Eating the elephant

[Chicken lady]

So the expression is that you can eat an elephant one bite at a time.

My elephant is fitting into my house.

This is a two part approach. The first part is reducing the stuff in my house. Ironically, the second part is making the house bigger. This is ironic because dh and I are at a point where most people downsize - all three kids are out or partly out (away at college).

However, family gatherings have always been in another state with parents and grandparents who have huge homes. Two years ago we lost my grandmother. Dh parents plan to move to assisted living in 13 years (or less depending on health). My mother will probably come live with us at some point. Hopefully our kids will marry and have children. There isn't a single room in my house that holds more than 12 people. forget "comfortably", that's standing room.

So we are adding on a great room with a kitchen that holds more than four standing people. after talking to the county engineer we decided the best structural approach was to extend the basement under it. External construction to be completed by winter 2016.

Meanwhile, all the beds have extra blankets because I can't put all the blankets away. There are too many towels. I last had all the books on shelves before the children were born, there is a basket of clean laundry in my bedroom because all the clothing storage is full, and the half of the basement that is going to lose a wall in the first phase of construction looks like an overcrowded, badly planned thrift shop.

I'm accepting that it's going to take two years to eat this elephant. I'm starting with my clothes and the basement. I'm hoping this can be a place to track progress and get encouragement.

Does anyone else have an elephant?

[Tammy]

I would choose to rent a small facility for family gatherings. They only happen a few times a year.

I am in a similar life stage with grandkids being born and parents aging. But I reject the social pressure to have a huge house for a few times a year when people visit. I live in 587 sq ft with my husband. We use public spaces, parks, restaurants, etc for family stuff.

[iris lilies]

I would choose to rent a small facility for family gatherings. They only happen a few times a year.

I am in a similar life stage with grandkids being born and parents aging. But I reject the social pressure to have a huge house for a few times a year when people visit. I live in 587 sq ft with my husband. We use public spaces, parks, restaurants, etc for family stuff.

i think that's wise. One of my friends bought 4 BR house as a single person because she thought she had to have a place where all children and their kids could gather. She owned it for a few years and not once did everyone come at the same time, and she regretted that action.

[Chicken lady]

But I hate going places. We live out in the country on a farm. It's half an hour to anywhere. Hotels are an hour. Our best friends in town have four kids who have started marrying and we get together as families. Their last visit was when I discovered we could all be in one room if half of us were standing. I want a house full at Christmas and Easter and thanksgiving and summer and birthdays and the day we freeze beans and the day we make jam or pickles, and I want to put grandchildren to bed while their parents sit out by the pond around a fire. I believe in riding tricycles in the house.

A family "gathering" in our family isn't "thanksgiving dinner" or a 4th of July picnic. It's "spring break", "Christmas vacation", a week in the summer. When people come here they come for the day. And sometimes they look at the bottle of wine on the table or the snow outside and say "can we spend the night?" and I say "sure".

[kib]

Could you maybe start with a nice appetizer of elephant ear soup and see how it goes?

In other words, get serious about getting rid of stuff. Invest in $200 worth of plastic tote boxes or some basement shelving for the things you know you need and want, and then shovel, shovel, shovel. Make it a goal to create a guest room that could someday be mom's. You might find that when all those Things go away, there's enough room for everyone. If so, you've just saved yourself $100,000.

And if not, the construction option will still be there waiting for you.

PS - don't answer if you don't want to, but are you in a financial position to do this renovation without taking a loan? Is your house paid off?

[Ali]

My attic and garage .... That's my elephant. Ive started on the attic and we plan to do the garage over Easter holidays.

[Chicken lady]

The addition isn't about the stuff. It's something dh and I have been planning for about 5 years.

Mom will have the master bedroom downstairs. Our girls were in it. It has a bath and a small enclosed porch that dd1 put her twin bed on for privacy from her sister, it's just big enough to walk around the bed. The other downstairs bedroom is 10x10 and we have a diningroom that used to be a front porch, a living room with standing room for 12 and a kitchen. Upstairs is a half story - dh and my bedroom and dh study but one big room with a 7.5 foot ceiling, 6ft wide standing room the length of the house with 45 degree eaves.

We aren't adding bedrooms or closets, we're adding floor space. The idea is to have a space that holds a large group of people. I grew up spending holidays in big living rooms full of several generations - (and then staying up half the night giggling with too many cousins in one bed). We'd tear out walls, but they're all load bearing. The new basement space is a nice bonus, but the yard would have to be dug out to put in drainage and repair the wall and we'd need to add heat if we were just going to use the old basement space as family room. We live on a beautiful 28 acre farm and we'd rather have a room with windows. The existing house is due for a new roof, so we'll roof it all at once.

The house is paid off and the money for the foundation - including drainage, grading, and new basement - is set aside. We plan to pay for framing and roofing with a loan, but we just stopped making "payments" to college savings accounts. The rest will be pay as you go - dh and our brood have electrical, plumbing, cabinetry, floors, etc covered - dh and I just finished replacing the second story windows and siding ourselves so I think we're being realistic about what we can do. We'll have the ceiling drywalled professionally. Our kids want to help and they want to come back. They're each other's best friends.

As far as "stuff" goes, I'll be getting two tall book shelves and an extra kitchen cabinet. Maybe a bench window seat with storage. The new space in the basement will probably get a ping pong table - which is currently in the barn so the kids keep saying "can I have the tractor keys so we can play ping pong?"

Mostly the stuff is an issue because it's in the way of the construction project and there won't be extra room for much of it afterwards.

[Chicken lady]

Ali, your attic is inspiring me!

[Ali]

Ali, your attic is inspiring me!

Thank you ... I feel really quite tearful over it today.

I'd love more space, outside not inside though. Well, maybe a bigger kitchen. :)

[Tammy]

If your community is very rural, if your family and friends are there a lot, if you can afford it, and if the real estate market is such that it maintains resale value considering the cost of the upgrade, then yes I can see that might be the best plan.

I just cringe when people take out huge loans for additions and then are disappointed when the house is empty most of the time. Didn't want to see you in that position.

[Packy]

Well, I don't know, but they say Elephant tastes like a cross between Beef, and Pork. So, if you Got Elephant, it will be What's Fer Dinner, for very long time, since they are one huge critter. I would suggest that you consult one of those small, rural butchers that does custom processing & cold storage for poor, starving farmers who don't want their families to go hungry and suffer from malnutrition by not eating steak every day during the winter. They will process the elephant, then cut and wrap it and label it and store the packages in your own individual compartment at their in-house Meat Locker. They can also grind up Elephant burger and Elephant Sausage, too. Maybe even some with Zesty Italian Herbs, to make Pizza Topping & Meatballs. Your choice. Hope that helps you some.

[Chicken lady]

Well, we're good except for resale. Resale around here is crap. But we have a son who looks around and says "can I maybe build a little house in the back field like the Amish and then some day we can switch?". And we're not planning on selling it. We plan to live here, and maybe die here, or maybe some day we'll sell it to him for a dollar or something. I don't think his sisters would care. They've all been raised that their inheritance is in their heads. Also they can have some of these towels - lol!

I understand what you mean about the big house. Dh parents did that, but they made a lot of little bedrooms so people could have privacy. We can't all be together except outside. Now dh and his siblings still visit, but dh parent's friends are older and don't want to visit and their siblings are all younger but won't bring the kids and grandkids because there isn't a place where they can be with their kids and grandkids at the same time. Dh says " my poor parents. They built this beautiful hotel and nobody wants to come stay."

In my family if you want privacy you bring a tent. Ds didn't get a sister-free bedroom until he was 12. If we have a lot of grandkids, i'll probably buy some folding screens.

Ali, are you tearful over the stuff in it or over the work to be done?

[Chicken lady]

Thanks packy, i didn't see your post before I posted. Problem is the elephant is already chopped up and stored all over. And I don't much want to eat it. Of course, I'm a vegetarian, so maybe that's my problem. Maybe I should think of it as a giant jam sandwich. Yup. Big sticky mess.

[Ali]

The stuff in it Chickenlady. Well, my boys things .... the sentimental stuff. I know I don't need to get rid of it but I can't keep it all.

[Chicken lady]

Well, I find that some days are better for elephants than others. Days I really can't face it are when I scrub toilets or whatever - accomplish something else I don't want to do that looks better by comparison. I say "maybe i will feel stronger tomorrow." and sometimes i do.

Today is not a big elephant day. It's too cold and very sunny, so I'm mostly up by the fire, not down in the basement. I did add some jeans to the goodwill pile though.

[Aqua Blue]

I knew someone who built an attached double car garage. well insulated, sheet rocked, windows etc. They had all the garage stuff neatly stored in cupboards and even had water to the area. They used it as a party room when they needed one and a garage the rest of the time. It worked well for them. I always thought it was a great idea.

[frugal-one]

But I hate going places. We live out in the country on a farm. It's half an hour to anywhere. Hotels are an hour. Our best friends in town have four kids who have started marrying and we get together as families. Their last visit was when I discovered we could all be in one room if half of us were standing. I want a house full at Christmas and Easter and thanksgiving and summer and birthdays and the day we freeze beans and the day we make jam or pickles, and I want to put grandchildren to bed while their parents sit out by the pond around a fire. I believe in riding tricycles in the house.

A family "gathering" in our family isn't "thanksgiving dinner" or a 4th of July picnic. It's "spring break", "Christmas vacation", a week in the summer. When people come here they come for the day. And sometimes they look at the bottle of wine on the table or the snow outside and say "can we spend the night?" and I say "sure".

Can't imagine spending the huge amount of money now to build or paying the heating/cooling costs (don't know where you live) for such a small amount of time that you will actually have visitors. Not to mention the upkeep and cleaning. You probably could all go to a hotel or resort and have a great time for less money. As for freezing and canning ... only so many people fit into the kitchen anyways. Doesn't sound prudent or frugal. Seems like a want rather than a need. Just saying... your call, of course! As for spending a night on occasion... the couch or sleeping bags would work fine, after all it is just a night.

[iris lilies]

I knew someone who built an attached double car garage. well insulated, sheet rocked, windows etc. They had all the garage stuff neatly stored in cupboards and even had water to the area. They used it as a party room when they needed one and a garage the rest of the time. It worked well for them. I always thought it was a great idea.

Oh yeah, there's a carport here that had lots of surrounding brickwork done on it, it is all very handsome. And the owners use it as a party place.

My cousin also has a big outdoor building for vechicle storage and/or parties.

But the OP wants it warmed up, I'm sure, and attached to the kitchen where all of the good stuff happens. Otherwise you are hauling loads and loads to stuff out to the party shed.

Of all the reasons to buy or expand real estate, this is a good one as long as the OP is completely right that all of these families members will come to visit. Making family memories is great.

[ejchase]

Your plan makes sense to me, chicken lady, especially since you are out in the country and your family seems to actually get together.

My SO's mother died this year, so the big family home and center of all family gatherings is going to be sold soon. I'm not sure how holidays are going to work now. Everybody is looking to my SO and me to take up the hosting duties, but our house is teeny too - less than 1,200 sq ft. We don't have the money to do a big addition, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

I think my elephant is to just for once in my life to feel really comfortable in and proud of the home I live in. I've never really had a home that I felt was great to come home to and great to invite people over to. Well, actually, I came close once for about 3 years when I was single. I love the house we live in, but it is overpacked with stuff, disorganized, and rarely tidy. I really am trying to work on it room by room, and I've made some definite progress. Basically, I'm trying to learn a bunch of skills at once: decluttering, decorating and organizing, and maintaining a reasonable amount of tidiness. It's a challenge, but this group has helped me a lot.

[Chicken lady]

yes, it's a want. a trip to a resort is not a want, it's my version of hell.

It will be heated and cooled the same way the house is heated and cooled - electric heat that mostly doesn't run because it will have a woodstove (carefully designed away from the main tricycle riding zone) our wood comes from our land. We haven't come close to cutting all the standing dead trees yet. the electric is running now - it's -14 here, which is highly unusual. cooling - carefully placed windows and trees.

I think some of you are envisioning something a lot fancier than what we have in mind. It's not that far off an insulated, heated two car garage - and you can't pour a pad on our soil - you have to excavate and fill with gravel. If you attach to the house, you have to excavate to the depth on the house foundation - which is unfortunately a basement. Otherwise you get expansion cracks. bad ones. The "new kitchen" is mostly the "old kitchen" picked up and moved. adding a basement room saves us the cost of gravel.

people will still be in sleeping bags and on couches. but the current dining porch will be available for cots.

ds had a tax form come to the house yesterday. I called to tell him and he did not say "mail it" he said "I'll come get it Saturday." (he's a little over an hour away.) then he said "I get off work at 5 friday. Will I be in time for dinner?" then he said "Is it ok if my girlfriend comes down for lunch on Sunday?" then he said "oh, I was going to meet my sister for lunch on Saturday - you want to come out with us or should she just come home?" By Friday I expect to have three young adults in the house for the weekend - because a tax form came in the mail.

[Tammy]

Ejchase -

Your SOs family can rent an auditorium in a local school. Or a fellowship hall in a local church. Or a big room at the ymca. Those are very cost effective ways to have a large space for family gatherings.

I've watched the extended families on my two parents sides of our family adjust over the years. One family quickly realized that no one had a large enough house for 50-100 people and started renting spaces. The other family struggled for a few years but eventually came to the same solution.

What I observed through my psychiatric nurse eyes was that an entire new generation was added to an already large family, and the older ones struggled to accept that we were no longer a tight knit family getting together for the holidays. Rather we were a large clan that required a more institutional setting for occasional reunions. The tight knit groups were now subdivided into the various families of the children of the original group.

It was a grieving process for people to accept that change.

[Aqua Blue]

Oh yeah, there's a carport here that had lots of surrounding brickwork done on it, it is all very handsome. And the owners use it as a party place.

My cousin also has a big outdoor building for vechicle storage and/or parties.

But the OP wants it warmed up, I'm sure, and attached to the kitchen where all of the good stuff happens. Otherwise you are hauling loads and loads to stuff out to the party shed.

Of all the reasons to buy or expand real estate, this is a good one as long as the OP is completely right that all of these families members will come to visit. Making family memories is great.

The person I knew had those things in the attached garage. One of those overhead heaters and an AC unit. It was also steps from the kitchen(no further than the dining room actually, just in the opposite direction.

I agree, if the Op is happy it doesn't really matter who else is happy. I think many threads with various ideas are more for other people. Someone else might read this thread and a couple of years from now think they need to enlarge the house for family events and think, "or we could just rent something for the once a year this comes up or we could do the attached garage we had talked about and build it to we could use it as a party room, or what ever other ideas there are.

[Chicken lady]

if I had 50-100 people I'd refuse to be in charge! I'm looking at my parents, dh, my kids (three i raised and one child of my heart) their SOs, and their kids. at the moment that makes 12. but the 5 y.o. fills a room. If we had dh family here it would include my kids' cousins and be 18, blood only.

We have "final" plans as of last night. dh is now looking at the excavation and where we have to move electric and water lines. He offered to put water to my barn because it is very little extra digging and we could use an existing line to the exterior of the house that has to be moved or capped anyway.

today I am going to take cuttings of the willows to root - the willows will go in the excavation and they are too big to move, but too small to grieve.

