A Tiny Village 2

I don’t know if you remember me telling you about I was bringing with me half of my KLM house collection to Houston , to give to a friend of mine, whose mum collect them.

A few days ago, I shipped off the rest of the KLM Houses to my friend, and I just got an email, confirming it arrived.

I decided to keep 8, for now… but you never know.. they might leave the house sometime later 😉

That makes for another 14 tiny houses leaving the house (29 all together). Slowly but surely things are going out-the-door again 🙂

The last 14 – shipped off

October tally

It’s that time again! That monthly catch up to let you know how I did with my decluttering task last month. And I have to say, I did appalling. As you have probably noticed there wasn’t one single post about things going out-the-door, in the whole month of October, with maybe the exception of my post about shedding some TV time.

That don’t mean that there wasn’t the occasional thing going out-the-door, it just means I didn’t ever get around to write about it, or remember to take pictures of it before it was gone.

It’s hard to remember what all those things was right now, but some of the items I decluttered was:

– papers, magazines and stuff like that, that I’ve been holding on too for a long time = 2 big paper bags worth – count as 1
– stuff in my outdoor storage boxes, and outdoor storage room – like wood, piping, plastic pieces, paint cloth, paint brushes, plastic plant pots and I’m sure.. a few more things. What count to give them? Hmmm.. why don’t we say 1 count per category I remember I was tossing out, that seems kinda fair, since I can’t really prove to you what went out the door – count as 6 items

And then there’s is the stuff I’ve been decluttering out of different rooms in the house, but that are still “stored” in my guest room (for my neighbour to check out before it leaves the house). Those things I will be writing about as they leave the house permanently (hopefully during the month of November)

OCTOBER TALLY of things “out-the-door” = 7 items!

Not good, I know.. but I’ll do much better in November, I’m sure, now that I’m done with my kitchen project 😉

Making up its own mind…

if it wanted to stay in my life…

This decided, not too…

TV Detox!

Lately I’ve gotten into a bad habit of turning the TV on early, and even though I don’t always look at it, it steels my attention and the result is that I’ve been spending way (and I mean waaaay) too much time in front of the tube. Yesterday I realized I need to give myself a detox. A TV detox.

Now, since there are a couple of programs that gives me immensely joy to watch, I’m giving myself a daily limit.

And my daily TV limit is – 1 hour.

I know for some this sounds like a lot, but from where I’ve been going lately, this is a severe restriction.

The same goes for my smartphone/iPad time. I tend to get a little engrossed when surfing the web, and before you know it, it’s been hours. So just for measures, I’m going to throw in some restrictions on this as well.

So here it is – no more than 1 hour combined Smartphone/iPad/PC use daily.

There might be one and only one exception to this rule! Sometimes preparing a post takes me longer than an hour. So should I run into that issue during my enforced detox, I have hereby granted myself permission to finish my post 🙂

Now, how long will this detox last? Hmmmmm, let’s see… Why don’t I start with two weeks and see how that goes.

So what if I fail? Then what?

Then! I get no TV whatsoever for a while….

When do I start? Well actually, I started today 😉

Why do I do it? Because I need to be more mindful on what I spend my time on…

And to steal a detail from my friend over at What I shed Today – Shedding style: reduce 😉

September tally!

It’s that time again! That monthly catch up to let you know how I did with my decluttering task last month 🙂

So how did I do? Well, actually not to bad for a change. Much better than the last few months.

SEPTEMBER TALLY of things “out-the-door” = 103 items!

81 – items on my – Another crazy purge! And a very happy neighbour. – day!

5 notebooks
2 “baskets”
1 furry pillowcase
1 furry blanket
1 wool carpet
1 file organizer
1 Ikea storage box
40 hangers – counted as 1
4 packs of hanging “lamps”
1 empty tea box
1 roll of stretchable wire
1 wineglass box
3 presentation portfolios
2 packs of table decorations
1 sauté pan
2 purple pillowcases
2 large candles
1 glass container for candles or flowers
1 picture from Virgin Islands
6 cloth place mats
6 plastic place mats
4 Texas cloth napkins – counted a 1
1 plastic table runner
1 red cloth pot holder
2 green glasses
1 bag of decorative rocks
1 glass soap dispenser
1 bamboo plate
2 more large candles
4 bags of decorative stones
6 white wine glasses
6 red wine glasses
2 camping chairs
4 flowerpots
2 glass plant watering things
1 outdoor recliner
2 big floor flowerpots

What else? Lets see – there was:

15 KLM Delft Blue Miniature Houses – that I gave to a friend in – A Tiny Village
1 garden storage box – as part of my – Garden give aways! – together with
3 flowerpots
2 trays for the flowerpots
and one of my Hydrangeas

Now… There is just one thing! As you know, I’ve just had a birthday and as part of having a birthday I added some items to my possession. Between the birthday celebration in Stavanger late August which I told you about in – I’ve been partying 😉 and my celebration trip to Houston (where my suitcase also got lost for a few days) written about in – What I gained this trip – a few items have made it in-the-door!

