OK...

Today I straightened the cupboard shelf where I keep my clothes iron and assorted things that I need at times but not all the time.
Parchment paper, cheese cloth, paper napkins, new spare clothes line rope, spray sizing and other such necessary nonsense.
Found nothing in there to toss, just straightened it out.

I like this drawer/shelf challenge. ;D

HIP HIP HOORAY! Three cheers for CM and the new van!!!!

And what the heck, three cheers for all of us.

JUMPIMG UP & DOWN
CHEERING AND DOING THE HAPPY DANCE!

SO HAPPY FOR YOU CRITICALMASS!
((((((HUGS))))))

A shift from the old rut will be refreshing and motivating.

Now with the vehicle you can fetch home a box or two from storage and sort them out at home where it's cool.

Make sure to make that red white & blue jello soon.
I knew about the vegan jello because there is "kosher" flavored gelatin on the store shelf.

Enjoy your weekend with the dog, cats & bunnies.

((((HUGS))))

Hi, everyone, hope you all had a safe 4th whatever you ended up doing. It was a lot of snap crackle pop here, but apparently the neighbors who used to really go crazy no longer live here. The dog wasn't too happy about what fireworks there were. He's coping though thanks to calming treats. My roommate left to visit her family for the weekend, so he will miss her but we'll muddle through, cats and bunnies too.

It's been a busy week so far. The exciting news in my world (you may have guessed) is that I have a new-to-me minivan! And it's a creampuff! Thanks to some generous friends. Feels AMAZING to be driving again.

Tatoulia, I had to smile about your car. Because I have laid down the law to my inner hoarder about the new van. I am not allowed to put anything more than essentials in it. My old one was a cargo van, not much more than a shell really, with no seats except in the front. This one has two sets of passenger seats, with the ability to fold the rear ones down, which I will normally do.

But it will be nice to have the ability to carry passengers again. There's even a place to put a baby, so if a friend's grandchild somehow ends up coming along it can work. Maybe just that little nod to people instead of tons of room to cram in things will be symbolic. I'm a childless introvert, and a crafty person, so I'm not going to feel I have to pretend to be a people and social activity oriented something I'm not. But I do think a shift from the old rut can prove refreshing in some way or another.

And as for the van itself, it's white, very apropos to the direction I want to head in, my goal of "artsy minimalism." Interior is medium grey, won't show dirt too much and I'll keep it clean anyway. For those of you familiar with FlyLady, this minimalist minivan is my life's new "shiny sink," the nexus from where I will strive to expand the realm of order in my life from here on out.

So there's been a fair amount of excitement here. The van was delivered to me Tuesday evening. Yesterday was a chill out day, went to Mass and to visit a friend, storage unit, and dollar store for a Thank You card to my friends. I didn't get my planned red white and blue Jell-O with blueberries and strawberries made. The white would be marshmallows. But I can still do it later.

So, starting to ramp up the sorting and tossing - I had gotten a bit of motivation when I knew the van would be a sure thing. Now that I can go back and forth to the storage unit I can process more stuff. Just wish the weather wasn't so hot and muggy. But the nice thing is, I'll have this van for all seasons, and the storage is close to home, better gas mileage, etc. and I can do short sessions and still accomplish what I want to.

Well, a long ramble, but it's been fun to share the good news with you my "hoarding homies." (LOL!) To better days - ice water clinks!

P.S. SubC, vegan jello is a thing - Google it! 😉

Good Morning Everyone 🙂

Happy you both got to see the fireworks. 😀

This year it was very quiet out here.
Usually we hear a lot of idiots setting off illegal bottle rockets and firecrackers and excessive gunfire.
I suppose that it's the laws that now irresponsible people have to pay the entire bill for starting wildfires that has stopped them.

Don't need to water anything today or tomorrow.
Have a tunic style blouse that is too long and plan to hem it up today.
Need to do cat related chores.
Will find a drawer or shelf to work on today too.

Yesterday I did not do any shelf or drawer things. I discovered we have no drywall sanding screen, so I have to buy some.

