To the china cabinet

We host the big family dinners. Usually 11-17 people a couple times a year. I try to keep the presentation special... So I bring out the China and the serving dishes.

It's fun, and feels good to do something over and above the every day meal.

But as it happens, families grow up and apart too. The sister in law that used to come over with her husband and three kids rarely makes it (because teens think family functions are lame), and my parents don't live in town in the winter. 

I still love the grandma's China pattern. I still love the wedding present pottery serving dishes too. However, I have kept other things out of habit. I don't need 7 champagne flutes or every single obscure bit of the China, or 3 different coloured glass cake plates or a half dozen candle sticks!

So I looked closely. I weighed the emotional value and I purged some stuff! Yay!

A friend has taken the crystal champagne flutes off my hands, and the rest will be off to a new life from the thrift shop. 

Not pictured: 3 hats, 2 nickel plated candle sticks and a couple more shirts!

Outward and Onward

I am always on the look out for things that don't earn their keep around here. Thanks to the KonMari method, I am in the right mindset to really chose effectively.

Keepsakes are being photographed and released.

Stashes are being used up or given away - never to be built up again!

Collections are being reassessed and taken down to only the best and truly loved pieces...

This is an amazing journey.

Books, more shoes, more clothes, even the stuff in my crawlspace is getting judged. I found more family DVDs in the crawlspace and took more to the consignment shop and traded them for some vinyl records. A bag of stuffed animals that were so dear to my boys (and me) have found a new home thanks to the magic of the free stuff sharing website! And the old airplanes from the shed and new lotions (too many lotions here!) from my shameful stash of beauty supplies. 

Snuggly friends have a new home

Less lotions now

Toy planes flying for someone else now

This doll is a musical box with swivelling head, my grandma loved her. I love the memory of grandma's smile.

Random box of goodies for the thrift store

Garden Glory!

The decluttering efforts have spilled out into the yard.

Recently I gave away many tools and supplies that just were not my favourite. (I can never seem to find a full pair of gloves no matter how many I buy though). Funny how getting rid of a few items can make the whole shed work better!

Clutter or not, the garden is thriving in the sun. There are severe watering restrictions on right now with our historic levels of sun, so the garden has it's patches of incredible bounty in the fields of crispy yellow. Too hot to weed in the sun, but the veggies seem to be keeping ahead of the pests with vigour.

Apples are looking good so far

Too hot!

A good start to summer

zucchini plants up to my hips!

Zucchini are doing great, the peas are done, I've never seen so many raspberries on my small number of canes and the tomatoes are looking promising from the few we've picked already. Finally the garlic is ready (I had no idea they took 2 years) and the many squash vines are looking great (fingers crossed). Strangely the spinach and lettuces didn't even sprout and the beans are slow. In the greenhouse, it's a jungle of melons and tomatoes and fragrant basil! mmmmm.....

And in other news, my creative juices are overflowing with nowhere to go.
http://pol-loves.blogspot.ca/2015/07/unanswered-urges.html

At least you have your health...

The last couple weeks have been in a bit of turmoil thanks to some broken bones in the house (my husband, not me). Trees vs man... tree wins! Husband is in a sling for his collar bone and ribs. He can't work and even more frustrating, he can't help with much around the house. In a nutshell he feels kind of useless. I feel for him. I almost feel like I'm showing off using two hands for things, reaching across the table, rolling over in bed... all those things that are excruciating if you have breaks like his.

Despite that mishap, I am still finding time and stuff to purge from my closet! It's ridiculous! I pick it up and think "nice" then put it on and think "not nice enough" and into the donate bag it goes. I want only 10 out of 10 on the love-it scale! A big black garbage bag was filled in the last few weeks. Crazy but true. I'm getting closer to the "click point" that Mari Kondo speaks of!

I also donated a few more books.
And put some kitchen stuff away for when my son sets up a place of his own.

The garden is too hot to work in. I focus on making sure it gets enough water within our watering restriction times, and harvesting. The weeds are left to their own devices. Oh well, priorities must be made when the weather is so mean. It's much nicer inside the shade of the house, but even then activity of any sort suck in the afternoon. Thats when I get to read!

So my message for the day is to honor yourself. Limitations and all. And be thankful for your health, even if it's not perfect.