Declutter #2

So last weekend, I cleaned out my dresser.  I ended up with one bag of clothes for GoodWill and two bags for the trash.

Here are some goodies I had hiding in my dresser:

Christmas 1959 

 Christmas 1960

Apparently my brother is the only one who enjoyed these photo sessions. :)

This weekend I worked on the closet -- part of it anyway -- my side, my stuff.

Here are some before pictures:

I didn't think I'd get very far but here's what it looks like now.

You can't really tell, but it's much cleaner.  Three more goodwill bags and a big bag of garbage.

Here's one of the goodies I found in there:

One shoe from my oldest son's first pair of shoes.  He had some sort of bone thing with his feet (possibly metatarsus adductus) and had to wear these shoes on the wrong feet  (so this was his right shoe).  There were a bunch of other well-worn baby shoes, but I tossed those.  I meant to take a picture, but it looks like I forgot...

Ah, well.  Done with the bedroom.  Now to the linen closet....

Quilting

Here's the baby quilt I'm working on, for my first grand daughter -- I would have loved to make it pink, but her parents wanted green and grey.  I'm about 75% done with the quilting. 

I'm working on a knitted blanket too .. but I haven't gotten very far.

and here's the other blanket.  I've been working on it some. If I keep at it I might finish by the end of February -- which is what I'm aiming for.

 I'm really struggling with it -- I think because it isn't pieced.  I've decided what the backing will be -- aqua, black, and white (Shark's colors).

I'll do something like this.  I am looking forward to getting to that point -- and the quilting.

 

I finished one of the the pillows for my daughter -- I'm really happy with how it turned out.  

Whiskey and Phone Boxes

This weekend, my boss's daughter got married.  The wedding was held at Byington Winery. (of course I don't have any pictures ...).  We had a great time.  I was worried we wouldn't know anyone, but when you've worked with someone for 25+ years, it turns out you know more people than you realize -- or if you don't know them, you've heard of them.

So anyway there was wine and beer at the wedding, but apparently hard liquor was not allowed -- so my boss brought flasks and, like a bootlegger, we had to go to his truck to get it.

He put different alcohol in each flask -- depending on who it was intended for.  Mine had scotch; my husband's had Bulleit.  He's like that -- he wants to be sure everyone gets what they like.  Very kind.  Very cool.

So today, my friend gave me this ...

She knew my convention trip this year was cut short and she wanted to cheer me up.  It totally worked!

Declutter #1

So, I finally started the de-cluttering project; beginning with under the sink.

Before ..

 

After ..

Then my bedside table

Before ..

 After ...

(I should have had a picture of the inside of the bedside table because that was a nightmare.)

Next, I'll work on the dresser and then to the closet.  I'm hoping the dresser will be quick because I know the closet won't be.

TBT, circa 1963-1964

Don't you just love the socks with the flip-flops look?  This is me on the front walkway at my parents' house, I'm guessing the end of summer 1964 -- just before kindergarten. But since I don't have the original photo, yet, I can't be sure.

This is me and my sister, Rachel, probably around my 4th birthday, again on the front walkway at my parents' house.  I had this long blonde curly hair, which was cut short when I was five.  I've pretty much worn my hair short most of my life, with the exception of a few years in high school and then again about 4 years ago.

Gotta love ...

you just have to love what Google does with pictures -- the way they mash pictures together or bring up days from the past.  The following picture showed up yesterday ...

Guess I didn't get things put away as early that year (2015) and look at that crazy grass.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my SIL's birthday!  He is a great guy and I am so glad he is a part of our lives.

Decluttering - January ...

So, one of my goals this year is to declutter.  My idea is to take one area each month and work on decluttering it.  By decluttering, I mean to throw/give away what I don't use or need and to organize what I keep.  I probably need to go with the three pile system.  Keep; Give/Throw Away; Undecided. (is that the three categories?).

The area I want to attack first is my bedroom/bathroom.  I'll start this weekend with the bathroom and if I'm inspired/motivated, I'll work on one of the other areas too.

Here are the before pictures.

Bathroom

Closet

Bedside Table

The other areas to work on are:

• the attic
• sewing room
• kitchen
• linen closet
• sewing room

The attic will be the hardest, but also the most rewarding.  Not sure what I'll go with next month -- depends how this month goes.

It's not quite as daunting of a project when I break it down this way.  None of these areas should take too long and by the end of the year (or sooner), my house should be in good shape, right?

I guess the challenge after this will be to maintain the declutter - guess that's like maintaining weight loss (which I suck at).

wishing on a star ...

this just appeared at the bottom of my computer screen:

The nearest star is 4.25 light-years from Earth which is why most wishes take at least 9 years to come true.

Image from here.

January and goal setting

I was hoping to be able to start the new year off right by giving up sugar for the month.  On New Year's Day, I totally blew it but could still have 30 days of no sugar starting on the 2nd.  Yesterday went well, until I got home from work -- then I had two cookies.  Not sure if I should stick with this goal, which seems so very elusive ... or try something else.

Other plans for January:

•  Finish quilt for grandbaby #5
• Work on knit blanket for grandbaby #5
• Work on baby quilt -- maybe finish quilt top (they call that a flimsy, I think)(one block of four squares a night)
• Walk 120 miles (fitbit miles)
• Complete four weeks of Couch to 5K 
• Birthday Blog Post for SIL
• Declutter bedroom/bathroom 

 

One Second Everyday (1SE) 2017

The List, 2018 Edition

1.  Go to Wales
2.  Visit Buffalo - DONE
3.  Finish my WIPs (Grinch, Nate's Quilt, Quilt-along, ...)
4.  Make a quilt for grandchild #5 - Done
5.  Knit a blanket for grandchild #5
6.  Attend Gallifrey One (AGAIN!!) - DONE
7.  Continue reading 12 biographies (still in the middle of #2)
8.  Travel to Arizona
9.  StoryCorps interviews with grandsons
10.  Complete "Couch to 5K" (at least once)
11.  Get headboard for beds.
12.  Send out Christmas cards
13.  Blog twice a week
14.  Send Birthday cards to my children and grandchildren
15.  Participate in the AtoZ Challenge -- DONE!  Check out my April posts. Doctor Who Cocktails - A to Z.
16.  Try something new/different each month
17.  Replace grill and hubcaps on my car
18.  Birthday blog posts ...
19.  Have a 150,000 step week
20.  Make a dessert souffle
21.  Watch the original Star Wars trilogy
22.  Visit Seattle
23.  Road trip
24.  1SE  (one second everyday) project
25. Work on decluttering
26.  Make 6 new soups
27.  Make 6 new breads
28.  Go to Nevada with Nevada??
29.  Add to Night Before Christmas collection
30.  Add to Judy Bolton collection
31.  Go to a minor/major league baseball game
32. 1400 Fitbit miles
33.  35,000 step day
34.  Make pillowcases for me
35.  Make a photo calendar
36.  Make malted waffles
37.  Make doughnuts
38.  Organize sewing room
39.  Cover living room pillows
40.  Put money in emergency fund
41.  Do something spontaneous
42.  Go to a museum
43.  Go to the beach
44.  Visit the redwoods -- Done
45.  Go to Napa/wine tasting -- done (for my YD's birthday -- blogged here)
46.  Dinner party?
47.  Watch a sunrise
48.  Watch a sunset
49.  Take 12 Saturday morning walks
50.  Go on a date with my husband to the movies (just the two of us) - Done!
51.  Get two different scotches
52.  Make a list for 2019.

So here's the list.  Not sure how I did last year .. I'll do a re-cap shortly.

1200 Fitbit Miles

So I hit 1,222 miles!