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 🙂

Sunshine Award!

A couple of weeks ago, Heather at Simply Save nominated me to the Sunshine Award. It sure put a smile to my face, and I really appreciate it! I’m only sorry it’s taken me this long to post about it 😉

Thank you ever so much Simply Save for nominating Minimalist Sometimes to the Sunshine Award.

As part of the award requirements, I’m supposed to share seven random things about myself and nominate up to 15 bloggers!

Seven Random Things about me – hmmmm…

I love travelling, but don’t do enough of it…
I really, really like frozen margaritas – and as with travel, I don’t drink enough of them 😉
My current favourite read are Clive Cussler books – how on earth will the heroes survive this time around 😉
I once helped build a 43″ ocean sail-boat – took a few years, but also got a few years of sailing out of it
I love my garden – if you couldn’t already tell…
I’m a pretty good handy”man”…
I was in Sri Lanka during the tsunami, December 26th, 2004 – I was fine, but it can’t help but change you…

My nominees:

Well let’s see – I can’t nominate Simply Save 😉

There are so many I would love to nominate.. like seriously waaayyy more that 15! There are so many great blogs and people out there that really motivates me, and some have even followed me since day one. But for the sake of keeping it short and saving some for later nominations 😉 I decided – 7 random facts about me – 7 nominees, that seems fitting 😉

So here they are!

Turquoise Compass – I travel vicariously through Jessica. She makes me want to pack my bag… just about every day!

The Next 50 Years – I love how Laura is embracing single living… and she makes me think!

Moving forward – It’s fun how we started our blogs around the same time, with similar ideas, and in my neighbour country 🙂

What I shed today – A shed a day for 365 days (like I originally intended) – I love it – and he puts a smile on my face!

365 Simplify – Mark’s project – writing about 365 simple things – and living a lighter life, sort of like a lot of us 🙂

Spirit Lights The Way – I love how Nancy keeps an eye on me, and cheers me on! And not to mention her thought provoking posts…!

Every Week is Green – I can’t help but admire Joanna for her aspiration for living a more eco-friendly life – she makes me more aware and inspires me to make changes…

And Heather! Thanks again for the honour, you are a sweetheart 🙂

My morning visitor

When I opened my front door this morning, I was welcomed by this friendly visitor, who seems to have fallen “head over heels” with one of my plants.

Visitors like this, brightens my day, and makes it feel like summer is here.

Thought I would share, to brighten your day 😉

Who the hell am I keeping it for?

I had a pretty interesting conversation recently, about what we keep. Why we keep it. Who we are keeping it for. And what interests will they have in what we leave behind!

As a woman with no kids and husband, there are not that much family left to give my family heirlooms to. The only ones left of my blood relatives are my mum, brother, half sister and some second cousins…

I have a large step-family (trough dad), but I’m assuming that whenever I’m not around any more, they might only be interested in some of my personal things. I can’t see that they would be much interested in things from my blood relatives, with maybe the exception of some of my dad’s stuff.

Thinking about this conversation have made me realize, that I’m keeping some thing from my past and my family’s past, that most likely nobody after me, will care one iota about! So who am I keeping it for? Well it turns out I’m obviously keeping it for me, and me alone! And that’s a pretty enlightening thought!

This morning I suddenly realized that keeping in mind, that I’m pretty much keeping things for me, and me alone, is going to make an big impact on my decluttering process.

I have a few bigger projects/tasks in mind for this fall. And I think the conclusion above is going to make these projects a whole lot easier to accomplish.

As an example I’ll tell you about – My huge photo collection. Tons and tons of albums, loose films, loose photos (not yet put into albums) and boxes of old inherited photos of people I barely know (or don’t know as it is). My intention have been to put the photos into albums (been working on it, on again, off again, the last few years) and the rule was, that what doesn’t go into albums will be tossed!

Somewhere along the way, I also decided I want to scan them all, so that I can have them as digital photos. Then I could clean up my albums. Since we are talking thousands of photos, this have seemed like such an undertaking, that I haven’t gotten it started yet.

Well this morning it dawned on me that, since I have no kids that will be interested. My half sister and my brother have no kids of their own (yeah we are really hopeless at producing kids). The family line is pretty much dying out with us (which is kinda sad when you think about it). So who am I keeping all these photographs for? Obviously no one! I can’t imagine my step family being interested in photos from my mums line of family, grandparents, their siblings and so on. Most likely they would just toss away the lot of it.

