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I pegged the washing onto the line and just to take my mind off life in general, I counted the pegs as I put them up. It’s called being in the moment and is difficult when you are busy. When my mind starts to stress over all the stuff that has to be done, I bring it back to basics and do a rote job. I start to tick boxes. How do you eat the elephant? Answer; one bite at a time. How do you get all the house work or farm work done and hold down a job and finish that assignment? You don’t and the sooner you realise that, the better. Prioritisation is the name of the game! Something has to give. It’s a good idea to write a plan for the week.
I got up to 138 pegs. That represents about 50 items of clothing and several pairs of socks. I’m a peg per corner person, never stringing things like tea towels together in a long line. Each has to have its individual pegs to optimise drying time. These days I’m putting a lot of thought into saving energy and trying to find ways that we can bring down our heating and electricity bills. My mother often preached “mind the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves!” It sounds simplistic. Still if we make multiple changes to our habits in our homes we will collect up the pennies and reduce our bills. I’ve made up my mind not to dismiss the notion of small savings not mattering. The “sure it’s only a few cents extra or I’ll just do it this once” are phrases that have to go. If you have an energy saving idea, send it in to me and I’ll compile them. Dig deep. We have a habit of doing things the same way that we’ve always done them. Are your methods fit for purpose? There could be a better way. Answers come by being in the moment and really thinking about what you are doing.
As I was there at the line, Jack who works for us, rounded the corner and seeing me at the washing line, he stopped for a chat. I told Jack that I’d put up 138 pegs hanging up the washing. I probably do that four times a week giving me 552 peg squeezes. Multiply ?by 52 weeks and that’s a whopping 28,704 pegs! I’m not sure it resonated with the young man as hanging out washing is not a priority. He went off about his business with a throw away comment about the 138 pegs! Then I started to think about the amount of time I spend washing, hanging out, bringing in, folding and putting away clothes only to start all over again the next day. So while I’m focusing on energy saving, it occurs to me that saving time will be an automatic spin off.
Washing for the family seems such a simple job, yet, in reality it is complex and if it gets away from you, it is very hard to pull it back to an organisational level. Every woman or man that is managing a home understands the dilemma of letting it pile up and get out of control. The same is true of tasks around the farm yard. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can repair today.
The blame game
As we collectively embark on this winter ?journey, let’s have confidence that we can reduce our energy usage. One guideline is to write down the main energy bills for the household on a sheet of paper and put it up on the wall. Unless people see it written down, it may not resonate. The trajectory of the spend will also become apparent. It can focus the minds. Now here’s the trap for many families that can cause you to fail. It’s very easy for Mum or Dad or even a conscientious teenager to become the self-appointed police officer and the blame game begins. “You left the door open, you didn’t turn out the light! What took you so long in the shower?” This tendancy to find fault with each other and try to police each other will only lead to failure. The whole family need to design the goals together and agree the principles of attaining those goals. There is one result required and that is keeping the money in our pockets.
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