January Purging

 I have been using FLY Lady for cleaning for years now and she has helped me with getting rid of things. I have been steadily de-cluttering using her tips but then I was reading Apartment Therapy and they were promoting their January Cure. I had reached a stalemate on the de-cluttering. Everything had a place but everything was too crowded. It got frustrating when I had to empty out a bunch of stuff to get what I needed. I signed up for THE CURE and was devouring all of their advice on purging and I came across a link and read:

 Source

AHA! That was my problem. I need to empty out the WHOLE THING and really LOOK at everything! I was getting too complacent with de-cluttering and I would just kind of poke around inside drawers, closets, and cupboards looking for stuff to get rid of. I FORGOT! I used to do this- not even too long ago in this house. Even if I was frustrated before, with decorating, I would EMPTY OUT THE WHOLE ROOM so I could really look at it! 

I didn't follow the Apartment Therapy schedule because I prefer my FLY Lady schedule I already use. Every month is divided by week into room(s) that I clean.

I made a list of everything in each room that needed purging and did them when it came up on the schedule.

WOW.
I couldn't believe how fast the pile of stuff to get rid of grew! I wish I had taken 'before' pictures but on each thing I worked on....I honestly thought 'after' wouldn't be much different!!! Boy howdy was I wrong!

In the kitchen especially!
I have an EMPTY drawer and EMPTY spaces on my shelves!!!!!
UPDATE: (I have since re- arranged things and my kitchen is even better!)

My craft cupboard was the biggest surprise though....

This was filled front to back, top to bottom.....

Now I have room to grow! :D

I also had a bunch of craft stuff in the living room hassock. I emptied that all out, emptied this cabinet, and grouped like things together. 

Then this tip helped....

Source

And also, as FLY Lady says....

"There is nothing more depressing having to finish last years clown when everyone else is doing ducks. Be brave. Get rid of the old so that you can make room for the new."

So I decided to put all my craft projects in the living room hassock.

This looks like a mess but I gathered each project I want to do in a gift bag. Now I don't have any excuse to not start! I also told myself that if I haven't started any of the projects within three months, I have to be brave and let last year's clowns go!

Another tip that helps (especially with clothes):

If you were shopping, would you buy this?

LOL! I was going through my clothes....some of them I wouldn't have even bought at GOODWILL they were so old and worn out!

(Sorry! My room doesn't get much light so these photos are of very poor quality)

Last fall(?) I jumped on the Capsule Wardrobe wagon. It helped SO MUCH on weeding out unnecessary clothes! Now when I did this purge, I emptied out my whole closet and really looked at everything. And I whittled it down even more! Now I only have clothes I absolutely love. Bill said my closet now looks like a display at Gap or somewhere like that. But I say it's especially because of the beautiful maple closet organizers he made! I absolutely love my closet!

Here's what's on the top shelf. A plastic bin with stuff from my childhood, a bag of summer bedding and two bags of summer clothes! It feels so good to have everything organized and some breathing space!

Some more advice from FLY lady.....

"When you walk through your home I want everything you have to bring a smile to your face. In order for this to happen you are going to have to examine the first thoughts you have when you see an item. If you have a bad feeling the item needs to go away! I mean this! There is no room in your life for anything that makes you feel bad or self punishment."  Source

I chose these when I was a teen from my grandparents house after my grandfather died. My tastes changed. I felt obligated to keep them though. Guilt. Are all heirlooms sacred? Maybe if I had a memory of my grandparents using these I would have felt more but in fact, they were in stored in the attic and basement! I did what was suggested- took pictures of them and then asked family members if they wanted them. The theory is, if NO ONE in the family wants something, YOU do not have to be THE OFFICIAL KEEPER OF ALL THINGS out of some misplaced sense of responsibility.
It has been 2-3 years since I did this....and I do not regret it one bit!

And your kids and future generations might be spared.....

Hahahaha!

I love the cover on this book! That's why I bought it and will never get rid of it. It makes me laugh every time I look at it!

Another type of guilt- having to get rid of something I spent money on but never used. People make mistakes. Is it going to help if you hold onto your mistake forever? Let it go and think of it as- Lesson Learned.

End result? I estimate that I got rid of a truck full of stuff from my house! When I really thought I couldn't find anything more at first! I had been procrastinating because I thought I would have to start getting rid of stuff I LIKED. Lo and behold! I got to keep everything I liked AND I have lots of extra room now. Room to breathe...... Ahhhhh.... It's a wonderful feeling! I am now comfortable with the amount of stuff I have in my house. And I wrote on my calendar to do this again in June and next January too! Hopefully it will keep my house under control from now on. :)))))

This turned into a long post!
But I am just so excited to FINALLY. After 5 years! To FINALLY feel like I have succeeded in downsizing!!!! 

