Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Frugalicous Domesticity - Wednesday Edition





Do you have any idea how foolish I feel telling you how to clean a bathroom?

I'm not Martha Stewart.
I just play her on the internet.

OK, my schedule for Wednesday suggests (doesn't dictate) that I clean my bathroom, and front porch as part of my cleaning routine for the week, and do the grocery shopping.

In the winter, I don't clean the porch.
Why, that's something someone with OCD would do.


Because I really have no clutter in my bathroom to speak of, (other than that shelf up there) and I spot clean it daily, it's really a piece of cake.

I do my 'work around the room' method.
First, I wet the sink, and sprinkle my cleanser in it, so that it can soak a bit.
I put in the toilet bowl cleaner, brush it around.


See these corner shelves?
I only clean those about every three weeks.
They just don't seem to get very dusty.



See that old tub?
I only scour it every couple of weeks.
It just doesn't get filmy.



I do take everything off of this counter and clean it.
I do use my homemade (1 cup of olive oil, 1/3 cup of lemon juice in a spray bottle) furniture polish and dust the tub rim, and the little dressser.
I wash the throw rug once a week, on Mondays.
I check my toilet paper supply.

I do get down on my hands and knees and give the outside of the toilet bowl a good cleaning.

I finish up by washing the sink, drying it, and cleaning the mirror.
Then I dust the light bulbs in my big light bar that I don't like too much.
I really can't tolerate dusty light bulbs.

Total housekeeping routine today, including making beds (we'll be in the bedroom tomorrow), running the vacuum, cleaning the bathroom, and doing a couple of stray snack dishes from the night before.

28 minutes.

I really have to say that having a routine like this completely liberates me.
I never have to spend an entire day cleaning.

I have a LOT of hobbies that I like to do.
Including, but not limited to:

Dollhouses
Sewing
Knitting, Crocheting, Embroidering
Just learning to make rag rugs now
Soap making
Baking
Camping
Gardening on Steroids
Being a member of a Cooking Club, BeeKeeping Club, Garden Club
and hosting a Stitching Club here every week.

Throw homeschooling into the mix, and I'm a busy girl.

Today, my schedule looked like this:

Up at 3:30. (I'm usually not up til 4:30, but Glenco had an extra early start)
Made Glen's smoothie, and packed his lunch.
Waved goodbye to him at 3:45am
Started my routine. Yes...before coffee!
Finished my routine at about 4:15am
Made coffee, had quiet time, read blogs and returned a few emails.
at 5:15am I baked muffins and cleaned up the mess.
5:50am I blogged.
6am I cleaned out a couple of drawers in the bedroom, watched the sunrise and took care of the chickens.
At 7am my friend came over and we worked out til about 7:45am.
I got myself cleaned up and dressed.
Started homeschooling at 8:15am and did that til 12:15pm
Had lunch and headed to Salvation Army in Illinois for thrifting fun and Aaron's 'Practical Skills' portion of homeschooling.

We do practical skills every Wednesday.
Once I took him to the thrift store and gave him $5 to find an outfit he'd wear.
Nice Levi jeans and an Abercrombie shirt were found - $4.50 total.
One day I told him to make sure he wore a shirt with buttons.
I cut them all off when he got here, and gave him a thread and needle.
Today, he needed to pick out furniture to 'refurbish' and use in his bedroom.
He found a pretty cool piece. I'll share that with you later.

There was a dollhouse shop in Illinois that I wanted to go to, so we headed there next, with the intention of peeking around a few minutes, and heading to the grocery store, and then heading home.
We were there for two hours.
The shop owner generously offered to give me a hands on lesson on electrifying a dollhouse.

I didn't get home until 6pm tonight.

Guess what? I didn't go grocery shopping.
I stopped at KFC and brought Glen dinner.

My schedule is a guideline, it's not written in stone.
I do what works for the day.

I wasn't going to force myself to shop tonight.

Look what I found thrifting!
Sorry for the bad pics...

This old cake cover with acorns and oak leaves! It's going to be perfect for my vintage camper AKA 'The Squirrel'


A few vintage dishes. There are two of those platters.
Love the old wire dish drainer!
Can't see the fabric too well, it's for an apron, and then an old vintage ironing board cover.

It's now 7:15m and I'm pooped. I'm hitting the couch with my afghan project and I'll crochet til I fall asleep. In about 30 minutes!

