Garage...found some surprises...

So far I have found...

My original Ken and Barbie!  I gave all of their wardrobes to a niece along with Midge and Skipper, etc.  I thought these went along with the rest, but I guess not.  

Barbie is wearing a classic little vintage handmade number, but Ken appears to have become a nudist in his dotage.

Three hanging bags of jewelry.  Lots of my mom's. Lots from the 80s (buh-bye!)  Most will go, but I'm waiting to go through later.

But I was happy to find these special ones.  The pendant of the one on the left was my high-school-graduation gift from my first grade teacher.💝  I added the cord and beads.  I'll be taking the pendant off, shine it up, and put it on a chain.

The two on the right are hand carvings by the father of a dear friend.  He was a sweet and talented man.

These are crocheted bead necklaces.  My mother made the one on the right.  The left and middle ones were given to me by a former brother-in-law.  I believe he said his grandmother made them.  My impression of them from the beads themselves used in the strands is that they could be from the 1920s or 30s.  I have texted my niece a photo and stated my intent to give them to her.  I also asked her to talk to her father about who exactly made them and when (if he knows) so she has that information.

This little pin measures about one inch square.  I'm pretty sure it was a birthday gift to my mother since she was born on St. Patrick's Day.  I've always loved it...even though it is a four-leaf clover and not a shamrock.

Garage clean out...

 

This is my parking spot in our garage.  I have been parking outside for years because of this mess.  Carey parks in his spot, and in bad weather he moves my car into his workshop, but my clutter remains where I should be parking my car.

A lot of these things are from my mother's house.  When we lived in the country, we had storage buildings it could stay out of sight and out of mind.  When we moved here, we rented storage for awhile...too long.  Carey finally put it where he thought I would have to deal with it.    Over the years I have let go of some things, but as you can see there's a lot I haven't.  This week I am making another go of it...GO being the operative word here.

I bought a metal shelving unit.  I am determined to ONLY keep what will fit on the shelves.  I spent today assembling them and putting them into place (though the unit rolls, and Carey can move it later if he wants to).  I moved some chairs and some other large-ish things from the edges of the stash;  I am ready to let them go, so I dusted them off and they will be taken to Goodwill.

It was in the high 90s again today, and will be in the mid 90s for the rest of the week (forecast to go down by about 1 degree each day).  I know, I know, my mojo shows up at very unexpected times.  I am taking breaks often, and staying hydrated.

If I find anything interesting, I'll share.  If I can park inside by the end of the week (fingers crossed), I'll share that too.

Weekend goal...

In yesterday's 7 Random Thoughts on the 7th post, I stated that my goal for this weekend was to get rid of all the cardboard boxes that have accumulated.  First thing I did was gather ALL of them from their hiding places around the house into one place.  Shame on me for letting it get this out of hand! 

Okay, as you can see, I do a lot of online shopping.  In my defense, these are probably from the past year...of course it's not much of a defense that I've let them pile up instead of disposing of them immediately...but it's a lot of work.

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What takes the longest is redacting private information (call me paranoid, it's a compulsion)...

...and letting the air out of packing materials so they take up as little space as possible...

...and tending injuries.  Man, I hate cardboard-caused paper cuts.

Ta-Da!  I kept two boxes to use for putting donations in.  Donations will be taken to Goodwill, and all of this cardboard will be dropped off at recycling this week!

Whew!  Patting myself on the back for completing this goal.

I ask you...

...how do you lose a bucketful of Swiffer supplies?  A bucket...F-U-L-L.

I've been looking for it for weeks.  I looked in cabinets.  I looked in the bathrooms.  I looked in the office.  I looked in the guest rooms.  I looked in the closets.  Then a few days later I would look in all those places again.  

It has a home in the bottom of a shelf unit in the laundry room, but with the colder weather, I've been having to leave Rudy in the laundry room on chilly mornings.  (Don't worry, it warms up by noon, so I come home at lunch and let him out to play for the afternoon.)  Anyway, I moved the swiffer supplies to the laundry room counter top to keep it out of his reach.  I could just picture coming home to a blizzard of shredded swiffer refills.

I finally asked Carey if he had stashed it somewhere, which he denied.  (He is notorious for moving things that are in his way, and putting them somewhere that holds no logic for me.)  Then...surprise!...he found them.  So I ask you, don't you bet that he stashed it somewhere?  Yeah...me too!  :)

But what does it say about the condition of my house that the chaos of clutter is such that a huge item can get lost?  So this weekend is for working around the house.  Between the holidays and working, the house is suffering (not that it is ever company ready).

I always do better with a list to check off boxes as I complete a chore, and right now I need the extra incentive of keeping me accountable to you, so I will come back at intervals through the weekend to check off the completed items.  (And just so you know, I have more energy in the afternoons and evenings, so don't expect to see any progress in the morning!)

