BS: De-cluttering - part two

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 May 08 - 01:44 PM

That sounds like fun, Maryanne. I think I"ll get some tomato plants this weekend, too.

I have had a hiatus as I need Rog's help with moving out books and LPs. He's got to work part of this weekend at JUCO, the Junior COllege World Baseball Tournament.*sigh* BUT, he tells me it will mostly be at evening news time, so I hope to get his help in doing more.

I did get the bottles washed, the ones I've decided to keep and this morning I found, unexpectedly, a nice $3 tray at Walgreens, to display them on. I also did the dishes which had been soaking for a few days.:-) And a load of laundry.

We're also caretaking three of our granddogs, at their house...so at least three trips back and forth each day with Rog doing early and late, me in between.

Now, I know I can get some clutter done with on my jewellery table as my friend okayed the first design and I can finish it quite easily and quickly, get it ready to send off and start on the next! I'll post a picture when I get it done.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: maire-aine
Date: 23 May 08 - 11:23 AM

I have high hopes for the 3-day weekend. If I can get out of the office early, I can do the grocery shopping and throw some laundry in the washing machine. That would give me a head-start. I've had the ingredients for muffins on a tray on the counter-top, and I just keep moving it from one place to another, but I'll bake them over the weekend. I also want to make some home-made breakfast sausage on Saturday-- I'm thawing out the pork loin today. Once those things are done, I can clear the decks in the kitchen.

I've got 4 big containers of newspaper clippings and articles printed from various websites, all on political & economic topics. I would really like to go thru them (keep the general stuff and toss the Bush-specific ones), but that just seems such a daunting task. Maybe I'll just throw a table cloth over the whole pile.

The Belle Isle Botanical Society plant sale is this Saturday, so I want to go and buy my tomato plants early and get them in the ground.

If I can get that much done, I'll be satisfied.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 08 - 10:57 AM

We made a playhouse with a door and window from the box that my dryer came in. After that finally went out to the curb my sister gave the kids a cardboard playhouse and there were a few times when we put bedding in it and they spent the night in their "house." It just doesn't get much more fun than that!

Today lunchtime is for file fine-tuning. Dealing with the little stacks that were set aside to deal with when a larger file of stuff was being shredded. Those piles have to go somewhere for all of this to work. I need to address the old files on little floppy disks also. I have several plastic cases that fit only those files, so I'll compress them, burn copies to CDs, and re-purpose or donate those cabinets. This is small, but will make moving around my office easier.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 May 08 - 10:42 AM

Well, Freecycled stuff picked up and gone and what I had no bite on (wood pulp egg cartons) will go to one of the friends I had lunch with yesterday. On the way home, dropped off foodie magazines and a large accumulation of loose recipes with another friend. This morning I pulled a couple things out of my "gift suitcase" to take to a friend's yardsale this weekend. Emailed a friend notorious for salvaging and using obsolete technology -- gave him a list of old still in box Mac software to see if he wants them along with the oversized Postscript laser printer when we get together (soon I hope!).

Investigating selling a vulcanizer and rubberstamp-making tackle locally on Craig's List -- too heavy to ship. Will come with all The Rubbersmith's plates and matrices. Sigh. I guess it's time to sell my "firstborn" (business).

Found some photography books to de-accession while I was in the guest room. Have someone in mind for them, too.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Diva
Date: 23 May 08 - 07:18 AM

Still in a guddle......kitchen not finished and have come to a halt with the de cluttering. However, weather permitting we are going to sell at a car boot on Sunday..so providing I don't buy anything....

Ah weans (babies/toddlers) and boxes....much more fun than the toy that came in it

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 23 May 08 - 06:28 AM

More boxes were delivered yesterday, just have to get round to packing more books and cd's into them....and digging Harry and cat out of them...they 'think' they are helping!!

Hope Limpit doesn't get lost in her room!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 May 08 - 02:38 AM

Update on Limpit's room - not a sausage. Plenty of old oat bar wrappers and the odd festering crust, but no progress.

It's half term next week.. that'll keep her busy for a while!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 08 - 12:32 AM

No reports this evening? Lin, is JunK helping in any way this week? LTS, has Limpet cleaned her room? Kat, have the kids retrieved the bottles and LPs and such?

I have managed to get through the heavy-weather of family estate stuff. I need to make another pass because I know there is a lot more paper there I can trash. I took a big trash bag of shredded paper to work today and stuffed it into the administration office's recycle bin. It is usually filled with shredded paper and they have arrangements on campus for the careful disposal of shreds since so much if it has to do with hiring and benefits and personnel actions.