Please know that in no way am I saying you should, or you need to follow a weekly schedule.
I'm sharing this with you, as a former overwhelmed, frustrated homemaker that never wanted to have company because of what the house looked like, never felt like I had 'time' to do what I wanted to do. I never really cleaned, I just moved piles.

This routine really changed my life.
I hope you can glean something from it, that could maybe make yours better,
if you want it to be.

Tomorrow....the bedroom, and the living room!
(and grocery shopping!)

30 comments:

  1. Jayme, I'm out of breath just reading about your day! You are an inspiration to everyone who reads your blog. Take care. Cynthia

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  2. Love your finds from Salvation Army. I have an addiction to goodwill online.;)
    Routine and staying flexible works very well for us too. The longer I homeschool the more I like it.

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  3. thanks jayme! you inspired me to go to my kitchen and i threw more than 10 things away! i love your thoughts about food. i hate eating the same things all the time. i want something different! keep it up! julie

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  4. You might play Martha Stewart on the internet, but you look like actress Toni Collette. Especially the picture of you behind the plant on your profile and the one of you looking out of the train. Love, love, love your blog.

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  5. You get up WAY too early. You really must stop such nonsense. (Do you have any tips for turning me into a morning person, Marty?)

    Also - You're a BEEKEEPER????? Do tell. I'm highly intrigued!

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  6. Jayme, you are livin' life to the fullest. You have so much going on, and really very little of your time is devoted to that dreaded "H" word :) And somehow it all works. Oh yes, I have hope now. Thank you again, dear girl, for the inspiration!

    And I love that cake cover! -Tammy

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  7. Ways I've been inspired by you this week, Jayme:

    1. I no longer sit at the computer for 1-2 hours after hubby leaves for work in the mornings. Now I get moving and get some work done. Today I painted the linen closet in our bathroom (2 coats), put everything back, vacuumed the house, scrubbed the bathroom floor, washed two loads of laundry, made blueberry muffins, pumpkin bread and a yummy ham and corn chowder for supper! I couldn't believe it!

    2. You've helped me to think through why I do the things I do and to see if there are ways to improve.

    3. You've helped me to seriously consider why I hold on to the things I have taking up space in drawers. When I did that purge of 10 things in the kitchen that you suggested I was able to put out my stainless steel utensils in the crock because there was actually room for them there! That was SO liberating.

    Your bathroom is beautiful, Jayme! And I have a similar collection of bottles in my bathroom! How ironic!

    Thanks for all you do to encourage those who read your blog.

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  8. hi jayme,

    just wanted to let you know that i am enjoying your housecleaning tips! it's fun to hear how someone else does things; makes me re-think some of the way i do things and how i can improve. i am too attention deficit to clean house all day long so i like the short bursts of cleaning (i use the term "like" loosely!)i am also enjoying your homemade cleaners. i am using "green" products now but they are soo expensive! i am sooo excited to make my own. i have the washing soda and borax already!thanx again for such a fun, funny blog!

    love ya,

    peggy

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  9. Wow, tired just reading about your day. Sweet dreams! You deserve them.

    I LOVE the cake cover!

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  10. ok, you've motivated me to try it your way! I actually did that when my kids were small-how, I don't know!

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  11. OMG- your bathroom is amazing. More pictures of tub please and um, I have never seen a toilet positioned like that! LOVE it. Love the colors too.

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  12. I woke up early for way too many years to start getting up before 7! My treat is to lie in bed until my body is ready to wake up - usually around 7:00 or 7:30 (that's what's nice about homeschooling!). And I use to keep a schedule that was very firm, but with three kids, it is hard to do much on a regular basis.

    Now I sound like a party-pooper. Shoot. I didn't want to do that. Truthfully, I do keep a routine, it's just much more flexible than it use to be. (My girls think it's the army around here!) I love the Fly Lady's advice; she suggests wearing good shoes that tie so your can really get your groove on when working and keep routines. I encourage your readers to give it a serious effort. They'll be glad they did.

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  13. Jayme, you are amazing! :) I haven't been commenting much, but I am really enjoying your posts!!!

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  14. You still amaze me with how much you get done every day! You must not have icky hard water like we do here, or you would have spots and film all over your sink and shower.
    I bought a cake carrier exactly like that at a garage sale in Iowa two years ago, and gave it to my youngest sister ! I really wanted to keep it myself, because I love old aluminum pieces.

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  15. Jayme~
    I really love this series of posts!I'm looking at my routine a whole new way. You have a great blog here...it makes me feel like I'm sitting with a friend,casually talking over tea.

