Natural Cleaners

I like the idea of using less chemicals when cleaning. My SIL shared this on FB and I had to snag it. 

I actually use vinegar and water, premixed in a spray bottle, to clean my bathroom mirror & in the shower. It's also a great disinfectant. Plus it smells so much nicer than some of the other stuff that is out there.

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• Visiting Teachers - it's always nice to catch up with my visiting teachers. I don't always get many opportunities to talk to other women. Most of my time is spent with Mark and the boys. I just can't talk 'girl' stuff with them. They get bored.
• pain medication - I've needed it quite a bit these past few days. I just can't wait for my hand to be pain free. These pins and needles I've been having are just horrid.
• spring cleaning - Mark and the boys cleaned up the lounge room. It look so much tidier now. Thank you.
• crossword puzzles - they help me keep me busy while I can't crochet

What are you thankful for this week?

Spring Cleaning But It's Autumn

Angus's laptop is getting dangerously close to dying. The screen is not playing nice any more and goes all white or has lines all through it. Mark & I decided that it was time for Angus to have a desktop computer. The only problem is there is no spare desk. Well not until the printer was moved on my desk and everything was cleaned up.

I am so glad I never took before and after photos. I don't think I would really want everyone to see how messy my desk was. Everything gets dumped on it. When we clear the kitchen table for meals 90% of the stuff got dumped on the desk. Sadly that's usually where it stayed.

My side of the desk. My tower is on the lest but you can't see it in this photo.

Once we started cleaning up by the printer I just had to do the rest of the desk. It would've been silly to have only one nice clean work station.

Angus's part of the desk

Angus is able to work next to me and I can keep and eye on what he's doing. I don't think he likes that idea too much but that's too bad. He is still earning back out trust from a couple of weeks ago. There's is even a bit of space for Angus to put his school netbook and he can sit there to do his homework. I can even sit next to him while he does it so I can make sure he focus on each task instead of playing music or games like he tried to get away with whilst sitting at the kitchen table. I am loving the idea of being able to see what he is getting up to.

At least we have a very clean desk. I'm just not all that sure how long it will last.

My Tidy Desk

Mark & I cleaned up my desk the other day and I now I am finally getting around to sharing the photos I took. I know I said that it's my desk which meant I should have cleaned it myself but it is right next to the dining table and when the boys clear the table for dinner they just dump everything on the desk. After a while it kind of just piles up & piles up some more and stays there until we can't stand it any more.

Well we got to that point the other day where we thought it was time to do a big clean. I also thought it would be a good idea to photograph my desk as it may not stay that clean for long and I wanted proof that it was clean :P at least for a little while.

Now that its clean there's even some room at the other end of the desk for Mark or the boys to place their laptops in case they want to work/play here. I doubt the boys would though. The prefer the couch, their room or the table. Mark's already sat at the other end a few times playing with the new server we bought. Its attached to the desk but I didn't take any photos of that.

The only problem with the desk looking so good it makes the rest of the dining/lounge/computer area (its one big room) look messy. Sooooo ..... we have to clean up the rest of the place. At least that way when we tidy up it will look great when we finally put the Christmas tree & other decorations up ... ...

A Bit Of A Spring Clean

Mark & I decided to tidy up the cutlery drawer last night. It started with just the top drawer really and ended with me tidying ALL four drawers.

To be honest I was getting a bit tired of all the odd pieces of cutlery that we had (plus for some reason pieces used to go missing) and thought it was time to use our 8 piece set. There's no point keeping new things for a rainy day because that day may never come.
Hmmm that reminds me ... I need to let Mark know to ONLY take the older cutlery outside to the shed. I don't want the new ones lost. Well, they don't always get lost in the shed they just take quite a while to make their way back indoors.

The cutlery & utensils we cleaned out were offered to one of our neighbours. I thought about keeping some for the boys for when they eventually move out of home but Mark reminded me that cutlery sets aren't that expensive we can always get the boys new ones when they move out. I'm sure the boys would prefer new stuff anyway.

At least I know where everything is right now. However, I am not too sure how long that will last but the drawers are tidy.

One thing cleaned/tidied many more to go ....

Have you done a bit of a spring clean recently?

Sure Mum We Cleaned Our Room!

The boys said that their bedroom was clean ... here's some photos to show you what THEY call clean! Pffftt Teenagers!! Aren't they delightful!?!?!

Maybe I need to decrapify their room like Tina says she does with her home (& kids rooms) over on her blog.

DVD Collection

Mark was really bored the other day and he alphabetised our DVD collection. Doesn't it look all nice and tidy on our new shelves? Brodie was kind enough to put the shelves together. They came flat packed from the warehouse. Its made a big difference in the lounge room.

In fact Mark was inspired to rearrange the whole lounge room the other night while we were all asleep. He always warned me that if he changes things at night while everyone is asleep to watch out. Its a sign that he isn't very well. Although he seems okay but he doesn't always let on exactly how he is feeling.

I must admit, even though we had complete chaos for about 24 hours (right before I went into hospital last week) the lounge does look much more open than it did. I certainly don't want to be rearranging things again right before someone goes into hospital. Its too tiring.

MORE Spring Cleaning .. ..

Remember how I said the boys room was trashed?? Well ... They have NOT been allowed to watch ANY T.V. all day! They have had to clean their room or help clean in general!! You wouldn't recognise their room at all right now. You can actually see the carpet! Their broken toys are just about ALL gone and their clothes have nearly all been placed in their correct containers.

There's only one problem right now .. Brodie has disappeared after taking some rubbish to the big hippo bin. I'd like to know where he is so he can help finish off the tidying up and pack his bag for camp. He leaves tomorrow morning and comes back Wednesday afternoon.
Hmmm I think I can hear him coming home now. The little rascal. Perhaps he thought he could get out of the rest of the cleaning!! Okay it wasn't him it was just the little guy!
He's not getting out of it that easily!!

Oh well ... I'm off to watch a documentary on Egypt!

Spring Cleaning ... ...

Golly what a busy afternoon we've had after having a lazy morning. I was going to do a bit of tidying up .. just the lounge room because the boys had trashed it. And when they trash it they do it in a BIG way!! However as I was collecting the various little rubbish bags from different rooms I thought I would just grab some of the mess off the desk and throw that into the bin as well.

That was when Mark walked in and said "Are you cleaning the desk?"
"Umm NO! Just tidying!" I replied.

And that was where it all started.... We ended up cleaning off the whole desk. Now to get the idea of this desk its pretty big. I can't remember the measurements but it has my computer tower, with two monitors and the boys computer tower & monitor on it. Also the adsl modem/hub. It also has 2 shelves above it. Full of boxes, CD's, books, computer parts, etc, etc. Not to forget layers of dust on the shelves.
Mark said it was some "Spring cleaning".
Brodie and I looked at each other and said .. "But it's Summer!!" To which I added .. "Cool I can leave it until Spring!"
Needless to say we didn't leave it. In fact it looks great right now. We got rid of so much clutter on the desk. It looks so white, clean & tidy! There's even room on it for more important things! I'm amazed.

Of course Mark & I wanted the boys to help but they had other ideas. They kept vanishing! So needless to say they wont be getting their computer back in a hurry!! They should've stayed and helped.

Next item on the list is the boys room .. and they do NOT want me to go in there!! They won't have anything left!