Stuff was dropped off at the Goodwill trailer, and I swung by the city trash/recycle station and emptied stuff in those bins. I'm in good shape to sort and toss over the long weekend (in the U.S. Monday is Memorial Day.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 08 - 12:53 PM

This last box with its expanding file has been like immersing myself in a virtual dust storm. It seems necessary to stir up a lot of things in order to put them to rest. I think a bottle of wine and a bonfire will be the appropriate end to a lot of the contents.

As I work through files I end up with these little piles of paper that need to go somewhere else to live. So while the expanding file is shrinking, I have to stop every so often and put papers in existing new files or park them in the "look then trash" area.

Looks like I have to make a trip to work today. How many other things can I do on the way? Perhaps uncover a couple more square feet of floor with thrift store donations to take along? Pull some lumpy object from the garage to free up space (maybe something the truck door hits when we open it in the garage?)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 08 - 12:28 AM

Heavy lifting of paper in the family baggage department this evening. I got through a few of the compartments in the big expanding file with estate stuff. Ooooof. The letters and accusations people made. We had one family member who didn't think equal shares suited him, and it didn't help that the deceased party played favorites with accounts that couldn't legally be included as part of the estate. I'm dumping everything peripheral and holding only the documents that the attorneys generated, which is still a lot, but not two boxes full.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 May 08 - 06:46 PM

Oops!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 May 08 - 06:21 PM

It's saying Yes to myself that got me so far behind and cluttered in the first place!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 08 - 06:03 PM

One short but loaded hour today was spent going through a file of my Dad's stuff. Shredding most, but filing a few for further examination when I have the leisure to put it in order. Some for historic purposes for my kids, some for my own interest (legal proceedings). Contemplating the internal baggage that I can discard. There's one more box that is almost smoldering it has so much family baggage. :-/

Looks like I have to drive to work tomorrow, so to get a two-fer out of the trip I'll load up thrift store stuff.

I've emptied a large box of computer supplies and rearranged office shelving. Part of tomorrow's run will include computer disks to put in the shredder at work.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 May 08 - 01:27 PM

Chocolate sounds good. I have had a Sonic grilled chicken wrap with no sauce for lunch the past two days, but it didn't seem to help!

I did get totally disgusted with my desk this morning and went through a bunch of papers, stapled the ones I wanted to keep and transferred them to a hanging file holder so they are organised and handy at least. Didn't keep too many. Still have one pile to go through.

I have catnip and flax plants in the bathroom waiting to be planted. It's the only place safe from the cats, but first I have to go through the cluttered shed to find the fencing which will keep the neighbour cats out of it once I plant it!

I will be packing up bottles, today, to send to a friend, so that will help in the dining room.

Lin...SRS is right, no sense beating yourself up...just take an equal amount out.:-)

LtS...maybe say "yes" to yourself before saying "yes" to others? Just be nice to yourself, regardless.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 08 - 12:41 PM

Lin, don't beat yourself up for backsliding, simply find an equal number of books, plus one if you want to get ahead, and donate them somewhere.

I was mowing the back yard last night and made a mental tally of things to trim and move because I have to trim around or move them every time I mow. The stuff I kept to use "one of these days" should either get used or find a place to live where it won't be in the way. My yard work will be easier.

I'm busy, but can still manage small steps. At lunch today I'll escort some of the stuff I want to discard out to the pickup.

When I have finished this work I want to end up with a table setup that can be easily moved out the side door to enable baking (to avoid heating up the house in this hot weather). I have a Dutch oven that will work perfectly, and there is a GFCI plug beside the door. It's getting to that season, but the adjacent room is still too full to put the oven and table where they should go.

It looks like we're all feeling some frustration at not being able to see more progress from all of our work. What's a solution? I may try for a big Memorial Day weekend push. Anyone else?

Chocolate?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 May 08 - 01:28 AM

Lin - I know the feeling. I have so much to do here, things I've promised to people, but somehow, real life just gets in the way...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 21 May 08 - 01:10 AM

Sigh. Needed badly to get out of the house for awhile, so of course went to Borders Bookstore, and of course came home with a bagfull of books, even though the bookcases are overflowing. Sigh.

Lin

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 May 08 - 10:29 PM

What a remarkable woman, SRS. Thanks for the link.

It felt good to drop off the two boxes of books, today. My house still looks like a disaster, but I can see order coming through. Tomorrow I call the Goodwill and arrange for them to pick up the other books and LPs.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 08 - 05:22 PM

You've got it, Khat, the box is usually better than the toy.

