Kim
Co-founder, The Clean Sheet
This evening I was dining alone. I heated up last Saturday's homemade curry, made some rice and a little cumcumber salad. I ate on the balcony with a beer, looking at the plants and enjoying the sunshine. Just me and the bees. Kim Co-founder, The Clean Sheet
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This is a running joke in our household that goes as far as writing 'hobby powder' on the shopping list and screaming Oh Nooooo! when the hobby powder is too low for a load. Laundry is a chore and it will never be entirely done, but when it comes to the list of chores it's at the top for me and these are some of the reasons why.
1. Pretty. Washes are usually coordinated to a point, so they always look pretty on the rack. Colour wash is my favourite. 2. The magic porridge pot of pants. If you are wearing yesterdays it's by choice only. 3. The appliance of science. My obsession with the vintage horse-hair hydrometer informs me that it is over 70 so we are experiencing sea mist and yesterdays wash will not be dry yet, so I can take the evening off. In winter it informs me that it is below 60 and therefore hanging wet laundry on radiators is acceptable in order to avoid the inhabitants of the apartment crumbling to dust. No decision making required. 4. Go Eco. A friend of mine makes her own more eco-friendly hobby powder and gave me a sample to try. Not only is it cheap and the ingredients easy to find but it works well too! This kind of hobby powder definitely requires some further investigation - it's fun to try new things and look to the future etc. 5. So tidy. Neatly folded and stacked T-shirts, a bunch of paired socks, fresh towels waiting to be put away - what's not to love? 6. Climbing the laundry mountain. Pitching your tent at 'Fits in One Basket' camp a couple of days after visitors depart and then the joy of reaching the summit of 'Not Enough for a Load'. Have a sit down; you must be tired after all that. 7. Hand Iron. Hand washing is easier than you (I) think. Chuck it in the sink with some suitable hobby powder and rinse it later. Hang on shower taps to drip. The end. Iron little and often; enjoy yourself in the sunny dining room or in front of the TV. It's either hand wash or ironing mind, don't wear yourself out. 8. New favourites. Knowing that you can look great in those clean new trousers again tomorrow. 9. Manual labour. After staring at a two screens of numbers and files and comparing those numbers and files for 8 hours it is pleasant to do something manual that involves textures other than smooth plastic. It is also a time of quiet contemplation (or a time to chat) in the bathroom/kitchen. 10. Good vibrations. The rumble of the washing machine during dinner is always a thrilling sound. The laundry hobby is not quite so appealing on weekends thanks to other hobbies, but if one indulges enough during the week it's ok wait until Monday. Besides, you can't visit 'Fits in One Basket' camp if it always fits in one basket. Kim Co-founder, The Clean Sheet This applies, in the first instance, to those who make their crust through office work. Very often, the idea of spending a day - that is, a number of consecutive hours back to front - at a desk doesn't fill the worker with glee. Quite contrarily, it's the stuff of nightmares unless you love love love your work. If that's you, congrats!! We have nothing in common.
Personally, I spend around 30% of my working day at my desk, tops; 70% on the move around the building. (I will state that this is an inherent part of my vocation rather than a skive.) I found that when I returned to my desk cluttered in paper, stationery, coffee stains and paperclip-chaos, my head instantly surged with grey sludge. But, the admin isn't going to do itself and the point of this is not to get fired; it's to tolerate and hopefully enjoy some things a little more than otherwise. On the great news that my job was safe recently, I never felt more at home away from home. That's a lie, of course. I love Barcelona and The Hague, for example. Point being that I wanted to enjoy updating a spreadsheet at my desk just a little more than not at all. At the first opportunity, I tidied my desk. I emptied my drawers replacing the contents with only meaningful crap and re-arranged things to be in line with my own anatomical feng shui. To celebrate the clean sheeting of my desk, I bought it a plant and a pot of my favourite colour (green, but I also like purple) for us both to enjoy. I also put up a small framed picture of two urban-cladded penguins dropping some breaks to a cartoon ghettoblaster, but each to their own. More on Power Animals in a later post, promise. I'm not saying that I enjoy updating documents at all, I just resent the irretrievable time spent doing so a little less. Obviously, this post wont apply to everyone, but the concept is to get enough content out there so that service users can pick n' mix their favourites. Kind of like professional and domestic agnosticism; believe what suits you to make the parts that assemble the whole a little better, piece by peace. Maaan. Cheers and thanks, Monty Co-founder, The Clean Sheet Why is it that important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries and other important celebrations of regular intervals, among other things, come to us in the toilet? ... ... ... ............ Obviously that was a rhetorical question; I don't actually know, but I've hopefully made you ponder the notion.
That's enough pondering. On with the point of all this! We have a non-disposable, dayless and yearless calendar hanging in our bathroom that is intended for recording and redisplaying this kind of information. It simply gives the months and the dates as numbers along with photographic scenes of beautiful rural Holland. Each month, another striking bulb-field or windmill or cow, another set of helpful reminders. It might sound obvious, but it's only when I moved in with my significantly better half that I realised the ease and practical benefit of a calendar in the bathroom. No more recurring dates of interest will ever be missed (so long as they qualify for a place in the calendar). --- Monty Co-founder, The Clean Sheet |
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