There is Always Something to Tidy

Last year I got involved in an online de-cluttering project where the blogging participants posted pictures and told about what they had de-cluttered the previous week. That was good for me as it forced me to clean up one little mess at a time within a basic week long deadline. As time wore on, the other participants fizzled out, until there were just two of us, and then the weather started to get better and we found other things to do.  I did get a lot of things done during the time it lasted though.

This year I discovered another of my favorite bloggers has come upon a year long project called 52 Weeks to an Organized Home.  And while the title suggests that you have one clean up job to do each week, it is really broken down so that you de-clutter something each and every day. They even tell you what to do that day, and none of these jobs should take very long to complete. I started out a little late, but it was easy to catch up, because, like I said, we are tackling supposedly small jobs, instead of big ones.  For instance, it's time to de-clutter the kitchen, but that has been broken down into little parts. The countertop (okay, so I know that's not a small task in some people's homes, but once done, it only takes seconds a day to maintain), the utensil drawer, the cutlery drawer, the dish cupboard, and now, today, the spice shelf.

I'm grateful for thus push to do the shelf on which my spices are stored, as it's overflowing, and have often had things fall out of the cupboard while reaching for something else. I admit that it was a mess, but I have now taken everything off that shelf, and washed the shelving and the shelf liner. There were all kinds of spilled spices mixed and mingled on that.  I have no idea how that happens as they are all in their own sealed containers and the containers don't get opened until they are on the counter top when I'm using them.  Gremlins, I guess.  No matter. It's clean now. My rotating spice rack is soaking in some hot water, and it's obvious I have not had that totally unloaded in years.  It will be very interesting to see if I can put everything back on it.  I also have a step type unit that is supposed to let me see what is behind the other stuff, if I don't stack too high.

But wait. I'm de-cluttering so I should throw out any really old stuff, or anything I simply don't use. I found a couple of things I didn' t know I had. I know there are some things in there that I very seldom use, but when I do, I don't want to have to go buy more, just for that one day.  I do have access to a Bulk Barn now though, so I wouldn't necessarily have to buy a full container of anything anymore.

This was a worthwhile job.  I even did the beverage shelf while I was at it.

Tomorrow, the food cupboard.  Next week, the refrigerator and freezer.  Yes, this is a very doable way to de-clutter.  Maybe you'd like to jump in.

De-cluttering: Week 17 - Distraction Sometimes Does Wonders

I thought it would be really easy to do this week's de-cluttering project.  The idea was to put away the winter coats (and hope that I don't need one again for many months). 

I also store the vacuum cleaner in that cupboard though, so the first thing I did was drag it out, of it's hiding spot.  I had not vacuumed behind the furniture since January, when we put away the Christmas tree. For some strange reason, I suddenly thought this would be a good time to do it.

I started off pulling out the big chair, and the table beside it.  Before Christmas this chair was on the end wall, but I moved it to be beside the window, just so there would be enough room for the tree.  I thought, if I'm going to pull he furniture around, this would be a good time to put it back.  Basically that just meant interchanging it with the love seat.

As I may have mentioned, back when we bought this set, it's bigger than our previous furniture, and it has not really fit into the room as well as one would hope.  Once I had the loveseat pulled away from the room,  I took a notion to move the one piece of the set that had never been on the end wall to that position.  The couch.  I wasn't sure it would fit though as there was a dresser and an end table in each corner.

I know, you are wondering why on earth a dresser is in my living room. Well, I inherited it. It was in my Grandmother's living room when I was a child, and then it was in my Aunt's living room when my kids were growing up.  Now it's in mine.  It's never made it to a bedroom, at least not within my lifetime, so it just seems like it belongs there.

To fit the couch into that spot meant I was going to have to move the dresser. It's old. It's genuine wood, and it's heavy.  It also had drawers full of a lot of heavy stuff that made it impossible to move without emptying them at least partially out.  That, of course got me to sort and eliminate some things that I found in there....like really old financial papers from way back in the 90's, and some gardening and nature type magazines that I guess I thought I would paint from.  But really, I prefer to paint from my own photographs, so why was I keeping them?

I made a fine mess of the room, and the coats never did get put away.

