Mellow days of March

[sweetpumkinpye]

Here we are entering the first week of March. For me this is when I really get back into the things that I like doing. It should (fingers crossed) start to cool down as we in the Southern Hemisphere enter Autumn. The next few weeks will see me preparing the house for Winter which will start for us June 1st. I will spend March and April doing a modified HGP. I follow the same cleaning plan that I follow in September but without all the Christmas prep that goes with it. I will get all the heavy work done while I can and then maintain through the coldest months.

March goals:
*Start my Autumn HGP Loungeroom (X) Bathroom ( ) Laundry ( ) Breezeway (X)
*Progress in the garden ( )
*Back to our Friday road trips ( ) Not sure about this with the price of petrol going up.
*Revisit WOTY for 2026, keep on track (X)
*Revisit goals and plans (X)
*DH birthday 14th ( )
*Diabetic educator 23rd ( )
*Trip to Canberra 25th ( )
*Celebrate Rudy Day 25th ( )
*Specialist appointment 27th ( )
*Lunch with friends 27th ( )
*Celebrate me day 30th ( )
*Decide on my big Winter projects ( )
*Finalise Easter plans ( )
*Add Summer wind up notes for future reference (X)

Daily:
Make bed
General tidy up
Water throughout day
Clean kitchen, dishwasher on before bed
Moisturise, brush teeth, lip balm, hand cream
Read and sleep at reasonable time/schedule no tech nights

Weekly/Fortnightly:
*Clean bathrooms (X)( )
*Clean fridge/freezers (X)
*Reset kitchen (X)
*General tidy up/household maintenance ( )
*Meal planning ( ) include lunches
*Rotate food items ( ) use them up!
*Shopping list and grocery shopping (X)...remember to take water (X)
*Tidy pantry/stockpile (X)
*Vacuum floors (X)
*Washing /fold washing (X)( )
*Try for a no tech night ( )

Fun/Christmas prep:
*Continue looking for stocking fillers, gifts (X) and meal items ( ) Thinking of some different ideas for stocking fillers
*Craft. I need to continue this in 2026 ( )
*Do something that is just for me ( ) Watching Home Town
*Read. The goal this year is 10 books ( ) Have read 2
*Tidy/rearrange gift closet (X)
*Update planner (X)

This week:
AUTUMN!!!!!
*Connect with family/friends via phone, email or text (X)
*Knit and natter Tuesday (X)
*HGP Loungeroom (X) this was done last week.....add another room for this week?
*HGP Breezeway (X)
*Groceries Thursday (X)

5 small chores:
*Clean top of fridge ( )
*Linen cupboard (X)
*Dusting (X)
*Top of store cupboard (X)
*Finish knitted items (X)

Word of the year 2026: Comfortable

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

I'm going to post here a quick recap of Summer so that I can remember a few things when we hit Summer of '26-'27.

* Summer was long. It started really heating up in September and is still continuing into March and with the potential of creeping a little into April.
* It was hard to get a lot of work done especially outside. DH set up the sprinkler to water the garden every morning but most of the grass has died and there is way too much to worry about trying to keep it watered. We might look at mulching the "lawn" so that we do not have to water or mow.
* We would look at the forecast for the week and schedule our activities according to the forecast.
* We did no actually meal planning. We ate a lot of burgers and wraps and a lot of salads. I prefer meal planning but as DH does most of the cooking I do leave most of the decisions to him. This coming Summer I need to have a few more 'quick' items on hand. Cabanossi, cheese etc for those quick grazing plates when it is too hot to cook. It was way too hot to barbeque so not something that was even considered.
* It got really hot by about 11am. Whatever needed doing had to be done early. I need more 'activities' for the hot afternoons. Reading, a puzzle or knitting so that when it is hot I can sit and do something.
*Maintaining one room a week over the Summer really worked for me. I would pick a room and focus on that room for that week. They were all pretty good after the September HGP so it was just light maintenance and helped keep things under control. I still maintained my 5 chores a week so that helped keep things ticking over.
*For this year I am going to try and start my Spring HGP around August and get it done quicker, potentially by the end of October. If I then concentrate on the room a week like I did this year I may be able to maintain instead of doing heavy work when it is hot. I will look at setting up my planner with this in mind.
*It seems like our 'optimal' working window is between April and September. If we need to get major work done it will need to be scheduled in these months.
*We were quite comfortable. By having the air-conditioning on before it got too hot and sleeping with the overhead fan on and the use of a wet cool towel we were OK. DH would wait until it was cooler outside and open the windows and doors and most nights we got a cool breeze which made sleeping better.
*I must schedule an air-conditioning service around August so it will be ready for when we need it.

So our first Summer in this house, UGH, hot and long. Every person I spoke to said it was an unusually hot Summer and it is not normally like this. I hope that this is the case and that next Summer is a bit kinder.

