Hello Monday

 

The weather:::

Cold and cloudy all week, rain forecast for Thursday and surprise, surprise, a snow/rain mix on Sunday, it will be interesting to see how that turns out.

On my reading pile:::

Finished The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, excellent read.  Looking forward to reading more from her.  I'm into The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan, another large-print, heavy, but easy on the eyes book.

On my TV:::

Last Tango in Halifax, how have I not discovered this show before now?  Binge watched the entire Season 1 of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS Passport, can't wait for Season 2.

Checked off the list:::

Relatively low key week - work was steady, quiet evenings apart from Tuesday when an accident caused a huge traffic delay and I got home two hours later than usual.  Pest control service on Saturday morning and then I went to meet a keto friend to hear all about her journey and to go with her to the grocery store for a tour of what to eat, what not to eat, what to look for in labels, substitutes for current pantry items, and supplements.  It was a very enjoyable and informative two hours. 

Crafts Roundup:::

Worked a little more on my December Daily but didn't spend the whole day as I had planned.  I'm just not feeling it - it was such an untraditional holiday season and I'm having a hard time with the creative process.  Slow and steady, that's how it will end up.

And in other news:::

Week 1 of the 2021 Home Organization Challenge, suggested by Tanya from The Other Side of the Road was the Laundry Room.  This is a 14-week challenge but for me, it's likely to be a year-long adventure.  I'd love to dedicate a week to one room and get everything cleaned and organized but it's just not going to happen with my schedule.  Slow and steady, where have I heard that before?

On the left is before and on the right, after.  Our laundry room is right off the garage (door just to the right of my hanging jacket in the after photo) and then there is a door to the living room (where I am standing to take these photos).  It wasn't too bad - I rotated the shoe rack (wooden, in the corner) and the shoe tray (long black piece along with wall) to a new position along the back wall, much better and out of the way.  I moved items on the hanging rack to their rightful places - blue IKEA bag folded and put away, hats and gloves on the top shelf over to the winter accessories storage cube, and hung my blue winter coat up in the coat closet.  Swept and mopped the floor.

I love my Elfa laundry room system from The Container Store.  It needs a little realignment but I need Vic to take care of that.  The uppermost shelf needs to come down about two notches, and the pegboard-type rack behind the sink will be moved over to behind the washer.  The sink needs to go back to be flush with the back of the washer but that will need a shortened piece of piping to accomplish that.

Top shelf is paper towels, lower shelf is toilet paper, trash bags, and a set of white plastic baskets (Y-design from Target).  The square ones hold papers bags and reusable grocery bags and the two stacked inside each other are my laundry baskets.  A smaller basket holds my detergent.  To the left of the baskets is a smaller basket with my pre-spot solution and whitener tablets.

The drawer above the sink holds my floor cleaning pieces - I have a similar system to a Swiffer but my mop, dust, and shine attachments connect with Velcro and then can be removed to be washed.  Also in this drawer are drawer sheets, mesh linen bags for fine washables, and a baseball hat frame for drying hats back to their original shape.

The two drawers above the dryer hold (top) Kleenex and Brita filters, and (bottom) rag bag cloths (old T-shirts for drying the car after it's washed or cleaning up wet paw prints when Spectra visits) along with dog towels (for drying wet paws) and microfiber cloths.

There are two hangers just notched onto a shelf - I have a couple of valet hooks that I will have Vic install on the wall so that I can hang things as they come out of the dryer.  We originally had a hanging bar built into the system but it wasn't used very often and I preferred a shelf and drawer in its place.

And there you have it, the Laundry Room!