Here is some tea and sympathy
Feel better soon

I'm home now. Feeling sick to my stomach. It's not too hot and not too humid but I feel really sick anyway.

Going to lay down for a bit. I need to go to mom's but I need to rest my head.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Wishing you a day filled with wonderful experiences. 🙂

Contemplating today hosing the car off so maybe tomorrow I'll go to town and empty out the donation stuff.
Or maybe I'll wait to do that when I need to go to town to buy food.
I dunno...

At least the items are out of the house and in the car for now.

Watered yesterday, did laundry yesterday, no backlog of dishes to wash.
After taking care of cat tasks, I'm good.
Guess I have the day off and can spend it watching ROKU and beading or something.

Tillie thank you. You are so sweet. And right. Thank you. Goodbye old luggage trunk.

It's all just adding up. And for no reason. So let's start some subtraction!

Hi Tatoulia

WTG! getting in the walking and getting trash/recycling out & taking care of Miss Kittie's box!

Good luck with AC installation and fingers crossed it is fine so you can recycle the box.

YEA! for filling your donation bin/box/bag!

My feelings about small insignificant items...
Sure, they aren't big impressive things but all together they do add up to miscellaneous clutter.

It's like a gum wrapper on the floor, no big deal
but it is still something small laying on the floor where it has no use or value.
Except a cat will lay on it and cats opinions don't count.

Some people have entire drawers stuffed full of those small random things.
Every home gets small random things laying about here & there.

EVERY little bit out helps.
Unwanted unneeded small items are clutter.
Slip them into a donate bag or just throw them in the trash and you will never have to think about them again.
Unclutter your brain, get rid of small riffraff.

OK, they are small things or something like one pair of socks
it all adds up.

I have a very small box to donate that contains dollhouse things, things my dollhouse does not need.
I could cram these things into my dollhouse and the dollhouse would look terrible and cluttered and no fun.
They are not particularly nice (primitive) and are not needed.
A child would enjoy playing with them.

It is important after decluttering the big things that we spend some time rifling through our small things and decluttering them too.

It's worth it even though you are indifferent to it. 🙂

47 years ago I bought a trunk.
It's only about 20 inches tall and 40 inches long.
It's covered with a green patterned vinyl and is attractive.
Been contemplating letting it go for a few years.
Today I put it in the car.
I am happy. Letting go of old baggage/luggage.

Tillie I walked around Northeastern University's campus tonight, from about 8 til 9:30. Then I went to CVS then I walked home. So I was glad to get all of my walking in.

I just took my blood pressure and recorded it for my dr.

The walking is so good for me and I was glad to have the change of pace tonight.

Tillie here is something I am struggling with: when I choose a small item to donate, how is that helping me? Today a little magnet was added to my box. I'm not sure how that makes a difference. Or if I take a pair of socks from my drawer. I understand seven pair of socks. Or a bag of magnets. But when it's something small I don't feel anything. And I wonder if it's worth it. I need some perspective.

So I have the little box ready to go. I did put in some very clean and lightly used underwear.

So it is time for me to go to bed. Bf and employee brought the AC over. BF has to modify the panel that goes in the window. I measured repeatedly then brought him a piece I won't need and he sawed it for me, I brought it home to check how it works, and I was able to give him the precise measurements for the piece that I need. So I thought of you, Tillie.

Goodnight dear friends.

Ps garbage out, recycling out, clean cat box. I saved the AC box because I need to see that it works before putting with recycling.

Good Afternoon Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
I hate wasps with a red hot passion.

Hope that was the one and only this Summer and that it's dead.

A person can be stung a hundred times in their lifetime and not be allergic.
But then one day the next sting will cause an anaphylactic reaction.
Same thing with bees & penicillin & Etc...

Hi Tatoulia
WAY TO GO! having some things in your donation box!!!

YEA!!!! HAPPY DANCE!!!!!
Hope the new AC is everything it's supposed to be!!!.. 😀

So nice to hear about breakfast with your friend.

Now you listen to me...
Do EVERYTHING your doctor asks you to do.
We are waiting for him to give you a complete clean bill of health concerning this matter.
(((HUG)))

Been doing my Swedish cleaning method.
Have a LOT in the car trunk & back seat to drop off.
Quite a bit of it is for the animal shelter.
Feel good about the new emptier spaces and enjoying the process.
Have had no qualms about anything I have been letting go.