[ToomuchStuff]

I saw this as a discussion at my friends restaurant. Some customers were having and I had to laugh, when one had the same response as me. One couple was trying to convince their friend that with the market down, he could/should upgrade his home to a larger one, while the prices were down. Their view was the market would turn around and give him instant equity "which he could later use". He said he had enough space and what about the other expenses. They questioned that there would be other expenses and he came back with higher utilities, higher taxes, more space to upkeep, as well as larger items like roof, etc. His friends were dumbfounded and I had to laugh.
You will also face those changes, for how many days a year exactly? Have you examined other options, since your not interested in renting space? Some have been discussed here, like multfamily dwellings, with large common area's. You might read through some discussions here, and examine other idea's just to be sure of the one your on.

[Chicken lady]

Yes, we're sure. We've been planning this for five years. We have absolutely no interest in or desire to move. Moving to a multifamily dwelling would involve moving and likely more costs than the addition. Making this a multifamily dwelling would require - an addition. And another family that we actually wanted to live with. I mentioned this is a farm, right?

We fully understand the costs involved.

We will use the new space every day. How many days we will need it, i don't know. Currently the kids seem to find a reason to gather here about one weekend a month plus weeks around holidays. But the kitchen will be in it. It has been carefully designed for optimum solar gain and daylight depending on season. As well as consideration of views. I am seasonal and being able to be in daylight is very important to me. Or i guess i could buy a therapy light and tether myself in front of it for a long period each day while it uses electricty.

The construction project will allow us to fix some significant drainage problems - both in the pasture which are causing recurrent illness in the animals and in the basement which is leaking and shifting, threatening the existing house. After subtracting the things that reasonably have to be done, the additional cost is well worth the addition.

I will spend less time on the enclosed front porch and in the current kitchen. Ideally we would simply open the current kitchen into the current livingroom and porch but unfortunately that would involve removing two load bearing walls, moving plumbing and electric. I would also lose my pantry and the space for my refrigerator. Due to the poor design of the original house, getting anything but very early morning light into the space would also involve removing the garage and adding windows.

In the long run, the addition will simplify our lives by allowing us to travel less and easily enjoy time with friends and family. It will make any things about our home more flexible. Apparently I will also be able to tack on a saving of over 100 hours a year carrying water.

I hope that I have been able to comfort and reassure those of you who are just concerned about my priorities and decisions. However, they are MY priorities and decisions, and I am tired of explaining and justifying them. If you simply disagree with me, that's ok, but please stop doing it here.

Here I am looking for support as I attempt to reduce the stuff in my basement so less has to be moved out of the way of construction; to reduce other categories so that when the house is the right size, it is open and light and the things in it are useful, loved, and easily reached; and to approach the project in ways that make it as smooth and simple as possible - such as waiting to replace the current roof so we can have all the roofing done at once and taking cuttings from my willow tree to start a new one instead of trying to dig up and move a 12 foot tall tree.

As I go along, if you have thoughts on making spaces or storage more flexible or efficient or simplifying or reducing the cost of the process, that's great. If anyone else has a huge project they are trying to tackle in sections, I'd love to cheer each other on. But the thread wasn't intended to be " should I eat this elephant" it's about getting it eaten. If nobody can support that, I'm going to just let the thread die and take what I can from existing threads.

I cut the willow starts.

[Teacher Terry]

I have decluttered several houses & I find for me I find it easier to do it for longer periods of time. When I was working f.t. I would do it in the evenings or on weekends. Now that I am semi-retired I do it during the day. I have helped friends with this too. As my sheets & towels have worn out I haven't replaced them all. I actually had way too many. I had collections of various things & mostly got rid of them. I have cut down on the # of decorations, etc I have as well as seasonal items. I have also pruned down my wardrobe because studies show that people tend to wear the 20% of their clothes that they like the most. I got rid of all the stuff my kids had when they were kids. I find it alot easier to keep the house clean & tidy without so much crap. I went room by room & eliminated what I really didn't need or didn't really love. Good luck!

[Alan]

I hope that I have been able to comfort and reassure those of you who are just concerned about my priorities and decisions.
LOL, you had me from the very first post. To me, simple living isn't about what you can do without, it's about living comfortably with what you have while simultaneously achieving goals and aspirations. I'd be very much interested in updates on the project as one of my dreams is finding an older home with acreage and turning it into our personal family compound, complete with all the amenities needed to enhance the experience.

Rock on Chicken Lady, you have my support even though you don't need it. :+1:

[rodeosweetheart]

So many advantages to your plan! To me, the biggest would be water to the barn, as I have hand carried water to horses too many years and get where you are coming from. It sounds as though you have lots of family that visits--you are very blessed, and enjoy it to the max. My only idea would be about bedding--is there away to incorporate any wall closets where you could stash fold up beds,so that you could pull them out when the guests come and neatly fold them into the closet space along the wall when they are not there?

That and maybe have two long tables so you could put them together when the house was fuller and use then separately when it is only the two of you.

Oh, and best of all, stacking chairs--this is my plan when I get my place where I hope the kids will come and bring their kids. I am thinking build in closets and stacking chairs!

[jp1]

Chicken lady, you shouldn't feel like you have to defend your plans. At least not beyond explaining why you've reached the decisions you have. Everyone else is looking at your plans from their own life perspectives. From what you've said it sounds pretty clear that you've put a great deal of thought into this and it will likely work well for you. I hope it does, and that it brings you lots of enjoyment. Personally it wouldn't work for me, but it doesn't have to. SO and I are in a completely different place in our lives. (the main one being that we don't have children and aren't going to...) This is a text based internet site so people's comments probably come off harsher than they were intended. Try not to let that get you down or sour you on this forum. Like Alan I very much look forward to hearing more about how things progress. I don't come here looking for other people identical to me. I could just look in the mirror if that was all I wanted. I come here to learn about, or at least be reminded by, other people who have markedly different lives, goals, etc.

[Chicken lady]

Thank you everybody. I like the idea of fold down beds and stacking chairs, but with the extra basement space coming, it's probably cheaper to get some cots or inflatables and put them on a storage rack. We currently own 24 "chairs" spread around the house - counting benches, stools, rockers, and 4 chairs only big enough for small children. 28 if we bring in the plastic ones from outside, so I probably won't get to buy any more any time soon. We'll be using the current long dining table and the current square kitchen table. There is also a round table coming to me from my grandmother in the next few years. My aunt is currently borrowing/storing it. it has 5 chairs.

dh and I are going to buy a new couch and loveseat for the new space, and we are in debate because I want a sleeper and he wants something big and leather. by the time the space is ready though sticker shock may turn it into a futon.

The "final" plan got less final last night. the footprint is done, but dh wants to change the peaked rook over the kitchen bump to a shed roof for better shade in summer and because "Who sees this? the goats? why is it so fancy?" I like the shed roof idea, so we run that back to the architect.

We're worlking with an architect who will walk this thing through the whole permitting process and keep us from making structural mistakes - she set up the meeting with the county engineer. I sort of feel sorry for her because she wants to draw all these fancy things and we want the place to blend into the surroundings and be minimalist practical. she's good though. She's made some great changes to the kitchen and asks why we're doing everything and gives us lots of options.

[Chicken lady]

oh, and Teacher Terry, I like to have long stretches too, but some days the project is so overwhelming I can't face it. I'm trying to give it at least 15 minutes a day. then if I get my teeth in it and have time I can keep going. Today will be 15 minutes because I have work and my son coming in for dinner.

[nswef]

Chicken Lady,
I'm looking forward to hearing how your plans progress, both on the addition and your clearing out. I find it easier to clear things when I have a goal in mind for the room or space I am clearing. You have that and even counted all your chairs. I love futons with excellent, thick mattresses. They are so much easier to move that a sofa bed for me, also easier to recover when decorating. I've used sheets on mine and it can light up the whole room. Keep having fun with it and don't do too much.

[Teacher Terry]

I think starting with 15 minutes is great & on days you have more time maybe you will be so into it that you won't want to stop. Also as you start to see progress in a room it should be motivating too. I think Alan is right that we all want different things in life. When I read your idea of heaven it sounded more like hell:|(. But that is probably because I got married young, had 3 kids & was the neighborhood home for all the local kids, etc. So that part of my life is done. When the kids left home a neighbor suggested we get a pet & I said I don't want anything to take care of including a plant. I love my kids & they boomeranged back a number of times which was fine but now I want to have some family events but also go out with friends, travel, etc. HOwever, we now have 4 rescue dogs that I adore so things change. It sounds like you are taking great care to make sure you get what you want & what will suit your needs.

[Chicken lady]

Lol, different personalities. I also married fairly young (21), had three kids, homeschooled them, spent more time with their friends than they probably would have liked, and got back into the classroom when they started to move off on their own. If I don't get a bunch of grandchildren, I may have to keep teaching until I die. Otoh, I don't want a dog.

[shadowmoss]

Throwing out a couple of decluttering ideas (based on my over 10 years of fighting this...): focus. Well, that is really one idea. I seem to do best when I set a parameter around what I'm decluttering. One category, such as, say, pants (slacks? jeans?). I'll go through and get rid of the obvious ones. Then I'll put the questionable ones in front of my closet where I have to think about why I'm not wearing them that day. I'm about 50/50 on deciding to get rid of them when I make myself wear them for a day or being delighted that I've forgotten how much I liked them.

For towels and bedding, maybe you can do something similar in going through and tossing (cutting up for rags?) the oldest and most worn out ones, then select some to keep out to use and pack the rest away somewhere. In my experience, if I have a lot of something no one item wears out, so they all just kind of get 'not new'. If you use a subset of the 'good' items, they will wear out and you can then shop your extras when the ones you are currently using become rags.

Other than those examples, I try to do one drawer, one shelf, one box at a time. Feel good about the progress and cross it off the list. I'm on my 25th or so cycle through all my stuff. It kinda gets easier.

[Chicken lady]

Shadowmoss, those are good ideas. My dh helped me with my skirts and sweaters at the beginning of fall and it made a big difference. I need to have somebody give me feedback because I can determine comfortable, but I have no body image and the style sense of a ten year old. the only things I kept that he didn't like were three "teacher skirts" - they are long and I understand that they look like potato sacks, but I can get down on the floor in them and they wash beautifully. I have 4 school events each year I want to wear a skirt to. I get to keep them until they wear out.

I have trouble with towels because my definition of "worn out" is rediculous. The number of "people towels" I have isn't too bad, but the number of "farm towels" is excessive. Kidding season is about to start and I need to tell myself that after you dry the baby off with the thin, holey towel, you can throw it away instead of washing it. It's either that or build a linen closet in the barn. - (kidding!)

last night I asked my ds if he ever wanted the desk topper to his desk back (whole thing was a curb find) he said no, so that's moving out of the basement on the next goodwill trip.

[ToomuchStuff]

Holey towels are great. I have a friend who works for a uniform supply place that brings me a bag occassionally, and I love them. I do things like my own vehicle maintence/repair (where you can get oily or slick hands) as well as washing, etc. Any flamable fluids get on one, I hang it on the clothesline to evaporate, until trash day. Another great use is to collect any grease in the kitchen up, to keep it out of the drain system.

Edit:
While I like the murphy bed idea, and they can be built into walls or free standing furniture (later is better), they are not really cheaper then one can find a frame for a bed on CL for (still have the mattress expense, unless you want used via CL), and as a built in, the future owners may not like it (selling point, room arrangement).

[Chicken lady]

Well, I started this almost two weeks ago, so here's an update on progress.

I have a pile ready to go to goodwill the size of a large black garbage bag.
the willows aren't rooted yet, but the snow is starting to melt, so hopefully I can move some plants soon.
we looked at windows today.

Also, dh is itching to get started on something, so we talked about the window seat framed with built in shelves I want in ds room. Dh is on board with the idea. The seat would hold blankets and sheets for the bed, the free standing book shelf in ds room would go, and I would be able to bring some books up from the basement and get rid of at least one, maybe two, low quality free standing bookshelves I have down there while also putting ALL the books in the house on shelves.

So, we'll see if he really starts that.

We also had our first goat kids born in negative four degree weather, and after thawing them out, cleaning them up, and keeping them in the house for 24 hours, I decided the number of farm towels isn't all that excessive. The linen closet - or a rubbermade bin?- in the barn is seeming like a better idea. I washed three loads of towels.

I worked on a short stack of t-shirts today but only found 5 to get rid of. Dh claimed two unisex ones though, so they will be in his dresser which has room instead of my overflow basket.

[Chicken lady]

This week - confirmed that dd1 is taking the hope chest. Also found her knitting basket and stuck it in the hope chest - both will be moved to the loft with the other stuff we are storing for her - much of which will go in the hope chest for better storage. She hopes to move to a house or apartment this summer - she currently has a small bedroom in someone else's house.

Also moved one of three lilac bushes that has to get out of the way of the electrical work, but decided it is too wet for any more of that yet.

Goats claimed most of my week, but I did manage to work on the basement long enough to get something out every day, even if it was a small thing. And added two dresses to the goodwill pile.

[flowerseverywhere]

Take every article of clothing on hangars and turn them backwards. When you wash an item you used turn the hangar the right way. After awhile, you will know which clothes you don't wear. Of course there are a few dress clothes or coats you might want to keep. But if it doesn't fir, is stained, you don't like the color etc. why keep it.
Get some cardboard boxes and put all your shoes and boots in one. After a period of months you will see which shoes you can get rid of. Then I put the cardboard boxeson top of the dresser and put socks, underwear in each box. When it came out of the laundry it went back in the drawer. Usually you will know why the leftovers are still in the box. Not comfortable for example.

Having neat organized clothing spaces goes a long way to making you feel good and makes you want to have more neat spaces. My house is 95% clutter free and I want nothing new coming in.

Another good habit is only handling papers coming in once. The mail is opened immediately and taken care of. Bills paid, stuff tossed or shredded. If you get catalogs call and get off the mailing list. Reduce the inflow. Make sure any magazines or newspapers coming in are being read. If not, don't renew.

[flowerseverywhere]

Books. Why are you keeping them? Will anyone realistically read them again. I volunteer at our local library in the used book room. People are cleaning out their loved ones houses after death and no one wants their old books. They bring box after box and they don't even sell at the dollar a bag sales. The younger generation is much more likely to down.oad a library book or buy a digital book. How to books have way more up to date info online than an old print edition. Maybe a box of assorted kids books for grandkids but are these books just taking up space. One of my neighbors just offered me a box of gardening books. Not only were they outdated. But must to boot. No thanks.

saving toys and clothes for grandkids. My mother in law did this and when I looked at the clothes they were awful. Stained, old wrinkled fabric. Awful colors. And at least half the toys not usable or unsafe. Barbie's (naked of course) with a leg missing, old rusty metal trucks. Be really honest to yourself and you will be much freer.

[Chicken lady]

I've been moving the clothes from left to right. Fit is a problem for me though because my weight swings 15-20 lbs every spring and fall. I used to think that at least stuff like swim suits could be skinny size only, then we took a winter vacation. now I have three swim suits - pond, public, and fat.

We do read books again. When my son was home this weekend he was rummaging around looking for books from his childhood. I have them fairly organized, so it didn't take too long, except there was one that I had gotten rid of, so even though I'm keeping tons of them, I feel like I overpurged.

