Wednesday 20 February 2019

Getting Organized



The Winter is the best time to organize your house in terms of what you use most often, and where it should be kept.  I know I could really use some help in that area, especially in the kitchen.  Over the past few years I have been given so many lovely things to test out and use, and I am not complaining about that . . . but finding a place to put it all in my tiny kitchen is sometimes an exercise in total frustration!

I want to use these things . . . and I know that if I tuck them away in a cupboard somewhere upstairs, they'll probably never get used and then . . . what is the point in having them at all . . . I'm sure you can see my dilemma.   Combine that with the fact that I am not a very organized person to begin with and you can just imagine how frustrating I can be to Todd, who is a total and utter neat-nic!!

I look at things that I never pick up except to dust beneath them . . . and I wonder what is the point?  But then, in the next breath, I realize I could never begin to bear to part with them . . .  they do get used occasionally, and I do love them so.  These are things like my salt and pepper collection and my cups and saucers . . . sugar and creamer sets . . . props for food photography, etc.

The problem is they are somewhat like old beloved friends, and I do so love to visit old friends from time to time. 

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I am also a very easily distracted person.  I  cannot begin to tell you the number of times I start out to organize a cupboard and I happen upon something which I haven't seen in a long time and then my brain is off on a flight of fancy and next thing I know . . . my original purpose has been completely forgotten . . . entirely and I am in another room doing something else altogether.

The sign of a creative mind???   I don't know!   The only thing I know for sure about that is . . . it drives Todd crazy.   ☺

I try to apply the two year rule to most things.   I ask myself . . . "Have you used this in two years?"   Todd asks me . . . "Have you used this in two years?"

"No," will be my feeble answer . . . "but . . . I think it might come in handy for this or . . . . for that . . . some day . . . " 

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He does manage to convince me however, that saving empty toilet rolls and kitchen towel rolls for the Children's Sunday School is not really necessary . . . and I manage to be able to part with those.   I also like to collect small boxes that I think may come in handy for posting things to Canada and the like, and . . . whilst that makes total sense to me, tis not that often that I do such a thing, and so it's a rather stupid thing to collect . . . likewise plastic Ferraro Rocher boxes, which are really very handy things to have around, and I despair that if I do throw them all away, I will soon be wishing I hadn't because the perfect purpose in having them is sure to occur any day now!

I have stacks of Christmas Cards in a box up in the spare bedroom that should really be gone though and discarded . . . but, then again . . . they can come in so very handy when you need to make some crafts . . . things like gift tags and I have seen the cutest tree ornaments made out of cut up Christmas Cards . . . besides when I try to go through them, I get distracted by thinking about the people that have sent them and the happy memories I have of times spent with each one.
 

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The one thing that I have which drives Todd the craziest is . . . cooking magazines.   I do collect them, with every intention of clipping out the recipes from each that I totally want to try making one day . . . truly I do.  My motives are pure, but . . . I do so hate to disfigure anything and I do wince occasionally when I try to tear out the pages.  I am always amazed however when what was a huge stack of magazines is reduced to a very small pile of torn out recipes . . . then begins the quandary of where to put the torn out pages, and I am always going to get myself a filing cabinet . . . someday.

I think the problem is that most of my childhood and adulthood was lived as the daughter/spouse of a military man, somewhat like a turtle carrying it's house on it's back and so nothing was kept much during those years for sentimental value or for any other value . . . having to pack things up and cart them around with you every few years is not conducive to collecting anything.   My whole life I have longed to have roots which I could sink down deep into the soil of wherever it was that I was, and stay a while, and perhaps there is something deep in my psyche  which whispers to my soul . . . that I must keep this or I must keep that.   It's kind of hard to explain, but . . . there are no family treasures, no legacy and I have this yearning to create one.

Even if it is only a messy pile of torn out recipes, or a box of old Christmas Cards . . . or . . . dare I say it . . . a medium sized cardboard box filled with small plastic chocolate boxes and the like . . . the pretty cover of a bar of soap that I fell in love with . . . ribbons and bells taken collected from Lindt Chocolate Easter Bunnies . . .  and then there are the red gingham bows from the Pip Studio sheets and pillow slips . . . and the golden yellow ones from other sheet packets . . . and . . . bad me, the black ribbons from years of Jo Malone perfumes, which absolutely will come in handy when I begin to make Amish Dolls again . . . some day. 

(source)

I begin to understand the meaning of one man's junk being another man's treasure . . . and I am reminded of this woman back in the town I am from.   She is rather old . . . and rather large . . . and she drives around in an old car which is stacked to the roof with old newspapers and magazines. It is quite an oddity . . .  and the minute I remember her, it is somehow not all that hard to throw out anything, because . . . God forbid end up like that. Less really is more. A few episodes of Consumed on Netflix are also good for curing the hoarding habit! Yikes! I can't understand how people get to that point, much less become willing to share it on the boob tube. Its unreal!  I need to be a lot tougher with myself. Have you got any tips for being better organized?