But in the end, after a lot of pushing and  pulling and grunting and groaning, and even a few moments of wondering if I was going to have to wait for hubby to come home to put it all back if it didn't fit (as I was too worn out by then), the room ended up looking better than it ever has.  I did some unscheduled de-cluttering of drawers, and maybe even the room as it actually looks like it's bigger now.  I even got all the rug and baseboards vacuumed. I think I did a good job, even if it wasn't the one I intended to do.
 

An InLinkz Link-up

De-Cluttering Week 15 - Children's Books

There is a big book sale coming up at the Merrickville United Church in May.  I've got way too many books so I thought I'd start weeding them out.  I have a terrible time parting with books though, so when my nine year old grandson came for a visit recently I gave him a job.  I hauled up several armloads of children's books that are stored in an old china cabinet in the basement,  and had him sort them into four piles:  books he liked; books he thought his little brother would like; books that were too young for either of them, but maybe their two year old twin cousins might enjoy; and books to send to the sale. 

He was really good at sorting them, though sometimes I was a bit surprised at which pile he put something into.  Once he got those piles established, I got some boxes and we packaged them up.  The books for the sale were easy enough, as were the books for the twins. 

There is a general rule though, at his house, that he's not supposed to bring things home, as he and his brother both have more books and toys than any kid actually needs.  I figured we could get the books back to his place if we did it a few at a time though. He sorted through his pile again.  There were some books that he had me put back in the basement because he said he really wants to read them but he'd do it later, however, he did manage to fill a small box full to take home with him.  Those were all for him to read now. 

I wanted him to do the same for his brother.  But he had other ideas. He thought those books should all go in the spare bedroom, so they would be there when the little one came for an over night stay.  I didn't think it would go over well if one kid went home with a box full of books and the other kid didn't get anything until his next visit, so I picked out a few to take to him. He was quite happy with the books I chose for him, especially since there was an old colouring book in the pile.  It didn't take him long to discover the colouring book also had a story line at the bottom of each page.  Even though he's still in kindergarten, he can read well enough that he quickly figured out what story it was too.  He ran off got get some art supplies and busied himself colouring in story pages until we went home half an hour later.

While I didn't get that cupboard empty yet, I did get rid of quite a few books, with others already designated to go to a new home sometime in the future.

We'll tackle the bottom part of the cupboard next time my grandson visits. I think there are games and puzzles down there.  I might even get to use the cupboard as my basement pantry if we keep this up.

Meanwhile, if you have any books you want to get rid of, the Merrickville United Church will be happy to accept them.  You can deliver them to the Merrickville Library, or drop them off at the Church  between 10AM and noon, or after 6:30PM on Wednesdays between now and the 1st of May.   Maybe you will even manage to make room to take home a few you haven't read during the sale that takes place during the three middle weekends in May.
 

An InLinkz Link-up

De-cluttering Week 11 - Refining Filing Systems

I remember hearing that we would use a lot less paper in this computer age. That does not seem to be the case at my house.  It is always a challenge to keep a handle on all that paper, and keep it filed in ways that will help me retrieve what I need when I need it. 

Years ago I purchased this In and Out Tray system, but it quickly became a place to store stuff on a more permanent basis. It was a nice neat stacking system, at least.  I realized that I had been stacking, not actually much else with any of those papers in over a year, so I thought I'd start there.  I sorted and weeded for more than an hour.  I found health, diet and exercise related articles, photography stuff, and computer related information and even a number of news articles on local happenings. I put each of the categories into its own file folder, and put the files into the desk file drawer that I used to have trouble getting at.  There are a couple of other file folders now  holding papers I need to take the time to look more closely at, before deciding what I can actually ditch, and what needs to be properly stored somewhere else.  They can stay, for now, in the tray. 

I know you are wondering why I'd store such papers, when often needed information can be searched for online.  Much of the photography and/or computer related stuff is in the form of e-mails from my learned friends. They have taught me a lot over the years, and these are my "notes" in case I ever forget (which is something that happens more often in recent years).  I value those lessons, so I hang onto them. 

The local news articles are like history of major events that have happened here.  If I was smart, I'd stick them in a scrapbook, or some kind of binder so they could be flipped though more easily.

The health related things are more recent, and have been pulled out of magazines this winter with the idea that I'll try the things mentioned in them.  I'm sure I likely will if I ever get over all these darn winter illnesses that have been plaguing me this year.