I also did not eat any jello because I am a vegetarian. Where I live that pretty much makes me "unamerican" anyway.

The fireworks were nice.

I am keeping up with the floors.

Just getting in as the weather cooperated and we saw the fireworks. Lovely night. Signing off.

YEA! for a nap Tatoulia 🙂

Unfortunately no snow or even rain today.
Darn it. ;P

Been pretty bored today.
Tried to take a nap but Pooh Kitty said "NO".
Made raspberry jello with canned peaches & mini marshmallows to celebrate the holiday with.
I think it's almost mandatory that Americans eat jello on this day.
Didn't clear & straighten and drawers or shelves today.
Waiting until after 5:00pm to water the grass.
Out here we don't have to worry about mold/fungus growing on plants during the night.
Plus watering in the evening helps cool the house down and makes for a cool breeze.

Let it Snow, Tillie!

I'm just up from my nap. Going to shower and get dressed.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY 😀

HI Anonymoniker (((hugs)))

Hi Subclinical 🙂
WAY TO GO! working on that wall! 😀

HI Tatoulia 🙂
Take care and don't push past your limits in that heat. (((hug)))

Have the sprinkler watering the flower/herb garden right now.
When that's done need to hand water the other flower beds/rose bushes.
Nice day, will be just under 100 degrees.
Remembering way back to the time it actually snowed on July 4th here.
LOL ;D

Happy 4th, Anony!!!!

~☆~♡~☆~ Happy 4th to all!!!~☆~♡~☆~

Look alive. I need to look alive.

Ok two loads of laundry done. Dishwasher has been unloaded. I'm just sitting around. I'll have to look almost be soon and maybe sweep or vacuum, anything really.

Happy 4th everyone! I'm up early and doing a load of laundry. I go through a lot of laundry.

I am thrilled to read everyone's posts: bunnies, possible special thing for CM, SubC's dollhouse furniture,Tillie's junque drawer, etc. I did absolutely nothing yesterday. It is oppressive here with the heat and humidity. I went to work, we closed early for the holiday and BF picked me up, then I relaxed in the ac. Even this AM, I'm having a bit of trouble breathing. I noticed it as I came up the stairs from the laundry.

I have a lot to do here. The bedroom needs to be dusted and vacuumed. I'm not sure what I'll be accomplishing today so I'll just take it as it comes. We generally go down to see the fireworks but we've decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants (it's in a hotel) where we will have something to eat then head upstairs to the lobby for a cup of espresso. That will be more pleasant and easier than walking down to the esplanade. Just too hot.

Yay for the junque drawer and the cupboard!

I also mudded the wall today, so I can sand tomorrow. I don't know how many coats it will need - it needed a lot of patching. I think the person who lived here before us threw things at the walls.

We will probably go see fireworks.

YEA!!!! YIPPEE!!!
I am so very happy for you! 😀
Sorry about the couch but a diningroom is lovely too.
WTG! that DH suggested lighting it. 😀
So happy that you are no longer waiting until someday when maybe you would be able to repair the doll house before you could enjoy your tiny things.
Good luck finding the accessories. (((hug)))

I so enjoy looking at my doll house, it makes me happy.

Got trees and laurels watered, tomorrow it's flower beds & grass.
Straightened out the junque drawer and also straightened the cupboard shelf where I keep all my cleaning rags.
Let Twinkles come outside with me today and he behaved very well, took a nap beside Marty's grave.

Anybody doing anything special/fun tomorrow?
I'm not.

So, I decided to set up the living room in the cupboard. But when I got the boxes out, I couldn't find the couch. There were a couple of floods during the worst of my hoarding, and i'm wondering if the box with the couch got flooded and destroyed and I forgot (or blocked it out).

I did find the dining room - and the legs on the table and chairs echoed the legs on the cabinet, so I set that up instead.

And dh said "it's hard to see in there. You should drill a hole in the back and add a light."

🙂

I still need to find the tiny dishes and the tea set for the tea cart.

