July at Home

July 2017.

Most of July passed by, day by day...  Here is it, in photos...

Going through memories--de-cluttering homeschool paperwork.

Saying goodbye to a co-worker.

Shooting a charity golf event in a beautiful banquet hall!

Rebuilding the garden fence in my battle with some pesky rabbits.  I won.

Taking a selfie and texting it to Fernando in the parking lot before heading in to work.

One morning harvesting garlic.  Mug of tea included.

Columnar basil, my new favorite herb, in my garden.

Yet another selfie sent to Fernando.

Garden salsa, and guacamole.  Nothing more needed for dinner.

When the parents give you $, and tell you to take out your brother for his birthday.  Proof!

New shoes, on sale with a discount.

That's most of July.  Slow, yet fast, yet slow.  Tomorrow on my day off, I'll get to work in my garden.  Bliss!


Back to life,
Christine

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Cleaning and Reorganizing the Pantry

I have been home a lot more this winter than I have been in a long while.  I don't really have cabin fever, although the bitter cold makes me feel closed in, almost as if I'm stuck here.  Which I'm not.  :)

Cold weather--I'm talking -11 without a wind chill this morning--is a great excuse to have an extra cup of tea and do something worthwhile indoors.  On this day, I undertook a major project--cleaning out and reorganizing my pantry.  Here's what it looked like when I started:

The right side.

The left side.

I wish I had a super-wide-angle lens to show you the full picture, but the space back there is just so tight I had to take two pictures.  This pantry is really a very wide coat closet in my "Plum Room."

PLuM = Pantry, Laundry, and Mud

Yes, there's mud back there sometimes.  When you're facing the coat-closet-turned-into-pantry, your back is to the door leading to the garage.  To the left of the pantry are the washer and dryer against the side wall, and on the same wall as the pantry is another door which leads to the back yard.  To the right of this pantry is an open doorway, which is a back hallway with a powder room and which leads to my kitchen.  You'll see it in another image below.

Needless to say, it's a multi-use room, and it's pretty small.  I have big dreams for the pantry:  I'd first rip out the coat closet doors and the wire shelving.  Oh, and the metal shelving units will go, way out of here probably to the garage where my husband can put them to good use with his man stuff.  Then I'd install real cabinets, even a countertop area, plus a space in there for my vacuum which currently sits against a tiny space of wall next to the left door (ugh).  But that's a thousand-dollar dream (probably more), and I doubt I'll ever have that.  So metal shelving units it is.  But that doesn't mean I can't organize it and make it look pretty.  :)

Above and below--everything came off the shelves, and I organized it sort-of in the hallway.  I have jars of grains, beans, and other stuff, and they're stored three-deep on the shelves, so I definitely had to keep those together.  I somewhat alphabetized them, hoping to put them back in a way that made more sense.

The above shelf got wiped down in a major way--you can probably see the dust and food particles all over.  All the items from the shelves are below, arranged in my hallway (that's the kitchen, then family room beyond).

Rule of Organizing:  It gets messier before it gets neater.

Finally, what I think is the most exciting, invigorating part--getting everything back on the shelves!  Woo-hoo!!  (I actually get goosebumps for this part.)

Next to some of the dry jar goods are small appliances I have no space for in my kitchen:  a toaster oven, a large crock pot.  That empty space above is for my Bosch mixer, which was in the kitchen at the time awaiting a bread-making session (that didn't happen for another week).

See the lovely green tuna boxes?  They stick out from the shelves, but that's a good thing since the jars barely sit three-deep anyway, and it gives me more room to store stuff.  They sit on the shelf nicely, and I can organize smaller jars--bottles of ketchup, mustard, vinegars, etc.--without having them slide all over the metal shelves.  The boxes keep them nicely organized.  I got these boxes at Costco.  I'm even bold enough to go down the aisle where the tuna is, and empty out the 12-packs of tuna to get another box (or two).  No one has ever said anything.  You should try it; I always feel like a criminal but I do it anyway.  ;)

Nice and neat!  You may think this post is done, but I wasn't happy with green tuna boxes (and cut-out oatmeal boxes, one of which you can see on the top shelf above).  Today's post shows you what I did to clean and organize my pantry; my next post will show you what I did to make my pantry look pretty.  Yes, it involves a craft.  But if it's easy enough for me, I guarantee you you can do it, too!


