Tag Archives: I’m a slob

December 5, 2018 · 4:03 pm

Today’s Project – Scrubbing the Tiled Areas

We have about half of our first floor done in tiles – walk-in pantry, kitchen, dining area, utility room, and two half-baths. I have been working on this project all day and am about half finished.

I scrubbed all the counters, polished tables, cleaned window sills, harvested lettuce, put out a few Christmas decorations, etc.

 

This is the kitchen. I’ve scrubbed everything up top now, and the stove parts are in the dishwasher.

 

This is looking from the kitchen out toward the dining area. (You can see my lettuce plants in the background.)

 

These are a few of our Christmas decorations on the divider between the dining area and the kitchen.

 

This is the dining area and my moved-inside-veggie garden. I still have lettuce and some celery plants.

The next step in today’s project is to vacuum all the tile and then mop.

I’ll try to take pics of more Christmas decorations when the light changes.

I hope you’re having a good day, too.

 

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November 26, 2018 · 2:41 pm

Truths

Trees truths – I Stole This From Another Page via Kim Cummings

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November 21, 2018 · 10:39 am

I’m a “Stash-a-holic”

Believe it or not, this is a very nice double pull-out drawer inside one of my kitchen cabinets. The bottom holds cooking vessels of various kinds and stays in good order. This, however, is a horse of a completely different color, to coin a phrase.

Ziplock bags, sandwich bags, aluminum foil, etc. are stashed in here to the point it’s hard to get one thing out without other things coming with it.

So this drawer is today’s project.

 

Here it is from another angle. I would be embarrassed to show it to you – or admit that it’s MINE – except you KNOW I’m a slob and that I’m on a mission this year to go through areas one at a time, sometimes – in this case – one DRAWER at a time to declutter, give away, throw away and then reorganize our over 30-year-old home.

My husband, thankfully, is oblivious to my slobbiness, and I overlook his championship pack-rat skills, as well. While this makes for a happier marriage, it results in messes like this.

The first step was taking everything out of the drawer, cleaning and relining it.

 

This is one view of what came out of the drawer.

And here’s another. Hopefully, later in the day I can show you a much-improved supplies drawer – putting it all on the island insures that I won’t leave it until later. We can’t fix lunch unless I clean this up! :0)

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November 19, 2018 · 9:29 am

DVD Project Almost Finished

I am almost finished with the DVD project. These are the remaining DVDs that are my personal collection. These are the ones I want to keep, regardless of whether they are on the new, fancy movie storage thingie my husband got, and that we are enjoying now via Roku. Roku has made noises about not offering the access port after the first of the year. We’re not sure if this means they won’t offer it to new members or are doing away with it altogether. We’re hoping that since we have it now – this change won’t affect us. Since we have been on the wrong side of percentages in the past, I’ve elected to protect MY group by keeping the physical DVDs.

Now we have four empty shelves on the left side of our TV,

and at least 3 on the right side. It’s nice to have the freedom to rearrange our ‘stuff’ now. :0)

Meanwhile, I THINK I can finish going through the remaining DVDs in the office today, either listing them on Amazon (we’ve sold 7 so far) or bagging them up for a donation to our local library for their next fundraiser.

If all goes as planned, we’ll be making donations to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith, and the library in Greenwood tomorrow.

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November 18, 2018 · 1:55 pm

Phase 2 – Shoe Shelf and Closet Progress

After Phase 2 of my decluttering/reorganization efforts, I now have a whole column of cubbies free.

 

I put three pairs of boots on the shelf above my tops and scarves, but the whole shelf on the other side (not pictured) is empty, as well.

 

After getting into my ruthless mode, I am donating 12 pairs of shoes to the Veterans Thrift store. I still have more shoes than any two feet can wear, but – HEY – I’m worth it!

Phase 3 of this effort will be putting things ON the shelves above my clothes and the empty cubbies, but that is a low priority thing.

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November 18, 2018 · 12:45 pm

Two Project Day

 

THING ONE:

I told you recently that my husband got a new gadget that allows you to record all your DVDs on it and play them back whenever you want through the TV. There is access to it via Roku, and we enjoyed watching one of our collection last night.

I’ve been working on a project to go through all the DVDs in our collection (hundreds!) and SAVE the ones that are mine personally. (I don’t really trust the new gadget and would be happy to simply play my movies when I would like.) The others I’m looking up on Amazon to see if we can sell them. The ones that remain I’m bagging up to give to the local library for their next fund-raising project.

