Time to hand some things on...

About 6 years ago, while looking through items stored, I came across a school uniform that I had worn during the last 2 years of high school. I don't honestly know how, or why I still had that dress! It had obviously been packed up for the few house moves I had done over the years.
 I am still in touch with a number of my former school friends and when I told them of 'my find' there was a lot of banter about my being a hoarder...but all those girls enjoyed acquainting themselves once again with that uniform that we had worn for those high school years. ( note that there was no attempt to actually wear this old dress! 😉😉😉)

It was suggested that I bring along the dress to a reunion and one of my friends offered to bring along a mannequin that we could dress it up in my old uniform...and pose for photos...

That year we posted some of these photos on our high school's Facebook page and drew lots of nostalgic comments. Many of my former students at our local primary school were also former students of my high school so comments came from different generations. One former student of mine who runs a business selling vintage household/decorating items, as well as vintage clothing, was particularly taken  with the fact that my old 1967-8 uniform was still around. This lady decorates her home with lots of vintage items and has a real appreciation of such things.
So during last year when I decided that although I was 'attached to the memories' of that dress, it was time to divest myself of it. I have lots of photos of it and that is enough.
And Darlene would be an appreciative and excellent caretaker of it, I was convinced. So I posted it to her in Maryborough. D wrote to me privately, and with my permission, wrote this post on her FB page...

So my choice of who to pass it on to, was the correct one.
Darlene posted some photos of herself WEARING the uniform. This is someone who was in Year 7 in the late 1970s and unlike my friends and I, she can fit into my uniform from my teenage years. 😉😉😉

The following photos have been posted on a blog post a few years ago but I thought I'd share them again...
Year 11 Swimming Carnival at the Valley Pool. That's me leaning on the rail in the stand and looking at the camera.

And this photo is our Grade 12 cohort of  3 classes...

So that's one less thing for the girls to throw out when I'm no longer here! Whenever that will be! 

Lent!

DH and I breakfasted on pancakes on Shrove Tuesday...yes, I remembered! Lol

And of course Lent started the next day. A friend wrote on Facebook, asking what she should ' give up for Lent'? I suggested she give up worrying...😉

Then I saw this meme! 

Regular readers would know my fondness for decluttering...so I'm doing my own version of this. I may not get to 40 bags but any bag that gets filled and leaves our home, is a bonus. Tally so far is 11. 

Another recent read...

The name Marie Kondo has been 'popping up' for a while now in some of the blogs that I follow. Marie's book, 'The Life-changing magic of tidying up' seems to have become very popular and I was curious. Not curious enough to buy a copy, but when the BCC library catalogue indicated that the book was now available, I placed a hold. I was #81 in the holds' queue, and it took a few months to get 'to the head of the line'. 

It's a tiny book compared to the other book I borrowed on the same day.

And it was a quick read. The person who translated the book from the original Japanese did an excellent job...the discourse isn't stilted in the slightest.

 But Kondo attributes 'things' with having feelings which to me was a bit quirky, but maybe saying 'thank you for your service' to a pair of shoes as you discard them helps assuage the guilt if you had paid a lot for them?? Lol

Now what has Kondo got to say about tidying/decluttering? I won't go into great details here; suffice to say Kondo has identified two reasons for cluttered houses. One is that we have too much stuff and secondly many of us don't put things away. Kondo's method is to divide possessions into her designated sections or categories, and, taking a category at a time, discard or keep. The criterion for keeping the item, is, if after you hold it, it sparks joy, the item can stay.  Kondo's method relies on discarding items first and only when all the discarding is done, start to organise the space. 

The discarding must be done in one fell swoop. 

Kondo suggests that clothing should be the first items in your 'tidying' project. Gather all items of clothing that you own into one place...the author suggested the floor...and then take each item, one at a time and if it doesn't spark joy...out it goes. Keep going until all the clothing has been examined and a decision made. And of course thank each item that you discard. 

