Category Archives: Organizing/DeCluttering

August 1, 2020 · 3:29 pm

Today’s Project – “Go Out” Table August 1, 2020

We call this the “Go Out Table” because we stage things we need to take with us for errands, etc. It also houses my husband’s diabetic supplies. Under it is a bin with stuff going one way or the other from the booth in town I rent with my friend.

As I’m embarrassed to show you, it becomes a catch-all for a lot of other ‘stuff,’ to the point the stacks may decide to topple and slide off any minute.

This was today’s project.

(I had to slip my work on it in because my husband’s project was in the basement and he wanted my help there, too. )

My husband’s question was, “Where did everything GO?”

Now we can pick something up when we leave the house without an avalanche. :0)

 

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July 31, 2020 · 9:48 am

Thoughts on a Friday, July 31, 2020

AginginPlace.org

Today we meet our friends for Lunch Bunch. Our ‘core group’ (Linda, Kay and I) have been meeting every Friday possible for over 17 years now. “Priceless”  just isn’t a strong enough word to describe how special this is.  Others come and go. Our husbands were made honorary members of the group years ago. Linda’s husband is gone, now, but we share memories of funny or touching things from the times he was able to join us. Kay’s husband has joined us recently. He isn’t working now, laid off because of the virus. He is at the age where he should have retired long ago, but loves the work. He is working now to define himself as much more than his work, and I’m delighted. He has a wonderful sense of humor and it’s fun to hear what he has to say. My husband has been a member for several years now. He presides over his ‘harem,’ ( :0) )  though now graciously sharing that fantasy with Bud now. We enjoy catching up with what the others have been doing, or hearing about plans for the future. We have borne the sad news together over the years, and have helped each other deal with whatever has happened. We had to miss a few Fridays due to the virus. Then the restaurant owner was allowed to serve us outside at picnic tables. Now we’re back in the restaurant, wearing masks in and out. It’s good to be back.

We will have to set our humane trap again tonight because it looks like we have ANOTHER raccoon. This has been a record-braking year. We have relocated 8 raccoons so far, and it LOOKS as if we will do it again..

We had quite a storm yesterday evening. LOTS of lightning, loud thunder, wind, and heavy rain for about half an hour that I was aware of. No damage, though. We are due for more today. Our grass and plants will be happy. My husband is frowning as he imagines the grass spurting up again.

 

This is yesterday’s tomato harvest. We are enjoying fresh sliced tomatoes for part of our lunches and dinners every day. It has been glorious. Even if the harvest stopped suddenly – as it sometimes does – we have been very lucky this year.

Not sure what today’s project will be. I’m trying to choose one area to ‘heal’ every day. Yesterday it was my kitchen desk and the shelves above it. I also spent a lot of time scrubbing one of the downstairs bathrooms. I have LOTS of good choices, as I am a slob. I’ll report later on what the choice is.

I’m doing really well on my exercising. Being able to add a gold star to my desk calendar is motivating for me – a person who hasn’t fully grown up. They motivated me as a child in school and I will still get off my duff and go earn one now. I’m giving myself one for each session on my elliptical trainer in the garage and each session of yoga stretches and abdominal exercises. So far, this is an 8-star week. I’ll go for 9 and 10 today.

I hope you have a wonderful day today, productive and enjoyable.

 

 

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July 30, 2020 · 2:51 pm

Today’s Project – Thursday, July 30th

I have this nice little desk in our kitchen. The shelves above are a combination medicine and first aid supplies area. All too often it becomes a catch-all area, piled up with various things.  Today’s project was to clear off the desk, go through the things on the shelves, look for expired meds, and reorganize.

 

Things are more organized now and much cleaner. :0)

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July 30, 2020 · 10:01 am

Raccoon # 8

Live Science

We caught raccoon #8 of the season last night. We have just come back from relocating him where he will hopefully find the rest of the “gaze” of raccoons we have driven to their new home out farther in the country. Even though Amber barked at him obnoxiously, he didn’t lose his cool.  It looked like rain was coming soon, so we relocated the raccoon before having breakfast or doing anything other than feed animals.

Now we’ve had breakfast and I’m enjoying a cup of coffee as I type this.

