Today I've mostly bin...

[gill216]

I'm going to second David's comment that our Bunny is disillusioned in that we all live in neat and tidy houses. How can anyone who puzzles have time to sort out the ****!

I know- I've been to Bunny's too. If anything I'd say her house was at least the same as mine- if not tidier! Maybe she'd tidied up because I was descending Silly girl

[Bunnylump]

Oh, really, that WAS tidy. Just don't look in any cupboards. Open them and things fall out on your head... And to add to the fun my cat bought in a mouse a week ago, which escaped. No idea where that little devil is, but I assume he's moved in.

[eirian]

we had a mouse lived under our fire for a couple of weeks once - he couldn't get out due to constant supervision by our two cats (one of whom must have brought it in). No idea what he lived off!

[strep98]

I'd HALF join that OCD club. Things like patterns and symmetry really do my head in. Anything else I don't care about. I live in a complete scene of devastation most of the time (everywhere's always really untidy - as Gill and Scurra have witnessed!). The mess doesn't worry me at all. In fact, I only lose things when I start to tidy up. If I've got things in heaps I can always locate them... In the garden I have to have the EXACT opposite of "organised". I LIKE it being all overgrown and with self seeded plants (other people would probably call them weeds, I don't). I do cringe sometimes when people first come here, because I can SEE what they're thinking. But THEY don't live here, and I do. So there.
".

It must be a Pisces thing I live and work in organised chaos. Life is too short for housework and my motto is "Dull women have immaculate homes so I must be very exciting"

[giraffe]

It's a tip here too.

[Bunnylump]

Does anyone else have friends they visit, where when you come home, you feel depressed and inadequate? My sister in law is like that. Get this. She works in a really high pressure job in London, and leaves for work at about 5 30am. She drives and parks in Hampstead, then cycles to her job in UCL (which is in Gower Street). She works until at least 6 30, then cycles back to the car and drives home (about 30 miles). She has 2 children and a husband who's a tree surgeon (so leaves mess everywhere). Now here comes the annoying bit. Her house is IMMACULATE. She does REAL cooking, and still finds time to do things like take her daughter to piano lessons, to and fro with stuff to her son who's at uni, AND goes RUNNING every weekend. She's 54 and is about a size 12.

Grrrrr.

[eirian]

I'd be grrrrr at that as well, Bunny.

I just get amazed at anyone who has tidy houses. How do they do it? Do they tidy up every time something is out of place? Do they hoover daily?

Our house was a tip even before we had the excuse of Thomas. Mind you, Thomas will kindly tidy things away for us.... once he has an idea of a place that something belongs, he will be very good at putting it there. The trick is to make sure it is *actually* the place it belongs, rather than somewhere it can be tripped over.

My MIL came round the other day. Now she has an immaculate house (probably because Sigur is no longer living there ). I invited her in and just generally waved a hand saying 'bomb site'. Good job she knows us and I no longer have any kind of reputation for tidyness to defend.

[Bunnylump]

My friend's son, when he was about Thomas' age, had a TOTAL fixation on hoovers. He called them "Foovers" and always wanted to help Janet to push the hoover round. She ended up buying him one of those little "dust bug" hoovers, so he could do it himself!! Mind you, now he's an 18 year old at uni I don't suppose he ever uses one now...

[gill216]

She's either a tyrant or she's lying!! Possesses nothing that could possibly be put out of place and doesn't need sleep!!!
Does her daughter go to piano lessons at 9pm at night?

I don't think I'd like to LIVE in those circumstances. I don't think its possible to have a life, however small that life is, under those conditions.

I went to school with a girl who had 7 children under 5. (2 sets of twins and the rest at yearly intervals). She also worked evenings. To say she was regimented is an understatement. She was about size 6. No flippin wonder!!!

[tricia]

when my sister and I were kids my Gran used to take us to see cousins who were 7 in a family and we were 2. We were constantly asked by Gran Why can't you be like the ****** they are not messy there is not a thing out of place. I used to argue that it was noural and it was tot natural and it was all too clinical...................! Guess what they all turned out to be Doctors! never heard of them since

Tricia

obviously this Gran and I did not see eye to eye at all - I always was a bit of a rebel.

Tricia

[Bunnylump]

She's either a tyrant or she's lying!! Possesses nothing that could possibly be put out of place and doesn't need sleep!!!
Does her daughter go to piano lessons at 9pm at night?

She does them on Saturdays. Oh, and SUNDAYS s-i-l used to take Joe to rugby, watch the match, and then cook all the kids (and adults) bacon sandwiches on a barbecue set up in the field to raise funds for the rugby club. Along with doing the shopping, cooking cleaning the house, washing etc etc etc. In fact, their washing machine broke and they didn't get it fixed for about 3 months. So she had to take all the washing to the laundrette too.

Oh, and incidentally, she's also a school governor for the primary school and secretary for the local branch of the Parkinson's Disease Society.

Bet you all REALLY hate her now? The totally annoying part is...SHE'S LOVELY.

[tricia]

I'm depressed - all of my rugby teams lost.......and Scotland did not turn up....Hey Ho

[Bunnylump]

Why didn't they turn up??

[Wulfruna]

One secret I found for giving an instant impression of tidiness is to have a spare space downstairs (e.g. an area in a back room) where junk can be hastily cleared away when visitors turn up. It works a treat - as long as they don't need to penetrate further Doesn't work with the family of course.... Though even Scurra has been known to readjust piles of stuff so that his Mum can sit down!

[tricia]

Posts: 9141
Location: Hertfordshire
Why didn't they turn up??

My question exactly - once again the shot themselves in the foot - much as I do with Scurras puzzles

tricia

[giraffe]

I tend to grab a large box when anyone is coming and shove everything into it, but it never gets unpacked again afterwards. I still have a cardboard box sat in the middle of my bedroom from when we moved in 4 years ago. I ran out of places to unpack into, so it has stayed in the box.

I reckon busy people who work long hours have tidy houses because they aren't in them much to make them untidy.

Back on topic.........just bin to see the Kings Speech. Really enjoyed it, been nagging OH for weeks to go.

[Bunnylump]

...finding it really hard to open my front door, owing to the massive pile of cards, boxes of chocolates, bunches of flowers and diamond rings blocking the way.

Was anyone else "romanced" today? (I suppose I could confess to one card. And he did mend the boiler. That's about as romantic as it gets round here...)

[giraffe]

I came home from F's orchestra concert to find a box of Chocs on the bed. (No card ) OH did confess that he won them in a charity Valentines raffle at work though. Is that romantic enough for you?

[Bunnylump]

Oh, well, I wouldn't complain! My big contribution for D was a key lime pie for pudding.

[giraffe]

They're nice chocs, so I don't mind. We never celebrate Valentines anyway. Poor OH didn't get dinner cooked as I was out at the concert, so he had to do himself cheese on toast.