Good Morning 🙂

Hi Subclinical 🙂
The train set leaving does count.
You are at a junction in life where your children are now growing up and moving onto their own lives and homes.
The space in your home is now slowly becoming all your and your DH's space rather than a multiple people household.
You have also recently done the addition and now everything has to be re-thought out as to how to furnish, arrange and organize the house.
Sorry about the weight gain but you did need to buy those jeans and I'm happy you found them.

Beautiful morning!
70 degrees and a little breeze.
Even the birds are being quiet.
Today I plan to slow water the trees and clean one drawer.
I call it the junque drawer because it's where I keep pens, pencils, note paper, scissors, stamps, rubber bands, tape, flashlight, minute timers and stuff that I want close at hand.
It is the drawer that I use multiple times every day and having this drawer keeps all that stuff from cluttering up the counter or some other spots.

CM, it's good to hear you sounding so upbeat! I hope whatever it is works out, and that you find a yard sale option. Some places around here have regular sales where you can just set up a space in a parking lot - they call them "boot sales" in England. Maybe you could look around for something like that?

Tatoulia, go coffee table! I am laughing about selling your car to clean out the trunk. Seems a bit drastic. 🙂

I was so proud of myself when my old car died - I was able to clear everything important out of it into a paper bag. I am trying to keep the "new" car just as clean.

Tillie, it has definitely been more in than out this summer. But the ins have been things like furniture and my new jeans, and the outs have been mostly recycling and trash, and the using up of stockpiled consumables. I need to clear out my closet again, but I am so fat right now it is too discouraging. I know there are a lot of things in there that "almost fit" last summer and are now "no way". I would rather shed 15 lbs than half my clothes, but i don't seem to be able to budge the weight.

- oh wait, I did get ds's Train set out, that was a lot of space. But it doesn't feel like an "out" because it wasn't mine at all.

Hi CriticalMass 🙂
What a wonderful post!
Who wouldn't love to hold a soft warm bunny ;D
Sounds like a very nice home to have bunny visits in.
Sure hope you find a yard sale buddy.
You would have two months to pull it all together.
Location is important to get a lot of traffic at a yard sale.
Sometimes just talking to someone about having a sale will give them the idea to have one.
So go put a bug in someone's ear. 😉
Keeping my fingers crossed that whatever it is all comes true for you (((hug)))

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
WTG! for working on that pile! 🙂
When you sell your car I guess you have to finally clear it out. HaHaHa

Hi Subclinical 🙂
Yes, my cat leaves a grubby dirty spot on the wall where she gets behind my dresser to sleep underneath it.
A rack to organize a shelf definitely counts.
Sorry you are struggling with having things and wanting things.
Please don't be hard on yourself because you do put a lot of thought into what you bring home.
Enjoy having the basket and fabric and try to find a way to use them in your home.
As long as more keeps leaving the home than comes in you're doing great.
Decluttering and organizing and cleaning this way all by yourself
takes time and a LOT of thinking and coming to terms with emotions and conditioning from our pasts. (((HUG)))

Today I washed, dried, folded and put away three loads of laundry.
Washed dishes & wiped down the kitchen.
Did all cat related stuff.
Washed my hair too.
Swept the floor & took out the trash.

Hey gals - and guys too - I mean to set time soon to go back through posts even in Phase 9 and I know Porter was posting some there. He's probably busy with his lady friend. If you see this, Porter, Hi!

This has been a busy week already and there may be good news soon but I don't want to "jinx" it so I'll say no more at the moment. 😉

We took the bunnies yesterday to the therapy session in a care facility that's in a really nice neighborhood - a large home converted into a family style care home. About 8-10 residents with mild memory issues. The bunnies were a big hit with the folks.

SubC, you and I may be in a similar headspace. I want to minimalize, yet my "wanter" is wanting stuff, and I go back and forth. I have bought some Barbies but I do plan to sell some dolls too and other items.

I wish my roommate was the type to want to have a garage sale, because I think I could get myself to let go of other items I'm not interested in much, make a few bucks to compensate for the eBay purchases, and reclaim space which as we know is always at a premium. The items I have in mind for a garage sale are things that wouldn't be practical to sell on eBay. Maybe Facebook Marketplace.

