Today I will go back to my 20-30 minutes decluttering in basement and then 20-30 in yard/garden...and keep alternating back and forth.

Hello to everyone
Yesterday evening(Thurday 22nd)I spent three and a half hours-straight-decluttering in my basement. I knew that my anxiety level would not be a problem, because I had taken a "chill pill"-1/2mg Alprazolam- earlier because of some other issue I was dealing with. I put obvious trash and recycle stuff and some stuff that had become trash into trash bags. Moved all empty boxes and storage tubs out to the front porch.
All different types of items were scattered and stacked everywhere, so I stared putting...house painting suppies in one tub, cleaning suppies gathered into another spot and tools/power tools in
another spot. And swept areas as things were moved.

Hi to Abbey, Barb, Billie, Candy, Dave, Diane, Dianne, Jess, Just Me, Karl, Kathy, Mar, Roxie, Tillie, Trapt, Trust God and Clean House, Vi, and others I may have failed to mention.

Well, I got one big trash tote filled up this morning with yard debris, and now it's on its way to the dump. (Yea.) Have eaten a fairly healthy lunch, am doing laundry, and next stop is getting the oil changed in my vehicle. I plan to take my BIT book with me to work on while I'm there. Other plans for today include adding to my gratitude list and finding new (permanent) homes for at least a couple more items from my kitchen countertops. What else I get done depends in part on when/if I get my phone call from the guy who's supposed to give me an estimate on that specific yard cleanup project I mentioned a few days ago. I may or may not need to meet with him in person, and some of my plans kind of hinge on if/when he calls.

Hugs to everybody!

I got the back yard mowed and trimmed this morning and watered my vegetable pots, but I don't have time to plant the garden. I'll do that late this afternoon.
Mowing took much longer than I expected. Clay missed several spots last time and I had to bag up the clippings. He does a good job when I am here to supervise, but just gets it done in a hurry when I'm not. What do I expect from an 11 year old boy?
I'm ready to jump in the shower and go get my haircut and colored. Yep, I am vain. I started turning gray at 21 so I started highlighting it and then went to total color when it was 90% gray at 40. I did not want to look prematurely old. I thought at 60, I would be ready to let it go gray and tried it for a few months. Nope. Not ready yet.
As long as I can afford to be pampered once a month and socialize with my friends at the salon, I will do so.
It's going to be a beautiful weekend here. There is a big outdoor art fair here tomorrow. There will be watercolors, jewelry, glass art, pottery, lawn art, metal sculptures . . . I have money set aside for one item if I see something really unusual that will fit in with my house. Last year I did not see anything i could not live without.
I need to also take flowers to my husband's grave. I have late peonies and lilac, but I think the Siberian iris are finished blooming.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Hey Diane,

Good morning, everyone!

Kathy, I relate to the auto shop comment. I can remember one time in particular when I took a lot of paperwork to work on while waiting for my vehicle to be repaired. For much of the time, I was the only one in the waiting room. There was no TV to distract me, the temperature was comfortable, and I got a ton done.

Would like to make comments about many more posts, but I have to head out the door soon. (FYI, I did get my goals done yesterday. I had some challenges in the evening with trying to relax after I finished my posted goals. I'd like to discuss that . . . later.) My plans for this morning are to get some debris removed from a certain yard area. The trash truck comes early, so I'd better get moving. More later.

Hugs.

Just thought I'd add ... Wasn't tired yet so finished cleaning up the space heaters and got them covered with bags and stored until fall.

Well, I got distracted again today, so I didn't get into the living room or the washer/dryer area, but I did work all afternoon in the kitchen/dining room. Got the bath, hall and kitchen dining room all swept and did 3 or 4 loads of dishes through the dishwasher. Ended up putting up contact paper in one part of the cabinets that I never did years ago when I first moved here. But now have all but one shelf of the upper cabinets all washed out and clean dishes that I can use! Took a few minutes out to start trying to clean the chairs in the dining room. Antique table and chairs that I got from my dad's place a couple of years ago and haven't been cleaned in 10 times that long, so it's gonna be a job too. At least I stayed busy.

This evening I spent 30 minutes purging the front group of files on my hanging file cart...urgent, family, coupon and financial files. Threw out a wastebasket full of paper. This afternoon I got my oil changed, and they found out I had a nail in my tire (which of course I had to take to the tire place then because I had a road hazard warranty on the tire), but while I was sitting in the auto waiting rooms I also got most of my talk written for Sunday. They aren't bad places to write in, because you can't get distracted by the need to do anything else..you are stuck there. (I take my laptop and the one place even has wifi so I can check on references online). Took a long nap this evening. Called my mom (93 this week), who passed about 3/4 of her driver's license test so she gets a learners' permit and another chance. She was a bit upset, of course.I have very little idea what I did this morning. I must have been in a fog. I know I made lunch...puttered about, but the dishes are done, bed was made. Must have been "creative time" for the talk...LOL!

4:00 p.m. No Clay. 5:00 p.m. No Clay. I knocked on his door but no one was home. The front yard really couldn't wait to be mowed another day, so I mowed it myself, trimmed and swept. After spending the morning weeding, my back hurt too much to mow and trim the back.
I had really planned to put in the vegetable garden today, but that and mowing the backyard will have to wait until tomorrow. I will need to get up early to get everything done in time to shower and be at a 12:30 appointment.
I have decided to spend the money I was going to pay Clay to mow and go out to dinner somewhere nice this weekend. I earned it.

Hi all posters, made my day reading your adventures. Barb I am a farmer at heart also, enjoyed all you had to say about it. I worked in yard pulling up weeds and old grass with long scraggly runners, moved more rocks so could clean up more of upper yard. It is almost cleared out, I tried to imagine just leaving it open like and just put rocks and succulants, since they require very little care or water, rather than bringing up plants, still not sure. I threw so much away, yard junk, weed cloth etc. I felt like a crazed person trying to throw away enough to have things clean and simple. It is so clear that a hoarder wants too much stuff, inside and outside of house. I wondered if I am clearing away too much, right now I am really tired of trying to make things grow well on the high desert with poor soil. Grass is a water hog. Dog that is here peed on grass and it burned a big circle of grass. None of my dogs ever burned grass, so forgot that can happen.
Been taking her to lower yard to pee since she has been here, she just slipped it out on grass in upper yard, when I was working.
Thanks Barb for noticing my progress on donation of clothes, still need to put in trunk when it cools down. Clothes are not important to me anymore, still act like they are, old pattern of thinking when I worked. Today when I looked at the stuff to be put away, I realized I could give it all away and would only miss a couple items. Still learning to let go. Will make another run through on donation possibilities. Did put a stereo system in trunk, once clothes are in will drop off and go to Costco and load up on smoothie and soup supplies. Tooth pain is so much less now that I am not chewing anything at all.
Dianne I was so happy to read your progress, so happy you are taking action and have help on the way. Could you have professional carpet cleaner come and clean oriental carpet? Those are very expensive and if you still like it, it can be cleaned by an expert.
Love working all day and coming in and reading all of your posts, and feeling connected to your day. Tillie mother nature is really trying to make the hoard appear as what it is-----trash!!!

Good Morning ... well, afternoon by now here.
Vertigo is quite a bit better today, but still there somewhat. Thanks for the warning Tillie. I've had this on and off starting 25+ years ago. Pretty sure it's just that Benign <Something> Positional Vertigo. The movements and exercises for it help some when I remember to do them. It's probably just flaring up because I've been moving so much lately (instead of just sitting on my behind all day/every day). I do have an appt for a physical next week and will mention it to the doc though.
Takes me a while to get going in the morning, so despite having gotten up earlier today, I haven't done a lot yet. Did get my 1 bag of regular garbage taken out for the trash run today. Took care of kitties then went out front and trimmed a 30 gallon bag of limbs and twigs off the bush that was growing onto my window AC and put that out for pickup as well.
Having another cup of coffee & posting, then I'll unload and reload the dishwasher and probably sweep the bathroom, hall and kitchen/dining room. After that, I'm not sure. Either tackle more "stuff" in the living room or start to dig out the washing machine and dryer. (Keep your fingers crossed that those still work after disuse!) Still want to get that living room "livable" but it would be nice to be able to start doing loads of laundry while I do other things. Debating. Hopefully, I'll have a decent list for tonight.

Good afternoon, everyone!

JustMe: Don't let us frighten you. You may have something as simple as Menier's disease which is an inner ear problem that affects your balance and equilibrium or high blood pressure. But please do check it out immeditely, if you are not sure what is causing this. There is no need to fight this if you don't have to.

Billie: Congratulations on clearing your sectional. Now you can sit or stretch out wherever you want. It sounds like alternating the house and yard work is really working for you.

