Tuesday's Goals...

I met my goals today!!! The living room bookshelf is devoid of books!! I have a few magazines and a bible on my nightstand shelf and that's it! The shelf at the end of the hall is almost completely filled with my books and the two units in the entry hall(our tallest) still have room for a few more books. I need to clean off the tops of each of these things but that can wait til another day. In the end, there were only about 20-25 books to give away. There is a shelf that needs to be redone, it has games, puzzles, flash cards, that sort of thing, and is quite unorganized. I probably would have gotten it all done but I had to pick Ryan up from his camp, along with three friends, take a friend home, stop to let another friend get his swim suit, then stop at the store for hot dogs to feed them for lunch. They swam for a few hours, then I had to take those two friends home. When we got back I took the girls swimming. Whew! I wish I could take a few pictures of one of the friend's grandmother's kitchen. She had her cabinets and walls painted a bright white and the cabinet doors painted a beautiful retro mint green to match the mint green ceramic tile countertops(original to the house). It was gorgeous!!!! In fact, I sat and talked to her for 20 minutes while the boys waited in the car, lol!

This is from last fall, they weren't nearly as bad this time around. Wish I had after pictures but I can't find my camera, or the girls' either. They've been missing for a few days now.***hubby informs me it is on top of the entertainment center, which explains why I can't see it-too high!


(this shelf is to the right of the entry hall and stands almost 5 feet tall)


(this brown shelf is almost as big as the first one but has been relocated to the end of our other hallway so I could put my retro black shelf in its place)


(this shelf has remained clutter free, strangely enough)

Decluttering....

Here are some handy websites for us to read on our journey to a more peaceful life.

Its Not About Your Stuff

Less Is More

Neither site has been updated in a while but the archives have some great stuff to offer.

This one, Disorder2Order is a personal blog rather than a professional organizer type site like the other two. I really like how she says things.

Angie mentioned in the comments yesterday that she cleans off a space and it becomes the new clutter collector. That happens here too. I cleaned off my dresser a while back(like months ago) so we could move it for painting. It immediately became the place to store my CDs and my clean laundry, make-up(because of the window and natural light), and more knick knacks that I thought I needed for decoration. So, I cleaned it off again. Less than a week later it was piled high, again. It is a never-ending thing and this happens with other surfaces in my home(my entertainment center, red kitchen carts, and tops of bookshelves are the worst spots). I would love to know why this is. Do I just have too many "pretties"? I KNOW I'm not buying stuff hand over fist to fill these spots, it is stuff I already have, things that were lurking on a bathroom shelf, under the sink or in a closet. Things I thought might look good here or there.


(this would be the before, and current, state of the dresser top, but right now it is just clothing and a few make-up items, not trashed out so bad as this pic)
*** I noticed Tom was in this picture, taken in mid-January of this year, before I ripped the carpet out. Since taking the carpet out, I don't let the floor get cluttered like this at all, guess that's a positive out of it all.


(this is the after picture, it does clean up nice doesn't it?)


(red kitchen carts right after I decorated them)


(red carts a few weeks ago)
***had to add this, The cat in the background, with the glowing eyes, is our Muffin. She manages to get in the background of most pictures I take around here. Chester left us in August of last year and Tom(the orange one) died late this past winter.

You'll notice that the "pretties" are gone, I put them in the china hutch for safer keeping. After that, it just fell apart, they are catch-alls of the worst kind! They get the dregs.

What I probably need to do is get everything back in its proper place, wherever that is. Gather my make-up stuff and put back in my overnight case in the bathroom(after I clean it out from our camping trips, the last of which took place over the first day of summer weekend, June 21st), put my folded clothes away, find a place for my CDs. The boxes of stuff I have just sitting, waiting to be put back on the dresser, I think I'll sort through that and part with some of it. I couldn't even tell you what is in there except a doll my grandparents gave me when I was a girl and some ??? what??? I really don't remember! It is that bad. Of course, when I see it, I might be inclined to keep it and that's ok, as long as I can find a place for it and it isn't clutter. I mean, there are things in there that are nice, special things. It is ok to keep stuff, I am not a minimalist for sure, but I do want to get rid of the dead weight.

Today I'm turning on some fun music and getting after my bookshelves! I did some yesterday and managed to clear off two shelves on one of the hall units. We homeschool, most of you know that already, so I have tons and tons of books. The kids read mostly online or the things that interest them, they take after their dad and read for information and not entertainment(like I did as a kid) so we have a bunch of books that we just don't need. Anyway, our shelves consist of two tall white units from Walmart(in our entry hall), and two units my dad built that hold about the same amount each(one at the end of our hallway and one in the living room), plus about half of my nightstand and a hutch(living room). My goal is to get the unit at the end of the hallway completely filled with MY books from the three other units and free up space on the white entry hall units for kids books from the other unit my dad made(getting all the books off of it). What are your goals?

Piles....

I has them.


(september of last year)


(january of this year)

These piles have been dealt with but there are still others in corners and on most surfaces of my home. The tops of bookshelves seem to be the worst but there is also the fireplace, the red kitchen carts, the vintage suitcases in the corner piled high with baskets of yarn and fabric and vintage tool boxes(among other things), the kitchen bar, etc. I've been thinning and decluttering for months and months, years actually, but they don't seem to be getting much smaller. In reality they are shrinking, I take bags and bags of stuff to Goodwill each month, at least 3-4 large garbage bags each trip. It just seems like the dent isn't as big as it should be by now. I know one thing that would help is another book toss. Earlier this year I gave away at least 2500 books and I could easily find another 500 or so to pass on.

My goal for the rest of the summer is to not only reduce my piles, but to eliminate them completely! By the first day of fall I want to be not only clutter free but have the rest of the stuff organized. Anyone want to join me in a blog-world decluttering movement? Maybe we could post once a week about our progress or something.

Want More????

Ok, here's a bit more...

We aren't going vegan or joining a commune. I'm not pregnant, we aren't adopting. Things still aren't all the way finished so I can't show yall yet. Sorry!! For now you can enjoy the finished painting of the bedroom the filling up of the pool...





The hardest thing about this color is that I have no idea what to put with it. My plan was for this to be more neutral like a stone or dove grey. It turned out waaaay bluer than I wanted but I do like it. None of my bedding goes at all which means I'll be doing a new quilt(but what colors?). Actually, if I get off my duff and *finish* my Buckeye Beauty repro quilt I'll have one that mostly goes.



I just hate doing the same thing over and over and over(quilt blocks, that is). The Unicorn Storm quilt is still in the planning stages. It will be a Turning Twenty quilt of blues and purples with a pretty unicorn fabric accented with silver as the focal point. I'm sure it will be the perfect match for the paint but probably too wintry for year-round use.

Anyway, we still have to declutter the shelves and decide if we're going to trade them for something else, paint them or what. One idea I have is to take an old round table top, cut it in half and mount it to the wall above the shelves. Then staple fabric skirt to it in pleats with another table cloth on top to hide the staples. This way we could have our junked up shelves(which we need) but we'd have a more polished look. We could also coordinate the headboard with the skirt fabric. I do know that the lamp shades have GOT to go. The maroon ones were on deep clearance at Tarjay a few years ago and were pretty ugly when I got them(but they were on Saaaaale!).

I also have an idea for my curtain rod but that will have to wait until I price some materials. Anyway....



Isn't this liner GORGEOUS???!! I think I did good picking it out! I wish the color of the border would have shown better in the pictures, it is really a nice brown, not washed out greenish-grey(do I need a new monitor?) as you see here.



We aren't sure why there are large pieces of cardboard in the pool. My guess is that they are parts of the liner box that blew in last night.



I think all they have left to do is cut the holes where the jets and intake go and fill it the rest of the way up! We are thinking we'll get about a month of swimming in. This summer has been much dryer than last, we only swam about 7-8 times last year because of all the rain.

Ryan is kinda peeved because he has church camp and thinks he might miss getting to swim in it this weekend. I'm betting it will be too cold for that and might not even be all the way filled(least that's what I'm tellin' him). The girls can hardly stand waiting til tomorrow to get their goggles and noodles.



I'm really glad to have finished painting already. Now I can enjoy the pool without feeling too guilty about stuff needing to be done inside, although something *always* needs done!

Last but not least! A scat update. I sent pictures to five bonafide experts and got replies very promptly. One person(not the one who left the comment) said it was coyote. The other four said it was most likely and/or definitely Ursus Americanus(American Black Bear) scat. Some of these experts have been in the field for decades and know their stuff very well so I will go with "very probably" bear scat. I'm of the conspiracy ilk and think the dissenter probably doesn't want to alarm the public. Sooo, that's the scat report for today. I WISH that could get me a job!!!

In Which I Try Not to Say too Much...

And seriously, I can't say any more. Except that our family will soon be experiencing some lifestyle changes.



Nothing bad, don't fret.



I will post a complete explanation when I have the green light which may be several days from now.



We are anxious and excited.



Chomping at the bit to move forward.



And all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

Scat, scat, scat!

So, the whole time I'm driving back to the lake(yall knew I would), camera in hand, I'm thinking, "I sure hope this isn't human scat". You can see the second pile between Mark's knees if you click the first picture. I reckon that if a person is going to "scat in the woods", they're not going to do it in the middle of a trail(besides, there are bathrooms just 200 yards away or so). And, it probably wouldn't be black. Or this big. Or in two piles more than 20 feet from each other. Or contain berry seeds. So, my conclusion is that this is either bear scat or wild hog scat. We looked for other signs of either and did NOT find hog diggings or bear scratchings. Not any tracks either. (please click each picture to get a better view)



This picture has Mark in the same exact place, but taken from the front part of the trail to include the first scat.



The third picture shows Mark examining the first scat with the other scat in the background(the black dash almost in the exact middle of the photo).



This is across the creek from where the scat was. It looks like possible den sites to me. There is a tree(the tree is on the close side of the creek) almost in the center of the photo and two dark spots to either side(these are actually on the far side of the creek-you can make out the water going through the middle of the picture). They were about 100 yards from us.



The creek starts to the left and flows from the spillway/dam to the right after leaving a large pool(seen in first pic).




(its a good 60-100 feet straight down to the creekbed)




(this is to the right of where the scat was, about 10 yards down the creek)

The key ring is a Whiting and Davis ring, about 2.25 inches across. I placed it next to the first scat for scale.



Closer, you can see berries or acorns or some kind of bumpy food leftovers. It did have a faint "poo" odor when I first came upon it with Ryan, but the smell was gone when Mark and I were there.



The second scat was a different texture but still filled with berry seeds and possibly corn kernels. Again, my keys for scale, and then a close-up.





So, what do you all think? Bigfoot maybe?

Sneaky Peeky...

Obviously I'm not finished with the painting but I couldn't wait to show just a bit of it. For some reason it is looking more grey here than blue. In reality the shadows are really blue. The more I see it the more I like it but I still wish it had been the stone or dove color I was envisioning.


(the bed will go on the wall behind the lamps)


(same wall, different end, and Mark's closet door)
In other news:

Amy is now sick with whatever it was that the rest of us had several days ago. She didn't sleep well and has a fever and headache today.

The girls' friend spent the night. We took her home around 1 and had a late lunch there of broiled turkey and cheese open-face sandwiches, dip, veggies, crackers, chips, fruit salad, and popsicles. Then, my friend and I took a looooong walk around the lake, at least a mile and a half. In. the. oppressive. east. Texas. heat. O. My.

After I recovered, we gathered our stuff and popped over to the lake to get Ryan. He didn't want to attend the luncheon so I let him spend his time fishing. He ended up catching 4 fish, a bass, 2 catfish and a yellow striped bass(or somesuch). I noticed large scat on the trail to where he was. No clues as to what left it there but it was full of seeds and about 2.5 inches in diameter and 9 inches long. Maybe it was bigfoot. Will be researching further.


(not my picture but almost identical to what we saw, yes Ryan saw it too)

***UPDATED*** I knew in my heart of hearts what it was. Freaking BEAR SCAT!!!!! There was one big pile at the head of a trail and another big pile about 20 feet down the trail overlooking the run-off from the spillway.

Mark is coming home around 5:30 today(knock on wood). He didn't have to make too many deliveries today but will tomorrow.

Last night we had some kind of critter either on top of the house or in the attic. It sounded like a buffalo and I first heard it when I was OUTside taking P-girl for a potty break. I was about fifteen feet from the house when I heard what sounded like a person land on the roof. I turned around but nothing was there. About 10 minutes later I was in the dining room with Ryan and we both heard a similar noise, right on the window wall(above the wall, where the ceiling meets it). We couldn't tell if it was in the attic or outside. Several minutes after that, Mark heard the same crash/thud by the fireplace. I'm thinking possum or raccoon or very, VERY large rat.

We are sleeping in the living room and I heard something running on the house til about 1:30 or so. The dogs barked at it for a while too.


(our temporary sleeping quarters)