Progress!!

Well I had promised that I would try and get organized and purge and reduce and reuse this year. I need to, my little house bursting at the seams and unless I want to end up on "Hoarders" I need to get on this. I have let things go and now I need to get on top of it again. Soooooo today I continued on the craft/sewing room reclaimation.

After spending a good part of the day on the usual errands, groceries, secondhand stores and general running about, I came home. Lunch was consumed and then I started in. Now I really debated if I would show a before picture because really, did I want everyone to see the complete tip my house had become?? I decided to go ahead and show it. Makes for a nice dramatic before and after if nothing else. I am going at this room in stages, 3 sections and this was section one.

The disaster that was before:

What you cannot see is about 6 good sized boxes of fabric and wool that are stuffed under the desk. Those were sorted and added to, deleted of things I knew I would not use and can pass on to someone else. I got rid of two box fulls and added to the other four so they now are containing some piles of things that were laying around on the desk top.

Here is the after:

Things have been returned to their proper places, garbage has been garbaged, donation items are boxed, bagged  and ready to be donated. I am rather happy with my work. The other two thirds of the room are a work in progress but at least I have started. The grand plan is to not let it get into this state again but I cannot make any promises. I think that my saving grace is that I keep working away at not letting the house become an overwhelming disaster. Besides I have my book club coming here for their next meeting and I don't want to shock them all.

Tonight I am going to start on this year's Church donation quilt. The backing material is drying in the dryer even as I type this. I am hoping to get it quilted so I can take it with me next month and get it delivered before the auction in March. This is another thing I promised my self I would get on top of this year.

Tomorrow I hope to get the stuff to the basement and spend the day quilting. E wants me to go to the show with her but I think I need to stay home and work on stuff. The ball has started rolling I need to keep with it.

Tootles,

Linda

Sunday Again So Soon

Here it is Sunday again and I have not posted all week. I don't know where the time has gone, what I have done but somehow a week has slipped by and its it once again at an end, with Monday looming large over my head.

I have started to clean out the sewing room. I have removed a laundry basket full of magazines from the room and should a stranger walk in there they would not notice a change in the place. Its going to be a long slog but I am determined to get it under control. I have almost finished the scrap afghan I a knitting. I am making it out of left overs from the puppets and its almost done. My proudest shinning moment of the weekend is that at last I defrosted the freezer, cleaned out the old things and made a list of the food that now lives in it. I hope to keep on top of it this way. I was shamed at the stuff I threw out. Such a waste. it is a sin and a shame.

Yesterday Mommybug came to town and we went out for lunch. Oh it was lovely to see her. She needed a break out from being at home with the kids. Understandable of course. kids are wonderful but you need some adult company now and again. I was happy not only to see her but to get the grandbabies Christmas gifts to them at last. We had a nice lunch and then a bit of a shop at the local fabric store. She brought the material for the Babybug's quilt. I shall get at that right away. One of these days I need to head out there to meet the new little man and see the house renovations.

I should have been making laundry soap this afternoon, tidying the kitchen and hauling the last of the Christmas decorations to the basement. Instead E and I went to see 12 Years a Slave. It was well written, well acted but too long. Harsh and brutal but too many shots of scenery and the main character's silent face that were not really needed. I got the impression it was trying too hard to be "artistic" and it did not need to be. Its was hard to watch how cruel we can be to each other as humans. I am glad saw it but its not the easiest subject.

So that took most of the afternoon. After I dropped E off, I picked up a couple of groceries and headed home. Now I am thinking I need some tea, a little supper then time spent watching Downton Abbey. Maybe I will finish my afghan tonight. Then I need to crack on with some quilts.

Toodles,
Linda

Sunday Snippets

Best Friend is on the road again, headed home after a flying visit with me. She arrived in time to join us for No Cook Friday, stayed Saturday then had to hit the road this morning. We went for breakfast, she dropped me off at home and we said our good-byes. The house is empty again. We had a lovely visit while she was here. The Hostess stopped in for tea on Saturday afternoon. Best Friend took me on a couple of errands and for groceries but mostly we lumped around the house is complete lazy decadence.