Back to life,
Christine

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Use It or Lose It!

How many things do you have that you're saving for that special day/event/moment?  I have some of those things, too.  It's okay; I think we all have things we've purchased or made, then put away and saved for a special day, or for a special someone.

Here's what's not okay:  When those things start taking over our lives.  I'm not talking Hoarders here; I'm talking about somewhere between that and one box of future gifts in your master bedroom closet.  (Yes, I have that box.)

When you have more than a handful of things like I just described, maybe it's time to take inventory.  Fernando's employment situation is uncertain at this point, and we don't know what will be happening over the next month or so.  We've had many discussions about possible employment elsewhere, and one of those possibilities would be to move--as in, not anywhere close to here.  Having just experienced my parents' move from one house to another in the same town, we have vowed that we will not have as much stuff to move as they do.  (Love you, Dad and Mom, but you have a lot of stuff!)

Obviously, de-cluttering is the first thing that comes to mind, and I encourage you to do that.  There's an amazing feeling of freedom as you drive away from Goodwill, having left behind 50 pounds of boxed-up stuff.  In addition to de-cluttering, it's now time to use your stuff.

I remember a story of a woman who bought a beautiful nightgown--probably paid full price, too, because it was so beautiful--and carefully folded it, wrapped it in tissue, and gently placed it in her dresser drawer.  She was saving it for a special occasion--maybe an anniversary trip with her husband, or a cruise.  Long story short, years went by and the nightgown was still tucked away in her dresser drawer.  Eventually, the woman died, and her children found that nightgown, still carefully wrapped, unworn.  I don't want to be that woman!  I want to enjoy the things I have now; I want today to be that special occasion!  So, I've been using my various accumulations.  And so should you.  :)


Eat it Up!

Something sweet and special.  A friend gave me many unmarked bags of what we think are either dates or figs. This item is one of those "Yeah, I'll use those one baking day" things, then they sit on my pantry shelf for months.  No longer.  I must use them or throw them away!  I found a recipe for date/oatmeal cookies, and have made double batches of them. (Update--just checked and they're fig pieces.)

This batch of cookies went to Alpha Omega Math Team with Thomas.

Home-canned goods.  I think I inherited a Depression-Era mentality from my grandmother.  I have all these canned goods in my basement, and I almost get to the point of hoarding them; i.e., I'll use them only every once in a while, for extra special times.  Meanwhile, I go out to Costco (gotta love that warehouse store!!) and purchase multi-packs of diced tomatoes.  What am I doing??  While it's okay to have extra stock on hand, it's not okay to not use the stuff I'm stocking!  I spent all that time planting, watering, growing, and harvesting; it's time to use it up!  Besides, canned goods have a taste-life, and I want to enjoy the best taste I can.  So I'm using them up.

Last season's canned tomatoes.

Do you have unused food items waiting in your pantry?  Check the expiration date and either use them or throw them away!


Burn, baby, burn!

Candles.  I've gone to many a garage sale over the years.  I'll still keep going, too, because I love the hunt!  I love finding candles, since I love to burn them and I love the ambiance they create in my home.  They are a luxury item, though, and since the good ones cost good money, I don't usually buy them.  Over the years, I've collected lots of half-full boxes of Partylite candles, plus candles from my favorite candle shop in upstate New York.  What am I saving them for?  I love burning them, so now I'm burning them.

A garage sale candle sets the mood in my front living room.

A gift from a friend graces our fireplace mantel.

Pretty powder room--compliments of the clearance section at my favorite candle shop.

My dining room table with a Partylite candle and holder.

Valentine's Day candles!

Firewood has been stacked along our backyard fence for forever; plus, my parents gave us a bunch more when they moved.  Each summer, I look over at that wood pile and think about the fires we'll have in our fireplace once it turns cold.  And then winter arrives, and passes, and I realize we've used the fireplace exactly twice.

Big Girls Don't Cry!

Kleenex.  Really.  We buy those multi-packs at Costco, and we end up with tons of pink boxes which we use in our (cranberry and gold themed) master bedroom but how often are we in there?  I've been using them for makeup removal (they're soft and work well) instead of cotton balls.  I've even thought of covering the boxes with decorative paper (or wrapping paper) for use elsewhere in the house.  Just for this post, I took a picture of a Kleenex box from our powder room--nice and blue.  The pink boxes remain in the master bedroom.  :)

It is Better to Give.

