Monday, March 19, 2012

Monday Domesticity



I woke  up to a bright blue sky!! Brilliant! So I rushed downstairs to do my washing.
I just  love drying my washing outside so I seize every opportunity I get in our very constant gloomy weather.

But before I can start with my washing I need to find my scoop.
Last Saturday I refilled my laundry powder box with fresh powder but forgot to put the scoop aside.
Now I have to dig it out!

Thankfully  it showed up, now my washing can commence.
I did 3 loads in the end.


Washing was going on nicely in the utility room and Little Girl safely tucked in the Front Room with her CBeebies TV program.
I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. I just sauteed the sardines I bought yesterday from the Filipino shop with loads of tomatoes, yummy!!Little Girl and I love it!!
Here it is:


All the while I was in the kitchen, L:ittle Girl also busied herself colouring:

her shirt, her hands and fingers!

and our sofa
The good thing about this colouring pens  is that  they are washable.
So a leather wipes would do for the sofa and a good scrubbing in the bath for Little Girl.

I went back again to check my washing.
 I love the sight of my washing machine working at its best and knowing that the laundry  inside would  not  go after to the machine to it's left - instead to the washing line outside, brilliant again!!
Don't get me wrong,  I love the convenience of the tumble dryer especially on wet and winter days but I still believe it ages  the clothes quickly.



After breakfast I  had good look at my front room. It was a mess.
It appears like there is a Little Girl's toys  invasion so I decided  I just have to have a go in cleaning it.
(I don't leave domestic chores late, I attend to it right away as much as possible so it won't pile up resulting in a  nightmare. I believe in  doing things 1 at a time so we won't be living in a mess all the time).
So back to the front room, I arranged the cushions, swept the floor with my electric sweeper, dusted the ornaments and mirror, the TV and its stand  and put some of Little Girl's toys back in its playroom where they should  be.

The before

And after! What a difference a quick cleaning can do!


And then I can finally sit in my comfortable sofa and will not get distracted with mess or toys everywhere.


Although some toys stayed and this orderliness didn't last long.
The mess moved into the hallway!

And into Little Girl's playroom
The beauty though of having a playroom is not getting stress for the need to put back toys in order  - all the time.  I can leave it like that for a day and days even.
It doesn't crowd as well into the front room or in her bedroom.
I'm very much aware that they will be more additions of this collection in the future , so at least it has  a room of its own.

Lunchtime and  the 1st of load of washing is finished. Time to hang it dry outside.
 I didn't ask Little Girl to help (although she loves it very much.
She's my peg girl. She carries the peg box and hands me a peg everytime I need it).
She was watching Balamory and I didn't dare disturb her plus I can also get things done quickly. 

I then had a good look around my back garden.
I noticed things are already starting to come back to life:

The flower bulbs are already coming out


flower pots survived winter


the grass is already growing and needs cutting



Our decking now needs a good cleaning.
I have to remind Dearest Husband about this.
And to put back outside the garden furnitures. They are already hibernating far too long now in the garage.
I just can't wait to bring back life into my garden and summer bbqs of course!!


The morning chores left me very much knackered.
I had to sleep with Little Girl while she was having her afternoon nap.
It felt so good after! I felt recharged.


Dearest Husband came home from work and asked him to bring  the washing inside. Little Girl helped him. Dearest Husband putting the washing in the basket and Little Girl with the pegs to its box.
It was  just picture perfect!


I prepared dinner and decided to cook something from my Filipino goodies yesterday. I made pancit canton. This is just very easy really.
Sauteed meat and vegetables mix with noodles.
It is the preparation that is labourious.
I really hate peeling the carrots and slicing them so thinly after. 

Here are my ingredients:
Carrots, peeled and sliced thinly  
sliced mushrooms,
runner beans 
chopped onions
 sliced green bell pepper 
 chicken. 

I sauteed the chicken first.
When it's a bit brown I added the onions (and garlic- I run out this time).
I then added the carrots. They cooked quickly because they are thinly sliced.
Next I added the mushroom then mixed them all together then the runner beans after.
Left  them cooking for a few minutes then added the sliced green bell pepper.

On the other hand, I prepared the noodles.
This is crispier and thicker than the regular egg noodles we get in the supermarket.
I plunged it for a minute in  boiled water then drained it after.

I then mixed  the noodles into  my stir fry meat and vegetables then seasoned to taste.
I used this seasoning I also got from my shopping yesterday.


I then added sliced boiled egg as toppings for my pancit canton.
Here have a look at it:

It was very yummy! Little Girl esp. loves it! She always loves pancit.
We call her  the pancit girl. She is the first to get into the table and the last one  to leave.
She had 2 platefuls tonight.
The good thing about this is she eats everything. The chicken, the veggies, the noodles and her all time favourite - rice!


It's now 10pm and Little Girl's already in dreamland.
Dearest Husband is watching TV and Mummy's having a me time while waiting for her dishwasher to finish. Will still have to unload it before I go to bed.


Domestic chores are  always never ending. It's a hard task to keep  up.
So I salute my fellow full time housewives and mummies.
We may  not be paid monetarily but there are a lot of ways we get rewarded.
The sight of our children growing up beautifully, a clean house , a fresh, good smelling laundry and a very happy husband!!

Good night everyone.









4 comments:

  1. We had the sunshine back today too! I am so jealous of the clothesline you have in your backyard. I hang my clothes but I keep it inside the laundry room because I don't think I like the smell of sun on my clothes after its been out, and I fear that dust might stick on it...I'm sure it doesn't but I have paranoia and I always think it will just make me sneeze nonstop, I have outdoor asthma. I've never tried doing it here, but in the Phils, that's how they did it and I remember hating wearing my clothes knowing its been worn out...if you know what I mean. I had hubby install a clothesline rack and I hang them up in hangers one inch apart...but not every single one. Just the ones that I don't want to shrink due to 100% cotton. I also don't iron...I say its because I am trying to be energy efficient but it's really because I try to save my energy. Call it being lazy!hehe. I have been dreaming of a house with a front porch, something like you have there but in the front of my home.

    Mads loves pancit too, she likes to help me make it, but especially the ones made in rice stick noodles, or bihon as we call it. And like you, I hate cutting up the carrots the most, but I do it anyway because I like to make my pancit look pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I begged Dearest Husband to put a washing line for me outside. He wasn't really into it. His reasons: it's not a good sight in the garden, what's tumble dryer for anyway and we've got indoor clothes dryer if I really insisted on drying them naturally. But of course, I won in the end. We don't use the washing line when we have summer bbqs and I'm helping save our gas bill.

    I know what you mean but thankfully England is not polluted. So our air is fresh and clean and there are no dusts. I like the smell of clothes dried by the sun. And I like it better also to do my bedding washing and hang them to dry outside as they get tangled with each other in the tumble dryer- so leaving me to dry them properly in the indoor clothes dryer.

    I have a small front garden. I have several big and small pots lined up. On the side of it there's a bigger space and at the front of the side fence I also had some flowers. We live in a house where our garage is detached. It is on the side of the house hence I have a side fence. And it's got its own driveway.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think im the laziest between the three of us, I hardly cook, do the laundry, ironing, or clean the floors....Well I guess my life will change after the baby...

    ReplyDelete
  4. 9to6mom, is it because you have a Monday-Friday job working on office hours? I believe I couldn't manage domesticity if I'm also working full time so go give yourself a big pat.But you're right, working or not, your life will change as soon as your angel arrives.

    ReplyDelete