We have doors open so far this morning, enjoying a nice breeze through the house. We are due for storms today, with a bigger chance this evening. I will get out, check the garden, and see if we have more ripe tomatoes to bring in soon.  Of course, now that we are home for the rest of the day, the sun has come out. :0)

I am doing well on my efforts to exercise this week so far. I have done my elliptical trainer in the garage, plus my half hour or so of yoga stretches and abdominal exercises every day. This is a 6-gold-star week so far! I will try to earn 2 more today.

The wonderful person from Tri-Hill Pest Control in Fort Smith is due here at 12:30 today. 1308 Zero St, Fort Smith, AR 72901. (479) 782-2847. He is a super nice man – PLUS since he has come and treated the house quarterly, we haven’t had a bug or pest problem. (Other than my husband.) This is a wonderful company.

Today’s project will be my kitchen desk. We use this, and the shelves above it, to have medicines and first aid stuff on hand, too, so it’s a busy area. I will try to get this area cleaned out and reorganized today.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

 

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July 28, 2020 · 9:42 am

Tuesday

Inspirationfeed

In a few minutes I will drive down to get our mail and put out our trash. When I get back, I’ll spend some time on the elliptical trainer in the garage. I’m HOPING to do 20 minutes today, but I’ll do what I can and call it a win for the day. My motivation is high today. I was planning to do the elliptical MWF this week, but I’ll see what happens. :0)

My husband wanted to eat some of the South Beach pancakes this morning. The last time was a disaster, so we decided that the NEXT time we tried them, “I” would be the one who caused it. I mixed up the two packages (one for him and one for me) according to the directions. The batter was too thick. I added 2 more tablespoons. The end result was good. We used a little butter and some sugar-free syrup. It was a nice way to start the day.

I will check the garden and also see if we have ripe tomatoes to gather. It has been so hot that I have spent the minimum amount of time outside as possible. We have a 50% chance of rain today – particularly this afternoon – so I’m hopeful for a bit of a reprieve.

I am trying to choose something in the house that needs ‘healing’ (cleaning out, reorganizing, cleaning) each day. I’m not sure what today’s project will be yet. So MUCH to choose from! I’m working on large leaf bag #3 of things to donate to the Disabled Vets.

I’m re-reading book # 47 (out of 49) of the J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) “In Death” series. #50 in the series has been ordered and will arrive soon!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

 

 

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July 27, 2020 · 9:37 pm

Today’s Project 7-27-2020

I love my recliner in the living room. Beside it, I have a wealth of things I’m either using all the time – or PLAN to use –  as I sit. And that’s the problem – WAAAY too much stuff on the table. It gets to the point where the piles start falling. This is yet another example of why I have to admit I’m a slob.

Trying to clear this off, clean the table, and make sense of what was left was today’s project.

It took awhile, and many trips to either relocate or throw away a lot of things, but here is the result. My husband exclaimed, “What is that? Is that a table?”  And yet he lives.

 

 

It is not perfect, but it’s MUCH better than it was! :0)

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July 26, 2020 · 2:26 pm

Office Project 7-26-2020

I’ve been tackling my part of our home office a bit at a time.

I FINALLY got our important records and monthly bookkeeping caught up yesterday. Today I tackled the rest of the filing, my desk, and my shelves.

 

A nice thing happened as a result of this, I started feeling the wish to get rid of some stuff!

I’m going to declare victory on projects for the day, since I FINALLY have my work area reasonably organized and clean, and I will go do my yoga session for the day.

But, I’m pleased that the urge to purge is beginning to sprout. I’ll ‘water’ it and see if I can get it to sprout, starting tomorrow.

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July 19, 2020 · 9:55 am

Quiet, Hot Sunday

Oddetorium

We are truly into summer now, with heat indices in the 105-110 range, and hotter forecast. We are very grateful for good air conditioning and ceiling fans. One of the many perks of aging is that my personal comfort range on temperatures is becoming narrower.

I will get outside in a minute, mix up a container of KillzAll Weed Killer, and spray it around the garden area. That, and seeing if we have any ripe tomatoes will be it for being outside today.