So what am I saying? Well for this instance, I’m saying my task of scanning suddenly got waaay less complicated. Conclusion is to keep a few key pictures as real photos (but only of people I know), scan a few more and then get rid of the rest. I mean seriously, I hardly ever look at those old photos, mum don’t ask for them and she is the only one left, who might know who they are. Dad have passed away, my brother wouldn’t care less, so why should I be so darned compelled to be the photos keeper?

So I just decided, I’m only going to keep the photos that are important to me! And me alone! So there 😉

Phew, I think I just went from several thousand of potential scans down to a third, hopefully less! But we will see how it goes when I start the job this fall 😉

But for now, I’m pretty happy with my conclusion.

I mentally decluttered a lot of things today! Especially since this doesn’t only apply to the photos…

What about you, have you ever thought seriously about what you are leaving behind, why and for whom? It might be pretty enlightening… and you never know, it might just shift a few priorities around!

Thriftiness getting in the way of decluttering?

I’m having a hard time…

Being that I have decided to only buy necessities this year, I’m trying to use up stuff I already have in my house.

As an example, let talk about… say…. toiletries!

I have all sorts of creams, hair products, facial stuff, make-up and so on. And it makes perfect sense to use up the items I have before I buy new!

Now, anybody that knows me, knows that, I have the shortest hair ever (by choice). I’d be hard pressed to use up one bottle of shampoo a year. I don’t really use hair products much. And I think I have a bottle of hairspray I’d be lucky to use up within the next 10 years.

If I manage to slap on some moisturiser in the morning, I’ve been good. Never mind facial cleanser, night cream, eye cream and other stuff.

I never really use make-up. If you see me dolled up in make-up even once a year, that’s a stretch 😉

But, and that’s the kicker, being a girl and all 😉 I do like pretty make-up and cool bottles of creams that smell nice, and my hairdresser always manage to convince me I need some products 😉

I have gotten really good the last couple years, only buying the creams/shampoo I actually use. BUT I still have cabinets full of things given to me, and items bought and not used up (or ever used). I’m not kidding you, when I tell you, that I use so little of everything, that it’s going to take years to use it all up.

So what’s the problem you might ask!

Well the challenge is that, while it makes perfect sense to use up the stuff, I really, and I mean really want to declutter my place, I just want the “crap” out of here!

In a way I’m letting my “thriftiness” get in the way of my decluttering . There are times I just want to let a “tornado” (yes, that would be me) loose and get the stuff out of my house.

But then my sensible (or we could argue, not so sensible) mind takes over.
“I should use this up, it makes perfect sense, since I’m not really buying much this year”
“I should give this away or sell this stuff, rather than recycle/toss is”
“I need to put it away, so that my sister, mother, friend, neighbour…(please feel free to add any others..) gets a look at it, before I give to charity/recycle/toss”

All these arguments makes perfect sense – but they are getting in my way of getting the stuff out of here, and achieving the uncluttered space I’m working hard to get to. And it’s starting to frustrate the heck out of me.

Well, why don’t you just “toss” it all?

I don’t know, it’s what I want to do, but is feels sacrilegious to just “toss” things that are worth something to other people, and that might even generate some money for me. But right now holding on to stuff, just so that I can give it away, to family or friends, or make half a dollar on it, are starting to become a hassle, that just seem to stop me cold in my progress.

So what is a girl to do?

When I sat down to write today, I wasn’t really planing on writing this. I suppose this post took a turn of its own;-) It seems my frustration is bigger that I realised. But, while writing this, I’ve come to realise what I need to do, to get a little closer, to achieving my goal of a somewhat more decluttered space.

I will keep stuff that I know I will manage to use up within a year.
Just take the toiletries mentioned above, I will keep hair products that I actually will use, but that darn hairspray is going. I’ll keep items I use, but (even if its a gift) I will get rid of things that I don’t see I will ever really get around to using or even start using within a year.

I will, when I declutter, ask friends and family if they want it (when it makes sense to ask) but, I won’t hold on to it longer than a few days, before they go out-the-door.

I will try to sell stuff that has enough value to make sense to sell (furniture or expensive items), everything else I won’t stress with. I understand that I might be able to make a buck or two, and total by the time this is all said and done I might have lost out on a 100-200 dollars or so, but that’s OK! I’d rather not having all the frustration and stress. And I think my bank account will survive 😉

But I will no longer, let the “rules” above get in my way. I’d rather just; not ask, not sell, not give away, if that makes my declutter process less frustrating and easier.

There is such a thing as, peace of mind, and right now, I think a decluttered space takes precedence over trying to be so darn “sensible”!

What about you?
How do you handle the balance between being sensible and “thrifty” and the need for a less cluttered space? I would love any advice you might have, on finding a good balance.

There is Spring in my step!