Using this technique, Kondo then lists the other categories of your belongings...following this order, Books, Papers, Komono ( which translated sort of means miscellaneous) 

Kondo is quite disparaging about other methods of decluttering, especially any that allow you to declutter gradually...a little at a time. (I used the 30 days of decluttering a few years ago with some success, especially in organising what I kept). Kondo warns anyone who reads her book and doesn't follow it exactly...' Don't change the method to suit your personality' p 26-28) as you will fail. Oh dear...that counts me out! Lol

But...I did get inspired to declutter the linen cupboard...yeah not the correct order is it? 

The photo shows DH with the 4 large bags of sheets, pillowcases and towels that 'got the flick' and have gone in the local charity bin. Now the cupboard is manageable...there was so much crammed in there it was always difficult putting things away. We are now left with 2 pairs of sheets per bed in the house and that's enough I reckon. I also filled another bag with outfits that were bought for weddings etc and have sat unworn after the first outing,  in my wardrobe for up to 14 years...gone!! ( mother of the bride outfits bought in desperation as nothing suitable  had been found until just a few days before the wedding is a recipe for disaster!) 

And a heap of stuff has left my craft room for the same reason...not used and unlikely to be now...

Also...

I felt really good when all these kits worth a total of well over $500 went to Sunshine Linus! One lot of these quilt block kits were bought to help raise funds for Dr Catherine Hamelin's Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. But I quite disliked the fabrics and the designs in the kits...

At the moment I am working on a particular cupboard in the kitchen...the one where everything gets 'dumped' when a quick tidy of the bench tops is needed! :-/

This book has enjoyed runaway success if you look at the sales but to me it's very simplistic and Kondo obviously is not a crafter! Lol. 

One comment she made that did resonate with me was when she discussed the problem of others who sabotage a person's efforts to declutter. These are family or friends who declutter by 'dumping items' on you. My best friend has done this to me for many years. But 2 years ago, I started saying no. Best thing I've ever done! 

    

I can laugh about it now...

In the last week of October last year, I found myself displaying 'nesting' behaviours. I was feverishly tidying cupboards in the kitchen...wiping down the shelves after some decluttering and replacing items neatly. In the main bedroom, I sorted through the wardrobe and was ruthless with garments that hadn't been worn for yonks! Some items went in the regular rubbish bin, but these bags went to the charity bins at a local shopping centre. 

The reason for all these frenzied efforts was that I was heading off for that hernia repair op in early November. Somehow I had got it into my head that if the worst happened and I didn't survive the op, that my many sisters in law and various female friends of DH would come to help him and I didn't want them to go, 'Hmmm, she wasn't much good at keeping things tidy eh?' I can assure you that now my attitude is, 'So? What's it matter? And would those women even bother? Lol!! 

And also back then in late October, I was writing lists...yes me and lists...love them! 

Again these lists were what I wanted people to do in case I 'didn't make it'. I was signed up for 3 swaps so DH had email details to contact those organisers if necessary.

Then there were the directions for disposal of my yarn and fabric stashes...

And the directions for the stash of yarn and the blankets made by joining donated squares...

The fabric stash...

Note the special mention of my collection of children's fabrics including my stash of fat quarters of all the fabrics in Jodie Carleton's Backyard Circus...

Instructions for the blog...and a reminder of what remains in an insurance policy after cashing in units...

So...nothing about the whereabouts of items that had belonged to my mother, first mother in law and my 2 grandmothers that I would want to pass on to my girls. No information of any accounts that might need paying...oh just heaps of things that I didn't think of! Lol. Good job I survived isn't it? Lol

And of course, I have more room in my wardrobe and nice clean and tidy kitchen cupboards!!

Flowers that remind me of when I was a girl...

Just like when I was a 'young whippersnapper', I've been picking bunches of nasturtiums from the garden and enjoying these bright and cheerful flowers.  These plants would come up on their own each year and 'sprawl' in drifts around my parents' big yard. 

Another flower that I associate with my childhood is the sweet pea. I can remember my mum comparing notes with the neighbours as to the right time to plant the seeds, (St Patrick's Day) and I also remember how much the adults would groan and complain, if the sweetpeas did not produce prodigious quantities of flowers on  the trellises that the plants climbed over. As a young bride I tried to grow sweet peas but with very limited success...and I very quickly decided to grow other annuals instead :-) . 

