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View from Down Under

by Rosemary

Rated: 13+ · Book · Biographical · #2181121

The world from a short person's POV - not Australia or New Zealand.

Random thoughts, pointed comments, and whatever else crosses my mind

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Cubby~On the road again!

Apr 2, 2020 at 6:59pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Wish I could port myself there right now!

Cubby~On the road again!

Mar 22, 2020 at 10:06pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Sounds like a dreamy vacation, Robin! Enjoy!

Cubby~On the road again!

Mar 22, 2020 at 10:03pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Fire dancers!!! Wow! What fun! You really are in Paradise! So happy you for you!

Cubby~On the road again!

Mar 22, 2020 at 9:58pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

It sounds heavenly!!! Other than your travel delays, that is. Seems like nothing ever starts out smoothly.

Schnujo

Oct 15, 2019 at 11:12am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Oh, we've already decluttered and cleaned the whole house? Obviously I'm not keeping up. lol

On thing I'm finding is self-talk can help. It seems that you might enjoy cleaning or at least don't hate it. I hate it.

But I wish I loved it. That would be SO HANDY! So, I've been working on positive self-talk regarding cleaning. I smile when I say these things and I say them out loud if I'm alone or in my head if I'm not. I say things like, "I love to clean. Cleaning is fun. Cleaning makes me happy. I enjoy a tidy space." Blah, blah, blah...

I also sing songs with cleaning words replacing the regular lyrics. For example, for Row, Row, Row Your Boat, I sometimes sing, "Clean, clean, clean your house, gently down the stream. (It doesn't have to make sense. lol) Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily cleaning is a dream."

Sure, it's dumb, but if it works, it doesn't matter.

And if I even sort of want to clean something, I praise myself, even if I don't follow through. I always try to keep it positive. If I do clean, even if it's just a little bit, I praise myself like I'm a little kid who just used the potty.

Admittedly, It took me almost 2 weeks of doing positive self-talk before I noticed any change and if I quit for a couple of days, I had to start all over again. I've been doing it (more or less, as I remember to) for about a month. My place is still a wreck, but not AS bad as it was.

1 Like

Carol St.Ann

Sep 25, 2019 at 1:13pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

A lot of good advice here, m'dear.

I've always been organized and maniacally tidy, (annoyingly so, I'm told

).

I lost my mojo when my wonderful hub and I purchased a very large Victorian Mansion back in '97, because I'd always dreamed of owning and running a successful B&B. The timing, price, and location were beyond perfect, and I thought this was the sign I wanted it to be. Once it was ours, we set about furnishing it. And boy-howdy, did we ever have fun with that. I can't remember when I've had that much f... well, you get the picture.

And that's how I got into the mess I got into with STUFF.

The dream was brilliant and fulfilled. Everything I'd ever hoped it could be. And then life dealt a nasty blow and I was on my own. The B&B was too much for me all by myself, and the new owners wanted to actually live in it. The nerve of those little pishers!

So, I moved into a tiny studio apartment with my mattress and some favorite clothes and purchased a contract for several storage units for the furnishings (and all the memories of finding and buying and refinishing and designing...oye!) See, I figured that, once the worst of the grieving was past, I'd be able to let it all go and I might as well get the best prices I can for all of it, right? Best way to do it would be to open up a shop. Sounds reasonably doable, doesn't it? I thought so, but ... No.

Here's what happened. I continued to shop furniture and furnishings because I seriously LOVE to do this. Garage sales, yard sales, flea markets, and auctions ... are actually what heaven is made of, and - because I was smart enough to make a rule (whenever I buy something I must get rid of something), I started flipping
furniture and furnishings. And got hooked. Utterly. (I honestly think I was using these activities like a drug, to keep him alive, ya know?)

I did get a hold of myself about a year ago, and started selling the B&B furnishings, but it was slow going, because, as I stated, every diggity-dang item had a memory attached to it. Um, actually, it was more than that; I really liked all that stuff. Decisions on what to keep for myself and what to let go were difficult, and I allowed them to become more stressful than they ever should have been. My greatest success was selling the final item from one of the units and shutting it down. It was a big day for me. Empowering. A good look at the monthly budget without that added expenditure encouraged an inventory of what the remaining three units had to offer. (Hey, It was a 10 bedroom house) And started marketing that shit with dedicated intent. Cha-Ching!

I closed the last unit this past March.

I live comfortably clutter-free again, rapidly approaching what I would consider minimalist if not for the paintings ... and the books. I need to get rid of all those books. Dear God in heaven!

All that said, I love reading your support group blog because I like knowing I'm not alone in the situation - or I should say: process. And it really is like an addiction. I mean, just this morning, I passed a sign that read AUCTION THIS SUNDAY and there were six or seven gigantic white tents... And I checked my calendar before I even realized what I was ding.

