Category: 365 things

My 365 things uncluttered

A change of course…

I’ve come to realise, that, this… “one thing a day” might not work for me.

“Aha.. giving up already? Isn’t this a little early to throw in the towel?”  Yepp. I can hear you already!

But, you could be wrong 😉

I didn’t say I would stop my decluttering. What I’m saying is that there is this odd chance that I might not have the patience for getting rid of only one item a day. I kind of forgot for a minute, that I’m not really the most patience type 😉 I sort off want to get rid of stuff now, I mean right now… I don’t really want to wait around.

At the same time, I also know that to declutter some stuff, I need to do other stuff first, something which will take time.

To give you one example. One of the declutter tasks I’m planning, is to get rid of most of my papers files. But first I have to scan important papers, to digital form. And that not a job done in a few minutes. And this is not my only digitizing project (I’ll tell you all about them as I move along).  So you see, some declutter items are bigger “projects” on their own.

So what am I saying?  

I’m letting you know I will get rid of at least 365 items as promised, but I might get rid of them in bulks 😉

The key thing is: I will be working on the clutter in my life, through the year. And I will be telling you all about it as I go along.

When I started this, I didn’t have a clear picture about where I wanted to go with this blog, other than posting my daily declutter item.

Now that I’m getting a little into this, I’m coming up with more and more ideas about what I’d like to write about. So stay with me, we are going to have fun with this… 🙂

No need for protection!

I love champagne 🙂 No, seriously, I love champagne, especially pink Champagne (oh yes, and frozen margaritas.. but we can talk about that some other time).

Last year, my brother, his wife and I killed off a couple of Champagne bottles one night, and one of them had this nice little fancy sleeve on it.

So what do I do? I decide to keep this sleeve, thinking it might be useful for another Champagne bottle… You know, to keep it chilled or protected or something.. I don’t know….

It was obviously some misguided idea I had, that I would tuck some Champagne bottle nicely into this little sleeve, for some reason.

Seriously?

It’s not like it’s going to last long enough after it’s opened, to be needing a sleeve to keep it chilled 😉 and should I need something, there is such a thing as a bucket and ice.

And it definitely don’t need it for protection. Have you seen how many times they try to break a champagne bottle against a ship sometimes, when they are Christening it?

So what was I thinking?

Obviously I wasn’t 😦 and today I’m taking the consequences of this. The sleeve, however how fancy and cute, has got to go. I think my future champagne bottles will survive, in all their “nude” glory 😉

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Living a lighter life – a wallet’s short story

I feel lighter now 🙂

My owner is doing a decent job most of the time, only carrying around the most important credit cards, membership card, receipts and things. But I can’t help feeling stuffed some of the time.

I have not been alone. I have a couple of family members still hanging around in this house. They are no longer in daily use and feel somewhat lonely, stuffed away in a dark drawer. Their only job these days have been holding on to a lot of cards that are rarely used, or not used at all. And I know for a fact that my oldest family member is ready to move on to the next realm, he’s done his work and is tired.

Today is a great day 🙂 Our owner decided to bring us all out on the table. She emptied us all out, and while she sorted out all the stuff we were holding, we got to hang out with each other and catch up for a while 🙂

She did really good at getting rid of the unused credit cards, no longer valid membership cards, business cards and so on.

As she was done, she slowly started to put the leftover cards back into our protective fold. This time around though, she left plenty of space for us to breath 😉

And guess what, she let my oldest family member retire. He is now going into the recycle pile so he can move on…

and he’s bringing a bunch of cards with him 🙂

Wallet cleanup

Christmas is truly over!

Today the last of the amaryllis died.

You’re thinking, why is this a big deal?

Well a couple of years ago, I came across these beautiful white double flowered amaryllis plants. Since they were rare (I’ve never seen them again) I decided to save the bulbs to regrow them.

Last year only some came out with flower. This year on the other hand, none of them made it 😦 just green leaves, that’s it.

So I have decided to officially throw in the towel on my amaryllis growing abilities (which I obviously don’t have) and I won’t be saving them for next year. I’ll just have to hope they come back on the marked sometime…

Last year. Isn’t it pretty?
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Now on the other hand, 5 old bulbs + this years amaryllis is going..
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Such a doormat…

I’ve got this post I’m planning, and I’m hoping to get to work on it some this weekend (I just need to get my ducks in a row). But in the spirit of de-cluttering I figured it was time to post another item out the door 🙂

IKEA have this wonderful policy (at least here in Norway.. I noticed the Ikea policy wasn’t quite as “easy breezy” when I lived in Houston). In Norway they will let you return items as long as you have the original receipt and give you the money back. If you don’t have the receipt they will give you a gift certificate for the amount, and there are no limits on how many times you can return without a receipte.

What on earth does this have to do with my out the door item? Well about three months ago I bought a couple of doormats and I’ve been driving around with the one I decided not to use in my car, forever.. but it was time.

