Ch Ch Ch.. Changes :)

There have been some very big changes recently. At long last I have moved house. Its a lovely new house, 4 bed semi. Was Chaos as viewed it the day before Oct half term hols, signed for it the next day, went on holiday for a week with the lads & youngets sis collected the keys on the day we came back & Started to move in & slept on 1st Nov. We had a few weeks to clear & move stuff from the old house, so were doing ok, until I had a blow out on the motorway, car spun out of control ( 360 nearly twice), somehow missing other road users, across the hard sholder & into the fence. How me & eldest walked away perfectly fine was nothing short of a miracle. Needless to say the car was a write off & I am now vehicle less.
We hired vans & my lads helped, mainly my middle lad, but we did it, was so good to move away, had been stuck in the old house for virtually 12 years.
I had recently started to go to church again, found a fantastic modern one, my faith has been restored & my life has changed. Its hgrd work to get to without a car, but even though don't make it evry week at the mo its still very important to me. My eldest really enjoys coming to. In the move my Eldest also moved back home as there was room.
My Power chair ( my other form of transport), is off the rd as well, went in for a service with a bit of a fault, was returned without working at all. So from now on my only transport is a manual wheelchair being pushed by my lads & buses.

Sick of being tired.

Maybe I have done to much recently, trying to get the house sorted & decorated, but its a struggle. I have started to sleep more again, getting fed up of losing every morning. Today was about 1 before I woke ( woke once earlier, had a bagel & a coffee, nipped on laptop, then back fast asleep). I was feeling ready for bed about 8.30 tonight, bt unloaded & loaded the dishwasher, did the kitchen plughole with degreaser powder, vinegar & boiling water as water was very slow at going down. Was going to catch up on eastenders, but Dan had this lappy, took a while for him to give to me, then spent time just winding me up ( My light on/ off, punching holes into a drinks can... ) Yet aagin after promises agin yesterday he has refused to do the rest of the painting for me, I can't do the top, no way can I go up ladders. I want to get the new curtains & pole up. I already have the lightweight panels up & its starting to look nice, I just want it finished. I am happy to do the rest of the woodwork later. Did some yesterday, but was tiring. Him & his younger brother did go into town to collect the curtains I had ordered yesterday & get another duvet cover for my bed. ( I needed a spare, but when bought mine & curtains they only had 1 in stock), so thats something. I waited in the car. But I was driving round for him to bike shops as he wanted another part. & who would of paid for the cable... Me yet again. I am his walking cash machine.

Have been decorating.

I have started decorating hallway stairs & landing. Woke early on 7th & did some filling of holes about 2am. Friday I was very tired, felt rough & spent most of the day in bed, But nipped out & bought some paint for the woodwork, had bought the wall paint last monday. Sat afternoon I made a start, did more yesterday, Not sure how I am managing to, It must be with God's help. I have got 2 coats on most of the walls, will need help with the top edge as no way can I get up ladders. I am hoping all the walls will get finished today. I have made a start on the woodwork as well. The walls are Pecan, The woodwork is Kings gold mettalic paint, Opulence by Craig & Rose.
I know some will say I should finish decluttering the house before decorating, but it makes me feel better, so if I feel better about it will give me more happiness to do more. It will also look nice when I open the door, 1st impressions & all that. Yes the carpet needs doing, but I can wait for that.

Been Busy.

Been busy this week, but feel disappointed in what I have achieved.
Monday, bought new paint for Ds2's room & new rug for his room. Took a couple of trips for the paint as he refused to come with me, so had to get a sample card, then show him & return for the paint. He insisted he doesn't want his room painting, but it needs it. will look better once its done, its part of how he is that he doesn't like change much. Bought youngest a new mattress. did a few other bits to, was very tired at the end of the day ( & part way through to). In the eve discovered Matttress was the wrong size. .
Tuesday, Tough morning, was woke before 6 by shouting/ swearing at me & pillow & soething els thrown at me. All because ds2 couldn'r get on the laptop as I had locked it for him between 12 & 6am every night. Returned the mattress, other one ordered. Tuesday eve, went church. couldn't sleep, so ended up filling some holes/ dents in the hallway stairs & landing walls turned 1am weds.
Wednesday, Slept in, DS2 home at dinner time from college. spent the afternoon helping him fix his moped. Collected ds3's now mattress
Thurs, ( today), slept in. Support worker was due to come, but she had a car problem, so couldn't. DS1 came round after lunch, I tried to help him sort some stuff out as he had lost a lot of money due to a buyer not paying him on ebay, inc a couple of phone calls & a trip to the police station. I had cooked tea in the slow cooker. out tonight with some ladies from church to see Fame at the pictures. I had asked the lads to do a few things while I was gone. I was upset to see the house looked worse than when I had gone out & couldn't see what they had done.