My friends, Kay and Bud from Lunch Bunch have been making me feel like a slug lately. They are systematically going through a bunch of their stuff in their home and packing it up to get rid of it. I should be doing that, but the ‘lazies’ have me in their clutches right now, and it’s all I can do to do the bit of yard work I need to, plus exercise. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Next on my personal list of things ‘when I get motivated,’ is to use the power washer. If I can get started, it’s addictive. This year I will try to start with out outside chairs. I also need to do the deck, sidewalks, front porch, and driveway pad. I’m not sure if I can clean up our stained brick in our planters or not, but I’ll give that a try, as well. Hopefully, I will get the urge soon. :0)

I hope that you have a healthy, happy Sunday.

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July 5, 2020 · 3:26 pm

Jewelry Findings Area Reorganized

This is my jewelry findings area now. You can see my wooden ‘thingie’ on the left and the tabletop filing cabinet on the right.

 

The wonderful wooden thingie now holds earring cards, labels, glue, tootpicks, glue, string, and marshmallow backs for French hooks.

 

The top of the filing cabinet has my tools, a short ruler, a cup I use for pics, a bottle of glue and some pages of stick-on bling.

 

GOLD French hooks, straight pins, jump rings, etc.

 

SILVER French hooks, straight pins, jump rings, etc. + a box of assorted.

 

Stainless steel studs, backs, clip-on findings, etc., + a couple of rubber stamp thingies that are great for carrying post earrings back and forth.

I’ll probably refine this as I use it, but I now have all the findings together and my table is clear for my calendar and office type stuff. :0)

 

 

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July 5, 2020 · 12:08 pm

Crawling Out of the Clutter

Levine Homes

For some reason I cannot explain, I like to PAINT earring pieces upstairs in my art room, but I like to put the earrings together, put the labels, on put them on cards, and take pics in our office downstairs. I really don’t have a good place to work down here, so I end up working on top of PILES of STUFF.

It started out where I had a few different kinds of findings, labels, earring cards and tools I kept these in a neat wooden ‘thingie’ I found at a garage sale. Soon my supplies overloaded its capacity and things hit the fan after that.

This is the wooden ‘thingie’ I love. I will still use it for some of the supplies.

 

 

 

Now that you are thoroughly appalled by my chaos, I’ll tell you that I have a PLAN on how to make order from it.

 

 

 

I have this nice tabletop file cabinet that I haven’t been using for awhile now. I have cleaned it out and plan to use it to make some sense out of my jewelry making supplies. I am hoping that between this and my wooden ‘thingie,’ I can access my stuff easily and have it not under foot while not in use.

This is one of today’s projects.

If I have some success, I’ll take pics and share them with you.

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May 31, 2020 · 10:39 am

Thoughts on a Sunday 5-31-2020

Penny Yaffe Krakow

We are having another gorgeous day with lots of sunshine and low humidity – a wonderful combination!  Since we have gone from dark, gray, cold, rainy weather day after day to bright, sunshiny, soon-to-be-hot weather here, today will have two projects:

PROJECT ONE:   Changing from winter closet to summer closet.

 

Depositphotos

My closet doesn’t look this bad, but it will take a lot of moving to get cold weather clothes out and hot weather clothes in. I will try, over the next few days, to try on each thing, making decisions about what to do with the things that don’t fit. Some of the things –

  • I like, and MAY fit with more lardage loss (I will put these in with the cold weather clothes)
  • will be folded up and included in the next donation to the Disabled Vets in Fort Smith Thrift Shop
  • will be thrown away.

The remainder will be organized as well as possible, in the hope I can put my hands on things quickly and easily.

PROJECT TWO – cleaning out the garden.

The day is perfect for work outside.  My lettuce and spinach are starting to bolt, so it’s time to harvest what I can and compost the rest.  I can at least pull the plants, but it may take a day or two longer to put the garden to rights. I plan to check the co-op in town next week to see if they have anything I would like to plant.

I hope that you are enjoying a beautiful last day of May, too.

 

 

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February 14, 2020 · 2:16 pm

I Found My Desk!

I told you that I FINALLY made myself quit procrastinating and got the tax prep for 2019 mostly done. I then went through the file cabinet drawers for our stock records and found something ELSE that should have been a long time ago – updating our stuff and making sure that our records agreed with our broker’s. As I was working on those things, plus getting things ready to put in the local shop for St. Patrick’s Day, I ended up ‘losing’ my desk.