I’m trying to go through several stacks each day. Most of ours appear to be ‘ancient’ as far as selling on Amazon, so most of them are going to the library. I’m trying to finish this project so that we can make a donation the week after Thanksgiving.

 

 

THING TWO:

Yesterday I showed you Phase I of reorganizing my too-many-shoes. We built and installed a 7 foot long shelf along one closet wall. We put it up high enough that I can store shoes on the floor under the shelf, as well.

Today’s project is to try to get ruthless. One can only have so many combat type boots in a lifetime, for example. I love boots of all kinds, so this will be a difficult assignment, but I’m determined to get rid of a BUNCH of pairs of shoes. I have a leaf bag, a pad of paper and pen ready to go upstairs and get started.

Again, the goal is to have a good-sized donation ready to take to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith by the week after Thanksgiving. I’ll try to take a pic of the finished shoe shelf by the end of the day.

Wish me luck!

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November 17, 2018 · 4:10 pm

Shoe Shelf Project

I have too many shoes. I’m really trying to go through and donate some of them, but I really have trouble parting with them. I’ll get more ruthless later, but right now, My closet was being taken up by too much wasted space.

I asked my husband if we could build a shelf along the wall about 14 inches up from the floor so that I could put shoes ON the shelf, as well as UNDER it. Yesterday we got a nice board 10 feet long and 12 inches deep. We cut it into 4 pieces: one for the shelf and then three supports. I painted the pieces yesterday so they would have all night to dry.

We installed the shelf today and I’m busily scheming on how I want to rearrange things. :0)

Here are some pics of how it was BEFORE –

This shows you that I’ve been trying to store shoes, purses, health supplies, too-small jeans and shorts, shoe inserts, and shawls on the top-level above my hanging clothes and scarves.

 

I have two columns of cubicles, but ALL were filled with shoes.

 

 

Ta da!  This shelf is 7 feet long and 12 inches deep. You can see the supports that hold the shelf up high enough along the wall I can put shoes under it, too.

 

Until I can force myself to get rid of more than the 3 pairs I’m donating so far, these are most of my shoes. I still have a couple of cubbies that have shoes in them, plus one shelf of combat boot type shoes along the top of the opposite side, but I was able to completely free up four cubbies after storing purses in some of them. I’ll probably refine this further by at least moving the summer shoes to the closet where I have my summer tops.

I was able to empty one full shelf above my clothes on one side of the closet. I moved my purses to some of the cubbies.

I realized I was starting to ‘stash’ and make excuses for what I was keeping, so I stopped for the day, but I wanted to show you that we made significant progress in making my closet much better!

 

 

 

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November 12, 2018 · 11:26 am

Project for Today – 11/12/2018

World Arts Me

 

I’m in the middle of “PHASE 2” of going through our house with a fresh eye, trying to purge, donate, give away, clean, and reorganize things room by room, one cabinet or drawer at a time so as not to be completely overwhelmed.

I made it through PHASE 1 – and we have made lots of donations to the Disabled Vets Thrift Store and to our local library to use for fundraising. Our house is better for it – better than it’s been in years. I’ve made a pact with myself that I will do this at least once every 30 years or so…. :0)

Today’s project is the double cabinet under the sink in the kitchen. I have stashed as much as I can in there now, and it’s to the point where I can’t get anything out without several other things coming with whatever I’m looking for.

 

As you can see, it’s been time for a clean-out for quite a while. Last time I did this, I added the two storage bins to help a bit, but they are overflowing.

I have everything out of the cabinet now. My husband awoke from a nap in his chair, going into the kitchen to heat water for some hot apple cider. He asked, “What’s happening?” seeing all the ‘stuff’ on the kitchen counters. I assured him that it would all be ‘healed’ sometime during the day….

I’ll try to post a pic later, and hopefully, you’ll be able to see a difference.

 

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November 7, 2018 · 12:03 pm

Sand/Water Blasting and Bulldozing…

Sun Sentinel

Actually, although I DO sandblasting on glassware and tools in the shop, and water blasting on the deck, concrete, and more, I am using the kitchen sink and cleaners for today’s project of scrubbing out all our trash containers, putting in trashcan liners (as I SHOULD have long ago) and putting things back together.

I’m getting several messages from this project –

  • I’m spending much of the day doing something I COULD have avoided if I had put trashcan liners in all the containers when they were clean, umpteen years ago
  • Scrubbing out trash cans is a LOT of work
  • Putting the clean trash cans with fresh liners back gives me good exercise – particularly the ones that belong upstairs
  • We have a LOT of trash cans! Since I’m scrubbing them all, I’m counting – and we have 21 trash cans inside this house!