The stuff in that box I just mentioned included a 1974 Seattle Times clipping about a rummage sale find, a book by Harriet Hubbard Ayer, called Complete and Authentic Treatise on the Laws of Health and Beauty, published in 1902. I don't know why I kept the clipping, but it is pretty interesting. I did a search and found a modest page with some information about Ayer, sponsored by a descendant of hers: http://www.harriethubbardayer.org/. She led a rather remarkable short life.

Now that I've told you about this clipping I will toss it in the recycle bin.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 20 May 08 - 04:03 PM

We've started boxing up stuff for the impending move to a bigger house....although I don't want to fill the new place with too much tut! I'm doing one room at a time and it's not going to badly as alot of things weren't unpacked from the last move and I had a major declutter back then.

It was Harry's birthday yesterday and I have kind of managed to get rid of some of the wrapping paper and toy boxes to the recyling without him seeing!...who needs toys when a box and a bit of paper will do?!! *G* All of his small clothes are packed away in vaccuum sealed bags as we will be needing them again.

I suppose I should sort out the material pile and the wool pile at somepoint soon.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 08 - 03:14 PM

I've been busy trying to clear my desk of work-related stuff, but today I finished something from the weekend. I rediscovered a treasure, a box with my old college botany herbarium. I emptied out the papers of plants long since forgotten and cleaned it up. Collecting and identification and mounting of plants is a hobby I used to enjoy that perhaps I will share with the kids. We can collect blooming wildflowers in the woods across the street.

I did de-clutter the oddball stuff I found in the box underneath the herbarium--old check registers to shred, an ashtray from a Reno casino (I never smoked, so it probably isn't mine), etc.

I have a rocking chair that belonged to my great grandmother (I have a photo of her sitting in it). It is beautiful and comfortable, but it was coming unglued when I moved it to Texas 25 years ago. My ex took it apart. He did that to a number of pieces of furniture, but only completed one of these projects of his (had my kitchen chairs dipped and refinished). I need to sand the dowels and reglue it and put it back into service. It's in the garage and is a keepsake I really would like to use. Aslett is clear that not everything is junk, and by getting rid of the clutter you can rediscover those treasures. It is too bad this has been set aside for so long.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 May 08 - 03:10 PM

Not much so far today but I was busy with physical therapy, fainting over the cost of filling my gas tank, and applying for a couple jobs.

But I did bring some more cardboard upstairs, tear it up and bag it. And then I went outside and cut brush on the high side of the driveway -- tricky footing, so I had to be careful. Don't want to break anything else! I'm not done, but that's a decluttering task where I can actually see immediate results.

Amazing how fast that stuff grows when you have no time to hack it down.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 May 08 - 09:12 AM

Had a great MP3 player/recorder that promised to "listen" to tapes and make 'em MP3s, but when I tried it, the recorder froze up and I had a hell of a time getting it to play songs again. Yet other same-model recorders and the one that froze could record hour-long live sound. So I bit the bullet yesterday, having bought several of these units for my aquatics clients, and did up a much-beloved (and until recently long-lost) tape. Of course it came out fine and the recorder behaved itself.

So now I am taking aim at that boxful of caseless audiocassettes moldering away in storage, now that I can Copy with Confidence. I may actually load them up and take them along on vacation to do them at leisure. I also have learned how to transfer sound files off one unit and onto another. One of the units I'd bought is a 1-GB model, and I also have an oddball 4 GB model that may sync also..... this year's vacay will entail less aquatics and more sitting in my camping recliner while Hardi goes road cycling, so this will make a nice brainless and vacationless harvesting project.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 20 May 08 - 05:34 AM

"your family members wouldn't have wanted to leave you things that you didn't want or were in the way."

Obviously the good Mr Aslett does not posses family members like mine... By the time the vultures that are my eldest aunt and her daughters had finished, all that was left of my Grandmother's estate was a large dresser that they wouldn't take because it didn't fit in their houses.

I have it now and it's perfect for the dining room alcove. If I could bear to part with all the odd glasses in it, it would be great for putting my china in!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 08 - 11:54 PM

As Don Aslett has stated several times in the book I'm reading now--your family members wouldn't have wanted to leave you things that you didn't want or were in the way. They wouldn't have had you associate them so strongly with the item that you feel trapped by it or with it.

I didn't do much in the declutter field today either. It's Monday, back in harness at work after a very strenuous weekend. I'm usually not kidding when I tell the folks at work that I go back to work on Monday to rest up from the weekend. I passed the day here without making matters worse, which is sometimes as much of an accomplishment as moving stuff out. I will confess that now that I've rediscovered them, I'm dying to bring those trunks in. But I need to have a place to park them first.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 May 08 - 11:37 PM

Good for you, LtS!! It's a start!