We are having some really pretty days here this Easter, the sun is out, and I can’t help but hang out in my yard 🙂

Walking around this morning I suddenly glimpsed a tiny, tiny bit of red out of the corner of my eye, and it stopped me cold.

Could it be? No really.. could it be my first Ladybug of the year?

I stopped and took a closer look, and there – hidden in the middle of some dead leaves still hanging on my “blood birch” – was the first Ladybug I had seen this year. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason that first Ladybug in my yard each year, put’s a smile in my heart. It’s almost like that – for that tiny moment – all is well in the world.

Maybe it’s because seeing a Ladybug, brings back a moment in my life, a good memory from when I was about 6 years old. When my best friend at the time and me, ran around in the neighbourhood (in the middle of urban city), picked summer flowers (that we would “sell” to strangers walking by) and “hunted” for ladybugs to count their spots, and see which one of us would find the most “spotted” one 🙂

This years Ladybug inspired me to take some pictures of my tiny garden (with my phone) – and I just thought I wanted to share my joy of Spring 🙂

Judging others!

This quote found it’s way to my mailbox, and the statement is so true..

And I’m guilty!

I’m guilty of having judged myself by my original intent; on what I was planning to do (even if I didn’t actually do that) while I’ve judged others by what they actually did.

I’m guilty of my behaviour not always reflecting my intentions.

I’m guilty of having given myself more “leeway”, while I have given others less or even none.

I’m guilty of having given people a hard time or even brushed them off because of their behaviour. Not having given them the benefit of the doubt.

Then again!

I’m also guilty of having given people to much benefit off doubt, having looked for good intentions, that might not have been there in the first place.

I’m also guilty of being too hard on myself for not having the right intentions or behaviour

How do I “judge” people?
By several things actually. How they act in public, how they speak to others, how they look, how they dress, what they say and how they say it. In a way it’s about morals, values, and ethics. There is a difference though, between people that I just pass during the day, and people that are in my life for more than a day.

For people I just pass in day, yes I judge them by their actions and I don’t always go out of my way to understand their intentions. They do say that “Actions speak louder than words”, and there are a truth to that. When it comes to people that are in my life for a longer time or even “permanently”, I try harder to find the intentions behind their behaviour. But then again, there is no doubt, I can do better…

So what does this mean?
I believe this means we should take a look at ourselves. It’s easier to to point the finger at someone else than it is to own up to our own flaws. Don’t be quick to judge anyone. Find a good median line, not to tough nor too lenient. Make sure we judge others how we expect them to judge us. Give others the same leeway we give ourselves, and give others the same benefit of doubt that we expect from them. I believe we should strive towards having our intentions and behaviour aligned – to make sure the inside and outside convey the same message.

And when in doubt! Talk to people. Communication is the best way to avoid misunderstandings, don’t just assume we know their intentions from their behaviour. Give them a quick question about their intention, or what’s going on with them. We never know what day a person have, or what’s going on in their lives, that might affect their behaviour. Check it out… so at least you are clear about what’s going on, before you pass judgement. Make sure the “penalty fits the crime” so to speak 😉 And that goes for ourselves as well, that we are hard enough, but not too hard on how we judge ourselves.

And me? There is definitely times when my behaviour is out-of-whack, and I need to do a better job, at explaining my intention, or even say I’m sorry, when I see my behaviour is not the best (we all have bad days). I also need to get better at clarifying other peoples intention, before I let their behaviour affect too much how I feel (they might have a bad day too). There is obviously work to be done!

What about you…do your “inner and outer” send the same message?

Cheating….

SPRING is here!!!

Well, no actually not! Here in Norway it’s still cold, wet and spring..? Well.. not so much!

So today I decided to cheat 🙂

I need a little spring in my front yard. It’s much more fun coming home, after work, when there is some bright plants welcoming you.

What you think? Much more cheerful, wouldn’t you say 🙂

One small positive thought…

I’ve been battling a bit of a headache the last few days and it’s not exactly been doing any wonders for my mood 😉 I was sorting through some documents at my office and I came across this quote, and it hit me right in the face, and completely shifted my attitude 🙂

You know the saying “starting the day off on the right foot”. I think “starting your day with the right thought“, is the essences off that saying. One small thought, either positive or negative, has the potential to influence your whole day, or even days.

Your thoughts can colour your day. Now off course things happen and we can’t always control everything that happens around us, but what we can control is how we react to what happens.

Your thoughts and mood can influence how you are with your family, how well you perform at work and how you relate to friends, colleagues and strangers. Fortunately we have the power to to choose. You can choose positive thoughts and gratefulness, or you can choose negative thoughts and pessimism.

I choose to start on a positive note. How do you choose to start your day?

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