I have an expression I use when things go awry and there's no real telling what caused things to spin so terribly out of control: there's a little tension surrounding the project.

So when this starts happening, and BY WAY OF EXAMPLE I find myself crying out of control over what, we do not know, and the other person is finding me rude, flippant or uncaring, I choke out the words. There's a little tension surrounding the project, we both laugh and move on. Try it. It's great. It finds its genesis in a situation where a friend of mine discovered that one of his three boys had a videotaped school project due the next day, it was 9 PM, his wife was putting the youngest to bed, the eldest was filming the project and decided to get artsy and there were weird zoom-ins on the middle child's chin, for example, and now it's 11 PM and it's still not done and my friend just started screaming at his kids and cussing, etc, wife shouted "what is going on down there" and before he could answer, his son said, just a little tension surrounding he project.

It solves everything.

Brief update - haven't seen the wasp. Got distracted outdoors and ended up planting the rest of my container plants. Roommate was outside unbeknownst to me and wasn't angry, so at least that's resolved. I hope I didn't come across as if I didn't care; of course I don't want her to get stung and have anaphylactic emergency. And I know she wouldn't think that of me. I just get flustered and we're both under a lot of stress.

Ps Tillie. Yup, as I suspected, three cats included Jack.

Oh CM that is so frustrating! All of it! I too am allergic to wasps. And I too have frustrations when my plans are messed up. I am so sorry! I hope the wasp has been chased away. I am so so sorry it's hard to shake that frustrating feeling. I hope by the time you read this that it has passed.

SubC your loving relationship with your husband is a thing to behold! You are a great mother and a great citizen of this planet. Thank you for all you do. Yes a vacation is in order!!!

I have a box with two penguins to go to goodwill. I put in some underwear to cushion the penguins. They are both relatively large and I'm ready to part ways with them.

I am shredding papers. Have completed two loads of laundry and dry and I'll go check on the third. Bed made, dishes done, I need to make some more choices (more positive than decisions) to get rid of things. I have a few things I am thinking of.

My new AC comes today.

Good breakfast with friend today. I haven't seen him in over a year. He said, you look fantastic. He's very impressed and very pleased that I haven't seen my brother in over a year and he loved the pictures of my house. I'll have him over some time. But it might be weird as that's not really our relationship. I'll get all awkward. So I'll just take more pictures. Ok.

My doctor thinks I'm doing okay. I haven't been as vigilant with some of the things he needs so I have to step it up if I'm to succeed.

I'll go work on the box to donate now.

This is a frustrated vent post for now. Hopefully the subject of the vent will be resolved soon and I can write a happier and more interesting post.

Yesterday I was drifting off for a nap in my bedroom and heard a slight buzzing sound. I opened my eyes and saw what I thought was a fat bee hovering above my frog's terrarium.

Later, after my nap, it was nowhere to be seen, then it reappeared. Turns out it wasn't a bee. It was a WASP. Ugh. My roommate is allergic so that's freaky, and then of course the stupid insect disappears again.

Toward morning I thought I heard buzzing again. The wasp was between the blinds and windowpane. I smacked and smacked. The body fell down into a box of books. I could not find the body. Then I lifted a vinyl protective cover off one book and out flies the wasp!

So we've opened the inner windows and are hoping it flies in there and we can shut that window. I've Googled and learned more about wasps than I would rather know. My roommate shut all the curtains in the living room and we ended up being upset at each other because I wanted to do some work and with my cataracts I can't see in a dimly lit room. Ugh again.

This is my life so much of the time. Some dumb unexpected weird and tricky to resolve thing when there is already too much going on. And my anxiety turns me into an obnoxious control freak. If I lived by myself I'd feel alone dealing with stuff, but in some ways that'd be better. I got low marks on "works well with others" in first grade. Nothing much has changed.

Pray for me/us.

End of rant, for now.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
Please do not compare yourself to other people.
They have not and do not live the life you have led.
You are unique and do so many things and so much for other people and your community and the world's ecosystem.

Now that you are at a new phase in your life
you are changing your home environment to match.

Please be proud of yourself and all you have accomplished in your life.