But at some local markets in the last few months, I've been able to buy bunches of sweet peas...sweet!!

The bunch of sweet peas (and ferns) I bought at the markets in August....so pretty! My mum used to cut ferns to include in her vase arrangements too...

The bunch/posy that I bought at the markets last week...this month the posy included 2 gerberas; one a double and the other just out of view, a single. 

My mother used to also pick geraniums and arrange them in vases too...hmmm, might be nice to do that too as those plants are starting to flower well...

One of the variegated geraniums grown from a cutting given to me by a knitting friend. 

I continue to declutter using www.foreverorganised.com.au 's suggestions. I skipped bath toys decluttering (we don't have any, lol) and went straight on to 'Magazines'. I had a big cull of these earlier this year but still  had some gardening mags on a shelf in the room DH and I use for an office, some craft mags in the bedroom I use for sewing/craft storage etc and these were bundled up this morning ready to go to the op shop charity collection bin. Ruthless perhaps, but realistic...I won't use them. 

The next item on the list is 'coffee mugs'...again, earlier this year, I packed up a big plastic crate of surplus coffee cups and asked the girls to take any they liked...they didn't want any so DH took them to a nearby Red Cross op shop. However, I do have, on very high shelves in a kitchen cupboard, some coffee mugs that I think I love...but they are missing handles...and are maybe chipped???? So a bit of being sentimental here...ruthlessness may be needed again I think...:-)

A challenge...

I've been 'trawling' through photo folders stored on the computer and also on the portable hard drive, looking for photos for the DVD compilation for DD2's 30th birthday party soiree ...we have so many photos...groan! As well as those stored in digital form, I have been looking through the boxes and albums of old family photos, and if I'm honest, it has been fun; especially discovering 'long lost' photos.

One digital photo that I discovered was something that I've obviously saved from some source on the Internet...it's a poster and I have completely forgotten how I found it...possibly from reading about it in someone's blog post. Luckily the website is on the poster, 'Forever Organised' and I've been back checking it out again. I like it! And I decided on Monday that I would follow the poster...

Clutter in homes is definitely a 'first world problem' and I've been decluttering on and off for a few years now but some more certainly won't hurt!

Some of the days don't apply to me such as decluttering bath toys, Kid's clothes , Kid's Artwork and Kid's toys, but I figure I can use those days decluttering other things. :-)

So Monday I went through the basket of shoes and the boxes of shoes in the wardrobe...so many that I don't wear as they are shabby/ worn out/ heels too high/ they hurt my feet/ affected by water in the rainy years of 2010 and 2011 etc...gone. (into landfill unfortunately as the op shops would not want such battered items)

One pair though will go to the op shop...a pair of Mary Jane's made by HushPuppies, which seemed comfortable when I tried them on in the shop but hurt my toes when I've actually tried to wear them. Hardly worn and just taking up space!

Tuesday, I decluttered appliances. Even though I decluttered appliances the year before last, I found some more not being used...a pre loved coffee machine that my BiL gave us when he bought a new one. We have never really been able to make a decent cup of coffee using it and I ended up putting it away in a laundry cupboard...unused and taking up space.
Languishing unused in a kitchen cupboard was an electric frypan...not used for at least 10 years, so time to go!

Last year our 30 year old clothes drier started making horrible noises...(our neighbour and children used this appliance more than us) so we stopped anyone using it for safety reasons but didn't replace it...it just sat in the laundry...not any more!

 The appliances are being kept downstairs at the moment until the coming Kerbside Cleanup; we will put them out on the footpath then, in case anyone wants elderly appliances. During these cleanups it's a fact that people go around checking out other people's rubbish and helping themselves to anything they find useful.
Today is 'bath toys' so I must think of a substitute...I have lots of items and places to declutter! :-) Hmmm...maybe DH's shoe 'collection' needs a look at!

There was chaos for a while...

I've written one post about being busy knitting items for the Art Show ($3500+ was raised which thrilled the organiser) and I alluded to the fact that other things happening were also taking time away from blogging. There was really only 2 words to describe things around here for a while...absolute chaos!
The fridge was in the lounge, as were the 2 buffet hutches.

