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| Cloudy! |
Last night, at around 11:00 p.m., it rained! It rained on and off for about 20 minutes! According to the weather service, the rain we received was a "trace"; 0.11 inches or, just a smidge over a tenth of an inch! But, I'll take it! It was enough to wet the garden, which meant I didn't have to water the garden, today.
Today, it has been cloudy! No rain, but, those clouds seem to hold the promise of rain, don't they? I wonder if it will rain tonight? Rain is in short supply in my area and this is supposed to be our rainy season!
Today, I did some paperwork in the morning and cleaned my bathroom.
Later, I picked the broccoli side shoots - there were enough to add to a stir fry and I am hoping that there will be more side shoots to pick, later.
I also did a little more decluttering from the garage. Nothing big, just small items that were cluttering up the space - 3 old work-related reports (don't ask me why I had been holding on to them, I've only been retired for a little over 3 years! LOL), a rolling backpack that had been my daughter's when she was a child, a spray bottle, a magazine holder, an old fridge drawer that was full of glass jars - 15 of them, which also got recycled, two boxes of empty cans (over flow from the shed!), wood off cuts from door trims and extra pieces of hardwood flooring (small pieces, leftover from laying the family room floor, 24 years ago!), a plastic drip tray, a nylon mesh scrubby sponge, etc.
I just spent about 15 minutes or so, pulling things out as I saw them - I wanted to declutter at least 10 items and I did that. I didn't want to think too much about what I was decluttering, because then, I tend to over-think! "Can I reuse these jars? Yes, but do you really need them?" " Can I use these pieces of wood trim?" "Should I keep that magazine holder?" "What about this miniature decorative plastic screen, depicting the four seasons, that my mother bought for me when she was in Hong Kong? Should I keep it? But, it has a corner that is broken. Yes, but, it was a gift from my mother! You have other gifts from her." And so on and so forth. It is an internal, silent dialog, but, it is what goes on inside my head when I declutter! There is one plastic storage container that got returned to the shelf, as a result of such over-thinking, but, I've promised myself that I'll declutter it if I haven't found a use for it by the end of the garage decluttering.
Once again, we had leftovers for meals. Daughter had stringhoppers and chicken curry for brunch; I had milkrice and chicken curry. I had some of the sauteed chicken, shredded, with leftover Japanese pickled vegetables and hot sauce, rolled up in a flour tortilla! Talk about fusion cuisine! LOL! Daughter hasn't had her dinner, yet, but, she has plenty of leftovers to choose from.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Last night's shower of rain
- Broccoli from the garden
- Electricity to power the lights, appliances, etc.
- A safe, warm, and comfortable house
- M tending to the garden for me
Today's joyful activities included picking broccoli from the garden.
Plans for tomorrow include getting things ready to do my taxes!
How was your Friday? What are your plans for the weekend?
Love your post. I cannot wait until we can plant our garden. We still have plenty of tomatoes canned but I want to make some for my children.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the warm sun and getting outside.
Cats
Thank you, Cats. I planted just a couple of tomato plants, last year, and they gave me just about all the tomatoes I could handle! Didn't can any, but, froze some, instead. Sounds like you plant a big garden! Hope spring arrives soon for you and you have a successful garden.
DeleteI understand your inner declutter dialogue. Yes, but no, but yes... And I applaud your success.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. Having that internal dialogue can be helpful. My rational self knows there is no reason to hold onto some items, but, my emotional self finds it hard to let go!
DeleteI totally understand your reasons for not decluttering certain items. That is my problem too, remembering where things came from and gifted from whom. My rational self knows that when we are gone these things will have no emotional attachment to anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThank you for understanding, Eileen. Yes, the emotional attachments are all mine! I've told my daughter that she can dispose of anything she likes, although, I do hope that she will keep the crocheted table covers my mother and grandmother made! :D
DeleteWell done on your declutter, Bless, sometimes you just have to go for it yet I can understand your hesitation. I do exactly the same sometimes and get nowhere! At least a lot of yours went to recycling and not landfill :)
ReplyDeleteOooh and I envy your fresh broccoli. I love the small side shoots :) Hope you get more rain too, I wish I could send you some as we have far too much right now.
Thank you, Pensive. I am now decluttering those items that did not get decluttered in previous attempts - the garage became the depository of those items I got out of the house, but, still kept!
DeleteThe broccoli plants didn't produce big main florets, but, the side shoots are tasty, too, and broccoli leaves are edible, so, I'll continue to keep the plants growing and harvest what I can.
It is drizzling, a little bit, right now, so I think your wish for more rain for me is coming true! :D
I also understand that inner dialogue. I do that as well, especially if something was a gift from my parents. It's nearly impossible to get rid of those items. You're doing really well with the decluttering. Celie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie, especially for understanding. I realize that the memories are the important things, not necessarily the items, but, the items do help jog those memories from time to time. :)
DeleteWell done on making a start on the garage. It sounds like you did well despite your struggles with your inner dialogue.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had some rain. I feel exactly the same when it rain here during the summer ... grateful that I don't need to water the garden that day!
I moved all the planted pots this morning and my nephew is coming round to moved all the empty pots tomorrow - they are the bigger, heavier pots and are too heavy for me to cope with. I've had enough for today so am back indoors catching up with blogs and will practice the piano later on.
Thank you, Eileen. The inner dialogue does help with the decision making.
DeleteIt is drizzling here, right now; I hope the drizzle will turn into showers, later.
Sounds like you've had a busy morning! I'm glad your nephew is coming to help you with the rest of the pots, tomorrow. Hope you have a lovely rest of the day. :)
You seem to be making good progress on the garage. Isn't it amazing how things can just sit somewhere for years? Or maybe it is the years just rushing by before we get to sorting things out!
