I have two Franklin Covey planners. A Franklin Covey Classic and also the much larger Franklin Covey Monarch. The Monarch is exclusively used for business and recently, I decided to use my smaller planner for independent work/goals. Swapping to this set-up is working beautifully for myself. I can honestly say that I use my Classic planner daily. It’s one of the first things I reach for in the morning and also one of the last things I look at in the evenings. Nighttime is my chance to unwind after a busy day. During that time, I typically review (and check off the tasks completed throughout the day) what I’ve done for the day and assign myself any additional new tasks for upcoming days.
My planner is also where I add my ‘organized brain dumps.’ Once, I’ve sifted through that chaos, I place my organized brain dumps as actionable tasks into my planner. Doing this simple, has helped me out tremendously in making sure that I complete those wishes also and it guarantees that I won’t forget those thoughts. Of course, a writing down tasks are only good if you put them into action. I do. Of course, there are times that I don’t complete projects on their assigned date. In those cases, I move them forward to another date and on the rare occasion, the task is deleted.
Jim Engel has an excellent video on Youtube on how he organizes his planner. The video was made in 2015, however, the information is timeless. Guess what? His system is very similar to how I use my Franklin Covey planners.
A few weeks ago, I started having issues with my computer. Turns out, I had a hard drive failure. Whoops! Since I didn’t have the time to replace it myself, I finally got around to having it taken in to be replaced last week. The computer is still under warranty. It arrived back today and now I’m in the process of adding everything back to my desktop computer. Thankfully, nothing was lost, so yes… all my documents and pictures are intact.
Garlic fried brown rice with a mushroom sauce and caramelized Brussel sprouts.
The rice simmered in an herbal tea and the rice received its golden color from turmeric.
A few of the herbs came from our garden. All the herbs/spices were ground in my 15-pound granite mortar and pestle. The herbs/spices that I do purchase are bought whole. Why? It’s much more flavorful. I grind them in my mortar and pestle. The scents that are released as you grind your herbs and spices can be intoxicating.
The Brussel sprouts were coarsely chopped and sautéed in my steel hand hammered wok. I’ve had that wok for almost 30 years. I purchased it during my sophomore year in college. Quality cookware can last a long time.
In other news…
It’s been very busy. Currently, I’m working on a few sewing related items that will be given out over the next few weeks and I have some orders. Besides that, all is well with my daughter and me. We’ve taken several road trips this year and are truly celebrating life. I hope you are also.
Say hello to my little friend! A few days ago, I received this carnivorous plant in the mail. It’s a Pinguicula laueana x emarginata. Isn’t it tiny! I’ve named it Zaccheus, after the Tax collector in the Bible. He was short in stature.
Pinguicula is Latin for “little greasy one.” It’s a reference to the plants’ greasy feel. Their leaves are covered with tiny sticky hairs that catch small prey like fruit flies and gnats. The leaves also excrete a liquid of enzymes and acid that quickly dissolve the prey.
I’ve always been fascinated with carnivorous plants, but outside, of a venus fly trap (that I’d had several years ago) I really haven’t ventured into welcoming them into my home. The main reason is, I didn’t know too much about them and I won’t allow something into my space unless I can take care of it properly. Well, that has changed. I’ve read a lot about carnivorous plants, watched numerous videos and have even purchased the book, The Savage Garden by Peter D’Amoto. That book discusses carnivorous plants in detail and I’m now willing to start welcoming them into my home. From my readings, pinguicula, are some of the easier carnivorous plants to tend to, which seems like a great starting point.
I repotted the Pinguicula laueana x emarginata the same day I received it in the mail.
From my research, carnivorous plants are best suited in plastic containers, since these vessels aren’t porous like clay. I used one of my small containers that held beads. I cleaned it and punched holes in the bottom of the container and repotted my plant. I then added a small stainless steel bowl, to which I placed the plant inside. This small bowl has tiny gravel, to which I add water for moisture.
Soon, my daughter and I will be visiting a local carnivorous plant nursery. I believe it will be a fabulous experience and will be wonderful to see many of them in one place and ask questions. I’m sure we’ll be leaving with a few of our own.
I haven’t purchased houseplants in years. There really hasn’t been a need for that since we have plenty of plants indoors and even more in our one-acre garden, however, over the past three weeks, I’ve brought about fifteen new plants into our home. The main reason has been because of my lovely daughter. She’s shown an interest in plants and so we went plant shopping. Although there are plenty of plants at the home that I can give to her, there’s something special about picking out a plant that is new to you.
