Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2023

savingholmes

Loving all the gardening talk. Go for it with your ideas they sound lovely.

SandyShores

We don't have a huge garden, but its surprising how much time, money and energy it has taken to get to this point.  We're now at the point where we need to consider every purchase to see where it will go, but gardening (or plant buying) really is a bug.  Someone gave me a rose cutting and I'm excited to see new growth on it.  Also the £7.50 plum tree from Asda is starting to look very healthy, along with the supermarket basil I split into bigger pots.  I'm pleased to say all the plants are behaving and doing their thing now - we have flowers, fruit, new shoots, growth, insects and I'm sat here listening to the most beautiful bird song.  Music for the soul

LadyWithAPlan

How lovely and I am wishing you many plums in the future ! 

SandyShores

LadyWithAPlan said:

How lovely and I am wishing you many plums in the future ! 

I didn't mention the apple tree!  Last year they never grew beyond marble size and then all fell off.  This year, fingers crossed, they are at least table tennis ball size.  Although I have to say that I don't mind sharing with the wildlife, I've had to stop feeding the birds temporarily as we've had four herring gulls visiting the garden.  According to the net they are protected because like many species they are reducing in numbers, but I've had to draw the line here - four very large seagulls are a bit much for our small plot. We are about 17 miles from the nearest coast but apparently that's not unusual.

savingholmes

I'd not be happy about the gulls visiting either. Glad you are having fun in the garden still. 

SandyShores

Thanks @savingholmes the seagulls went, but then I noticed a couple back in the garden earlier this week so I shooed them away and they seem to have gone again now thank goodness.  

I've been busy organising lately and have completed: wardrobe, kitchen sink cupboard and under stairs so far.  Its been fairly MSE as I repurposed a cube unit from the office, and then purchased another (£30).  I also repurposed some nice sized bird food tubs I'd been 'saving' as they felt too good to throw away.  The cleaning cloths and products fit really well.

I keep opening cupboard doors to look at my handy work, its lovely

I used to hate throwing things away, but my clutter was very organised/tidied away so it was a huge shock when we moved house the first time and things just kept coming out of cupboards like a magicians hat!  These days I'm inclined to be 'less is more' but I always hesitate before spending money on storage solutions as I don't want to fall into the trap again of tidying clutter away neatly.  But I've never gotten around to organising what I do have, so its great that I'm finally on a roll.  A good time to crack on with the rest of the house.

The office will be next so I made a decision and ordered a bookcase (£40) - it means I can start sorting through the piles of books/papers and decide what will go or stay.  My next major purchase will be a smaller desk (£200 so probably next month) and then I'll need to decide whether to keep my kallax unit or buy something else.  I was a bit too ambitious initially with the size and amount of furniture that would fit, but I've sold/changed a couple of pieces and think my current plan will work.

The final hurdle will be the garage - more difficult as 'Mr Shores' and 'organising' don't go together.  I'll need to buy another set of hooks, but will be able to sell one of the shelves once we've decluttered so hopefully not too expensive.

SandyShores

Update, had a bit of a sort of the garage this afternoon while Mr Shores was out.  All the painting things are now on two shelves.  I have half cleared another shelf ready for the gardening stuff, and then a couple of things can go in the loft to create a shelf for things like car washing equipment.  All that's left in terms of clearing is for Mr Shores to sort out his tool shelves.  Its all just crammed on there - no way he can find anything, and its so annoying when you want a nail or something - just easier to go and buy new.  So that is going to be my weekend task, along with sorting the paperwork from the office.  Really pleased to be able to feel close to finishing these tasks.

savingholmes

Well done on the organising. It makes such a difference longer term. I still need to let more go... 

SandyShores

savingholmes said:

Well done on the organising. It makes such a difference longer term. I still need to let more go... 

Its taken me along time to get to this point, you'll get there too.  

SandyShores

I made a good start on the office at the weekend, there are still two boxes of paperwork to tackle but I'm getting there.  I also need to sort out getting rid of the old desk, and then I can think about buying the smaller desk.  That will be the last piece in that jigsaw before I can start properly organising and putting things away / on the walls.  There will be a desk area for me, a sewing table, and the kallax unit will go on its side to store sewing things but with the top for the printer and for packaging up any sales.   

The garage is getting there, but requires Mr Shores' input to sort through his tools.  I have a couple of ideas to move around the content of his tool shelves, which will create more space and order.  Its a slow process, but as long as they are all on one unit, and we can access things like nuts and bolts when we need them, I'll be happy.  I've almost cleared one shelving unit off, so I'll be able to sell that soon and change it over for a set of hooks.  

This organising feels all-consuming at the moment, but I sometimes wonder/worry what I'll do with my time when everything is organised.  But then I realise that its a constant clutter battle, and that I don't have time to do everything anyway, so it could be amazing.  Plus alongside focussing on decluttering, the mortgage is being paid and going down - so once everything is organised I'll then be able to focus on being mortgage free again.