Next I moved on to the three tier letter holder.  I tend to put bills and receipts in that, as well as other information I want to be able to reach for at any given time.  The letter holder belongs on the wall, and it was until I moved my office into this room. It's never been hung up in here yet, though it found a place to reside on the box behind be, until I cleaned up that area.  Now it's propped up beside the computer screen, in easy reach.  It will get hung on the wall just as soon as I figure out just where the best spot is now.  No matter where I put it, it won't be as handy as it is at the current moment. I'm sure of that.

I've spent a week with another bad bug and really thought I wouldn't be able to de-clutter anything this week. I felt a little more human yesterday, so I did all this sorting.  How hard could that be?  Well, somehow I must have over done it a bit as I don't feel nearly as well today.  I'm just glad I didn't try
to take on anything more strenuous.

All this reminded me of the box of stuff I took off my desk when I got the new computer and flat screen monitor.  It appears in a photo from when I cleaned off the wooden box and the stuff around it so that I could get at my desk.  Now, maybe I've made enough room to put away some of the stuff that's in that box.  That can be next week's job, if I don't think of something else in the meantime. 
 

An InLinkz Link-up

De-Cluttering Week 10 - Over the Top with Tops

It's a good thing it's been cold this winter.  I have been wearing sweaters a lot, and since I tend to wash them gently, one at a time, sometimes there are several out of the drawer waiting their turn for their turn to be washed.  This, I've discovered, is a good thing as I have not once been able to get all of my sweaters and sweatshirts into the drawers all at the same time this winter. 

I can't recall ever having had that problem in the past, and I'm sure I didn't get any new ones in the past year or two, so I decided that the drawers needed to be cleaned out, and reorganized. All three of them.

I took everything out of the drawers and stacked it on the bed, all at the same time. Then I went through the piles and restacked them into categories. Sweaters, sweatshirts, long sleeved t-shirts, and regular t-shirts.  Hey, what are they doing in there? 

I decided it was time to dispose of an old purple jogging suit, and any Red Hat related tops, since I don't wear them anyway. There was also an old sweater that I didn't wash properly and totally ruined that I will finally let go of for the same reason.  I convinced myself I have enough rough work clothes and painting duds.

To put the t-shirts where they belonged, I had to look into those drawers also.  Since it's still cold, I wanted the long sleeved ones in the dresser in my room.  The short sleeved ones can be stored in the drawers of the dresser in the spare room, until things warm up and then I'll change things around again.  I have way more tops than anyone needs, but some colours work better some years than others.  Some summers I wear a lot of black and white, while others summers I'm much more colourful. Some years I like greens and oranges, while other years I like blues and browns. I don't follow the gurus advice to  dispose of the things I don't wear for a year.  I've discovered many times that I'm quite happy to pull what seems like a whole new wardrobe right out of a drawer each spring.

While I started out to clean out three drawers, I ended up rearranging six.  I have a bag of stuff to donate, and some other stuff hit the trash bucket.  I feel confident I will finally be able to get all my sweaters into the drawer when I wash them this weekend.

As an added bonus, when my hubby saw what I was doing, he took his sock drawer and cleaned it out too.

An InLinkz Link-up

De-cluttering Week 9 -A Jewel of a Project

I was dressed and ready to go, all except for a certain necklace I wanted to go with my outfit that day.  The piece should have been on top, and easily accessible but it wasn't.  My jewelry box was overflowing, mostly with junk and I didn't have the time to sort through the mess to find the piece I wanted. The jewelry box immediately got added to my De-Clutter list. 

• There is too much to simply hang on a piece of beautifully framed corkboard, as I had seen so many times on Pinterest.  I thought of pinning everything to a regular bulletin board and just hanging it behind the bedroom door.  That might be big enough.  Then, when we were shopping this week, I spotted these cute jewelry organizers, shaped like t-shirts, pants and dresses, and decided that since I've been so good at keeping up this project for 8 full weeks, I deserved to treat myself to one of those.  I chose the evening gown, since it has pockets for small things on one side, and Velcro loops on the other side so you can hang longer pieces without them getting tangled up. 