I have SIX remaining to scrub, line, and put back.

If I still have energy, I’m planning to clean out the double cabinet area under the kitchen sink. (Can you imagine – things tend to fall out of there whenever I try to get something!)  :0(

With these two projects for the day and my 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer, I can feel good about my activity level today.

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November 4, 2018 · 12:47 pm

Sunday’s First Project

World Arts Me

It seems that everywhere I look in my house – or outside, for that matter – many things are calling to me, saying things like, “I’m choking on the dust!” “I’m going to fall all over you the next time you try to get something from this shelf!” “Hellooooooooo! Are you still there?”  “Feed me!” “Clean me!” “Water me!” “Cut me down!”  You get the idea. Most of the time I’m able to ignore things, but every once in a while, I feel guilty and attack something.

  • One day this week I finally cleaned our ceiling fans – we have eight of them inside. (I’m still ignoring the ones in the garage, porch, and deck, and I’m not even THINKING about the ones in the shop.)
  • Yesterday I cleaned the three-window-combo in our dining area, then ended up cleaning other stuff…
  • Today I tackled our “back” bathroom. This one is off our utility room. I use it daily after breakfast to dry my hair, put on makeup, etc. The cats also have their litter box there – in case a need arises and they happen to be inside and no one is reacting to their pleas to go out.

Since this bathroom is right next to the door to the garage, my husband and I put up 2×4’s flat on one wall, then painted them white to match the wall, then put up a gazillion or so hooks to hold our hats, gloves, etc. years ago. Later, we added a couple of short shelves, since the cabinet under the sink is small and we needed more storage space.

Since then, the shelves had become a catch-all for cleaning supplies, paper supplies, make up, an electric razor plus attachments for cutting hair, and more. All were studiously ignored, so there was a layer of dust on the top shelf, and there was so much on my make-up and toilet paper shelf that the things threatened to tumble off onto the floor if I wasn’t really careful when I picked something up.  Cleaning the actual shelf was impossible.

I decided to move a small table with storage under it and a drawer into the bathroom. This has been in our foyer for years and years, acting as a catch-all for books we’re going to donate, clothes we’re giving away but haven’t gotten into big leaf bags yet, and more. Everyone who comes to visit comes through our garage, so we were able to ignore this problem area, too.

 

It may be odd, but I have some wonderful art work by friends in this bathroom, as I get to enjoy them every day this way.

 

This is the sink that has a cabinet under it, but no drawer.

 

This gives you an idea of our storage system for gloves and hats.

 

This is the small table that used to be in the foyer, plus the cats’ box.

 

There is never enough room to store scarves…

 

And here are the infamous shelves whose items were threatening to jump off and dump themselves on the floor. I separated my makeup into things I dash on every day and other things for when I want to get more serious in the bag on the shelf above.  I put the back up stuff in a gallon storage bag, and the everyday stuff on a pretty dish I have. Now I can clean under things quickly. :0)

And why didn’t I do this years ago? One of the big mysteries of life….

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November 3, 2018 · 1:18 pm

Clean Windows!

We’re having a truly gorgeous day today, and it’s supposed to rain late tonight into tomorrow morning, so we’re trying to take advantage of it.

Several years ago we replaced our 30-year-old windows. We’ve been delighted with both the lower heat and air bills, but also the QUIET we have now. I also love the fact that, when I’m not being a lazy slug, I can actually clean both sides of our windows without going outside.

Since the dining area windows are a bit laborious, I asked my husband to help me. I took everything off the window sill, and then we took down the cafe type curtains that run along the top.

Then, we actually have three windows here, all of which open like cabinet doors. I can move them back and forth, cleaning both sides until they don’t show any large smudges.

The window outside the bottle feeder for squirrels, and the occasional bird who is brave enough, gets pretty yucky because neither the squirrels nor the birds care where they spit the seeds out.  Most of them fall straight down onto the deck, but since they spit in whatever direction seems good at the time, a lot of it lands on the windows. I notice it a lot because it’s right in my line of sight looking out in the mornings.

 

Here’s a view from the other side of the dining area. Now we have an unobstructed view of whatever squirrels and birds are out there, but also the trees in the valley beyond, which are changing colors now.

This was enough window cleaning for me, today, though.

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November 2, 2018 · 12:57 pm

Today’s Project

Hansen Wholesale

We love fans. We sleep with a floor fan and ceiling fan, even in the winter when we turn our electric blanket on. :0)  We have an attic fan that we figure is worth its weight in gold. We installed it when we built the house in 1987 and it has worked flawlessly ever since, allowing us to open our bedroom window at night in the summer and turn on the fan, bringing cool air in. Ahhhh.

