52-62 Items Gone (and probably a few more)

Clutter is going baby step by baby step.
          And that feels good!
I actually dusted hair pins today, because I had left open my old fashioned cookie tin that I keep those things in .

That is dusted.  Everything in it is dusted, and I'm getting rid of the stuff I will not use anymore.  And I got a bonus today.  I also finished cleaning off my dressing table.

I'm not counting days anymore.

Day 37 - 51 or 51 Items Decluttered

3 books & 2 gardening decorations

I think there is a very good chance I will match the days I started the Chronic Fatigue and Creative Decluttering facebook page with the amount I have uncluttered.  Yes siree -- I think it going to happen this week;  which is absolutely amazing considering I felt like I had been run over.  So that goes to show what can happen little by little.  

10 videos here -- Yes!

The videos were an unplanned thing to declutter, but I was hunting for a tai chi video I used to have;  and, I thought I might as well clean the video drawer out.  So, I am a happy camper even if my head hurts and I can't sleep.  At least, I am on my way to a clean house.  Woohoo!

Now for a little addition:

3+2+10=15

36 Days or Items, plus or minus some junk mail, +15 books, gardening decorations and videos =  51 items  Yes!  She is ahead.

In my rules,  5l items = 51 days  The idea is to keep this up until March 6 or 7th of next year.  

Hmm...If I could get 365 items by December 31, 2013, I could just start over next January. 

It's Junk! Or It Doesn't Look Right Here. Days 33 - 36

 Wow!  Some clutter is just plain ugly and junkie.  Some clutter in some houses look worse than you can imagine.  Or maybe you can.  We have to make decisions about what to keep and not to keep.     

I really don't think I
need to keep all these extra blind 
slats. It's a very short window.

Some paper is recyclable, but not all of 

it.  This is just a sample of junk mail 

and  a paint wash I am not going to use.    

One unused globe that
fits nowhere in the house.
It needs a new home.

Bye, Bird.  You are going somewhere to be loved by someone else.  I appreciated the way you enhanced the decor in my "I love the beach display" at our last house. 

A Variety of Clutter Days 29 - 32

Found this sweet item in the back of a cabinet
 when we moved in.  I haven't used it either.

It is said, "Variety is the Spice of Life."  And today, I have variety.


FlyLady always says to get rid of the items you don't love, including things that people have given you that are causing clutter or just don't fit in.  It's not that one doesn't appreciate thoughtfulness.  It becomes a burden, when you keep moving it around and you wish you didn't have it.  Especially, when you are working to make your life simpler.

It's funny.  I probably keep some items that people would wonder about.  I keep sweet pictures my grandchildren drew for me or for their grandpa.  I am even thinking of displaying these someplace.  Right now, they end up on the refrigerator.  Those are warm fuzzies, but other stuff I don't like is irritating after a while, even though I appreciate the love behind the gift.

Free pillbox that does not suit my needs.  Bye pillbox.. 

A very thoughtful gift, I know someone else will love.
I don't have room for more knick-knacks.

I made it and I am tired of it.

Working A Little and I found Days 26, 27, and 28

3 Days, 1 pile
Old magazines, old fashioned Christmas lights (some people
make craft items with these), and drawer dividers.  I like crafts,
 but making something with the lights is not my thing.  I don't
need the drawer dividers, and I am no longer saving magazines.

I started the Chronic Fatigue and Creative Decluttering Facebook page on March 6th, so I could have more I tend to declutter in clusters of items. 
declutter items  -- if I actually did it everyday.  However, what I am finding is

I cannot remember if I ever told you who inspired me to start this blog.   If you want to meet Alison, she has already passed the year mark in decluttering;  moreover, she has a page of Clutter Clearing Resources.

The important thing here is to be persistent, even if it is in getting rid of clutter everyday.  Now, I have to admit that it is not all off the premises in one day.  In this day and age, one has to save fuel.  I box it and bag it.  It goes by the door to go to the back of the car for Errand Day.  When it is in the trunk or back of the SUV, you have to remember to get it out of there.  I wish I had a pickup service for this kind of thing, but I don't think the charities around here do that.

#24 and #25 Hey! I may not get these in every day, but you should have seen where I started a year ago.

Just the rest Christmas stuff that stuck in a
vase is going -- basically, dried grass died red.

Sometimes, I think I will never be finished.  How could it take so long to get rid of what is probably a small amount of clutter in comparison to some people?  However, I cannot compare, nor should you.  We just need to do the best we can.

I could stick things in boxes or plastic bins and hide them in the basement;  but then, I will never have separated the things I really like from the things I need to get rid of.  So, I keep plugging away at this, a little at a time.  Some days, I feel like I have done nothing, even though I keep chipping away at this rock.  However, it is getting smaller.

I do believe in mending things --really --
however, there comes a point that if you
would not even give it away, you should
say good-bye.  Oops!  I need to retrieve
the button for the button jar.  They are
great for craft projects and when
you have lost a button.

There are some days I don't get any housework done:  I rest and I write.  But when I compare where I was a year ago to where I am now, I remember how tired I was of seeing boxes after we moved.  Truthfully, with little closet space in the house and having almost no energy, it felt like a bit like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill, only to have it roll right back down.  But thank the Lord, I am not Sisyphus with a boulder:  I am a woman who has learned there will be ups and downs, but the job will get done.  I see improvement, until I start a new craft project;  and that boulder rolls down a little. However, I know it is worth it.

No Vacillating Here They are not going to be used again. Day 21 - 23.

 

 I could be obsessive compulsive about this process and count papers and things like that;  but I am trying to get rid of the hidden things and the things I sometimes convince myself would be worth saving.

 


These are 3, actually 4 items that should have been tossed 6 months ago.  Actually the blue cologne is so old, it should have been thrown out 5 years ago.  Cologne does get old, and obviously this didn't get used much.






The catnip is another matter.  I have wonderful memories of out sweet kitty rolling in catnip and playing with her mice that had marinated in it.  Sweet kitty died last November.  She lived a long life for a kitty, and she took care of her family. She was the comforter cat.

Dead Hairdryer - Cold Head ---- Day 20

You broke on a cold late night in March.  I had to let my wet head dry naturally.  You kept me from having flat hair, but you got tired from all those times you were used to dry mine and my hubbies hair, and occasionally  a pet.   

RIP hairdryer.  I wish I knew what to do with what's left of you, but I can think of nothing but burying you where all dead appliances go.  You were useful, but I'm not sad.  I already have another one to replace you.

Day 17 and Day 18

We were good together while I used you, but I haven't for several years.  Good-bye TV buy.

I 

One Christmas barn and about a dozen of these snowmen. 

 May someone else enjoy you on their Christmas tree.