Showing posts with label chores

Hello June and hello summer gardening chores! From pulling weeds, to mowing, to trimming trees, my husband and I are working outside to spruce up our landscape most every weekend now.  I love living this semi-rural lifestyle, but trust me when I say, there is a lot of hard work and upkeep involved and more often than not, our hard work has us both saying we have a backache by the end of the day. Thankfully, we’d discovered the benefits of using Salonpas products years ago, so when I was asked if I would help spread the word about Salonpas Day where they give away free patches I happily agreed! Read on to see how you can ease back pain with a free Salonpas patch this month!



Our Freshly Mowed Backyard!



our freshly mowed backyard


Ah, Summer! How we love you. When you aren’t here we dream of your warm days and perfect star filled nights. We long for juicy peaches and messy popsicles. July is half over and we still happily look forward to summertime fun like swimming, taking road trips, picnics at the park, family cookouts, gardening, morning trips through the farmer's market and bonfires, just to name a few. The one thing we don’t plan and dream of is summer chores. Today I'm sharing 15 chores you can tackle in 15 minutes or less to help you get back to enjoying this amazing season quickly.



15 chores to tackle in 15 minutes or less



I don’t know about you, but at my house, once the kids are out of school my chore time increases. From sticky kitchen tables and counters to the ever present need to sweep up tracked in grass and dirt, I felt like I could not keep up until I made this one simple change


When I'm home, I take a break from work every 30 minutes or so and do a quick chore. Taking these mini-breaks helps me be more productive, helps increase my energy while decreasing my seat time and helps lessen my chore list when I do switch gears and stop working for the day. You’d be surprised how much you can get done in 10 - 15 minutes! 



Fold towels and stack in like sizes for a more organized linen closet


Here are 15 quick chores that I do. Feel free to copy my list to get you started.


  • Fold a load of laundry, put it away and start a new one.
  • Sweep the kitchen and mud room floor.
  • Wipe down bathroom counters and mirrors.
  • Water plants on front porch.
  • Clean out trash in car.
  • Go through mail and recycle junk mail.
  • Dead head flowers and pinch back herbs.
  • Check pantry supplies for weekly meal plan.
  • Dust a room and put away discarded items.
  • Unload dishwasher.
  • Wipe down kitchen table and chairs.
  • Clean out Frig drawers or organize shelves.
  • Clean photo frames in the hall.
  • Update coupons.
  • Wipe down glass doors.


Clean one portion of your frig weekly to keep it tidy




If you work away from home all day, you can still use this list to tackle your chores. Taking a break every 30 minutes to do something you enjoy like sipping a cool drink while reading will help you feel re-energized once you do return to your chore list. 


Be sure to delegate some of your chores to your kids if they are old enough and especially if they find you mid-task and tell you they are bored! I always find a task my daughters can handle. Just remember to be good to yourself and step away from work too so you can fully enjoy this special season.



Please share in comments: What is the toughest area of your home to keep clean? For me, it's the bathroom counters!

Weekly Chore Prompt: Organizing Shoes

in , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Monday, June 08, 2015
Happy Monday dear readers! As I was trying to get out the door to my very first blog conference on a recent Saturday morning, I tried multiple times to shut our foyer closet door but couldn’t because there was a rogue sneaker blocking the door. I picked the shoe up, looked for a free space to call its temporary home and found zero free space. Zip, nada. I couldn’t even find the sneaker's mate, so I did what any sane mom would do when she’s pressed for time - I chucked in the shoe and slammed the closet door. I knew the weekly chore prompt had to be organizing shoes!


Time To Corral Shoes:



weekly,chore,prompt,organizing,shoes

Hello and happy Monday! The much needed rain has passed in my area for now so I enjoyed looking out my front windows at all the pretty green. There is something so perfect about spring green after a rain. While enjoying my view, I decided that it was the perfect time to tackle inside windows, we’ll tackle outside soon.



I’ve received valuable feedback from friends online, and surprisingly offline regarding my chore prompts.  You prefer my quick call to action prompts versus a how-to write up, so I’ll stick with that moving forward. Thanks again for the emails and chats friends!



