It’s time to go, fire wood in the garage 217/365

 

    This is an entirely practical matter. A cold/wind/snow storm is coming our way tomorrow. If all goes well, in spite of the fact that it is January in New England, our power won’t go out. But if it does, our wood stove is ready to receive the wood we have brought from the garage to the mud room. We will be especially grateful for this because our garage is not attached to the house. 

 

Also, in anticipation of moving, it’s time to use up that firewood.

It’s time to go, junk in the desk 216/365

     You know about desk drawers. We throw stuff in them until they are too stuffed to shut and then we do something about it. So it was with the set of drawers that Jim and I share. Slowly he had taken over the top one until it overflowed and we couldn’t find the few things we needed. The bottom two hadn’t been opened in years.

     Amazing finds: enough rolls of scotch tape to list our life time; same for boxes of staples, and besides, who uses them anymore?; an assortment of calendars, envelopes, reading glasses, paperclips, and dried up pens.

     The top draw is empty now for new stuff to accumulate. The bottom two hold what we need, or, think we need. Much was thrown away.

It's time to go, this-old-house, 215/365

On August 20, 2012 I started this blog. My idea was to get rid of something every day that year, and write about it. What a crazy goal but I did pretty well and over the years posts have come and gone.

      My husband and I continue to get rid of stuff to keep this old house from overflowing with treasures from 54 years of marriage. We’ve rented a couple of dumpsters, given stuff to our kids and the church fair, and carted off treasures to Goodwill and the town dump/put-and-take.

    Now we are at it again in earnest--serious earnestness. With our birthdays catapulting us smack into our late 70s, we figure it’s time to move from this old house of forty years to a condo. We figure a condo will give us the independence we love, and should definitely be easier to maintain than this old house. If nothing else, we won’t be dealing with steep stairs all the time, and the kitchen pipes won’t freeze.  

      Case in point. Today, on my 78^th birthday I am still agile enough to carry dishes to the upstairs bathroom sink to wash them, and I have faith that Jim and I will be able to do so for the next two weeks until this New England freeze runs it 

course.  

   

 So, we’re back, letting go of stuff. Stay tuned. I'm more than half way to 365 days of purging. 

 (Those are dishes and a pitcher of water at the top of the stairs.)

It’s time to go, thirty-five year old carpet 214/365

     Today is the big simplifying day. We’ve cleared the bedroom and are now waiting for Handyman Russ to arrive to remove the carpet, and sand and stain the floors. We’re still asking that same question, as we pretend we are moving immediately (which we are not): “Are we taking this with us?”  

     The biggest challenge at the moment is deciding about the pictures on the walls. The paintings are easy—we’re taking them. But what about the prints of advertisements from magazines, or the millions of photographs of this and that? This is where my husband is not ready to ask the ultimate question.

     Regardless, life already feels simpler and the energy to get rid of more stuff remains intense. Nothing like getting rid of a yucky carpet, only to find hardwood oak underneath!