After she was gone, I got the laundry started, put a pot of soup into the slow cooker and then spent the rest of my time knitting. I need to empty the dish washer, then fill it up again but the soup was well worth the mess, or at least it looks promising

Chicken Bacon Chowder

It looks a little grey in this picture but trust me, in person its looks golden and yummy. Stuffed with bacon, chicken, mushrooms, leeks, and onions. I will be looking foreward to the taste test this evening.

This week will be the beginning of the Sewing Room Reclamation. This poor room has gotten out of control almost to the point of being overwhelming. So instead of trying to do it all in one day I plan to start doing a bit at a time and just keep chipping away at the mountain of uncontrolled mess to defeat it slowly but steadily. I have a method that will save me from the madness

 I will also start to quilt a quilt this week. Another thing on my mile long "to do" list. I have several to get on with and its time to get "getting on". I also realized this weekend that I need to make a lap quilt for my living room. I have plenty of knitted blankets but they are made with acrylic yarn. Long wearing, easy washing they me be, warm and cozy, but poor Best Friend is allergic. My house is cool and she needs something to snuggle under when she is here. Presto......... the opportunity to make yet another quilt. I like that.

I am still without wheels. I hope hope hope its ready early in the coming week and I pray pray pray its not so expensive that I have to consider the sale of a major organ to pay the bill. Ah it will be what it will be. This to shall be dealt with as it happens.  I am trying not to dwell on it. I need my car, therefore I will find a way to pay for it.

Right now  my dear couch is calling my name for a lovely Sunday Snooze. Would it not me wonderful if the house elves had dealt with the laundry when I wake up............. Stop laughing, it could happen!!

Toodles
Linda

Having a Bit of a Pout

While I surround myself with a lot of things, because I like a lot of things and clutter is how I live. You know: one is good, two is better, eleventy million is the BEST, I can get along without many things. Top of the list of the things I do not function well without are my TV and my CAR. Today I am pouting because my car is at the car hospital. Poor baby will  not start and even though I got the nice CAA people to boost it, the battery is not charging so its dead as a door nail in no time at all.

So the nice CAA people came and towed my poor babe to the garage today and I am grounded. The nice garage people are slammed in this coldest of weathers and are booking appointments well into next week. My baby will be sitting there in the cold waiting for a cancellation or next week, whatever comes first. Sigh.

Thanks to my wonderful friend Teddy Bear, I have a nice warm ride to and from work. Best Friend is coming for the weekend so I will have her to get me about and do the things I hate to ask Teddy Bear to do. Teddy Bear has enough on her plate with her daughter and grandkids. While I know she is more than willing to do this for me and has been very accommodating, I don't want to be annoying. Best Friend and I will have lots of time to do some errands for me. We will most likely be out and about anyway.

So I am at home being pouty and annoying myself. However, all is not lost, I did get some sewing done for a friend, and I have pulled the old caulking off the shower  and will re caulk it tomorrow. Need the shower running if I am having company this weekend. I also bleached the floor in the shower. Amazing how yucky it had gotten.

Other than that not much happening here. I have not made supper yet and its almost 9:00 pm. That is what happens when you have no idea what you want and not much in the house to play with. Supply lines are getting a little thin. Pay day soon so supplies will be replenished in the near future. I found a soup recipe on line I am dying to make but sadly have not the ingredients at the moment. Oh my, I am having a bad day in my own mind aren't I?? Poor little me!!

Ok, upside to the downside, I had lots of room to put the dumpsters out this morning. No snow banks to fight, just pulled them into the middle of the back driveway and left them. They are still there come to think of it. I have a lot of people offer me rides if I need them and that makes me feel good. I am not having supper by choice tonight not because I have nothing. I am blessed.

Well, I need to go make something to eat even if its a cheese sandwich, I need something. Then I am going to head upstairs and clean the bathroom up there.

