Decluttering a house can be exhausting, but it can also be fun!!!

I'm not sure how my aunt is faring, but I have to say I go to bed exhausted each night, both physically and mentally. Never let anyone tell you that moving is easy. There is so much to do, I can see why it is overwhelming. And the older you get, the more overwhelming it can be. 

So sadly, I'm going to give you more advice today! You are going to be tired of me telling you this, but you will love me when it's your time to move. 

I think the best advice of all is "call a friend." While it's been hard work, it's also been the most fabulous bonding time. We've recalled so many memories, I've asked loads of questions (of course!), and together we are motivating each other to keep going. Remember, my aunt is 90!!!! 

I will confess I was a LOT jealous when she grabbed a small stool about 10 inches high (if that) and sat on it to sort through some books. Then with no effort, she got back up! So what was it about those chair squats? 

Physically, she is in very good shape!!! And mentally as well - I don't want you to think she has problems because she doesn't. 

We sorted through tons of stuff yesterday. I found so many interesting things, took loads of pictures, and I am going to bore you with some of them this morning. Sit back and be prepared for a few laughs. 

Again, I sent pictures to my nephews, daughter, and brother to share what we are unearthing. 

I'm sorry the pictures are sideways - you'll just have to turn your head. OK -- so where did the jigsaw puzzle thing come from? My grandmother, and apparently someone further back than her (gosh, I forgot, but I'll ask again), also did jigsaw puzzles. That would have been back in the day, when they were cheap entertainment. Heck, they still are a cheap form of entertainment. 

Dare I mention that the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association Nationals will be held on April 30 - May 2. Guess where I will be that weekend? 

Here is my Grandma Mills working on a puzzle. 

Grandma Mills working on a puzzle

And there she is with the finished puzzle. Our family has ALWAYS been active with some kind of puzzle, and my Grandpa Mills always quizzed us and made physical puzzles. There was no laying around the house in my world, which I suspect is the same for most of us in our generation. I believe I still have a puzzle or two that belonged to her. 

Grandma and her completed puzzle

Oh --- look at that little blond beauty!!!! And with her pet rabbit, which was named Jennifer!! My sweet Jennifer, although I think Jennifer was a boy. 

Me and Jennifer - my pet rabbit

And there is me with my pet dog - Dino. Yep -- I carried that dog around in a wagon - don't tell Murphy or Lexi. Wait --- they would prefer to PULL the wagon! I had that dog for several years until it met an unfortunate death, which I won't discuss here. But I only learned the true story many, many years later. Let's just say it was a "hunting" accident and leave it at that. 

Me and my first pet dog - Dino

And here I am at an even younger age!! Gosh, I look like I was born way before I actually was. These photos and the house are from another generation, but that is me!! Don't forget, I grew up in a very repressed area, on a farm, and, like many of you, we didn't have a lot of money. But we had each other, a massive vegetable garden, good morals and ethics, and I think we all turned out just A-OK. 

A very young me!

But when I saw this next picture, I had to include it!! Can you guess who this is? Of course not, but that is me on the left, and I was obviously in my teens. But the person on the right? That's my aunt!!!! We are shelling peas and probably had gallons and gallons to shell. But there is my aunt, so laid-back, and we had a good belly laugh about this picture. She doesn't typically like her picture anywhere, but I warned her that this was going on the blog. I LOVE it, and it makes me smile!! No, it makes me laugh!!! 

My and my aunt

Here's a picture of me at Lynn Valley in North Vancouver, when I was a teenager. My grandparents took me on a trip to BC one summer, and we went everywhere. That's one thing about my grandpa (and my Dad): they had no issues getting in a vehicle and driving. My Dad is still the same. I wonder if that tree stump is still there. I doubt it! 

Anyway, this picture made the cut this morning because that's where Dillon grew up!! I thought he'd get a kick out of that one. 

My in Lynn Valley Canyon

A while back, someone had been to Montreal and visited the Bank of Montreal Museum. They asked if the Elaine Theriault mentioned there was the same person. And yes, it was. My aunt had a copy of the article. I must find the real photograph of that when I get home because my hair looks so different. 

Winner of the FIRST Pauline Vanier Scholarship by the Bank of Montreal

Here's the first paragraph of that article. It was a super exciting time. I'm not sure I could have afforded graduate school otherwise. I was living alone then, and I managed to survive on a scholarship for two years. Before that, I put myself through university at night while working during the day. I was two credits shy of getting a B.Comm. I never finished the B.Comm, so technically, I only have ONE degree. 

Yeah me!!!