I know all about the inherited books My grandmother had an impressive library. We all took boxes home, my aunt sold some online, the auctioneer chose some for the estate auction and they were donated to targeted organizations, the library and eventually goodwill. I still have a shelf I'm reading through and mostly passing on two years later.

I have an incredibly hard time with books. I will pull one off the shelf thinking "I can probably get rid of this." glance down at the summary, and an hour later my feet are asleep and I'm still sitting in front of the shelf reading.

My mom saved clothes and toys too. We were broke. My dd spent her first two years in my old clothes. She wore bell bottom pajamas. it was cute. We lived in apalacia and the women's shelter was actually happy to have the clothes when dd outgrew them. I've tried not to save the equivalent of bell bottom pajamas, but I do have too many baby/little kid clothes - a bin for each kid and a bin of coats and boots. know it but can't let go yet. The little guy in our lives who is like a grandson has been working his way through the boots.

a lot of my problem is that everything is in good shape, If it were broken or worn out I could throw it away. I'd gladly throw the barbies away too, but dd2 wants them kept. My parents stored stuff for me until I was 26 and had a house. I feel like I should pay it forward.

[sweetana3]

But I still love our library sales. I like having a stack of books by my bed.

I think it is hilarious the people who complain about the price Half Price Books pays for books. All they have to do is look at the selling price. No one is going to pay a lot for a book selling for $1 or a magazine that sells for 50 cents. They trash junk and donate a lot.

[iris lilies]

Books. Why are you keeping them? Will anyone realistically read them again. I volunteer at our local library in the used book room. People are cleaning out their loved ones houses after death and no one wants their old books. They bring box after box and they don't even sell at the dollar a bag sales. The younger generation is much more likely to down.oad a library book or buy a digital book. How to books have way more up to date info online than an old print edition. Maybe a box of assorted kids books for grandkids but are these books just taking up space. One of my neighbors just offered me a box of gardening books. Not only were they outdated. But must to boot. No thanks.

saving toys and clothes for grandkids. My mother in law did this and when I looked at the clothes they were awful. Stained, old wrinkled fabric. Awful colors. And at least half the toys not usable or unsafe. Barbie's (naked of course) with a leg missing, old rusty metal trucks. Be really honest to yourself and you will be much freer.

These are words of truth about books.

Overall, for 90 per cent of books, there is no market. Perhaps some will sell for a buck for casual reading, then they are tossed. A small number of books, due to rarity, illustrated matter, or unique information or other attributes that make them collectible, are traded on out of print sites for their physical nature.

But the millions of, for instance, James Patterson novels are worthless.

Here is just the most recent story of outrage about books being tossed.

http://abc7news.com/education/residents-upset-alameda-county-library-throws-out-thousands-of-books/531951/

This is a regular news story on a slow day.

Some libraries claim to have successful sales of old book. I suspect that only a percentage of those are truthful. The economics of a library sale that I happen to have insider knowledge on was:

Volunteer coordinator making $33,000 annually not including benefits, devoting 75% of her time to wrangling volunteers to sort books, set up and run the annual booksale that appeared to net $15,000 after direct costs (advertising, table rentals, overtime for custodial staff to set it all up.) But there was the small matter of staffing to run it and all of the other indirect costs such as real estate, utilities, etc. Profit: $- (i.e. big negative.)

Most library booksales are primarily a public relations effort, and that is perfectly fine as long as that truth is recognized.

There have been for some years, companies that take used books, haul them to their processing centers, utilize various online sales sites for the ones that can be sold, and then recycle the rest. That process has netted real money for libraries that use the service for their weeded materials. Most libraries any more are not taking book donations. My city library accepts donations only when they have been screened for unique materials and they are likely to be added to library collections. Boxes and boxes of old bestsellers and outdated travel books--um, not helpful.

[iris lilies]

I actually find all old towels to be worthwhile to keep, until they are full of holes. Then I give them to DH to use a paint rags. Cotton toweling is so absorbent, they are so useful. We seldom use paper towels here.

One of the best things we ever got out of a dumpster was 5 super thick towels. They were bleach stained, but gads, those towels must have been expensive and a sad yuppie threw them out because they were no longer pretty. But we've been using them for a decade for dogs clean-up.

I think that in our modern age we all have too much stuff that is not useful. The collectibles, the brick a brac, the things for "display" abound. But the truly useful things such as old, solidly made tools, a solid cooking pot or cast iron skillet of quality, thick towels for messes, etc--they are harder to come by. Goodwill is filled with junk no one needs, but try to find useful things there--it's a crap shoot.

[flowerseverywhere]

I grew up in foster care so I know about having nothing. But things mean nothing. It is valuing moments together and experiences because stuff can go away in a flash. Good luck to you. I hope some suggestions are made you actually find helpful.

[Chicken lady]

I appreciate everybody replying!

it would be better for me if my "useful old towels" were less good quality - they would wear out. I have a lot because I once told the swim team coach that I used old towels on the farm, and for two years she brought me bags of towels when the pool cleaned out the lost and found. Then I asked her to stop.

It is really harder for me to get rid of stuff when I am convinced it has no value - if I thought the library could make 25 cents on the book and get it into the hands of someone who would read it, that would be easier than knowing nobody wants it. (maybe if I keep it I will find somebody who does want it...) I usually take my old paperbacks to half price because I know they will try to send them home with new people and if that doesn't work someone told me they recycle them. I don't mind taking a big bag and getting fifty cents.

Hardcovers I take to goodwill though. I don't know what happens if they don't sell them, but the tax credit is the most I can get for them without becoming a used book dealer.

I was really happy when a friend came over to dinner and picked up a book I had just finished reading - it was pretty good, but I wasn't planning to keep it. She said "Oh, is this any good?" and I said "yes. take it." Sometimes I give books to my students too.

this afternoon I stripped one of three flowerbeds that will have to go before construction. we still don't have final plans. dh walked by, looked at the mess, and asked "Are you going to be mad at me if you move all these flowers and we don't start for a year?" I told him I would be mad if I didn't and he gave me too short warning. but he is going to have a yard full of empty dirt patches for a while.

[frugal-one]

Books. Why are you keeping them? Will anyone realistically read them again. I volunteer at our local library in the used book room. People are cleaning out their loved ones houses after death and no one wants their old books. They bring box after box and they don't even sell at the dollar a bag sales. The younger generation is much more likely to down.oad a library book or buy a digital book. How to books have way more up to date info online than an old print edition. Maybe a box of assorted kids books for grandkids but are these books just taking up space. One of my neighbors just offered me a box of gardening books. Not only were they outdated. But must to boot. No thanks.

saving toys and clothes for grandkids. My mother in law did this and when I looked at the clothes they were awful. Stained, old wrinkled fabric. Awful colors. And at least half the toys not usable or unsafe. Barbie's (naked of course) with a leg missing, old rusty metal trucks. Be really honest to yourself and you will be much freer.

I agree with most of what you stated except the how to books. I cannot find half of what I want on line as far as making from scratch. The old cookbooks and how to books are still used here.

[ToomuchStuff]

Frugal one, have you tried project gutenberg? I found a lot of old how to's that are still useful on it.
I tend to be a book person as well, due to some being out of print, while others, just cheaper (I can buy used books for less then the digital versions, in most cases). Then if someone wants it when I am done, pass it forward. If it is a reference/learning thing, it can go on a shelf until no longer needed/referenced.

[beckyliz]

Will your town let you put a Little Free Library in your yard? http://littlefreelibrary.org/

[Chicken lady]

my yard is screened from a curvy 55mph road by 14 acres of woods. - but I love those little libraries.

Today dd1 came by and loaded up her car with muslin, 2x6 off-cuts, my entire box of kid friendly paint, two used syringes (there is a good explanation), cardboard, packing paper, and a stack of styrofoam that was causing me stress. She needed it all for an art project/fundraiser at work. She had to buy balloons and plastic sheeting. She also told me the old jeans hanging on the barn wall are hers, not her sister's, and to take them to goodwill. None of this was in the space I need to empty, but it is empty space.

[Zoe Girl]

I appreciate everybody replying!

it would be better for me if my "useful old towels" were less good quality - they would wear out. I have a lot because I once told the swim team coach that I used old towels on the farm, and for two years she brought me bags of towels when the pool cleaned out the lost and found. Then I asked her to stop.


my kids were on swim team, all 3 of them, we had soooo many towels for years. And of course drying methods around our tiny california house. after all kids were done with swimming i gave them to my mom to have when grandchildren visited, or many times animals shelters needs towels and blankets.

[Chicken lady]

I'm afraid if I went near an animal shelter I'd come home with a cat! Honestly, the towel problem is less where to take them and more "how many do I save so I have them when I need them" - the first baby goats used three extra large washer loads of towels before I got a chance to run them. The second set I needed two towels.

I have moved all the daffodils out of the way of construction. We maybe have final plans (got them thursday, dh is contemplating them)

most exciting - dd1 signed a lease on a duplex for April 1st! Half my loft is about to be empty. Also she can go furniture shopping in the basement. Right now she has dishes, a few knives and pans, a twin bed, a desk, a chair, a tall stool, and two bookshelves. in the loft she has two chests full of stuff and two more bookshelves full of books. Her s.o. has a sleeping bag, some tools, paintings, and a duffle full of clothes.

[TxZen]

I have been eating my elephant for almost 8 years. I got quite serious this past year and really pushed myself but am so glad I did. I did it one step at a time. My clothes were the things I decluttered first and it grew from there.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Ok got two copies of a book I ordered (has to do with the book not coming forever and ever and getting a refund and ordering from elsewhere and then the book coming 2 months later >8)). I would have even sent the extra book back to the company and paid postage if I easily knew how to. Instead a good condition hardcover book was donated to the local library. It's a biography of a fairly well known 20th century psychologist, not worthless, but more of academic interest that mass popular interest really - if they sell it it's ok by me.

I wonder if I even really want to seriously declutter or if I'm happy with the amount of things I have now, and more and more I think it's closer to the latter, which is why I'm often close to break-even. Things are messy but that's more due to my messiness than volume of things. I just want to get rid of stuff I obviously don't need (2 copies of a book, 1 out of 3 guitars I was barely playing, another book written by an old bf, electronic waste and recyclables ....).

My towel problem was obsessively buying towels, sure I maybe only had 2-3 bath towels when I started out, but I kept wanting more and more towels (now I have probably a pretty normal number but more than fit in one apartment washing machine). Ok I may not have completely given up on more towels but they aren't obsessing me as much (like I've said it was stress, life seemed overwhelming, only towels seemed to make any sense in life :laff: ).

[Chicken lady]

ApatheticNoMore, you sound like you conquered your elephant and are just working on keeping your life elephant free!

TxZen, Where are you on the journey? Did the year finish it off?

I'm making my clothes one of my priorities because they are always piled on the bed, lying on the floor, and sitting around in baskets because there isn't enough space. My closet was awful! Now the closet isn't too bad, and the "extra" clothes are down to one laundry basket. I still need to figure out what to do with "wear it again" clothes - like the dress I wore for three hours yesterday. It doesn't really need to be washed, but I don't want to hang it back in with the "clean" clothes. I have a hook on the wall, but it is currently covered in shoulderbags, scarves, and belts. - so I should purge those.

I got into trouble with the shoulder bags becaue for a long time I was using one that was falling apart and I couldn't find a good replacement. Then one day Goodwill had a huge sale, and $20 later, instead of one servicable all purpose bag, I had a dozen different sizes and styles to go with all kinds of things.

It's hard to get to the inside stuff right now because there is so much work that has to be done outside around here in the spring.

[TxZen]

I would say I have finished the elephant and now it's just about maintenance but not is some crazy OCD way like I used to be. :)

[Zoe Girl]

ApatheticNoMore, you sound like you conquered your elephant and are just working on keeping your life elephant free
I still need to figure out what to do with "wear it again" clothes - like the dress I wore for three hours yesterday. It doesn't really need to be washed, but I don't want to hang it back in with the "clean" clothes. I have a hook on the wall, but it is currently covered in shoulderbags, scarves, and belts. - so I should purge those.


yes staying elephant free! i am feeling pretty good about where i am at. i have some things that maybe i could get rid of but i have space and it would be more stress to go through them right now. i was super happy i still have legos when we had a party last week, my nephews want me to buy more actually.

the clothes thing, i have a hook on the wall for things i wore a short time. i also put many items back in the closet like pants that can be worn a few times. i have cats so putting clothes over a chair is a bad idea. they tend to end up fuzzy with hair. i don't have that much clothing (at least until my mom visits!) so it is easy to keep track of. i am in another post-mom purge cycle. She brought 2 aprons and i have one i adore, i only need one. so the 2 extra aprons are causing me stress but my daughter is coming today and i will have a pile for her. considering my mom brought 2 large black trash bags of stuff this visit it isn't too bad.

[nswef]

I hand my to be worn again clothes in the front of the closet with the extra hangars so that I see them. It seems to work. If I don't wear them soon enough I do put them in the wash.

[Chicken lady]

So the girl came by for dinner, some plywood, and to borrow the truck. She carried off the "extra" knife block on her way out. She has started laying claim to furniture too.

Dh helped me with clothes a little more this afternoon as well. He only has patience for about half a dozen things at a time, but we ditched 2 out of 6. plus I found a pair of shorts and a top I could get rid of without his help.

[Chicken lady]

The girl came back.

She loaded the truck and left. She's coming back tomorrow for the futon, her bike, and a few odds and ends - including a really big blanket. Watching her pull out was bittersweet.

[iris lilies]

I can hardly wait to jetison "work" clothes in a few days.

My new work uniform is made up largely of shorts.

[Chicken lady]

iris lillies, how exciting!

My "fancy" work clothes consist of jeans and a school t-shirt, with the occasional skirt outfit for special events. After a while the everyday "fancy" uniform gets downgraded to farm work clothes. - which I need to purge. I'm afraid I will need new jeans in the fall. They are all showing wear. I'm trying to make it through the semester without buying more because I still have too many clothes!

I was feeling discouraged after dd left yesterday - I thought there would be a bigger dent in the stuff. Unfortunately her s.o. came along and kept saying things like "I have extra hangers, I have towels..." Also she returned my paint. But this morning I realized that after giving her bedding, I can now put away every blanket in the house except the one giant cozy one I tend to drag around and curl up in all winter. I figure I have another month to find a home for that.

[Zoe Girl]

not bad at all chicken lady, getting everything into a space is a big deal

i watched a ted talk by the minimalists, 2 guys who seriously downsized and have been writing and talking about it, they are pretty interesting. i started to look around and realized, quite happily, that i don't need to be their level of minimal by far. i do have the urge to get rid of more often but it is okay to always have a big box of legos somewhere. Have you ever seen a lego set at a thrift store, no way. so my minimal is still pretty small compared, but not like those guys which is fine.

Blankeys, yes, i am working on an afghan for middle daughter. her cat is white, gray and tan so i am using all those colors. i was hoping to get it done before she got out of the treatment center but i am not that close to being finished.

[Chicken lady]

Zoe Girl, thank you for understanding my blankie. I hope your girl appreciates hers - I think it's great you are matching the cat.

today I finished moving the irises. things in the yard remaining to be moved: two lilac bushes, the playset, a bell on a post, and my tiger lillies when they come up. The not-alive things dh will help on. Also needing to be moved are three alpacas and a fence, because the dirt goes in that field.