Have a marvelous vacation.
Enjoy every minute of it.
You have earned this fun free time. (((HUG)))

WTG! DH for all you have done and for acknowledging Subclinical's accomplishments.

Tatoulia, I am glad to see you back sounding better.

I don't know about a July challenge - I have two weeks of vacation in July. The one i'm about to take, and fair week.

I fell apart last night. Both my girls who were here this weekend are going through difficult times. I was able to help one of them with some money, but all I can do for the other is hold her while she cries and remind her that we love her. On top of that, all day while I was getting ready for this trip, I was faced with reminders that my "really good" still falls short of most people's every day.

Dh told me that I have been doing an amazing job on the basement for three straight weeks and that he kept expecting me to get tired and quit, but that I didn't. And that our kids are fantastic and I raised them and they are going to face rough spots but they will be ok. And that I really need a vacation.

Then he emptied the dishwasher, completely cleaned the kitchen, refilled the cat food, and put my feed in the barn. He never does barn stuff.

I'll probably still check in while i'm traveling.

Hi Tatoulia
Very happy you are feeling better, more like yourself.

Nice you had a good visit today and plans to visit your friend tomorrow.

Sleep.
Get all the sleep your body and mind need.

YEA! for getting your nails done!
It's always nice to have our nails looking good.

Good plan for a July challenge.
Nice thing about our challenges is that we can roll them over.
Sometimes we have the best intentions but life gets in the way.

Breakfast line up was Twinkles, Scooter and Jack.
Jack lays on either the front or back porch waiting for me to notice him.
Pretty easy in the daytime but impossible at night unless I turn on the porch lights.

Hello everyone!

I did not keep my June challenge of Covering Old Ground, where I will revisit drawers and cabinets and see what else can go, look for clutter creep, etc. so I'd like to do for July. I am desperate to get rid of more things. Any things. I will also post more photos of my home and of things I'm getting rid of.

Today I feel like myself again. Yesterday I had a lovely time at my friend's house with mom. Her new place is so clean and neat and well-decorated with lots of space. So nicely done. Very motivating.

I got home around 5, ran some errands with BF and then fell sound asleep. Got up around 10, 11 PM to feed kitty and slept til this AM. I did feel more like me when I got up. I walked some this AM and got my nails done. Then BF and I drove out to see our friends and their kids. Lovely time. We got back here in time to drive a friend to the airport and then I just got in. I was going to go for a walk, esp since I have no bread or groceries in the house but now I realize I'm here. And I'm going to bed.

In the AM I am meeting a friend for breakfast at 8. I havent seen him in a year.
Tillie three cats? Does the three include Jack?

My friend said, you are looking so svelte when she saw me today. Pretty nice.

I'm going to wash my face and go to bed. I'm too tired to walk.

I look forward to re-joining every one here. I've missed you while I tried to sort out myself.

And I feel that I can make a better balance this coming week. I am noticing big changes in my body with all the walking. The weight may be the same, but there's some noticeable slimming going on.

Congratulations to everyone for your hard work. I'm so proud of you all. I'm feeling so much better after the long sleep. And I'm thrilled that today I forced myself to get a manicure Even though I had to walk to four different shops. All were filled up! And the place where I ended up was very nice. I may return for a pedicure on Friday.

Good Afternoon Everybody

YEA! Subclinical!
Your home was company ready and the barn is baby sitter GREAT!

So wonderful DD's BFF complimented!

Will miss you while you're away but you have a fantastic relaxing time.
You have earned it (((HUG)))

Hi Tatoulia
Hi CriticalMass
Hi everybody 😉

Woke up this morning and read here but 3 cats were nagging at me for canned food breakfast.
Got up and got them feed to get them off my back then did a bunch of tidying up and then washed kitty breakfast dishes and so on and so on and so on...

Very last day of June 2019

My challenge for July will be to maintain my "No Clutter Zones" and garden area.
I must try to ignore him because he just makes me sick.
I must just accept I live precariously surrounded by wildfire dangers.

good morning everyone!

My new glasses are in my cabinet and the odd extras are in the discard pile (I am up a net of three glasses because I had ten before, but they fit in the cabinet.)