The contents of the latter 2 items were in boxes in the second and third  bedrooms as well as in the bedroom which is our office, and even in the bathroom! The dining room table and chairs were stacked on the veranda under a dropcloth.

Another desk with lots of craft materials was also on the veranda with a blue tarp thrown over it...

We had to have help to move all these heavy objects and we couldn't pick and choose when that help was available...sooooo everything was moved a week before it was needed to be moved. The weather had turned cold, so eating the evening meal on the veranda had become a bit chilly. So DH set up a folding table in the empty dining room.

I also did some stitching at this table so the Day-light had to be dragged back from the front bedroom....

Now you've probably guessed it was some sort of home improvement and you would be right! DH and I had decided that the cork tiles in the dining and kitchen area were a bit worse for wear...DH calculated that the tiles were laid 22 years ago, long before I came on the scene. They were quite pitted and the floor was also a 'patchwork' where changes to the layout of the kitchen necessitated cut out pieces of tiles to be inserted in gaps.  So the answer was a complete new floor...
The day dawned when the floor would be put down...the young man arrived before 7 am and unloaded some long thin boxes...

 The new flooring we chose was grey gum timber...

 The rolls of underlay which was laid straight on the cork tiles....

 The floorboards locked together very quickly...

The transformation took place rather quickly...the new boards flow into the kitchen area...

My BiL helped DH move the furniture back so that just left all the items in boxes to be replaced in the cupboards....Then DH had the rather smart idea that while the hutches were empty, it would be a good time to get the room repainted, so he organised his nephew who is a  painter, to do this. 

Michael mixing in the tint...

Michael's FiL gave him a hand that morning...

We had to wait 24 hours after the painting, before moving the furniture back against the walls. Then it was time to put items away. It was an excellent time to do a bit of decluttering and DH and I were quite ruthless. The local Red Cross Op Shop got a large box of china/collectables and the Lifeline Collection Bin at the local school got 3 bags of books from the bookshelf in that room. And of course there were some items that were despatched to our rubbish bin too!
I took the opportunity to do a 'Winter' display on the open shelves as well...the 'Summer' theme had been put together before we went away in mid March, so a change was in order. Note the lovely Winter themed mini which Anthea made for me in the Seasons' Swap last year.
The dinner set is one which I bought in the 1970s and added to over the years until Wedgewood discontinued it. In the last 12 years it has mostly been hidden away in cupboards so making displays in these shelves brings out such items. I know that I have far too much china but I'm not ready to get rid of this set...:-)

PS. I LOVE my new floor!!! :-)

Decluttering: the 'series'!...and a giveaway :-)

How many times have I mentioned 'de-cluttering' in posts? Lots! that's for sure. I've de-cluttered my wardrobe and the cupboard in my sewing room over 2011.And I've been working enthusiastically on  this task over the last few weeks. I think that it's a 'throw-back' behaviour to when I was working. The long Christmas school holidays were always my 'spring-cleaning' time. I'm not alone in this almost passion for de-cluttering. Tasmanian Minimalist is a dedicated de-clutterer with a number of posts with suggestions/ideas and challenges on this topic. 'Tas' also has a list of items that she has removed from her home day by day over the last year. When you read through it, you wonder just what has she got left lol!

A bag being filled with items for the Lifeline Bin

DH and I would have probably 15 of these large containers; gradually emptying them.

The book which has made a lot of sense to me

On my knitting forum page that I belong to, there is even talk of de-cluttering there. This de-cluttering calendar  link was included on the forum page today and looks quite useful. Through the reading of blogs I became aware of this book, 'It's all too much' by Peter Walsh and on the spur of the moment, I bought it earlier this year through an online bookshop based here in Australia. When it arrived I thought, 'Why did I waste my money on this?' I even commented that it would be the 'same old, same old' self help type of book. But I did read a bit of it before we went overseas and I had time to mull over Walsh's basic message. This is a blurb on the book from Amazon:-

