Wednesday 10 November 2010

Yesterday I did some tidying up and

I think it may have been a mistake. Now, do not misunderstand me please. I do understand the need for relative tidiness. There are certain things that I like to have in certain places. This is a matter of convenience.
The cutlery drawer is arranged according to knives, forks, spoons, small things and big things. That way I know where to find things when I need them in the kitchen. If everything else is to fit into limited kitchen space it needs to be put in place in a certain way too. I am used to that.
The rest of the house is a slightly different matter.
My father is not a tidy person. I am not a tidy person. We tend to leave newspapers and books lying around. My current knitting project is, unless I am working on it, on the floor beside the chair I sit in when watching the news service on television. I do not get much other time for knitting.
The linen is in the linen cupboard, along with an assortment of things like the hot water bottles. The cleaning materials are in the laundry apart from the dish washing liquid under the kitchen sink. The fly spray is there too.
Right. I know where all of these things are. There are other things I am less sure about. The refrigerator is still covered in reminders, appointment cards, the telephone bill which must be paid by the end of the week and a photograph of my godchildren - put there by my father because he says they are "cute". (They are.)
There are the cords and connections that belong to things like his mobile 'phone. There is the pencil sharpener and the pencil holder and the rubber bands and the screw driver we keep inside because the handle on the wok keeps coming loose. There is the "emergency radio" (kept strictly for being able to hear warnings in a power failure)/ There are other genuinely useful things.
Then there are the not-useful things that we dare not give away in case the donors ask about them - like the wall hanging we have nowhere to put and the small quilted Christmas decoration that hangs behind the door and the giver expects to find there year round.
There are things I need but "should go away". These are too numerous to mention. I did put some of them away yesterday. Now I wonder where I put something, whether that is the best place for something else and why I ever thought that was the best place for something. My father is complaining that he cannot find the pen he was using - and no, I did not put that away.
The worst thing however is that he put a library book away and I have to hunt for that. That is distracting to say the least. I know what will happen I will see at least six more books that will need my attention as I look for it - unless I happen to see it straight away.
It is much easier to be a little untidy and have things where you can find them!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Definitely!

Judy B

Anonymous said...

Absolutely! Bob C-S