Another Book On Decluttering

Making Space, Clutter Free

I had previously read the author's other book, Make Space for Happiness, and wrote briefly about it, last November. That book identified seven "emotional clutter magnets" - purpose, love, connection, wisdom, confidence, self-respect, and ease.  The author's premise is that these emotional clutter magnets lead to the acquisition of stuff that end up cluttering our homes, even after we've decluttered, earlier.

In that book, the author referred to the seven "emotional clutter blocks" she had discussed in her previous book and I thought I should read that book, too.  I requested the book from the library and picked it up a couple of days later, but, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and the Almsgiving, I couldn't finish reading it right away and renewed it a couple of times.

In "Making Space, Clutter Free" the author describes some of the decluttering situations she has dealt with and identifies the following seven "emotional clutter blocks" which keep us from decluttering:

#1 My Stuff Keeps Me in the Past 
#2 My Stuff Tells Me Who I Am
#3 The Stuff I am Avoiding
#4 My Fantasy Stuff for My Fantasy Life
#5 I'm Not Worth My Good Stuff
#6 Trapped with Other People's Stuff
#7 The Stuff I Keep Paying For

She goes on to explain what each clutter block means, what the clues are, and how to get over the block; I am afraid that I could identify with most, if not all, of these clutter blocks!  Yikes!

The book also includes a "Clutter Freedom Quiz", which I found very helpful.  She lists nine rooms (although the book says there are ten rooms; earlier in the chapter, she mentions a couple of other rooms including a TV room and an office, which were left off the quiz) with five yes/no questions each:

Garage
Entryway
Living Room
Dining Room
Kitchen
Kids' Rooms
Master Bedroom
Clothes Closets and Dressers
Bathroom

Each "Yes" answer is worth 10 points; you add up all the Yes points, divide by  the number of rooms (this is where the book said there were 10 rooms, but, I counted only nine).

1-15 : You've got a good handle on your possessions, but the trick to staying ahead of it is tune ups.  Devote a few minutes each day to putting away, not putting down, and you'll stay clutter free

16-30 : You have stepped into the danger zone.  If you don't get a handle on your clutter soon, you will no longer own your stuff - your stuff will own you

31-50 : Don't panic ... drill down to see what's under the clutter.  Why can't you let go of stuff and why do you keep bringing in more stuff into your home? 

I adapted the rooms listed to the rooms in my house.  I don't have an entry way because my front door opens directly to the living room, but, I applied the entry way questions to the living room and considered the family room (which is not listed) as the living room.  I also applied the questions for the kids' rooms to my spare bedroom, which is my home office/crafts room/guest room and which has become a bit of a dump!  

Most of my Yes answers pertained to the kitchen and my spare bedroom  a.k.a The Dump!  

The book goes on with decluttering steps for each room  and closet/cabinets, etc., and how to plan for life altering events such as downsizing.  The author's methods involve taking everything out of cabinets and closets and sorting through them all, putting back only what you want to keep.  I tend to find that to be overwhelming - I'd rather declutter a shelf at a time.  

But, I could identify more with this book than with the author's other book, "Make Space for Happiness", which I read, last year.  I have identified the areas I need to work on and I will do that, next.

Have you read this book?  If so, what are your opinions on it?  If not, is it something you might consider reading?

S's Potato Salad Recipe

S's Potato Salad

Today (Wednesday) my neighbor S called and brought me some black grapes and some chocolates!  I asked her for her potato salad recipe and she told me how she makes it.

She said she used about 6 potatoes (but, I guess one can use as many or as few as one likes).

Boil and peel the potatoes, then, while still warm, cut up into small cubes.

Pour some olive oil (or oil of your choice) over them while still warm and mix to coat the potatoes.  

Add salt, black pepper, cumin powder, and Aleppo pepper flakes (a mild red pepper) to taste.  

Slice two green onions and about 3 to 4 cloves of garlic and add to the potatoes.  

Add dill or cilantro (she said she used cilantro as that's what she had; I asked if parsley would be OK, too, as not everyone likes cilantro and she said parsley would be fine, too) and lemon juice to taste.

Then, serve and enjoy!

Let me know if you make it - I'm sure S would love to know.

 

Errands on Tuesday

"I stay home and relax"

Here we are, mid-month in January!  15 days behind us and 15 days ahead of us!

Looking back, I am satisfied with the housework I was able to accomplish so far this month - I took down and put away the holiday decorations and the almsgiving items, the main rooms have been dusted, vacuumed, and returned to normal furniture arrangements and decor, and the window sills in the living room and dining area cleaned.  I debated washing the windows, at least from the inside, but, decided to wait on that! 

Today (Tuesday), I ran some errands.  The plan was to go to the library to return the two library books that were due today and then, go to the pharmacy to pick up two prescription refills that were ready and go to the phone store (next to the pharmacy) to make a payment.  

However, the library auto renewed my books until February 6th, so I decided to return the books when the books I requested come in and I go to pick them up, assuming they come in before the 6th. 