Middle ds's room & the bathroom

I posted before about doing my my middle Ds's room. Here is it with all new bedding & his own Pc.Also a Pic of the clean bathroom. I know they need decorating, but at least now they are clean & tidy, decorating will come later. I hadn't taken any before pics.

More done.

The kitchen is nearly finished now. Have moved the stuff from the bottom of the stairs & youngest brought down the shoe cabinet so that's back in its place, I hoovered it al down to, It is even now in use.I even managed to hoover the stairs, 1 step at a time, I used a dyson stubborn dirt attachment brush. I have moved some more stuff from the landing, so that's nearly done now. Middle Ds's room is still today, as is the bathroom. For the 1st time my youngest has been able to have a friend over to sleep, its so nice for him to be able to.His mate helped him mend his bed & tidy his room last night, Luckily his room wasn't that bad, hadn't been that long till it had been done.

Clutter be gone!!

The clutter from the house was collected the other day, here is some of it on the way to the tip. Garden cleared as well ( apart from some metal stuff). There was more than 1 load, they had to come back for more stuff.

Praise the Lord!

I have very recently returned to church. I had opened up about my struggle with clutter & the problems in my house. Yesterday 2 ladies came round to help. The worst room in the house was my ds2's bedroom. It had become the dumping room for everything really. Ds2 is away for the weekend with college, so it will be a surprise for him when he returns. Ds3 returned home part way through & was a great help at taking all the bags/clutter outside. I had made a start the past few days on it & managed to clear about 6 black bin bags full of rubbish, well that hadn't really scratched the surface. In less than 3 hours we worked hard. He now have a room that is clean & tidy. They were ruthless, I didn't look at what was being binned, I couldn't or would of kept stuff. We removed about 20 black bin bags full of clothes, I have made a start on washing & drying it all. It wasn't dirty stuff, but dusty, so as its done I decide whether to keep/ send to charity. They blitzed & cleaned the bathroom to. Needless to say the pile of clutter gone from these 2 rooms was astronomical. This eve I have been & bought all new bedding for their beds, new feather pillows, desk light,& stuff for the bathroom. I already had new duvets ready.

Still Plodding on.

Its slow, but things are being done. My bedroom still isn't finished, 1 wardrobe is up. I have the new curtains & bedding on & the side table assembled.
Bought a new Dyson the other day, had to go to Bolton for it as other stores were out of stock.
Bought a steam cleaner yesterday, does floors, windows, brushes & nozzles for other stuff like worktops. I made a start on cleaning the kitchen worktops, does a good job. cleaned the back door window, some of the floor, the health grill & hoovered & steamed youngest's bed. I wash his bedding nearly every day, but this way its cleaner. Bought him some football wall decoration vinyls, he has put them up. needless to say I crashed into bed for a while in the afternoon.
I am having a tough time with ds2, so having to do a lot on my own, plus the stress & upset isn't doing me any good. I am still taking stuff to the tip, still taking stuff to the garage/lock up, still sorting. The house is better than it was, but I am under so much pressure, Physically I am struggling. Problem is people see it as it is now & think its a mess, but its much better in area than it was, yet even now I am being threatened I may lose my home. I am desperate for help, yet feel penalised for being ill. Of course I care, I hate living in a tip & am trying, But feel some people look down their noses & think its a simple thing to sort. I wish they could make me well & remove the pressures I have to put up with. They look through rose tinted glasses. I can't do it alone & slow progress is better than no progress, yes i wish it was quicker, but it aint easy.