While cleaning out the jewelry box, I found various things I had not seen in a long time.  One was the key to my cedar chest.  I've been looking for that for years. I was sure it was in there and was amazed at how many little keys lived in with the jewelry. I had tried every little key I could find, more than once, but none of them worked. This elusive key was inside a small envelope, which was laying flat at the very bottom of the box, towards the back.  No wonder I never found it.  It's been years since I've had everything out of there.  I notice the envelope tells me how to get a spare key, should I need one, but that was of little use when I couldn't even find the envelope.

I don't have pierced ears any more, so I sorted out the earrings. Some went in the garbage, some went in a bag for donations or yard sales, and some that seemed suitable were put with my other beads to become more necklaces someday. 

While I managed to do a bit of weeding, there were also a few very old pendants that I hang onto simply because they remind me of trips and events from long ago.  There's one from San Juan Capistrano.  We were there the year of the Seattle  World's Fair. There is one from there also, equally as old.  There are also two from the Montreal World's Fair as well. I had a trip down memory lane, just by cleaning out that box.

This week I also cleaned out the magazine rack in the living room and actually disposed of half of what was in there, which is pretty good for me.  Then I sorted through the store catalogues from Sears, Ikea, Canadian Tire and Lee Valley and got rid of anything that had expired.  I even cleaned out my purse! 

This week's jobs were smaller than last week's, but I still feel like I accomplished a lot.

An InLinkz Link-up

Voices From the Past

My Mom has been gone for close to 30 years now, but lately I've been hearing her whispering in my ear. "Why are you doing this?" she asks me.

My Mom was house proud and kept her our home immaculately clean and tidy.  You didn't dare put something down if you weren't finished with it, as she would have put it away before you could pick it up again.  My house is clean, and if you walk into it, you are not necessarily going to see spots as messy I've been showing you.  But my house is lived in, and things do accumulate here and there, though not necessarily all at the same time.  Most people who have visited here would tell you the house is generally tidy, at least most of the time.

It doesn't bother me one bit to show you some spot that is currently in need of tidying up. After all, that's what this De-Clutter Project is for. It's a kick starter to get us to tackle those little jobs that we've been avoiding, or ignoring, until the time comes when they actually look bad.  My mother would have said I was making a fool of myself, and somehow that would have cast a bad light on her.  She always saw it that way.  What ever I did, was a total reflection of the job she was doing raising me.  I disagreed.  To me, it was more of a reflection of my own choices, and had nothing to do with what she tried to teach me.  I may have just chosen not to apply some particular lesson to what I was up to at certain points in time.  I suppose this is another one of those times.   I know she would be rolling over in her grave if she could see me showing the world my clutter spots.

As for myself, I'm quite happy to have found a group of people all on a similar quest.  We spur each other on, and keep one another accountable for at least trying to clean up some spot, and report in each week. I've now completed 8 weeks of de-cluttering projects, and added a link to the bottom of the de-cluttering posts, so that anyone else reading can also get in on the project. 

So, hush Mom. Be proud of me. I'm doing something good here, not something shameful.  At least, that's the way I see it.  After all, if I do this every week for a full year, it might actually become a habit. I might even run out of messy spots eventually.

De-Cluttering - Week 8 Office Roadblocks Cleared

In my world, everytime I want to put something someplace, something else has to be moved first.  Then that thing also needs to move somewhere where some other thing will have to make way for it.  It's like one roadblock after another, and one of the main reasons why things find places to just pile up.

A couple of years ago I bought a desk specifically to do my artwork on, but as I showed you in week one, it became another surface where stuff magically appeared and took over.  One of the main reasons why the desk never stood a chance of being used for what I had intended was another little piece of equipment that was supposed to work as an organizer. 

I was given a nice big organizer caddy for my craft paints,  but the problem was, I didn't really have a place to put it, once the desk arrived on the scene.  It ended up near the desk, but basically in the way if I wanted to get into the filing drawer. I figured the first thing I had to do was find another place for these paints.....but where? 

Originally I had them in the closet, but .... well, I'm sure you will see me try to clean that out too at some point.  This was originally my spare room, and then became my office.  There are a lot of things I'd rather store in that closet than what is currently in there, but I digress.

