From the Weekend

It's like a river.

From the Weekend: Mom's Pantry

The school my nephew attends gifted my mother with boxes and boxes of food and household supplies. (My mother is raising my nephew. He turns eight on Christmas eve.)

I went over on Saturday and cleaned out her pantry closet of old, expired cans (most dated 2013) and put in the new stuff. (One whole shelf is just soup!)

(Sorry the pics are so blurry. I think my camera battery is beginning to fritz.)

She is so happy.

From the Weekend: Laying the Floor

That's Mom putting some sweat equity into her dressing room.

From the Weekend: Across the Street

At the house across the street from us, someone left out a bag of garbage.
He pawed at it. Marked it. Then I came out to the front porch to take a photo.
He left, looking at me warily as he did so--quite put out.

We have an Urban Coyote study and tracking program.
I reported it.

I am actually glad we have a neighbourhood Coyote. You should see the rabbits!

From the Weekend: A Whole Lot of Plannin' Goin' On

This was supposed to have been a picture from my trip to Vancouver.
But it was cancelled.

A couple of days spent planning at my desk is more my speed right now, anyway.

And what I need.

From the Weekend: Busy, busy...

Happy.

From the Weekend: Returning

Again, anew, is
the summer solstice a time
to begin again.

From the Weekend: On Mother's Day

My hero.

He bought a belt sander today to work on the table top.

From the Weekend: Quieting continues

I am utterly in love with space.

From the Weekend: Decluttering the Basement

The first time I approached this pile, I set my timer for 15 minutes and went in for the easy stuff.

Empty boxes? Break 'em down for recycling. Things that belong somewhere else? Take them there. That was the first fifteen minutes. It didn't look like I'd done a thing.

I waited a few more days--then, it was a day off: Saturday. Another 15 minutes.

I was immediately overwhelmed. I couldn't even reach the items I knew what to do with--so I went round the other side. Bam! I came across two beautiful pillows that used to be in my living room. I had no idea whether they were to stay or go. So, instead of hitting a roadblock right away, I put them aside "for later." Then, I was staring at a pile of fabrics--and, for me, that was easy.

I figured I was done for the day. But later, I had a few minutes before dinner, so I set the timer and headed back down. When the timer went off, I was beginning to see some progress, so I kept going. I continued working past the timer for about another 15 minutes.

There are so many decisions to be made when you're decluttering! It is not cheating to stick with the easy stuff--to ease into it, as it were. (Sorry about that.) It's weird. It's like dealing with a muscle. Once your decluttering brain gets warmed up, it gets easier and easier--even as you begin to wade into the more difficult stuff. I think that's why it's a good thing to do "declutering binges" --like doing  a bag a day for 40 days, or a certain number items per day for a month (The Mins game), or by going through the whole house, category by category, for about 6 months (the Kon-Mari method).

Guys, I don't know what I am going to do once I get to the bottom of this area. I was reading over this article today and realised I have nothing, really nothing I need to get rid of according to a list like this. 

From the Weekend: Last Weekend

This is actually a photo of my desk from last week.

Why am I showing you a picture from last week?

Because that's when I decided to prep like mad for this week. I did my menu plans for two weeks (last week and this), made two meals instead of one on more than one occasion, and I got all caught up on the laundry so that this week would be worry free.

Why all the prep? Well, finally, I am getting more hours at work--and I did not want things to fall apart at home.

We'll see how it goes. If it works, I may have a strategy for coping with work and home.
Wouldn't that be incredible?

From the Weekend: Scenes from Decluttering The Dining Room

Where we were Friday afternoon.

I wanted some room to breathe.

That's all.

Just a little space in this room where I hang out on the computer. Where I write. Plan menus. Plan my day. Pay bills. Keep the budget. Read. Sew. Work on my scrapbook projects (though they be few and far between).

I decluttered like a madwoman this weekend because I wanted this wall--without its shelves--to make sense.

Does that make sense?


This room is small. It is cramped. The furniture climbs every wall.

To the left of the desk:

To the right:

I secretly long for a real dining room. A dining room with a sideboard and flanking chairs. The top of the sideboard would be arranged in perfect symmetry with matching lamps at each end. A big painting in the middle. A table with flowers. A room only used three times a year--now that would be luxury!

But it is what it is.

And it had a whiff of "museum." You know what I mean? Way too many things that have nothing to do with my life right now. Too many homeschooling things left hanging about. A project I may or may not pursue. The scrapbook supplies. (I haven't scrapped since starting--and stopping Project life for the first 15 weeks of last year.)

Old planners, old notes and books and projects and classes I had clearly finished. The low hanging fruit. Paper. In binders.

Always start with the low hanging fruit.

Paper on the left is all that remained to keep from these binders. As soon as I'd checked I had some of these on the computer, I let them go, too.

The entire contents of the three inch binder were put into recycling. All of it--all of it had been homeschooling things. For one split second, I considered keeping the maps so I could fill them out--and then realised how crazy that was. I was able to empty the Simplify 101 class notes in the three binders on the left into it--and I was glad to. I refer to those notes--and I was always hunting the binders down.

I just kept finding more and more to let go of:

 I can't even remember what it all was!

An over full wastebasket. (This was all emptied into the recycling bag.)

Hooray for an empty shelf!

There was even more low hanging fruit on the Expedit. I washed out each cubby as I emptied it.

Here's the thing.

I left the tough stuff alone.

I thought about it.

I took some time and looked through some of my scrapbooks to ask myself whether I want to continue or not.

I thought about resuming my project.

I got advice.

And I kept asking: Do we have enough space yet?

This is 36" x 48" engineering print.

