One Project Done

I have always wanted a gazebo. I have had screen houses, but they never seemed to hold up as well as I would have liked, and a lot o the had floors, which really did not serve my purposes.

This year I made up my mind this would be the year I would get a gazebo. I wanted a 10 x 10 and that is what I thought I got. I got it brand new in the box from an estate sale. When it was set up I discovered that it is really 10 x 12. I set up a table in it, and my patio chairs.

There is an outlet on the side of the house, so I can get a cord into the gazebo and I finally have my "outdoor" sewing room! It will be so nice to be able finally to sit outside and enjoy the summer and sew instead of being stuck in the house all the time.

Just So Much To Get Done

Now that it is getting nicer out, I can start weeding my flower beds. I have been sitting outside on the nice warm sunny days. All 3 of them!
Have managed to get all the Easter decorations up, now I need to take them down and get up the summer ones.

 It seems the more I get done, the more I see that needs doing. I do think I have had the diningroom table cleaned off at least 3 times, but it just seems to attract stuff.
I keep telling myself it is only mid April, but yet my mind thinks it should be warmer, and that I should be taking down the window blankets and opening the windows up. But then I check the weather and it is not all that warm out yet.

During this "stay at home time" I have read 7 books, and put together 2 puzzles, that is in my spare time, which I finally seem to have some of.

The days are getting longer and since it is staying light longer I seem to be able to get a lot more done, it does not seem like it is later than it actually is.

I must set aside one day a week to clean the house, as that is my least favorite thing to do, I kind of never seem to have the time to do it.

Only a couple more weeks and it will be fishing season. I think I am all ready for that.

Staying Home

I know there are some who HATE this stay at home thing, but for me it is not big deal. I am mostly at home anyway, sewing/crafting.  I have all the supplies I need, so no need to stress over the stores that are currently closed.
If I am really bored, have not been yet, I can always clean this house.

I can still go for walks, and rides, and fishing. What more do I need to do?
I have a telephone, so chatting with friends is the same as it always has been.

Yes, Easter has been cancelled, but I can watch the church services on YouTube in my pj's if I wish.
Don't have to cook a big meal or clean the house till it is spotless, no egg coloring, no candy sitting around to tempt me. No big deal.

All Ready For Christmas.

This is the first year, that I got done with Christmas early and have over a week to just sit and wait for it come arrive. Most of the cards are out. All that needs to be done is to clean the house the day before company arrives.

Fall Already?

Where did summer go? I want the nice warm, sit outside and read weather  back.
Now I do like the fall colors, but not the cold weather. Cool weather is nice, a light jacket while I am out there reading that book would be nice. Plus maybe not so much rain. It seems like all has done this year is rain.

I still have lots of out door projects that I need to finish, and the weatherman says we could get snow next week. SNOW!!! NO, NO, NO! I am not ready for snow! I still have yard ornaments to put away, winter things to get up.

I am thinking I wonder with all this cold weather, and wind and rain, and cloudy days will I get to even see how pretty the fall leaves look on the trees, or will they all be gone by the time the sun comes out?

First Day of Fall

Looks like I am moving, boxes everywhere, some still have to be sorted, some will go in a truck for the indoor shows, and some in the other truck for the last of the farmer's markets.

Then the big switch of a couple rooms. Tired of lugging stuff up a lot of stairs, only to have to lug some of them back down in spring.

I did a really big clean in spring, but the problem with having a lot of stuff is, after you get done, it does not look like anything is missing.

So I guess this will be an ongoing thing. I have all the empty boxes from the rummage this year, so will fill them with more stuff to get rid of in the spring. Now I am just keeping a box in the dining room in a corner, and when I spot something that I no longer want or need, it will get a price tag and be put in the box. As soon as one box is full, it will be replaced with an empty one.

While cleaning I found a bunch of aquarium gravel, have not had a big aquarium in 10 years. That is going!
It is the little things you find hiding behind stuff you want that always adds to the clutter.

I am also downsizing my business. Some of that stuff I have had forever, and it has not sold, so it is going to be donated this month. Someone else can try selling it.

I am keeping my collection of patterns I have found over the years, never know when I will want to make some of it again, or if a friend does. Patterns do not take up a lot of space, especially if they are on a CD.

Spring Project

I have started a new project for this Spring. The big declutter! So far I have done my sewing/craft room.
The next room on the list is the room with the exercise equipment and my desktop computer.
That room will be easier, I will just take a large garbage bag in there and start pitching stuff out.
I did spend a day filing all the papers that need to be kept, now it is just a matter of getting rid of the excess that I do not need, and putting stuff away that does not belong in the room to begin with.

I have tried cleaning before, but this year is different, now I am saying to myself, If I were moving would I take the item with me. There are a lot of things that I am just used to seeing sitting around, I don't need them, don't used them, probably am not even all that fond of them. Now they are going!

I have told everyone the next person that gifts me a knick knack, will regret it!
 I am hanging on to everything that I have gotten from family members, those are keepsakes. But nothing else is really safe from the clear out.

I am also using up those things that I have been saving, no clue why I am saving them. I am burning the candles that I love, using up other things that I bought because I just loved them at the time.
Giving away plants that I have grown tired of.

Also all the "models" of things I used to make and no longer make are going to find a new home as well. It is going to be a fun spring.

Winter???

Last week it was so cold I did not want to get out of bed! The last couple days it is in the 40's with tomorrow getting  almost 50, and lots of rain. The rain and warmth is not bad, but what happens when the temperature drops again, will it just turn into one big skating rink?

 If this was supposed to be the January thaw, it is a bit late. Seems weird to look outside and see the rain coming down, the fog rolling in, and all that snow piled up. Seems like it is later too, as it is so dark and gloomy in the house. Needed to have the lights on since I got up.

I am thinking before we drop into the deep freeze again and everything turns to ice, I should really put down a coating of salt.

I have stacks of fabric to cut into potholders, I am trying to eliminate some of my fabric stash, that was the plan, till a friend eliminated her fabric stash into my living room. So I am starting with her fabric and then will get to mine.

I just sit in front of the window and cut fabric and look out at the gloom.

Beginning of a New Year

Time for the big clean. Christmas stuff is mostly put away, though I still find things here and there that I forgot to take down.  Some of them I forgot to take down last year, which meant that I did not have to put them up this year.

Decided this year to separate Christmas decorations from the Snowman decorations. I will leave the snowmen up till the end of March, They are cute to look at, and lets face it I just did not have the room to put them up for Christmas. I have finally reached that point where I have made so many Christmas decorations that I do not have room to put everything up. So the snowmen will no longer be Christmas decorations, and will have their own box called Winter decorations.

My girlfriend decided that she really needed to do a fabric clear out, so she just brought it all over here. I went through it and took out what I wanted, added some of my stuff that I no longer want, and called another crafter friend, to see if she would like to have the BIG black garbage bag full of fabric to go through. We never really throw anything out, we just cycle it among other crafters.

I have most of the fabric cut into projects, and some of the projects are already done. Some are stacked in tote boxes and labeled ready to be sewn when I get to them.
In between cutting out projects, I am cleaning the house. I can not tell you the stuff that can pile up when I do not have time to clean for a while.