August already.

Not sure who is nicking time at the moment. I seem to be either in bed, or doing stuff for my lads, at the Mo. Not managed much more decluttering & sorting/ general HW at the mo. Did give the dyson a good clean the other day & hoover more in my room. The filters were way overdue being done, works better now. Feeling fed up & think I need a stick of dynamite shoved somewhere at the mo. Feel fed up my room still isn't finished. So much to do in the house & do have plans to do it, but each day passes & nothing more is done , Yes i do intend to, but yet don't seem to manage it.I am losing track of days, my life seems to be slipping away at the mo. My middle DS is now on the rd, Has a motorbike style moped, so spent some time with him getting that all sorted. Glad he has his freedom.

Getting there.

At last my Bedroom is nearly clear, been on go slow for a few days. Just 1 corner to clear, then can get the wardrobes & other new furniture set up. I also have all new bedding & curtains. Just been washing my feather king size duvet in the bath, its hard work, just leaving it to drain at the mo. I am really looking forward to having my own clear space, new smelly candles, ionizer to. The garage is nearly full now, the house has a lot less stuff in it & feel better. its a long way of being tidy, but at least we are getting there.

Keys to the lock up & house viewing.

I got the keys in the post today, they came mid morning. Before youngest had finished school at 3ish we had been & taken 5 car loads of stuff, Its not 1/2 full yet, we are going to get this house sorted.
I also viewed another house this eve. It looked nice, area looked ok & location, but the kitchen was to small, as was the garden. We are going to continue sorting here 1st, then maybe move later, see how things go. I am still on lists, but unless the right places comes along we are not going to move.

Garage/ Lock up.

I have managed to find a Lock up/garage in a neighbouring Village. I am so looking forward to getting the keys, even more so being able to have the space to put stuff while I declutter. I have paid the bond today. so should get the keys maybe tomorrow, or the day after. This way I will be able to clear a room, sort it, get things out of the house, then get it back in, but in the right place. I so want a nice tidy house. i am lucky that I have a large vehicle to take things back & to. Its more long term storage, but I will always have a lo0t of stuff, so will be able to make use of it for all sorts, e.g the camping stuff. at the moment we have to lug it upstairs.

Front hedge cut & shopping online.

Yesterday Dan cut the front hedge, looks much better. Bren did the rubbish from under it, loads had blown under it, Must of been a couple of black bin bags full as it had been all under the trailer when that was there. The trailer is at the side of the house now.
I decided to order the shopping online. I normally shop instore at ASDA, but used a site called MySupermarket. You click & shop at your usual store ( I used asda), it shows all the offers etc, but aldo checks the basket prices in other stores, Tesco, ocado & another ( think its sainsburys), so if you see your trolley is cheaper at another store you can just click & it swaps to that store instead. If there is a better deal ( e.g 3 for £5, or another brand on offer ), it offers you that as well. At the end it logs into your chosen store. You can book the delivery time in advance. As my shopping was over £99 ( Way over) & I have a asda CC I get free delivery as well. It came last night, seems really good, hopefully will do it more often.
I managed to get to a new craft class yesterday, I was late due to 1 thing/another, but made myself go. I enjoyed it, so good to get out & craft again. I really must craft more.
Managed to clear some in the hallway so can now walk clearly, Dan did some at the bottom of the stairs. We also took the bags to the tip ( about 6 black bags full). Ok not a car full, but better of out of the way. All the hedge cuttings went in the recycling green wheelie bin.

More garden.

