Simplifying Life

ceridwen

Oh well - back to w**k (of the paid variety) today. Still - the dippy halo has worked its way back up to my waist after the Easter bit of decluttering......I think I've reached the stage now where everything in the house is organised/decluttered except the paperwork (Paper Mountain here I come - oooooooh NO! Wheres my pick and shovel?) Lots of that Paper Mountain I suspect is where I've written down all sorts of hints I've picked up from O.S. Board.

I've now got all these empty spaces - fair-size bits of floor clear/shelf space clear - now have to resist the temptation to get stuff just to fill it all up again! ......Thinks "think of the extra housework/think of the extra housework" "Think of the savings I'll be able to start getting soon - if I dont spend the money on more stuff".

Rowan9

Good for you Ceridwen - could you leave yourself a couple of stickies in the fridge etc (out of sight lol) reminding you of what you have just written? I love seeing clear spaces emerge in my house - life seems easier then. There are still some things to clear and simplify here, mainly the loft now I think, apart from OH's stuff - I have to wait until he is in the mood to declutter and then he is great - much better and more ruthless than me. I have permission to put out one old jacket of his though so feel that i am making a start.

I got Affluenza out of the library. Has anyone read it? I have skipped some of the people stories about accumulating stuff, although the first few were interesting. I think people are wakening up to the fact that owning too much in the way of house space, small possessions, big possessions etc costs a lot, both in economic terms and also regarding social factors - time lost with family as the constant strive to earn more takes over, then too tired to cook so all out for meals, shopping at weekends for leisure etc etc is actually not much fun.Ceridwen's linked article says this too. I think this is one of the really satisfying parts of Old Style - there are so many threads and links to a more calm and less rushed and 'moneyed' way of life.
Thick soup again today but am beginning to fancy a nice hot curry some time this week.
Hope everyone has a good Tuesday!
w

mary43

Since we got our 'new' old pine kitchen dresser I'm quite amazed how its not become a 'hot spot' like the last one was...............it's all dressed up with bits and pieces (clutter? - maybe - but clutter with a home), everything is where it should be ............however 'hot spots' are appearing on my desk -nothing really new there - and the kitchen table !!! Must sort that out and quick. The kitchens looking quite reasonable now and a nice room -can;t have it spoiled and when I actually look at whats there its stuff that could have been binned.............phone numbers on scraps of paper, yesterdays newspaper -and the day before...........tissue box, diary, phone book..........all these things have a place to live so why aren't they there ?
My own fault I know.............the habit of putting things down then disappearing to do something else is one I've been guilty of for a long time now.........along with OH............his coffee cups still there from this morning and he only has to turn around to see the sink !
Ploughing through yesterdays list that wasn't completed...took me an age last night to stick a cream bow on a wine bottle (part of friends birthday basket) but I did it in the end. This morning I've been 'arranging her bits and pieces in her basket -just got to put the voile round to wrap it up...........lovely piece of voile with roses on so she'll not be able to see whats in the basket straight away.

(pause to finish off the last three chocolate biscuits from christmas tin..............................)

Now have tin to dispose of that looks quite useful.............ummm.......maybe I'll put it in the back room that is currently resembling a building site (plaster not sorted out yet) Be useful for keeping my paintbrushes in.

Tin of dark oak wax is being warmed up on the radiator in the hope it will soften in time for me to finish off my little cupboard...............its got a drawer as well as the cupboard, can sit between the sofa and arm chair and maybe, just maybe, a lot of stuff that gets dumped on the coffee table will find a home (t.v. remotes, magazines etc.)

No longer 'kid free zone'.............but one has gone back to work at the request of his boss. The other eventually got to school once Education Transport had sorted out a taxi for him (they had booked one but forgot to tell them to pick out lad up......!!!!)
Now my 'use it or lose it' leave is over the phones been ringing every time I start to do something for 'me'..................ggggrrrrrr!!!!!

Oh well, such is life .................now to check my hopefully nice soft polish, finish off cupboard and wait for OH to come back and put it in its new home.
Still pondering over what to do with the plant trough................

Rowan9

Been up to loft for a rummage and to sort out some more stuff. Does anyone else's loft smell fusty and damp in the winter? I hope it isn't just me!! Threw out a sleeping bag, all wrapped up in a bin liner (been up there since I moved in here nearly 11 years ago!), all my old OU notes and essays (what on earth was I keeping them for?), an old bag (not me this time) and DD threw out loads of her old school notes (she has an honours degree now, so this was from a few years ago!). At last I have found the bag of old linen which has been up there, again, for 11 years. Some of it belonged to my mum and maybe my granny before that, other table cloths etc I bought at an auction about 20 years ago and my mum washed them all and starched them. I bought a huge suitcase full of them for £20 - some really beautiful ones. I have taken about a third of the bag down and will wash them and sort out which I'll keep. Will do this gradually over the next week. Luckily I have cleared out the bottom part of the kitchen dresser, so it can be used for storing table cloths and napkins. I love nice linen, so this is something I probably won't clear out and go for minimising.
Found a bag of my son's soft toys (he is 21) so will ask him which he wants to keep. I have 2 large teddies in the wash at the moment as he said at the weekend that he wanted to keep them.
Today we found a compass in the loft. This might not sound exciting but only a few days ago we needed one to be absolutely sure of the direction of the house for feng shui . What is they say about having to clear out some stuff in order to let new things in? I remember being in the loft last summer and threw out old photos of cousins at weddings etc and lo and behold one of the cousins rang me for first time in our lives and came to visit a few days later! We are Scottish but I live in England and she lives in Wales now.
Anyway....the loft was my bit of simplifying for the day. I feel a bit emotionally drained now and get that way when sorting through old stuff. It is good to do it though and press on - I just have to watch and not do too much.
A nice quiet evening with Elizabeth Gaskell and Wives and Daughters.
w

mary43

wmf - you have been busy - again ! Oh dear you put me to shame. How lovely to re-discover that lovely linen. Dont blame you for holding onto something like that and if you've a home for it then it my book it isn't 'clutter' is it.
My cupboard is at last finished and would have been in its rightful place but for a lot of messing about with our lads taxi being late collecting him from school, phone calls having to be made. Fast as I put the phone down it rang again.............then by the time our lad got back he was so frustrated about it all..........said he wasn't going to school tomorrow, had real teenage tantrum about it...........lol Took a while to calm him down...........still he's ok now and gone off to see his Mum for a couple of hours.
OH now in the middle of cooking dinner so he won't want to be bothered with moving the cupboard (though its sausage casserole so once its in the oven .......maybe ?? - we'll see.)
Managed to catch up on myself a bit on what wasn't done yesterday till the printer played up...........kept saying there was a 'paper jam' and there wasn't. This happened yesterday and after switching it off and giving it a rest it seemed to right itself.
Chocolate biscuits now all gone...............empty biscuit tin now to be filled -yes I know I could just throw it our but it'll be a good place to house my paint brushes and stuff inside the cupboard in the room now known as our 'building site' as opposed to store room or junk room................lol

I remember throwing out all my old school books some years ago and now wish I'd kept at least some of them to show my kids and to put with my family history stuff. But we could go on and on couldn't we, keeping this that and the other. I did rescue some toys my gran made for me and big bruv that had ended up at Mums........just couldn't see them disappear after all grans hard work and as it turned out both my kids remembered them from when they stayed at Mums......they knew which ones were there favourites so now they're living with them and not me...............lol

Bit more clearing up tomorrow in the spare room I think. Its currently home to a wardrobe and spare bed. Can't see the bed for stuff I've hoarded for gift baskets and the wardrobe holds and overspill of my clothes........half of which I'd forgotten were there. Winter coats can stay but a lot of other stuff can go and the pressies can be kept in there. At least then I'll be able to walk into the bedroom without having to tip toe over bits and pieces on the floor..............lol
But thats tomorrows little (or is it big ?) project.
Now to see if OH will put this little cupboard of mine in its place near the sofa...........................:j

ceridwen

Edited Out - Sorry

mary43

Cupboard now in its new home giving me extra storage...........drawer and cupboard space. The litle table that was there before now sits near the sofa in the kitchen (youngest son made it at school) covered in a rug type mat with a bowl of pebbles on. Now I'm left with the magazine rack (also made by son at school).............now where to put that ??? It's very obviously a magazine rack so don't think I can give it an alternative use other than catalogues that I need to refer to ..................pong of the wax polish was enough to clear my brain of thought so maybe tomorrow I'll have an idea.
Just wanted to tell you I'm up to date with my list !!!!!!!!!!!
Now I've earned some 'feet up on the sofa' time....................:j

Rowan9

Thanks for that Ceridwen - I can have a look back through the thread. It's a
l o n g thread now, isn't it???
Mary43 - well done for getting that cupboard in its rightful place!
w

ceridwen

Edited Out - Sorry

mary43

Hi all

Well so far everything on my list has a tick against it apart from one phone call which I made this morning and am waiting for it to be returned.
More bargains for gift baskets this morning from the charity shops and going by my check list of what I'm spending it'll be a lot less than last year if I can keep it up.
One lad is having a bit of a sulk at his mums and refusing to come back and go to school but the other is earning brownie points by having an afternoons work............he's trying bless him but he's a lot of growing up to do so that he can get rid of the 'attitude' problem he has.
So, at the moment the house is mine and I can have some 'me' time...........can't do what I plan to do in the spare room (shift stuff out of the wardrobe etc. until I get rid of the two fiished gift baskets up there. Then I'll be able to see whats what a bit more.

Hope you're having a good day:j