This morning I woke up with the idea that maybe the paint organizer could fit into the corner, under my desk.  That would not be a very handy spot for them, but it's not like I use the craft paints all that often anymore, and I'm sure I'd get more use out of my desk it they were moved.  Right now, this is the only solution I can think of. 

So first I had to get whatever was back in that corner out of there. Well, you may recall from week three that I noticed a bunch of big envelopes in a photo I posted and said I'd have to tidy up that corner.  Well, hey, I did that this morning! 

I found a couple of USB cords under there, that had likely been attached to my old computer, but now didn't seem to be attached to anything. I put them in my cord box.  That's really a pie box but who puts pies in boxes these days?  I've long since repurposed it as a place to store various cords.

I have come to the conclusion that I'm a pack rat. I hoard certain things, without even thinking about it.  One of those things happens to be big envelopes that come in the mail.  I reuse them to corral each year's business receipts.  I use them to stuff all the smaller bits of paper into, when recycling.  That keeps little pieces of paper from blowing away once the blue bin has been put at the curb.  I even use the bubble wrapped ones to store other things in, when I think a little padding would be a good idea.  I just didn't realize that my collection had grown as much as it had.  I saved a few envelopes and put them in a neater home elsewhere. There is only room for a few there, so that should help me limit my collection.  I shredded any that had my name and address on them, and recycled the rest.  I'm not sure about the ones with bubble wrap. You likely can't put them in the paper recycle bin, so I guess they will have to go out with the regular trash.  If the are recyclable, please let me know.

So, I got out the vacuum and moved everything that was under the desk, and did a thorough cleaning way back under there.  There is a pull out table that sits under my desk, so I can have it for extra desk space when required.  I had to pull that right out of it's spot in order to tuck the paints into their new corner.  I discovered that I couldn't have used that desk if I needed it either, as I had been storing mail order catalogues there.  So I went through those, filed the few that were still good where they actually belonged, and ditched the rest. 

Everything under my desk is now clean and tidy, but that wasn't the job I originally planned to do.  It was all the major clutter that sits behind me as I sit here.  The stuff that keeps me from the desk where I want to paint.  Cleaning the actual desk off again, won't happen until I can get close to it either.

Now, there are certain things that sit on the floor behind me that live there, and I really don't intend to move them. At least not at this point.  The laptop is there, as is my briefcase.  The bag I use to haul my paint and projects with me when I go to classes or friends or other paint spots is also there, fully packed and ready to go.  Right now there is also a bag containing my hand weights and stretchy bands that I take with me to the exercise classes (that I have not been to lately....but will be going back soon).  I might consider stashing that elsewhere.

There was a three tier filing system sitting there right now too. The idea is to hang that on the wall close to my desk, once we figure out just where everything else goes.  I pretty well have a designated spot for it picked out now, so I just need the man (with longer arms than mine) to hammer in a nail.  I see it's time to do some major filing too, when I get a moment, as that's getting rather full.  But at least I do that on a fairly regular basis.

It's been a busy day.  While I was doing all this, I was also cleaning the oven.  It needed it as my Winter Beans boiled over the other day, and made a mess that had to be cleaned up before I'd be able to use the oven again. 

I do still have the box full of stuff that had been on my desk before the new computer and monitor arrived.  I really do have to get into that and sort through it, as who knows if there is something important that I've totally forgotten.  That's going to have to be some other day though.  Maybe it will be next weeks project.   Right now, sitting in one spot, sorting through a box sounds like a big enough project to me.



 

Clean up some corner of your space and show us what you've done.

An InLinkz Link-up

De-Cluttering - Week 7 - Airing Out the Linen

This is not the project I had planned for this week, but the other one has been postponed until I get a chance to purchase what I think will be a solution to a tangled mess.   Instead I cleaned out something that was over stuffed.  The linen closet.

As you can see, it was filled to the brim.  Not only is this messy, but there is simply not enough air circulation in there. If I don't use something for a while, then it gets a musty smell and is no good to me when I want it. 

I took everything off these three shelves.  Sorting through I found things I could throw out, like old sheets and pillow cases that were worn thin, or stained and yellowed dresser scarves that have long since been replaced.

I found things I can give away, like baby blankets, pot holders and cushion covers that are too small for any cushions now in the house.  I even found some sewing patterns in there. All that stuff can go find a new home at one of the local churches, where they sell used goods to raise a bit of money.  I have a big bag of books for them too, but at least those were not in the linen closet. 