Each time we thing the garden will do, then there is always more. 2 more runs to the tip yesterday. Ds2 decided we need to remove some tree's big hedge bits from the side of the house. , also level the area off, this is in front of the shed, we need to buy some fence panels to make it a secure area, the tree's bushes were open & in the way. WE have got some membrane to put don, then will put gravel on the top, it will be behind the side gate area, we are going to put the old trailer tent there, we are going to turn it into a trailer & use it. There was a lot of digging, ropes & me in the car pulling, we finally released the last one ( the biggest) from the ground at about 11pm, so today will be another tip run once it cut into sections. Hopefully the front hedge will get trimmed to. Middle Ds wo0rked really really hard, I am proud of him, even got some local kids filling in a edge to the central lawned area in our area, It had been warn away with the bin wagon going over the kerb, so hopefully that will grass over in time, Looks better & got rid of our soil. Was there some roots in the tree, even part dug out it moved the car sideways when trying to pull it out. Problem is our tow point is at one side, the wrong side for this job, & the hedge was across from the drive ( which is sloped, with steps on the side), so we didn't have much room, as well as the low front bodykit. The rope was a bit short, otherwise we cold of pulled it from the rd more ( did with the 1st couple, but the further back they were the more hard work it was.
Youngest DS made a big start in sorting his bedroom out. Incentive for him is a new xbox360 & flat screen tv from his dad, ( his last one packed up.
I did several loads of washing. 1 load was a load for charity, it had been washed, folded & bagged, but was put outside briefly ( Youngest DS had brought it down & put it down to show me)& it got rained on overnight.
So far this week we have done about 5 trips to the tip, with more yet to do. Once the outside it done we can do more inside, although I am still working on the inside.
We have the new post for the side gate ( its a large double heavy wooden one) & the concrete, so next to buy will be the panels & posts, then the gravel.

Petty rules

Well my youngest DS is now banned from school, why, because he has mislaid his school shoes. Oh & Now his absences are unauthorized as Its my fault, if we find them, or I buy him new ones he is welcome back. What bit of personal problems don't they understand. They are the ones that are making him miss his education. Its nearly the end of the school year. I know his shoes are not in a bad state, they are no even that old, so why should I have to go out & buy new ones. If they were old, or tatty, I wouldn't not mind buying new, but its the principle. Ye4s its been going on for a few weeks, but I am looking for them. I got rid of another couple of black bin bags full off clutter from the front room yesterday, I tried, & today will continue, but I am ju8st sick of it to be honest, why the hell can't he go in trainers, I/ we keep looking, then when he finds them to put them on for school. We did 2 tip runs yesterday as well. Ok, a lot was the garden bits ( Old benches & bits that had been burnt), but t6here was some from the house.

Update, we ended up buying him some new shoes late on weds. Then he went to his sisters & found his school shoes on Thursday, somehow he had left them there. He likes his new ones, & had worn then for a day at school, so was a expense, but just one of those things.

Feeling not ot brill.

I am feeling down , overwhelmed & that I just can't cope.
I feel everything has slipped, the house is a total tip, doesn't look any better really than when I started. Having problems with my lads, so feel a total failure at the mo. I am not giving up, I am going to fight. Somehow I will get there, but its a struggle & not getting any easier, I need some help really, not sure where I have gone wrong. I had a fantastic time at the weekend, went away & the weather was lovely. Without help I am going to keep trying, wish I could do more, wish I could cope :(
I know I love my lads, but its not easy, not easy at all :(

Another 5 bags..

Managed to do 2 more black bags from downstairs today & another 3 from my bedroom. Middle Ds was much better, he washed & polished the car. Took them to the tip.
I took us all out for a carvery tea, we ate it outside in the pub garden, it was lovely :)

Ups & Down

Has been a couple of weeks of ups & downs. I have had some pretty big problems with DS2, He has Aspergers, think the word on that side is Challenging. Me, eldest & Youngest have manged to get away for 1 night a couple of times camping, that has done us good, esp last Sat night as it was a beach party themed meet, quite a few drinks, but most of all laughs. The garden is miles better now, so its not a real worry, the inside of the house is still a real mess, need to pull my finger out again. Still not finished my bedroom.
I am going to try & make a effort to get up in a morning as have been losing the mornings in bed again. Hoping we manage up by 10.30. Ds2 has also got into the habit of staying up late & the staying in bed, so its for both of us. We need to get back into the routine again.
I am going to try & cut down the amount of time I spend on the Pc again, I waste to many hours on it every day. I do have many online friends, but they will still be there if I check on less times each day. The forums are quieter now the weather is nicer anyway.

Garden nearly done.

