12th April 2024 - Tackling the Kitchen and Voiceovers

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 Good morning folks,


I had the pleasure of taking Fearne to school today as Juli was getting organised to host an early morning Zoom meeting in my still-clean-and-amazing office. I also took the opportunity to post another item I had sold on eBay, a collectible toy car still in its original box, as the shop was only around the corner from the school.


Returning home I had to keep myself occupied while Juli used the office, so I took the opportunity to deep clean all of the kitchen. I cleaned the Washing Machine thoroughly, wiping down all of the surfaces and running a hot cycle with Bicarbonate of Soda and Vinegar. Then I moved onto the Dishwasher, again cleaning the surfaces before putting it on a long wash with more Bicarb and a bowl of Vinegar.


But the biggest challenge was next - the Oven. It needed a lot of attention. I unscrewed the glass doors and used some heavy duty creams to loosen as much of the build up of splashes as I could. Then I got my handy glass scraper out and spent a good half an hour getting rid of all the stains as I could. It was incredible to look at afterwards, I could actually see through the glass!


I then reassembled the doors, cleaned out the inside of the oven, again with my cleaning cream, and used my scraper to remove any dried on spillages I couldn’t get off by myself. The end result was a beautiful Oven that would please me every time I would use it.


By this point it was coming up to lunch time, and Juli was nearly finished in the office. I wiped down the kitchen surfaces and made the room look presentable and clean, and then came to the incredible realisation that I should really try and keep the kitchen clean going on a schedule. Make it look tidy on a daily basis, and deep clean all of the equipment every month.


Lunch came and went, and I made a lovely ham and cheese baguette for myself and Juli, safe in the knowledge the kitchen was free of bacteria! After lunch Juli headed off into work, giving me the perfect opportunity to move on with my video work.


Today I wanted to record the voiceover for the ‘Make Your Bed’ video I had planned. The prep work I had done over the last few days went well, and it was now time to start bringing all of the elements together.


I’d changed my initial idea for the video. Originally I wanted to just talk directly to the camera, as if talking directly to you, but I’ve now decided I want the video to have a narrative, with various shots that match the script I have written. If I am going to make a video about making a bed I might as well put the effort in!


I recorded the voiceover on my laptop, then used some software called Audacity to edit the audio so that it flowed as one long recording. Exporting it finally as a WAV file, I was happy with what I had recorded.


I really think this video will be a good starting point for inspiring people, and what better way to start the day than making your bed.


The recording was done just in time to pick up Fearne from school. Juli came too. She had brought a laptop from work that wasn’t playing DVD’s for me to have a look at. This was an easy fix - connect the laptop to the internet, download VLC Player, and insert the DVD. Worked first time. I noticed the laptop was running a bit slow too, so I took the opportunity to install all updates, run a disk cleanup, and clear the updates folder. Immediately the laptop was running so much better.


The rest of the day was spent enjoying the company of Fearne and Juli, as we lazed around on the couch with some Fish and Chips I had cooked, watching nonsense on TV, and eating chocolate.
Location: Hartlepool, UK

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