A Satisfying Saturday and Sunday

Well, after  a jinxed Friday with the cooker breaking down, things did get a little better as the weekend progressed and it ended up being quite a satisfying one in more ways than one.

I started the weekend off with a lie in on Saturday morning and finished reading another book I got from the library the other week, called The Power of Doing Less by Fergus O'Connell.  Once again, it's a book about tackling the important things and letting go of all the other non-important tasks that we think we must do, thus freeing us to live a more enjoyable, fulfilling and productive life.  It's a small book, so it didn't take me long to read it, which is useful when you've got lots of other things to do, but it was an interesting read.  He's also written many other books on the subject of prioritising aspects of your life that I'm interested to get my hands on.  I've already earmarked a few on eBay.

After getting up and having a leisurely breakfast, I did a bit of work and posted out some parcels before getting down to the nitty gritty of what I wanted to do this weekend.  I'd set aside this weekend as one in which I would try to tackle the filth pit that was my house and get it cleaned up a bit ready to get some Christmas cheer going on. It's great that things have finally become a little quieter, which gave me the opportunity to focus on my home a bit more.

First job was the bathroom, which was looking pretty messy and completely overdue a clean.  It was so good to get it all cleaned up and new fresh towels put in.  At least I can now watch the last episode of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners without feeling pangs of sympathy and guilt about the state of my bathroom and having a shower should be a relaxing experience as opposed to being stressful, in that it reminded me of a job that desperately needed doing. 

Next, I hoovered the stairs, upstairs landing and hallway with a bit of help from the dog who loves to have a tussle with the hoover hose, before mopping the latter, which was in desperate need as we'd been tramping in after dog walks with muddy boots for weeks now.

I didn't over exert myself and kept stopping for breaks and dog walking duties to keep me motivated.  Later, I tackled the shoe basket, which still had some summer shoes in it that needed putting away for the winter, as well as accumulating a mass of dirt and dust underneath as always.  Once I'd sorted this out, put a heap of shoes in the washing machine and cleaned underneath and around it, I finished up by cleaning and mopping the downstairs toilet.

One piece of good news from Saturday was that OH managed to fix the cooker after a bit of tinkering, so I was finally able to cook the second batch of minced pies (here's a picture)

and some jam tarts to boot, as I'd kept the pastry overnight on the off chance he'd get it going again.  (He's exceptionally handy like that! - Thankfully).  So no Black Friday weekend shopping for us thank goodness and I was able to fully join in with the spirit of International Buy Nothing Day.

On Sunday I didn't follow my normal routine of going to my usual aerobics class in the morning, due to an ankle injury, which caused me to cancel.  Instead I did a bit of work and then once I had the house to myself I decided to clean the living room, ready for getting the tree up.  I've still got to clean the second reception room, which is actually where the tree will go, but I ran out of steam, so I'll have to do it one day next week.  I was pleased to get started anyway and on Sunday night I took pleasure in sitting in my newly cleaned and fabric freshened living room to watch the Strictly results show.  Very sad I know, but very satisfying.