Welcome home!
I hope you’ll have a lovely stay here. Here is everything I can think of to make 45 Ferndale Street a great place to spend a little time.
Please let me know if there is anything missing!
Cindy
p.s. please give me the name of someone I should call if by chance you don’t come home for a few days or if you have an accident. My friend Nicola’s phone number is on a post-it on the fridge in case you have similar concerns!
The House
Wi-fi
The network ID for the wi-fi is WiFI-151D Password is on the fridge.
Phone, email, mail
If you need to find me, I’m usually on my mobile somewhere: Cindy Tonkin 0412 135 426 [email protected]
The mailing address here is 45 Ferndale Street Newtown, NSW 2042.
There’s a key to the mailbox in the blue tin houses on it, just by the front door. There’s only one, so please put it back. Please feel free to check the box yourself if you have mail sent here and are expecting something.
Keys
You can’t get out of the front door without a key.
I suggest you put your key in the golden syrup tin by the door. It is easier and safer if there is an urgent need to leave the house! It also gives me a clue that you’re at home.
Don’t leave your key in the lock on the back of the door. If your key is in the lock it can stop others getting in at all.
Bedroom things
Your ceiling fan will keep things cool. Don’t run it while you’re not in the room, it doesn’t do anything but circulate air, and it doesn’t keep the room cool in itself.
If you need bedclothes I have spare, so let me know.
Bathroom things
The full bathroom with shower is downstairs at the back of the house.
The bathroom light switch has 4 switches. I have added a lump to the bottom left hand one, because it’s the fluorescent light over the basin. I have also written “Light” on it in sharpie.
The other important switch is the exhaust fan. Top right. Marked “Fan”. You’ll know it’s the right one because the exhaust fan hums. Please put on the exhaust fan whenever you shower, or if you’re using the clothes dryer. Obviously switch it off when you leave the bathroom or when the dryer is done. If you don’t do this the adjoining room gets all foggy and mouldy.
Please only leave the bathroom window open only when it’s light outside and when it’s not freezing, otherwise Kevin goes for a wander and won’t come back without a lot of hassle.
Please keep Kevin inside after dark. If he asks you to let him out the back door at night, please do not open the back door for him. Open the front door for him instead.
He can go out the front door at any time because he can and will let himself back in via the cat door. And because he’s such a ‘fraidy cat he comes in quite quickly.
Your shelf in the shower
There’s a shelf in the shower for your stuff. You can also keep things in the bathroom on the mustard yellow trolley if you need to.
Keep the bathroom sink clean
If you’re shaving in the sink please wipe it down with a microfibre cloth afterwards so there’s not stray whiskers everywhere. You’ll find spare microfibre cloths in the bathroom on the shelf under the dryer (labelled microfibre for art and stuff). Put the dirty cloths in the bottom basket of the big laundry cupboard. I wash them every now and then.
Also please leave both toilet seats down. Here’s why.
The upstairs loo
There is an upstairs loo, but it has no exhaust fan. So please do your smellier business downstairs. To be really clear, that means NO POOING upstairs, especially at night. Also please leave both toilet seats down. Here’s why
Kitchen Things
The principle of the kitchen is that after you’ve finished I shouldn’t be able to find any remnants of your dinner on the counter or the stove. Please wipe down the counter, stovetop and sink after you’re done. Also please avoid putting food down the drain.
We’ll work out how fridge is set up, depending on your volume of shopping etc. At the moment each room has a shelf. Talk to me if you need more space in the fridge or freezer.
I’ll mark your cupboard with a post-it. Please leave food in there. Make sure it’s sealed, so we don’t get cockroaches or moths. If you can avoid leaving things on the counter, that would be grand.
Plastics
You’ll find larger plastics in the bottom drawer and smaller plastics in the tub in the middle bottom cupboard.
Coffee and tea, sugar
There’s both herbal and “normal” tea in the cupboard above the microwave. Help yourself. If you prefer a particular kind of tea, please replenish it when it runs out. You’ll find sugar in there too.
Closest coffee places
Closest coffee place is on Alice Street (2-minutes walk), Enmore Road (4-minutes) or a million places on King Street or Enmore Road which my be a few more minutes away.
Oven – turn both knobs
To turn the oven on turn both the left-hand knob and the right-hand knob. Normal oven on the left hand dial is the 5th option clockwise. The right-hand knob sets the temperature.
In the cupboard above the stovetop is an explanation of the pictograms on the dials.
If you cook something that drips, like cheese, or overflows, like cake, please use a drip tray, or clean the oven (yep, a drip tray is less effort). You’ll find baking trays etc in the middle cupboard under the microwave.
Sandwich press, Pie maker, Grater
In the cupboard to the right of the drawers you’ll find a tiny sandwich press, a pie maker, and an electric grater. Feel free to use them. Give them a bit of a wipe afterwards, put the grater bits in the dishwasher, put them back where you found them. If lost, please ask.
Cooking guidelines
I am very particular about my kitchen. I don’t cook much, but I like the kitchen to stay clean. If you cook anything, please follow these guidelines:
- Put your cups and plates etc in the dishwasher.
- Leave the cook top clean – wipe it down with a microfibre cloth which you’ll find on the sink or in the tall cupboard to the left of the sink. There are spray bottles of grease-removing products under the sink if you need them
- Wipe down the counters too: please don’t leave crumbs, condensation or food scraps behind: the principle is I shouldn’t know you’ve been in the kitchen at all
- Don’t wash food down the sink. Take any solid food out of the plug hole and put it in the bin on the counter
- There are 2 bins on the counter, labelled. The food bin goes into the green bin, the other is landfill. Recycling is in a bin under the sink (that goes in the yellow bin).
- Use the exhaust fan above the stovetop if you’re making smoke, or the smoke alarm will go off! Pull out the range hood and the exhaust fan will come on. If it doesn’t, there’s a switch for it under the range hood. There’s a light there too.
- If you cook fresh meat, please make sure to take the container and/or scrap meat out to the bins outside, especially in summer. The meat will go off and stink out the house if not.
- Stack the dishwasher with any plates, cups, knives etc.
- Avoid rinsing things in the sink, just put them in the dishwasher
- As far as possible stack the dishwasher so that the plates are parallel to each other, so we can fit more in! Please watch a YouTube video on how stack a dishwasher, it drives me wild when things are placed willy nilly.
- Please eat at the table, not in your room. If you leave crumbs, please wipe them up too.
- When you unload the dishwasher there are often drops of water on the floor. Please wipe them.
Dishwasher
Please put your dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Don’t rinse them. Just scrape off any food. (Choice recommends it). Look for the magnet on the front of the dishwasher drawer to know which drawer is in use.
If you fill a drawer and you want to turn it on, the dishwasher powder is in the drainer on top of the sink. Put a teaspoon in the tray on the front wall of the dish drawer. Then push play and it will clean. Make sure to move the magnet when you put one of the dishwashers on, so that we know which is clean and which is dirty.
Feel free to unstack any clean dishwasher drawer if you find one. Wipe up any drips on the floor afterwards.
Recyclables under the sink, bin on counter
The bin under the sink is for recyclables: paper, plastic, glass. Empty it into the yellow bin out front.
The bins on the counter are for everything else. They are labelled for which bin they go into.Green for food scraps. It goes into the green bin outside. The white bin is landfill, empty it into the red bin outside.
Garbage collection is Thursday afternoon. Match whatever bins the neighbours put out. The red bins are emptied every second Thursday afternoon. The green bins are weekly. The yellow bins are on alternate Fridays. I never know which week it is, I just put them all out and bring them all in on Friday after they’ve been emptied.
Bring them in if you see them out – there’s a mini-gate to bring them inside the fence.
Laundry things
The laundry is in the bathroom.
For the washing machine just put powder or liquid in the left side of the left-hand drawer. You will need to provide your own powder.
The washing machine defaults to a mixed cycle which takes 45 minutes or so: just turn the dial and see all the other options.
Hang your washing on the line in the back yard for that fresh smell. You will find pegs for the washing line on top of the washing machine. Bring in the pegs afterwards to discourage spiders and ants.
If you use the dryer, please make sure you clear out the lint filter before and after. Use the exhaust fan in the bathroom when you run the dryer.
Ironing
I own an iron, but no longer have an ironing board. Talk to me about the logistics of this, and we can work out.
Cleaning up stuff
I don’t have a vacuum cleaner. If you have small things to pick up, then the dust buster lives on top of the fridge. Brooms hang by the courtyard door in the back room. Dustpans and brooms under the sink. Spray bottles of nifti and windex etc under the sink hanging off a rod.
Microfibre cloths for the kitchen are blue. Find them in cupboard to the left of the sink on the second shelf from the bottom.
Microfibre cloths for other purposes in the black box on the shelf in the bathroom under the dryer.
There are hand towels and tea towels in the bathroom and kitchen. Find clean ones in the middle basket/drawer in the tall bathroom cupboard. If hand towels, tea towels of microfibre cloths get dirty please put them in the bottom drawer of the tall bathroom cupboard. I will wash them.
Lounge and dining room things
Please feel free to hang out in the lounge room. I’d prefer you to eat at the dining table (not your room). Please clean up your crumbs if you make any!
Heating and cooling in the lounge room
In winter the heater is set on a timer. It’s just next to my desk. If it’s not on and you’d like it to be press power. If it’s on and it’s too hot, just push power
The ceiling fans in the lounge room are brand new, so the instructions are on the dining table. Leave the light on at the remote, but switch it on at the wall. Same for the upstairs hallway remote.
It does not make any room cooler to run a fan when no one is in it, so please turn it off if you leave the room (or the house).
Piano
My piano music lives under the stairs if you would like to play. There is a plug so you can plug in your headphones. Please use headphones after 9pm so the neighbours are happy.
Cleaner comes Thursday
The cleaner comes every second Thursday. I’ll let you know when.
They have their own keys; generally they arrive around 8:30 in the morning. It’s a high-energy team. I find it’s best to sit on the front verandah or the back step till they are gone (they are done in about an hour).
If you don’t want them to go into your room just keep the door closed. Apparently they knock even if I say “Don’t clean in that room”, so be prepared.
They vacuum and mop around anything on the floor. So please pick up anything if you’d like the floor to be clean. They do not wash up, so make sure you stack anything in the dishwasher.
Please avoid eating in your room.
And when you are ready to leave, here’s the drill
All good things end. You’ve given me 2 weeks deposit, which means I expect 2 weeks’ notice when you plan to move out. Talk to me about it. When you move out, here are some things you’ll want to get sorted out.
Click here to see the Exit Checklist.