Yesterday was a lot of people for me. I wasn't expecting ❤️Dd for another hour when a car pulled in - it was youngest Dd - who spent the night and is still here. Then ❤️Dd and ❤️Gs arrived and we had a nice visit. They had just left when one of dd2s friends dropped by, and then in the evening, dd2's best friend and her little sister came by to check everything out because they will be farm sitting for me, and they stayed to visit.

But, my house is in order. There were clean dishes, the living areas had places to sit, and dd's Bff (who is like family) looked at my barn and said "this is the best i've ever seen it!"

Today I am going to get ready to go tomorrow.

Hi Subclinical
Glass drinking glasses are the best in my opinion.
We use them and some get broken now & then.
Nice that you now have plenty in the style you like and can now release the other partial sets. 😀

UMMMMMMM!.... donuts, from a fancy bakery.
Sweet treat.

That would be fantastic if a space at that pop up market turns out to be a good outlet for some of your pottery.
Monthly sales.

Went out and did a little in my garden this morning.
Just finished an early lunch, resting before I do something else somewhere.

Steven got up about 10:45am. Sat at his computer and just now has left to go shopping. >:(

I am so very disgusted with him and him never doing anything around this dump.

Anyways, time for me to play with my dollhouse.
I'm all caught up on ALL my chores.

Tell scooter he can only supervise!

I went out this morning and bought feed. Stopped at the monthly pop up market and found out all you have to do to get a space is talk the woman who runs it into giving you one - there were no potters.

Bought donuts for me and dh at the fancy cake shop.

Stopped at a garage sale on the way home. When I woke up this morning, I had parts of four sets of drinking glasses. The garage sale had 11 glasses that matched the ones I like best. So, I am going to have 13 glasses that match and get rid of the rest. Cheaper than the donuts.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
You're welcome (((hug)))

That was your first go-round tackling those emotionally charged bins and you did great.

When we first put fabric items in bins/boxes they are fluffed up with air.
Over time they compress down, all the air fluffiness is pressed out of them.
So they end up very compacted.
The things you have repacked into the bins are now a bit fluffier, more air between the fibers.
This is why it still fills most of the bins even with a lot of items removed.
Don't let that depress you, you have made really great progress.

Have a wonderful day today 😀

Hi Tatoulia
Hi CriticalMass
Hi you all 🙂

Beautiful cool morning, high 50s.
Perfect time to get busy doing yardwork, so much to be done.
But he is still sleeping...

Today I need to vacuum.
Need to do a pedicure.
Plan to play with the dollhouse.
Have the new items in there but want to arrange things nicer and hang the spoon rack on the wall.
Hoping Scooter won't want to "help" me. 😉

Tillie, i'm Glad your day was better and also your back.

Thank you for being so supportive yesterday.

I can't believe how tightly I had managed to pack those bins. I'm sad because I felt like I was doing really well choosing things to discard, and I thought I would be able to empty the two cardboard boxes and maybe even have an empty bin for some of the things that are still in the pile. But visually there is no sign that I worked except a big pile of discards that gives me no satisfaction to look at. (In fact, I need to avoid looking at it so I don't get tempted to backslide.)

It's like when I tell dh I have been working in a room and he can't tell. But last night he saw how exhausted I was and he was nice to me. He even asked me about why getting rid of the fabric was so hard. And he listened. And he promised that if I need fabric he will buy it for me.

He says I have to take a break today and do something different because my brain needs rest.

❤️Dd and ❤️gs are coming by this afternoon.

Tatoulia and Critical Mass, how are you?

And shout out to Joan and others who don't come by often.

Well, today was better.
My back wasn't hurting all the time.
Made my potato salad and cleaned the kitchen.
Took a while because I would stop often and rest my back then get back to it.
Watered my flowers, have 5 deep red roses blooming now.

YEA! WTG! Subclinical!

That is a really GREAT start!

WOOHOO! for getting rid of a LOT of stuff!

Now enjoy the evening, eat some ice cream and have some good solid sleep.

You really did FANTASTIC today. 🙂

I have six bins of fabric that are sorted out and labelled.

I have eight bins that are partly or completely unfinished, plus two boxes.

I got rid of a LOT of stuff - if I had to pack it up again, I would need at least one more bin, maybe two. But everything was squashed and packed so tightly that I only have about 1/3 of a bin of empty space.

This is very frustrating and I am exhausted.

Subclinical
You ARE going to get through this (((HUG)))

Hang in there (((HUG)))

This. Is. So. Very, very hard.

And I cannot quit. I cannot stop and give up and tell myself I will get to it later.

Later doesn't come.

The default is not "it goes back in the bin." The default is that if I cannot sort through it, it goes in a bag and it leaves.

I am not there yet. It might be better for it to leave, but in the long term, I believe it is better for me to face what I have done and keep making decisions. I need to get through the doubting and the second guessing.

I need you guys to tell me I am going to make it.

I started out sorting out bins and then putting them back, but I kept aging to get them back out and change what was in them because every bin s so mixed up. I have six bins out in the new room right now because it has a big open floor space. It is a mess. I can't even tell how i'm Doing. I must be making some progress, because I know I have gotten rid of things, but I feel like every bin just explodes and takes up twice as much space.

The bin of feed sacks is neatly racked.

That's it. One, out of 14+2.

I took a break and cooked myself lunch - with vegetables. I ate a pint of frozen applesauce instead of a pint of ice cream.

I am trying.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia 🙂

Hi CriticalMass
WAY TO GO! sorting through some of the piled up stuff!
Good luck reorganizing the dolls to make them fit in the boxes.
Once the room is better organized and the storage unit better organized it will be easier to figure out ways you can do crafts without them being ruined before they are finished.
Keep up the good work chipping away at obstacles. 🙂

Hi Subclinical
Give your brain time to adjust to this next sorting out phase.
You are just now starting to look at the things in these bins.
Things you haven't looked at in a while.

Open some bins, sort through the items and let your brain process what's there.
Sift & shift things around for a bit, churn a little.

Before long your brain will start to make order out of the chaos.

The nice thing about dollhouse fabrics is we don't need to hold onto a great length of yardage.
I had several yards of the perfect fabric for reupholstering the sofa and 2 chairs in the parlor.
But I only kept a foot which is more than enough to do the job.

Yesterday was the perfect day to do yardwork.
Cool and overcast.
Steven spent the day inside the garage...
Today is another good day to work outside, cool and overcast.
Tomorrow the sun and heat will be back.

Woke up this morning to the smell of smoke, there is a grass fire somewhere nearby.

Think the stress is making me feel so sick and tired.

CM, I am glad you were able to make some space in your room. Isn't it weird how new tools (different bins in your case) often help us approach the problem better?

Tillie, those are good thoughts, but I am ok with giving the fabric to st. Vincent's if I can just make myself part with it. (Like the reuse store, I feel like I am joining a fee based fabric library) actually, the reuse store has fabric sometimes too.

I opened one bin last night and found some things to part with, but I am getting in my way. My brain keeps automatically listing all the things I could make from every piece I touch. I need to find some objective standards to use.

Maybe I will find the feed sacks and treat them like my favorite dress (is the project i'm Envisioning more or less fun/important than fixing my great grandmother's quilts?)

Maybe I need to sort by project (if I have a shoebox full of dollhouse fabrics, I have enough!)

I don't know.

Dh liked my shoes.

Ooh, I like the concept of "curating" my doll collection! It just sounds much nicer. I think it was SubC awhile back who mentioned that things with faces are harder to sort and let go of.

If dolls I decide to let go of can go to kids who will appreciate them I would feel much better.

Back in the early 90s, among other crafts, I discovered polymer clay. And polymer clay dollmaking. I only made 3 dolls and starts on others. I bought many little face, arm, and leg molds for small dolls (which would go on a stuffed cloth torso). That's a hobby I got really captivated by, and a bucket list thing. I still have those marvelous molds.

It's been difficult to attempt polyclay because of shortage of space, pet hair and dust, and the whole process of taking out the materials and working then having to stow it away, especially pieces that aren't ready for baking. But maybe I can figure out a portable way.

This evening I did more with neatening up the dolls, and in the process I'm also moving other piled stuff - mostly books and papers - found a bank statement for March 2018 that I knew had to be somewhere, tossed some obsolete things, & other misc. It's giving me hope that this room, small though it is, can be reclaimed as useable space to live in rather than just wade though from door to bed and back. Yay!