Dianne: Great job on getting rid of things.
On the stuffed animals: A student I had years ago became a pediatrician. She accepts donations of clean, like-new stuffed animals to give to the young children in her clinic. Hugging a stuffed animal makes getting shots a little easier. The kids can then take the animal home. Knowing they are going to a good cause makes them easier to turn loose of.

Violet: Hooray for your progress on the dining room table and kitchen! Studies show kids who sit down together at a family meal at the end of the day do better is school. You are doing beautiful things for your family.
Crock pots are great! Dinner just cooks itself while you can devote your time to other priorities.

It's a beautiful, clear, cool day for working outside. I have been out pulling weeds most of the morning. It rained yesterday, so they are easy to pull. The weeds really proliferated while I was gone last week.
While I worked, the Boiler Express (Purdue's train on an automobile chassis) drove groups of kids from the local elementary around my neighborhood. I know many of the kids and teachers, so I stopped from time to time to wave as they went past.
The raised garden is ready to plant. I laid the little pots of tomatoes, tomatilla, basil, squash, peppers, and cilantro in their assigned spots. There is still room to put in a little lettuce and onions. Around the outside of the frame I will plant marigolds.
I used to put in a huge plot of vegetables, flowers, and herbs in the community garden. When they plowed the entire area with the big tractor in the spring, the weed and dill seeds were worked deep into the ground. Battling weeds in the plot was a daily chore. I loved working in the garden, but packing up my equipment, driving to the plot, working there, driving home and unpacking the equipment again took several hours a day. I also had flower gardens and yardwork to keep up with at home. Housework was neglected.
It is not very practical for me to have such a big plot anymore. There is only me to feed. I can buy a wider variety of fruits and vegetables at the Farmer's Market. I need to really focus on getting my house clean and uncluttered.
But I am a farmer at heart and cannot give up my garden altogether. It makes me happy.
Right now, I am on my lunch break. This afternoon, I will pick up the dog yard so Clay can mow at 4 when he gets home from school. I'll plant the vegetables and get them watered in.
Tomorrow: back to decluttering and cleaning inside again.

Good morning 🙂

Hi LR2014 🙂
WONDERFUL! that you are thinking about hiring help to do that heavy work and save wear & tear on your body. 😀

Hi Violet 🙂
WAY TO GO!!! 😀
WONDERFUL to hear what all you have done and are doing! 😀
Sitting down at the table and having only the shiney new kitchen stuff to use sounds like so much fun and enjoyment.

Hi Dianne 🙂
WOW!!!! 😀
you have accomplished a fantastic amount!
Remember to pace yourself and always try to stop while you still have a positive feeling about the project.

Hi Billie 🙂
YEA!!! WAY TO GO!!! 😀
Keep up all this great! progress. 😀

Thank you everybody (((hugs))) 🙂
Been reading stuff online this morning while drinking my tea.
Might be a scattered rain shower today but looks like the storms are over with.
SO MUCH of his stuff is saturated now.
Much of the stuff in the carport was in cardboard boxed stacked high.
The roof leaked like a sieve and a river ran through, wetting the box bottoms.
The boxes are melting and spilling their contents.
It's stuff, assorted stuff. Many things that are ruined when they get wet.
The hoard in the garage only got wet from the bottom.
Many many more cardboard boxes filled with assorted stuff.
So much is destroyed now and is no more than trash, of no use or interest to anybody.
He is in denial, thinks it's alright.
A lot of his food stash is soggy, LP record albums, clothes, books, papers, electronics, etc. too.

Oh well...
all my stuff here is fine & dry. Nothing I can do about cleaning up his mess since he refuses to see the reality of the situation.

My plan for today is to start getting all the smaller branches, tree bark, leaves and other rubble out of my garden area.
Maybe tomorrow I will prune off the broken branches on the rose bushes & lilac hedge.

Time to look on the bright side of life. 😀

What I done yesterday:
Yay!..My 20ft sectional is now cleared of clutter
With the exception of throw pillows. And the assorted stuffed frog toys, which are across the top, of 12ft of the sectional. I spent a total of one hour and 20 minutes on living room spending 15 or 20 minutes at a time and alternating with spending 15 or 20 minutes at a time, workin in my yard/garden.

This process worked quite well for me and I am planning to proceed with the same process today.

To all who are suffering difficulties, loving thoughts to you.

But I'll deal with that as it comes. For now, I'm very tired and sore and trying to focus on the good of it.

