Routine days

For many years, I used to smile when I heard retired people remark that they never knew how they ever found time to go to work because their lives were so busy now.  (rolling of eyes!!)  How could that be possible, I used to think?  They must have all the time in the world, not working.  Hmm, that was then.  Now, I find myself thinking the exact same thing - how did I find time to go to work?

My days are busy and productive, and oh so much happier.  Even something as mundane as having washing blowing on the line makes me smile to myself.  

Being someone who likes things organised (I will admit I don't always manage it though I continue to strive for order), I find some routine in my daily potterings is helpful in providing a rough structure to the week - N and I quite often have to ask each other what day it is.  With that in mind, I set Monday morning aside to clean the house - dust, vacuum, tidy up and put away etc.  And it seems to be working well.  It certainly helps that the house is not overly cluttered to start with, and we are mindful of what extras (if any) come into the house - I do not want to spend hours carefully dusting countless ornaments and trinkets.  As I go round the rooms, I am making a mental note of the 'snagging' that still needs to be done, after the renovation last year.  There's a bit of remedial work we want to look at in the spring, and one or two small projects that will make the house work better for us.  And of course there will be a more thorough 'Spring Clean', but I'm hoping to have had a bit of a declutter beforehand, meaning less to clean ;-)

I don't have a set day for washing; I'm guided by the weather, so if it's dry and breezy, I'll get a load in the machine.  

We're now really into menu planning - not sure why we didn't do it sooner.  N is the main cook here, and he has found it much easier knowing what's for dinner for the week in advance, rather than having to think of something each day.  The plan is flexible but it certainly gives us something to work with.  At the moment we are eating our way through the contents of the freezer and what we already have in the cupboard and hopefully we won't have to restock until February.  

I bake bread once a week (and try to ensure there is something else being cooked in the oven at the same time), and have set days for changing the bed.  Library books need to be returned and changed.  I volunteer Friday mornings, and twice-monthly we give a lift for an out-patients appointment.  All these are put on the calendar, and suddenly there is a structure and routine to our weeks.  The times in between are filled with DIY, craft, gardening, mending, reading, talking . . . and taking time for a cuppa.  We walk and get out and about.  I don't think I can ever say I have been bored; there is just so much to fill my days with!

So, today - one of those hospital trips, a dash into Lidl for specific items (loo rolls on offer so stocked up there!), then pop into Tesco, again for specific items.  We have decided that we can get most of shopping at Lidl and Aldi now, and will just go to Tesco to bi-monthly - there's only a few bits that we haven't been able to find elsewhere.  We prefer the shopping experience at Lidl and Aldi; there isn't so much to choose from, the prices are consistently cheaper, the quality is more than acceptable, there aren't the gimmicks (BOGOFs; buy one, get one half price etc), and they don't hand out free plastic bags!  

I pinned out the bowtie quilt, hoping to get it sandwiched, only to find that the inside border isn't lying flat.  Deep breath, it'll have to be unpicked.  *sigh*  By now this quilt should have been in one piece and started on the quilting.  Instead, all I seem to have done is unpick the pesky thing.  

Really, it's just as well I'm not at work.  I wouldn't have the time to do anything!