I love this desk. It’s impractical, but I love it. It has a top that rolls down so you can’t see the top at all. (I had so much STUFF on it – that was impossible) :0)

It also has a bunch of little drawers, nooks & crannies, slide-out trays, etc. It even has a KEY to lock it, though I never use it.

Today was the day I was going to do two things:

THING ONE:  Go onto our broker’s website and see if I could download and print what we needed to finish our taxes.

THING TWO:  FIND my desk again.

_______________

My desk is FOUND again!  As usual, I threw away a bunch of stuff, put things back where they belonged, found new places for some of the stuff…

I was able to download and print our tax stuff, so I’m in the process of going through the packet one more time, making sure I have everything included – with the backup receipts needed, and then we will drive to Fort Smith Monday and leave it with our wonderful CPA who makes sense of all of it and hopefully tells us we don’t owe anything.

As soon as I finish going through the tax stuff, I’m planning to dive into the book I’ve been reading and enjoy!

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February 4, 2020 · 3:19 pm

Kitchen Scrub Project Finished

I had a big project of cleaning out and reorganizing our cooking and storage areas now that we are eating keto. The project started with cleaning out our walk-in pantry. We still had a lot of stuff we weren’t eating anymore. I was using different tools and appliances to cook, and was having to wade through things a lot. I finally got the pantry cleaned out and we donated a lot of food and other things.

 

The second part of the project was going through my kitchen desk area and the shelves above it (a combination medicine cabinet and first aid area.)

 

Then I went through the cabinets and shelves in the kitchen, cleaning out, gathering a donation, and reorganizing things so I can find them easily.

 

Then I got distracted because my aquarium with three goldfish kept have really cloudy, yucky water, requiring me to clean out the whole tank every week. I now have a new filter and that seems to be doing a LOT better. I may end up running TWO Filters and TWO aerators,  but so far, things are looking a lot better.

Today I was finally to the point that I could concentrate on cleaning the counter surfaces, stoves, sinks, etc. I won’t show you how yucky the top of the stove was. First thing this morning, though, I put the gas jet covers and the stove grills into the dishwasher.

 

So, right at the moment, this whole area looks as if a miracle occurred.  Things are clean and organized!

 

I have a nice kitchen. I feel embarrassed that I’m such a slob, having to devote almost two weeks to getting things cleaned out, re-organized and clean all at once.

I will make my husband look at everything today – and do the appropriate ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ before it starts getting messed up again.

The end of a project feels good.

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February 4, 2020 · 10:58 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday 2-4-2020

Listal

We’re having a cold, rainy day today, to be followed by a wintry mix tomorrow. We were spoiled by two days of absolutely gorgeous, sunny weather lately, so I guess this evens things out.

 

YouTube

Yesterday I finished taking my warm weather stuff out of my closet and putting it into our guest room closet. I had my cold weather stuff in a big tub that I stashed in my art room because we were trying to have a clear closet for the foreign student we hoped to host. My husband’s stroke changed our plans, the foreign student won the lottery on host families elsewhere – finding a perfect one for him. Yesterday I pulled the tub into our master bath where my closet is.

I was determined not to just pull things out and be done with it. I tried each thing on and then decided whether –

  • It was good and could be hung up
  • It was good, but needed to go into the dryer for a few minutes to get wrinkles out
  • It was now too large and should be donated (HOORAY!)
  • I really didn’t like the way it looked on me and should be donated
  • It was still too small and should be donated

I finally got to the bottom of the tub. I took the clothes that needed the dryer, along with hangers, downstairs and began running loads with a few things at a time. I took a pad of paper, pen, and large leaf bag back upstairs, listing what I was donating and filling the bag. I brought both downstairs. Then I brought the stuff that was now wrinkle-free and on hangers back upstairs and hung them in my closet. Today I will document the donation and the next time the weather is cooperative, we’ll drive to Ft. Smith to the Veterans Thrift Store.

Today’s project, thanks to Mother Nature giving us a cold, rainy day, is scrubbing my kitchen. Things have been cleaned out in both our walk-in pantry and the kitchen, and today I’ll do the deep cleaning it has been needing. So far, I have the top-of-the-stove parts in the dishwasher.

