Back At It

It's back to purging and decluttering this fine Monday morning.

I give myself a break on Sundays.  A day of rest from anything work related including any projects that are in the works and especially a rest from any household duties and chores... no cooking, no doing dishes, no dusting or vacuuming, etc.  I spend a good bit of the day with my church family and then the rest of the time is spent napping, reading or crocheting.  It's a great time to slow down, unwind and regroup so that when Monday rolls around I'm refreshed and ready to begin the week again.

I've been so busy as of late that I have neglected my own home.

Today, I'm going to tackle this mess...

(the Dunkin Donuts box is left over from last Friday when we moved my brother and sister-in-law into their new home.  I'm polishing off the last muffin as I write this post, mmmmm!)

and this mess...

and this mess.

Anyone that knows me knows that clutter drives me nuts.  And, yes, it's a very short drive, ha!  (And for those of you who are noticing that the date on my calendar is wrong, it's the day that my Mother passed away and I just can't change it yet even though it's been over two months.)

You are probably thinking how did I let it get to this point in the first place?  Good question!  I sold a few pieces of furniture and most of this stuff was stored in those pieces and I haven't had the time until now to take care of finding them a new home or simply getting rid of it.

So today, it will all get taken care of... filed, tossed or put away because I now have a bit of time to tend to my house.  I will also be finishing up the purging in the guest room and closet.  LOTS of things being packed away for a garage sale in December!  The next room that will be purged will be the office, then the kitchen and lastly our bedroom and bathroom.

It's amazing how much stuff two people can accumulate over a period of time.  We just seem to fill up every available space in the house and then all the outbuildings until we think that we need a bigger house just to have some place to put all our stuff.

When I look at the stuff I'm purging and putting in the garage sale, it is all stuff that we hardly used or looked at and wasn't necessary for every day living.  Yet, when we saw it at the store, we just HAD to have it.  Whatever 'it' was, we just knew it would make our lives easier or more comfortable.  Phooey on that logic!  It usually just ended up being something else to dust or break or not even work the way it was advertised to work in the first place. 

We are to the point that we want to have only the things we need and surround ourselves with a few special things that we love.  Simplicity.  And getting back to the basics.  That's what we're after.

I'm  excited to get the messes taken care of because I have a lot of creating to do between now and Christmas.  I just can't be creative when I'm surrounded by clutter and things that are not where they should be.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Till next time,

Cooking Outdoors

Country Boy and I love to camp!  There's something about the fresh air and the relaxed atmosphere and, of course, camping food! Fortunately, we're able to do some 'camping' in our own backyard and yet sleep in our own bed come nightfall!  The weather has been really nice here, so we've been doing some cooking outdoors.

The other night we decided to cook steak, keilbasa (for me, since I don't eat steak!) and baked potatoes over the campfire.

Waiting for the 'right temperature...

Starting the baked potatoes...

The above shot was taken before the taters were buried in the coals.

Time for some meat...

... taters are still buried.

Looks like it's ready so grab a plate...

because dinner is served!  MMMmmm!

For us, cooking outdoors has many benefits.  We enjoy the teamwork involved in prepping and cooking outdoors.  We enjoy taking some time to relax around the campfire while the food is cooking.  It's also aiding in our conservation efforts by not firing up the electric range.  There's also less clean up in the kitchen and it tastes good!

One day, we would love to have a wood-burning stove in the house to do all my cooking on.  Cha-ching$$$$$  That's going to take a LONG time of saving pennies though because there are other projects that require money that need to be completed first!

Speaking of projects and food (and doesn't involve money *smile*)... today's project is sorting through mountains of recipes that I have collected over the years (because they looked and sounded good!) and deciding whether to keep it or toss it.

My sorting method... if it calls for ingredients that I don't normally have stocked in my pantry, it's tossed.  The rest will be categorized by various meats, side dishes, salads, beverages, desserts, etc. and put in a notebook.  If I ever run out of projects (hahahaha!) I would like to enter them into the computer and then eventually print it out.  The reason for the hard copy in this day of electronics?   There are a couple of reasons, one, something could happen to my computer and all my recipes would be gone.  Two, if the power is out for any length of time and my laptop battery is dead... oops, I can't get to my recipes!  Thus, a hard copy is handy to have on hand.

Linking up with

Enough procrastinating on tackling today's project...

Till next time,

The Best Things in Life Aren't Things

While I was working crazy hours as an EMT, I began to feel overwhelmed with just about everything.  I was too overwhelmed to make healthy food choices; too overwhelmed to keep up with the housework; too overwhelmed to put things away when I was finished with it; too overwhelmed to read my monthly subscription to Country Living.  After awhile, all I could see when I was home was more work that needed to be done. Maybe it was because I was tired all the time but it got me thinking about what was important in life.  Am I working so that Country Boy and I could have a cool cell phone or 120 channels or more of nothing on TV or the latest electronic gadget that is obsolete by the time I get it home?  These 'things' are just not important to either one of us so we decided it was time to simplify our lives.  It is a process and choices have to be made along the way but once the decisions are made and you are in the process of decluttering, it is rewarding and freeing.

I have slowly been making my way around each room in the house.  Today, it was time to tackle 'the office'.  I have dreaded this room more than any other mainly because, not only is my desk (with tons of paperwork that you never know if you need to keep it or not OR how to file the odds-n-ends papers *sigh*) in there, but all of my crafts are there as well.  I enjoy doing all sorts of crafts from scrapbooking to crocheting and many in-between!  So you can just imagine all the stuff I have in there!  I had to decide which ones I enjoyed the most and let the others go.  This may sound a bit harsh, but I am finding out that I don't have enough time to do them all and they were just adding to the clutter.  I have come to despise clutter of any sort and I have a difficult time being creative while I'm surrounded by clutter.  I read the following recently on eartheasy.com about Simplifying and I think it explains what I was feeling perfectly...

Clutter fills more than our shelves and closets - it permeates our lives.  We work hard to be able to afford things, many of which require care, cleaning, storing, insuring, protecting... and the media and merchants are constantly offering us the next "must have".

I have a long way to go yet in the office but I made a really good start today and I am happy with my decisions.  Bonus:  the office is already looking better!

You ask what I'm doing with the stuff I'm clearing out?  I'm going to have a yard sale sometime in April.  Should be fun!

Let me just clarify that Living Simply will mean different things to different people. For some, it may evoke images of a low-income or a back-to-the-land lifestyle which may be unappealing, impractical or unattainable.  Don't let what others (may or may not) think determine how simply you want to live.  The choice is up to you.  And, if you are true to yourself, you will be happy with your decision and what others' think won't bother you.

I know this is getting long (and it's getting late) so I will wrap it up before I lose you (if I haven't already *smile*)!  I came across this scripture recently and it pretty much sums up what Country Boy and I are trying to achieve in our simple life; living a quiet life, working with our hands and depending only on our Lord...

I Thessalonians 4:11-12

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.  NIV

I could say so much more, and maybe I've been talking in circles, but I challenge you to take some time to decide what's important in your life and then start by making some simple changes that will help you focus on those things rather than all the 'clutter'!  Make a decision to stop being overwhelmed and then take it one day at a time.  You'll be glad you did!

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That's enough serious talk!  Now I'll leave you with a couple of photos I took the other day...

This hawk has made a nest in one of my neighbors' trees.  I took this shot before I went to visit my neighbor and I couldn't tell with my naked eye if she was even on the nest.  (Maybe I should start wearing my glasses all the time!)

This was on my way out.

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I'd love to hear some of the things that are important in your life and some ways you are tackling the clutter head-on!

Till next time,