I will never be a minimalist. I just want to not live in a house that looks like a rummage sale set up.

[Teacher Terry]

Once you get your clothes pared down everytime you bring another item in one must go. I have been doing this & it works great. Once I semi-retired I ditched most of my work clothes. Most days just wear jeans or shorts, etc. I kept a few nice things to go out or when I consult in person. I have eaten the whole elephant so to speak & now I just try to control things. The last time the HS had a garage sale I could only find 1 bag of stuff to donate. Most of the stuff I have now I use. I am not a minimalist at all. I just tried to downsize things-still have nik-naks-just not too many, etc. I don't like to live in a house that is too sparse. It does not feel homey to me.

[Chicken lady]

I am in for another teacher today who doesn't get covered with art components, so I am wearing a jumper and a sweater. I actually like skirts and dresses, I just don't find them very practical most days.

One thing I'm really noticing though is that neither the jumper, nor the cardigan is equipped with pockets. Note to self - buy replacement clothes with pockets.

[Zoe Girl]

yes pockets! i have pants i love with side zippers but after school i am all over the building checking on programs and carry 2 cell phones. so i got a very small cross body purse that is just for no pocket days. it has room for the 2 cell phones, a pen and one child's emergency inhaler.

[Chicken lady]

today dh told the architect to go ahead and draw up plans for us to send out for bids. He is thinking about breaking ground in August.

[Songbird]

today dh told the architect to go ahead and draw up plans for us to send out for bids. He is thinking about breaking ground in August.

That is awesome Chicken lady!! I'm curious, how many square feet will you be adding to your house?
I remember my parents having a nice size family room (that's what they called it then) added onto their little ranch house when I was a teenager, many years ago. It became the gathering place for friends and family for years. We all enjoyed it so much and my parents felt it was worth every cent. It had a large fireplace with built in cabinets which the kitchen and dining space opened onto. It was cozy, yet spacious, accommodating to both small or large groups... My parents always said they didn't want to spend their retirement years traveling, they wanted to spend it with family and friends, which they did. :)

[Chicken lady]

It's roughly 540 sqft. It's a big space. The footprint on the original house is less than 800, but it has a partial upstairs, and two enclosed porches that used to be covered slab.

I hope to follow in your parents path.

[Chicken lady]

over the weekend I moved the lilacs. the lillies are just starting to poke through the ground, so I am going to give them another week or two. I don't want to keep going back for stragglers.

[Teacher Terry]

No wonder you want to add on with only 800 sq ft. Also the smaller the space the more you need to declutter because otherwise it is suffocating. Hope all goes smoothly with the renovations.

[Chicken lady]

Well, we have more than that - we have a bedroom and study upstairs and we closed in the porches to make a little dining room and an extra sleeping room. plus we have the basement, but it is windowless, unfinished, and unheated. - too much storage, not enough living area.

[Ali]

So, I was dreading sorting through my boys' baby clothes and school books, soft toys etc and it turned out not to be anywhere near as heartbreaking as I thought it would be. I kept their first vests, shoes, baby grows and a couple of special outfits - the rest are going to charity, still in mint condition after over 18 years in the attic. The toys and books I asked them to sort through, I told them if they didn't do it now they'd need to do it when I was dead. They've kept a few things but most will go to the recycling. Amongst it all, we found a few really special momentoes that I'd forgotten we had. The only time I got tearful was when I was folding up their first clothes to put in the box if things I was keeping.

[Chicken lady]

Ali, that's great! I pulled a couple of things out of the Easter bins to ask dd1 about when she cme by, but I need to make a pile for all 3 kids, I think there is maybe 1/4 of it I could say "claim it or wave goodbye" on.

I didn't decorate this year for the first time, but I want to be able to again next year, or maybe the year after if we are mid-construction upheaval next year. I did get the bins out and fix up baskets for the kids and dh. I love holidays and decorating but I've been trying to keep it minimal in favor of taking care of the stuff I need to do once and have done.

[Ali]

It feels great! In the UK I don't think that typically we decorate as much but its something that is catching on .... I didn't decorate for Easter (mostly because I didn't have anything or any time to make anything) but I put up a couple of things for Valentines Day. I have a small window next to my front door that I like to put seasonal decor on, at the moment there's a white poetry jug full of daffodils.

[Chicken lady]

I don't do my yard or anything, but one of the ways we delt with the excessive stuffed animal issue was to pack all rabbits/lambs/ducks that weren't superspecial away and get them out for a month or so around easter - I think I've got a dozen stuffed rabbits and can't remember which kid they belong to. we have too many baskets, a bazillion plastic eggs, a few dishes and mugs, and some knick nacks.

I also have a special rabbit with a plate over his shoulder my Gram put out candy on. I didn't have it last year and I didn't get it out this year, but I will. The last few years she left it out all the time. I think it's supposed to be a plant stand. it's not an easter rabbit, just a rabbit. So I may put it out later. I did get out my easter rabbit pot holder this year and switch to the spring dish towels.

I also have 4 throws that I change on the couch with the seasons - only winter is still out.

[Chicken lady]

so this afternoon it was nasty outside and I worked on the Easter boxes. I actually have 1/4 either thrown away, recycled, or goodwill piled, plus maybe another 12% waiting for the kids to look at. If they want to keep it, the oldest will have to take it, and the middle child will have it packed away with the rest of his stuff, but the youngest will probably get to put it back with my stuff.

I think the next big project is going to be picture frames. There are far too many down there and they are tucked all around in a mess. I need to use the "purge by category" system on them.

[Ali]

So, a week off work and we've pretty much conquered the attic, just need number 2 son to go through his old school books. Garage almost done, we've sold a lot of stuff (still have stuff to sell but if it doesn't then it's off to the Charity Shop) and as a bonus we've got new garden furniture (sold the old stuff) and the Mr has stained the fence. Also got Planters for front porch and patio. A car full of stuff donated today with a huge bag also going tomorrow.

[iris lilies]

One downside of retirement is that it generated too much crap. on the day i retired, I just dumped all of the crap on our dining room table. Today I wrote thank you notes to everyone who loaded me up with stuff. I actually enjoy writing thank you notes, that isn,t a burden.

Then, this morning, I put away the few things I wanted and swept most of it into trash. I never keep cards.

because our phone and Internet has been down for more than a week, that really slowed me down in getting organized.

this morning I piled all of my winning rosettes for flower shows onto the counter, took a photo, and pitched them into trash. In the future I will donate winning rosettes back to the flower society.

[Packy]

Well Faux; I guess maybe you can relate to the scene in the Mooovvveee "Five Easy Pieces", where the gal hitchhiker is ranting about "crap and more crap and more crap". Take a break, and watch it on youtube. Also, the truckstop café scene.

[Chicken lady]

over the weekend I started the picture frame project. It is going to be harder than I thought. I have sorted the frames, pulled out a few easy ones to donate, and may box them back up by size and tackle one size at a time. A frightening number of the frames have pictures in them that just never got hung up when we moved to this house. Unfortunately when I found them, I didn't think "oh, I don't need this anymore, I forgot I even had it." I thought "Oh! I love this. Why didn't I hang it up?" then I started thinking about where I could hang it up and remembered why. I live with a person who mostly prefers blank walls.

dd came over, took the small pile of additional stuff I found that belonged to her, and also some towels! She took extra hand towels too. She passed on all the Easter stuff I want to get rid of and sent a framed picture from her childhood room that I found in my frame sorting to my goodwill box.

I also moved four more irises that I missed the first time. turns out the Elephant is more like kudzu.

[Chicken lady]

There are no books on the floor! There are 9 "well loved" children's books stacked on my desk that need to be repaired, replaced, or let go and there are still three 18 gallon bins in my basement - science, history, and cookbooks. But for the first time I can remember there isn't a pile of books on the floor, or even on a chair or table, anywhere in my house.

And I found the book I need for the class I'm teaching next year in the science bin! I was panicking that I had gotten rid of it. I forgot that bin was a science bin because the label fell off and it was under the cookbook bin. Which also means I only have one bin of cookbooks to work through! - I flip through the cookbooks and mark recipes that look good, then I plan menus. When I have tried everything I marked, I copy the recipes we liked and ditch the cookbook. - don't tell me to use the internet. I know all about the internet. Sometimes I look up a recipe and print it out. I like my recipes on paper.

[iris lilies]

There are no books on the floor! There are 9 "well loved" children's books stacked on my desk that need to be repaired, replaced, or let go and there are still three 18 gallon bins in my basement - science, history, and cookbooks. But for the first time I can remember there isn't a pile of books on the floor, or even on a chair or table, anywhere in my house.

And I found the book I need for the class I'm teaching next year in the science bin! I was panicking that I had gotten rid of it. I forgot that bin was a science bin because the label fell off and it was under the cookbook bin. Which also means I only have one bin of cookbooks to work through! - I flip through the cookbooks and mark recipes that look good, then I plan menus. When I have tried everything I marked, I copy the recipes we liked and ditch the cookbook. - don't tell me to use the internet. I know all about the internet. Sometimes I look up a recipe and print it out. I like my recipes on paper.

The science book is old? Is it still entirely relevant for the course you are teaching?

That's a good method for the cookbooks--to try the receipes that seem interesting and jettison the book after picking those out.

[Chicken lady]

The science book is old. It's on the physics of sound, extremely well illustrated and simplified to basic English and high school algebra. I'm going to be making musical instruments with teenagers and discussing the principles involved. They won't even know it's old - there are no people in the pictures except in the cut-in half heads showing voice modulation. I'm pretty sure nothing has changed. Well, except that the slinky is metal.

[Chicken lady]

the elephant is making noises. dh is putting windows in the end wall of the house. We saved up fotr the windows out of the first quarter's paychecks and they are now here. He thinks he mght start with ds's room this weekend by removing the drywall. The plan for ds's room goes: empty room, new window, replace/repair drywall, paint, build in bookshelf with bench seat around old window, refill and decorate room.

I am really looking forward to that last step.

So step 1, which has to be finished before dh starts this weekend, is "empty room". I work tomorrow, so today I have to finish or at least clean up the picture frame project so that we can move ds's bed to the basement (he prefers to sleep down there when he is home for the summer and dd took the futon) and move/pack up as many items as possible. dh will help me move the furniture out before he starts.

[ToomuchStuff]

Chicken Lady, one thing I don't remember seeing, is how old is the home? One thing you didn't mention that you may wish to take into account, is if the home is older, while the walls are down, you may want to insulate, or upgrade the insulation.

[Chicken lady]

1980. because it's a prefab, the walls are extra thick and insulating it seems to be one of the few things they did right.

We're only taking down a section of drywall where the window goes in - the rest just needs a lot of patching because an active boy grew up in a small room.

[Teacher Terry]

You might want to read the book that is mentioned in 2 different threads on this board. Even though I did not think I could do anymore dcluttering boy was I wrong after reading the book.

[Chicken lady]

I've been reading the threads, and I read the article about the book in the ny times. I'm pretty sure the author and I have differing worldviews.

I got online and found reasonably priced replacements for three of the "well loved" books - the new ones will fit on my shelf and the old ones from the pile will be recycled. I bought two of them with a gift card I got from returning a book mil got me for Christmas that I didn't want.

Also today I got a desk out of the basement.

[nswef]

Chicken Lady, That Elephant is getting much smaller! You should be proud of yourself.

[Chicken lady]

thanks nswef! It doesn't feel smaller - it still feels overwhelming. sometimes I wish I had taken pictures when I started, but I don't know if they would be encouraging or depressing. Also I didn't want to be able to look at things I had purged and forgotten - I was afraid they would trigger regret.

For the first time in my life, people (family, other teachers) are starting to ask me for things and I am replying "I got rid of it." Or "I don't have it." This upsets me far more than it upsets them. I am having to teach myself not to feel guilty. I am not the freestore foodbank and it is not my job to stockpile things against everyone's possible future needs.

[Chicken lady]

today we planted trees - including the curly willows I started from the curly willow that will be cut down when we do the addition and some for the future views. So I am calling that a bite of elephant.

[Chicken lady]

ds's room is empty (except for the stuff he has packed up and stored in his closet). Dh is tearing a hole in the interior wall for the window. Life in a construction zone has begun. So far it isn't too bad. the rough part is going to be when he gets ready to do the window in dd2's room and I have to empty her room without putting anything back in ds's. Also she's going to be home from college in 3 weeks and I don't know where she's going to sleep. Hopefully she'll be able to go through the construction zone and sleep on the porch I guess. She's not going to be pleased. I need to step up my game.

I also need to go in and take down the curtain rod some time. We put it up so we could hang curtains for dh girlfriend. If we put curtains back up in there I will probably get some new, nicer rods. Also curtains that weren't bought at goodwill and used to decorate 4H stalls for multiple summers.

[Chicken lady]

I took down the curtain rod. And I moved the lillies. There are no more plants in the way of the addition.

remaining to be done before the addition work begins:

finishing window project - mostly dh, but I have to assist and also empty dd2's room.

move bell (set in concrete in back yard - we may just take the bell off the post, pull it with the tractor, and buy a new post later)

move playset - definite group project for when college students are home in a few weeks

empty half of basement - all me.

rehome alpacas - me

remove section of fence - dh

[iris lilies]

today we planted trees - including the curly willows I started from the curly willow that will be cut down when we do the addition and some for the future views. So I am calling that a bite of elephant.
I have a curly willow in a pot that needs to be planted. This week, I promise, it survived in the pot over winter with no special protection. They are prett tough little beasts.

[Teacher Terry]

This week I finished going thru my house utilizing the principles from the How to Tidy book. After all the decluttering I have done in the past I can't believe how this book has helped me & I have gotten rid of so much stuff. Too bad my hubby wouldn't let me do his office:confused:. When I looked in the closet in my office you could not use the clothes rods for guests clothes because it was piled to the top. Now the entire bottom of it is empty. 90% of the stuff I had no need for or it was ancient papers I no longer needed to keep. Sounds like you are making good progress Chicken Lady.

[Chicken lady]

Nice work Teacher Terry!

I am going to start bringing home some boxes from work. I've decided that all of the dolls are going to need to be boxed up carefully and stored until after the major construction is over. There is simply no safe, clean display area available. Afterwards I can replace my shelves and set them back out - maybe I will see them with fresh eyes.

My mom is planning to visit in June, so I can get her to help me with the packing up. She loves dolls too and we usually sit and drink tea.

[Teacher Terry]

I used to have a doll collection that i loved. About 5 years ago I grew tired of it. I only kept 4 dolls. The rest I donated to silent auctions for people that were trying to raise $ to pay for expensive medical treatments, etc that insurance didn't completely cover. I never regretted it. It's funny how you can want things for years & then all of a sudden you are ready. My Mom also loved dolls. I kept the ones she gave me.

[iris lilies]

Here is a story about keeping crap for years: my name came up on one of those lists where the state is holding money for me. The form to claim it asks me to provide an envelope addressed to me at my address 26 years ago. Oh yeah, I have those lying around, NOT.

but lo and behold, hoarder man DH was able to come up with a bank statement with my name at that ancient address.

so I will be able to claim my $35.46.

i could have gotten it without th envelope, though. The state did not absolutely require it, it was a preference.