Charmion, very wise, today.:-)

I don't see the decluttering from today's actions, but will soon, I hope. I finally listed the Victorian rocking chair which no one in the family wants, which I had a sentimental attachment to as it was my mother's. It's just taking up space, is not comfortable for any of us, and so I listed it on craigslist, to sell. I also listed for barter, a large Paragon pottery kiln which was given to me and I've never used. I want to trade it for a table top kiln so I can do some enamelling. Wish me luck!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 08 - 10:12 PM

It rained and blowed coldly all day in Ottawa, so only the masochists were gardening. Being quite sane, I went shopping for a cellular telephone (my first!) and ended up with another clutch of books, too. (Gotta stop doing that.) The garden is still a bad mess, which it will stay until I experience a renaissance of energy and the weather improves.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 May 08 - 04:55 PM

Well, I managed to vacuum two rooms, tidy three hats away and clear part of the dining room table - couldn't do one corner, it's an oval table!

And I ate chocolate.

Yum.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 19 May 08 - 03:07 PM

Oh, and after I got home today (spending six bucks in gas on Employment Security games I no longer have to play -- but I made an interesting contact) I hauled upstairs and into a trash bag the cardboard from the huge box I tore up several months ago. I'm trying to make my way to the shelves on that wall of the cellar -- and there's way too much crap in the way.

(Story of my life.)

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 19 May 08 - 03:03 PM

Well, I've been attacking it, even if I haven't been posting to this thread til now. I refer to it as "beating the interior into submission" -- and, while I've been de-accessioning things left and right, I REALLY wish it would actually start to SHOW one of these days.

Last week took boxes of books to the Nottingham Library sale -- was away the day of the sale, but bought some of the leftovers at half price the other day. But I won -- I took home fewer than I had donated.

Last week, too, I took several bags of fabric I'll never use (I don't actually sew -- and I've already Freecycled the two sewing machines I never used (because I had no room for them -- only hung on to them for 15 years or so...) to a friend who can use them. And this weekend I culled my loose recipe files and now have two binders and a large folder for her later this week -- AND she'll take the Better Homes and Gardens and Food & Wine magazines.

Another friend will get the Cottage Livings and Coastal Livings later this week when we have lunch. Instead of burdening her with rest of the shelter magazines (because she'll never get rid of them -- I've already given her the Fine Gardenings, Herb Quarterlys, British Homes & Gardens, etc.), I'll drop off the last couple months worth to the ER at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. I was there for almost a day with Tom (Express Care) a couple weeks ago, and after I finished my book (which I had only just started), I was left with very little insteresting stuff to read there. I intend to make sure no one else is, like me, reduced to doing my arm exercises to keep from fainting from boredom.

I've got a stack of New Yorkers to go through, but none from the '90s. I give a friend Vanity Fairs; she gives me New Yorkers. In the cubic footage wars, she wins. And she recently decided she no longer wanted the shelter magazines I was heaping on her. (So the other friend above started getting them.)

This morning Freecycled a lamp needing the switch repaired -- I don't know if it's been picked up yet. And have a taker on the three yoga books and sheaf of articles on exercises for stress reduction.

Oh, and today I dropped off a small bag of clothes at Goodwill -- smaller than it was because I gave a shirt to a friend on Friday night and another shirt to another friend at the shanty sing Saturday.

Next thing is going through my "gift suitcase" and getting rid of all the "it was a good idea at the time" potential gifts that have proved unsuitable plus a couple other things that I won't wait til a significant gift giving occasion to pass on.

And it's time for Curmudgeon to start selling on eBay all the antiquish stuff that's been piling up.

I'm researching selling on Craig's List, too -- I think it's time to sell my first born, I mean, the vulcanizer and rubberstamp making tackle including all The Rubbersmith matrices and plates. That biz has been on the extreme back burner since 1990.

Gotta call the guy who buys LPs. (blues and whatever else he might want)...and the guy who buys magazines (he wants the Horticultures and the early years of Wired).

Our financial situation is a bit precarious right now so it's time to start selling what's left to sell and is worthwhile selling.

It's never ending!