I found some old curtains that are still in good shape, but I'll hang onto them for a few more months as my oldest son is moving and they may fit some of his new windows.  If not, well, they are not going back in that linen closet, that's for sure!

There were also a few other things in there that need to be stored in more appropriate places.  Some of it is beach stuff, so that can go to the basement for now. That's an ever popular storage spot that will also need to be reorganized....but not until the weather is considerably warmer than it is now.  A stack of tea towels was also hiding out in the linen closet. I took them to the kitchen, but that just pointed out that the kitchen drawer where they should be is something else that needs to be weeded out.  That's probably why they landed in the linen closet in the first place, but it was so long ago, I had forgotten that I put them there.

I admit there are toys stored in the bottom, for easy access by my grandsons when they visit, and there is also another shelf above all this that holds vases and other knickknacks. I'll tackle that some other day.  I think you'll agree that I accomplished what I set out to do on this particular chore. 

I noticed that cupboard is overdue for a bit of fresh paint though, so I'll try to be more prepared to take care of that job next time I clear it out.  Actually, I bet most of the cupboards could stand a new paint job.  Ha.  That would mean the closet clutter would be all over the place for an extra day or so.  It will take some convincing to get me to do that then. Maybe I'll have to settle for tidy. What do you think?
 

De-cluttering - Week 6 - The Refrigerator

I'm not sure if cleaning out the fridge is the same as clearing clutter for the rest of you, but my fridge was overly full and definitely cluttered, so that's the project I chose for this week.

I worked from the top down, taking out everything, shelf by shelf, and washing the shelf before putting anything back on it.  Expired things and left overs that have been left too long got trashed. Dairy, eggs and tall stuff are up top.  My second shelf is split, so you can pull each side out separately to get what's at the back (not that I ever remember to do that).  One side holds spreads and condiments, while the other side holds pickles and yogurt.  The bottom shelf, and the crisper drawers are for fruit and vegetables. 

I use an old ice cube bin to keep all the smaller bits and pieces of veggies in, like half an onion or pepper or tomato, or the smaller left over bits of cauliflower, broccoli, or head lettuce.  It's also a good place for more fragile veggies like zucchini, cucumbers or tomatoes. 

I'm always surprised at how many onion skins gather in the bottom of a crisper drawer, and totally amazed at how much crud can hide underneath there.

I feel like I accomplished something as now I not only have a de-cluttered fridge, I have a clean one.  I found a grapefruit I had totally forgotten I had, and that will be part of tomorrow's breakfast.  It will seem like a reward for a job well done.




 

Sorting Out Electronic Clutter

This week I got a new computer, but other than give it a test run, I'm not really on it yet.  I have year end for the business to do first. The records for that are still on the old machine and since I'm not sure yet that the program will even run on the new one, I figured I better not try to move things at this point.   I also had to do a lot of weeding and juggling of files in preparation for the move to the new machine. Yes, electronic files can get cluttered too.  I know that I still have a lot of files saved on my external hard drive that should likely be pitched, but I'll just have to add that to the growing list of things that need to be de-cluttered around here. I'm glad this is meant to be a year long project, as I have found that clutter grows in new places when you are busy cleaning it out of somewhere else.

My new computer is a Windows 7 machine, and sits flat on my desktop, instead of standing tall and proud like all my previous towers. That means, since the monitor can sit on top of it, I will have a lot more space on my desk ... at least until the usual piles start to grow.  No, no, no .... I need another new resolution!  Not only am I not going to print off any more recipes (that's a habit I've been working hard to break this week), I also vow not to let my desk accumulate piles of paper. It must all be filed in it's proper place on a regular basis.

Now, that may mean I will have to create some proper places.  Until recently I had an old monitor that I could fit a shelving unit over.  It had little cubby holes down the sides where I stored certain types of things, and there was a slotted unit on top where I could file various papers that either had to be dealt with or needed to be held for one reason or another.  Then my monitor died and my hubby gave me the flat screen he had purchased for me earlier in the year. I had turned it down at the time as I knew it would interfere with the filing and storage system I'd had for years.  Perhaps with all this extra room I will be able to have some sort of file box with in and out baskets, or something.  I hope I get that sorted out soon.  With all the shoving around and rearranging that's been going on in here lately, I managed to mail off some paperwork this week, without some of the needed forms included.  Nothing is where it usually is, so it was really easy to not immediately see what needed to be included.