Here's my list:

     ☑  wash the master-bed linens 

     ☑  put linens back on master bed

     ☑  wash light-color clothes

     ☑  wash dark-color clothes

     ☑  clean bathroom

     □  wash bath mats

     ☑  take down the Christmas tree

     ☑  spend 15 minutes clearing clutter

     □  spend 15 more minutes clearing clutter

     □  spend 15 more minutes clearing clutter

     □  spend 15 more minutes clearing clutter

     □  dust

     ☑ swiffer

     ☑ vacuum

     □  steam mop bathroom

     □  steam mop kitchen

     □  clean Rudy's nose prints off the back glass door

     □  pay bills

     ☑  make 6 cards

Yesterday...

This armoire was my 16th birthday present; the armoire plus the rest of a matching bedroom suite to be precise.  Yes, being the last child at home had its advantages, but I vaguely remember that my mother had credit at the furniture store that she needed to use or forfeit, so I lucked out.  Over the years, I've sold the headboard, nightstand, and dresser, but I've always liked the armoire and hesitated to part with it.  

I like the smaller compartments that it has as opposed to a lot of similar pieces.  When we lived in a one-room hunting cabin for eight months (when we moved to the ranch, and before we put a house on it) it went with us.  Carey thought it was a waste of space, but it added a lot more vertical storage than it took up floor space, so was priceless to me during that time.

I planned a wedding while in that cabin, and this piece held so many of the things I was working on: decorations, invitations, lists, receipts.  It was my command center.  I taped all the receipts to the insides of the doors, and then once the wedding was over, I put them all in an envelope.  Today I found that envelope still tucked inside a drawer.  I've never totaled up the receipts.  :)  

The armoire hasn't really been in use for years, so it was kind of like opening a time capsule.  Lately I've been thinking about how to better use this furniture piece by consolidating storage for some like items.  I was just going to fill it as is, but I happened to ask Carey if he felt like painting it before he went back to work, and surprisingly, his response was a definite maybe.  :)  I hope to get it done and filled before I have to start my month of work (only one more week to go!).  I'll show 'after' photos...eventually.

It was oddly coincidental that I decided on yesterday (St. Patrick's Day) to clean it out, as I came across maps and souvenirs from my trip to Ireland.  :)

The armoire wasn't stuffed full of things, thank goodness, but I did fill a box with books, and crafts, etc. to donate, and will drop it off next time I go to the city.

Giving things up for the 40 days of Lent...

I began reading a couple of new (to me) frugal blogs since the beginning of the year.  This week Happy Simple Living mentioned Uncluttering for Lent which really caught my attention.

I'm not Catholic, but over the years I have many times made Lenten sacrifices...usually things that are unhealthy and/or overindulgences...the years I gave up soda, ice cream, and the Internet come to mind.  I try not to be frivolous about my sacrifice, but choose things that the absence of which will challenge me, and will remind me that God is more important than worldly things.

I'm a few days late getting started this year (Lent is Feb 14 thru Mar 29 this year)...but that's okay...it's never too late to decide to do good things.  

Possessions are something that are hard for me to let go of, so I think the solemnity of a religious fast mindset will help me progress.  I know it won't be easy.  The Happy Simple Living post suggests giving away a box or bag of usable items every day.  I made the calendar page above to track what I do daily.  I will post updates, perhaps during Lent, but for sure at the conclusion.

Today is Tuesday...

This was supposed to be a 'making it Monday' post, but c'est la vie.

Just tellin' it like it is in this belated-birthday card I made a little while ago.  I will go put it in the mail in a bit...if I can psych myself up to walk to the mailbox.

Pretty much the only other thing I've been making lately is a giant mess!  I have the office/craft room torn completely up...to the point that it has spread to the kitchen and dining room...and then I twisted my knee yesterday which just slows down the process more.  ugh.

(Why, oh why, can't I just wiggle my nose and have everything neat and tidy?!)

I am trying to be brutal towards downsizing my book collection.  All those reference and how-to books are filled with information that can now be easily found on the internet.  The gardening books were pipe dreams, since I have never been a gardener, and their info, too, can be found online.  I kept a few very practical ones for Carey to choose from (he says that he may have a vegetable garden if I ever let him retire), and a couple of practical home remedy types...you know...in case TSHTF.  Fiction I haven't read thus far, and don't particularly have a strong desire to, are going.  I am keeping only ones I have read and love and could read over and over...again, in case TSHTF and I ever have to live without electricity or Kindle.  

