This is the way we tidy up!

What an absolutely freeing experience yesterday was. As you know, I've been struggling with the tidy up thing for a while. I keep saying that I'm going to get it done and then I don't really get much accomplished. I putter for a few minutes, but my heart isn't in it.

What did I do different yesterday? I scheduled a time slot to tidy up! Yes - I booked it in the calendar like it was a class. I've been thinking about this tidy up day for the last week, so I had time to get my mind in that mode and be ready to tackle the task in the most efficient manner.

And it worked!!!!  While I tidied up until about 1 PM, I accomplished a lot and I was very happy with the progress. Not only that, but I got comfortable with the process and it was much easier to throw things away or put them in the giveaway pile.

Then I spent the afternoon sewing! I can't share what I was sewing with you as it was for the mystery class that's happening on Friday afternoon at The Hobby Horse. But you'll get to see that later this week. Oh - I had to have a nap yesterday. The spin class took a lot out of me and I was tired so a nap was in order and I felt great.

So what happened yesterday? Let's have a look.

The day didn't get off to a super great start. I went to make tea and poured the boiling water into one of my favorite tea mugs. No sooner had I put the water in the mug when it split right down the side and water started to pour out. Fortunately, I was beside the sink so the mug went into the sink.

A crack in the mug

Then the mug went into the garbage. I noticed there was a date on the bottom of the mug - 2010. I think it has served us well and time to be retired. I have two of them. Do you think the one with the chip on the top could have been the one to go? Of course not!!

No danger of running out of cups and mugs any time soon. We've culled the mug/cup shelf numerous times. I keep all the cycling and tea mugs and DH has a couple of favorites that we MUST keep. So now that that large mug has been retired, I think all the mugs will fit nicely on the shelf.

The mug shelf

Onto the sorting process   -----             I normally take all the stuff that I want to sort through and put it on the surface that I'm working on. Guess what? I then have no room to work. I was serious this time about getting this task accomplished, so I piled the stuff on the kitchen island (well - most of it was already there) and then I used the kitchen table as my sorting station.

I started off with two huge tubs of coconut oil. M was using it at an alarming rate at one point and we bought quantity. However, it has a shelf life and she didn't have room to take it with her. So it got dumped yesterday. 

Starting the sorting process

Now the question was how to empty those containers. Thirty seconds in the microwave warmed the oil up enough that I could spoon it out and into the green bin. However (and why didn't I think of this), there was some liquid in the containers which I just emptied into the sink. Oh yes - later in the day, the sink was clogged because the oil had hardened. Oh dear - what have I done?  It wasn't that much oil, but it was enough.

Hmm - got out the kettle and boiled some water and poured a kettle full of boiling water into the sink. That worked because about 15 minutes later the sink was working again. I repeated that process several times and everything seems to be OK this morning.

Here's another interesting item that I came across  - writing implements. How many markers, pens, pencils, highlighters have we purchased over time? THOUSANDS it would appear and I keep finding them everywhere. Who knows how many of these are still good? I wonder if I gave it to the local school???  Could they use them? Or have a student quietly go through them and pick out what still works? I should check with my local school. NO - they can't have the container, but they can have the writing tools. I think that this is all the writing tools now - I could be wrong, but everything for the moment. Time to get rid of that pile.

A container of writing implements

As the morning progressed, things went on the table and then they went off. I did save a small pile of stuff that I thought M might like to peruse. I also found the most adorable inspiration for a quilt. I can't share it with you at the moment, but seriously - it's perfect for an upcoming project.

Stuff on the sorting station

I almost got through everything that was on the island but not quite. This is what remains. I was going to work on it today, but I have another day scheduled for next week. I think I'll leave it for that next session. 

What didn't get sorted yesterday

I filled that grey recycling box a couple of times. I ended up with half a bag of garbage.

Another full recycling bin and the bag of garbage

This is the giveaway pile. I'm going to wait until next week before I schedule a pickup. It's not a ton of stuff, but enough for them to come and pick up. I also have some pictures to add to this. As I keep thinking about stuff that we have, I think to myself - we've had some of these pictures for years, we don't display them anymore - time to go!!!!  I did fill a small blue bucket of things that I kept for myself. But not much.  I think the morning was extremely successful and I can't wait for the next session.

The giveaway pile

 I did find one more container of stuff in M's room and that'll come down and be added to this stuff in the dining room. This pile is going to be the focus of next week's efforts. The books in the purple bags are spoken for - I just need to follow up with the people that asked for them.

The job for next week

That's another thing - there are things in the house that don't belong to me or that I want to sell and I need to get my act together to get rid of those things. I might just schedule another day and make that happen. And as I survey the basement, I see other things that can go. I don't want to keep my Halloween or Christmas decorations. I think it's a wee bit too early (in the year) to donate or sell those, but they are going to be gone. They will NOT go back into the storage space.

I did manage to get another set of blocks sewn on the scrap quilt. I also did some research on this block and I'll be sharing that with you later this week.

Another block set for the scrappy quilt

On that note, I have paperwork to deal with this morning. Lots of paperwork. ICK!!!  But then I'll be able to focus much better on the sewing this afternoon if that stuff is done.

I hope you get a chance to schedule some TIDY UP time. It really works well - at least it did for me. I didn't feel guilty about doing it because that was what I was supposed to be doing at that time. Yes - I would have loved to be sewing, but I also want this mess cleaned up so it all worked out.

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!