Hey, SRS! I thought I was the only one who used the little numbered squares puzzle analogy -- our problem is we've never had the empty square!!!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: maire-aine
Date: 19 May 08 - 12:08 PM

I just found out that there are hidden benefits to getting older. Our city sponsors a handyman referral service through the senior center, and I'll qualify after my birthday next month. That will help a lot with the small repairs-- I need a lightswitch fixed and a faucet replaced.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 08 - 10:19 AM

Maryanne seems to be pulling out lengths ahead of the rest of the pack!

Liz, this is not the Eight Belles scenario! Pick yourself up (brush off the chocolate crumbs) and find one place to work on. The corner of the dining room table. Where should those things really go? Or maybe try a packrat's shortcut--arrange like things together and see if you can streamline the clutter. The lacuna created between the individual categories of stuff on the table will help you begin to move it all off.

Kat prophesied: I found another box of bottles when we shifted some boxes from one room to another! So did I, but it was three largish boxes. Antique trunks, in fact, filled with antique goodies that I forgot I'd put up on 2x4s in the garage and was hidden behind other boxes. Gotta move them into the house before another summer out there makes them deteriorate too much. I think there is a set of china for 12 in one of those. I've wondered where it got to.

My yard out front is lovely. The side veggie bed is going, and to achieve more room in this garden I did declutter--I took out the big sage. Moved around a lot of pots beside the door, stored the unused ones and tossed a lot of oddball stuff, and I gave the boot to daffodils growing out of the turf. Have to figure out where to put them, but I finally was able to mow over that spot and it looks great.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: maire-aine
Date: 19 May 08 - 09:51 AM

I pulled enough weeds to make room for the herb plants, so I got them in the ground before the rain came. The rest of the outdoor chores got washed out.

The diningroom table is still uncluttered, and the furniture has been moved. (I re-arrange the furniture so that I can open the windows in the summer.) I got the upstairs hallway all cleaned up, and the floor & stairway swept.

And our team won first place in the monthly trivia quiz on Sunday.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 May 08 - 03:33 AM

I decluttered the thistles out of a flower bed at church yesterday. That's as far as I got!

The shelf is still here on my sewing table, Limpit's room is inaccessible unless I suddenly acquire the skills of a mountain goat, the dining room table is still buried under hats, so I can't move the sewing stuff out of the sitting room to work on it, so the sitting room is full of stuff I can't move until Limpit's shelf is up and I've room on the sewing table...

I am defeated!

I will go and eat chocolate to cheer myself up.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 19 May 08 - 02:49 AM

Desk is actually fun to work at. Flowers are sorted, bows made and attached, and added to the pile by the back door that's going to my home town this week. Cut about 3 inches off the bottom of a denim skirt preparatory to hemming it shorter and adding embroidery to it. Two giant piles of magazines sorted to take to the recycle bin at the local grocery store.

Keeping lists helps!

Lin

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 08 - 12:36 AM

It doesn't have Nippon or any other markings, but I'll check to see if anything is embossed in the bottom. But this is great to know, thank you! One set was broken in shipping (my sister crammed so much in the box I'm surprised everything wasn't crushed) but there are four other sets.

My decluttering today was outside. I planted a dwarf silverado sage under my kitchen window six years ago, and the darn thing is huge. I have to prune it several times a year to see out over the top of it. I decided I'd tired of that and took it down to the ground. I'll be removing suckers for a while, but it is history. I put in a few peppers and a squash in the area where it had been growing, next to the new veggie garden.

I pulled stuff out of the garage that goes in recycling and trash. This occurred when I started digging out the mower and trimmer for the yard work. And guess what--I found the old sewer snake that was here when I moved in. I bought another one a couple of months ago because I couldn't find it. See why I need to declutter?

There are areas around the house that are much easier to work in now, but there is a lot more to do. This afternoon when I needed my spark plug wrench to change the spark plug in my line trimmer I knew right where it was, and it's back there now, where it belongs. That is so nice!

SRS (I will sleep tonight, I am soooo tired!)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 May 08 - 12:32 AM

Well one kid showed up and took a bag full of old bottles AND some other stuff left out in the driveway. Yes! The other kid didn't show. He was on-call, so probably had to go work.

I found another box of bottles when we shifted some boxes from one room to another! Not too many in it, though. It's been fun to look them all over.

I hope I get more done this week.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Charmion
Date: 18 May 08 - 06:20 PM

SRS, what you have there is a porcelain cup and saucer made in Japan for export to the United States and/or Britain between 1865 and 1921; I believe the green stripe around the edge indicates 1900-ish and later, as that colour became fashionable at the turn of the century. Your cup may even say "Nippon" on the bottom, or have a maker's mark in Kanji characters.