Toodles
Linda

A Slow Return to Order

Slowly, carefully order is returning. Well maybe not order but the Christmas decorations are going back into storage and the house is going back to its year long regular look. I have to giggle when people tell me that they have two or three boxes of Christmas decorations. In my usual manner, one is good, two better and eleventy million is just the BEST!!

I have one or two Christmas decorations, can you tell? I did not even put it all out this year. There are two more boxes under the stairwell that contain the decorations for the big tree which did not see the light of day this year. So Saturday afternoon was spent, putting things away and more importantly, sorting through each box and plucking out a few things that I do not want anymore, do not use and therefore am ready to pass on to others via the local charity shop. I gleaned a full laundry basket out, which for me is a lot. In my defense I have to store all of these guys (17 of them) and they take three big boxes just for themselves.

The next big venture is that I need to get the trees back down to the basement. They are sitting in the dining room at the moment waiting for me get up the hummph to make the trek. It didn't happen yesterday, or today and I doubt it will happen tomorrow.

Today I shoveled the sidewalks because its extremely cold and I seem to like to do the outside stuff when its horribly cold. My nose was complexly numb by the time I got back into the house. The outside Christmas lights and decorations can stay up for a bit yet. My nose protested strongly  when I thought to go back out into the cold. That is why the garbage and recycle are still inside. They will go out to the bins when I absolutely have to go out of the house

Today I made soup. I am so proud of me. I have been yapping about doing this for awhile, and now finally I have managed. The potato soup I had planned turned into chicken noodle. This decision was determined by the contents of the fridge. Its simmering on the stove at the moment making the house smell comforting.

I shall dine on this along with cheesy toast for my supper this evening. What better to have on a super cold day?? Snuggled under an afghan, bowl of soup, cup of tea, toast and the prospect of Downton Abbey starting again. Sounds good to me.

I have been playing with my new camera and I have to say I love it. I love the fact that I can get closer to the subject with this one than I could with the old camera. I still have more to learn but I am liking it.

Back to work tomorrow, back to a full work week for the first time since December 13th. I imagine it will be a complete shock to my old system. My cold/ chest infection is diminished greatly which makes me happy. I really dislike not feeling well.

Well I am off to taste test the soup, find my knitting and settle in for the evening. Stay warm!!

Toodles
Linda

Another New Year

Wow 2014 is here already and I am not sure how I feel about it. Maybe the fact that (prepare for it there is a short pity party commencing) I am battling a cold, a cough that has settled into my chest and show no signs of leaving, my knees, hips and ankles are extremely achy and my lower back has decided to act up and give me loads of grief. Soooooooooo dealing with that I am not sure what I think of the new year. I can tell you better how I feel about a nap than the coming year but feeling sorry for myself is easy. Time to stop it and get on with the business of the coming year.

I hope its a good one, I hope it brings more wonderful things although it would have to go far to top the Tater Tot from last year. He was an excellent bit of business I must say.

Oh yes then there was Ireland, it will be hard to beat Ireland. It was the most excellent vacation in my life to this point.

I am hoping for more, can we all say Cotswolds, Yorkshire........ England in general???

I hope the year 2014 is a happy one, filled with lots more good times with my friends and family. I hope its prosperous and that its finally the year I get organized and healthier. I want it to be a positive, successful year for everyone. I hope its the year I learn to stop dwelling on what I cannot change and let that crap go. I hope its the year I learn that I cannot change some things so I need to focus on the things I can. I want this to be the year I get my yard whipped into the shape I want it to be in, I hope its the year I get me whipped into the shape I want to be in.

No resolutions for me, I break them too easily. I will however continue to do what I do every day. Be a better person, be a healthier person, be more organized, thrifty and live simply. Recyle more and reduce my consumption of a lot of things. I hope its a year I do more crafty stuff, maybe finally learn to weave and spin. Some of these I am better at than others, some I fall flat on my face with but I continue to try. I hope to crack all of them in the new year!!

Wishing everyone, a wonderful New Year!!!

Toodles,
Linda