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


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•。★★ 。* 。
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˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

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"Down in their hearts, 
wise men know this truth;
 the only way to help yourself 
is to help others."
~Elbert Hubbard  •。★★ 。* 。 


Fish Fingers, Chips & Beans 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Fish Fingers, Chips & Beans.  Its simple really. 

Have a great Wednesday!  Don't forget! 


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And I do too!    

   

10 comments:

  1. This was sooo sweet and so honesty, Marie! I think we've all been there. Living and storing our STUFF can be a big thing. We connect so much to our things accumulated. Apart from yarn/craft supplies, I don't "collect" anything anymore. We have a small house with limited storage options, so having too much just isn't do-able. So not sure I have any good tips for organization, as I think I'm always still figuring that out! We don't have children. And we're pretty sure our nieces and nephews won't want our old stuff when we're gone, so we don't think much about legacy, treasures, etc. There's kind of a strange freedom in that. It makes it easier to part with things. I try not to hang on to anything that it's loved or useful. I do aspire to a more minimal interior, but not totally sterile, you know. ;) I've been itching to start some spring cleaning! Hope you have a good rest of the week, my friend... Oh, LOVE your menu for today! I'm adding this to my Lent list!! LOVE YOU!! ((LOVE & BIG HUGS))

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    1. I do believe I am becoming somewhat better at getting rid Tracy, but I have a long way to go. My biggest thing is books, I do think a tidy house free from clutter is a lot easier to keep clean! Love YOU! Love and hugs to you three! xoxo

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  2. Hmm..I accumulate also.. I find that if everything has a place..and looks good..it's not clutter..but it is..
    I have a chair in my craft room with things to donate this week or next..we have 2 oganizations that receive and ell one is Nova..you would love it..like a five star goodwill and clean and neat and tidy..and a Library..since Nova(2) we have 2..I find the library is getting less things so maybe they will be dropped there.
    When I am gone my girls will stock those places I hope..
    we always need something for crafts we just threw away;)
    Yesterday after lunch..I dragged the stepladder out..J brought up the heavy duty shop vac,and I stepped up and down our kitchen and bathroom cleaning above the moldings..that pace between the end of the cabinets and ceilings..Oh my..and I dusted and washed all the "stuff" 2 hrs.
    But now I know..it's all clean..my drawers are MK..but I can't only keep things that spark joy..I need my warm leggings and old sweaters lol:)But yes..I ams starting to donate.Good luck Marie..I would do one room at once..do you have an underbed storage thingie..I don't but it seems that would be a good idea?:)Also those decorative hat/gift boxes..to store cookie cutters etc:)I work and live well in tidy..too much so:)

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    1. Like you Monique, I do so much better in tidy. I usually donate stuff to a charity here called Age Concern which supports older people. I figure everyone does the cancer and heart charities. I also have given to Barnardos which is a children's charity. I would like to only have to keep things which spark joy, but some thing are just things you need! I have heard that you should empty a room entirely of everything but the furniture and only put back in what you love or need. Hmmm . . . we'll think about that! xoxo

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  3. I am afflicted with the same malady, Marie...have too much clutter...and see many uses for so many things. Part of that is having a creative mind. Men, at least most I know of, have no clue about such things. Or how hard it is for us to get rid of our stuff. Plus too, sometimes...THERE HAS BEEN TIMES, when my hubby was oh so glad I had something on hand...and when we needed a solution for something, often I have come up with something totally unusual but something that works. If I was cut from the same cloth as him, it would have long hit the trash (cannot tell you how many times we had to buy something he previously threw out)!!
    Elizabeth xoxo

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    1. I have a clutter-bug heart that longs to be minimalist Elizabeth! Love and hugs, xoxo

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  4. oh well ... Im like you in many things hahaha and here always say me : you have many dishes, you have a lot of china, naahhhh maybe but they are from many years and many from my mom :) :)

    (I know I have many books and magazines (of food) sigh)

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    1. I am not surprised we are so much alike Gloria! Not at all. Love you! xoxo

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  5. Oh my sweet friend, you are so much like me. I have some of the same struggles. I just have a number of things that have sentimental meaning to me that I don’t know if I can throw away.
    However, that being said, I do want to go through my whole house after my daughter leaves and really get it organized. I used to be more organized than I am now. I just let life take over and I don’t get done what I used too.
    Years ago, I read a book that helped me be orgnaized for a while. I can’t remember the total name but it was two sisters from Oregon that decided they had to make changes. They called theirselves; “Side Tracked Home Executives” From Pigpen to Paradise. They had some great organizational ideas that I tried and it was wonderful for a number of years.
    Anway, you motivated me to start looking for some ways to be better organzied and then how to de-junk.
    Love you much! Hugs~

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    1. I think its all about learning to let go of things you don't actually need and learning not to replace them. I will look up those girls! Thanks LeAnn! xoxo

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