Today, on this warm and mostly sunny February afternoon, I am on cloud nine. I truly do feel lighter than air. Why is that, you may be wondering (c’mon, play along, it involves another giveaway…;) The reason is that, yet again, I have finished my annual spring cleaning of the basement. (Wild cheering to be heard from me!) No, technically it isn’t spring yet, but with temps in the 50’s and longer, lighter days, my mind has been lulled into believing it has arrived early. As a result the deep, dark depths of my home are clean, sorted and organized once more ~ ahhhhh.
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| Half of this is camping supplies and the other half is holiday decorations. All neatly stored in bins |
I know that you’ve only heard me say 200 (thousand) times that I thrive in simple and organized surroundings. Not just one or the other, but both, working in perfect harmony together. I have a schedule that works for me, and keeps me on top of my housework instead of drowning beneath it. For example, today at some point, when I feel so inclined, I’ll move through the house and water plants, dust and polish. Yesterday was animal cages, and tomorrow will be bathrooms. In this way it all gets done in small chunks and I don’t have to sacrifice ‘my time’ in order to keep the house the way I like it. As I said, this all works beautifully except for… the basement.
Probably by most standards it is a relatively clean space, it drives me crazy however. Pull my hair out crazy. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to go down there countless times during the day, but I do. Repeatedly. The woodstove needs to be fed regularly, and I’ve got two chest freezers holding bulk baking goods that have me running up and down, over and over. Time and again the mess is brought to my attention.
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| I did move some furniture out of the basement during the latest cleaning spree, but most all of this stuff is handmade by Scott and I won't throw it away. I figure one day I'll have empty rooms and they will have a home once again. :) |
You many be wondering how this mess even begins, considering my (abnormal) degree of tidiness. It’s simple really, my girls have grown up around me, and consequently adopted many of my clean habits. As a result of that there is always someone de-cluttering. Most recently Riley Mae sorted through her closet, just because it needed it, with no prodding or prompting on my part. Any time someone (me) rearranges rooms, furniture gets carried down two flights of stairs to take up residence will all of the other current homeless pieces. Every time someone de-clutters, it ends up keeping those discarded furniture pieces company. As you can imagine, over time it grows and grows and grows.
My mother and I have an agreement, she takes unwanted junk off of my hands, and then whatever money she makes off of it is hers, either through yard sales or consignment. If it doesn’t fit into either category, it ends up donated to the thrift store or put out by the side of the road with a free sign attached. Things disappear with remarkable speed in this way! In between purgings the basement becomes the holding area for these items, building until I want to seal off the stairs and never venture down there again.
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| This woodstove heats three floors of our home (including the basement). It was a worthwhile investment and is our only heat source now. Scott gathers most of the wood himself and our dependency on oil shrinks... |
Strangely I’m not usually aware of how much the clutter affects my balance and well-being until it’s been removed, and I feel as though a giant weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I’m delightfully free and unencumbered, my relief is so great. That is the place where I find myself today, for the third day in a row. I’m glad this feeling lingers, I like it very much. It makes me so giddy I want to give stuff away. (No, not basement junk. ;) While I was down there cleaning though, I came across a box of clipboards that I had made. New, and never used they were nonetheless relegated to the dungeon because the paper I had used to create them wasn’t recycled, and so no longer fit my green criteria for my shop, Backyard Dreams. Of course, they aren’t doing anyone any good hanging out down there, so I thought I’d begin by giving one away to one of my delightful followers. All you’ve got to do is leave me a comment and I’ll choose a winner next week. J
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| This actually is recycled paper, but it has my old shop name on the back! |
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| For the dog lover... |
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| The winner gets to choose whichever of these boards strikes her fancy. The backsides are also decorated |
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| Recycled paper again! :) |
Now I'll be off. Perhaps a cup of hot tea and a bit of time reading my book (I'm currently deeply immersed in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I'm LOVING it!) will be in order. After all, the basement is clean for another year... I deserve a reward of some sort. ;)
Peace & Blessings ~ Melinda