I love the drama. But, in the end, it demands a different room, I think.

And what we have is this room.

This one is 24 x 36. It is taped to an Ikea Ribba frame.

Some side by side before and afters--just 'cause they're fun.

This was a wonderful transformation.

 The change is a bit more subtle here:

Well, damn.

After all that.

Looking at this, now, side by side like that? I don't like it.

I can do better.

From the Weekend: Scenes from The Living Room Cure

 I wonder who the maid was who realised this thing would put her out of work? (I confess, I am writing up this post right after watching Downton Abbey.)

 I used it to vacuum the sofa--both with the slip cover on and with it off. I used it to vacuum the wood floor and the rug (twice). I used it to pick up some spilled soil off of the coffee table (I need to get a better potting mix for the cacti). I even used it to vacuum the chair and all the pillows.

That white slipcover is an absolute bear to get back on the sofa. I had to leave off the cover I usually place on top of the slip cover because it has a large tear. We are having an incredibly long warm spell and the dog has taken to digging in the puddling snow and mud. I've washed the seat cover twice in three days. I have to do it again. And I need to get that cover--an old hotel tablecloth--mended asap.

( The sofa is rather blinding without its navy blanket. The blankets were in the wash when I took these.)

I discovered another use for a microfibre cloth--the TV. Slightly damp, it cleans up the TV screen beautifully. It's also a great duster--and with a little glass cleaner the perfect thing to clean the windows and with a little Murphy's oil, a great cleaner for the wood.

I spot cleaned the carpet with good old fashioned vinegar and hot water.

I did the whole room piecemeal, over several days as I had to work throughout the weekend. But a little bit every day gets a lot done, even though there's no great whiz bang of effort--nor of satisfaction, at that.

From the Weekend: Scenes from the Bedroom Cure

Found on my husband's nightstand while curing the bedroom.

I hadn't really intended to do the "cure" quite this devotedly. I'd intended to do it the way I always do on-line events like this--pick my own tasks and do them at my own pace. Instead, it seems I am doing almost all of the assignments--and when they are assigned, too.

Along with hundreds of others all over the world, I cleaned my bedroom this weekend. I started Friday and finished Saturday.

The assignment was simply to clean. I took it a step further and decided to incorporate one of Joshua Becker's assignments from "A Simple Year." To wit, to declutter this room as one of two areas of my home and get rid of anything "unnecessary."

Once again, I started with a room badly in need of both cleaning and decluttering.

This was taken from the doorway:

This is rather embarrassing, but I had let things go--I knew the big clean up was coming and I was working 'til 10 pm all this week---excuses, excuses.

Immediately to the left of the door, we have the dresser. (That is the closet door to its left)

Then, the loveseat/dog's bed. I have had this piece of furniture since a room-mate dragged it home from a University reading lounge back in the eighties. (Room-mate and University shall remain nameless.) It's an incredibly sturdy and heavy piece of furniture.

On to the bed wall. It is a lovely little alcove just big enough to feel cosy.

And then, to the right of the bed (and tucked behind the doorway) are the shelves.

Oh, the shelves.

I have been thinking about culling their contents for months, now.

Easy to purge: the Simple Scrapbooks magazines I've had for years--but never referenced. Time will tell if I regret that decision, but I doubt it. My scrapbooking style is as simple as can be--and I don't really need books for ideas, anymore.

More difficult, however, were the books dealing with my faith. I have had periods of intense belief and periods of indifferent, almost non-belief throughout my life. I am in one of the latter right now--and I am not completely at peace with it.

When I started purging the books --the books on what it means to be a Christian woman, the books on prayer and the books on God's character, and so on, I was scared. Really scared. I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know what I was doing. Was I saying good-bye to ever believing in God again? Was I committing to being an agnostic? Was I turning my back on God? I wasn't sure I was ready to do that, but those years I was a practicing Christian were truly some of the worst years in my marriage and family-life.

I decided to keep two C.S. Lewis books, Mere Christianity (which I have read) and The Problem of Pain (which I think I've started but not finished). I committed to reading the latter within six months. I will decide then whether to keep my books or let go of them.

It also occurred to me that if I ever do return to my faith--I just might want a different library.

Marie Kondo would have me pile these books on the floor. My knees argued back--and won!

As I considered each book, eventually I found myself picking up each one, holding it in my hand and asking myself, "Does this bring me joy?" Then, if the answer was no, I put the books in the box and said, out loud, "Thank you for your service."

And so I built a pile of boxes outside the door.

As you can see, I decluttered more than just the Christian books.

The rest was easy.

I decided I didn't want to see these boxes underneath the love seat anymore.

What did they store? One box was full of painting clothes suitable for a range of weights and seasons. I kept something in my current size suitable for summer and trashed the rest. The other box held summer clothes for a person about eighty pounds lighter than me. I pulled out two pairs of pants and the rest went out to the hallway.

I vacuumed everything that could possibly be vacuumed, including the mattress and the window screen. I dusted and I dusted and I dusted. I washed the mattress pad and pillow covers, sheets and pillowcases. I vowed to buy new pillows and wrestled the duvet into its beautiful cover and put a new and better piece of fabric on the poor old worn out loveseat.

I practically have a brand new room.

Ready?

Nothing is styled. I basically finished, took photos and then rushed off to work.

And here we are, the shelves! I am most proud of these.

I pulled out a few toys I've had in storage. That duck on the bike is one of the silliest things ever.

So, there we have it.

One clean and decluttered room, ready for whatever the year may bring.

Boom da da boom.

ETA: I finally got the shelves tidied up and styled. Here they are: