Weekend Challenge Time!

I know, I haven't been around this week... but I have been cleaning up and house and totally enjoying my new little vacuum cleaner. It's such a cutie!

Well, I've also cleaned up the living room to the point where there's nothing in front of the entertainment unit or the credenza. How amazing is that?

This gives me a chance to look into this weekend challenge with something a little different.

I'm going to go through my First Aid Kit where all of my medications are. If there's anything out of date in there, put them into a bag and give them to a chemist/pharmacy and keep only the ones in date.

The pharmacy disposes of these out of date medications properly; and some of them give them to third world countries. So, there's the challenge for this weekend. Clean out your first aid kit and make sure everything in it not only is working, but the medicine there is within date. 

So, how is your cleaning out going? Mine is going really well. I'm going to do a Donation Day on Monday. I can't wait!

It's Friday!

It's coming into a long weekend here in Australia, and I thought to keep this one as light as I can.

But first, I scored a new vacuum cleaner yesterday! I traded in my old one for $10 and bought a nice new one called a Titan 2000 from a place called Godfreys. What a nice little unit it is too! It's a bagless and cost me under $150... not a bad price if you ask me. I've always wanted a bagless cleaner and it's really doing a great job too! I've already vacuumed the living room floor and it looks brand new!

Well, today, I'm going to be putting away the archive boxes and bringing in the bags to sort through from downstairs. This means I have to go out and get 2 more archive boxes. One is going to be a Memory Box for my other Memory items (from one of my other posts below) and the other one will be for storing what I need - which I haven't figured out yet, but it's good to have an extra one on hand.

Okay, it's the Weekend Challenge time! And I think it's time to clean out your shed. I do this every few months and it's a good thing to get into the habit of. You go out into your shed and sort through the items in there which are broken and unfixable. If you've got long-term unfixable things inside that garden shed, it's time to put them off to one side and label them as 'lost causes' and take them to the dump. 
Then, get in and sort out your power tools and put them in one area, so you can lay your hands on them at a moment's notice. Get out your label-maker and label each one so you can read it clearly - and so can anyone else who you know in case they need to grab it for you from your shed. There's nothing worse than going back and forth to your shed because somebody grabbed the wrong box of tools or the sander instead of the drill.
You get in and pull everything out, make sure you have a light inside the shed - which works - and everything is in there which is supposed to be there. If your work bench is unorganised and dirty, get in there and work on it so you can actually work on it, not accidentally cut yourself and not know what you did to yourself. Have your tools hanging up, in their boxes, wherever they're supposed to be all clean, not sticky, not greasy and ready to use. Make it look like it's a place you want to go to every weekend and work in... not a place to be ignored.
This weekend is the weekend to clean out shed, work out what the hell the workbench looks like and make your shed look and feel like a place for that project you've been meaning to do instead of the hiding place of all the broken tools and a junk pile with a door. Go on... I believe in your ability in being able to work out your things in that shed! Visualise your perfect work space and shed, and do it, make it a reality!

Donation Day!

Yesterday was Donation Day. I didn't get to give away much, but it was good to get my items out the door - even if they didn't fill up a whole bag.

But while I was out and about with my good friend, Elisabeth, I bought 3 balls of yarn. That's all I bought because I'm saving up for a new vacuum cleaner. My old one had bitten the dust in a such a way that I can't buy new parts for it - the company doesn't make bits for it or even vacuum cleaners anymore, and that's not a good thing. And for a 20 year old vacuum cleaner, well, I think it's not a good thing; they really should last longer. Such a pity they don't.

Well, we went off to the Variety1 store at Arndale next and I found a large plastic bucket there for just $15 and it's perfect to use as my donation box now. And I've thrown out my cardboard one. I've been able to fit in other things into the bigger one. The best thing is that I don't run into it as much as it's soft. I've already put in some prints I no longer use and other things as well. I'm looking forward to filling it up. 

What have you been up to this week to keep your place tidy? I haven't put in any Weekend Challenges lately because I think Easter and ANZAC Day can be busy times for everyone. So, next week, I'll bring them back. 

Memory Box

I have something called a 'Christmas Box' or a 'Memory Box'. This is a box I have which is filled with thing from my childhood I love and cherish. 

However, my 'Memory Box' has overflowed into two other boxes. This means, I'll have to start looking for another box - or a small suitcase - to fit my things into. This will make me throw out the three boxes I no longer need. 

Now, that's not a bad deal, right? 

Well, I hope anyway.

I've been donating things bit by bit this year, and it's going well. However, I've had a few problems with how the donations have been handled.

Recently, I donated some glass jars and other items and the young lady who took my bag upended the whole thing into a shopping trolley; instead of pulling things out and placing them in the bottom of the trolley carefully. When she came back to me with my reusable bag, I told her that two of the larger items were glass bottles and 'I hope they were broken when you threw them into the trolley.' she stared at me, asking 'What?' I took a deep breath and looked around for a supervisor who was over-seeing this young woman's actions, and called out to somebody I recognised there, 'In that trolley, over there, is some donations. But be careful, you might come across a couple of broken glass bottles. This young woman threw them in there without checking if there was anything fragile in it.' This person looked shocked at first, then glared at the young woman and shook their head, 'My god, what's wrong with you.' 
I didn't say anything else, just walked away. She had to be dealt with. But I got this same young woman at the check out and she was smarmy to me there, stuffing up my order, 'Oh, oops, my fingers slipped, sorry, you don't owe us '$47.95. It's only $14.95... he..he.' 