I need more shelf space to put fabric on, so that it is easily found and accessed.  Then I need to rearrange the room so that I can have my sewing machine set up and usable at all times.  I need to get the clean up and organization finished and the machine in high gear!  I have a lifetime supply of fabric and a family to supply with quilts.  You may ask how I plan to sew if I have prepper fears of life without electricity?  I'm keeping my old treadle for my back up!  LOL

Sitting on the computer is not getting any progress made toward these goals.

Monday, Monday...

Poor, poor Mama Granny Bear.  She looks as old and bedraggled as I feel today.  

This past weekend was a tough one.  I needed to be productive, and I was not.  Today is a national holiday (President's Day), so I'm not working, but I am working tomorrow, Wednesday, and Friday--all at offices out of town--so I won't get much done in the next few days either, I am sure.

I have had a non-stop headache and muscle tension since early last week...work hazard of notoriously uncomfortable desk chairs...ergonomic first world problem.  Over the weekend my right knee gave a tremendous--and tremendously painful--POP!  Now it has restricted mobility, and if I forget and bend it too far the pain rages back.  But I am able to walk and drive fine as long as I am mindful of bending...or not bending.

I slept fitfully, and obviously my aches and pains followed me into my dreams.  I dreamt that I was attending a Disney-run science-y experience venue with my BFF, when I was diagnosed with distemper (yes, a canine disease) and placed under quarantine.  I can only imagine that my subconscious was telling me I am dog tired, going to the dogs, or sick as a dog.  :)

Today I stepped out to the garage to take out some garbage, and I was reminded of boxes that my husband placed there at my request.  Carey is truly OCD about a tidy garage, so there will be no long-term storage of possessions there.  After we moved, I did not get all boxes emptied, so he eventually moved them out of his beloved garage and into a rented storage unit, for which we have been paying monthly ever since.  I am determined to be free of that monthly bill and the unwanted items.  But that means I have to go through all of the boxes, because some of them house family heirlooms.  He reluctantly agreed to bring a few home at a time, into my parking space, for me to have access.   This will be an ongoing effort, but I hope to have it done before the temperatures soar too high.

I opened one of the boxes today, and the first thing I see is the vintage mechanical Mama Bear toy.  I think I got it for Christmas when I was about six.  If you flip its switch, the baby bear moves and squeaks, and Mama puts the bottle in its mouth for a few seconds, then takes it out and the sequence starts over.  Not the most exciting of toys, but I absolutely loved it.  I've been wondering lately if it was in a box somewhere, or if I had disposed of it long ago.  Its unexpected appearance brightened my Monday.

The stars have aligned...

Or maybe there is a perfect storm, since at the moment it looks like a tornado has come through much of the house.  

I'm much more apt to go at a round of Fall cleaning than I am Spring cleaning.  Add to that I have recently finished and enjoyed the Marie Kondo book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and my m-i-l is arriving next week.  Right now I am suffering some doubt that things will be presentable by then.  Only time will tell.

 Since I have an angel of cleaning scheduled on Tuesday, I am leaving the regular cleaning (vacuuming and dusting, etc) for her visit, and I'm only working at decluttering and organizing.  Well, except for getting crazy with the pumice stone the other night.  

Today I came across some time capsules packing boxes, that have apparently been in storage since two or three moves ago.  I took photos, because these are ones my husband packed...and labeled.  He is a pretty good packer...after all this time and all the moves I didn't find anything broken...but he is an atrocious labeler.  For pretty much our entire marriage I have teased him, because he is apt to label almost everything 'Glass Dishes,' and it could mean anything from actual dinnerware to clay flower pots (complete with dirt).

These two boxes were actually pretty accurately covered by their 'glass dishes' label.  There were quite a few pitchers, a gravy boat, a canister set, and casserole dishes.

But wait.  There's more!

I thought for sure I had gotten rid of this Corningware coffee pot years ago.  It was a wedding gift, and I don't think it has ever been used for coffee.  Now I recall that Carey would never let me donate or otherwise dispose of it, because he loved to use it filled with water and boiling on the stove with steam coming out of the spout to set creases into his cowboy hats.  Ummm...I haven't seen him wear a cowboy hat in about a decade and a half.  Maybe because his steamer was packed away!  LOL  

Interesting little pottery whiskey jug.  I bought it at an antique store, because I liked the design.  When I unpacked it today I noticed that it is from Nelson County, Kentucky; a place I had never heard of back when this was packed away, but  since then I have spent months at a time there on more than one occasion.  

And last but not least, this hardly belonged in a box of 'glass dishes.'  Kenny!  Long time no see, buddy.  :)

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up says to expect a proper clean out to take about six months.  That rings so much truer to me than the organization programs on television where everything is perfectly organized within the hour program.  

At the moment, the back of my car is full of boxes and bags to drop off at Goodwill.  I plan to continue with the decluttering, so I'm sure you will be hearing more about it and what interesting things I unearth.  :)