Well the garden is nearly done now. Back is all cut & the hedges about 1/2 the height they were. I had someone round to help do the hedges, took several loads to the tip & have managed to eat outside a few times. This was all about a week ago. I bought a garden shredded a couple of days ago, so hopefully will be able to get rid of the rest of the hedge cuttings soon. After several loads of it to the tip decided I needed to buy a shredder, we have a large car, & had already filled it. Not finished with all the rubbish area yet, but at least a lot is gone & its all in 1 pile on the concrete area. The lads are now starting to make use of the garden again, have had a few friends round on the trampoline. I have been to Ikea & treated myself to some nice wardrobes. They are full height ones, Pax Nexus in Oak, I have bought 3, plus drawers etc for the insides. I have also bought a oak desk & side table, plus nice candles, so today I need to start emptying my room to get those in & sorted. I had hoped to do some yesterday, but wasn't well, so ended up staying in bed all day,It was a day of sleep & painkillers. I was due to be out at a carefree day with carers link, but didn't even get to that. Hate it when i get that bad. Its probably cos I walked more than i should in Ikea ( Only went downstairs, then Dan got me a wheel chair as the handle were upstairs). Not 100% today, so not sure how much I will do, but at least will make a start.

Front looking better.

Dan has worked hard. The front garden is all cut with the lawnmower & strimmed. 1 section in the back garden is done. He did that all on Sunday. Yesterday he jetwashed all the paths, step, drive & bottom of the house. its looking so much nicer.Also the wheely bin inside 7 out. I started cleaning by the sink. Emptied the bottom of the corner cupboard & cleaned all that out, a couple of loads in the washer, Dryer & 1 in the dishwasher.
This morning 1st thing I did another wash load. Finished the sink/ drainer, emptied bin Unloaded & reloaded the dishwasher etc. Sprayed some weedkiller. This was all before 7.30 am, then went back bed for a hour or so. Did some shopping, do the kids taxi thing. I have also managed 2 more black bin bags full of rubbish from my room.

Lovely day.

Its a Lovely day outside, the birds are singing away. Dan & Bren did some tidying downstairs yesterday/ the eve before. Yesterday I made a start on my bedroom. I have filled 3 black bin bags full of rubbish. I have a long way to go, but was full of a cold & feeling rotton, Anyway every step helps. Dan made a start on the garden last night, so today we will finish that. We have reserved a new petrol lawnmower & Strimmer, so will collect that as soon as the shop opens. Will be nice to have a garden looking nice again. I just mean tidy & clean, Grass cut, & Hedges trimmed. I am not bothered about flowers etc at this moment. Just want to able to sit outside in the sun, eat out there & the lads play on the trampoline.

Ok, I slipped, but I am back.

I slipped with the house, things really got on top of me again, But I am back & gonna fight. I put a post UKS, pretty desperate for help. Had some lovely reply's on there. I posted on Tuesday, They kicked myself up the bum & made a start on the bathroom. I cleared about 5 bags of rubbish from there & did loads of washing, think the washer has now been on 11 times since then, it wasn't all from the bathroom, but I am virtually on top of all the washing now. Ok it all needs putting away, but at least its washed & the bathroom clearer.
Yesterday, had to go to town to welfare rights for something, then went to a shop ( was pushed in my wheelchair by DS2). Ds2 nipped into another shop for me. Did more washing/ dryeing, but other than that took it easy as I had done so much on tuesday. I relaxed in the evening with a few glasses of red wine & a yankee candle.
Hopefully I will get the bathroom finished today, then may put before & after pics up.
Yesterday i got a large delivery of Yankee candles, my treat for myself, 5 of the tarts are for another lady, but the rest is all mine.

Made a start on sorting the clothes out.

I have started to sort all the clothes out, have moved all the clothes out of the kitchen & folded them, plus some others. Won't do before & after pics until kitchen is tidy, but have also made a start on the kitchen.
Here are some of the clothes ( I did do more, but that was the 1st & largest lot before we took them upstairs ).

