To town to lighten the load

January 31, this month actually flew by. I HAVE to go to town today as the library books are due and I have no milk for cappuccinos, today I used cream and it is not what I should be drinking when we leave for a beach vacation in 2 weeks LOL. A bit of marketing and account to start the day.

I rustled the last of the things to go to town and got them loaded in the truck. The jars and trash were loaded from garage and I was off to town at 11. First stop the dump then on to mail and recycling. Next was dropping all the jewelry off to a group that donates to local women at Christmas (Gems for Gems they call it) then stop at the bank. I found my rummoli nickel stash while cleaning and seeing we have not hosted a party since we moved here, it is clear they can go back in circulation. I had most rolled but ran out of papers so had them counted in a ziplock. This doesnt work, I had to roll them at the bank but in the end I left with $31.

My next stop was the library where I hauled in 4 boxes of book to donate. Whew. I stopped by Paetz's to deliver there bag of books too. Asher was home with a school PD day so was able to visit with all for a bit before setting off to finish the last of my chores. I dropped a big binder I had put together when I was a 4-H leader to the current leader. Groceries were next with just some fruit and milk with my final stop to grab sushi for a very late lunch and off for home by 2.

found this photo in a cake decorating magazine I must have been reading

The neighbor gal I offered a free dresser to was waiting in the drive. She followed me in, we loaded it up, had a quick visit and I was onto getting my goods inside to finally eat.

Once done I got started on more purging. back to my closet and doing the shelves below the window. Yeah I found more coin I collected, this time quarters to a total of $20, best go cash them in and let them get to work.

Laundry folding had the prince's sock drawer totally rearranged even adding 6 new pairs I found in a bag in my drawer yesterday when I made mine all lovely!

his and hers

Supper was a good old bologna sandwich, gourmet here for sure ;) Then time to catch up on writing blog for last 2 days. I was then sidetracking chatting with a friend about photos and signing up for some new online programs. Seeing I had finished my book I spent a few hours working on my Spanish lessons till 1 am lights out.

Purses & Pantry Purge

I woke inspired to keep going. No time to paint now folks as I continue to work thru the tidying process. Today I continued work in my closet hauling out handbags and suitcases as first category.

before and after.. her secret is to put similar bags inside each other (3 at the most), leave straps hanging out to know which is inside, toss stuffing paper, store upright and keep it simple

While in my closet I purged all the baskets along the top shelf. 2 were full of brochures and such I collected from all out trips with the intent of doing scrapbooks of each. I decided yesterday that I would rather lose the guilt of not getting them done and get rid of it all. It was much easier then I thought. I did keep a few hotel and country maps which fit in a small storage box. I found more currency too which was put in the safe for future travels.

There were 2 boxes of treasures which I went thru and here is my memory photo, THANKS B. Finding even more coupons is the real bonus. I am calling all these in this year!

Once that was complete it was on to pantry. KonMari method says to keep all items of a category in the same storage space so you can always see how much you have and this is so true... especially for food. So many times I find large Costco snacks expired because they were in the storage room. The pantry was gutted and anything past expiry tossed, non food items moved out to make room for my storage room goodies. Even a full bottle of Mexican black licorice liquor Sheldon and I won in a dance contest years ago was dumped. The pantry looks so great. As I was doing this I melted the last of the honey in 2 little glass jam jars on the stove and recycled the big plastic tub.

That led to cleaning the fridge which was fairly swift as there is not allot in it but nice to have it all current and wiped clean. The freezer drawer was done as well. I tossed all the bread pieces saved for stuffing and hash brown etc out for the birds to get in the am and Lola got a frozen wiener with the rest put in garage freezer as her treats.

I sorted the recyclables in the garage to prep for my trip to town tomorrow. All the paper I purged where bagged and set to go. Now to finish the book as it is due back tomorrow.

the only picture of B's vacation I saw

pretty falls

Step 4 Kimono (all the rest) - in this case Jewelry

Well I think I had a good sleep but woke up thinking what.. no dog in my bed, no coffee served in bed, wait no snoring.. can it really be 9 am? :) I did some quick email checks and posted on my social media then was off to Sharon's for our marketing and motivation meeting at 10. The next 3 hours were very productive on all accounts.

When I left it was a brrr -11 but when coming home at 1 it was -3, progress and sunny so good. It even got up to -1 ;) My motivation to keep purging moved to jewelry, although out of order I was getting a few more clothes pieces I remembered on a high shelf (memory pieces) that had to go and the jewelry called to me. Yes this is out of order as paper is next but I went with it ;)

a picture then purge

like all categories, find all the pieces from everywhere in your home, here is all mine

 

Of course when getting the jewelry stored in a tote I found I had as many poppies as Sheldon had in his drawer. He suggested we could set up our own bucket next year LOL And check out the super cute tray my little Bee made.

Sharon had yummy mini banana muffins with the coffee but I needed lunch albiet late as now 3, luckily I had some delicious beef jerky and a cold brew in the fridge.

Another picture and purge, no need for these tags again

I sure have a pretty daughter ring stones..

Here is my purge pile (that bag is stuffed!) at 6:30 which then moved to gluing a few pieces

While they dried I moved on more sort and purge general items between laundry room and garage and while washing more laundry. Then to top off the night reading more of the Tidying Up book to keep this train rolling.

