the agile housewife

Your books deserve better than this

The problem with a little bit of disorganisation is that it seems to attract a whole lot more disorganisation and clutter. And where there's clutter, doing just enough is a lot harder. Something had to be done.

The acceptance criteria for this is dead simple. It's done when the books are on the shelf, sorted by surname, ascending. Very easy to test.

Unfortunately the number of books had increased significantly, and I couldn't fit them all back once they were standing up nicely. While I'd love to buy another bookcase, it's really not in the budget at the moment. Clearly some of them had to go.

Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard to choose what to get rid of. Books that were once absolute favourites just didn't seem quite so appealing on reflection. In reality, a lot of them have become clutter. I've packed them in plastic boxes and listed them on fishpond.com.au - my favourite Australian online booksellers.

With the clutter out of the way, getting the books back on the shelves was a doddle. All of the spines are facing the right way, fiction and non-fiction are separated, everything is in alphabetical order. Dusting is going to be a whole lot easier from now on. I could go a step further and sort the non-fiction by subject then author, but the point is to do just enough. So I'm calling this one done. 

epics and stories aren't the same thing

the stories

2. As a person who enjoys entertaining, I want to use the silverware to serve afternoon tea so the table looks pretty. This one goes in start hosting style events

Each of the stories needs to have acceptance criteria so that you can tell when it's done. For some people, this would be when the silverware is immaculate and gleaming. Because I'm focussed on doing just enough, done is when it's shiny enough to post a nice photo. 

I wanted to get this done as soon as possible because I want to buy a lightbox, and when I want to buy something, I want to do it now. 

My second story refers to using the silverware to serve tea, which to my mind rules out using silver cleaner. I've smelt that stuff, and don't want to ingest it, even if it's been diluted.  Given a chunk of time, it's possible to clean silver with toothpaste, but that sounded way too much like work for me to really contemplate. Which left the easiest technique of all.

Yes, it really is that simple. You line the sink with alfoil, then add tap hot water and a scoop each of bicarb and salt. Put the silver in and let it soak until the water is cool enough to put your hand in. 

Give each item a rinse, then buff any remaining tarnish off with a soft, dry cloth. I don't know why it works, but it definitely does.

It's not perfect, but I reckon it's good enough to list. (That black splodge in the shot is a reflection. I swear.) Done!

Next up, sorting the bookshelves. An agile housewife's work is never done. Sigh...