a clean rinse (water with a few drops of lavender essential oil) to do a final damp mop.

The final job (after the floor dried) was to tackle the table...

From this...




to this

And this is the other end of the room after cleaning up.

That is a lot better! I sat and had a cup of tea and enjoyed the cleanliness - it won't last long but it did look nice at the time :-)


I even de cluttered my handbag and had a clear out of old reciepts and stuff while I drank my tea.

Sunday catch up

Well I thought a catch up post was in order, as I have been doing lots here but haven't posted much lately (apart from about the chickens )

I was up early again this morning (couldn't sleep due to brain whirr), so have done lots and feel very content BUT am now flagging ( as you do...)

I was woken by Treacle the beautiful Black Star



laying her very first egg!



So 2 of the POL pullets are now laying :) Ginger started a few days ago and is very vocal about it! Good job someone is laying as the "old girls" all seem to have gone off in a huff and decided to moult and/or just stop laying

It has been a beautiful day here today, I got 3 loads of washing out and dry before lunch! I have mowed all the grass and it is all piled up ready to go in the compost bins.

I have cleaned Fudge the Guinea pig's house, all 4 hen runs and houses as well, so Fudge, the hens and Ruby and the chicklets are all nice and clean and cosy :-)




All the throws and cushion covers from the sitting room are in the wash or have been given a good beating on the line to get the dust out, the kitchen, halls, sitting and dining rooms have been vacuumed and generally tidied up

20 wine bottles have been released free of labels and washed and upended to dry,





We need lots of clean bottles to reuse, as we have 72 bottles worth of wine on the go at the moment!



I refilled all the various washing up liquid and liquid soap dispensers, I buy Faith in Nature and Bio D in bulk bottles to save on packaging and resources and then reuse or recycle the big bottles when empty.



I tidied up generally, cleaned the small bathroom with an e cloth and hot soapy water, I cleaned various windows and mirrors with an e cloth and vinegar.

Compostman and I started loading up my car for me to go to the Household Recycling site....



Then we picked apples ...lots and lots of apples.....and pears....



This is what 50 lbs of apples looks like..and we have lots of these tubs filled up....

Compostman picked beans, and blanched and froze a load of courgettes while I picked the pears from the other pear tree (Conference)and I think I shall have to make pear leather with the remaining Beth pears as they are very ripe now.

I will be making chutney later on from the Victoria plums in the fridge, the Damsons are finished now on our tree so we are leaving what is left for the insects ( especially butterflies!) to ea. We have lots of wine on the go and lots in the freezer to make jam out of in a few weeks time.

I now have to think about making cider and juice from the apples.

One of the cats took exception to some mending left in a pile on the floor by my chair yesterday and wee'd all over it (and my knitting..grr) so I spent ages cleaning up the mess with the special spray from the vets ( which works!) and washing out wee from previously clean stuff yuck!

I had a lovely, if busy week here, one day last week my fellow Eco Club leader (who is a teacher at Compost girl's school) came round so we could sort out the Green Flag application for the School. We had a really productive session and got lots sorted and it makes me SO proud of the children to see what progress has been made over the last 4 years. I have also re started the Eco club I run at another school nearby, as well as "pitching" for some craft workshops during half term in October (happily I got the work, so am now making stuff for it and Compost girl is helping me!)

So a busy and productive day, and week, here at Compost Mansions!