[Chicken lady]

lol - that would be me - the organized hoarder. I always get a great deal of pleasure out of being able to produce such things too. that is part of why this is hard for me. What if someone suddenly NEEDS 300 milk caps? we'll never be able to collect them in time...

Did you plant your tree?

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday dh relocated a wire that had to be moved for the window to go in. (that sounds like a small job, but it was 240 and ran through the wall the entire height of the house)

He is discussing the purchase of a table saw with dd1 - this relates to my built in shelves. dh would buy the saw and install it in his workshop, dd1 would come over and build the shelves. then the saw would be available to her and her s.o. for continuing to build furniture. They don't have enough space or income to buy their own. dh doen't want to build the shelves because he isn't so much a finish carpenter - he's more of a structural guy.


I like the idea of having them over here working even though power saws scare me. I'm probably getting ahead of myself on this one though.

[Teacher Terry]

YOu do have to be careful with the saw. My hubby was wearing a sweatshirt that the sleeve was ripped & one day about a month ago it pulled his wrist in the electric saw. I was home so rushed him to er after wrapping it in a towel. I threw away the sweatshirt & forbid him to use it unless I am home. Before he would use the saw whether I was home or not. I call it suicide by saw:~). It was really terrifying. I was told that the inventor of the electric saw died this way. I had friends that were organized hoarders & they were losing their house & moving into something a third of the size so I told them that my hubby & I would mark the stuff, sell it etc but they were not allowed to be there. I knew if they were there they would start taking stuff out. They had already taken the stuff -furniture etc that would fit in their new home. It worked well & they made lots of $. Unfortunately after the sale they took some of the stuff to their new home that didn't sell & you can guess what happened.

[Chicken lady]

oh please do not tell me saw stories! dd1 and her s.o. both use them in commercial shops and ds uses them at work also - he had a coworker who cut his abdomen open. dh has a chop saw, circular saw, and band saw for work around here, and all my kids have been using a chainsaw since they were 16. It still scares me to death. they do not use any power equipment or farm vehicle when no one else is around however. dh tells me they are far more likely to be killed in a car accident, as if I should find that comforting!

I am just happy that dh has a job that he can wear his wedding ring now. The first day he went to work and handed me his ring I was indignant, and asked why he wasn't going to wear it. He said he wasn't allowed and I asked why. He said it could get caught in a machine and he could lose his finger - or worse. Then he kissed me goodbye and went cheerfully off, leaving me with two tiny children and a desire to throw up.

The worst we have ever had here was dh getting his hand caught when twisting fencing wire manually with a spike. He lost his grip and the spike spun and wrapped his hand in the wire, then pinned his thumb. He called me over very calmly and I had to unwind it. Thank god for adrenaline because I don't know how I did it. he had some minor temporary nerve damage and had to be treated for shock. He also electrocuted himself once. He said that was worse. Sometimes I wish I married an accountant whose only hobby was bowling or something.

really, they are very careful and use safety equipment and they do beautiful work.

[sweetana3]

My hubby and I just bought a table saw with the detection system (for Habitat for Humanity) that stops it when a finger/hand/arm touches it. It gets heavy use and on long boards. I wanted hubby and all the guys to be as safe as possible. They have some 80+ year olds working in the shop and it seems they are the ones most likely to be injured as well as those in a hurry.

[Chicken lady]

dh took the siding off the end of house while I was at work yesterday. He says today he's going to frame the first window and if all goes well this weekend he'll cut the hole and get it in by Sunday night.

We also got the bid set of plans for the addition yesterday, but dh has a couple of issues with them (of course!) so we'll be doing another round of that before sending them out for bids. I swear, the man thinks that anything not designed to survive 1,000 years of natural and man-made disaster might as well be a tent. otoh, I feel very safe with anything he makes or fixes.

[Chicken lady]

first window is in, second window is framed. Heat pump is reconnected and tested - not that we need it, the nights are in the 50's now.

I am so happy with the new window! for the first time ever we can get a breeze the whole length of the house! Also evening light comes in and I can walk down the hallway without turning the light on to check for the cat. (black cat, dark wood floors, aging sundamaged eyes with bifocals)

Also not really related but wanted to share - the not-actually grandson was out yesterday. He just turned six and was very proud of his new status. turns out he's now big enough not just to stack firewood, but also to water the goats by himself, help clean chick pens, and use a drill with supervision. We got him a toolbox with your basic set of handtools for his birthday.

[Chicken lady]

both windows are in. part of the siding is back on. dd2 is home and we are supposed to empty her room this week so he can start on her windows.

The bid set plans are still being worked on to add a secondary exit from the basement in case of emergency.

oldest dd and her boyfriend were here this weekend. he has to work next weekend, but my son will be returning from school and dd asked us to call her if we are going to split wood on Saturday so she can come out.

[Chicken lady]

once again we have "final" plans. I think this may truly be it because dh says the next step is to pick some contractors and get bids.

the electrical outlets are hooked up and the insulation is back in the wall. my crew has gone to buy drywall.

I was feeling very tired and discouraged this morning, but then I realized, this is as bad as it gets. All of ds's stuff is unloaded. I have four people living in what is functionally a 1.5 bedroom house (dd is sleeping on the enclosed porch, ds in the unfinished basement.) Now it just gets better.

My parents are coming to visit in two weeks, and my mom is bringing me a book my dad borrowed and a pair of shoes. I also have a new doll that I bought arriving next week and a few boxes in my classroom that have to come home. But I have a load ready for goodwill, and as long as I drop that off before the other things come, there will still be less in my house than there is now.

(I have slowed way down on the dolls. I only bought this one because the price was very good and the opportunity was unusual. I also bought a very small one last month.)

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday they removed the drywall in dd2's room and replaced the drywall in ds's room. He has taped everything and we are mudding/patching/sanding today.

We went to dd1's home for dinner last night and ds returned her microwave, so that is one thing out already!

I also realized that when the windows go in dd's wall - very soon - they won't be taking up space in the workshop anymore.

An aside for those who were concerned about my budget - we are still paying for the project out of monthly income. Our other non-fixed expenses in the last month have been electric, food, gas, three meals eaten out, an online movie rental, a small box of tools for a birthday gift, the two dolls, $4 in equipment for my class, a birthday card (different birthday) and some summer shorts and T's for dh. I also bought some new sheets and towels, because there was a big sale/coupon stacking opportunity that put new slightly above "thrift store" and ours were getting very worn.

In the next month we have another birthday and two tires to replace. We might also take my parents out to eat once. We will need paint and more drywall. gas will go down a little because I don't work in the summer. (but then, clearly, income will go down more)

[Chicken lady]

I do not particularly like sanding drywall.

Because nothing in this house is standard every job is a custom job. the drywall around the windows has to be tapered over a long slant. One wall that just had dings is completely done. a second wall has one ding that had to be redone but will be finished when it dries and I sand it. a third wall had an actual hole that had to be patched and needs one, maybe two, more skim coats to cover the patch, and the window areas need to be sanded at least two more times. right now they are drying. It's very humid, so the drying is slow.

My parents are coming in 13 days. I would be very pleased if I could get the room cleaned up and painted so I could put the queen sized bed in there for them.

[Chicken lady]

wall sanded and mudded and drying. More sanding and probably more mudding tomorrow.

second room has both windows framed and one hole cut. guys are trying to stick the window in the hole before it gets dark.

I went back on my resolution and boght two big bins for packing things up today. It was only $6 for both and one will make a nice toy chest/sports equipment storage for a grandkid later. Maybe the unrelated grandkid we already have.

[Chicken lady]

I'm so tired. I can't keep up with these kids!

all 4 windows are in now.
the siding is back on the house but needs caulk and paint.
The drywall in the first room gets sanded again today and ds said at most it should need a couple of skim coat touch-ups.
The wiring is back in the wall in the second room.

ds plans to do outlets and put up the insulation and drywall in the second room while we are at work.

[Zoe Girl]

your family amazes me, wow what energy.

the house i rented had everything done a little cheap, a little short, it was maddening. they blew in insulation before i moved in and so the walls were painted nicely but every foot there was a 6 inch diameter disc showing where they patched over one of the holes. i thought of that with your sanding drywall story, i just wanted to get up and sand it when i couldn't sleep!

[Chicken lady]

Zoe girl, my family exhausts me. they get it from dh side of the family. I've had a long day at school and then I did the shopping and now I just want to curl up with a cool drink. meanwhile dh and ds are up at the road cutting dead trees so they won't fall and block the road or driveway. dd is planning dinner. They make me feel like a slacker, but I try to just enjoy having them take care of me sometimes.

[nswef]

Embrace your relaxation or exhaustion. It's hard, but you can try to enjoy being taken care of. Everyone is different and has different stamina.

[Zoe Girl]

my mom is that way, total extrovert and high energy. i can't always do that, and since i turned 40 it is much better (understanding each other). the way it still causes tension is that she shows up with bags and bags of stuff and i am supposed to look at it all right away and talk about it and plan meals 6 months in advance for get togethers, and at some point i just get cranky. But then again i can sometimes pull out the meditation card and get a break.

[Chicken lady]

So, the update for today:

I finished all the sanding in the first room and swept and cleaned up all the tools. I'm letting the dust settle overnight and then wiping the whole room down with a damp cloth before I start priming and painting. (that's my skill set)

The drywall is up in the second room and the first layer of mud is on and drying. The new outlets are in and connected, but the guys have to change the old outlets to match eventually. Some of the exterior caulking is done. ds left for his girlfriend's house for the weekend and dd works tomorrow.

[Zoe Girl]

my eating the elephant is settling into my new place. my son is going to help me set up my bed frame today, yeah! Mattress on the floor is fine but not long term. we are moving around the small couch until i can get the new couch i want (the older big couch went out with trash after only 10 years). i figured out where to put all my sewing supplies. it is an antique dresser that i have in the perfect spot, it is the perfect size for the spot. and finishing up cleaning out the car, the last moving load never fully got cleaned out.

[Chicken lady]

Zoe Girl, I've been following your move. I'll enjoy hearing about your new home coming together.

Dh is happy with our house plans but hasn't picked any contractors to ask for bids yet. He's talking about moving the playset.

[Zoe Girl]

i have a grumpy kid, he has been sleeping really badly. in any case he got all grumpy because we disagree on the location of the cat box so he stomped out. i was hoping to set up my bed today but he isn't home. in general we have to agree on where things are going, and we are both stubborn on that topic. i have 2 large pillows with covers got torn on the back. i sewed those up and moved the couch into the better place.

i found the gym and pool in our complex too. i was going to go today but then somehow the day slipped away from me.

[Chicken lady]

Zoe Girl, do you mind if I ask why you have to agree on where things go? also, how old is your son? I think I saw somewhere near/young adult?

[Zoe Girl]

he is 18 now, and i have in general raised my kids with a cooperative ideal. So lots of family meetings and more consensus than the typical family. Sometimes however it gets difficult to assert the final say since he is really good at taking care of things around here. He will go out and buy kitchen sponges with his own money because he wants it clean. i think i found a compromise idea, mostly we have agreed on where we want things to go.

He does however hate my vintage 50's hospital table and the vacuum i will never get rid of because it is actually one you can fix (with a hepa filter as well). i think his cactus garden is cool but needs a home instead of a bin in the middle of the floor.

[Chicken lady]

funny, my son is a cleaner-of-kitchens too.

we've always been more "this is our house, this is your space in our house" so the cactus bin would be in his room and the catbox would be where I put it (although if he were to be the only catbox cleaner I would let him decide where to put it.)

dd's room has always been dark and stuffy, but everytime we talked about putting windows in she got upset and begged us not to. Now she is 18 and lives at college most of the year and we are putting the windows in. We told her she's welcome here, but it's not just her room anymore. I am going to let her put the awful neon pink and green and tangerine decor back though - at least until she graduates. Then hopefully she will move out. If not, she will pay rent in cash or in kind, but we want her to WANT to live somewhere else.

[Chicken lady]

all I got done on the construction today was wiping down all the surfaces in ds's room. dh finished caulking and painting outside though.

I was mostly in the garden or barn (one of my does kidded today) or working on class evaluations. I'm trying to get my evaluations done before my end of the year review on Wednesday even though they aren't due until the 3rd because I don't want to have to make another trip in - It's almost 2 hours round trip.

[Zoe Girl]

my bed is set up! after all that moving we just needed to rest (and i needed to catch up at work) but today my middle kiddo and boyfriend came over and ate with us, and we set up the bed. it was nice to have extra hands and it feels so good to have it off the floor. i am also getting lots of laundry done, some sheets and towels plus the regular stuff. my son let me do his laundry (he insists on doing his own but he was doing many house things) and i noticed a pair of jeans has a serious tear along a seam that i can fix easily. So i am going to get that sewn up as well.

chicken lady, i am doing my summer camp planning. i have not had any luck getting staff or getting staff who can plan to my standards. So i just decided to do it this extra day. even the staff who was going to meet me at my house today had to cancel, sometimes it is less stress to just put in time out of work.

[Chicken lady]

Yay for your bed! Waking up in a real bed should give you a good start for tomorrow.

[Chicken lady]

the alpacas left for their new home this morning - that's a big bite of elephant!

[Zoe Girl]

no kidding, how many alpacas?

[Chicken lady]

3 two males and a gelding. they were 4H/fiber animals, but now that the 4Hers are all gone it is easier to buy the fiber from a friend when I want it. Also, we will be removing the dilapidated chain link fence from that field, spreading the dirt from the new foundation in it, and then re-fencing for goats.

[Chicken lady]

The first room is painted. the trim is stained and drying on sawhorses. there are a few touch up spots that we missed drywalling around the outlets and the window sills need paint. ds started taking down the fence.

[Zoe Girl]

i had a friend come help me decide where to put artwork and move a few furniture items. i haven't hung anything yet because i want to use the velcro strips instead of nails as much as possible, the walls are pristine and newly painted here. But we had fun and some of my favorite pieces have a home. She got to find out my little issues about matching. She is a person with a lot of little things around her house on shelves and walls, it is fun to visit and check it all out. But i am more clean walls and balance and zen-ish.

[Chicken lady]

if you are down to hanging pictures, you are doing great!

I took care of sanding and painting the touch ups and the window sills. I'm hoping dh will put the molding up tonight and we can move some furniture in.

ds's girlfriend is coming thursday for his birthday and I want her to be able to sleep in there.

[Chicken lady]

Two of the windows have molding. the molding is cut for the third one, but we didn't nail it because it doesn't lay tight to the window frame and we aren't sure how dh will feel about that. we moved a chest and a shelf and a bed into the room. The shelf and the chest were in dd's room under moving blankets. I feel better about them being out of the room and there is more space to work now.

[Chicken lady]

Dh helped us ease on the molding, so the room is done.

Done.

[mschrisgo2]

Congratulations on the "DONE" room! You have accomplished so much! You and crew are amazing! I love coming on here to read of your progress. Keep up the good work!

[Chicken lady]

Thanks mschrisgo2. I actually still want built-ins in there, but dh isn't so sure now...

Anyway, we are focusing on farm work and company the last few days. I'm not sure if we'll try to do anymore between when ds girlfriend leaves later today and my parents arrive on Monday. But I hope we'll finish the second room before ds leaves for Germany in 2 weeks.

[Chicken lady]

The playset has been moved out by the pond.

[Chicken lady]

Ds started to take down the fence and then our truck broke down while he was hauling the first load to the recycling.

I need to sand walls today.

[nswef]

I am watching this with anticipation.

[Chicken lady]

I sanded the whole room. And I marked the spots that need to be mudded again with chalk. I don't think it will take as many rounds in this room.

Ds has the fence 90% down. (truck is still broken though)

[Chicken lady]

Truck is fixed. They replaced the fuel pump. And got a new tire because the patch was leaking. Which ds noticed when he was trying to figure out why the truck quit. When he asked me to come get him he said "I'll be the guy changing a tire on a broke down truck by the side of the road" i think that's a country song.

Walls got mudded, I sanded again, more mudding needed.

[Chicken lady]

Ds took the fence to the recycler today and also mudded my walls.

The electrician came by today to look at the job. He's working up a quote for us, but we know the guy, we don't have plan b. unfortunately some of the work will involve more of my basement that I anticipated, so back to working on that - got the get the second room done and painted so there is somewhere to put things!

[ApatheticNoMore]

I got a toy elephant trinket, and not having matured at all since about the age of 3, I did sometimes find myself chewing on it .... for some reason it reminded me of this thread.

[Chicken lady]

I think I'd rather chew on that elephant!

Lighting fixture is replaced. Ceiling is painted and first coat on walls.

[mschrisgo2]

Great progress, Chicken lady! I'm sure you are happy to be finished with the mudding and sanding in that room.

[Chicken lady]

Tonight we stained trim and marked the cut in the basement wall so I can clear around it appropriately. We also discussed moving the water heater and buying a bed frame for the queen box springs and mattress that are on the floor.

We plan to put up the new trim and paint around the existing trim this weekend. Then I need to clean the floor. then we can put stuff in the room. Our girls are coming for father's day and doing the cooking.

[Chicken lady]

We had a nice dinner. The oldest dd ran off with an extra spatula, the second pastry cutter, two lidded glass Pyrex bowls, half a dozen books, the curtain rod from her old room, and some toys to entertain our "adopted" grandkid when she watches him.

She wants the bed we took out of her sister's room (temporarily I though) so I guess we'll be buying that queen bed base.

The room project has scope creep. Because we turned half the porch into a bedroom there has been an "exterior" window between the two rooms driving me crazy for 7 years. This morning dh suddenly agreed to cut it out. Trip to the hardware store and we have drywall up on one side that we are going to frame with trim and paint with chalkboard paint and dh has the wood to build a shallow shelf on the other side. I did finish painting around the edges of the trim we didn't remove and he put trim up around the new windows.

Yesterday I took some stuff from the basement to goodwill.

[Chicken lady]

The rooms are done. New windows, painted, shelf built into a wall, chalk board painted and framed, and all the surfaces clean.

Now it's time to figure out furniture. And take a deep breath before we start dealing with bids for the next step.

[nswef]

Yahoo!!!! good for you Chicken Lady. Take a deep breath and enjoy the empty clean, finished room!

[mschrisgo2]

Congratulations Chicken Lady! You got a big chunk completed!

[Chicken lady]

It is very nice! It's encouraging me to work harder on the clearing out. I'm going to call my mom on face time today and show her the new space and get some moral support for more purging.

[Chicken lady]

Today I moved a bookshelf and a table and put down a rug. Dh sent plans to two excavating companies for bids. He has the electric service bid but hasn't accepted and scheduled yet.

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday one of the excavating guys came out to look around so he can put together his bid. My oldest came for dinner and left with three of my dish towels. I have put some of my dolls back in the cabinet upstairs that houses part of my collection and packed up the china dolls and taken down their display shelf - the water heater is moving to that wall.

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, good on you for continuing to chip away at the excesses. You know, I really appreciate the things my mom has given me, just like you did the dish towels with your daughter. For example, I had a small throw rug for under one of the dog crates and mentioned that I wished I'd bought 2 at the time, and my mom said she had one just like it and I could have it. It matches exactly! So appreciated, because I had a very specific need and she had the perfect solution.

I hope you find a new perfect place to display your china dolls.

[Chicken lady]

Thanks mschrisgo2. I'm sure I will find a good place. They are not the huge fancy bride kind, they are smaller storybook dolls. When all this is over we'll have more walls. Actualy I like " playing" with my dolls, setting them up, straightening their clothes, it's calm, like arranging flowers. Except I don't arrange flowers, I just plunk them in a vase because they never do what I want and I get not calm. I'm thinking I might pack some of the dolls away like holiday decorations and change them around. If I put out a different china doll every month, I'd only need one spot. I'm sure dh would like that better.

I read about your boxes on the other thread. When we moved here I had a Huge pile of "random boxes". Some were full of papers and some were full of "stuff" all thrown together in a hurry. I now have one. It's a paper ream box and it's about half full and I'm slowly chipping at it. Very slowly though, because I'm also using it as an "in" box because it forces me to actually comb through it several times a week. I need to change to a smaller box.

It's a LOT easier to get rid of stuff when my kids need it. Those dish towels were hardly ever getting used because they don't match my kitchen, but they were in great shape. And dish towels wear out, so.... now dd has them and someday i can buy new ones that do match.

[freshstart]

I'm impressed- eating the elephant one bite of a time really works. I have several elephants, myself, I'm hoping for a "snap your fingers and the elephants disappear" approach, but that's not realistic, darn. The only way out is through!

[Ultralight]

Lots of good advice and some success stories here. :)

My elephant is hobbies. I like learning new skills and whatnot. Examples:
-Archery: I learned to shoot modern, traditional, and primitive bows. I even handcrafted my own Native American longbow. After I learned all this I sold them.
-Clay target shooting: I bought an Italian shotgun and went clay target shooting twice a week for a year. Once I felt I was good enough I moved on to something else. Sold the gun.
-Cooking: Last winter I decided to learn to cook. So I got a million spices and made a bunch of African and Middle Eastern foods. Spring came and I haven't cooked since.
-Dancing: My resolution for 2015 was/is to learn to dance. I am learning 12 steps/moves over the course of the year. After that, will I still want to dance at all?

I even did this when I was a kid. I learned Ju Jitsu, won a bunch of tournaments, got my black belt and then I was done.

So it is hard for me to control myself when it comes to new skills, hobbies, and interests.

[Chicken lady]

Ultraliteangler, do you see starting new hobbies as a habit you want to break? Or is each new skill an elephant to be tackled?

We have a bid from the first excavating company. The second one is still talking to dh. He isn't totally comfortable with either he first number or the second conversation. Right now he's looking into ways we could cut the first bid a little (without cutting corners - like, is it ok if they just use our bathroom instead of renting a porta-potty?). Lucky for me when he went back to ask the engineer about taking away my little storage rooms he was told they were structural - unless he gets rid of the front steps and little back porch, he'd have to replace the the partitioning walls with steel beams and the cost would be a wash. He can leave the doors off - lol. Back porch might become a little wooden deck though. It's a small space that will be walled on three sides (addition makes 3) so he thought we'd roof it, pour a slab floor and set firewood here, then someday put up a fourth wall of screen and it would fit two chairs.

I haven't made progress on the elephant the last week. I did fail to bring home any new "treasures" from my mil's stash - between visits she fills her barn loft with things we can have. But only because dh wouldn't let me have the end table I wanted. I still want it too, so no points for that.

Oh, wait - small dent in the elephant - I've been making a point to use the canned food I put up in the basement. Mostly the empty jars take up the same space as full jars, but since they can be easily washed/ sterilized, I can store them anywhere and use the cupboard space for "clean" storage during construction.

[Ultralight]

Chicken lady:

Good question. I was thinking last night how I maybe did not explain myself well in this post. Picking up new hobbies (because I can be both whimsical and hyper-focused) is an elephant because, like a shopaholic, I keep buying and buying; or in the case of hobbies, I keep picking them up and picking them up. haha

When I got into archery I spent thousands of dollars on equipment and range time. Pricey! haha. That is just one example.

It sounds like you are making progress for your goal (on your elephant). Do you have a visual representation of your elephant? Something that you could look at daily and see you are indeed making progress? Just a thought... :)

[sweetana3]

I finally had to make a rule "NO MORE NEW HOBBIES". A new hobby just creates the need for more stuff. So unless it requires nothing like walking or writing, no new hobbies are in the works.

I also am not buying more storage containers. That just means more stuff gets stored to make room for more stuff. Finally stopped the madness.

[Ultralight]

sweetana3:

You get it then! You totally get it! haha

My most recent hobby, learning to dance, required only a pair of soft-soled shoes. Mindfulness meditation was another hobby I got into for about a year. Great experience! Especially The 11 Hour Challenge. But what was sweet about it was that it required nothing new. Meditation might be the ultimate minimalist/simple living hobby. haha

Collecting hobbies can really be like collecting stuff! I think sometimes: What if I just maintained a couple of my hobbies over the very long term. Would I enjoy the depth and richness than comes with a decade or more of practicing the hobby?

For a while I had stored seasonal hobby stuff in storage tubs, totes, boxes, and containers (granted, it was like 5 or 6 of these containers, but still...). It just took up a lot of space in the garage. And I thought: "What if I move to a new place and don't have a garage? This stuff will be in my living room!" haha

So how has the no new hobbies rule served you? Pros? Cons?

What about not buying more storage containers? What are you doing instead?

[Chicken lady]

I'm not sure that I can argue that learning new things is bad, but maybe you should think about why you are getting involved in something, what the equipment/materials/cost will be and what your goal is.

If you simply enjoy new challenges, maybe instead of picking a hobby, you could identify a need in your community to solve? You sound like you have a lot of energy!

The thing I can look at every day to see if I am making progress is the hoard in the basement. I can ask myself "how much of this is still above my head?" (not as bad as it sounds, I'm 5'8". I have a wall of 8' shelves, everything above my head is light, soft, and now on or on top of a shelf). "How much floor space do I have?" "Are there any empty flat surfaces?"

Right now, I'm trying to clear back 8' from one wall and half of another to make room for the electrician to work. It's a challenge.

[Ultralight]

Chicken Lady:

You definitely have some visual indicators and you seem to be minding them closely. Good on you! :)

I read the Cheapskate books by Jeff Yeager and he suggested the same thing, which is good advice: "Before you start a hobby, think of the money and time costs."

I do that now. It has been helpful. :)

[Chicken lady]

So yesterday I packed up a box to store until construction is over and slid it into it's waiting cleared spot on my storage rack. I cleaned off a plastic 14"square 3 shelf tower and reconfigured it into pot storage in my greenhouse, and I brought a lamp upstairs and put it by the couch. We needed more light there. it's sitting on an old speaker stand.

Dh came home and said "(positive tone)oh! You brought up a lamp. (pause) it needs to be higher.". I said " it's sitting on the imaginary end table.". He said " we could buy an end table.". I said " I like the one with the glass top." (from his mother's stash). He said "it's too low." it's a standard end table! Conversation over.

Telling about my "visual cues" got me thinking about an incident about 5 years ago. I was at a park day and a friend (a really good friend) said "you look tired.". And I said " I'm feeling over whelmed. I've been working on the basement.". At that point it was the whole basement, not one side.

Another couple was at the picnic table and she gave him a pointed look and said " oh! I know what you mean. We need to clean out our garage! It's horrible.". And he said " it's not that bad.". And my friend said " I don't let my kids go in her basement.". And the woman said " well, we don't let anyone see the garage either. It's embarrassing.". And my friend said " no, I don't let my kids go in her basement because they could bump into something and be crushed to death in an avalanche.". I just nodded.

I don't think it's possible to be crushed to death in my basement anymore. You could pull a bookshelf over, but it would hit something else and stop at a slant, so you'd just be buried in books.

[Chicken lady]

The electrician is at least 3 weeks out on scheduling - we don't have a start date yet. The tree guys come to take down the trees August 8th. I am really going to miss the trees. I feel awful about them, but it is trees down or watch the basement wall continue to crumble and leak. I have been on kind of a tree planting jag to try to compensate.

I emptied a bin and I washed it and when it is dry I will pack away more dolls to wait out construction.

[Chicken lady]

Dh has marked the trees that will go. It akes me queasy. We are removing the deck and stacking the boards for two new firewood racks, a possible new little dek, raised beds, and maybe livestock shelters. (they are copper treated boards, no arsenic)

Edit to add

We also realized we will have to reroute the dryer vent.

[Chicken lady]

Deck removed. Electrician August 6th. Panic starting to set in.

[pony mom]

I hesitate to take up new hobbies because of all the things I'd need to buy. If I get another dog, it'll have to be a similar size to my late dog so I can use the same crate, collars, bowls, blankets. I could never give up owning a horse because I have soooo much stuff.

Today I gathered a bunch of animal-related decorative stuff to donate to a thrift store for an animal rescue group. The store was nicely set up with decent things for sale at low prices so I don't mind leaving my much-loved tchochkies (sp?) there.

[iris lilies]

It's unlikely I will take up new hobbies requiring much "stuff" although I will expand on lo long-held interests. I've had some paint brushes for 40 years.

i consciously, years ago, did not pursue "miniatures" because that interest comes with craploads of stuff. I attended miniature shows I visit the local miniature museum, but i will not become involved in the hobby.

i did end up becoming one of those people I didn't want to become, a flower arranger with a basement full of stuff. I bought 3 new containers this year, simple ones but not especially interesting. That's one of the few areas in which I am still,acquiring.

[Chicken lady]

My mother spent the weekend with my aunt and uncle in the beach house my grandparents built. My uncle has agreed to put the house on the market in the spring. They discussed the disposition of the contents. I will be getting the table and chairs already promised to me and planned for, the pedestal fountain, a tiny child's rocking chair, two small mirrors, a toy I remember fondly, 2 framed pieces of embroidery the size of card decks done by a family friend, and possibly some twin sheets. Dh looked concerned about the fountain, but then agreed that it would go in the corner of the front porch (which will become the side porch) when the front porch is no longer the dining room.

Iris Lilies, I used to have two dollhouses. One was broken beyond repair by movers and I still have all the fancy furniture boxed up against building a new one some day (the other one is a sturdy 4 room designed for a small child to use hard)

Today I need to move a bookshelf.

[Chicken lady]

I moved the bookshelf. In the process I found 8 linear inches of books I can part with (out of 18'). That's about 3.7% or, very little.

I hav a pile for goodwill started on the ding room table. I will probably take it tomorrow.

I haven't put any books back on the shelf yet. I though iwas going to be able to bring two shelves upstairs, but I thinki will not. I'm having a lot of free floating anxiety and I mostly want to go back to bed, but I need to make cheese before the extra milk spoils, so maybe shifting gears will help.

[iris lilies]

I moved the bookshelf. In the process I found 8 linear inches of books I can part with (out of 18'). That's about 3.7% or, very little.

I hav a pile for goodwill started on the ding room table. I will probably take it tomorrow.

I haven't put any books back on the shelf yet. I though iwas going to be able to bring two shelves upstairs, but I thinki will not. I'm having a lot of free floating anxiety and I mostly want to go back to bed, but I need to make cheese before the extra milk spoils, so maybe shifting gears will help.

Don't despair, getting rid of books seems to be The Last Frontier for even minimalist-inclined folks. Leave that for your last task.