Meanwhile, my printer has also died, and I'm totally lost without that. I tried networking to my hubby's, but didn't succeed.  He then moved his over to my desk, as I need one much more often than he does. My old computer and his printer don't seem to play well together so I still don't have the year end report printed off.  I never had a compatibility problem with a printer before. Hubby seems to think it's my firewall that's preventing it from printing.

Then I won a $100 gift card in a contest from Subway.  In order to claim my prize, I had to print some forms and sign them, and then scan them and send them back.  But as I said, the printers wouldn't cooperate. Then I discovered that the old computer didn't have anything on it that would even open the file I was supposed to print. Neither did my hubby's computer but the new one had the needed software. So we hooked up the working printer to the new computer, and found that it wouldn't work on it either.  After a bit of messing around, and a computer search for assistance, it was discovered that hubby's printer would work on the Win7 machine if he downloaded Windows Vista drivers for it. I never would have thought of that! The contest rules state that they are not responsible for computer problems for equipment failures that may cause the required forms to not be filed with them on time.  I have to wonder if that is meant to eliminate some of the winners, as it certainly hasn't been easy.  If you wave money or food in front to me though, I'm usually motivated.

While I still don't have the year end reports printed, and am starting to wonder if a new printer would even solve that, I did at least get my desk cleaned off. The old computer tower is still on the desk until I get that task done though.  The photo pointed out to me that apparently there is a clutter of envelopes hiding back in the corner under the desk.  Cleaning those out will likely be the easiest thing I've done all week.

Organized Hoarding

When I first got married I bought a stenographers notebook to write my favorite recipes in.  Over time that filled up and I progressed to a three ring binder.  When that filled up, I got another one, and separated the desserts into that.

The binder system works well because I can keep things more organized by putting recipes for certain ingredients, or types of dishes, together.  Salads, Soups, Chicken, Ground Beef, Crock Pot, etc.  In the dessert one, I not only put the recipes for certain types of things together, but I do it seasonally as well.  Rhubarb, Strawberries, Blueberries and Blackberries, Pumpkin, Zucchini. Chocolate and Lemon somehow don't quite know where to sit in that book so they landed in folders tucked inside the binder cover.

All this makes me sound rather organized, don't you think?  The thing is, I get a lot of women's magazines and when  I see a recipe I like, and I turn down the corner.  That makes them easy to find later, when I'm cleaning out the magazine pile, which happens every 3 to 6 months. Then if I haven't done so already, I pull out the page, if the recipe still interests me. Some of them get weeded out at that point, so that couple of months waiting period sometimes turns out to be a good thing. The bigger problem is that some times there is a magazine with so many good recipes in it, that I keep the whole thing rather than tear out so many pages.  Trying to remember just which book holds the recipe for spaghetti pie, or a certain cookie isn't easy.  The magazines piled up so quickly that it never occurred to me that I could have kept a master list of where to find favorites, like I do with my cook books.  For those I list the recipe and the book it's found in, right down to the page number, and keep it in my main binder. Maybe I'll have to resort to that when I get to the magazine part of this de-cluttering.  But then again, if I keep the magazines, I'm still not throwing out the clutter, right?

Another source of incoming recipes popped up when we got high speed internet, just a few years ago. With that came the ability to sign up for numerous newsletters.  Many of those come with recipes, or links to recipes. I'm always on the look out for something different, especially if it doesn't require me to go out and buy ingredients that aren't already a staple in my house.  I print off several new ones each week and add them to the growing pile.

I outgrew my binders, but I have a red file folder for recipes I want to make, and have not tried yet. The file got so thick that a couple of years ago I created some more files, with categories for Beef, Fish, Pork, Chicken, Pancakes and Muffins, and Pasta, and.....well, once again, I'm sure you get the idea.  One would think I'd be able to find the recipe I'm looking for.

But say I get my hands on some boneless chicken thighs.  I know I have recipes that call for those, and I'd love to find them at times like this, rather than have to do the de-boning myself some other time.  But when I have to sift through the piles to find the required recipe I generally give up and make some old standby.

