Remember I told you about bringing a clock with me from England?
It’s finally on the wall, and I love it in the space 🙂
I meant to tell you about it the day it went up on the wall, but I fumbled it 😦 Better late that never right?
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 😉
My 100th…
I can’t believe this is my 100th post!
Little did I know when I started out, how much having a blog would mean to me, and I never thought about all the milestones I would go through having a blog.
My first post – The start of my journey!
Suddenly I had my first like and my first follower, woohoo… But how on earth did they find me?
And thank you Jen over at Me woman you man for making the first comment on my blog – oh my I was excited. The cool thing! She is still with me 🙂
Soon followed the 10th post Taking a stab at my bookshelves, my 10th like, the 10th comment and my 10th follower – Ed my dearest friend 🙂
Fast forward and I’m hitting my 100 likes, my 100 comments and after a while my 100th follow by My botanical garden.
And not to forget! My first award, a Liebster award, quickly followed by a second Liebster award I sadly never wrote about, which was given to me by My Light Bag who got it from Laura at The next 50 years who got it from me 🙂 My third award was a Sunshine award and I believe I have a fourth award waiting for me (from Heather at Simply Save) whenever I get my act together to write about it 😉
And here I am; 170 followers, 3956 views, 735 comments (I believe the stats are counting mine as well, so half maybe?), 63 countries later, doing my 100th post!
It never dawn on me, starting out, that I would find kindred spirits, make blog friends, and feel like I belong to a community. Or how I would miss people when they stopped blogging (hopefully only for a while). Or how bad I would feel when I don’t have the time or energy to keep up with my community (I guess it’s just like with regular friends).
I never thought about how much pleasure I would get out of having a blog. How my mind is forever making post in my head, even though sometimes they never make it down on “paper”.
Or how I would be changing during the course of blogging and moving along my minimalistic path. How other bloggers have made me think about all sorts of things from taking better care of the environment, become more thrifty, eat healthier, travel more, single living (nice to know I’m not alone) and take better care of my health. I even believe the blogging community helped with my decision of taking a time-out!
I just want to thank you, my faithful followers, commentators, bloggers, for making my days more cheerful, mindful, reflective and sometime just plain happy 😉
Thank you!
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 😉
I’ve been partying!!!
I’ve been out of touch the last couple of weeks, so what on earth have I been up to?
Well, let me tell you. It’s been really, really busy, and fun 🙂
September this year, I’m turning 50 years young 😉
I figured a 50 year birthday is worth celebrating properly!
On my actual birthday I’ll be in Houston, celebrating with a bunch of friends and loads and loads of margaritas 😉
But I decided I needed to have a Norway celebration as well! So last weekend I threw a PARTY, with friends and family at this end of the world. Woohoo!!!
The plan was for an outdoor grill party, but the weather gods for some reason just wanted to throw rain at us, so it turned out to be an indoor grill party. Good thing it was a smallish group with only about 20 people, since my house ain’t that big 😉 I do however, feel sorry for the grill-chef that had to spend all her time outside gilling in the rain (I did fix a temporary roof over her, but still…).
Even if it was a small group it was a wonderful mix of family and friends. Mum and brother from UK, stepbrother and girlfriend from Bergen, friends I haven’t seen in like forever, mixed with friends I see all the time. It was a great opportunity for all of us to catch up.
It was a party filled with fun and loads and loads of laughed, I don’t think I have laughed that much in a long time (yes, tears rolling). I love throwing parties like that 🙂
Definitely worth a repeat. Now if I could just find an excuse to throw another one… 😉
Warming my “bones” in the sun
A visitor stting on the door of my outside storage room! Enjoying a little warmth from the sun. I couldn’t help but take a picture 🙂
A pile of “crap”!
I can’t possible be alone, I’m sure every home has one.
A drawer, a basket, a box, where you store things coming out if your pockets, receipts, take away menus, business cards, phone cover, sticky notes with scribblings on about something you want/need to remember, descriptions on how to change the battery in your alarm, pens, sunglass cover, notebooks, rubber-bands, and in my case also memory sticks and 2 small marbles!!! What the…. where the heck did they come from?
I’m sure we all have that “junk drawer”, that one space where crap seems to congregate!
I cleared mine today!
Good riddance, is all I can say 😉
Back again…
As I told you in my last post, July tally, the last few weeks I have pretty much just relaxed and enjoyed my time off.
But enough is enough, it’s time to get back at it 😉
Back to my declutter task, back to my blog and back to getting some stuff done around the house!
So here is my first instalment, 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!
24 items, woohoo 😉
Now, if decluttering the rest of the house would just be this easy…
July tally
I have to admit, July was an appalling month when it comes to decluttering, which you probably have noticed, since I haven’t written about a single thing I shed.
So what have I been doing with myself in the month of July? Well as I wrote in the beginning of July, I was taking an hiatus to focus on my health.
So July month have been filled with trips to the osteopath, loads of rest, beautiful days in the garden and not to forget…
Loads and loads of time occupied with Molly, my furry friend 🙂 With her around I seemed to get “nothing” done. When I sat down to read, she wanted to play. When I worked outside in the yard, she hated being on a leash so I made “borders” so she could go loose, but I still needed to keep an eye on her whereabouts, just in case… When I ate, she wanted food. When I watched TV or had friends over, she wanted to “play” or go out for a walk, or was hungry or something.
So you can see why I got nothing done… right? 😉
Even so, when I think about it, there are actually a few things that have gone out-the-door in July… Not only have I not written about them, but mostly I have even forgotten to take pictures of them 😦
But let’s see if I can’t manage a small recap anyhow!
JULY TALLY of things “out-the-door” = 22 items
- 2 reasonable sized Boxwood plants in planters – 1 given to a neighbour, 1 given to my step-mum for her new cabin
- 8 plastic planters/pots – given to my neighbour
- 6 books – I’ve actually read 12 as part of my read a book program – but, I’m getting into some of my favourites and they are harder to part with… maybe next month 😉
- 1 roll of plastic flex pipe
- a bunch of small plastic plant pots – counted as 1 (no photo)
- 2 terracotta pots (no photo)
- bunch of plastic pipes leftover from earlier garden constructions – counted as 1 (no photo)
- bunch of wood bits and pieces leftover from earlier garden constructions – counted as 1 (no photo)
Let’s see… I think that was it.. I can’t believe I ended up with the same amount of items as in June! And NO it’s not a copy/paste error – it just turned out that way!
Hmm.. if I could part with one extra book, I could beat June tally… Nope, I don’t think so.. not quite yet, gotta think about it first 😉
So her we are – 22 items – just like June!
On my own again…
My little furry friend is gone, and it’s all quiet in my house again!
The owners came home a little earlier than planed. The owners dads (who normally keeps Molly, is terminal sick) suddenly took a turn for the worse, and they needed to cut their trip short. 😦 My thoughts go out to them.
Out of the blue, they showed up to pick up their little girl, and within minutes everything was packed and they were gone!
As much as I was “looking forward” to get my house back, it sure is weird now that she’s gone.
I find myself looking around to check on where she is, even though she isn’t here anymore. It’s funny how quickly you adapt to having a pet, and change your routines.
Guess it’s going to take me a moment to get out of that again.
I feel like an empty nester 😦
Minimalist Sometimes 