Yep, this (below) is that box of gifts I was telling you about earlier.  Do you have one?  Mine is filled with really nice stuff I've bought on sale and saved for Christmas, birthdays, and weddings.  Time to use them!  I've given several so far, and even de-cluttered some (to Goodwill).

See the box to the left of the teddy bear?  That's the gift box.

The Write Thing to Do.

Pens and pencils.  Sometimes I see one of Thomas' pencils lying around, and it's literally two inches long.  I pick it up and toss it.  There are 20 more pencils in the pencil box that need to be used.  :)  Come to think of it, we have several plastic storage boxes for pens, pencils, erasers, markers, etc. on a shelf of our computer desk.  I should be able to combine all that stuff into a box or two.  (That'll have to be the subject of a future post...)

An organized computer desk--pen and pencil boxes are on the top left.  :)

Clean Up Your Life!

Soaps and other bath items.  We don't travel much, but when we do, we love to take home the little soaps and shampoos from our hotels.  We have accumulated quite a collection of little bottles, and I've already used up all the body lotion and shampoo.  But those little bar soaps--they just keep piling up.  We're used to using liquid soap in the shower, so we never reach for a new bar once we run out.  We used the liquid shower gel until we ran out, and now the basket of little bars sits next to our shower.  You'd be surprised at how long some of those little bars last!  At least we're using them now.

Not only are we using the bars of soap, but bottles of bath salts and bubbles await our (my) enjoyment.  We have a garden tub in our master bedroom bath, and I've used it maybe three or four times in the 15 years we've lived here.  I'm too practical to lounge in a warm bath reading a book.  It makes no sense to me.  But I'm determined to at least try to use the bath salts, and the bubbles can be used in the shower for shaving.  :)

Using up stuff gets me in the de-cluttering mood, which I've also been doing as I sift through stuff wondering how I can either use it or get rid of it.  I've made around $200 in the past month or two by listing items on bookoo.com.  There's also Craigslist and eBay.  I have lots more to go through, but for right now I'm focusing on de-cluttering by using.

Why save it?  I may not be around to enjoy it later--whether I die, or move, or something else.  If I can use it now, I'm going to use it and enjoy it.  Make today that special day!


Back to life,
Christine

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A Mouse, A House, A Garage

May 20.  I decided that it would be sooo nice to be able to walk into the garage and straight over to my gardening shelf, which Fernando so thoughtfully provided for me.  The problem had become that since I live with five guys--most of whom lean toward the cluttery side--I had to weave around piles of stuff on the floor, climb over a lawnmower, maneuver around three bicycles, and squeeze through a narrow walkway to get to my stuff.  And the shelf was just ten feet away!!

Fernando was out of town on a business trip, and I figured I could venture out into Man's Land without getting into too much trouble.  Once I started working, I couldn't stop.  I spent six hours almost straight in a row (stopping for water breaks and lunch) cleaning, de-junking, recycling, etc.  Finally, at 3:30pm, and with help from my guys throughout the day, I declared the job done.  Fernando's work area, consisting of our old kitchen cabinets, was still cluttered, and its countertops were littered with "mouse gifts."  Danny had told us there was a mouse about, and we had yet to find it.

Standing there in the evening, admiring all of my handiwork, I figured I'd go through a basket of stuff on that countertop.  Out went old Bass Pro Shops catalogs, and other old paperwork, right to the recycle bin.  What was that box-thing underneath the basket?  Oh, it was an old VCR.  Hmm, maybe we could get rid of it.  Then--yikes!  The inside was filled with stuffing, insulation and other, well, stuffing.  I found the house.

Joseph and Danny came running out to see it, and I called and left a message on Fernando's cell phone:

"Honey, do you think we can throw out that old VCR in your garage work space?  I don't think it'll work any more--"

In the background:  (Joseph)  "Mom, I saw something move in there!"

"Eeeeeeekkkkk!  Omigosh!  Really?  Uh, I gotta go, I think--"

Then I hung up.  Fernando still has this message saved in his voice mail.  :)

The VCR was definitely fit for the trash.  Danny grabbed a board and got the VCR with hidden mouse into a large plastic storage box, where he insisted I take some photos.  Of course.

What we saw in the VCR

Danny shone a flashlight into the opening, and it finally popped out to see what was what.