Time To wash Windows:



windows, clean, prompt , cat
Fiona in her favorite spot


Happy Friday dear readers and if you are a Mom- happy Mother’s Day to you! I hope you enjoy your special day and will have a no-cleaning Sunday! If you are a busy Mom like me, you may be half way through your spring cleaning and despair that you have so much more to do. Never fear- Linda is here!

Welcome to my Weekly Chore Prompt:




While talking with a friend over lunch recently, she remarked that she wished she had a guide to help her keep on top of both the big and the little chores she should do every week; beyond making the bed, or sweeping the floor. That gave me the wonderful idea to share a weekly chore with you here. These won’t be anything fancy, no need to print -just a quick post sharing what area of my home I’m focusing on that week. Hopefully we can get and keep our home sparkly clean and clutter free together!



baking,soda, cleaning, tips

15 chores you can tackle in 15 minutes or less

in , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Monday, June 30, 2014

Summer is such a fun season. We wait for it all year, planning and dreaming of those long, hot summer days and what we’ll do in them.

Summer Fun Activities:



swimming summer fun


  • Swimming
  • Traveling
  • Enjoying summer fruits
  • Picnics
  • BBQ’s
  • Bonfires
  • Sleepovers
  • Gardening



The one thing we don’t plan and dream of is summer chores. I don’t know about you, but at my house, once the kids are out of school my chore time increases. From sticky kitchen tables and counters to the ever-present need to sweep up tracked in grass and dirt, I felt like I could not keep up until I made this one simple change. 


Cleaning clothes



Take a Break from Work-do a quick chore:


I take a break from work every 30 minutes or so and do a quick chore. Taking these mini-breaks helps me be more productive, helps increase my energy while decreasing my seat time and helps lessen my chore list when I do switch gears and stop working for the day. You’d be surprised how much you can get done in 10 - 15 minutes! 



15 chores you can tackle in 15 minutes or less: 


Here are 15 quick chores that I do. Feel free to copy my list to get you started.


  1. Fold a load of laundry, put it away and start a new one.
  2. Sweep the kitchen and mudroom floor.
  3. Wipe down bathroom counters and mirrors.
  4. Water plants on the front porch.
  5. Clean out the trash in the car.
  6. Go through the mail and recycle junk mail.
  7. Deadhead flowers and pinch back herbs.
  8. Check pantry supplies for a weekly meal plan.
  9. Dust a room and put away discarded items.
  10. Unload dishwasher.
  11. Wipe down kitchen table and chairs.
  12. Clean out Frig drawers.
  13. Clean photo frames in the hall.
  14. Update coupons.
  15. Wipe down glass doors.

WAHM's Re-Energize: 


If you work away from home all day, you can still use this list to tackle your chores. Taking a break every 30 minutes to do something you enjoy like sipping a cool drink while reading will help you feel re-energized once you do return to your chore list. 


Delegate Chores:


Be sure to delegate some of your chores to your kids if they are old enough and especially if they find you mid-task and tell you they are bored! I always find a task my daughters can handle. Just remember to be good to yourself and step away from work too so you can fully enjoy this special season.


Enjoy Summer! 

Please share in comments: If you could wish away one household chore forever, what would it be? For me, it’s cleaning showers!

Working the swing shift

in , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Friday, July 26, 2013
It is hot everywhere in the United States right now, no doubt about it. Since this is my husband’s busy season, we are all home more in the summer, relying on our local power grid to keep us cool and powered up.

Two weeks ago, during a super-hot and humid time, I noticed our lights dimmed every time our AC kicked on.  Not quite a full on brown out, (which can sometimes be harder on electronics than full on blackouts) but enough dimming to make us all stop and take notice.


Erring on the side of caution, I decided to voluntarily cut back our electricity consumption during peak hours.  


77


Here’s what I did:


1. Make sure lights, radios, laptops, etc. are off if not in use.

2. Turn AC up a degree or two until I heard complaints about it being hot. (76 or 77 depending on humidity).

3. Turn up all ceiling fans. They run day and night here and make a big difference.

4. Run the dishwasher later in the evening, around 8:30pm.

5. Do laundry later in the evening as well and hang up light tops and shorts to air dry.

6. Keep my freezer stocked. A stocked freezer stays cooler longer thereby easing the power used by this power hungry appliance.