Today This is our top Landing :)

I have done this over 2 afternoons. I bit at a time, then a break, so much nicer & safer to. OK I know the carpet needs cleaning, its been hoovered, Also lifter some as bits had got underneath. It also it needs redecorating, but its much better than it was. I have cleaned the window sill & the top part ( all the top of the stair bit, just not the bit along the steps of the stairs )of the banisters.

Yesterday this was our Top landing!!

I know its a total tip, can't believe I am putting these pics on, but no point showing the after without the before. Had let stuff slip agin last week ( although this has been bad for a lot longer), so yesterday mid day I made a start.

Yet anther post today.

I crashed out on the sofa, Had tea, then later had another rest before deciding to clear the area on the floor that was infront of the chair I had cleared earlier. So another area clear :). I think I will sleep well tonight.

Cleared the chair.

Yes 2 posts in one day :lol:
We have a big chair as you come into the front room, unfortunately it had been a bit of a dumping area. So its now cleared, & have wiped it all down with leather clean & feed stuff. The marks on the back are just as the cleaning stuff wasn't 100% dry when I took the pic. I do still need to do the floor area by the chair & move the surround speaker to behind the litle storage cube \& lamp, but that is another job area. 1 step at a time & I will get there.

Mantle piece & fire.

So far i have put a wash on, I am trying a eco washing powder. Put the breadmaker on. I decided todays job would be to tidy & clear the mantle piece. I have cleaned the fre & polished it all up. I hope to do another Job later as well. As usual here are the before & after pics.

4th march. Tv Corner

Today i spent most of the time over at my parents, went to look at a Mod for the car, hopefully should be ready in about a week. I decided when I got in this evening it was time to tackle the TV corner. Did some before tea,( Cooked Lasagna that made with Mince & jars of sauce, so not a pre-packed one), the have finished it this evening. It I pick a small area & get it sorted it makes me feel so much better. The thing in bits on the before pic is my son's x-box360. It wasn't reading disks properly so we had opened it up yesterday to try something ( sadly that didn't work, but at least we had tried). The after pic isn't great due to lack of natural light, so will try & take a better pic tomorrow. The Tv really attracts static dust, so used a anti static spray. BTW for scale its not a small Tv, its 50"

Its early Morning.

Well its after 1am. I did set the timer ysterday & managed a bit more. Emptied the DW, loaded the DW, put it on after tea & got the other load of washing dry as well as puttig all the recycling out. Cooked a nice tea sweet & sour chicken ( cooked chicken & used a jar of low fat sauce) , noodles & stir fry veg. Put the Dw on after tea. Had a row with DS2, he had dumped tings on the table ( Yes the one i had cleared last week), It really got to me. Its clear again now. Sad we had to row about it to get him to move the stuff ( & i had to ring his dad). Ended up watching a film late. Feeling pretty down again, I am going to keep trying with the house, I have to sort it, yet feel bit of a failure.
Today is Ds2's Birthday He is 16.

Oops nearly slipped.

After the great start Tuesday afternoon, i ended up doing to much, Started under the stairs, ( its still a mess) & helped DS3 sort some clothes/ his room. We managed to sort 3 carrier bags full for chrity.
Sat was my Eldest's 18th birthday, so we went out buying new clothes for his do, also bought more on Sat. Friday we did a big shop. AS we were out for Ste's do it was very late home on sat ( sun morning). Sunday was a pretty lazy day, Ste was round. me & Dan went out to take photo's of the car in nice places. Hw has been pretty bare minimum, but determined to get back into it today.
So far i have put 2 loads in the washer, Dryer is on. Once this coffee is finished i will set the timer & get stuck in for another 15 or so Min's.

15 Mins at a time

I had started this year trying to do more, had started to list on the pc everything i was doing during the day to prove I do do stuff, but it slipped due to personal stuff. I decide to take the flylady approach & tidy up in 15 min blocks. I did a couple of blocks, but was ill, even shined my sink. So today I decided to start again. Today's 15 mins task was to clear the table, I continued about another 5 mins to finish clearing it & clean & polish. I have 2 piles of stuff still to put away. one is assorted, the other craft stuff that i didn't get time to do. I have some online friends gong through the same sort of journey. So decided to do this Blog. Please share in my journey. 1 Step at a Time.