Two more pearls from Apartment Therapy:

10. Smile at the little things 
You've probably put a lot of work into decorating your home, filling it with art and furnishings and collectibles that you love. Don't forget to take a moment every now and then to touch and feel a favorite object, remember its story. Smile at how it came into your life.  Source

Appreciate the progress you've made together.

Do you look at your home and only see its flaws? Find your rose-colored glasses. Put them on. Does your home look better than when you first moved in? I'm guessing it does. You've fixed things, cleaned things, bought things you love. You may still feel like you have a ways to go, but give thanks for what you have done and feel good about it.  Source

A Driveway, Horses, And a Wall

We now have a circle driveway!

Next up: figure out the steps up to the porch.

They will be right on the other side of that staghorn cactus.

Probably some sort of stone. Maybe something like this. →   

Last Monday I heard voices out front. I looked out the window and saw a Sheriff's vehicle but no one was in sight. Until I looked to the right...

And saw this.

This isn't uncommon around here but they've never been in MY YARD!

I went down to hear the story and offer help. :) The horses had been meandering around in the street and a neighbor and her little boy were driving past and she herded them into my yard and then blocked the opening with her car. Then she called the Sheriff. She is the one leaning on her car using her cell phone to put out community FB notifications for people to check if they knew these horses. The Sheriff sent his deputy around the neighborhood to ask. 

A neighbor girl also drove by and just naturally happened to have some halters and bridles in her car LOL!

Aren't these horses so beautiful though? And they were perfectly behaved.
And our new CIRCLE DRIVEWAY! came in handy! The girls would walk the horses around it when they became restless.

This horse was my favorite though. She's a sturdy mustang and had a dark mane, tail and all 4 stockings. And beautiful eyes.

So pretty!

These neighbor girls thankfully were both very experienced with horses.

Two and a half hours later, 4 neighbors, and three (bored?) Sheriffs shooting the breeze on a beautiful morning, when finally up the road came the owner on foot. He had been searching along the creek wash when he saw all the cars up the road.

Man alive. My life is so exciting sometimes! 

My Arizona Wall is coming along....

I'm satisfied with the left half of it but the other side needs some tweaking.

To the right of the gold pan and rattlesnake I want to include  The 5 C's (info link) of our economy. I have Climate, Citrus, and Cotton. I have some ideas/things to add for Cattle but have been searching everywhere for Copper. So I just plunked some of it up temporarily and the wall is stuck right here for now. I think I need to look at trading posts and possibly gift shops- I don't even have a specific idea of what 'Copper' should be, but I'll know it when I see it! ;)

1950's Cooking

I may be a tetch odd.

When I get a new cook book....

 I READ IT FROM COVER TO COVER.

Maybe? Please, please? Surely I am not the only one who does this?

One day Bill brought home the first cookbook published by Betty Crocker.

It's been so interesting.

It was published in 1950. I am only a fraction into it...

I'm reading about Quick Breads right now. :)

But I wanted to share a few things from the beginning of the book on
HEALTH and NUTRITION.

Did you know?.....

There are

Seven Food Groups!?!

And one of the seven is BUTTER.

For reals!

I don't like margarine but otherwise, I really, really love Food group 7!!!

AND Vitamin D is stressed heavily.

About 6 or 7 years ago I went to see my Dr to get my thyroid checked. I told him I was dragged out and feeling like the zest of life was gone and everything was too much work- whether it was going somewhere, doing something, or making a decision- so my thyroid MUST be slow. When the blood work came back everything was normal.... except my vitamin D levels were quite low! He said that is very strange because he said my skin was tan, so obviously I did spend quite a bit of time in the sun. I told him I don't even wear sunscreen because I detest it! He told me to get a good quality, liquid type of vitamin D from a health food store. Within a few days of taking a supplement...
Boom! I felt great.


Another interesting excerpt from the cookbook...

Especially note the 'adolescents'. Nowadays they are considered obese. The goofy government standards of obesity drive me nuts. I recently went to the Dr and my BMI is 26. That qualifies as "overweight but not quite obese". Ridiculous! I think in defiance I'm going to add more of Food Group 7 to my diet.... :)))))) 




~~~~~~~~

And speaking of cooking and kitchens,
And feeling NOSTALGIC...

I had saved this picture in my kitchen inspirations because....

 I love that hardware! (I love that beautiful grandma too!)

So anyway, I looked at my sink cupboard and decided to give it a whirl.

Before:

After:

Hmmmm.....getting close!
I switched out the handles and tried out these false hinges. (my cabinets are not inset so I can't use real ones) I used Command Strips to temporarily hold everything on while I think about it.

But I think the hinges need to be bigger....
I looked around online and it looks like I might be making a trip to Lowe's soon!