Making the most of the bank holiday
I love the Easter weekend.
To begin with, there is less obligation to buy things for people, like there is during Christmas.
Then there is that glorious four-day-weekend. One of the few benefits of working for a bank, is you get all bank holidays off.
It is the perfect opportunity to get a few of those Bucket List/ Kettle List items ticked off. So here is a Kettle List update to share what I have done.
Good Friday – #41 Be Happy With My House
Apparently, my husband wasn’t aware that Good Friday was a bank holiday.
He was, therefore, somewhat confused when I had a lie-in until 8 am. (I usually have to get up at 5.30)
He went to visit his Nan and took all of the kids, freeing up the house for me to get on with tackling the kitchen.
We recently ripped out the old units and put in a new Ikea set up, so I thought it was time to finish the rest of the room. ‘Finish’ is a slightly grand term, to be honest.
The entire place needs a do-over, but this is what I have to work with for now, and it is so much better than what we previously had fitted.
I did however, gather 5 black bags of rubbish, move the tumble dryer into its final home, clean and move the oven and sort out a few bits for the charity bag.
It actually felt like I had accomplished a great feat when I was able to walk in and out of the room without tripping over the various junk that people had dumped there.
Being happy with my home appears on the Kettle List, though it is a fairly wishy-washy task title.
Only I will know when I am happy, and as someone with slight perfectionist issues, it is unlikely to ever be 100% how I want it.
That said, I want to get to a point where I can come home from work, sit down and not think ‘this needs doing’. It needs to be functional, minimal-ish, aesthetically pleasing and calming.
A lot to ask, and a lot of work, but I feel that on Friday I worked well toward this challenge.
The mass declutter continues.
Easter Saturday – #1 Sort the Blog
Easter Saturday is a weird one, it’s just a normal Saturday in the middle of a holiday really. As my husband is in retail, he had to work. This gave me extra time on the house, as well as time to do a tidy of my laptop folders.
After a bit of SEO work on my old blog posts, I got Hannah to take a few pictures.
The plan was to use them on Instagram or in blog posts. I am not particularly photogenic, but they didn’t turn out too badly.
The first task on the Kettle List is to get the blog to a place where I can make it a job. I’d really like it to supplement my income, eventually. This is why I have opted for self-hosted; I will own my site and content and be will able to start monetising it.
I am also working on my e-book which I will be able to link to the site. So watch this space!
Easter Sunday – #44 Drink 50 coffees in 50 Cities
I had hoped to visit a new county and tick it off for my “Visit every Ceremonial County” task.
But my husband wanted to visit the Tank Museum.
He missed out on our previous trip, which you can watch here if you are so inclined.
You can also watch my step-dad tell us about the time he stole a tank when he was in the army.
As I predicted, he really enjoyed it. Also we now have an annual pass, so we can go back anytime in the next 12 months.
This means we can go on a day when the tanks are on the move. For a bank holiday, it was really quiet, so we were able to walk around and see everything in relative peace.
We left about 30 minutes before closing time and decided we had plenty of time to pop to Weymouth and chill out on the beach for a bit.
There was suspiciously little traffic as we drove there, and we even found a parking space very close to the beach.
Having invested in a cute peach-coloured flask, I had brought some coffee with me on my travels. I had also brought an enamel mug to drink out of; perhaps this is why I struggle to be minimalist? My incessant need to bring things ‘just in case’?
Maybe it comes from all those years in the Guide Association. It did mean, however, that I was able to create a loophole in my own Kettle List rules.
#44 is all about drinking coffee in different places. I never specified that I had to buy the coffee there!
So I was able to ‘pour one out’ on the beach, as it were, and tick off Weymouth as a place where I have had a coffee. Props to Harriet for suggesting I invest in a thermos flask.
Easter Monday – #2 Complete the 40×40 List
And so we come to the last day of my long weekend.
I have been pottering about the house and doing some more tidying. My food shopping was done early, so I now have had time to sit and write this post, ready for Wednesday. I even had time to pose for another picture.
This isn’t purely a vanity thing; I am trying to complete #32 of my 40×40 Bucket List : Take 365 photos.
I have started this task so many times, but then forget to take one and have to start again! This 4 day weekend has been perfect to start my habit off. I am even considering setting an alarm to remind me. So far I have been able to get one a day since April 19th. Hopefully, I will be able to keep it up this time.
Back to work…
So it is back to work tomorrow. At least it will only be a four day week until my adventure next Saturday.
Ethan and I are off to ‘Go Ape’ in the Forest of Dean, so I may possibly be able to tick off another 40×40 task: #30 Try out a zip-wire.
Meanwhile, I am going to keep up the decluttering, and the photo taking. We also hope to soon be booking our flights.
Just as soon as my husband confirms he definitely has the time off; his company has said yes, but that means nothing when you work retail!
Once we know for sure, we will be able to really start on our L.A trip planning.
Over to you
How do you utilise random free days? Do you try and fit everything in, or do you try and give yourself time to relax? Makes me wonder what retirement will be like…