When I told my family about my desires to start BAKING, I was not quite prepared for the reactions. My husband went into the kitchen to check that the fire blanket and fire extinguisher were still there and working, one daughter looked as if she was going to faint in shock and the other begged me not to do this to myself or to my family because it really was not safe for me or for anyone else! Cheeky lot! They have no faith in me.
In my morning meditation, I decided to check whether this kitchen cleaning and baking is the right way forward for me and some part of me, or a Universe with a very twisted and strange sense of humour, seemed to think it was.
So I set to work on day two of my kitchen-cleaning extravaganza. First, I emptied the dishwasher and put all the dishes and pans in the cupboard. Now, I remember why we stopped doing that! This was because they do not all fit in the cupboard, so we felt it was better for them to pile up on the draining board and in the sink until the end of the day when nobody wanted to empty and re-fill the dishwasher. This was also the reason why the clean dishes lived in the dishwasher and did not get put away.
I then proceeded to put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher during the course of the day. This level of domesticated organisation cannot be good for me!
I made my way around the kitchen, cleaning almost everything.
As I was trying to clean the inside of the window, I could feel that the stool I was standing on was gradually slipping away under my feet, so every so often, I had to do this odd little rabbit hop and try to pull the stool forward again. It is a good job there are tiles on the floor because I ripped the carpet in my room when I tried the same trick.
The kitchen units are very old and the cabinets have this weird little ridge effect on the top of them, which I am sure has been designed to catch and trap as much muck as is humanly possible. They are also very difficult to clean.
I have used a LOT of steel wool in this kitchen today.
When I came to the fridge I took off all the fridge magnets that we have collected from our holidays and travels over time and looked at them all. It was quite a nostalgic trip as many of them had photos of the kids on them from different theme parks and trips out over the years.
As I made my way around the kitchen, I realised I have got a lot of clearing and cleaning to do INSIDE the drawers and cupboards. One draw contains bits and pieces of junk that we brought with us from our house in Bolton in 2002! Most of that probably needs to head into the nearest bin! Yes, the bin got washed as well today.
The only trouble with cleaning the kitchen like this is that I now really need to do the same thing to the cloakroom and dining area, both of which adjoin the kitchen. The last time I repainted a small square of wall in the hallway, we ended up having the whole house painted and I suspect this cleaning malarkey is going to leave to the same thing!
When my daughter came back from walking the dog, she took her boots off, went into the kitchen and THREW them down onto the mat in front of the radiator to day! I could almost hear the mud falling off them, all over my beautifully washed floor!
I decided to leave the inside of the oven for another day but I did clean the outside and the top – well the bits of it that were really visible. I ventured to open the bottom section of the over, where plates and dishes might normally go and shut it very quickly in total fright. There were a lot of huge cobwebs in there, so I decided that probably would not hurt and could stay as it was.
Greg used the grill to cook the burgers for tea and he actually cleaned it afterwards, which is a total first! Perhaps he has got the same bizarre bug that I seem to have got.
He did say that he thought he had better clean it because he was afraid I would shout at him if he didn’t, especially after all my hard work at cleaning it. Yes, he did have a point!
So this is Step ONE of the Manifest a New Kitchen Plan – CLEAN and LOVE my existing kitchen. It certainly feels better in there now it is clean. All the family are saying this domesticated bug won’t last, so we shall have to see.
Step TWO is de-cluttering, emptying and cleaning the INSIDE of cupboards and drawers and a bit of FENG SHUI to improve the energies of that area of the house.
Then I shall venture onto Step THREE and attempt to do some BAKING in my existing kitchen.
I can quite clearly see my kitchen in my imagination. I know what I want and I am beginning to see MYSELF in the kitchen Baking and HAVING FUN. Hmm, scary thought!
A couple of years ago, a friend of mine did a tarot reading for me and told me that she could see the kitchen being renovated and me spending more time in the kitchen, cooking and making things and enjoying doing it. We all fell about laughing when she said that, but maybe she was right!
I’ll be back soon with more from the Undomesticated Goddess!
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston





This picture was taken by my friend Di Coke, SuperluckyDi who is my heroine in the wonderful world of Competition winning. 