We went bowling with our good friends last night. We got to catch up on what each of us had been doing – with good conversation and laughs. My husband beat me the first game, but I beat HIM the second. We ALL enjoyed going to Braum’s after for ice cream. My husband wore the new tee he bought – giving both of our friends a good laugh.

I hope that you are having a good Tuesday. ENJOY!

 

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January 29, 2020 · 3:08 pm

Thoughts on a Wednesday 1-29-2020

Animals Collection

Even though it’s gray, 44 degrees, raw and rainy here today in Arkansas, I’m having a nice day, and have many things for which to be thankful.

Yesterday I opened our mail to find a pair of earrings my husband had found and ordered for me!

I just love them. It doesn’t show here, but the stones are kind of sparkly!  The design of them is giving me a bit of  a problem, though. They have a curved piece on the front that goes through the hole in your ear, and then you close the back onto the end to hold it in place. I’m having trouble getting the curved part through my ear. I’m continuing to try different techniques, but so far, no luck. :0(  I’ll keep working at it because I really want to wear them!

I’m working on a new wooden plaque in my art room. I think it’s going to turn out well, and I’m having fun working on it.

Since it’s still raining, we’re having to delay our trip to Ft. Smith to take our donation to the Veterans Thrift Store. Hopefully, we can do that tomorrow. I’m already finding more things I would like to donate, but the back of our truck will be full with what we have already.

Early this morning I put ingredients for Keto Chili into the crock pot, so we’ll have a nice comfort food type dinner this evening.

Today I’ve decided that my next clean out project will be my clothes closet. I need to move warm weather stuff out and move cold weather stuff in. I want to take my time, though, and get rid of a bunch of for each ‘season.’ Happily, some of my clothes are simply too large now, thanks to my efforts on eating Keto and exercising.

So it’s back to work now, after taking a short break. I hope that YOUR Wednesday is treating you right.

 

 

 

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January 27, 2020 · 5:59 pm

Declutter Project Progress

I’ve been working on the first area of my great ‘Decluttering Project 2020’ for about a week and a half now. Today I finally finished. :0)

I went completely through our walk-in pantry, deciding what I was using and what I wasn’t, putting some utensils and supplies in the donation pile by the front door, throwing out other things, and cleaning and reorganizing the rest.

 

I next tackled the shelves above my desk in the kitchen (a combination medicines and first aid supply area), plus the desk itself, which had disappeared under a pile of STUFF.

Then I spent a couple of days going through my cabinets in the kitchen. This is the part I finished today.

 

 

I have two nice pull-out drawers in each cabinet, but this gives you an idea.

 

 

I am lucky to have a wonderful kitchen. I feel happy that I have it better under control now and am taking better care of it.

I processed our donation to the Disabled Veterans Thrift Store today, so we’ll take it to Ft. Smith tomorrow.

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January 26, 2020 · 11:51 am

Thoughts on a Sunday 1-26-2020

Caracal Cat – Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

I just love this photo. I don’t know who the photographer is, but it was posted by Jeff Jett on LinkedIn.

Our weather is more spring-like today, and I’m really grateful. I’m a wuss about ice and snow. I love to LOOK at snow, PLAY in it, and maybe even build snowmen, but I don’t like having to worry about whether I can safely get to an appointment or not.

On my CLEAN OUT – DECLUTTER – DONATE – THROW AWAY PROJECT – 

I’ve finished reorganizing the walk-in pantry

 

Finished cleaning out and reorganizing the shelves over my desk – actually FINDING my buried desk again

 

Cleaned out the aquarium again –

My goldfish make their water cloudy really fast, no matter what I do. I don’t know if goldfish are just dirtier than other fish or what. I’m thinking about scrubbing each of them with a toothbrush the next time I clean the aquarium….

I vacuumed the first floor tiled areas this morning (pantry, kitchen, dining area, utility room, and two half baths), so today’s project is finishing the clean up of the kitchen.

I have to tell you that the past few days have been good exercise,  with all the pulling, hauling, relocating, going up and down the ladder, etc.  It feels good to see things finally looking better organized for what we need now. It’s amazing to me how much what you are eating changes the tools and appliances you need, the ingredients to cook with, and storage needs.

I hope that you are having a satisfying Sunday, too.

 

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January 25, 2020 · 3:08 pm

Today’s Project is Completed!

BEFORE

 

 

NOW

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January 25, 2020 · 12:41 pm

Today’s Project 1-25-2020

So far today I cut up raw veggies and put them in containers in the fridge for lunches and snacks and cleaned out the aquarium.  (I’ll show you pics in a few minutes.) THIS is today’s main project.

We use the shelves above my kitchen desk as a combination medicine cabinet for downstairs and a first aid station. We would like to be able to find meds quickly, since patience is not our long suit if we’re in pain, for example, or having something else for which we would like quick relief.

It has gotten to the point that if we try to take something off the shelf, something ELSE might come with it!

You can also see in the picture below that my desk has ‘disappeared.’

I will try to fix this today.

 

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January 24, 2020 · 5:38 pm

Pantry Is Essentially Done!

 

 

 

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January 24, 2020 · 2:28 pm

All You Need

SayingImages.com

We had a nice morning, joining our good friends for Lunch Bunch – good friends, good food, fun conversation, and laughs. This is a quality of life thing, getting to share some time each Friday with long time friends who mean the world to me.

Our friend Kay asked if I had an Instant Pot. I DO, but it’s been sitting on the shelf because I’m intimidated by it. (My mom had a pressure cooker years ago. I still remember when it ‘blew up’ sending bits of STUFF all over the walls, ceiling, floor, etc. No one was hurt, but it’s like it was yesterday in my mind.) I’m trying to get over my trepidation. I found out Kay has one and uses hers all the time! I’m going to get out my paperwork, the book that came with it, and a recipe book I got very soon. I’ll choose a recipe, and Kay has encouraged me to call her with dumb questions about it, plus she’ll give me tips on things to DO – and things NOT to do – while using it!

After Lunch Bunch we ran errands and I put things away, I cut up strawberries for my husband, divided up some pulled pork into servings to go into the freezer for his future lunches, etc.

I’m on DAY TWO of the great ‘pantry-and-kitchen-clean-out-and-reorganization project.’ I did the heavy stuff yesterday. I’m creating a pile of donations in our foyer to to the Veterans Thrift Store. I filled a big leaf bag with ‘stuff’ that needed to be thrown out yesterday.

Today I’m trying to finish the project – working on our medicine storage area and some other little things, and then I’ll share a pic or two.

My husband could already tell I had been working in there. He looked around and said, “Where did you put all the STUFF?” :0)

I hope you’re having a great Friday, too.

 

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January 23, 2020 · 1:06 pm

Pantry Project

123RF.com

This obviously isn’t my pantry, but it shows my feelings right now. I’m a bit overwhelmed, even though I AM making some progress (I think.)

Two years ago, more or less, I cleaned out our walk-in pantry and felt very virtuous. I’m both a bit of a hoarder and a slob, so getting the whole area cleaned out felt great. Then two years of essentially stuffing things wherever I could find a spot ensued. ( Did I mention I’m a slob?)

SO – We have been eating keto for awhile now. Both of us are very happy with the food we can eat, and I’m adding to our ‘go-to’ GOOD recipes all the time. That said, I’ve been noticing that I’m having to dig deeply to get to the things or appliances I want, and this is dumb. What I use all the time should be easily accessible.

So today I’ve started cleaning out the pantry, either giving away or storing what we aren’t using, throwing away what we’re not eating, and re-organizing the rest.  So far, I’ve spent an hour and a half, basically making a mess in there. This will improve the more time I spend in there, so I’m concentrating on not feeling overwhelmed and running away.

I am officially taking a break now and we’ll have lunch, and then I’ll do another hitch. This will probably take a couple of days. I’ll take pics when the job is finally done.

I hope I’m not the ONLY person who needs to clean stuff out….

 

 

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January 14, 2020 · 10:59 am

New Mantra

Joshua Becker via becomingminimalist

Two years ago now, I made a donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith at least once a month, every month, in an effort to declutter our home. I made a lot of progress, but I’m trying to get started again.

This month so far we have made one donation – a whole bunch of glasses – glass and plastic – that were cluttering up our kitchen cabinets and pantry. I was truly amazed when my husband brought a 5 foot long box in from the shop to use. I was amazed when we filled it almost to overflowing!  We added a trash bag with an old crock pot and an old juicer, and that it was the first donation.

I’m going to continue in the kitchen/pantry/dining area for now. Since we are eating keto now, I’ve changed the way I’m cooking. I’m going to reorganize, so that the things I use the most often are in the prime storage spaces – or, at least, that’s the PLAN. :0)

It feels good to gather things others can use and donate them.

This year I’m not going to try for any particular number of donations. I just want to make steady progress in my effort to only have things around that I use and enjoy.

 

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January 8, 2020 · 11:56 am

Hello!

Wild and Wonderful

I hope you’re having a wonderful Wednesday.

It’s nice and fall-like here, with sunshine. It’ll get to 60 today. I’m lovin’ it!

My back is almost completely healed now, so I’m very grateful.  I’ll continue to do the multiple sessions each day until the soreness is gone.

I’m continuing to gather things for the first declutter donation.

AND I’m hoping to sneak up to my art room this afternoon.

Have a wonderful day, everyone.

 

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January 7, 2020 · 4:31 pm

The Great De-Clutter – Phase 2

Deposit Photos

A year ago we made a donation to the Disabled Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith every month, trying to help others while we cleared things out here, room by room.  The reason we have so much clutter is that we have lived in this house for over 30 years now. It has a good amount of storage space, so we have made generous use of it. Both my husband and I tend to save things, thinking “we might need it later.” Needless to say, we ended up with waaaaay too much ‘stuff.’

After a year of trying to declutter, we made good progress. So I sat on my laurels and we only did a few donations in 2019. Lately, it has become obvious that we need a Phase II of the decluttering project.

This time I’m starting in the kitchen/dining area/pantry, since I realized that with our following the keto eating plan, many of the things I used to use on a daily basis are gathering dust and taking up space.  I’m going to do a big reorganization of the kitchen and pantry, putting the things I use all the time in prime storage space and moving the other things onto high shelves in the pantry. Some things I will donate.

Assuming I ever finish in this area – a BIG job – I will then move from room to room, gathering things to give away, if they can be enjoyed by others, or thrown away.

I’m not going to set a once-a-month time frame this time. I’m going to take my time and try to concentrate on making the area work better for us.

So far, we have filled a long box with glasses that were cluttering the cabinets and the pantry.

Wish me luck?

 

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November 14, 2019 · 1:31 pm

Thoughts on a Thursday 11-14-2019

wildlife-photography-awards-www.boredpanda.com

We are having a balmy day today – bright sunshine at 56 degrees F. – can’t ask for more.

A happy thing happened yesterday. I received an email from ArtFire that I had an order!  A nice lady ordered one of my mosaic Christmas Bell ornaments. After I received an answer on which one she preferred, I packed it carefully and mailed it today.

I always go around with a silly grin on my face after I receive a sale. It’s the highest compliment there is. :0)

My big push for the day is to clean up our office. It exploded recently when I was doing a lot of new projects in my art room, then trying to get the new stuff on my websites, and then was trying to get my products together to put in my new “Blasing Bright” booth locally in the Rags & Roses shop in Greenwood.  Every flat surface is piled high with ‘stuff’ now. ANYTHING more added would result in instant avalanche.

SO – I have promised myself that I won’t do another thing – other than write a few blog posts – until I transform the area from a hard hat area to what could pass for a regular office….

Wish me luck?

 

 

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November 11, 2019 · 10:40 am

Flying Hair Balls?

stormzonec

Rain, fog, wintry mix, flying hairballs, and MUCH colder temperatures are forecast for my area today. We are just southeast of Fort Smith, in Greenwood. With as warm as it has been, we don’t have to worry about any accumulation, but bridges and overpasses will get slick and it’s just a great day to stay inside.

Happily, I managed to finish cleaning out the flower planters in the front yard – 11 brick planters and two pots.  When we have good weather again, I’ll tackle the remaining brick planters and pots in the back yard.

