Good night and sweet dreams

Are you wanting to simplify and don't know where to start? Here is s small step everyone can do. It's easy, won't cost any money and will make a big difference to how you spend many hours every night, and the following daylight hours. Simplify your bed. Those of you who have been reading for a while know I've written about my bed before but as it's one of my favourite subjects, it gives me great pleasure to write about it again.

Beds are important parts of our lives. The bed is one of the few pieces of furniture that changes with us as we go through life. We start out in a tiny cradle or cot (crib) and as we grow, we move up to the 'big' bed. Beds mark that stage of life for us, children feel "grown up" when they make that progression from cot to bed. We have our teenage beds - we bought king size singles for our two tall sons, and we have our marital beds - the quiet and private symbol of a new life with our beloved. And so it goes until we die, and many of us do that in a bed too, completely the cycle from the bed we were born in. Beds, we live and die in them.

My bed is an important part of my life. I spend hours every night sleeping in it, so I have to make it as comfortable and secure as I can. I need to know that when we fall asleep each night, we'll be warm and cosy, capable of deep, uninterrupted sleep that will take away the fatigue of one day and replace it will the vitality to face another.

And this is where the focus on your bed in your daily life comes in. If you make sure your bed is clean and comfortable, it will reward you by helping you get the sleep you need to perform at your best. Take time every day to fluff up your nest. Your bed should be made every day - not just by pulling the cover up over the sheets, but by giving it the energy it needs. Whatever effort and time you give your bed, you'll get back many times over.

I make sure I have sheets that reflect the season - flannel in winter and cool cotton in summer. We have been sleeping between our flannel sheets for a couple of weeks now but yesterday I changed our summer doona/duvet to a heavier woollen winter one. The cover is a flannel one now.

So every morning after hours of rest, I make sure I prepare the bed for another night of sleep and dreams. I take care making up the bed. The top sheet and doona/duvet are taken off and the bottom sheet is smoothed out firm on the bed; I don't want any creases or wrinkles to cause discomfort during the night. The top sheet is placed on the the bed again, even on both sides, and the doona/duvet replaced after a shake. Pillows are fluffed up and replaced at the top of the bed. All is ready, there the bed will sit until nightfall. Clean sheets are a necessity. I put clean sheets on the bed once a week, or more frequently in hot weather. There is nothing better than sleeping that first night on sheets that have dried in the sun. Make sure you have the things you need on the bedside table - I have a box of tissues, a spare pair of glasses and a book. Hanno has a glass of water and a radio on his side. He likes to listen to the news and a favourite radio program before he gets up in the morning. Make sure you vacuum and clean the bedroom frequently, you don't want to be spending all that time in a dusty room.

We are used to sleeping in a quiet and dark room. We have block out curtains and the only noise we hear during the night is an occasional train in the distance. There is no noise from neighbours, traffic or animals. My son, who lives in the midst of a busy city, Surfers Paradise, asked me last time he slept here: "It's SO quiet here at night. How can you stand it?" He spent many hours in deep sleep here before he left home, but now he is used to the noise of the city around him and wonders how we can sleep without it.

We all have our varying preferences for what we are used to while we sleep, but our beds still need to comfort us and make us feel safe and warm during those hours of unconsciousness. Hanno and I do more physical work now than when we were working for a living. The daily chores of our home and garden make us tired at the end of the day and if we are to continue living this way we need to sleep well every night. I am sure most of you feel the same way. So think of your bed as more than a soft platform with sheets. It is the place that cares for you while you sleep and prepares you for tomorrow.

Being mindful of where you sleep and the attention you give your bedroom is an important part of your daily routine. If, like me, you've just woken up, we will soon be fluffing our nests again. And if you're about to go to sleep, good night and sweet dreams. Take care, enjoy your weekend, I'll see you again next week.