We love to open our front and back doors and turn on the ceiling fans, bringing in a lovely cross breeze, airing out the house.

We have eight ceiling fans in the house, not counting the garage, back porch, or deck. I’ve swiped at them from time to time, but they haven’t been seriously cleaned since 1492….

They are on my list today. I recently cleaned the one in our bedroom. It was quite a laborious job, since it was thick with accumulated dust and grime. I ended up climbing up on a ladder with a wet cloth, moving it S L O W L Y across the top of the fan blade, careful to keep all the ‘guck’ in the cloth. I then climbed down, rinsed out the cloth, and then came back to seriously clean that blade. We have 5 blades per fan, so it was a good amount of exercise before the fan was clean.

Now multiple that times 7 more fans…

If I weren’t such a slob things wouldn’t get this way. By the end of the day, I hope to have all eight ceiling fans ready to be ignored for the next umpteen years. :0)

I did find an Unger Ceiling Fan Duster

I just ordered from Amazon. Once I get them clean, I SHOULD be able to dust them from time to time without causing the dust of the world to fall on my head…

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October 24, 2018 · 3:30 pm

Bad News and Good News

MLive.com

The BAD news is that someone in South Carolina won the grand prize in the Mega Millions game last night.  :0(

The GOOD News is several-fold:

  • I have tickets for Power Ball that will be decided tonight!
  • My friend, Marsha, and I reconnected!
  • I just had a really good session of yoga, and my husband did some sit ups!
  • I finished cleaning off the table beside my chair in the living room and the ‘go-out’ table in the dining area.

I don’t have a ‘before’ pic of the table by the chair in the living room, but here it is cleaned off –

 

 

 

Here is the BEFORE pic of the go-out table between the dining area and the utility room with the door to the garage –

 

 

And here is the way it looks NOW –

 

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October 15, 2018 · 9:57 am

“Closet” Project Almost Finished!

Pesquisa Google Pinterest

 

Actually, yesterday was the biggest push on this. My closet is as organized now as it ever gets – cool and cold weather clothes in there now. I filled a whole leaf trash bag with clothes that were TOO LARGE yesterday – my reward for the day. I’ve spent SO many years moving too-small clothes back and forth, ignoring the problem. The past couple of years I’ve only moved the ones I had SOME chance of getting into by the NEXT season, or things I really loved that I just couldn’t face giving away. As I told you yesterday, I’m still grinning that a deep purple sweater with leather front decorated with leather flowers finally FITS!

The remainder of the closet project will be done today, since it’s STILL raining and too cool outside for comfort  (45 degrees F.)  I moved the warm/hot weather clothes into the guest room closet. I’ll get them arranged a bit better, with room for our son to hang stuff up when he visits (sometime this winter!)  And THAT will finish the closet project.

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August 7, 2018 · 5:48 pm

Closet Purge/Reorganization Project Finished

I have now finished going through my closet with my hot weather clothes, all my shoes, purses, scarves, etc. For me, this is good. Before, my shoes were all over the floor, for example. To the right of the shelves you can see my scarves and a hint of my purses.

 

My shoes are actually in the shelves for shoes now!

 

Casual tops are on the top. Dressier (as far as I GET dressier) on the bottom.)

I’ve tried everything on and have brought a LOT of stuff downstairs and dumped it in the foyer corner until I start listing and bagging things for donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. THAT’S for another day, though.

I’m going to go put my feet up and dive into another book. :0)

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July 31, 2018 · 12:40 pm

Project for the Day

I got six of these fabric bins so that I could do a better job of storing Afghans, blankets, throws, and quilts. I have shelves upstairs, but I want these to stay clean. Living up on top of a ridge line means that whenever doors are opened (50+ times a day letting doggies, cats, or people in and out) dust blows in. No matter what I do, I’m always finding dust all over everything. I refuse to dust and vacuum more than a couple of times a week, so we live with both dust and animal hair.

These bins seem like a good way to store my extras dust-free. They have zippered tops and open up nice and wide. They have a plastic ‘stripe’ down the front so you can easily see what is inside. I’m hopeful that these will be at least part of a solution to my storage challenges.

 

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July 8, 2018 · 5:13 pm

I’ve Earned my Salt Today

“To be ‘worth one’s salt’ is to be worth one’s pay. Our word salary derives from the Latin salarium, (sal is the Latin word for salt). There is some debate over the origin of the word salarium, but most scholars accept that it was the money allowed to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt. Roman soldiers weren’t actually paid in salt, as some suggest. They were obliged to buy their own food, weapons etc. and had the cost of these deducted from their wages in advance.”