I know these are little things, but I feel like they are making a difference. And doing chores later in the evening has been a blessing, allowing me more time to connect with my family and friends, garden and do other tasks that I normally save until later or don’t get to at all because I’m tired.  


I find I don’t mind working the swing shift that much.



Do you have rolling brown outs or black outs in your area? If so, what steps do you take to help ease your electrical usage?

Blissfully Domestic

in , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Thursday, October 13, 2011



All week I been busy with all things domestic. And it has felt so good to be in the moment;
in the zone as the pros's call it'; where your hands are busy and your mind is free to ponder and review at a much slower pace.  Multi-tasking isn't an option and we all need the down time ladies ( and gent's if your are reading this post).



I thought I'd shake things up a bit and tell you what I have accomplished this week.



Monday- Laundry and lots of it. I had done some consignment sale shopping on Friday
and needed to launder all those finds, plus the normal loads from the weekend.

Question- Do you ever get done with your laundry where all baskets are empty?I don't and I'm just not going to beat myself up about it!

I started sorting our closets and rotating our wardrobes for fall.
I also ironed several fall pieces. I don't mind ironing one bit, I actually rather enjoy it.
It soothes, especially on a dreary day. It also calls to mind memories of my Mom and Grandma ironing 
in the kitchen, which is probably why I iron there as well, with my radio turned on low, just like them.

Question: Do you iron, and if so, do you enjoy the task?



Tuesday- The girls had the day off from school due to parent-teacher conference day. Both girls were sent home with forms indicating no conferences were needed unless I requested one, which I didn't because I am in contact with their teachers and both girls are doing great scholastically. Not boasting, just complementing them. 
We spent the day together, playing Mario, visiting the library and grabbing lunch. Oh and laughing, alot!


Ah, yes, this is why I do what I do.. for them and family.


 

Question: When was the last time you belly laughed with your kids, hubby or friends? Try it, you will look and feel better!



Wednesday- I baked! I finally got the- much requested- first of the season- Apple Pie done! I love making apple pies, or any kind of pie really, but there is something so delicious about Apple pies.
 The house smells heavenly for hours afterwards and my family could not wait for dessert. I almost hated moving on to the cupcakes I baked next fearing the smells would intermix and be icky sweet, but no; my daughters assured me that it still smelled awesome as they counted the cupcakes and agreed on how many
they would get after we sent in the dozen requested for Ms. T's class reward day. I also sorted my magazines for recycling and/or sharing.
I always keep my Better Homes and Gardens, which is my favorite magazine! My big magazine basket on the mantle is full, even with the culling of lesser magazines, so I think it's time for a new plan on what gets saved and what gets shared.


Question: What is your favorite magazine?



Thursday- Today I will be scrubbing bathrooms and floors. We have 3 full baths and I have to deep clean, it's part of my DNA handed down from the afore-mentioned Mom and Grandma, so I feel no guilt in placing clean bathrooms as my headliner for the day.
It's my least favorite task of all. I'd rather wash mini-blinds and windows! Which are on my radar.  The floor scrubbing I don't mind, but I do wish it wasn't raining so I could hang my rugs outside to dry.



 

Question: How do you rank cleaning baths on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being love and 10 being hate?


Friday-  I'll take a stab at cleaning out the foyer closet. It looks like a mini-shoe store exploded in there. Now that we are in the midst of Indian summer, we have sandals, flip flops and slides vying for space with boots, Sperry's and sneakers. I have to push and shove to shut the door. A clear sign that I must take up this challenge! I won't even delve into the upper shelf where I store the hats, gloves and mittens, nope, I am picking my battles wisely so I'll have time to properly primp and arrive at my youngest daughters class fall party fresh as a daisy on time! ( which means 20 minutes early to help set up) and full of happiness!


Question:  Why must schools schedule all parties at the same time and in the afternoon when the kids are frazzled? We won't mention the adults here, that's got the makings of a great blog post later on.


So that's my week of domestic bliss, well almost bliss if I could do away with the bathrooms but that is highly unlikely isn't it?

I hope you'll take a minute to answer a question or two. Remember to laugh with your loved ones and pick one task and dive in!


© My WAHM Plan · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS