My mother was a great one for idioms...(a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g. over the moon, see the light ); many of her favourites live on in our family through my usage and at times, also my daughters use such sayings as well.
So let's see, what's an example?
How come when the tomatoes being sold in the shops are between $8.98 and $9.98 per kilogram and my homegrown tomatoes are stubbornly green? When mine ripen you can bet that the shops will lower the prices to as low as $1.99 per kilo!
Even though I do realise that probably the farmers' crops aren't ripening quickly either and supply is low, forcing the prices up, that's surely an example of Murphy's Law, a saying which is used a lot ...' a supposed law of nature, expressed in various humorous popular sayings, to the effect that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.' lol
Now one saying that my mother didn't use to my knowledge is 'there's an elephant in the room'. Its meaning, '... is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed", is quite relevant to me I think...I'll try to explain. I've decided to work through Forever Organised's 31 Days of Decluttering, with a few changes to suit my circumstances.
So far I've decluttered shoes, appliances, magazines (and some paperbacks) and some chipped mugs and glasses...
The gardening mags were in a crate in the built-in wardrobe in one of the spare bedrooms and I can honestly say that since I put them there a few years ago now, I have never gone back to refer to any of them! While I was removing the mags from the cupboard I noticed a wire hanger on which several men's belts were hung. A check with DH revealed that none of the belts fitted him any more...so out they went too!
Now the items that I've been sorting out in the last few days were not really that cluttered because at various times over the last few years,I've had fairly ruthless 'purges' of unwanted/unnecessary items. But there is definitely 'an elephant in a number of rooms' and it's my craft stash. At various times I have worked at sorting out the room that I call my sewing room, especially when it was needed to be used as a bedroom for extra guests...I've given away fabrics that I know I won't use, but...well you probably know how it goes :-). Being empty nesters means that I've spread my craft materials into other spare bedrooms...
IKEA Expedit shelves and cubes in one spare bedroom...
The shelves in one half of the built in in another bedroom aka sewing room...
More shelves with cubes of mainly yarns, plus colour coded mohair stash in striped bags on top of the shelves...
Same room's built in...yarns and fabrics are in one half with Christmas decorations and DH's excess shirt collection in the other half.
So during this 31 days, I would like/need to decide on some targeted areas of my crafting storage and then decide what I can realistically use...you know it's all about the SABLE principle...stash acquisition beyond life expectancy!
Day 6 on the decluttering poster is 'Guilt Clutter'...my next post I will write about my interpretation of that.
One coffee mug that will be repurposed as yet again I couldn't part with it. Given to me by a friend one birthday, the much used and loved mug lost its handle after a year or so of use...ahem...that was possibly 13 or so years ago. It has survived 2 house moves and a number of decluttering sessions and survived yesterday's too. But now it will be half filled with pebbles, then potting mix and then I will plant one of my new succulent cuttings in it.
So next time...guilt clutter...what do I think it is and yes I do have some! lol
7 comments:
Very brave showing your craft stash, love your storage shelves Maria. My work table in the craft room has become a storage facility of late. I've attacked quite a few things on that list recently, but I have trouble parting with my old home and craft magazines. They are out of date but still, I hang on to them :-).
Now you've got me guessing, because I thought your stash photos were your "guilt clutter"! I know mine is - I can't believe how much fabric etc I have accumulated that has turned up as I empty my house.
That mug is quite adorable - great idea for a cactus pot though!mmm got me thinking about Guilt Clutter...I don't think its going to be craft related .. . maybe my Guilt Clutter would be threads-it used to be nail polishes.
Beware .... No. 25 could be a headache !!! It really warmed my heart to see the pics of your 'stuff' - very similar to my storage system so its nice to know I'm not the only stash-a-holic. Good luck with your 31 days ..... be brave :)
At least your craft stash is nicely and tidy stored :) I started on the list with the shoes, but I have not finished yet. Not because there is so many, just that there is too much else I want to do LOL . God luck with your decluttering! I think mine will take 30 months or so :)
Hi Maria you are doing so well and are inspiring me,i will be doing this as soon as i get back from holidays,i have the list all printed out,thankyou Maria,yes i love that mug also,lol.xx
Oh dear. Maria you sound so much like me and all of the reasons for holding onto stuff are mine as well. I have managed to declutter a lot over the last few years by using one strategy - it gets 2 chances to be used and if the third time around it hasn't been used out it goes!! I have even just put whole boxes of craft stuff that has not been unpacked from a move about 15 years ago into the vinnies trip without opening it!! One thing I do know is that we are not alone!!!
Post a Comment