It's only in recent years that I've had this problem. Last year, when I first thought I'd get this situation under control,  I even created sub folders within the Chicken folder, for Legs and Thighs, Breasts, with and without bones, etc.  But since I still have the tried and true recipes in the folders mixed in with the untried ones, that's not working out as well as I had hoped.  This year I'm going to try to put all the tested and approved recipes in the binders, and get the untested ones out of there. I'm going to get rid of duplicates, though finding 4 copies of one recipe, or even 4 different recipes for a similar dish actually lets me know I must really want to make that.  I'll test those ones as quickly as possible, and get rid of the duplicates, or copy cats.

I made my first stab at all this today.  I chose to start with the Pasta folder.  Maybe that wasn't wise as I kept finding things I wanted to make instead of recipes I didn't mind disposing of.  I did get rid of 20 and file 5 previously tested ones in the binder.  I thought this year, instead of copying out recipes onto lined paper, I'd simply glue them on.  After all, I do have an over abundance of glue in the house.  But the two recipes that were not already printed off the computer were on small pieces of paper, so I ended up copying them after all. So much for saving time with glue.

It was day one. I'm sure I'll get better at this as I go along. Hopefully I'll learn to be more ruthless quickly. If not, I'm likely to replace the few pieces of paper I'm throwing out with even more when I get to the magazines.

I've made a couple of new resolutions:  I will not resubscribe to any of the magazines this year, and I will not print off any new recipes (unless I'm actually going to make that dish that very day). I might even go so far as to cancel the newsletters if I find I can't resist.

Baby steps. One thing at a time. One day at a time. 

Going Forward in a New Year

As a new year begins, even people who claim not to make resolutions seem to think it's a good time to start a new project, or make plans for the year ahead.  The web is full of helpful tips for those who are determined to lose weight, or just live a healthier lifestyle. Getting rid of clutter seems to be another popular theme.

I didn't really have any new plans for this year, but when I read a blog by Bonnie at Jasper's Gems about Week One of a De-clutter Project I was reminded that I definitely have that sort of problem here and perhaps I could follow along for a while and tackle some of it.  I say "for a while" as I'm not about to make it a New Years Resolution, and set myself up for failure.

I've lived in the same house for over 37 years, so you can just imagine the piles of stuff I have accumulated during that time. There is no doubt that the time has come to try to weed some of it out. I'd be totally overwhelmed if I committed to do it all in one year.  I'll just start someplace, and hopefully keep on going.

There are three areas I'd definitely like to tackle this year.

I need to go through all the accumulated recipes, and try to just keep the ones I've already deemed to be good. I set up a filing system for them last year, but I wasn't really trying to getting rid of many at that point. I just wanted to make them easier to find. I think weeding them out will have to be project number one as I'm still having problems locating some of the recipes I know are in there, on days when I actually want them.

Project number two is related. I have piles of magazines under the bed in the spare room. They all have corners turned down on recipes I intended to make. No, let's not think about that yet. I have to do the first purging before I go there! I know now that I've somehow become a hoarder, when it comes to recipes, and that's just silly since we can find one for anything we want to make right here on the web.

One should never make a spare room a storage area, according to Flylady, who also has a page on de-cluttering.  Too bad nobody told me that before I got started.  At least she seems to think I can get everything under control in just 15 minutes a day!  I can handle 15 minutes, but I can't guarantee how long this plan will last.  One day at a time.  Collecting recipes has become like an addition, and I'm putting myself on the program!
 

The third area is right here in my office/studio. It needs to be thoroughly cleaned out and reorganized. As it is, I'm dragging my art work to the kitchen again, as my desk is piled with stuff I really have to find a way to store. I cleaned it all off just before Christmas, but you would never know it.

I thought, perhaps if I followed along with another blogger trying to tackle clutter, and reported in here from time to time, I might feel more accountable, and actually get something accomplished.  Don't lay any bets though, as life gets pretty busy for me between now and the end of the tax season.

Oh, that reminds me.  My recent computer problems have delayed my year end report for the karate club. So, balancing the books, printing off those reports and properly filing all the paper involved in my business will be the first project for this year.  That should even clean up some of the clutter on my desk. :)