Aims for April

The month of March for me was focused mainly on getting some garden tasks done and getting the allotment cultivated in time for the inspections at the end of the month, the time for which has now been extended until the end of April.  I think I managed the latter satisfactorily with a final visit on Good Friday - fingers crossed!   April will continue on this theme of gardening, assuming the weather facilitates this, getting more garden jobs done at home and keeping up with sowing and planting out at the allotment.

In April, however, the focus will also move back inside my home, as I will be clearing the dining room of clutter and spring cleaning the house in time for some family visitors mid month.  This will have to be done during the Easter school holidays seeing as the first two weeks of the month fall within these.  The dining room will need to be turned into another spare bedroom for our visitors and transformed from it's current role as a general dumping ground.  Here's a couple of before photos of it's current state. 

 

Hopefully if the weather improves the clothes horse can be put away and I will be able to use the washing line, clearing valuable space.  The bikes will need to go in the back garden and other things will either be given away, thrown out, stored under the bed or another space found to house them.  I'll post a photo when we finally get it tidied for our guests.

My spring/summer wardrobe will finally come out of storage this month, and any winter clothes packed away until next year.  I might keep the odd cardigan or sweater out in case of another cold spell.  I'm intending to have a bit of a cull of some of my winter clothes, and send some of them to the charity shop, as a few things are getting a little tired and outdated or don't fit too well and have hardly been out of the wardrobe this winter. 

Another item on my 'to do' list, will be to sort out the shoe basket in the hall, as mentioned in a previous post.  Currently it is overflowing with winter shoes and boots.  A clear out of any wornout or outgrown shoes and boots is well overdue, as some are way past their best.  I have a tendency to hang on to things I like until they virtually fall apart, but I'm taking a leaf out of the book of other bloggers and finally clearing as much space in the house as possible.

On the subject of clothes, I want to make a few more clothes for my spring/summer wardrobe too.  A top and a dress at least would be great to add to what I've already got.  In addition, as I have no expensive haircut to pay for this month, no big birthdays to buy gifts for or glasses to get lenses for,  I can possibly afford to treat myself and my daughter to a few bits and pieces to wear this spring/summer.   This should complete my spring/summer clothing needs, but often I do find other things I like and decide to add them at various points through the summer.  I have also decided to try to dye a pair of leather shoes/sandals for the summer, so I am hoping to do this too, so that I can get more use out of them.  I'll keep you posted about progress. 

On the fitness front, I'm intending to keep up my current number of classes which is about 4 or 5 per week (once the Easter Holidays are over), but I want to try cycling the 10 mile round trip to the gym at least once per week and also using my bike to get around and about more, such as to the allotment, local shops, excursions, etc.  I'm also starting new netball playing sessions once a week after Easter, which has been organised by one of the mums at school.  I'm not sure if I'll stick with it yet, as I was always more of a hockey girl at school, but I'll give it a go.  It might be fun.  I don't intend to wear a short skirt though.  My legs are way beyond that now.

Other than the above, I am aiming for a relatively frugal month, sticking to buying only what is necessary if I can and paying as much as possible off credit cards. What are your plans for April?  Do you have any aims or things you want to achieve?