More books purged and sanding done

At 8 I was wide awake writing my many ideas down after my sleepless racing brain night. S slept like a baby till after 10:30 even after I set hot steaming coffee by his bed after 9. It was iced coffee when he got up finally. I spent the morning marketing dropping Etsy prices and posting the frame and vanity on more sales sites. I even had to do some accounting too.

Once up and coffee motivating him, S did head out and roll a bale for the horses. Now that he was out of the bed I shook Cooper fur out the comforter and threw the sheets in the wash and made it up fresh for hopefully a good nights sleep tonight. Prince got ready after lunch to head north. He jetted off at his usual 2.

the laundry sign I did does not spark joy but I love this one so installed the French cleat and hung it in the laundry room, I will change to say WASH DRY FOLD :)

My installer has the wall cleat a tad off level which makes my OCD crazy

Out to the garage to get to work. First job was to glue loose graces on the black chair I painted awhile back then moved on to Sharon's desk. New sandpaper in the palm sander did not get the remaining edge all around the top so I resorted to putting stripper on with a chopstick then using a screwdriver as my knife and cleaning up with steel wool. More sanding and the little piece I took off the other side screwed and nailed on the opposite side.

 Kaylin sent her photo of their view :)

The day was mostly sunny hitting 1 above. Back inside it decided to finish my "books" spark joy with cook books I had to sort thru. For the next 4+ hours I sorted and snapped a few great recipes before recycling.

 chicken stir fry

 fruit pizza and people chow

 gingersnaps

 favorite pumpkin pie

 raspberry dessert

 roasted cauliflower

 short ribs

slushes

And here is what went back in at the end of the sort. I had time to jump in the shower before Britt and Dave arrived at 10 for a quick visit and pick up Cooper. They all headed home picking up her car from the autobody guy on way home at 11. I was heading off to bed when I found the newsletter link on my FB post today did not work nor did my shop now button. I tried trouble shooting, THANKS AJ for your help but eventually swapped shop now for the blog link and went to read more of the tidying book before shutting out the lights and enjoying my cozy clean sheeted bed in silence.

WINDY Sunday

what a nutty guy especially in the morning ;)

Coffee was on at 9 with Papa joining in soon and Grama not far behind. We enjoyed catching up on their Mexican adventures and visiting along with a light pizza lunch with cerveza before they headed off for home after 1:30.

The morning was WINDY with a brief rain squall rolling thru. It was sunny for a bit then overcast for most of the day while the winds blew. It did hit plus 6 and melted allot more snow but by supper it was -3 and very icy!

the girls have moved to another new place in Costa Rica, check out the sunset, my favorite time of day

To get some more #sparkjoy going I set our tasks to each clean out our nightstands. One side was a bit slower then the other and required help while he laid on the bed with a sore back :) Once they were sorted, purged and put back together I vacuumed the room well moving furniture as I went then remembered I have my shedding Cooper for a few more days LOL. I hung a painting and brought in another I hope Britt can jazz up with some oil paints.

 there was funny notes found

and lunch and nails I totally forgot about and calling in ASAP B!!

I would love these poppies painted pink, hope she can help me out

A hot soak in the tub after a late supper with time to read my Marie Condo tidying book #2. S continued his research online for the HVAC system then off to dream land. The book had me rethinking my book purge so after midnight I headed back down and purged more as well as moving girls to their rooms. I finished up at 2 am but still could not sleep so listened to marketing podcasts about building an email list. This had my brain going even more with that and more purging and repurposing ideas.

S seemed to have this issue too as he woke up after I drifted off after 5:30 to do some fine tuning on the HVAC system then back to bed.

#2 KonMari method... books

Another sunny Saturday started with coffee of course after letting the dogs out to play. S had a long work call while I checked emails and moved the vanity down to the "store area". He spent the day reading thru a manual and relaxing in big brown while my big project was to do step 2 of KonMari method.. books.

Coop came back in after a brisk run with his buddy Lola, had a snuggle for a bit, used my foot for his pillow then was off for the rest of the day to play.

Yvonne sent a picture of her shelf hung and filled, great repurpose of the shelf for sure.

A quick stop for a roast beef sandwich  then another one after 1 when the crib customer arrived to pick it up. Eventually S ventured out with his gun, binoculars and the ranger to tour the canal area for some fresh air late afternoon. It was a beauty day at PLUS 8 melting allot of the snow we just got. I finished up by books sorting and shelf tidy as he came in to rehydrate with a cold beer.

So many to give to the library, also have some for the Paetz kids and B nearby too

He made a run back to the gate in the ranger to take down the Christmas décor I had put up and store back in the mez. I worked on posting the bread box on a few sale sites as well as the laundry sign too seeing I had another in the "store" I could use.

I forgot to share this fun art piece I saw at Walmart the other day, it looks like our Miss Lexi

While I worked on marketing S cooked up supper, can you guess what?         

Yep sausage, Kraft dinner and peas ;) But at least I did not have to cook so was thankful and he washed all his pots while watching his all star hockey game then was off to the big TV.  I got busy writing the blog and getting photos from last 2 days!

I also wrote a blog post for the jewelry shelf. Grama and Papa arrived after 11 from their travel day home from Mexico.