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  16. You are truly an amazing woman! I may be up at 3:30am but it's NOT to start my day...but only because I can't sleep. I usually go back to bed until much much later in the AM. (We won't even mention that time aloud)
    I used to be more routine when there were kids in the house, but since it's just my man and me, my schedule is very fluid.
    Keep up the great inspiration to us all.

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  17. Jayme,

    1. Love your bathroom. The color is relaxing and I like how the door is painted the color of the walls.

    2. I soooo want an old cake cover like that. Never thought to look at the thrift store even though I heart the thrift store big time.

    3. I am seriously thinking about all the things you have written about weight loss and housecleaning. And just life in general. Please keep writing what you are living. It is helping people.

    4. The practical skills day is a great idea. My boys are not going to know what has hit them when I hand them a needle and thread.

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  18. LOVE your bathroom! Great finds at the thrift store! Isn't it amazing how liberating it is once you find a routine that works for you and your home. Saves so much time/stress/energy! Love reading your posts as I have my more cup of coffee..

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  19. haha...guess I need another cup!
    meant morning cup

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  20. Again!! You little Keeping da Coop thing you! AGAIN you made me feel so good! My Mama had that cake cover! DarlingestSister and I were just wondering out loud together about where it went. For some reason that acorn handle always made for wonderful imagination kind of fun. Go figure.

    And AGAIN you picked a cool color in the BR that I want to duplicate somewhere in my almost all white house.

    Are you here yet??

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  21. Jayme,
    I'm not trying to suck up by saying this. You're changing my life. I love having this schedule. I get things done. I let go of the guilt. I have me time. I have a much cleaner home. I'm cooking more. I'm enjoying my home and its responsibilities more. This is also really helping me to get my house ready to put on the market. Bless you girl! I'm off to start cleaning the kitchen. We have a 2 hour school delay today so my little one is still asleep. I'll work til she wakes up.

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  22. Your thrift store finds are awesome! I love the old cake cover, so cute.
    I'm also totally envious about all you clubs,cooking, beekeeping, garden... Wish I had some like minded friends like that here. We tried to get a book club started at work, but that fizzled our real quick. At least I have all my favorite blogs to "get my fix"...

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  23. officially pooped....
    I have to come back and read this again....and maybe one more time...to see what I can get my arms around. You see...you really are inspiring me. I want to move in that direction. I feel lazy when I read your post. Not because I am a lazy girl, and not because I feel the need to be just like you... but because reading what you do in the amount of time you allot and what a good steward you are, I realize that I CAN and SHOULD do better here...in my home...in my daily routine. Ya know what I'm sayin'? Your sharing about how you work with YOUR schedule is good moto for me to strive to do better, because I KNOW without a doubt I can. Keep it coming Jayme. Not feeling pressured by you to accomplish all that you do, but sure feeling excited to emulate the ways in which YOU USE YOUR TIME. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  24. Jayme,

    Stop apologizing. You are doing all of us a service by sharing what works in your world and we will take what we can incorporate into ours. You can't help it if you're just that good. (Yes, I am smiling.)
    Seriously, everything you have shared is good information and if people that are struggling implement these easy to follow steps (with the exception of getting up before the chickens) they will find order in their lives and homes.
    I love your bathroom! Question: Is that beadboard or paneling on your shower/tub wall? How do you clean that? Also, did you and Glen do that? I've never seen a tub and surround like that. Beautiful.
    - Deborah

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  25. I am enjoying learning more about you and your daily life. I think you are a fabulous home school teacher for Aaron. I like it that you are teaching him those practical things! I did that with my two kids and they still thanks me for it!

    Have a "heart" day...

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  26. You have such a beautiful home!

    Jayme, how did you make your signature with the little rooster? I like it! Did you do it in photoshop? I also like your new header. Also photoshop? I've gotta try something like that.

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  27. Jamye,
    OK I am will Bella Della, I love, love, love your bath tub. Is it original to the house? I have always wanted an old farm house. Until I get one I will dream and admire vicariously through your posts and pictures. You have such a lovely home.
    Donna

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  28. You put me to shame. I consider my house pretty clean. Well, where you can see anyway. That gardening on steroids seems to take me over and I'm outside too much!
    Brenda

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  29. I thought you said at 6 a.m. you cleaned out a drawer & watched a couple of sunrises. Wow, that is a busy day!

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