Category Archives: declutter

Nothing to say

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I’m at a loss for words.

And I’m procrastinating.

We went to our daughter’s yesterday to spend a belated Thanksgiving Day with her and her family.  We got home earlier this afternoon and I’ve been putting off the one thing I promised myself I’d do today.

My list of things to do while procrastinating:

  1. Go through the mail.
  2. Unpack the overnight bag.
  3. Wash a load of clothes.
  4. Change the wreath on the front door from the wine bottle wreath to the Christmas wreath.
  5. Put the Christmas candles in the front windows and synchronize the timers so they all come on at the same time.
  6. Iron a couple of shirts.
  7. Unload and fold clothes from the dryer from Wednesday night.
  8. Add wet clothes to the dryer.
  9. Eat dinner.
  10. Work on another felt ornament.
  11. Eat a second dessert.
  12. Check my email.
  13. Download photos from my phone.
  14. Write this blog post.

This is the Number One thing I promised myself that I would do today:

  1. Clean this mess.

Craftiness-1

Craftiness-2

Craftiness-3

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This is my dining room table.  It’s covered with the Christmas Wishes kits and paraphenalia.

Enough procrastinating.  I’m going to tackle it now.

Right now.

As soon as I wash the dishes.

Ok, dishes done.

I’m going.  Now.

Really.

Bye….

Always drink milk

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During the summer, we work four 10-hour days and have off either Mondays or Fridays.  I chose Mondays.

On this particular Monday Mr. Aitch and I tackled the basement stairs and the area to the right of the stairs.  There was a shelving unit with stuff on it from when we moved in 19 years ago.  Still in the moving boxes.

I know that some people would say to not open the boxes and just toss it.  If anything inside the boxes was important, it would have been retrieved long ago.

I would have tossed this:

Milk-mug-006

My sister had a blue one.  I remember drinking hot cocoa from this cup.  And eating toasted homemade bread with peanut butter and homemade grape jelly.

The rest of the stuff was assorted glassware that I will probably donate to Goodwill.  I just don’t have the energy to have a yard sale.

I would love to see and display the things that I love and that are important to me.  I just have to find the right piece of furniture to do that.

Cleaning doesn’t bother me.  It’s dealing with all of the stuff that I hate.  And deciding what to do with all the stuff makes me physically sick.

One down…

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…several more to go.

Remember last week when I was off balance and wimpering telling you about my want/need/have-to-do list?  I crossed off one of the have-to-do things this weekend:

I cleaned out the pantry.

The before:

The after:

The only things I have left to do are to buy a couple of baskets for the opened snack bags and pastas, organize the cookbooks so they don’t take up half a shelf and make a wooden box with casters for my cookie sheets, cooling racks, large trays and cutting boards which live in the box on the floor for now.  Know anyone with a table saw willing to make a 1/2 inch plywood box with casters 18 inches wide by 18 inches long by 17 inches high?

The big bag of candy on top of the pumpkin basket (that my very talented sister made) will be given out on Halloween.  I hope.  (I buy candy that I don’t like so I don’t eat the leftovers.  I take it to work.  Mr. Aitch disagrees.  He thinks I should buy candy that we like so we can have the leftovers.)

ALL my extra food used to be stored in the basement but I decided to bring the boxed goods upstairs into the kitchen.  We do have a dehumidifier but I still worry about dampness getting into the dry goods.  The canned goods are still down there.  Going to the basement for something is part of my exercise program.

Expired foods, things that didn’t belong in any pantry, and stuff I don’t remember buying went into the garbage.   The setup isn’t ideal as the shelves aren’t adjustable so I have to work with what I’ve got.  Once I get the crown molding installed, the rooms repainted and the craft room finished, I’ll think about redoing the pantry with adjustable shelving.  It’s all about priorities.

Time allotted for this project was two hours.   Actual time from start to almost finished (this stage) was…four hours.  Deciding how to put it all back took the most time.

I found a 1,327 pound griddle that came with a gas grill we bought in 2003.  Maybe we’ll remember we have it and actually use it.  For what?  I don’t know.

Not sure why I had over 200 brown paper lunch bags either.

Off balance

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My tag line says “Finding the right balance between life and clutter.”  I’m off balance.

We observed Columbus Day yesterday so I was home.  (Thanks, Chris.)  I so desperately wanted to post at least one tutorial, clean off the kitchen island, organize my current knitting corner.  I failed at all attempts.  I did wash my car and motorcycle.

My Garter Stitch bag is complete except for the straps (I-cord takes me a long time to do) and the lining.  I’m still debating on the fabric.  I tried to make a tutorial on lining this bag and spent far too much time failing redeveloping my idea.  I’m about halfway done on the first one.

I also worked on the travel case for electronic chargers tutorial that I promised months ago.  The text is written but inserting the photos is challenging.  Plus I still need someone to test it for me. 

Nothing was working out.

I’m off balance.

It’s that time of year when I start to feel overwhelmed with clutter.  I try to declutter but it never seems like I’m doing enough.  I’m constantly being pulled between what I want to do and what I should do.

I want to:

  • knit
  • sew
  • paint
  • make Christmas ornaments
  • redecorate
  • repaint the family room, kitchen, guest room #2, three bathrooms, the master bedroom
  • buy and install a closet organizer
  • get crown molding in the living and dining rooms
  • hire someone to make my craft room
  • display my mother’s dishes that are still in boxes from 2007

I need to do:

  • vacuum
  • laundry – it’s the putting away that drags me down
  • dust
  • iron Mr. Aitch’s shirts
  • cook
  • wash dishes – somethings just have to be washed by hand
  • find the right piece of furniture to display my mother’s dishes
  • organize my craft stuff: yarns, wood, paints, fabric, threads, paper, glue, beads

I don’t want to do but have to do:

  • file papers – seriously I have 4 file boxes of papers that need filed
  • clean out the closets – will I ever get back into those size X suits?  Will they still be in style?
  • clean out the pantry
  • clean out the basement – full of stuff I “might” need
  • Get. Rid. Of. Stuff. Tied. To. Emotions.

That list is what gets me overwhelmed.  I was reading Laurie Perry’s (Crazy Aunt Purl) post from last week and can really relate to her decluttering mind-set. Defcon 1, 2, 3.

I am a crafter and I keep things that I can use.  Is it ok to keep these things as long as I organize them?  A place for everything and everything in its place?

Can I tackle/declutter one drawer, shelf, flat surface, box, or pile and do it for 15 minutes a day?  Can I commit to this every day?