Let’s see… oh my gosh it’s – 33 items in-the-door!!!

Stavanger party – 6 items in-the-door

1 Birdhouse w/seeds
1 decorative glass elephant
2 small decorative candle holders – counted as 1 since it was a set
1 notebook + sticky notes – counted as 1 since it was a set
1 pink IKEA box that the “birdhouse” gift came in
1 garden book
Bunch of champagne bottles, but they don’t count as we drank them 😉
and a bunch of birthday cards – think I’ll count them together with the ones I got in Houston

Houston trip – 27 items in-the-door

8 T-shirts
1 shirt
2 bras
3 undies
2 sleep shorts
2 pair of jeans
5 books
2 notebooks
1 ring
and a bunch of birthday cards

So… I got a question for you!

When items comes in-the-door, should these be offset against items out-the-door? (I kinda think so)

Or do should I get to keep my out-the-door items “intact” for my final count for the year? What do you think?

Garden give aways!

Before I left for Houston, a few of my outdoor items was moved over to my step-mums allotment. She needed a garden storage box and I had one to many 😉

At the same time I figured I could clear out some more stuff, and she ended up with 3 flowerpots, 2 trays for the flowerpots and one of my Hydrangeas, in addition to the garden storage box.

At the time I totally forgot to take the pictures for my blog 😦

Today though, I went over to her allotment to pick some apples from one of her apple trees 🙂 and I figured it was as good a time as any, to show you the things that made it out-the-door (or out-of-garden as it was) before I left for my Houston trip.

I guess.. better late than never.. right? 😉

What I gained this trip!

As you all know, I’ve been on this mission to declutter and get rid of stuff!

Going to Houston I had plans to buy 2 t- shirts and 1 pair of jeans as replacement for worn out stuff. That was, until my luggage went missing!

Yes you heard right! Upon landing in Houston, my luggage was still sitting in Stavanger. It had never made it on the plane… ???

“Well” I thought “that’s OK, it will make it here tomorrow… No sweat”

Turns out tomorrow came and went, and so did the next day, and the next, and during my “hunt” for information, nobody and I mean nobody seemed to have any idea where in the world my luggage was!

Fortunately the friend I was staying with, is of the generous type, but after three days of walking around in oversized men’s clothing, I caved and went shopping.

2 t-shirts, 2 bras, 3 undies, 1 sleep shorts and a couple of jeans later, I get the phone call I had been waiting for “We have your luggage ma’am, it will be delivered today”!

“Well that don’t sound too bad”, you’re thinking, “you were going to buy some of that anyway”. You’re right, I was… but what I promptly forgot in the middle of all this, is that I went to Houston to celebrate my birthday. And just because my intentions were no birthday gifts…. 😉

So here I am, returning from my “wasn’t going to buy anything trip” with an extra set of items in my luggage:

8 T-shirts
1 shirt
2 bras
3 undies
2 sleep shorts
2 pair of jeans
5 books
2 notebooks
1 ring
and a bunch of birthday cards

That’s 27 new items in-the-door!

This was not quite according to plan!

I must say though, I kinda really did need a few replacement pieces of clothing… 😉 and I am very appreciative of my wonderful friends gifts, which have given me some new favourite pieces 🙂

Hmm, guess this means, I will have to start a hunt for items to shed, to make up for what just came into my house…

HELP!!!

How do you guys handle unexpected gifts coming into your house?

A Tiny Village

Since 1952 KLM have been handing out Delft Blue Miniature Houses that are replicas of some of the Old Dutch Houses situated along the canals in Amsterdam and other age-old towns in Holland. These are normally given to people that travel in business class.

I’ve been traveling a bit over the years and between me and friends traveling on KLM, I have acquired quite a collection of these houses.

In the name of decluttering, I have decided to downsize this collection a little, I don’t really need them all, and they take up space. So I’m keeping 9 (for now) and giving away the rest.

I have a friend of mine in Houston, and his mother is a big collector of the KLM houses. So guess where my left over houses are going?