ReplyDeleteYou certainly had grey skies and some welcome rain beforehand. I hope you get some more, enough to satisfy the garden's need.
We have sunshine and it is not too cold (by our standards for the time of year). I have a bit of catching up to do as yesterday afternoon we had to take the car for a tire to be fixed and then go out and fetch it back. I also had a long chat with a friend whose husband is in hospital.
Thank you, Bushlady. I think the hardest part for me is getting started! Once I start, I wonder why I let things get to that state!
DeleteWe are having another cloudy day, today, and it has started to drizzle.
I'm glad you are having a sunny and a not too cold day. Sounds like you had a busy day, yesterday, and I hope your friend's husband will be out of the hospital, soon. Hope you have a lovely day, Bushlady, and a good weekend.
That sky certainly does seem to promise rain. I hope that it delivers/delivered. Well done on making a start on the garage. I know exactly what you mean about the endless deliberations but there comes a point when I start to feel overwhelmed and then just blitz everything! I find Freecycle comforting, in that I know the stuff is going to a good home and having a new life. (I know it's not for you, just mean it helps me let go.)
ReplyDeleteIt didn't rain, yesterday, but, it has started to drizzle this afternoon. I'm happy with that!
DeleteThank you; the garage has a lot of stuff that can be just tossed! I will donate what I can, recycle what I can, and toss the rest. If I think someone might be able to use some of the items, I can always leave it by the curb, with a "Free" sign on it. :)
Well done on your de-cluttering. I had every intention of tidying out my wardrobe this weekend, but the sun is shining, so I've made the most of it and been out for a lovely walk. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules. I am glad you had a sunny day and have been able to go for a walk! Sorting through the wardrobe can wait for a rainy day! :)
DeleteHi Bless, I have been decluttering, too. One more small pile of papers to finish today. Like you, I am eating leftovers and cooking at home. Your broccoli sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephenie, I just finished reading your blog post! Well done on the decluttering, cooking at home and eating the leftovers! We bought some food from the Japanese restaurant, but, that was to celebrate my daughter's birthday. :)
DeleteI join the chorus here in saying decluttering can be difficult and it's very easy to overthink things. I'm better than I used to be, but I hope to get even better. I think you're doing great if for no other reason that you are steadily getting rid of things.
ReplyDeleteThank you, June. Yes, it is very easy to overthink, but, I am determined to get a handle on the clutter!
DeleteYou are doing amazingly with the decluttering. I love the sound of the broccoli side shoots in a stir fry.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. I'm making some progress! It's not showing yet, but, it will, eventually! :) Side shoots in stir fries are good because they are already bite sized! Less chopping! :D
DeleteI'm so glad you got some rain; I know you need it. Even a little matters.
ReplyDeleteDo you collect rain water at all? Do you have anything collecting it from your gutters?
We have a rain barrel on one of our downspouts. It's amazing how much gets collected from even a little rain.
The problem for my area is removing the barrel for the winter months. It's quite a chore because we don't have a permanent rain barrel spout in the gutter down spout that can be closed off when the rain barrel is removed so it all requires a bit of work when we take it out/put it back into service.
I've purchased the permanent diverter/ spout thingy. (official name) but that's as far as I've gotten.
Maybe this spring!
Good job on the garage decluttering! It sounds like you really got rid of quite a few things. I really enjoyed your sharing your internal dialogue.
You mentioned how thinking about how you "may" need something in the future trips you up, Me Too! It really is the big thing for me. Fear of regret of getting rid of the item.
- even though I haven't used it in the past (insert however many long long years it's been unused)
I have pretty much gotten over that mindset now and have stopped keeping things for the "in case" time. It has been so freeing.
A bit of a different type of hurdle, but someone on a decluttering video was talking about about how to stop saving things for the person you think you're going to be for the life you think you're going to live.
Just keep what you use now in the life you live now for the person you are now.
Of course she wasn't saying to expose ourselves to problem situations by not keeping things to care for ourselves or our home when something happens but rather the excess. She was talking about the excess.
I don't want the excess anymore.
Hi Debra, as yet, I don't have a rain barrel, although I have been thinking of getting one installed. I don't have gutters right round the roof - just on half of the front (along the walkway to the front door) and along one side (along the driveway). There are two downspouts - the one in front empties out to the front flower bed (right next to the climbing red rose bush by the front trellis). The one at the back empties out to the driveway and that is an ideal candidate for a rain barrel. I have looked online at rain barrels, but, so far, I haven't decided if it is worth the expense. Our normal average rain fall is just under 15 inches per year (measured from July 1 to June 30); we almost met that average in 2019-2020; in 20-21, we received 4.85 in my area (downtown L.A. received a little more: 5.82); going by the monthly totals so far for 21-22, we might get 5 inches, if we are lucky!
DeleteThe garage decluttering is coming along, slowly. I'm trying to do one side of it, first. Thank you for sharing the decluttering wisdom. It is very helpful. I think my problem is, I am saving too many things from the life I used to live! It's like that electric frying pan - I used it quite often at one time, then, it stayed in the kitchen cabinet for several years, and suddenly, last year, when I had the sciatica pains and couldn't stand to cook at the stove, I was able to set it up near my chair and cook at least a few things using that electric frying pan, again! And I was grateful that I had it. I haven't used it, since, though! Do I declutter it now? Do I continue to keep it, just in case? I read somewhere that if something will cost under $20 to replace, then, get rid of the item and buy a new one if the need arises. I am not sure if that will work with me because I'd be too frugal to spend that $20 to buy it again! :D