Re: the miniatures: I even got rid of the few pieces I had, I donated them to the Miniature museum. A few years ago I jettisoned all of my childhood toys (sold them) as well as those miniatures that interested me even back in my 20's. I have no regrets, but I occasionally look up two of the dolls on Ebay just to see their picture.

I really like living in a major metropolis where one can give special items to appropriate recipients, such as The Miniature Museum.

I gave an old family heirloom, a chair from the Masonic temple in a small Iowa town, to the statewide Masonic library/museum. The chair was interesting, in perfect condition, and I knew its provenance.

There is are toy shows here annually, so I hauled my dolls/toys to those shows and found buyers for most of them. There were no true doll people at that show (because they didn't want the Baby Dear dolls! doh!) so I called the president of the local doll society and she wanted my baby doll. Granted, I only got $25 and could have got a lot more on Ebay, but I really just wanted to place the doll into the hands of someone who knew how special she was.

I sent old pieces of family jewelry to children of nephews and nieces, leaving only costume pieces. When I couldn't find a buyer for those, I just donated them to a seller of vintage jewelry at one of the many antique fairs we have around here.

I am giving these details because I think it's interesting to share where some of this stuff ends up as a result of me living in a major metropolitan area.

[Chicken lady]

I think it's neat when things can go to "just right" homes.

My dad is on a trip, so my mom is working on photo albums ths week. She taught kindergarten after we left home and has a nine foot shelf of photo albums. She's going through them and trying to keep one picture of each child and representative pictures of each event and then she is going to take the books to the high school. Her first class will will have their 10th class reunion next year and her last class is about to graduate, so she is hoping she an get the books passed on to class officers for sharing.

I just have all the frontiers. And a lot of books that need to be moved away from a dirty, wet, construction project.

[Ultralight]

People, my intellectual liberal friends especially, flipped their lids when I told them I was selling or giving away ALL my books. I mean all of them. But this was an excellent decision and I feel great about it. I have not owned a book in a year or more. I just borrow from friends, private libraries, or from the public library mostly. It sounds so obvious, but why have your own collection when you already pay taxes to have professional librarians keep and maintain an easily accessible collection for you, and one that is much more vast!

[Chicken lady]

Oh no. I love my books. I also love the library. The little library is about 12 miles away. They do have air conditioning. The library in the big town connected to the big county system is 20 miles. Getting a book that isn't in the building can take ten days. Getting one out of county can take weeks. Picking one up off the shelf takes minutes.

I have tried reading "books" on a screen. I hate it. Truly. Hate.

I love to go to the library and be surrounded by books I haven't met yet though. It's interesting, my father keeps bees. There is something called " bee space" - a space between frames that makes the bees most comfortble, and if you put the frames too far apart, the bees will draw out wax to narrow the space. I'm like the bees with my collecting and hoarding. I like small spaces, and the spaces between library shelves are just right - I'm the person on the floor reading in your way instead of taking my book to a chair or table.

I wonder what your bee space is Ultralightangler.

[Kestra]

I love to go to the library and be surrounded by books I haven't met yet though. It's interesting, my father keeps bees. There is something called " bee space" - a space between frames that makes the bees most comfortble, and if you put the frames too far apart, the bees will draw out wax to narrow the space. I'm like the bees with my collecting and hoarding. I like small spaces, and the spaces between library shelves are just right - I'm the person on the floor reading in your way instead of taking my book to a chair or table.

I wonder what your bee space is Ultralightangler.

That's a fascinating analogy. I've never heard of bee space before. It makes a lot of sense why some of us are more comfortable in small spaces. I always thought my 650 sq ft homes were way too big. My 120 sq ft bedroom still feels quite big as I don't have much stuff in there.

[Ultralight]

Chicken Lady:

I have dabbled in beekeeping, so I can dig "bee space" but I have never heard the term!

I definitely prefer smaller spaces -- tiny, efficient, and uncluttered. :)

[Chicken lady]

Ultralightangler, you're a mason bee with your tiny little living space and everything you need out in the world. I'm more of a honey bee, I want to go out and collect what I want, bring it home, and store it all around me.

I'm over the anxiety today- at least for now, and ready to take another bite of elephant. There was a really timely post on another blog I read last night talking about dealing with anxiety. The suggestion was to get two pieces of paper, title the first one " things I cannot control" and the second one "things I can control" and then write every single thing that is bothering you on one of those pieces of paper. When you are done, you ball the first one up and throw it away. Then you find the most important thing on the other list and number it "1". You go down the list adding numbers (i quit after the first 4) and then you go back to #1 and start fixing it. I went to bed. I'm fixing today.

[Ultralight]

I am googling the mason bee right now, out of curiosity.

Also: Interesting exercise! Thanks for mentioning it. I may do it myself!

[Chicken lady]

So. I am going to be able to move a second bookshelf upstairs, just a smaller one than I planned at first. Maybe tomorrow. The first bookshelf is not full, but anything that is added to it will come from straightening up the room it is in, not the basement.

I took the stuff to goodwill, so there's that.

Dh is frustrated because he cannot get a second bid on the foundation. The first guy is coming back on Saturday to talk to him.

I don't know how much more elephant I'll be doing in the near future. Even though i only have three weeks to the electric work, I need to concentrate on some other things from my anxiety list for the next week.

[Williamsmith]

I have been reflecting and rediscovering my old self after a quarter century of working a job that restructured my core beliefs. About books. As a teen my parents would do errands and drop me off at the library while they were getting things done. I developed an interest in birds, airplanes, woodworking and plants just by spending time with all those books. I still like to spend time at the local library. And I hate reading a book on an electronic device. Nothing replaces holding the book in my hand. I cannot keep lots of books on hand though and so limit my collection to 21 or fewer.

[Ultralight]

I have been reflecting and rediscovering my old self after a quarter century of working a job that restructured my core beliefs. About books. As a teen my parents would do errands and drop me off at the library while they were getting things done. I developed an interest in birds, airplanes, woodworking and plants just by spending time with all those books. I still like to spend time at the local library. And I hate reading a book on an electronic device. Nothing replaces holding the book in my hand. I cannot keep lots of books on hand though and so limit my collection to 21 or fewer.

21 or fewer? What made you choose that number?

[Williamsmith]

Well, 20 seemed too few ...and 22 too much. Actually, it has always been a favorite number. You understand it is just a trigger number. At any one time there are probably fewer than 21 books in my residence that belong to me. If it isn't a book I keep going back to, I pass it on. Books are for reading not sitting in a box or on a shelf. Books have the capacity to change people so I pass them around. I have a number limit so that I keep books circulating.

[Ultralight]

Well, 20 seemed too few ...and 22 too much. Actually, it has always been a favorite number. You understand it is just a trigger number. At any one time there are probably fewer than 21 books in my residence that belong to me. If it isn't a book I keep going back to, I pass it on. Books are for reading not sitting in a box or on a shelf. Books have the capacity to change people so I pass them around. I have a number limit so that I keep books circulating.

Sounds like you have a system that works!

[Chicken lady]

I took 6 more books to half price books (I drove past on my way home from class) and picked up the new glaze catalog and poster at the studio. But I threw the old glaze stuff away at the end of last semester. I also brought home my project piece from last class, which I guess I will toss in my example cabinet.

And I packed up another bin and got rid of some hangers. Since I have not bought any more bins for this project, every bin I pack up is a bin that already had a slot on the storage rack and was full of stuff I don't have any longer. So later, when I can use the room again and I can unpack it, maybe I will need fewer bins and storage racks!

[Lainey]

Interesting comment about the bins and storage racks: I remember reading how many hoarders actually loved buying plastic totes, bins, boxes, racks, etc. I guess it gave them some thought that they were taking the first steps in organizing; however, it ended with them just accumulating more empty bins.

[Chicken lady]

Oh yes! If we just have enough of the right storage gear, all our problems will magically dissapear, sorted into neat little compartments. Physics need not apply. We don't have too much stuff, we are just disorganized.

My grandmother's house was huge and neatly organized. There were a few problem areas, but not really until the last ten years when she "couldn't get to things" (sorting and packing away) and the attic was full. She lived to be 100. It only took one day to clear away the newspapers, magazines, catalogs, plastic bags etc that made the place look out of control. It took over a year for the family to sort through the rest of it, and it took the auctioneer three days with a second man doing large box lots to auction off what we didn't take, donate, sell privately, give away, recycle or toss out.

[Ultralight]

Oh yes! If we just have enough of the right storage gear, all our problems will magically dissapear, sorted into neat little compartments. Physics need not apply. We don't have too much stuff, we are just disorganized.

My grandmother's house was huge and neatly organized. There were a few problem areas, but not really until the last ten years when she "couldn't get to things" (sorting and packing away) and the attic was full. She lived to be 100. It only took one day to clear away the newspapers, magazines, catalogs, plastic bags etc that made the place look out of control. It took over a year for the family to sort through the rest of it, and it took the auctioneer three days with a second man doing large box lots to auction off what we didn't take, donate, sell privately, give away, recycle or toss out.

I have bought some storage tubs in the past. I actually still have two of them, one is for my waders during the off season. But every time I go into the garage and see that big storage tub I have a little anxiety. haha
This probably also has to do with the fact that it has my waders in it that I have not used in over a year and my dog's life jacket which he does not often wear because he hates water and I don't take him in my canoe anymore.

[Kestra]

I bought more large storage tubs recently as I was getting sick of having to find cardboard boxes when I wanted to move (harder without a car as well to get boxes). I also wanted to keep my stuff in a more organized fashion - like this bin is only crafts, this one is only kitchen, so moving is less chaotic. I believe I have 8 bins now, and the majority of my possessions fit in those 8 bins; I'm quite happy with the system. Now if I need to find something I only have a check a couple bins and it's all there.

[Ultralight]

I bought more large storage tubs recently as I was getting sick of having to find cardboard boxes when I wanted to move (harder without a car as well to get boxes). I also wanted to keep my stuff in a more organized fashion - like this bin is only crafts, this one is only kitchen, so moving is less chaotic. I believe I have 8 bins now, and the majority of my possessions fit in those 8 bins; I'm quite happy with the system. Now if I need to find something I only have a check a couple bins and it's all there.

Good system. This last time I moved I threw stuff into big plastic bags. I was in a rush (long-ish story). I suppose if I had a handful of those bins I could moved easier, but other than my winter clothes and a few seasonal fishing items I just use everything I have almost daily or weekly.

[Chicken lady]

I feel like the elephant has stepped on my head.

The second bookshelf is upstairs. The books are in it. Another bookshelf has been emptied, moved ten feet and refilled. I have one more empty bin. And nine 3' shelves of the modular shelf to clear, take apart, and store until the project is done.

I feel like I can't possibly make anymore progress. But I have been here before. Something will give.

[Ultralight]

Just gotta keep at it, right?

[nswef]

I'm impressed that the bookcases are upstairs and filled, not just put in the room. Clearing shelves is very hard....

[Chicken lady]

Some days that is harder than others.

I found a few papers I could recycle, so that's something out of the house instead of just moved around. Even if itisn't very much.

[Chicken lady]

Hi nswef! I've missed you! I was actually replying to Ultralightangler even though it made sense with your post. :) Thanks for the encouragement all around.

[Chicken lady]

So the foundation guy came back to talk to dh today. On the plus side - the space I have already created is adequate (but there at a lot of things on surfaces that I don't want to leave exposed to dirt, dust, and knocking over)

On the down side - the entire storage rack will have to be moved away from the other wall. However, that is "phase 2". So I'm hoping that either phase one will be complete enough that I can move he rack into the empty space, or, phase 2 will start late enough that the college students will be gone and I can out the stuff where their furniture and gear are right now.

[Chicken lady]

Ug.

Last night dh told me he wants o schedule the guy to move the water softener next week.

1) dh told e HE was going to move the water softener.

2) I have two pieces of furniture in the way of where the water softener is going to go and moving them will not be simple. It is fair week. Now is not a good time. I told him wednesday or Friday (I have class on Thursday's).

So as soon as fair is over, I will be doing that.

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, I admire your flexibility and your working style with your DH. Clearly, the two of you share goals, and you work together to get to them.

I assume these two pieces of furniture are things you are keeping and have a plan for where they are going to live, ultimately. Can your college kids help you with some of this moving, or are they swamped in their summer jobs?

[Chicken lady]

Thanks. We try. I also try not to post anything anywhere when I'm mad at him. :). So we probably look better than we are. #1 may have been longer IRL.

One piece of furniture is modular. It needs to be emptied, dissasembled, and stored until the project is done. Then I'm not sure where it will go, but there are three possibilities. The second piece of furniture holds dishes, glassware, and table furnishings that are used infrequently (vases, large serving pieces, extra wine glasses...). It needs to be emptied and put where the first piece is now and then refilled. It will probably then stay there.

Ds will probably help me Monday. I think dd is working. The two biggest issues are where to put the books that are on the modular piece and the annoyance of loading and unloading glassware just so I can move the cabinet twelve feet.

[Chicken lady]

Plumber coming Wednesday morning.

Construction loan for framing approved. (For later)

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, good progress! I hope you get help to relocate the 2 big pieces and their contents either Friday or Monday. I'm sure it will be a relief when it's done. And moving the water softener sounds like a big accomplishment also.

[Chicken lady]

Moved a book shelf. Found two books I can part with, and started dissasembling the first piece of furniture.

After spending most of the week at the county fair I'm feeling more ready to dig back into the house.

[mschrisgo2]

Good work!
I have new motivation: Circulation Day at church is on the 18th, so I am going to do a run through tomorrow and identify things to go there.

[Chicken lady]

I don't know what circulation day is, but it sounds like something I would love.

We used to attend a homeschool swap n shop every year that was part curriculum fair, part yardsale, part carnival with picnics, swimming, and lots of give aways. The hostess wouldn't let you abandon anything, so you had to convince people to take enough of your old stuff to fit your new stuff in the car. Dh used to help me load the car to go to be sure it was packed full.

I did once leave one of my children behind... (as an overnight guest of the host family's child)

All of the furniture is moved. I need to reload the cupboard and clean up a few things that might be in the plumber's way. I parted with three more small but difficult items.

[mschrisgo2]

Circulation Day is a fundraiser for the youth program at my church. People bring good things that they don't need, and the things are displayed but not priced. People from all around including neighboring towns come. Everyone takes what they want and gives a free-will donation. Everybody knows its for the youth program, and the teens and kids are all there helping. They raise several thousand dollars every year.

I use it for my "too good to give away but don't need" stuff that I haven't found another suitable home for.

Chicken Lady, sounds like you're nearly ready for the construction work to begin. ;)

[Chicken lady]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, construction begins the minute this guy cuts off my water today. We've already done a lot of the demolition phase. (I have a beautiful new ex-deck firewood rack btw).

I will be very happy when the foundation is done. That is going to be the absolute worst part for me. We don't have it scheduled yet, and I am not good with huge, scarey uncertainties looming in my future.

[Chicken lady]

So, the water softener is moved. Dh signed the contract for the foundation (still don't have a start date) and he is waiting on bids from three companies on the external framing.

I found some empty space I forgot about! And moved six little glasses out of the basement.

I also got inspired by TxZen and cleaned out a trunk - added a necklace, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, and a skirt to the goodwill pile.