So, I only went to the pharmacy and the phone store.  The pharmacy had the last of its Christmas items on 70% off sale and I looked to see if they had any leftover boxes of Christmas cards, but, they didn't have.  They had gift tags, but, not cards.  They had boxed coffee mugs, for $1.12 each and I considered buying a couple for next Christmas to give as gifts, but, I didn't buy them.  Instead, I bought two 9.9 oz/280g bags of mini peanut butter cups, original price per receipt, $6.29 each, reduced to $1.59 each.  I wouldn't have bought them at the original price, but, I was happy to pay $1.59.  I don't care if they come in red, green, and gold colored foil wrappers; I remove the wrappers to eat them, anyway!  I also bought a tube of lipstick - I rarely wear lipstick these days, especially since I wear a mask when I go out, but, the tube of lipstick I have now was bought prior to the pandemic and when I went to put some on earlier this month, when I went to visit my sister, I realized that it had turned rancid!  The lipstick was free with my rewards points.

Then, I went to the phone store and the salesperson remembered me from when I went there just before Christmas with my daughter to buy a new phone.  I paid the $35 balance due on the phone, today (for some weird reason, I was not able to pay the full amount up front when I purchased it).  

Afterwards, I came home, had a cold cuts sandwich and some potato chips for brunch, a couple of mini peanut butter cups for dessert, brought in the trash cans, 

I haven't been very productive since I came home.  I watched a video online, read the news headlines, caught up on a few blogs, watered some of the indoor plants, and relaxed!

Today, I am grateful for:

- The library auto renewing my books!
- The availability of my medications
- Prescription coverage on my health insurance
- A safe drive to run errands and back
- Friendly sales people

Today's joyful activity was enjoying a favorite chocolate!

Plans for tomorrow (Wednesday) include M tending to the garden, vacuuming the family room, and putting away a mountain of laundry that has, somehow, piled up in the laundry basket!

How was your Tuesday?  What are your plans for Wednesday?
 

January Grocery Shopping Part 2 and Meal Plan

I picked up an order of groceries on Monday.  I mostly needed tuna for Dancer (he's back to refusing his canned cat food).  But, I also bought a few other items of groceries for myself, partly to qualify for free pick up and partly to take advantage of some sales, even though I had said I will be eating mostly from the freezer and pantry this month. 

I bought:

3 Bananas, 1.02 lb. @ $0.68/lb. = $0.70 

1 lb. ground beef (80/20), reg. price $6.29, with digital coupon = $3.74

3 cans tuna, store brand, reg. price $1.29@, on sale for $1@, with $0.50 off 3 cans coupon $0.83@ = $2.50

Deli meats/cold cuts, roast beef, 7 oz., reg. price $6.49, on sale with coupon = $3.49
Deli meats/cold cuts, uncured honey ham, 9 oz., reg price $6.49, on sale with coupon = $3.49

1 loaf multi grain bread, reg. price $3.49, on sale with coupon = $2.99

1 box cereal, 13.5 oz., reg. price $4.99, free with "best customer" coupon = $0

My grocery total = $16.91

In addition, I bought 15 cans of tuna, on sale for $1@ for Dancer = $15

My total order total (with Dancer's tuna) = $31.91

Meal Plans for January Week 3

Brunches: Cheese and spinach burek (Monday), cold cuts sandwiches, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes, leftovers

Dinners:

- Cold cuts sandwiches, Armenian potato salad (Monday)

- Spaghetti with meat sauce (will use pasta and canned pasta sauce from the pantry, some vegetables from the freezer, and the ground beef purchased on Monday)

- Mackerel curry and coconut roti (will use canned mackerel from the pantry, leftover coconut milk from the almsgiving that's in the fridge and leftover grated coconut from the freezer)

- Mackerel curry, moringa curry (from the freezer), and rice with peach chutney 

- Soup?

- Leftovers

Of course, this meal plan is subject to change!  

If anyone is wondering about the burek and the potato salad - my neighbor S brought over dinner and dessert on Sunday:

Sunday Dinner Compliments of Neighbor S

S made the potato salad, her sister-in-law made the cheese and spinach phyllo pastry and rice pudding,  her mother made the potato kuftha, her friend made the cheese and spinach burek, and a niece made the sour cream and gelatin dessert with the canned cherry sauce.  I gave S some love cake and Serrano chilies.  

Weekend Reading

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

This book was mentioned in another book that I read (On the Curry Trail), last year,  I requested it through the library soon after that, but, put it aside over the holiday season and renewed it twice before I sat down to read it, this weekend.

The story is about a girl, Li-yan, from the Akha people, one of the many ethnic groups in Asia, including China.  She and her family live in a remote mountain village in the Yunnan Province in China, steeped in their ancestral traditions and the tea they grow and produce.  The year is 1988, but, the modern world has not encroached on them, until, one day, a stranger arrives in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers have seen.  The stranger is in search of a type of tea called Pu'er tea.  The book follows the story of Li-yan as she becomes one of the first persons from her village to get an education and makes a life for herself, outside her village and yet, bound to it at the same time.  She has a baby out of wedlock with a boy her family disapproves of and Li-yan rejects the traditional customs of her people, which would not have allowed the baby to live, and gives up her baby girl to be adopted.  Some things are rather predictable, as Li-yan longs for the daughter she gave up for adoption (she does go back to the orphanage to reclaim her, but, it was too late, the baby had been adopted by an American couple) and the adopted girl, growing up in California, wonders about her birth mother.  But, there were many interesting twists and turns to the story, too, which kept it from being too predictable.  There is a happy ending, of course.  