This is Memorial Park in the center of our small ‘square’ in Greenwood. People can have memorial stones made for their Veterans and have them added to the moving display. On Veterans Day you can see the flags placed at each of the stones remembering our veterans. More stones are added from time to time. I wanted to get one made for my husband, who served for 4 years in the Marine Corps during Vietnam, but he is adamantly opposed, since he wasn’t in combat, ‘only’ on a ship offshore all the hot spots during his time. I think he deserves to be there, but that’s a fight for another day. This remembrance makes me proud.

 

Memorial Park, City of Greenwood AR

I’m going to TRY to clean up my art room today. With the combination of having a blast experimenting with the new kit of Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze my sister-in-law sent me and then taking a set of shelves out to put in the new booth at the shop in Greenwood, it looks as if a bomb exploded. I’m going to concentrate on getting things so you can walk through the room without injury and MOST of the ‘stuff’ is put where it won’t fall down. :0)  THEN, I’m hoping to PLAY some more up there!

littlekidsbigart

Also on the ‘should’ list for the day is a clean up of our office – but I’m studiously ignoring that for now – celebrating the fact I worked hard yesterday and that it’s definitely an inside day today!

I hope that the weather is nice where you are – OR that you have a nice warm, dry place to spend the day.

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June 21, 2019 · 4:07 pm

Garage Project is Finished!

Just to officially document that on OCCASION my area in the garage looks pretty reasonable, here are pics of the finished project for the day –

 

I hate to admit it, but usually I have trouble walking around in this area.

 

 

See – there IS a counter under all the ‘stuff.’  It’s a NICE counter, too – when you can SEE it….

Enough for today. It’s really too hot outside. I hope that you are indoors and comfortable.

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June 21, 2019 · 2:28 pm

Today’s Project – Cleaning Out My Area in the Garage

Imgur

I just came in from Session # 1 out in the garage. I look a lot like the poor kitty above. Picture an old lady with paper towels, a red face, and a BIG glass of ice water….

The weather folks say the heat index today is between 103 and 106, and I believe them!  I’m going to rest and drink a LOT of water before doing another session.

My area in the garage is the catch-all for everything that doesn’t have a permanent home. This includes cases of bottled water, cases of sugar-free pop, gallons of Zero Peach Iced Tea, and then the tools we have ready when we finally run out of excuses not to start the rebuild on the second brick planter that collapsed, plus bird feeders, plant food, bug killers, weed killers, planting tools, stools, roll-around stools, plastic buckets, bags of quik-crete, a new seed and ‘stuff’ spreader, my elliptical trainer, etc. etc., etc. (Aside – are you old enough that what I just said reminds you of Yul Brynner from “The King and I?”)

The other day I moved a bunch of stuff out to the greenhouse, but if you didn’t watch me do it, you wouldn’t know by the amount of stuff still stashed here. It’ll probably take two or three more sessions to make some sense of the area.  If I don’t die off of heat stroke before finishing, I’ll take some pics of the ‘healed’ area so you’ll know it’s clean and organized SOMETIMES. :0)

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June 16, 2019 · 11:52 am

Freezer Diving

Webstaurant Store

This freezer is very similar to ours. Ours has three heavy plastic bins that hang across the top.

Since things tend to go INTO this freezer and never be seen again, today’s project is to clean it out and reorganize it for actual cooking again.

For those of you who don’t know – and can’t imagine anyone having a problem like this – my husband and I have been trying to lose the lard for a bit over a year, starting mid April of 2018. We signed up for Nutrisystem. Except for planned cooking or go-out meals (one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner each week)  I haven’t been cooking. We stopped the Nutrisystem program and  have recently started the Keto eating plan. I like the idea of eating real world meals again, with leftovers, etc., but have to gear up for it.

I’ve finished PHASE I of the project this morning. Can you believe I had stuff in there from 2013? I KNOW!  :0/  I filled TWO doubled leaf bags!

I’m resting now, gearing up for PHASE II, which is trying to make sense of what is in there and reorganizing it so I can find things quickly and stuff hopefully won’t be ‘lost in the ozone’ again.  I’m hoping that I can actually move some stuff that is in our fridge freezer out there, making space for more frozen veggies and fruit INSIDE.

I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

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June 15, 2019 · 5:10 pm

Pantry is Finished!

It’s far from perfect, but MUCH cleaner and more organized than it was. It was almost like a treasure hunt. I found things I didn’t know I had!

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