Anyway, my roomie just isn't comfortable with the idea of a garage sale. Maybe I can find another friend who's planning one. In the fall would be better anyway when it'd be cooler.

In general I am feeling optimistic still, and soon I hope to reveal the reasons why.

I am very close to finishing the coffee table clean off. Some of it is going in a bag for some sorting somewhere else. The rest needs to be dealt with.

I've polished some silver. I made a fresh batch of iced tea.

Now I will relax for a bit.

Wow! Great work today, SubC! Thanks for giving such a nice picture of your day and accomplishments! Of course the rack counts toward drawer/shelf challenge! Plus you can continue floor work! It all counts! Except two years ago when my December challenge was to clear out the trunk of my car. I still have not done so but it's better! It will be much better once I sell it.

I am going to move the 10%. Thank you for the excellent suggestion, Tillie. I will get through this. Somehow, some way.

It is trash night.

I went out.

I started mudding the wall and I ran out of mud. (Side note, it was the base of the wall that I washed, I think it was just accumulated dust and grime and maybe cat rubbing.) so I had to got to town for more mud. I also needed to drop off my car payment (did that) and get some groceries.

I started at the thrift store to reward myself for going out. Bought:
three glasses (we need glasses, they kept getting broken)
a rack to keep my cutting boards from falling over in the cabinet so I can pull them out easily (i've been looking for one and it is already put to work - does that count for my shelf/drawer thing today?)
A wire shelf stacking piece that I have also been keeping an eye out for and know exactly where it will go
And a basket that I probably dodn't Need, but it just looked so useful and well made...

So now, I need to decide what I am going to do with the basket. It is currently sitting in the floor containing things I need to carry out to my studio. The basket is like the fabric "I don't need this now, but I like it, and it is very cheap, and I can see myself using it at some indeterminate point in the future when I will be sorry that I didn't buy it."

I don't really have buyers remorse, because I don't miss the small costs (better that than treating myself to donut and coffee calories) and I like the thing I got. I just know I am going to have to use/store it, and there are too many things already, and it doesn't have an immediate purpose, I don't want to get rid of it, and it doesn't make anything else easier to get rid of, and so, it is part of the problem. But I still want it.

Next stop was the bank, then hardware store, where I got the mud, and then, because I had a coupon, bought the bullseye bubble level I have been wanting for my pottery studio and a new collar for the goat who has almost outgrown hers, so I was over the limit to save $7. The collar was more expensive than I would normally get, so I really only saved $5 - basically, buy collar, get free level.

Then grocery store, where I dropped off my trash for the week, and only bought food. I even remembered my coupons to save $1.05 on exactly what I was going to buy anyway.

And home, and tired.

Tatoulia, good luck with your scraps! That last 10% can be so hard!

Good Morning Everyone 🙂

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
WTG! for just scraps on the livingroom table!
Sometimes it helps if we move things from a spot where they have been for a while and sort them out in a different location.
It's a mental change from seeing them where we have become accustomed to seeing them.
Funny that your Mom has friends in China! 😀

Lovely cool morning right now.
Last night it was perfect weather for sleeping with all windows open.
But the direction of the wind changed and brought choking smoke from the distant wildfires this way.
It has shifted back the other way and the air here is clear right now. 🙂
Yesterday I straightened my underwear drawer, that counts.
Today is laundry day and the kitchen needs some attention too.
So far this month I have been good about reducing my processed sugar intake.
Helps that I don't have any tempting treats laying around the house.

Iced tea clinks!

SubC that little table/cabinet you found sounds delightful! I too like the idea of your dollhouse furniture and Tillie's idea of lighting it. But, I live alone. Regarding the fabric purchase, i know that feeling of buyer's remorse and just try to remember that feeling (and in this case, it was a 50 cent purchase) so that could help you from buying stuff again. I struggled Saturday night when I was at Macy's with BF. I kept struggling with an item and ultimately put it back.