Sometimes I wonder about what happens with the young people who have to work for their unemployment or welfare benefits. Are they thinking they can sit back and it'll come in without working for it? And working at a local charity is a good thing to have on your CV. 

Well, until my next post, I hope you're going well with your place. And I also hope you haven't had a bad problem with your local charity as I have. 

Donation Day

Yesterday was donation day for me and another friend of mine, Elisabeth. We headed off for coffee at our usual haunt and then went to Bunnings to score some cheap plants... very cool.

Then, it was time to drop off some donations to Life Line Super Store at Logan Central. We looked around there for a little while and I scored a couple of things, nothing too expensive, but thing I haven't seen anywhere else. 
It's always nice to get out into the op-shops when you haven't been to them in a while.

But then, it's good to get home and work out where to put the things you've bought too. I bought a cribbage board and had to rub furniture polish into it to get its shine back before finding out where I had put my card games. I cleaned out that drawer and put the cards back and then added in the board. It's good to find that I've got that drawer clean now.

Then, there were 3 vinyls I bought which I've added to my collection on discogs and I've added into my real collection - now just to get in and clean them too. 

I also bought 2 Tupperware containers - old ones - and I washed them up and did out my Tupperware when I wanted to find a spot for them. It turns out I have just enough of this stuff to work in my place. Yeah, after doing it out last year, I'm not doing too badly with it all. 

The good thing is that bag by bag, my house is getting cleaned out - even if it's small loads which are being moved out. I mean, I donated a candle and replaced it with a hand-made candle-holder I bought from a local artist. It's something I'm working on in my house; to fill my home with classic items I'll use. I'm hoping to clean out the video tapes and get the put onto dvd in the next year or so one by one... and get rid of the VCR tapes. So, how's your cleaning up going? All well? I hope so.

A Rough Week

I'm sorry I haven't been in here. I haven't been well this past week; and I've been busy with family things. Mum hasn't been well and I'm off to help her with her ironing today. 

So, apologies all around for not being in here to keep you guys active with your decluttering. 

I have been decluttering, but not in the house. 

It's Autumn/Fall here in Australia, and this is the time I attack the garden, and I plan what to do with my plants. You see, all my plants go to 'sleep' and it's easier to work with them without making them go into shock too much during the cooler seasons. So, around March/April, I organise myself to buy some potting mix and start moving plants around the garden. 

Right now, I'm looking at buying two larger pots for two plants I'm going to repot and relocate in my garden. The other pots they've come from are going to be reused for other plants. 

I have clipped back some of my plants from their Summer growth and am going to use the clippings to make new plants - yep, I grow succulents - and then I'm going to get rid of large white bucket in my garden which has become a haven for mosquitoes. 

There's other things I'm hoping to save for, like new seats around the garden - the ones I have are rotting, and I need new ones to make the place look and feel better. This will take time, and I'm hoping to get in and make sure I pick out the right seats. I'm hoping to get two large metal seats and replace three wooden seats. I'll ask Dad to rust-proof the metal seats for me if he can, to make them last longer. 

Yep, this is my decluttering idea for my garden this year. So, what have you got in mind for your garden this year? I know this is a different way of looking at decluttering, but really, I think if it's a part of your home, the garden should be decluttered as much as your house. Even if you're not much of a gardener, your outdoor area should be tidy and make you feel good about yourself. 
And if you feel it's too much, which part are you going to start on first? The weeds? The old, broken, useless pots? Sweeping up? Drop a comment and let us know.

Donations Upon Donations

I've been donating a lot lately; and man, that makes me feel good.

This past week, I donated that little black ladder which I just seem to be tripping over in the house and the charity store was so pleased to see it was almost new! When I told them it was an IKEA piece and almost not used, they were stunned. I then told them I was too heavy for it, and they understood.

I also donated a few bags of goodies and they were so happy to see I was back.

Now, I'm into the cleaning out stage of my house again, to find more things to donate - and this is the fun part of it all, isn't it?

You know... bagging it up, sorting through it all, and figuring out if you want it or not. And the things you don't want is donated after you clean it up and make sure it works properly. 

Now, this weekend challenge isn't hard, and I haven't done one in a while, so let's get to it! This Weekend, I'd like you to go to that cabinet of things you put things you 'mean to use', or have 'kept for good', and get in and use those things at least once. 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get you to feel bad about this. What I'm trying to do is see if you want to keep using these items from that 'kept for good' arena of your house. If you feel that you can't keep these things? Well, it's time to hand them either to your children or to the charity store. Clean them up, wrap them up nicely and take them there. 
However, if you feel as though you can't part with them, don't force yourself to give them away. It's all up to you. Use them not just for good, use those items all the time - that is what they're there for.