And that's why they call me
Calamity Carol
XO

[Visit the entry for more...]

1 Like

Carol St.Ann

Sep 17, 2019 at 10:45am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Oh, Girl! I just read your post on the QOTD forum and swooshed over here to read your minimalist blog. I've embraced the lifestyle after a lifetime of decorating and redecorating with antiques. Not that I've stopped loving it; I'm really good at it and love the buying and selling... you get the picture. But last summer, (2018) I had a mini disaster in the house and needed to quickly move everything out while repairs were underway. Almost immediately, I became hypnotized by the emptiness; the space.

I never realized how much I would like it. The look of it. The ease of cleaning (Oh my goodness!) Even breathing feels different. In no time, I sold all my antiques and when I would normally be buying more, well, I simply didn't.

I'm quite sure I'll never go back.

Fanning your blog and thrilled I'm not the only one. Woohoo!

Carol
aka Bookmenster

Cubby~On the road again!

Aug 22, 2019 at 9:53am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

As always, great blog entry! I love reading all your great suggestions! I'm now at the point where I have several bins of photos and boxes of drawings and notes from the grandkids.

Hubby is anxious for me to go through these bins and downsize while I am resisting the task, which equals friction.

QPdoll

Aug 22, 2019 at 6:37am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Excellent recommendations of how to declutter. That's what I need to do, find a box for each room and put anything that doesn't belong or have a home in it. It's such a great idea. Now to find the motivation!

1 Like

Cubby~On the road again!

Jun 22, 2019 at 9:38am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

As always, great advice!

I'd like to comment about what not to do when someone is a new mommy or grandma. Don't save every single scribble, and especially don't date it.

I've got boxes of drawings and colorbook pages with names and dates that I saved over the years.

Even the colorbook pages "I" colored with the kids, and with my name and date colored.

What the... ??? I haven't started weeding through these boxes yet, but probably will in the near future. I've been thinking about blogging about this later on... things not to do.

I'm the prime example of someone who needed her own advice over 40 years ago.

I think I'll tear wallpaper off the bedroom wall upstairs first. Much easier task!

~Cubby ")

June 22, 2019 at 9:00am

#961319

Linen and Things

" Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you are going to live your life." Joel Osteen

A positive attitude often determines the outcome of any project. Case in point, organizing whether just your home or your life needs a positive attitude more than skill, knowledge, or the latest techniques to become a success. I am sure that if you have tackled your master closet, children's closets and/or the kitchen or bathroom closets, you know this is true. With all this success under your belt, it's time to tackle the linen closet.

In my opinion, every house needs either a large linen closet strategically placed or several smaller ones in each bathroom/bedroom. Unfortunately, these closets often become catchalls for everything that didn't find a home earlier. Before you start taking everything out of this closet take some time to consider what really belongs here and what needs another home.

If at all possible, linen closets should store only linens. This is not the place to put extra groceries or cleaning supplies. Nor is it the place to put medicines or gifting materials. Ok, now you have the idea, linen closets are for linens, right? Where to start is the question.

The first question is: do you have one central linen closet or ones located in the bathroom/bedroom? If neither of these exists, can you find a closet that will work just to store linens? Any closet that is available should have shelves deep enough to hold bath towels and king size sheets. And, of course, it is best if this closet is near the bedrooms/bathrooms.

So let's start by taking everything out of the designated linen closet. Next, collect all the linens that will be housed in this closet, i.e. towels, washcloths, sheet sets. blankets and extra bed covers. If you are using one closet to house all these items, consider sorting them in groups that correspond to the room in which you will use them. For example, if the bedrooms have different size beds or different color schemes, sort the sheet sets, blankets, and extra bed covers accordingly. Towels can be sorted the same way, by the bathroom they will be used in. If family members are responsible for their own room/bathroom, make sure that they know where their linens are and how they are organized. Let them know that you expect them to keep them in the same place if they are the ones responsible for putting clean items away.

If you are fortunate enough to have linen closets in the bathroom(s), you can separate linens based on the bathroom where they will be used. Then the question becomes: what about all the sheets, blankets, and bed covers? If you don't have another closet just for these items, consider using the bathroom closet that relates to a given bedroom. The closet in the master bedroom may be big enough to house both towels and sheets, etc. For others, you may need to find enough space in the designated closet.

Along the way, you should consider a purge of the items that go back in the linen closet. Stained, ripped or items no longer used should be removed. Some of these items can be used as cleaning rags or paint throws. (But don't keep them in the linen closet.) The main point is to make organizing work for you. As always, your goal in organizing is to decrease stress and improve the quality of life. Make your home work for you; not you working for your home.

Next, we will deal with all the "stuff" that doesn't have a home, especially all those little/big seasonal decorating items.

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