I learned something from your exchange with your husband on the tapes. I am sometimes harsh and a bit accusatory when I'm trying to get mom to let go of something. I learned from your exchange (in which I am solidly and firmly of your husband's ilk) that I could ask in a gentle way and I could ask a different question rather than my usual, when did you last use this and when are you going to use it again. It's tough because mom has such incredibly limited space and she will not let go of anything, even if I find it hidden and covered in dust. She complains about the lack of space but won't get rid of anything. I remember once trying to get her to donate something stupid and she said, but my friend made that for me. So I saw the made in China label and asked her how many friends she has in China and we had a giant laugh.

Anyway, you have opened my eyes to the fact that I am unnecessarily harsh and I will be kinder.

I scrubbed my kitchen sink before bed last night. And then I hung a hook and a bag of activated charcoal in the kitty cabinet.

I'm still working on floors and drawers! My living room pile is down to just scraps of things on my coffee table. I need to get that finished because the table is cool tile and gives kitty a nice place to rest in this terrible and oppressive weather.

Have a great day, everyone!

Hi Subclinical 🙂

OH YES!!! YOU MUST DO THAT!!!
Explain to DH that this would make you happy to see the tiny room set up there.
What does he like there that you aren't too crazy about?
Tell him to compromise.
What would be nice is if you could light the tiny room from inside too to highlight the furnishings.
Like a really wonderfully magical night light.

Do you know anybody who could burn your rare unavailable elsewhere tapes onto discs?
This way you could more easily listen to them.

You burn wood in your home so this is why the wall wash water was dark.
After a few years the little wisps of smoke that escape builds up.

Tillie, you were busy!

And tatoulia, you did a lot too!

Everybody stay cool!

I didn't tell you guys about the rummage sale. I stopped at a church rummage sale and bought two games for school, a large shoeboxe of fabric scraps (there were some really cute Christmas ones I couldn't resist, and it was only 50 cents, but it was probably a mistake), and a little cabinet/table. It is a cube the size of a small nightstand up on legs with two glass doors on the front. It fits very neatly under my cuckoo clock, next to a chair, so you could set your book or snack on it, and I am currently just enjoying the possiblilities of the empty display space. I have been thinking about setting up one of the rooms of furniture from my broken dollhouse in it, but dh probably would object to that in the living room. I think if I set up the living room it would be cute....

My emotional state is still very raw. Today Dh and I had a discussion about my music tapes (that felt like an argument to me because he made comments that felt critical) - I was finally putting those tapes from the recycling dumpster in the trash and saving the unbroken cases for my tapes that need them and I told him what I was doing. He asked when was the last time I listened to a tape (I don't know, my old car had a tape deck and this one doesn't, but I hadn't used it in a while) and told me all the music I could want is on Amazon. I said "not my music." Because I have a lot of tapes I bought out of people's guitar cases when I was young.

And then he actually found two of the people on amazon and when I heard the second one's voice, I started crying. I heard her voice, I remembered hearing her for the first time with my friend Scott and having him immediately turn to me and announce "I am in love" and I just started crying. And I still can't articulate why. I don't think I know. Loss? Nostalgia? Relief? Gratitude? Exhaustion? Sadness? Frustration?... I don't know.

The only shelf/drawer thing I did today was wash the base of the wall where I need to patch and mud. The water turned the color of tea.

Good July 1st, afternoon 😀
Cold watermelon toast! "Splat!"

Hi Tatoulia 🙂
Sorry it's hot with bad air quality there. 🙁
WAY TO GO! for all you have been up to!
Having two bags of kitty litter would be handy for when the weather is not nice and you won't be forced to get out to the store.
Sometimes I am doubled up on litter.
How lucky to find parking right out front. ;D

Been busy all morning.
Watered flower/herb beds, lilac bushes, roses and laurels.
Did a wash load of rags.
Cleaned the bathroom.
Brushed Pooh Kitty.
Scooped litter boxes, then scooped them more cause they were having a poop party.
Swept the floor.
Poison sprayed an outbreak of pi$$ ants on the walkway.
Pulled a few weeds.
Almost 2:00pm and I need to eat more than just this watermelon.
Tomorrow will be easier. 😉