When Peter Walsh, organizational guru of TLC's hit show Clean Sweep and a regular contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show, appeared on national television shows and told people how they could reclaim their lives from the suffocating burden of their clutter, the response was overwhelming. People flooded Peter's website (www.peterwalshdesign.com) with success stories about how his book had changed their lives. Peter's unique approach helped people everywhere learn to let go of the emotional and psychological clutter that was literally and figuratively choking the life out of their homes.
With his good humor and reassuring advice, Peter shows you how to face the really big question: What is the vision for the life you want to live? He then offers simple techniques and a step-by-step plan to assess the state of your home, prioritize your possessions, and let go of the clutter you have been holding on to that has kept you from living the life you imagine. The result is freed-up space, less stress, and more energy for living a happier, richer life every day.

I especially like that last bit!
The main things that his book got me thinking about was the 'Why' of what makes people keep stuff and continue to add to this stuff and his advice of how to stop being sentimental about some belongings. My mother was a hoarder...she had a wooden tea chest (a cube shaped box about 3ft by 3 ft by 3 ft) full of recipes clipped from the old Telegraph newspaper over a number of years starting in the late 40s. She never made anything from those recipes. She had every copy of the English Women's Weekly for over 30 years; later she was to also buy the Readers Digest, New Idea and Woman's Day and keep every copy of those. When I was in my early teens, she discovered Mills and Boon books...you're probably getting the picture here? Then there was her 'fetish' for handbags and purses...lol

For a few years our children have been saying that they are not looking forward to when DH and I die, for all the usual reasons...but they also add that they are not looking forward to emptying the house....even adult children can be quite 'guileless' and straight to the point, saying it like it is, eh? DH and I in 2002, compacted 2 1/2 households into one medium sized home. Since then we've found homes for lots of excess furniture and appliances. But we still feel cluttered and behind cupboard doors lies lots of clutter and excess belongings. Peter Walsh is very helpful in helping change my 'mindset'...just because I've had something for years doesn't mean that my children want to inherit it.

DH and I were storing crocheted throws made by his mother; we weren't using them. DH's girls were happy to have one each plus another grandchild  in Canberra loved the idea of having one of grandma's throws.

Just because I love a piece of fabric (dress weight) and have kept it for 25 years without sewing it, why would there be any chance that I may sew it any time soon? Why am I keeping wedding and engagement cards from my first marriage? Peter Walsh suggests taking photos of items if you love them but move them out and on if they have no use...I don't agree with doing that with everything but believe me, there are a ton of things that I do see the sense of what he says and I'm moving them out. When my best friend sabotages my efforts by insisting I take her boxes of fabric, I now point blank refuse as the book has helped strengthen my resolve.

I need to go through my boxes of photocopied quilt and knitting patterns...some have been in the box for years...what are the chances I've forgotten what's in the box and what are the chances I still want to make those items?...move 'em out. Same with my recipe drawer and recipe books. I have several years of 'Australian Stitches' magazine...some useful articles but most techniques are online these days, so they are moving out to either the SOS 'table' or in a charity bin. DH and I need to go though our CD, video (soon outmoded) and DVD collection and if we don't want to re-watch a DVD, we'll move them on.

Peter's book also has a chapter where each room of the house is discussed and suggestions made. I've already got some ideas for de cluttering the kitchen as well as the hutches in the dining room which are overloaded with dishes and bowls that we never use. For many years I've continually bought 'new, bigger and improved' storage boxes/crates and read up on clever innovative places to put these overfilled storage boxes in the home. Walsh points out that that does not solve the problem of clutter, it actually exacerbates the problem...he urges that people get rid of items so they don't actually need extra, new  storage containers. So far I've moved a lot of stuff out of our home but very little has gone into land-fill (in other words thrown in the bin), most has gone to charity shops and some has found new homes in the family.

From being quite dubious at first about the quality of Walsh's book, I ended up being a fan. As I previously said I ordered the book online last year. When I returned from OS, I found that Fishpond.com.au had sent me yet another copy from their UK shop...go figure??? So if anyone would like a copy, I'm giving this second one away; after all if you're serious about de-cluttering you certainly don't have 2 copies of the same book!!! Just leave a comment saying you'd like it and non bloggers are included as well of course.