I learned this phrase from my parents and just now realized I had no idea where the phrase came from or if I were using it correctly. (My parents meant “earning your food and upkeep.”)

I’ve been working most of the afternoon – inside – because it’s way too hot to be working outside at least until it’s almost dark.

amazing-creature.blogspot.com

The main thing I accomplished today was cleaning the floors on our first floor. I vacuumed the tiles and then mopped. (Pantry, kitchen, dining area, entryway to living room, two half-baths, and the utility room.)

I then vacuumed the carpeted flooring (office, foyer, and living room.)

We’re much better than we were, though it’s never all clean at the same time. I feel much better about things, though, and that’s good for the day.

I’m feeling as limp as the sweet puppy above, so I think I’ll get a bottle of water and go put my feet up awhile.

I hope you’ve had a good day, too.

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April 23, 2018 · 5:25 pm

Good Day

Yesterday I was really good.

I scrubbed our kitchen within an inch of its life, moving everything, wiping it all down, scrubbing the stove and running its parts through the dishwasher, scrubbing the dining table and its lazy susan, the go-out table, the buffet, etc. and finishing up by vacuuming the pantry, kitchen, dining area, hallway, utility room and two half baths.

Later on, I listed the office supplies we were donating to the Veterans Thrift Store and bagged them up to take to Fort Smith today. I also continued reading the articles on the Nutrisystem site in an effort to know all I can before we start.

I’ve made up for my efforts yesterday by basically being a slug today. I haven’t accomplished much at all and even took a nap after we ate a late lunch.

The sun is finally shining after several days of really dark days with some good rain, so I’m feeling my spirits raise, as well. I hope you’ve had a good day today.

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April 20, 2018 · 2:19 pm

SERIOUS ‘Un-Filing’

tedlilyfanclub.blogspot.com

 

I just love this picture, so I had to put on MY serious face in order to tackle – and FINISH – going through the last 4-drawer file cabinet in our office this afternoon.

 

I’ve told you before that I’m a lousy housekeeper. I’m in the process on decluttering/purging/donating/throwing away over 30 years of ‘stuff’. I’ve finished PHASE I (with the exception of the basement, garage, and shop, because I foresee some REALLY serious discussions about what stays and what goes with my husband. These are on the ‘ignore’ list for now.

PHASE II started with going through our office again, this time concentrating on the drawers and shelves not done last time, plus the file cabinets (we have two 4-drawer file cabinets, one 2-drawer cabinet, and two file drawers in my desk.

The picture above shows you the obsolete files I removed from the file cabinet. It doesn’t show you the pile of hanging files, file folders, labels, etc. that also are out of there.

  • I’ll run this pile of ‘stuff’ through the shredder.
  • I’ll make a list and bag up what we’re donating to the Disabled Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith.

Other than the computer switch we’re suffering through right now, we’re pretty well fixed in the office now!

My husband is working on writing programs that will make backups of each of our computers, storing the backups for mine on his computer and vice versa. We still have the MAC to my left on the counter, waiting to be wiped and sold, the tower for my new system on the counter to my right, waiting to be moved under my counter and all the wiring rerouted and neatened up, and then another computer he’s working on in the corner that goes with his ham radio set up. When we get all this organized, the office clean-out project can be considered finished (except for HIS shelves, which are on the ‘ignore’ list. :0)

Progess is being made in the Lewis house!

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March 20, 2018 · 10:38 am

Delighted and Appalled

Dyson Animal Ball Series

This is the later version of the Dyson vacuum I have. I’ve had it for several years now. Each time I use it, I’m delighted – and appalled – at all that I empty out of the cannister.

I KNOW I should probably vacuum every day, particularly since we have two shedding dogs and two shedding cats (the fish don’t shed, thank goodness). The truth is that almost everything takes precedence over house cleaning.

I’ve been noticing that our carpeted stairs were needing attention. Today was the day. I used the battery-powered portable Dyson that hangs in its charging center in the pantry. I can use the top, along with a couple of attachments, to clean the stairway. There was a bunch of matted hair in the stair creases (is there a name for this, other than crease?).

I first used the whisk broom, vigorously attacking the creases. It worked well. Dog and cat hair was flying off the stairs onto the foyer carpet.