Well, that's all the pictures about me this morning. Here are some other ones that I found amusing!! Remember, it doesn't take much to amuse me. 

I have a friend who refers to spoons by size; the large one is the fast spoon, and the middle one is the slow spoon. It's all about how fast or slow you can eat whatever you are having. My aunt uses a TON of demitasse spoons, and we now call that the super-slow spoon. But I tried it for yogurt, and it's the perfect spoon. I must "steal" one of her spoons before I leave. That would be a wonderful addition to the meager kitchen items I covet, and especially special since it belongs to her. 

Fast, slow and super slow spoons

We went through many books, and many of them are now in the garbage. But I snapped a photo or two of some of them. This belonged to my grandpa - way before they even had kids themselves. Dad was born in 1933. 

Inside a hymn book

Does anyone remember this? This is how we did lettering before we had computers, digital cutters, stickers, and embroidery machines. I remember using those as a kid for school projects. Hey -- we did what we could with what we had. I'm sure many of you used those. 

Letraset stencils

I didn't check the date of this book, but what a great idea for under-the-stairs basement storage. And yes, this is still a popular storage idea. So if you thought this storage idea was new - guess again! 

Super storage for under the stairs

And how about this? We found CDs with birth and death records, and many other things. But guess what? We didn't keep a single one. Why? Because it's all on Ancestry or other online sources. There is NO need to be doing static searches anymore. Unleash the power of the internet when you do a search. 

Old CDs -- garbage

And oh my gosh, we have been Googling loads of things. Yep, although we suspected the "serving" spoon we found was sterling silver, we weren't sure. So after searching the internet, we identified it as a basting spoon from England, and it was indeed sterling silver. We kept that. 

This was probably my least favorite job. This is a space over the stairs to the unfinished basement. It's an older farmhouse, with lots of oddities. Thankfully, there was a ladder on the side, so I could hang off it and grab everything off the shelves you see in the back. Then we sorted through all the crap, threw some out, kept a few things, and left a few things for the new owners. The best news: no one got hurt. Only one light bulb bounced down the stairs onto the cement floor and didn't break, and that area is DONE!!! 

The storage area over the stairs

We went through MANY CDs and cassettes. Most are in the garbage, but my aunt saved a few she will listen to. Now, when we get her set up in the new place, we MUST make sure those are handy and that she has her boom box in place so she actually listens to them. I am going to see if the thrift store will take those we don't want. 

These CDs did NOT make the cut.

How about this? A book to make money from your crafts? I guess this has been an age-old topic. I quickly glanced at the sewing section, and then POOF, it was gone. 

Make money from your crafts.

How about this for a laugh? These numbers are from the US, and this is almost 100 years ago. Look at the cost of gas!!!! Ten cents a gallon, and movies only cost 25 cents. It cost 2 cents in the US to mail a letter. But then look at the average income. I'm sure some people earn that in a day!!!! But many others do not. It's a very unbalanced world these days. 

Cost of living in 1931

The weather was a bit gloomier than the day I flew in, and the clouds were so low you couldn't see the tops of the hills across the road. I hope it's clear tomorrow morning, since I fly out then on the floatplane. I was going to change my ticket from Vancouver to home, but I decided against it in case I have to scramble and take the passenger or car ferry across. We'll see how the day goes. 

Low cloud cover

As if all that excitement wasn't enough, our guardian angel stepped in. In the morning, I had loaded the car with stuff that we were going to take to the thrift shop. Now the thrift shops here are different from back home. We are living on an island with a small population, so they only take what they think they can sell. It's limited. 

Then we got a call from a local girl who hauls junk away. She called because someone was interested in one of the beds for sale. We were so excited that we might be rid of that we were practically giddy. So rather than going into town, we kept sorting. 

She eventually came, and the two men shortly thereafter. They decided NOT to take the bed (bummer!), but they took another piece of furniture, so that was good. Then Lucie took all the thrift store stuff with her too (for free, bless her heart). So we unloaded the car and loaded it into her truck, and she also took a couple of boxes from the kitchen. 

That was HUGE. Not only that, but on a whim, I asked her what she would charge to empty the garage. OK -- I'm happy with that price, so she is coming on Friday to empty all the crap (leftover from the garage sale). Sadly, I won't be here to see that happen, and I'd be happy to help her move the stuff. We need to go out today to rescue anything that we want to keep. We want to rescue a few totes and a table, and we'll do a double take on anything else. 

Instead of just hauling the junk away, Lucie tries to keep things out of the landfill. She sounds like a very handy person, and I bet she tries to repair broken things and has tried all sorts of ways to keep junk out of the landfill. Her mom was a hoarder, and this is her way of giving back. We all LOVE her. She is a treasure to anyone moving. 