Little by little.

[ToomuchStuff]

We used to attend a homeschool swap n shop every year that was part curriculum fair, part yardsale, part carnival with picnics, swimming, and lots of give aways. The hostess wouldn't let you abandon anything, so you had to convince people to take enough of your old stuff to fit your new stuff in the car.
I did once leave one of my children behind... (as an overnight guest of the host family's child)



So your not part of the no child left behind thing?:laff:

[Chicken lady]

Nope homeschoolers are exempt - lol!

They spraypainted my yard today.

[Chicken lady]

Remember the part about will people come?

One of my daughter's 4h friends was over last week. She's a little younger than my daughter - still 17. She said " my parents are moving this weekend. Can I live here? I said " sure.". So now we have 3 "kids" in the house again. She leaves August 14th for college. Her parents left her a car, which they will reclaim when they meet her at college to drop off the stuff that she needs that got moved.

I think I'm one of those creatures that builds a nest and then when it is empty other creatures move in.

[Lainey]

That's very nice of you Chicken lady. Letting someone stay in your home during a transition like this is a wonderful gesture and they will always remember your kindness.

[Chicken lady]

Thank you for the sentiment, but it's just fun. She's a delightful girl. I like being a place where people feel like they can just show up and move in. I actually jump when somebody knocks on my door. I'm used to kids walking in.

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, "They spray painted my yard today." Was this a good thing?

[Chicken lady]

"call before you dig". They marked all the electric, phone, and water lines. Didn't mean to cryptic.

We cleared out one side of the garage yesterday and took down the pegboard so it's all ready for the electric guys to put our new panel in. That's scheduled or Thursday and Friday.

[Chicken lady]

Electric guys are (I hope) half done.

I have to go pick up our building permit tomorrow.

Excavator will be calling next week to schedule a "Pre-dig" visit.

Assessor for bank loan for framing is coming in a week and a half.

My studio is slowly getting more organized and I am throwing some things out.

[mschrisgo2]

Wonderful progress!

[Chicken lady]

So we have the building permit.

The electric guys have to come back on Monday due to a series of setbacks (the chain on their trencher broke, there was an unanticipated support beam they had to work around, the inspector took two hours to show up, look at the trench and say " yeah, it's deep enough." so they could put cable in it....)

The tree guys are coming today to take own the trees in my back yard. I really hate this part.

Dh and I went for a walk yesterday and he asked " what did you do with all the stuff that was in the basement? And I said " it's still down there, or it's gone. Except for the yellow shelf (modular) and a toy truck I took out to the shop barn, and the things I brought up to the new bedroom. (two bookshelves and half a dozen dolls with a small set of furniture). He said " so you got rid of 30% of the stuff down there?". I told him I don't know, but I got rid of a lot of stuff. He was impressed for once.

All three of my bio kids will be "home" tonight (even the one with her own house). The extra kid's mom came back to take care of some stuff with the house they are selling, so she returned for at least the weekend. She may just leave with her mom depending on timing and her work schedule next week.

Ds starts moving out tomorrow. He spends two weeks in a dorm for work and then comes back for the rest of his stuff and moves into his apartment. We move his little sister back to school the same weekend.

I'm hoping they won't start digging he foundation until September so I have a week to just get ready for my classes in peace before I start back to work.

[Zoe Girl]

Nope homeschoolers are exempt - lol!

They spraypainted my yard today.

okay my first thought was about how we made a giant twister game on the field at summer camp. basically spray painting big circles on the grass. a great idea for a big family gathering party thing

[Chicken lady]

The trees are down.

The yard s cleared.

And my oldest took her last bookshelf, her half-finished pottery, and an old desk back to her house.

She also returned the kitchen shears I liked and took two pairs I bought trying to replace them in exchange.

[nswef]

Chicken Lady, Time for a celebration of putting up your feet!!! Patting yourself on the back and just looking all around. About the trees, we had several removed a couple years ago and I was worried I would miss them, where would the birds rest, nest? Well, I don't miss them a bit! I am very surprised. We have more bluebirds, the hummingbirds returned, the cardinals, mocking birds and finches are all happy, too. Enjoy the cleared yard.

[Chicken lady]

The electric/phone is done except the final inspection by the power company.

One of our phones in the house doesn't work, but dh says he can fix it this weekend.

We have acres of trees and I don't mind he view, but it was very hard to see trees that may be older than I am cut down. The largest one was rotting in the heartwood at the top though, so that made me feel better.

I have been mostly working on my pottery studio lately - which is not in the house but out in the pole barn. I am trying to make something and throw something out every day. I have a potential market for the made things, and I don't keep everything I make, but I need to get back into practice. This is one thing I want to do in my next act.

The things I am throwing out are mostly failed/broken pieces I wasn't ready to part with for some reason (often "I want to rework this idea/glaze" - in which case I pick that for one of my things to make so I can throw the reminder away) and "potentially useful for crafts" items that have crept in from the children's area. Also broken things I m never going to fix that cost less than $5 in the first place.

[thunderseed]

But I hate going places. We live out in the country on a farm. It's half an hour to anywhere. Hotels are an hour. Our best friends in town have four kids who have started marrying and we get together as families. Their last visit was when I discovered we could all be in one room if half of us were standing. I want a house full at Christmas and Easter and thanksgiving and summer and birthdays and the day we freeze beans and the day we make jam or pickles, and I want to put grandchildren to bed while their parents sit out by the pond around a fire. I believe in riding tricycles in the house.

A family "gathering" in our family isn't "thanksgiving dinner" or a 4th of July picnic. It's "spring break", "Christmas vacation", a week in the summer. When people come here they come for the day. And sometimes they look at the bottle of wine on the table or the snow outside and say "can we spend the night?" and I say "sure".

That sounds amazing to me!

[Chicken lady]

Yeah, it sounds amazing to me too.

Yesterday ds brought his girlfriend out - they are both in college a little over an hour away. He is in a dorm for a job until the 21st, but she is already in her apartment. We chatted and cut beans and froze them, and then he took a cooler of beans and some of his furniture back to stash in her apartment for a week. Next weekend he's coming back for the rest of his stuff and eggs and squash.

Also dd1 called to see if I still have her cake stand because she wants it afterall (I do) so she'll be coming for that.

The guy in charge of digging our foundation finally e-mailed us. Apparently he didn't get up with us last week because he had a medical issue. He's supposed to call tomorrow. Also tomorrow the bank guy is coming to take pictures of the house for the framing loan.

Oh, also we bought a low wide shelf and a long cord on Thursday as our anniversary present to us and the tv and stereo stuff are now installed neatly on one piece of attractive furniture in the "den" (formerly the livingroom) and ds took all the various shelves, stands
and boards dating from our college days that had been in use. It looks really nice.

[Chicken lady]

So, we still have randomly intermittent phone service - which we don't understand and are not sure is actually connected to the change. We cannot reach an actual human at the phone company.

The digging guy met with dh today while I was taking dd2 to college. They can probably get us on the schedule in about a month. Also, before they start, the side of he basement that I have not been working on (and that I have in fact added things to) needs to be emptied. That starts tomorrow when ds moves his stuff back to school.

[Chicken lady]

I am tired and frustrated and overwhelmed, and the elephant is winning.

I have gotten about ten percent of the stuff out of the basement, which sounds like a lot, but it was the easy stuff that just slid into the empty space my son made. Now I have to figure out the other 80%.

Dh says i can store stuff in the workshop barn, but it s dirty and dusty and sometimes damp and smelling of diesel. I am working on emptying part of my pantry cupboard (which is allowed to stay) so that I can put some of the things in there.

Tonight I am using up two boxes of cornbread. When I go out tomorrow I will buy orange juice, mint, and yellow raisins. Then I will use up those (except the juice) and the regular raisins and a box of currants and a can of chick peas and some cous cous and a bunch of flour and some sugar and we will have Moroccan cous cous and Irish tea brack.

For the next month we are eating elephant stew!

[Mrs. Hermit]

Love the term "elephant stew"!

[Chicken lady]

Also my math was not good. 90%. I still have to figure out where to put 90% of the stuff. Maybe that was wishful thinking?

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, I hope you've gotten to do your lesson planning in peace the last week or so, and not that the elephant has gotten the best of you.

[Chicken lady]

Lesson planning is almost done - I had all the outlines/overviews/prep lists etc done for open house on Sunday. Just playing with details for September now.

The diggers still don't have us on the schedule. The phone still only works sometimes. There is still too much stuff in the basement. I have gotten a few things out of the pantry, the bins we are storing for youngest daughter and the Halloween decorations are in youngest daughter's former closet. The bed and night stand ds was using are moved up to a bedroom. I have a pile of stuff dh can move to the barn. But I still can't see how this is going to happen.

[Chicken lady]

Dh talked to he excavation guy again yesterday. He said two weeks. He's also putting together a second quote to replace the entire foundation wall instead of repairing it. Which I think will involve screwing up our Internet along with the phone service that still isn't working right, because the junction box is on that wall. Also, the hot water heater is basically against it.

[mschrisgo2]

Ooh, Chicken Lady, that new idea doesn't sound very good, many things to get disrupted... bummer that your phone still isn't working right. Do you think it's your inside lines, or is it the coming into the house part that isn't working?

[Chicken lady]

It's definitely the line coming in to the house. We have a phone in the studio/shop that splits off between the incoming line and the house wiring and it doesn't work right either. Sometimes we have phone service, mostly we don't.

Yesterday I moved a small bookshelf and a large bookshelf and most of he contents upstairs. More books and another large shelf of games to move up today. Still working on the pantry slowly. Opened a fresh jar of pickles yesterday. New rule - nothing goes into the basement unless it is going into my desk or the freezer or egg/milk fridge. Things only come out.

[Chicken lady]

Ok, all the book shelves that can come upstairs are upstairs. The rest are in the 1/4 of the basement (half of one side) that I don't have to empty.

I have emptied 20% of the storage racks and maybe 50% of the floor area. I have a huge bag of bubblewrap to take to school and stuff in my storage closet for my students to take their pottery home.

I made a couple of hard decisions about giving some things up. I'm thinking about quitting for the day. I have a week? Not sure because we don't have a firm date, just a guestimate, but at least a week. Only two of those days I work.

[Chicken lady]

We signed the loan papers today. My phone works again. Still no start date on the dig. Dh is calling them again tomorrow.

[Chicken lady]

So, finally, the excavator asked if we would be ready by the end of the week. Dh said " we are ready now" (actually he will be helping me move storage racks tonight). Dh says to be prepared for them to show up at any time but not to count on them until next week.

I am nervous and excited. I need to make a goodwill drop tomorrow.

Dh still doesn't have the second quote about replacing the wall. I don't know what hat means. Mostly, I just want to get this part over with. Watching the trees come down was the worst thing emotionally. The dig will be the most disruptive.

[Chicken lady]

Now it is "the first of the week" and we have the name of a man who will be calling to finalize. Dh is taking the temporary steps off he back of the house.

The house feels crowded and mesy and overwhelming again just like it did before I started when the basement was full. So many little things - like, I have two pie keepers that I fill with pies three or four times a year. So they live in the basement. Now they are in my kitchen. I should make pie more often. Dh likes it. I bought a big package of paper towels - cheaper, but now, instead of being in the basement, there are 5 rolls of paper towels in my kitchen. My renfest clothes are in my closet instead of the basement, the printer is in the guest room instead of the basement, etc.

I need to keep at it. I imagine how open it will feel if I can trim back and then have the basement and the new room! It's really hard though.

[Chicken lady]

Today dh decided to drain the water heater and replace the valve because the bottom was full of "stuff". In case he has to move it for construction. Things were corroded and stuck and he ended up cutting a pipe an is still plumbing and I don't really understand why we don't just move it at this point, but I have learned not to ask questions like that when plumbing is happening. Actually I'm not sure why he had to drain it and replace the valve so that it would be easier to drain in a week or so IF he has to, but I didn't ask that either.

But I need to do laundry and I want to make cheese and I am a little frustrated at having no water all day.

I think by the end of the month I'll be saying the serenity prayer in my sleep.

[Chicken lady]

We are " on the schedule for this week."

And I took a load of stuff to goodwill.

[Ultralight]

Congrats on being on schedule...and for taking the load to Goodwill! I know that must have been a challenge, and you met the challenge. :)

[Chicken lady]

Thanks. Dh can't understand why it took me so long.

I feel good about what I did in the basement, but when I go into the basement, I don't feel good - I feel cold and anxious and a little bit of vertigo. The empty (still a few things against two walls they won't touch - blank white cupboards, fridge, chest freezer) basement triggers my " bee space" response and I want to replace the carpet, scrub the walls, paint, and fill it up with shelves that break it into smaller space, and colors, and textures.

I remind myself that I will get to do at least some of that eventually and I quickly go back upstairs. Where my inner squirrel gets to enjoy the two bags of groceries on the kitchen countr because we just shopped for the week and there isn't enough room up here to put them away. - two steps forward, one step back.

[Chicken lady]

They are here! They're building the support wall in the basement!

I am cleaning up/clearing out inthe workshop so I don't have to be around the construction. (strangers in my space doing work for me make me feel awkward)

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, congrats on getting that phase of the project underway! and kudos for cleaning/clearing in the workshop- sounds like a win-win all the way around!

[Chicken lady]

Thanks!

The wall is done and the track hoe is parked in my yard. Supposedly they will start digging while I'm at work tomorrow. (dh is taking the day off.)

I can already see a difference in the pottery studio area. I moved some furniture around and I filled two grocery bags with recycling and 3/4 of the street garbage can with trash. I dug dd1's old bike out (everything ends up in the workshop barn) and dh fixed it up for me and I rode it around the driveway! I haven't ridden a bike in years. It was fun!

[Chicken lady]

Digging has started. Took another box to school today. Unfortunately another teacher gave me a stack of books nd I know I want some of them, so i'll have to sort through.

[mschrisgo2]

Wonderful work on your big project!
And doesn't it feel good to know you will sort through those books and only keep the ones you want? I know, one more thing on the to-do list, but you'll do it.

I, on the other hand, have done Nothing this month. I got stalled after I decided the temp storage wasn't a good idea. I was going to move things onto the porch temporarily, but it's been too hot, and I'm back to teaching, too, so I am tired at days end.

[Chicken lady]

And it's a small stack - much smaller than the box.

I actually had some books in my car to drop at half price, but I was so tired last night (the first few weeks back at school...) that I decided to skip the stop, sort the new books, and do the drop next week. I'm just going to sit in the car and sort. That way the new books don't even get out of my car if I don't want to keep them.

Honestly, I think it was good hat you decided to skip the storage area. You will get back to the project, and meanwhile you won't re-fill the space because things are in storage. I've found that eating rid of one's, drawers, and shelves as soon as I empty them is a big help on momentum.

[Chicken lady]

Two of the kids came out yesterday. Dd1 took the cupcake carrier and the potato ricer, ds took his work boots and his large painting to go over his couch.

Books are sorted. Kept 4.

Yesterday I also consigned an old, beat up metal shelf to the scrap metal pile - after relocating/throwing out the things on it.

[mschrisgo2]

Good job on the books. Nice that the kids can keep shopping at your house, lol.
And trashing an old metal shelf?! Now That is Great Work!
How is the construction coming along?