Amber was in the office, but noticed me when she heard the sound of the whisk broom. She came running and saw furballs flying in the air. She snapped one out of the air and ate it. She thought it was a FINE game and smiled at me, wagging her tail. I kept her amused the whole time I did the first part of the stair cleaning. I have no clue how many furballs she ate…

I’ve now finished vacuuming with the hand-held Dyson and the crevice tool, plus the stairs tool, and then the foyer and living room with the Animal Dyson. It looks much better now.

I’m still delighted at the way the vacuums work. Dyson makes really good products. But, I have to tell you, when I empty the cannisters, I’m also appalled at all the dust, dirt, furballs, etc. that were on our carpet before I started. I know I’m a lousy housekeeper. I’ve told you I’m a slob. But this is powerful evidence that I speak the truth. Thank goodness I have good equipment when I finally bestir myself to use it!

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February 26, 2018 · 11:39 am

Feeling Lighter

arts-kids

We just got back from taking another donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. We took 9 large leaf bags, so my art room is definitely feeling lighter. It’ll feel even lighter when we take the two large bags of trash I added to our regular tonight!

Now that the decks are cleared a bit more, I can concentrate on starting to put things where they will live. I’ll probably shed more, but the majority of the give-away or throw-away portion of the purge and clean-up is done.

Yesterday I finished reorganizing the hallway outside the art room. Quilts, afghans and comforters are now all bagged up and on the shelves that formerly held art supplies. The sheets are kept behind a shower curtain across the shelves to keep the dust down.

I’m excited about finally getting to reorganize some things because that means I’m at least one day closer to being able to actually USING the art room to make something!

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February 25, 2018 · 11:10 am

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

Garrett’s Moving & Storage

This isn’t my art room, but I guess it COULD be.  My husband came in last night, hoping to see a good amount of progress. However, this is one of those projects that looks worse until it’s completely finished.  He looked shocked, and then, trying to say something tactful, managed, “I guess it’s got to look like an explosion to show you’re doing something.” (He’s sill alive, so I guess it worked.)

I’ve centralized our quilts and comforters storage, pulling things from our bedroom, the guest room, and two cedar chests. I should finish the reorganization of my linen closet area in the hallway today. I’m reorganizing the art room closet, as well as the main room, so things that come out of there are going

  • into a donation bag
  • into the trash
  • onto a table in the main room until I make a place to put it

I also took everything out of a drawer in the drafting table. I was looking for a key for the cedar chest under an art room table. I didn’t find one, but when things go back in the drawer, it’ll be much nicer. :0)  It turned out that I didn’t NEED the key for the cedar chest! I pulled it out laboriously (the thing really seems to weigh a TON). I found that you push IN the area of the keyhole and lift up on the lid at the same time. Wallah! It was filled with ‘stuff’ of all types. UGH. It is now empty, pushed back under the art room table, with a FEW large things that need to be flat on top – at least for the moment.

The plans are to bring the bags of trash down to be put out tomorrow night, AND to bring down the donation bags that we’re planning to take to the Veterans Thrift Store Monday or Tuesday.  Those two things will clear the decks for more rearranging of the stuff remaining in the room….

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February 24, 2018 · 11:27 am

That Awkward Stage…

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I have several shelves inside the art room, inside the adjoining closet, and outside the art room in the hallway completely cleared now. The result, after 8 leaf bags of donations and two of trash, is that the art room – right now – looks worse than when I started  ( if that’s possible.)  It certainly looks as if a bomb hand landed when you open the door…

I’m telling myself firmly that I AM making progress.

Today I’m going to start putting some things away in the place they’re going to live. That should clear the decks – if only a bit – to make it so I can find a chair to sit and rest on from time to time.

One weird problem I didn’t foresee – I have a cedar chest that has a cushion top that I got from my mom. It weighs a TON, more or less. I don’t want to get rid of it, so I put it under one of the tables in the art room. It eventually was buried beneath lots of wonderful sheets of posterboard, large frame mats, and other stuff over the years. I uncovered it yesterday. I then proceeded to pull it out from the wall a bit and open it. I couldn’t! It’s locked. I have no clue where a key is. I’ll look around today, but I’ve already talked to my husband, asking him to use his nefarious lock-picking skills, to open it for me. It may be completely empty OR stuffed. I don’t have any idea which. Today the mystery will hopefully be solved.

You won’t see pics until I can at least get around in there without falling on my rear. I’m still hopeful that the project will be substantially, if not completely, finished by the end of the weekend.

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February 23, 2018 · 12:34 pm

And the Clean-out of the Art Room Continues

Mairtown Kindergarten-Ephemeral Art

I love this photo.

