Welcome 2018!

Well, I was going to publish this post on Monday but so far not much goes to plan in the new year. maybe that's my sign to not always be so over prepared? I mean I started 2018 with ALL of my outstanding tasks done - all bills paid, all washing done, 2018 calendar set up, new routines planned, schedules and meal plans done, everything was sorted. Ready for the new year, a new month and a new week!

I got up relatively early on Monday morning as I wanted to videochat with my Mum in Germany. As I had nothing planned other than to relax that day not a problem. So I got up after only 5 and a bit hours sleep, chatted to my Mum and together we watched the fireworks in Cologne, some 16,000 km away from me... Afterwards my Mum went to bed and Mr S and I had brunch. Then I tidied up around the house, looked after the animals, went for a stroll around the garden before coming back inside as it was just boiling outside (= 39 deg C). I watched a movie and when I was just about to lay down for a snooze, the power went off. Not a problem normally but due to the heat, I was hot very quickly. 

Mr S wanted to try out the generator as we had an outlet installed in our switch box to connect the generator to. After a few hours of trying to figure out how it would work, we finally created our own power. Not enough to keep the aircon AND the pumps going at the same time. Since we don't have townwater, everytime we use a tap, 2 pump will turn on - one to bring the water in, one to take it out again. Painful! Then the storm hit and we knew Ergon wouldn't be able to go out and fix whatever is broken for a while... Suddenly it was time to prepare dinner, prepare for work and go to bed. We didn't sleep much that night - it was just too hot. The power finally came back on just before I had to get up to go to work. So 2 night with not much sleep. Ah well....

I've spent Tuesday and Wednesday at work with having another big storm on Tuesday night. I got completely drenched when I went to lock up the chooks - it wasn't raining when I went to the pen but by the time I got back to the house I looked like I jumped into a Pool. I got to the Patio and Janu's kennel was under water, I moved that inside so he has a dry place to sleep and when I walked in, I noticed that the back entry was flooded. I tried to dry it the best I could but didn't have enough rags. All the while lovely hubby was up in the backshed wondering if he'll need to hook up the generator again. Sure enough we did loose power and had a lovely candlelight dinner. Mr S was annoyed that the TV didn't work while I really enjoyed it. Luckily the power came back on after a few hours and we could go to sleep in airconditioned surroundings. I was so tired I went to bed at 8 pm!

The garden was thankful for the rain but the days are still very hot with temperatures around 38 deg C and very humid (around 85%). Every morning when I come back from my walk with Janus, I jump in the warm Pool and still feel refreshed. The garden looks great for this time of the year.

So what have I planned for 2018? Well, firstly no more procrastination! Due to being away for long period of times in my old job, I didn't really feel like having to deal with paperwork, SMSF, tax ect when I got home. Plus we traveled so much that I really wanted to cherish my time at home. I might not do everything straight away but I will do it that week. During my Christmas break I managed to clean up my computer and saved all my documents, photos, music and movies on external harddrives. I had probably half a dozen 'recipes to try' documents! so I started fresh, started new and when I create a new document I save it in the cloud so I can access it at work, from my ipad or my Laptop and I can update it immediately.

I even went as far as archiving all my pins on on Pinterest, so I can create new boards with sub sections and do the things I save rather than just keep saving more and more pins and then be too overwhelmed to look at them. I guess it's a 'less is more' situation for me.

I created a new kind of diary using this one here: Leuchtturm1917 It's small, it fits in my handbag, it shows on page for a week and one empty page. It has an address book in the back which I use for all kind of things - even addresses... I've set it up and I take it EVERYwhere! Now I immediately write down any expenses. I have savings challenge and my meal plans in there, write down the monthly electricity readings and reminders for upcoming birthdays and gift ideas. I note down which books to read and new recipes to try. It's light, I love the colour and the paper is nice to write on. I love it very much and so far it's perfect. It might sound strange to you but if i have a well organised planner, I feel better and I am more accountable. i often think about things at work and write them down and then as I go to the next page, I forget about them and never look at them again. This one is different. I even went as far as writing down the amount of vegetables we eat, so I can plan the veggie garden accordingly.

Rhonda from Down to earth will take us through her Simple home book this year and I thought I join in and will report on here how I implemented her suggestions, modified to suit and share the outcome. So I hope you join me to create a simple home this year!

But before everybody stresses about all the things to do in the new year and then exhausts themselves just thinking about the year ahead and having a list of New Year's resolutions, I want to share one enlightenment which has struck me recently: the art of doing nothing!
I had each night planned with a certain task and also there's still things I will have to do such as go to dog classes on Tuesday and shopping on Thursday, I decided, I don't HAVE to do anything on the other nights. So yesterday afternoon when I came home from work, I took a book, sat own in the garden and read. After I finished my book, I moved to a different spot and just sat there and did nothing. Mr S was tasked to cook (he's now been tasked to cook 3 days a week) and I really enjoyed staying outside until the sun went down. As it is really hot during the day, the evenings are beautiful! I've never allowed myself to do nothing. I always tried to multitask. I want to sit outside and watch the sunset - take some knitting/write the shopping list/do the meal planning/groom the dog/water the plants/weed. I will make sure, I do all the things I have to do, like feed and water the animals, look after my garden and I know I still have to do paperwork once a week. But when I come home from work, I make sure I take the time to just sit there with Janus by my side and watch the world go by. After all, who knows if we make it to tomorrow's sunset? So make sure you take today's with you - you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Happy 2018!!!