Doormat to Ikea, money back to me 🙂

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All these fertilizer choices

I told you before, that I like plants, yes?

Well, along with plants, fertilizer options tends to follow. And there are so many options; indoor plants, orchids, roses, rhododendrons, green plants, summer flowers and so on. I could go on forever.

I’ve gotten pretty good at narrowing it down to some key types, and use up the ones I have. But, there is this one bottle of stuff that’s probably close to ten years old, that I’ve hardly ever used. It is time I realize, it’s not going to happen… I will never ever, use this up.

I’m sorry, dear bottle… but you gotta go…

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Pump it, pump it!

A while ago I bought one of those gym balls, you know, one those big ones you use for exercise. A bright green one I’m using as a “chair” at my office. And as with most of these a cheap plastic pump came along.

After having tried forever, and I mean forever (you should have seen me sitting there like an idiot trying to pump that ball up to its full size) I realized something was wrong with the pump. It turns out the darn thing leaked all the air back out, as soon as the pressure in the ball got to big.  So I gave up, brought the ball to the shop and had them pump it up for me 😉

I came across this pump the other day, and suddenly remembered that I had another one of these gym ball pumps hiding in the house. It came along with a similar gym ball I bought a very long time ago. And it was one of the most ridiculous pumps I have ever seen for a gym ball (yes, that’s that yellow thing), and I have no idea why I ever kept it!!

Today those two pumps, can pump their way outa this house…

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A perfect day

It’s been raining and raining for weeks, and today I woke up to the the most beautiful, clear and sunny day. One of those zero degrees, chilly, clear days with a hint of white powder on the ground.

And for the first time in a while I could go outside and “smell the roses” so to speak.

I know, not much roses growing this time a year, but if you check out the white plant below, it’s actually called Christmas rose here in Norway (just don’t smell much though) 😉

Being outside on this clear, chilly day, cleared the “cobwebs” out of my mind and cheered me up no ends.

You might say, it was just what the doctored ordered 🙂

You see, sometimes it doesn’t take a lot, for us to lower our stress hormones, making ourselves a little happier and look at the bright side of life. Sometimes all it takes, is waking up to a beautiful day 🙂

And today reminded me of an daily exercise I used to do, but that somewhere along the way got forgotten.

My daily routine
It’s the first thing you should do when you wake up in the morning, and the last thing you should do before you go to bed.

Open a window, balcony or entrance door (anything that opens up to the outside) stick your head out,close your eyes and take a deep breath of fresh air, hold it and exhale slowly. Open your eyes and take another “how many breath you want” 😉 and just be, be in the now, even if it’s just for a second.

I’m not kidding… It’s such a stress buster… and I think it’s a good routine for everyone to have. We are so busy with everything, that sometime we just forget to stop up and “smell the roses”. I’ve found that this small routine is the greatest way to start and end the day. I’m in the moment, even if it’s only for that second or two…

So I will bring back this routine, to declutter my mind 🙂

I’ll take a deep breath tonight. Why don’t you give it a try 😉

My Christmas roses
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Just couldn’t resist, just had to show you a couple of more from my entrance 🙂
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These shoes are made for walking…

I have a stack of men’s shoes sitting in my house… and hey, I live alone, so what on earth am I doing with a bunch of men’s shoes????

After my dad passed away last year, some of his stuff ended up in my house. Both for me, and family members (I’m a bit of a holding facility 😉 ) Last time my brother was visiting from London, we took a stab at dad’s cloths.

There are still things I need to go through (I have a few boxes), but what I’m sure of, is that I should at least get rid of the stuff I know none of us want.

Today it’s the shoes, and for good measures, I’m throwing in a couple of my own 😉

What do I do with them? Well they are in good shape, so they will be on their way to; either Fretex which is part of the Salvation Army, or to Hjelp oss å hjelpe an non profit organization that helps locally in my area.

That’s six pairs of shoes and a couple of flip flops 🙂
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One in – two out – and a happier patio

My patio have been looking a little sad lately, it’s been raining and windy for weeks, and the poor thing have been getting worse by the minute, with all the leaves and green algae from all the rain. In one nut shell, my patio have been one wet, miserable and green thing.

Today I decided to give it a spruce, just a quick clean getting rid of the leaves and algae.. it’s still wet (can’t control the weather) but at least it looks a little happier.

And you are wondering about the one in, two out!

During my clean up, the brush I was using, suddenly broke. I suppose it didn’t like being outside in this cold and miserable weather 🙂 thats 1 OUT

And then my small hand dustpan set, which have been deteriorating during my 2013 summer project, finally gave in. Guess I’ve been a menace on my tools today 😉 that 2 OUT

And the IN? I do need a small dustpan set, so not only is it my 1 IN, it’s also the first replacement item for the year. Guess I didn’t last long! but I found it super cheap at IKEA, all of 1,7 dollars.. not bad for Norway…. And it was so shiny 😉

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