Oh, really?

This is another declutter post. You don't get to see everything I declutter because there's just too much going out too quickly and I don't take the time to photograph all of it. However, this bit is about candles. I love candles - really love them. In the past, if I saw a good deal on candles I would buy a whole box because, hey, I love candles. But now, I'm pretty particular about the candles I burn so what was I supposed to do with this whole drawer full I was holding on to? I kept telling myself that I love candles so I would get around to burning them....eventually. Except that this drawer was filled up shortly after moving into my house in 2003 and I haven't burned any of them. I also had 2 full baskets and other miscellaneous candles taking up an entire shelf in the linen closet. That's where I kept the candles I burned the most. So, I emptied out the drawer and the linen closet so I could see eveything I had. I put the candle holders out there too. See?

You know what I found? Boxes and boxes of tapers...but I don't burn tapers. Used to, about 3 houses ago, but I haven't burned one since I moved here. This should be an easy declutter.

There is a candle in there that drips in multi-colors and I bought it for camping because I thought it would be cool to watch how it covers a bottle. The problem is that candle has been in this drawer so I never remembered to take it camping with me. Well, now it's moved to the camping tote. Those boxes of tapers? Yeah, those are double layers, at least, Straight to the Goodwill bin. Sorry, I know I spent good money on them, but I'm never going to burn them. Those pillars in the background? I had a few more, but they never burned well so why am I keeping these? There's also a zip-lock bag sitting there with leftover wax pieces from burned candles, you know, for when I make my own. Hmph! Like that's gonna happen any time soon.

This really was easy. This is what I'm left with.

Yep, once I finished I only had this little basket left of candles and holders. Okay, I also have a jar that holds my tealights, but I burn the heck out of those too. I have one jar candle on my kitchen table, one on my dresser and a pillar on the coffee table. Each of those are burned nearly every day, but otherwise, this little basket is all that's left. I now have an empty drawer, an empty basket and an empty shelf in the linen closet. How cool is that?

This young lady....

This is one of those posts so you may not want to read further.

Let me begin. This young lady, right here....


inspires me in ways I never could have imagined. I've written about her before and I'll write about her again. This is my 4 y/o granddaughter and I waited 30 years (from the time her Daddy, my oldest, was born) to get to her and I assure you, the very essence of her was worth every minute of the wait. I don’t mean to imply that she is a ‘mini-me’, but she looks like me, we share personality traits, she reminds me of who I thought I was. She reminds me of who I could have been, who I can be.

She is bright, and curious, and sweet, and generous and so full of love and life. When Alex was home over Christmas, he remarked on the family life she has (along with her brothers). He said it was a safe home and a home full of love. By safe, I think he meant both physically and emotionally. My grandchildren are growing up immersed in love from aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents and their siblings. What a wonderful way to grow up. I didn’t grow up feeling like that. My childhood was dangerous and fraught with fear. I did have a protector, who helped me learn to be brave, but he was only a year older than me and he was torn from my childhood home when I was 12. I was lucky in that I survived with no physical scars, but there are emotional scars. This young lady inspires me to continue being brave, and because I know she is learning from me, she inspires me to shake off the last vestiges of my broken childhood. She inspires me to reach beyond the emotional scars to live a fuller and healthier life. One would think that at my age, I would have already done this since I am a grandmother. But life had a way of going on and allowing me to use whatever defense mechanisms I had at hand to get through the motherhood era. It seems grandchildren cause me to be more aware of being a whole person. It seems this young lady is a springboard for me. Thank you, my little Chickabee.

I’m about to embark on the Inside Out e-course, for which I am very excited, but this journey began in earnest this past January when I signed up for the One Small Change and the Reduce Clutter challenges. One Small Change has helped me to make small monthly changes in my physical life, but also got me thinking about small changes I could make in my emotional life as well. It’s not scary to make small changes, but it got me to thinking, a lot, and it’s been a rough winter for me emotionally because of it.