Here's an article on Nippon ware from a dictionary of antique jargon I found on line at www.jjohnsonappraisals.com:

Nippon - (Ceramics, Japan) (Time Period 1865 - 1921) The word "Nippon" used in the back stamp of famous Asian china, simply means "Japan." Nippon china was produced for export to the United States beginning in 1865, when the country ended its long period of commercial isolation, and ending in 1921, when the United States enforced the McKinley Tariff Act, which prohibited the import of items that were not "plainly marked, stamped, branded or labeled in legible English words." Nippon was considered the Japanese word for the country of origin, "Japan" being the English equivalent, the period of the Nippon china mark ended. While Japan had a long period of porcelain manufacturing, dating back centuries with its close ties to China, Nippon porcelain was produced strictly for Western consumers. Early in its porcelain trade, the Japanese government commissioned a number of foreign experts to come to Japan to train people in the production of European styles. They were highly successful in these attempts at imitation, and much of the Nippon China that was produced bears a strong resemblance to such European porcelain products. Much of the antique Nippon china available has been hand-painted with ornate decorations that, ironically, the Japanese of the era considered excessive and distasteful. During the Meiji period (1868-1912) much of the Nippon porcelain pieces were decorated with gold. Much of this decoration was not very durable and wore away over the years, so it is common today to find Nippon china pieces with the gold rubbed off. Dozens of Nippon china marks were used during this period, representing the work of many different porcelain manufacturers working in Japan at the time. Today, Nippon porcelain is among the most highly collected and sought-after of all antique china.




If you Google "Nippon ware", you will get lots and lots of hits so you can and read around to learn about it.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 May 08 - 01:26 PM

Charmion, (JUST Charmion!)

If you need a place to stash Edmund's pileup for him to sort out between getting home and moving into a new place, feel free to load it up and bring it all to our church basement. There's lots and lots of room down there, and we can put up a cot there for his eventual sorting operation. :~) Atticus can take up quarters for the duration to keep him company!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 08 - 12:38 PM

Charmion, can you tell me anything about the very thin porcelain pieces in this photo (cup and saucer)? You can feel the pattern of the painting on it, and though it doesn't show, there is some gold in the paint. I'm trying to figure out what to call these on eBay.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 08 - 12:04 PM

Charmion, if you try to set a pace of a room every two weeks I think you'll be disappointed--it is a difficult job, and there may be some negotiation involved. Unless you can have the Salvation Army truck back up to the door and load everything in, you might want to set a smaller goal and see how long it takes to reach it. Just a thought--your mileage may vary. I have a lot of stuff in trunks from the family in Connecticut that hasn't even entered this process. I'm working on the most recent generations now, my kids and me, and my parents. We'll get to the greats and grands after this.

I have to mow the entire yard today, and put in a few more plants in the first of several veggie gardens. What decluttering can I do that is gardening related? I need to get over keeping all of the little bedding plant containers. I rarely ever get stuff started from seed in the house in the winter, and yet I hold onto all of this with the thought I'll take that frugal approach. I have a lot of them stashed in the garage and today I'm going to pull them out and put them in the plastic recycle bin. Meanwhile, I was disappointed with my neighborhood garden center--I've taken them lots of black pots over the years to recycle, but now they won't let me have any back for some transplanting I have to do. I have to buy them! I'll cruise through the neighborhood before the trash guy this week and see if I can find some (there are usually a few in sight).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Charmion
Date: 18 May 08 - 10:48 AM

Paper control is a Big Thing in our lives, too, SRS -- but Canadians don't get the tax credit for "in kind" donations that you do, so I just sort and purge, sort and purge. That's the only part of the de-cluttering process that I'm fully comfortable with.

This is actually not my first major clutter-busting operation; after more than 30 moves between 1973 and 1990, and a nasty divorce in 1994, I flatter myself that I got quite good at it, although it was a wrench every time. But Edmund likes to welter in Stuff and can't pass a charity shop or a second-hand book shop without strong yearning for acquisition. My great failings are crockery -- I can't resist the stuff, especially porcelain and English bone china -- and cooking equipment. Consequently, we have enough china, glassware and kitchen traps for two families of four and a restaurant, two whole rooms full of books, stuffed closets, at least two dozen large plastic sealer bins full of bed and table linen that we don't use and garments of huge sentimental value. How could I part with Great-Uncle Alfred's evening suit (white tie and tails), vintage 1917? My mother's honeymoon shoes (size 7), vintage 1951? My wedding dress? The dress I wore when I married Mr. Wrong?

Oh, God; the problem is even worse than I thought.