YEPP, you’ve guessed it 😉 I’ve packed about half of the give always in my suitcase coming over to Houston, and I’m handing them over today!

So today! 15 Tiny houses goes out-the-door (or out-of-suitcase as it is) 🙂

Another crazy purge! And a very happy neighbour.

Last week, I must have inadvertently eaten a pep pill or something, cause I roamed around the house tearing stuff out of my cabinets, drawers and “loft” space. And ended up with a pile of things to get rid off.

I have a neighbour who just moved in, and since she pretty much came over with nothing but a few suitcases and boxes, from the US, I was hoping there would be a few things she could take off my hands!

A couple of days ago, she popped by to have a look, and I couldn’t believe it, but she took most of my stuff! She looked really happy with the stuff, and even came back to get me, to show me how the things fit in her house 🙂

When I counted up all the stuff that went out-the-door, I couldn’t believe the numbers!

Have a look…

5 notebooks – for her kids to draw in
2 “baskets”
1 furry pillowcase
1 furry blanket
1 wool carpet
1 file organizer
1 Ikea storage box
40 hangers – counted as 1
4 packs of hanging “lamps” – now hanging in her kids play corner 🙂
1 empty tea box
1 roll of stretchable wire
1 wineglass box
3 presentation portfolios
2 packs of table decorations
1 sauté pan
2 purple pillowcases
2 large candles
1 glass container for candles or flowers
1 picture from Virgin Islands
6 cloth place mats
6 plastic place mats
4 Texas cloth napkins – counted a 1
1 plastic table runner
1 red cloth pot holder
2 green glasses
1 bag of decorative rocks
1 glass soap dispenser – given to a friend
1 bamboo plate
2 more large candles
4 bags of decorative stones
6 white wine glasses
6 red wine glasses
2 camping chairs
4 flowerpots
2 glass plant watering things
1 outdoor recliner
2 big floor flowerpots

That’s 81 items – and with the exceptions of a few items, my neighbour took them all! 🙂

How’s that for a purge 😉

August tally

So let’s see, did I ever get anything out-the-door during the month of August?

Well yes, actually I did! Even though I’m still doing pretty poorly according to my intentions 😦

Remember; I did have a day earlier in August, where I got a few things out-the-door. And I tackled my “junk” drawer. And the last day of the month, a white tornado went through my house and I ended up with another pile of stuff that will be going out of the house over the next few days. Since that pile is still pretty much sitting here.. they won’t count much on August tally, but hopefully on September they will 😉

So lets see, what did August actually amount to?

AUGUST TALLY of things “out-the-door” = 45 items

24 – items on my day getting back on my declutter wagon

1 jacket
1 pair of pants
1 thermal underwear top
6 T-shirt
2 pairs of knitted wool socks
1 BIG piece of silk – bought in Malaysia in 1995, intending to have a dress made…. like that ever happened!
1 clutch
1 bed sheet that don’t fit any of my beds…?
1 pair of boots – they seemed like a good idea when I got them, but they’ve never been used…
1 book – Thor Heyerdal, the adventurer
2 software CDs never used
4 empty DVD boxes (count as 1)
1 pair of sandals – never used, what was I thinking with those heels!
1 plastic serving tray (broken)
1 almanac – 2010
1 shirt – dads – and
1 cardigan – dads – they won’t ever get used and it’s been almost 1,5 years, it’s time to let them go!

Bunch of items – while clearing my junk drawer – (count as 4)

1 wallet (worn out)
1 flash-light (broken)
Several outdoor pieces (never used, and never will be used) – count as 1
Loads of paper/menus/business cards ++ – count as 1

In addition I finally cleared out some of my toiletries, that I talked about like forever ago in Thriftiness getting in the way of decluttering – I gave most of it to mum 🙂

1 big box of hairspray
1 box of night cream
1 bottle of toner
1 bottle of serum
1 small bag of miscellaneous make-up/trial creams/++
1 bottle of massage oil (it was so old it went into the trash)
Bunch of other stuff – count as 1
1 bottle of shampoo
1 bottle of conditioner

And a few things from my “white tornado” day have actually made it out-the-door 🙂

1 Backpack (a friend of mine, way more sporty than me – took this one, and cover and Adidas bag)
1 travel cover for backpack
1 Adidas bag
1 sports bag
3 pc bags
1 weight lift bar (given to a friend, who hopefully will use this more that I ever did 😉 )

So that’s it, for the month of August – 45 items. Not to shabby after all 😉