Yesterday I told you that I thought I had maybe two more leaf bags of things to donate to the Veterans Thrift Store and then I could begin cleaning and organizing. I filled both bags and am still going – if not STRONG – still going.

Something nice is happening, though, as I go through things.

For awhile I was sad because I seemed to be shedding ‘who I was,’ as well as ‘stuff.’  It was hard for me to give anything away. I might need it for something….

Now I’m actually making some good decisions on what I really enjoy doing, and would like to continue doing. An example of this is painting glassware. I’m thinking of new things to do, new designs to try. We have a sand blaster in the shop and I’m looking forward to ‘frosting’ some designs I cut out, plus I find I really enjoy trying to etch the glass with my little dremel tool.  I would like to watch some YouTube videos of someone who knows what they’re doing and then see what I can do.

Once I decide that I no longer really need to do an art form, I find lots of supplies and tools to give away. I’m actually feeling freer – eager to get things organized so I can play again.  I’m hoping to gather the last of the donations from the art room finished by the end of the week, if not before, so I can then figure out where I want to put things. Meanwhile, I have several fun ideas rattling around in my head – giving me motivation to keep on keepin’ on!

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February 18, 2018 · 11:44 am

Art Room Clean Up Progress?

Well, I was planning to show you pics of a couple of tables I’ve managed to clean off in the art room. So far I’ve gathered two large bags of things I’ll donate, plus a nice big bag of trash to put out for the trash people tomorrow.

I brought my husband in to show him my progress last night right before we went to bed. I was thinking he would notice how clean two of the tables are. He looked around and said, “You’ve got a lot more work to do, don’t you.”

I’m not admitting defeat here. I’ll just keep going up there, deciding what I can get rid of, and keep on keepin’ on…

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February 17, 2018 · 11:55 am

Slogging Through the Art Room Clean Up Project

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I’m having to do really short sessions on cleaning my art room. I keep getting distracted when I find something interesting I didn’t remember I had and wanting to do something ‘artful’ with it, instead of continuing to go through things.

Last time I got the idea for a new line of stationery, note cards, thank you notes and greeting cards. The idea is rattling around in my head, plus I’m dreaming about it, so I guess I’ll need to make time and space to at least get started on the idea soon, but I really need to get the art room ‘healed’ first.

So far, I HAVE cleaned off my drafting table. If you walked into the room, though, you wouldn’t be able to tell anything else had been done. This is the kind of project that looks worse before it even THINKS about getting better.

I’m going up there now to see what I can do….

I would appreciate your sending good wishes, persistence, and focus in my direction today…

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February 12, 2018 · 10:21 am

New Purging Project Starts Today – My Art Room

I converted our third bedroom to be my art room. I can create to my heart’s content (when I can make the time and have the energy).  I consider it a treasure trove of wonderful ‘stuff’ I can use if/when the creative bug grabs me. Between projects, though, I tend to just open the door quickly (the cats try to dash inside the minute the door is cracked) and stash whatever it is, thinking I’ll get to it later. This is the result of all that stashing.

I really have no excuse, other than being a slob. My biggest problem when I try to go through things and clean in there is that something grabs my interest and I want to sit down and play with it.  :0)

 

Under all this is a nice drafting table.

This used to be a dressing table when it was a bedroom. It is mostly set up (under all the ‘stuff’) as a jewelry making center and wrapping center. (I know – it’s hard to believe.)

 

This table is for alcohol ink creations, drawing, etc.

This is an area where I keep art supplies.

I have shelves on both sides of the drafting table.

The last time I cleaned this up, I was mainly straightening things. This time I’m going to concentrate on purging (donating things or throwing away), THEN cleaning, and THEN reorganizing.  This will definitely be a multi-day project.

We have the truck packed with a big donation from the pantry purge to the Veterans Thrift Store in Ft. Smith. When we get home, we’ll repack the truck with all the trash bags from the same project, hoping that the good trash people will take them all.  THEN I’ll start making more…

 

 

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February 11, 2018 · 1:23 pm

Pantry Project is Finished!

Recently I showed you the NON-FOOD side of the pantry. Here is the FOOD side – mostly – except for the very top shelf.

 

Today I went through the top shelf mainly. We just bought replacement flood lights for an outside corner of the house. Today I found that we HAVE some…. I found a lot to put in the Veterans Thrift Store donation area, a lot to throw away, a lot that needed to go elsewhere. I then thoroughly cleaned the top shelf and then reorganized it. There are still two containers holding miscellaneous small light bulbs, but we won’t have to paw through them to find a regular replacement light bulb anymore.

 

I bought and used a lot of see-through plastic bins to help me organize things. We also have small ‘critters from time to time, and these will help us move things quickly to clean, plus The critters may decide to go elsewhere when they find it’s hard to get to anything edible now.

 

My husband made some special can shelves for us several years ago. We have these labeled, so we can quickly find the veggies or soup we want. We put new cans in the back of each partition, so the older ones keep moving to the front.

This is a picture of the non-food side of the pantry.  I can now just walk up and get the small appliance I need, rather than having to stand on my head to get one out of the cabinets in my island.

I’m pleased to have this much better organized than it was before. Even my husband noticed a big difference, though his main focus was on what I did with his ‘chip food group.’

The next thing I’ll need to do is list and pack up the things for the next donation to the Veterans Thrift Store. We’ll need to make this donation tomorrow or so.

 

 

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February 10, 2018 · 1:12 pm

Pantry Project – Day 4

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This is Day 4 of the Clean-Out-The-Pantry project, and I HOPE it will be the last. I’m hanging in there, but I have to admit I’m pretty bushed. I now have 7 large trash bags in the garage to go out Monday evening, and we haven’t started gathering the ‘regular’ trash for the week! We do have several things to give to Methodist Church’s food pantry when I get finished, and I’ve gathered several things for the next trip to the Veterans Thrift Store.

One thing that has helped is we got 6 large plastic see-through bins so I can put like things together, such as sugar substitutes, or low carb baking mixes, or different kinds of flour. I used 4 yesterday and we went back today – since we’re due for freezing rain all day today into tomorrow, and shopped for groceries, too – to get 2 more. I THINK that should finish it. It will certainly make cleaning easier in the future.

Other than my husband’s sacred ‘chips and crackers food group,’ we’re pretty much down to things we can/should eat now in the pantry. Things won’t be so jammed together and it’ll be easier to find things.

If I finish today, I’ll post pics.

I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

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February 8, 2018 · 10:41 am

Another Exciting Day at the Lewises!

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I wish that I could tell you that exciting things are happening at our house, but it ‘just ain’t happnin’ as Arkansans say.

My husband will probably work in the shop again, working on his welding lathe. He’s had to make almost all the parts, and he’s done a beautiful job. He has the main part of the tool welded together, painted, and on casters with brakes now. He’s having to carefully put the long 2″ in diameter solid tube of metal on the lathe today because it has to be exactly 2″ in diameter, and there are places where it is over that. This means it won’t go inside the 2″ hole in the tool that it has to, so he’ll have to carefully cut off the parts that shouldn’t be there, whittling the piece down to as close as 2″ in diameter as he can get it. He’s heating up the shop now. I’ll take progress pics soon and post them.

I’m making slow progress on my clean-out-the-pantry project.

I have discovered in all the cleaning out/purging/donating/reorganization stuff I’ve done this year, that I try to have one area serve way too many purposes. I’m trying to consolidate and relocate stuff that ‘shouldn’t be there’ more than anything. Hopefully, this will result in my being better able to find things going forward.  (An example of this is I had two over the counter meds on the shopping list for this coming Sunday. In going through things yesterday, I found we didn’t need to buy them – we already HAD them!)

 

Another example of my lack of organization was that I keep buying another package of clothespins, which we use around here for all sorts of things other than hanging laundry. I had them ALL OVER different parts of the non-food side of the pantry. I’ll probably never need to buy another one, along with good bottles of shampoo…

I went through both of these bins, throwing away expired meds for both humans and animals and reorganizing the rest and labeling them.

 

At least you can see that some of the shelves are cleaned out. I’m heading back in there in a few minutes to continue my slow, but steady work.

I hope that YOUR day is more exciting than ours….

 

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February 7, 2018 · 5:46 pm

Pantry Project – Day One

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I did three sessions on my cleaning out the pantry project. So far, it looks worse.

I’ve thrown away a bunch of stuff, started gathering stuff to donate, and have reorganized some things in bins, but there is ‘stuff’ still on the dining area table and unless you know where to look, you wouldn’t know anything had been done in there. WHEW!

One good thing – I certainly got my exercise today.

This is one of those projects where it only looks better when an area is completely redone. That won’t come for at least another day or so. I’m concentrating on the non-food part of the pantry first. There is a LOT to go through, so I may not be posting any pics soon – at LEAST until I get the non-food part cleaned and reorganized.

I’m trying to keep the kitchen so we can still cook, make hot drinks, feed animals, etc., with an area clear for doing each activity. It seems impossible right now, but little by little, I’ll get it done.

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