My daughter favors succulents, and so her selections reflected that. Myself? I mainly lean towards variegated plants and am partial to plants that either has medicinal qualities or are extremely beneficial for the home. Before I make any new plant purchase, I will research them just to make sure they’re a good fit for my zone and the location that I plan to place them. I’ve found doing that, has saved a lot of frustration and ensures that the plants I own flourish instead of just “surviving.” Why? Plants are living things, and I do treat them respectfully. So yes… I do talk to my plants. Later this week (and next) I do have a few plants arriving by mail. A few are exotic, I’m looking forward to receiving them and more importantly seeing how they do in their new home. One of the plants ordered is a tropical plant and so that will be traveling with a heat pack, that will keep the box temperature at 70 F during travel. It’s making its trek to me all the way from California.
A few weeks ago, I made another vegetable stir fry.
They are a staple in our household. They’re quick, delicious and nutritious. I typically make enough for at least two to three meals. What isn’t eaten is put into a glass storage container and moved to our storage freezer.
Besides cooking, is something that is done several times a week in our home, I’ve been doing a lot of decluttering. I don’t purchase a lot of items, in fact, several years have gone by without me purchasing any clothing, however, I (at times) can hold onto items. I’m 48 years old. When I started decluttering my bedroom, I gave away the clothing that I had had since college. I tend to choose classic pieces so I’d still wear those items today, and sometimes I do since I can still fit them. I must say that after cleaning my bedroom, I’m really enjoying the area much more and the clothing I had was donated.
My Dupray Neat steamer and my Shark Rocket vacuum cleaner are still items that I use often. The vacuum is used daily. We have two dogs, daily maintenance is a must to keep our home looking clean. Also, the vacuum does an excellent job of cleaning up any dust or pet hairs that might settle on the floors (we have hard surfaces) or furniture. It actually doesn’t take too long to vacuum, perhaps ten minutes or less. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve found doing chores daily keeps the amount of cleaning I do to a minimum. I clean between 20 – 30 minutes daily. One of the first things I do in the morning is to make my bed. I’ve found that this just adds another layer of peace to my busy days.
I like a clean home, because of that our home gets cleaned daily. I find it therapeutic, transforming a place ( through cleaning) into a place that enhances my happiness. Since I clean daily, I usually don’t spend a lot of time cleaning because those daily cleaning sessions add up to the home that is never in need of a massive cleaning intervention because of neglect or put off until another time. Of course, there are times when I don’t want to clean, but… I realize that even though my family, work, pets and the numerous other obligations added to my busy daily life keep me occupied the house won’t clean itself and so I always take a few moments daily to clean.
Daily Cleaning Makes It Look “Easy”
Clothes get washed, dried, and folded the same day. The same thing applies to the dishes. If we see something out of place we take a short time that is needed to restore order. Sometimes it’s seconds other times minutes such as folding items that have been washed or washing, drying and putting away dishes. We don’t use a dishwasher. I still prefer hand washed dishes. In allowing that time daily to restore order, I actually save myself from investing massive amounts of times restoring order to a messy environment. Daily cleaning is the method that works best for us, and regardless of the day our home always looks spotless. Guess what? My daughter assists with the cleaning. I didn’t always have someone assisting me with this task when I was truly single it I was the only one cleaning and when she was an infant, the messes that come along with an active child made things (at times) a bit overwhelming.
I will be the first to admit that it is easy for me to get lost in my creative chaos. What might look like a mess to someone isn’t for me, there’s order there, but… I also realize that even establishing order within my creativity means less cleaning (in the long run) and so I organize, clean up the loose fiber and put my tools away after each use.
Going Carpetless
About six years ago, we made the switch to a carpetless home and I must say that was the best decision. We have granite, marble and laminate wood floors. I find a hard surface much easier to clean than carpet. All I need is a broom, dustpan, and a mop to keep the floors spotless. However, I admit (for myself at least) using a vacuum and a steamer to stay on top of floor maintenance can make things easier for us. Recently, I purchased the Dupray steamer. I’m still impressed with this purchase and it’s continuing to do an amazing job of making our floors spotless with minimal effort. While researching the steam cleaner, I was also researching vacuums. Now we do have a Bissel vacuum cleaner from our carpeted days, however, over the years its performance was not impressive. It started kicking up dirt on our carpeted floors and on the kitchen that was a hard surface, it didn’t do well at all.