Reduce Clutter is helping me to clear out physical objects from my home, but it asks what mental clutter are we hanging on to. Hmmm, then I come across A Step Toward Balance and I know I want balance in my emotional life. I’m seeing a pattern here. Geez, who knew the three challenges would be so connected. So, as I begin this new journey, I’m filled with hope…and I’m inspired by this young lady…and the wonderful women I have met through here. As an aside, but completely related, I love sticky notes and I write inspiring messages that I come up with or that I come across and I post them on the walls of my CRS where I see them all the time. One of my favorites has been “Women who inspire Women.” This is so accurate and so fitting for my life right now. So, to all the women and young ladies who inspire me, thank you, and please wish me luck as I begin this journey toward a fuller and healthier emotional life.

Another new to me.

The Cotton Friend books are my new best friend. Well, let's just say I really like them, especially when I combine the projects with a little bit of embroidery work. haha....I just sort of whipped this up on Tuesday.




See, I was clearing out clothes for the March challenge of Reduce Clutter-Create Space when I found 2 t-shirts with advertising on them that had never been worn. They went straight to the donation pile with nary a thought from me until I started browsing through the Cotton Friend books again. I saw a hat that I thought would be fun to wear while paddling and I immediately thought of those perfectly good t-shirts. I wouldn't wear them because of the advertising, but the bottoms were in perfect condition to be remade into the hat. Yep, got out the scissors and went snip, snip, snip. But really, what's a paddling hat without a little embroidery?



So, a couple hours later....voila! Me, sporting a brand new hat....


and I consider it free because I didn't pay for the shirts. Woo Hoo! Goody, now wear it this Saturday when we go paddling.

I did it!

The challenge was posted to give yourself one hour to clean out your closet. Awesome! I can do that, and one hour doesn't give me time to overthink what could go back in. I either had to love it or I've worn it in the past year. If not, the item had to go. This might not have been fair because I sort of did this a while ago, but I knew there were items in the closet that were just taking up space, or I had paid good money for, or I might lose weight and they'll fit me again, or....or....or.....

Riiiight, outta here!




I completely emptied the closet and dumped everything on the bed and floor. First, I put back all the clothes I wear all the time for work, then my much loved casual clothes, then the items I love that are for dressy. Shoes were easy to put back because I love the shoes I have, but I did dump 2 pair that weren't all that comfortable and I rarely wore. Really, why wear shoes that hurt my feet? Belts? Dumped all but 2. Purses? Okay, okay....I put those all back in the closet, but I love my purses and several are vintage from grandmothers and such. Besides, there are only 7 (in that closet, oops). That still left a good sized pile of clothes that I was pretty ruthless about sorting through.

"Crap! You mean I bought these 2 shirts and never wore them?" Fine, shed a tear or two and get rid of them.

"I haven't worn this in a year? Really?" I knew it was true because I did a trick in my closet last year. I turned all my hangers backwards on the rod and once I wore something, the hanger was turned the right way so I knew exactly what had been worn. Try it, you won't believe how many items just hang there taking up space.

And I purged...a whole pile of clothes, shoes and belts. Then I went straight to my computer, booted it up to ItsDeductible, priced the items, tossed them into a large trash bag and tied the bag shut. Now, it's ready to be donated. Whew! Doesn't that feel good? All of that in 1 hour and 7 minutes. That includes pricing.

Um, do I have to do the dressers next? I think so because I have 3 that are full and it's just me. So, one hour for each dresser and I'm done with that room. Yippee!!!

Is it wrong....

to eat this for breakfast? I swear, if you had been at my house this morning you would have eaten it too.



Something woke me up at exactly 5:38 this morning. Then I couldn't go back to sleep because I had to wait for my friends and their dog to show up to convince me everything was okay. By then I was wide awake so I fired up the oven to roast the cauliflower. It looked and smelled so good I just had to have a plate for breakfast. It's Roasted Cauliflower in Lemon-Tahini Sauce and I got the recipe a while ago from one of you, I don't remember from whom, but you can find the recipe here.  I've made this a few times and I always wonder why I don't make it more. Again, super easy and oh, so tasty.

A blooming Cyclamen in my house tells me we're well on our way to Spring. Not too close, but the days are noticibly longer and brighter.


By the way, I finished purging one whole room in my house. Holy cow! It's hard to do. I might post some before and after pics, but I dunno.....there are so many things I want to post about that this might have to wait for a big post when I'm finished with the house. Just know that I was successful in one room so far. Fortunately, I did a major purge in my bedroom, the bathroom and the hall closet last year or I might feel like I'll never get done.