I brought up everything we want to keep from the basement, and it's almost sorted and packed. About an hour this morning, if that. Then I'll go around with a garbage bag and collect the loose garbage. It's pretty clean, so that won't take long. 

We have one trip to the recycling depot to get rid of hazardous waste stuff and recycling. Once we load the car again and move the garbage bags to the garage, the house will be in very good shape. 

The only thing left is to sort out the dishes in the kitchen, which I don't think will take that long. And then we will be done! 

OH -- and I think we'll have one small stack of papers to burn, and hopefully we can do that today. The more that we can sort and make disappear, the better. The less clutter, the calmer the house will be. And that's all good news. 

My aunt will be sitting around for a week eating bonbons because we cleared so much stuff. 

It's been super fun, OK, that is the optimist in me talking. But because we are doing this together and enjoying the process, it doesn't really feel like a huge task. I HIGHLY recommend doing any of these nasty jobs with a friend. 

But it's also shown me that when it comes time to clean out my parents' apartment, ONE person can do the job. If there are more than one, it gets nasty; too many people make decision-making hard. Someone has to be in charge to do the sorting. If anyone wants to help, they can come and pick up the garbage. But this exercise has also shown me that it won't take weeks or months. I'll probably do it on my own, but I'll get an exciting audiobook, and away I'll go!!!

Remember my advice (YES -- here's another darn list!)

1. Start the downsizing now. ALL of us have stuff in our house that we no longer want. Most of it is dated; some is broken, chipped, damaged, and needs repair. Get rid of it and DO NOT feel guilty about how much money you spent on it. 
2. Be very aware of those hidden areas - the garden shed, under the stairs, along the side of the house, the garage. Get rid of that crap NOW!!!!
3. Invite a friend if you are struggling with your personal stuff. I know my aunt has waffled over many things, and I gave a logical (I hope) explanation for why it isn't necessary to keep the items. DONE, decision made, and we can move on. 
4. I created piles around the house, and the moment an item's fate was decided, I walked it to that area so it didn't have to be touched again!
5. Deadlines can help, but they can also be overwhelming. I think you are better off NOT waiting for a deadline, but setting a personal deadline. I want the garage to be sorted before winter. 
6. Be ruthless: if those CDs aren't going to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, get rid of them. The clothes no longer fit - get rid of them. 
7. If in doubt - throw it out. I know --- NO ONE likes to see things go to the landfill. But if you have no choice, your house shouldn't be saddled with crap because you can't throw something out. Everyone else throws things away, so why can't you? 
8. Try to find good resources like Lucie. This young woman started a business helping people haul out junk; she's kind of like a 1-800-GOT-Junk person on this small island. She's amazing and so personable. 
9. Stay focused - pick one room/area and start at the beginning. Don't just pick up the easy stuff and leave the hard stuff for later. We have done that from the start. When someone veers off track, I bring them back. We MUST deal with this before we do that. 
10. Label and pack the boxes by category (we have mostly done that). It's sometimes hard when packing, but in your home? Put like things together before you cull. So the first sorting can take some time. 
11. Start now! Did I already say that? Of course I did, but it's the most important one. 
12. Start SMALL. If this entire process is intimidating, grab your junk drawer, a dresser drawer, or something small. But you MUST start NOW. 
13. Please do not saddle your kids with this mess. That is totally unfair - they didn't ask for the mess. 
14. Don't save things because you think someone else will like it the next time they come over. Take a picture, send it to them, and ASK - do you want this? Most times they will say no. And in most cases, you will have an answer before you have finished clearing that area. 
15. Don't stockpile stuff for someone else. If they really, really wanted it, they would come and get it. If they don't, or you've been holding onto it for years, they do NOT want it. They DO NOT WANT it!!!!
16. Don't think your children will want your stuff. They may want something special, like a demitasse spoon, or a special mug, but they do NOT want your recipe collection, or your bedroom set, or whatever. They may, and if so, tag it as such, but I bet most of them don't want anything large. 
17. As for photos -- well, I'm a sucker. We have packed all the photo albums and scrapbooks. We'll move it and then deal with it in the new apartment. We need to cull them, and I think it will be a good exercise for my aunt and me. I need to learn to cull, and this will be a good starting point. 

And there you have it -- one more darn list. But please, please, please --- start NOW. Start small, but start now. 

Well, I had better rest up before we start on our last day!!! 

It is going to be a GLORIOUS day!!!

Ciao!!!