We have pets, which can mean more maintenance
We have two dogs. One compliment that we do receive is that people would never know we had pets. It doesn’t smell. Their bedding and toys get washed weekly. The areas that they frequent are swept, vacuumed and mopped. We treat our dogs and their belongings like anything else in the home. It all needs to be maintained.
Researching a vacuum that works best for me
After a lot of research, I narrowed my vacuum choices down to two upright vacuums; Dyson V8 and a Shark Rocket. Although I was impressed with Dyson, I chose the Shark because it did have a cord. The Dyson model that interested me was cordless. From my research, the charge lasted about 40 minutes (I think the V10 last up to an hour), and while my vacuuming typically doesn’t last that long (since the floors are cleaned daily) I didn’t want to have such a small window to clean.
Shark Rocket (HV302) Corded Ultra-Light vacuum
Last week, I ordered a Shark Rocket (HV302) Corded Ultra-Light vacuum. I believe this is the base model in the Shark Rocket line. It arrived on Friday, but… the suction wasn’t all impressive. Since I’d read numerous reviews about the product, I was confident enough to realize that the fault was with a defective unit. Since I ordered it on Amazon, it simply was a matter of logging onto the site, requesting a return, packing everything securely back into the original box, and wait for UPS to pick up the item.
and just like the other Shark, this vacuum was packaged extremely well. Do you see what I’m talking about? When it comes to large items, I try to keep the boxes, just in case I have to return the item. Thankfully, I have only had to return one item. It’s one of the reasons why I do spend a lot of time researching an item before I purchase it since I don’t want to be dissatisfied with the item after it’s purchased. So no… I’m not an impulse buyer.
Assembling the Shark Rocket HV382 was easy. There wasn’t too much to put together and I was cleaning our floors in less than five minutes.
My daughter commented that she didn’t think the floor needed cleaning. The floors rarely look like they need cleaning, so that’s nothing new, after all, we clean our floors daily. But… that’s how we stay on top of a spotless home. The effort to sweep or vacuum floors daily is minimal compared to allowing them to collect dirt. The Shark did manage to pick up fine dirt and the suction on this item was impressive although she was right about the hard surface floors, the carpeted stairs revealed something else entirely different.
Look what was collected in the Rocket’s container. Oh, by the way, the container that holds the dirt is removable on the Shark Rocket HV382. It isn’t on the HV302. Those stairs appeared to be clean, but I knew they weren’t. Why?
As I’d already mentioned our Bissel wasn’t doing a great job cleaning and although I swept the carpeted rug, I knew it wasn’t doing an effective job since the finer dirt particles were just sinking into the thick pile carpeting.
To clean the carpet with my Shark Rocket, I swapped to the carpet setting and was able to pull out a lot of dirt, and if you look closely some tiny beads that I use with my jewelry making. I’m used to upright vacuums, our last few vacuums were uprights. They definitely weren’t as lightweight at this one.
To prolong the life of my upright vacuums, I’ve always emptied the trash container after each use and I also rinse out the bin and let it dry. This vacuum has LED lights on the motorhead, when I read about that feature, I didn’t think too much about it when I was reading the reviews (although I’d read what others were saying about the lights) however, I will admit that it’s a nice bonus since it clearly brings to light (grins) any dirt that might be on the floor. Overall, I really like this vacuum.
Suction, this is picking up everything that is on our floors and carpeted steps.
Portability – This vacuum weighs less than nine pounds.
It converts to a handheld vacuum.
The canister that holds the vacuumed dirt is removable.
Easy access to the motorhead.
Tool to remove tangles caught in the brush head.
Fine threads/fibers. I’m a crafter, this vacuum is picking up all fibers without any issue.
LED light on vacuum head. It really does highlight dirt that might have been missed.
Cons
The cord isn’t detachable.
You have to lean the vacuum against something or place it on the floor. This makes sense since the motor is at the top of the vacuum. For myself, this is minor and it only takes a few seconds to do this.
I know the true test will be to see how the Shark Rocket performs after several months of use. I’ll definitely be sure to post an update on how I feel about this vacuum after I’ve used it for a while. Based on reviews, my experience should still be positive.
This post contains affiliate links. Occasionally my posts will contain affiliate links referencing the various items I use. I don’t do it often and will only post items that I recommend.
Say hello to my little friend! A few days ago, I received this carnivorous plant in the mail. It’s a Pinguicula laueana x emarginata. Isn’t it tiny! I’ve named it Zaccheus, after the Tax collector in the Bible. He was short in stature.