I'm familiar with the work of the great Don Aslett, and I fully accept and agree with everything he says with respect to busting clutter. But when you're a nester, and a sentimental one at that, the stuff creeps up on you before you know it.

This explains why I have two full sets of mixing bowls -- one made by my cousin the potter and the other inherited from my grandmother -- and I don't even bake.

Today and Monday will be devoted to cleaning up the garden; it's the Victoria Day weekend, the traditional date when residents of Ottawa can plant tender annuals without fear of losing them to a killing frost. My goal is at least one room's worth of clearance and tidy-ance every two weeks, and a load of clutter re-homed every month.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 May 08 - 12:47 AM

I didn't get very far, today. Rog worked outside, came in, went and did the grocery shopping, so wasn't much helps after that as he was tired out.:-)

I did empty the three bottle boxes and went through them all. I kept out some special ones that I like. The kids will come over tomorrow to see if there are any they want. The rest I will send/give to a few friends (anyone want one?) and maybe sell a couple. In all of the moves there was only one bottle broken. Some of them were wrapped in papers from 1983 and others from 1995 (I remember that move!) It was one of my favs., but was shattered. Still are some neat ones!

Tomorrow is another day and I hope we get more done.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 08 - 11:22 PM

Charmion, I moved a lot of junk in the last couple of moves, stuff in boxes I left in boxes. It "may" have been easier, but only temporarily. Good for you getting started, and paper is an easy target and a good place to start. I have a couple of more quotes from Don Aslett I'll post in the next day or two to do with stuff and paper.

Kat, my main goal with establishing a routine with redundancy built in is two-fold--I don't trust the IRS to simply accept the printout with the statement, if I should be audited and need to provide evidence of my donations, so I keep the photos and make prints. In the 2007 tax papers I have a stack of photos in an envelope that I'll probably toss in a the recommended five years. I also wanted a way to make myself document the donations that was easy enough that I would do it regularly. It's too easy to forget what you did a few weeks out. When you start guessing or lumping, then you might seem less credible if you're audited.

Today I took a friend's mattress to the donation site, and on top of that he gleefully added his old huge CRT monitor after we set up and installed my old flat panel LCD. It looks fine, the contrast problem I was having doesn't effect most of its functionality. He has an elegant art deco-style glass table where his computer sits, and I'm frankly amazed that they had that old 40-50 pound monitor on it. I also took over an extra keyboard to replace his 7-year-old crusty keyboard. When we finished clearing the clutter (he has young housemates who leave a regular debris path) and cleaned and added a couple of bookends for his reference books, it looked so sharp! He'll afford a new computer when he can, but at least now it is easier to use and look at. I almost donated that monitor, but was at his house yesterday and saw the old computer and had one of those "ah ha!" moments.

One of the clutter bunkers in my house is this huge cabinet under the center kitchen counter. It's like Susan described, a bunch of mis-matched plastic containers. I have been pulling out my glass storage jars and pressing them back into service. Considering what I have been learning about plastic, I'm glad I still have them to use as I toss a lot of plastic. The big move, though, is to pull out the my Dad's kitchen gadgets in that cupboard, all quite nifty and probably expensive, and sell the ones I never use. I could put some of my regularly used appliances in one side of this huge cupboard and maybe get rid of a couple of cabinets that are in the corner. My dining room has a pretty chair rail and the picture-frame panelling below, like in my living room, but every square inch of the wall space is covered by furniture so you can't see it!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 08 - 08:25 PM

I decided to start in the kitchen. Who knows what evil lurks at the back of the pantry, where sun never shines and eye rarely visits?

Among other things that make me blush for shame, I found an unopened container of Duncan Hines chocolate fudge icing. Its best-before date? You'll get a laugh out of this -- 11 September 2001.

My favourite piece of "what to eat" advice comes from that guy who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma -- No, I can't remember his name just now. "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food, or anything that doesn't go bad." The stuff was actually palatable. Too palatable -- I could feel the transfats racing through my system, not to speak of the drop-dead idiocy of allowing myself to be alone in the house with such an attractive nuisance (in the legal sense of the phrase).

Heave-ho.

The margarine that Edmund eats and I don't went with it: by the time he gets back, it will have either gone bad or proven that it won't, and it is therefore condemned twice.

And who knew we had so many cat toys? None of them worth a snap, either; the moggies prefer fingers (chomp), wine corks (bat, pursue) and guitar picks (swat).

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 08 - 05:09 PM

Welcome to the thread, Charmion. Sorry to hear of the six months apart AND the move. I would dread having to move again and we've only been here six years.:-) Good for you for getting started, though!