Cute, huh?  But a rodent nonetheless.  We brought the box and its contents to the back yard patio.  I won't share the grisly details, but...

...the mouse perished in an unexpected flash flood.  After drying out the VCR...

...we got the rest of the junk into black trash bags, and waited eagerly for trash day.  Here's an image looking into our garage.  You can't really tell that we cleaned it out, since there are still bicycles and lots of other stuff in there.  Plus, my parents' boxes and "stuff" still fills most of the right side until their own move-in day, sometime in October.  Here's the shot:

Trash Day.  I'll never forget that day.  Specifically, May 23--Pre-Trash Day.  *sniff*  What a wonderful, glorious day!!  The day before our official Trash Day.  We pulled all the trash out of the garage in the morning, just to clear things out.

Then late afternoon came, when we were legally allowed by village code to place our trash at the curb!  What joy!  What bliss!  Danny even convinced his dad that one old couch in the basement should go out!  Our pile of junk grew, and with it, my joy knew no bounds.

Goodbye forever, clutter!

Can you tell I was happy?  Free of all that stuff.  And best of all, I could walk with a light, sure step to my gardening shelf.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Boxing Up Christmas

This is not a philosophical discussion.  If you've visited my blog more than once, you know I'm an intensely practical person.  So, I'm not getting rid of Christmas in our home or anything like that.  I'm literally boxing up our Christmas decorations and putting them away.

In the above photo, I have five Rubbermaid 44-quart storage boxes.  This is the entirety of my Christmas storage, and, once I pulled out those boxes this week, I hoped to get it down to four.  I don't do a lot of decorating; it takes too much time and I'm usually the only one who wants to do it anyway.  (Makes me wonder what our young men will do for this holiday once they're married--but that's a far-in-the-future post!)

You can also see that I have several shoe boxes into which I organize our Christmas tree ornaments.  I use tissue paper to wrap the glass ornaments, and also to separate the other ornaments so they don't bang together or anything.  I find that once they're in tissue paper, inside the shoe boxes, and inside the plastic storage boxes, they're pretty safe.

One or two of the guys usually help me take all of the ornaments off the tree.  Joseph was so kind to help me do that this year, and we laid them out all over the floor.  I have mostly single ornaments, except for some plastic snowflakes and a few other ornaments, such as the glitter glass ball ornaments we made one year.  I collect snowflakes, and those were all boxed up before I realized I should take out my camera to document this clean-up project.  :)

Every time I box up the ornaments for the year, I sort through them and decide if it's time to say "good-bye" to any of them.  This year, there were some boxed ornaments that I was no longer happy with, and a few select others that had no meaning for me, so those when into a separate box and are now in my basement "garage sale staging area."  That created just enough room to combine everything else into four Christmas storage boxes.

Side note on de-cluttering most everything:  Should I keep it?  I ask myself these questions:

• Do I (or my family members) enjoy it?
• Is it broken?
• Is it useful?

As I placed each "keep-it" ornament in one of the small cardboard shoe boxes, I wrote down the ornament description on a Post-It Note which was stuck on that shoe box.  Once all the ornaments were in shoe boxes, I had a "contents list" for each shoe box.  [I already had content lists on the boxes, but they have been scratched out/written over for several years and it was time to create new lists.]

Being the "neat-and-tidy" type, I then took each Post-It Note list and typed it out on the computer, then printed out all the lists.

I then cut out each of these "content lists" and taped them to their corresponding shoe boxes.

The shoe boxes were then arranged inside the Rubbermaid storage boxes, and I was done with the tree ornaments.

Each Rubbermaid box is labeled "Christmas" on one side.  On the other side, each has a sticker with a list of items in the box.  Two boxes are labeled Christmas tree ornaments, and the other two contain the tree skirt, manger figures, mantel decorations, stockings, tree lights, etc.  All four Rubbermaid boxes sit in our basement next to our entertainment center until next Christmas season.  In the below shot, you can see the manger atop the five boxes; the photo was taken last summer during one of our basement clean-up projects.

And now I have just four Christmas boxes, plus the manger.  It's nice to look over to those stacked boxes and see several empty ones.  (I'm typing on the basement computer just to the right in the above photo, and there are actually three stacks of boxes there now!)  *contented sigh*

There is still so much to do, but I know that it's a little-by-little process.  I'm content.


Back to life,
Christine

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