 

[jampss]

Whew ... that did sound long and hot, but you have great ideas and detailed plans for next summer. I'm ready for more spring outside gardening and walks.


DAILY:

• Have my devotional quiet time: listen and watch The Bible Recap on The Bible app and watch on YouTube; write in prayer journal (XXXXXXX)
• Drink my bullet coffee (XXXXXXX)
• Read over MHH (XXXXXXX)
• Crochet for Fun, Gifts, or Ministry (X)
• Calendar Review of Appointments / Email (XXXXXXX)
• Watch News (XXXX)
• Water the garden (XX)
• Dinner Prep (XXXX)
• Exercise of some sort & Drink water (XXXXXXX)
• Clean my phone (XXXXXXX)
• Make daily 2,026 steps goal (XXXXXXX)
• Listen to audio book (XXXXXXX)

WEEKLY:

• Water Christmas Cactus & porch plants (X)
• Listen to Unashamed Podcast with Hillsdale Bible Class (X)
• Sort Out Vitamins/Supplements (X)
• Clean Bathroom / Dust / Vacuum / Mop / Laundry (X)
• Jumpstart January Cleaning Plan (X)
• Change out kitchen towels / restock coffee pods (X)
• Plan the Weekly Menu / Buy Groceries (X)
• Pay the bills (X)
• Check the Birthday/Holiday card list(X)
• Errands with friends / To Do List w/DH (X)
• Clean the cat's water fountain (X)

MONTHLY: MARCH

• Do the House Cleaning Job x2: DS and I (X)
• Do the Office Cleaning Job x2: me ()
• Post Rudy Day thread on the 10th ()
• Check Pantry / Freezer / Refrigerator stock (X)
• Check Subscriptions Tracker Sheet / Supplements ()
• Pour vinegar down AC pipe ()
• Do my weight check ()
• Observe MHH 'Celebrate Me Day' on the 19th ()
• Observe MHH 'Rudy Day' on the 25th ()
• Check Prepper Pantry Exp Dates and Rotate ()
• De-clutter Areas & Donate ()
• Fill out new calendar month on frig ()

MAR APR MAY - SPRING 2025

• Garden Prep for Spring (X)
• Meal Plan for Easter ()
• Decorate for Spring ()
• DD33 Mail Birthday card/box ()
• DNiece Mail Birthday Card ()
• Pull out Frig and Sweep behind ()
• Prep CIJ ()
• Sweep under Stove ()
• Check Smoke Detector Battery / Test Carbon Monoxide Alarm ()

---

JUN JUL AUG - SUMMER 2025
Hurricane food and water prep (X)
Visit my dad for his bday/Father's Day (X)
Keep garden weeded/pull out spent plants (X)
MHH Christmas in July event (X)
DS's Birthday Prep (X)
Add MHH Wrapping Party Dates to Calendar (X)
Garden Prep for Fall in August (X)

SEPT OCT NOV - AUTUMN 2025
Decorate for Fall (X)
Sign Up for MHH Christmas Card Exchange (X)
Clean House Windows and Screens (X)
Check Points on Apps for Rewards/Gift Cards (X)
Meal Plan for Thanksgiving/Baking (X)
Fish and Plant Sitting for friend at wedding (X)
Cat Sitting over Thanksgiving for 2 friends (X)
Address MHH Christmas Cards (X)
Renew insurance plan ()
Decorate for Christmas Friday after Thanksgiving ()

DEC JAN FEB - WINTER 2025 ---'26
Decorate for Christmas Friday after Thanksgiving (X)
Meal Plan for New Year's vacay with Grandparents (X)
Address MHH Christmas Cards (X)
Mail MHH Christmas Cards (X)
Mail Family & Friends Christmas Cards (X)
Mulch Over the Garden (X)
Meal Plan for Christmas / NYE / Baking (X)
Word of the Year (X)
De-decorate Christmas (X)
Plan for DD32 to come visit in March!! (X)
Do some gardening prep (X)
Prep for March's Rudy Day post (X)
Think of CIJ ornaments (X)

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Whew ... that did sound long and hot, but you have great ideas and detailed plans for next summer. I'm ready for more spring outside gardening and walks.

Sounds perfect. Spring, the perfect time to renew and refresh.

I love how you have added your celebrate me day. I forgot to do this so will go back and add now. We are certainly worth celebrating.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Missing Mary this week. I hope that she is back with us very soon.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Phew. I have just finished deep cleaning my breezeway, a hallway that runs through the middle of the house. I am not as young or as healthy as I used to be and it took me two days to do it all.
I need to work smarter. I took down the curtains, washed them, pulled out the ironing board and ironed them. What I should have done is also taken down the bathroom curtains and washed and ironed those at the same time. I have made a note for when I do the HGP in Spring.
Live and learn.