Maggie, thank you for all of that info. I knew you had a method and I have seriously been thinking of it. I have itemized our taxes the past two years and it has helped, so donations would fit right in and I don't like doing yard sales! (My dau. didn't have hers, today. Her partner, who thought we should keep things separate, was too tired AND didn't think they had enough small items to attract a good crowd. IF they had me and my stuff there it wouldn't have been a problem!**bg**)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 08 - 02:49 PM

It's time for me to join this merry band. Edmund is abroad for six months (note 'Catter deployed in southwest Asia), and when he comes home he will start a new job in Kingston, Ontario. That means we are moving, probably next summer, after 10 years in this house.

Where to start? I know where I should get to work -- the cellar -- but my heart sinks whenever my thoughts wander there. So today I shredded a box full of old tax files and personal correspondence, filling up a garden waste bag with paper shreddies and the recycling boxes. Getting them out to the kerb on Wednesday (garbage day) will be a test of upper-body strength, especially when three weeks' worth of newspapers is added.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 May 08 - 11:45 AM

Yesterday's Hardi-assisted "decluts" in the kitchen led to a bulk-cooking round that sorts out a lot of the recent "overwhelmed" feelings.

We "made" a whole bag of trash from one kitchen cabinet that had started to "catch" odd, unmatched plasticware.

My ready-for-anything kitchen is almost caught up for a spring/summer set-up-- a set-up I had not realized we need to formalize as much as the rest of the household.

In fact, this whole past year has been a huge AFGO series about seasonality:

My house has to be (and easily can be) a resource center for me, as well as for the people who depend on us.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 08 - 11:33 AM

If you donate it, arrange it in groups on the ground and photograph it. Name the photo with the date and place to donate (i.e., 4-17-08-Goodwill-clothes). I drop all of those photos from the digital camera into the working 2008 donations folder on my desktop, ending up with the original and making a reduced size version for a document.

Then set up a document file and describe the contents of the photo (which you have inserted into the document) and price each item modestly, like for a garage sale, unless there is some conspicuous reason why you can claim more. It ends up looking like a bulleted paragraph for each photo on the page, and the photos don't need to be huge, just a big thumbnail. Total it all up, date it, STAPLE IT TO THE TAX RECEIPT the recipient gave you, and file it for next year's taxes. Until I'm finished with the particular page I leave the document and the image originals (which I will have printed at the camera store) in that working file. Once it is printed I move the document and related photos to the "processed" folder inside. That's the one I'll refer to at tax time if I need to.

I try to set up this document every week or so to keep track of donations, and finish it off at a logical point. Like I've made a couple of trips to Goodwill so they're commingled on the receipt.

I know this seems like overkill, but I'm donating so much stuff that I don't want them to think I am pulling a fast one. I figure my pedantic approach covers all of the bases as far as what I actually donated and if my prices were fair.

The animals have all been shot (and I am covered with cat hair and smell like a dog, duh. . .) and now I'm off to help a friend offload a mattress and any other big thing he can think of to get rid of in my pickup.

If you are methodical about this, kat, you'll find that there is a considerable tax savings in donating items. And think of it--the thrift store puts it out there and probably asks a simlar price, and people will buy them at that price. If you had a garage sale, you know someone is going to come along and insist on paying you 10 cents for something you've priced reasonably at $1. It's the best of all worlds, and you didn't have the work of the garage sale.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 08 - 10:44 AM

Well, we are continuing the trend in our house of decluttering the bods, too. Just sent Rog off to get an early morning haircut. HE was up at 630a!! I *thought* because he was going to mow, early, but he really just took his time fixing breakfast and surfing the internet.:-) He'll mow when he gets back. That will also include putting stuff away which is scattered around the yard, including a few more items from my sister.

You are so right about writing down EVERYTHING we do, Maggie. When I was so sick, I used to talk to Night Owl every night. She'd ask me what I'd done that day; small victories were worth counting. I say "nothing" then we'd get to talking and I'd say that I'd done the dishes, or dusted or something. She'd point out to me that those things counted for a lot and I should give myself credit. From then on I kept a list and it really did help. I didn't have so much despair when I'd see what I had already done.

Today, I hope to figure out what we are going to do with all of the books and LPs from my sister AND go through the old glass bottles. Our dau. is having a yard sale but her partner didn't want to get stuff mixed up so we will have one separately, later on, unless we decide to just donate it all to the Goodwill or something. Then it's out of here FAST!:-)

My office closet has been "calling" me all week. I really want to clear it out. Oh, R-o-g!