Empty that box!

Another box of crap bites the dust! And I was done by NOON. I was actually excited about the prospect of getting rid of the stuff. And before I knew it, the box was full again. I was tempted to keep working, but I had other things on the agenda, and I didn't want to exhaust myself with this task. But now I'm eyeing the table in the office and guestimating the number of boxes it'll take to clear it! I'm not out of the woods yet, but let's see what we can do. 

Here's the lid of the box. I bought this years ago when I thought the best way to handle the mess was to buy another pretty box and fill it with crap. There are a few cute boxes in this room, and I hope there will only be a few left when I'm done. All sorted, of course!

My sorting box

I think I will need a shelf to store some of the stuff I want to keep, but I am NOT allowed to figure that out until I've got a handle on what's here. I have a plastic set of drawers, but one wheel has broken off, and it's time to replace it (if needed). 

This is what was in the box for yesterday. 

The contents of the yesterday's box

More fabric went into the community project bin for Diane to work her magic. 

And while this date is nothing to what my mom would have in her house, it's old. August 30 - 1996. Good grief -- why did I hang onto that? It was actually being used as a bookmark, and well - it's gone. 

An OLD receipt

I have a bucket with stuff that I'd like to investigate further, but I'm trying very hard to keep that to a minimum, and when I've gone through everything, I can leisurely go through that container. Several boxes in, and not much has been set aside, but I figured I had to keep it somewhere if something needed more investigating. This will save the sorting time.  

The box is filled again, and I'm excited about emptying it this morning and then refilling it again for tomorrow. Let's see how many days I can keep this up! I'm pumped and on a roll!

Let's take a look at the quilting front. Here are four more quilt tops from Diane. These are made with the Oh Canada fabric and added to the "to be quilted" pile. Thank goodness we are making headway in this department as well. All is neat and tidy, and well organized. Probably the only thing missing is to make labels for the various areas? It would only be a problem if I didn't come home one night, unsure how to manage that. 

I guess I could start by making a map of the space and writing what is mine and what isn't -- just in case. 

More quilt tops to be quilted

And it's time to get some quilts quilted. So this happened over the past couple of days. 

Child's quilt one - DONE

Child's quilt two - DONE

Child's quilt three - DONE

I managed to get three quilts done for community projects. These were pieced by Diane and included backing. The next three small quilts I pulled had no backings, but that was an easy fix. With ZERO regrets or qualms on my part, I went to my stash and quickly found fabric for the next three quilts. A win-win -- my stash WILL get reduced, and these quilts will get quilted. 

I have one left to trim, and then I should try and get the binding on tomorrow during Monday sewing. I don't want a lot of almost finished things hanging around. Then I can contact the Project Linus person, and when she is ready to accept more quilts, I'll have at least three for her. 

And I managed to get another giant customer quilt done. Where are all these big quilts coming from? 

Customer quilt - DONE

It will be an intense week of quilting as I'm trying to get that backlog out of my house by the end of the month, and it will happen. And I'm away for 10 days starting next week. 

I love having all this freedom! No homework to prep, no classes to teach -- it's fabulous!!!! I could get used to this. I have one class next week and one club, so I'd better get myself organized for that! 

While our backyard is relatively maintenance-free, it does require weeding, and the person who usually does that has been ill. So that left me no choice but to get outside and get rid of the weeds. I've spent an hour each of the last two evenings when the weather has been glorious, and I'm making good progress. 

Weed-free zone in the backyard

We'll have some workers here on Monday, and I see a shrub in the back (bottom left corner) that I'd like removed. It has completely dwarfed the hostas beneath it, and I hope they have some time to do that for me. I figure I have another four nights of weeding, and I should have the place looking spotless. Thankfully once that initial spring weeding is done, it stays relatively clean all summer. 

And the lilies are out on the pond. I've got two now, and lots of buds are popping up. When that thing starts to grow -- it goes CRAZY. This is good as I spotted a heron flying overhead this morning, and I bet he was looking for something to eat. Fortunately, my fish have plenty of room to hide. Now what I didn't see this spring are babies. Maybe they will come later this season, but it's also a good thing to not have too many as I don't want to overpopulate the pond. 

Flowering lilies

So the other thing I did yesterday was to get out on my bike. Something I haven't done yet this year. Do you know how good that felt? 

My NEW mat

I need to get out more. It's great exercise, and the weather was perfect. I went for 27 KM, and I rode entirely in the city, but I swear I hit every stop light, so it took a while. But that's OK. I tried to stay mainly on the bike lanes and the multi-purpose trails -- just because it was loads of fun, although I might avoid the path around the lake again as there were tons of people, and I do NOT have a bell. So caution was in order. 

One of the multi-purpose trails

It was great fun to just ride with ZERO destination in mind. And one other thing I love is that if you get into a spot with no exit - keep looking. I took the paths to the large transit stop, and the trail stopped, but I kept riding through the parking lot and spotted an exit (for bikes and pedestrians), so I went in one side and out the other. That was a pretty neat discovery. 

Part of the view on my ride in the city

So part of that ride was for fun, and the other part was I needed some geocaches before Monday. Yep -- I went geocaching on my bike, and I think I'll continue to do that. But I will need a clip to hold my phone, so I'm not sure where I'll find that. Maybe Canadian Tire? The bike shop?

My points for geocaching

But mission accomplished with the geocaching, as I got enough points to get the virtual badge to move to the next level, which starts tomorrow. Nothing like cutting it short! 

Walks with Murphy are getting better, or is that my imagination. I swear there was SLACK in the leash the last couple of mornings. I'm not sure why -- she is finally learning? She feels my pain from all the tugging I've endured since we got her? But it is actually getting to be a pleasure to walk her. However, one must still keep an eye since she can dart at a moment's notice and is STRONG. 

Slack in Murphy's leash?

And Lexi? Well, she's just happy to sniff at everything and is usually dragging behind me. Now you see what they can't be walked at the same time. 

Happy go lucky, Lexi

No pictures, please!

Wait up!

DH forgot to plug something in, and he had called me to do so. When I went into his office to do that, I found this plug. AHA --- I had to laugh because this would drive Carol nuts. She is VERY OCD and orderly (the mathematician in her) and deems that everyone should start by using the bottom plug, leaving the top plug easier to reach. 

The plug in the WRONG spot, according to Carol

I've never given it much thought (like the toilet paper thing), and I've no idea what I do. But as I was plugging in the battery to charge, guess who called? Carol! It was like she could see what was happening at my house! We had a good laugh about that! 

And this is sitting in my hallway at the moment. All the boxes I've emptied over the last couple of days or empty ones I found in the office. 

Empty boxes to get rid of

I'll need to deal with them, but not today. I have some donation stuff to get ready, so I'll pack it in these boxes, and what I don't use will get flattened and go in the recycling. 

It will be amazing when the office is under control, and then I'm starting back at the top of the house and going through again. What we don't need or use or want is GOING! I'm ready to get rid of most things and keep just what we need - the bare necessities. Imagine how fun it will be when we need to move one day, and there will be nothing to pitch or purge? Oh yes --- I'm hoping! 

On that note -- I"m out of here. It will be another FUN day, and the weather is cooperating. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!