I enjoyed reading this book.  I learned a little bit about the Akha people and their traditions and how the changes brought about by modernization can both improve and destroy a more sustainable way of life.  An increased demand for their tea brought more income and electricity, running water, motorcycles, etc.  But, at the same time, that same high demand for tea brought about more quality control requirements, which led to the villagers getting rid of their livestock and it became easier to buy produce than grow it themselves, etc.

One of my favorite chapters of the book was when a group of the adopted girls, now in their teens, were in a group session with a counselor and were talking about their experiences, parental expectations, especially when it came to academics and music, stereotyping, etc.  It was as if I was listening to my daughter and her group of Asian friends (none of whom are adopted, but, all are children of first generation immigrants, all subjected to high academic expectations by their parents, all expected to play at least one musical instrument) talking!  I recommended the book to my daughter, without telling her too much about the story; if she reads it, I know she will nod her head in agreement when she gets to that section of the book!

I now have to finish reading my other library book, the one about decluttering!   I'm about half way through with that!  Both book are due on the 16th!  

Have you read The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane?  If so, did you like it?  If not, is it something you might want to read?

 

On Saturday

Serrano Chilies

On Saturday, I slept in!  I slept for almost 10 hours and made up for the lack of sleep the night before.  After I woke up, had my cup of tea, and said my morning prayers, I read my library book for a bit. Then, I walked around the garden and picked almost all the chilies that were on the Serrano chili plant (there were two small chilies still on the plant and I left them to see if they'll get bigger).  I will add these to the chilies that are in the freezer.  

In the afternoon, I drove to see friend R, to give her the packages that had come to my house for her.  It was another curb-side visit and we both wore masks.

After I came home, I continued to read my library book.

Cousin V called me in the evening and we had a chat.  She said she accidentally broke the jar of jam I had given her, while trying to open it!  So, I told her I'll bring her another jar of jam and some lemons from my tree, later in the week.  

 Later, I video chatted with my daughter, who is house sitting for her former supervisor while she's out of the country!  The house is up in the hills and daughter said she saw two deer in the driveway, when she went to collect the mail!  

I hand washed another of my wool sweaters I had knitted.  That's the only problem with wool sweaters - they have to be hand washed and kept flat to dry.  

Brunch was an egg salad sandwich.  Dinner was fried breaded shrimp (from the freezer), leftover rice, leftover dhal/lentils, and peach chutney.  

On Saturday, I was grateful for:

- Being able to sleep in
- Chilies from the garden
- A quick visit with friend R
- A safe drive there and back
- The car started (hadn't started it since last Sunday)

Saturday's joyful activity was reading!  

Plans for Sunday include doing all the things I didn't do on Saturday because I read instead!

How is your weekend coming along?  
 

Trimming the Eucalyptus on Friday

The Eucalyptus Tree: Before

The picture was taken on Friday morning, around 7:15 a.m., just before the tree trimmers went to work on it.

Yes, they were here by 7:15 a.m.  I had gone to sleep after 4:00 a.m. and woke up when the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m.  It was one of the shortest nights of sleep I've had!  I thought I might take a nap, later, but, I didn't.

I was ready when the tree trimmers arrived; they were a team of two with one operating the cherry picker and the chainsaw and the other picking up the cut branches and feeding them to the chipper.  It took them one and a half hours to trim the tree, chip all the clippings, and clean up!  I persuaded them to take a little bit extra off the top and they were concerned about the shape of the tree, but, I told them I didn't care about the shape, I was only concerned that the tree might fall on the house if it ever toppled over!

The Eucalyptus Tree: After

I spent a good part of the rest of the morning and the early afternoon reading one of my library books.  

Later in the afternoon, I took the decorations off the Christmas tree and packed them all up.  When M was here later in the evening, he took down the tree and stored it and the bins of decorations in the garage.  I then vacuumed the family room, broke some cobwebs along the ceiling, and put the furniture back in place.  The family room sofas are now in their usual L-shaped arrangement, which opens up the room.  

I had planned to have egg salad sandwiches for brunch, but, I wanted a warm brunch, so I had the last piece of bacon with fried potato slices and a scrambled egg.  I had some apple juice with that.  Dinner was a cup of noodles soup.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- The tree trimmers did a good job on the eucalyptus tree
- M helping with taking the Christmas tree down and the bins to the garage
- Phone calls and emails from friends
- My new robotic vacuum
- Library books to read

Today's joyful activity was getting the eucalyptus tree trimmed.

Plans for tomorrow include taking some packages that were delivered to my home to friend R, putting away laundry, and cleaning the kitchen.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for Saturday?