OHMYGOTH!
You have all been doing such amazing stuff! I'm really glad some of you have chosen to get professional help with your yards and the heavy stuff.
JustMe, please get that checked out. Just hearing about your vertigo scares the holy heck out of me. Speaking of scary, I'm so glad you didn't get hit by that lightning, Tillie.

I've got good things to report. First off I've been able to keep my dining room table clear and usable for three whole days! Yesterday I spent the entire day watching Mad Men, and cleaning the heck out of the kitchen. I managed to wash ALL of the remaining dishes, tossed every ugly old T-Fal pan I had except the big 12 inch skillet that makes multiple grilled cheese sandwiches possible , sorted out my measuring cups and spoons and managed to rebox all of the kitchen stuff for the move! As of now all of my pans are steel (aside from the one), brand new and bloody shiny. I have a whole set of brand new measuring cups and measuring scoops all matching, and a slightly mismatched, but functional set of measuring spoons! the kids and I ate dinner at the table and listened to music and read the news without too much hassle. it felt really good to sit down to a meal in quiet rather than hiding in the den during dinner. On the agenda today; clean the floors, clean the fridge, sanitize the bathroom, clean the bath in the master bedroom, laundry laundry laundry and basic maintenance in the bedrooms and living room. still no time for the den today, but once the heavy stuff is done upstairs I can come down and devote and entire day to it tomorrow. I also sorted out some items to give away out of my kitchen that just don't fit, or I've replaced with shiny things that make me happy. On the menu tonight, crock pot beef stew at my son's request!

Good morning.

So far, I feel much more rested today than yesterday, and I hope to get more done. Plans for early this morning are to work on the following areas for five to ten minutes each. (I might go back later and work on some of the areas for a longer period of time, but I'll use this plan for starters.) I plan to: load some dishes into dishwasher, sweep kitchen, find new (permanent) homes for a couple of items that are currently living as squatters on my kitchen countertops, work on my living room floor, and spend some time "packing" for my next trip to that rural area (dust mask, gloves, safety goggles, other such things).

Later, I plan to add to my gratitude list, spend at least ten minutes working in my BIT book, and spend fifteen minutes on paperwork.

Hope everyone who hasn't been feeling well is feeling much better today. Roxie, I've been thinking about you. (If you're reading this . . . lots of hugs.)

Hi, all. Tillie, so sorry to hear about your storms! Just read your updated, post-lightning post. Glad to hear that the yard cleanup is do-able.

This hasn't been my most productive of days. I felt really tired much of the day, sort of half asleep. I think some of it may have to do with a new medicine I started taking Monday night. We'll see. I may just need to get used to that new medicine.

I've read all the other posts (on this thread, anyway) and am thinking about all of you! Hugs.

I mentioned somewhere (maybe it was mainly on the chat last night) that I am trying to think in terms of what cleaning/decluttering jobs I can and am willing to have others help me with. One thing I did today was get in touch by phone with a yard guy I've used before in order to explain to him a specific yard cleanup project that needs to get done. He's supposed to give me an estimate on Friday. I'd been thinking about trying to do that job myself, but I've decided that doing it would aggravate some physical conditions I have. I also decided that my time would probably be better spent elsewhere. So I feel good about calling him for that.

I'm going to try to see if I can get to sleep soon and perhaps have a more productive day tomorrow.

Again, hugs to all.

Now to finish my post.
Had to get off the computer when lightning struck the side yard. LOL 😀

This latest downpour was a pretty good one but not near as bad as that one last night.

I went out and looked in the garage, at least 1000 LP record albums stored in cardboard boxes, an electric guitar and lots of other stuff got wet.
He plans to not do anything about all his wet stuff, says it should be "ok".
This place is going to stink to high heaven by next week when the temperatures get back into the 80s.
He needs a dumpster.
Oh well....

Went out in my garden area and removed the large branches from there.
Will have some pruning of broken rose bush and lilac branches to do and LOTS of raking out of smaller crap but it is Do-Able and I can get it back in shape pretty quick 😀

HI 🙂

Hi Billie 🙂
Thank you (((hugs)))
WAY TO GO!!!
for maintenance and trying out a different method of scheduling your time. 😀

Hi Barb 🙂
Thank you (((hugs)))
How wonderful of them to take such good care of your baby birds. 😀
I have a tub on the bathroom counter right under the leak and the water made it's own holes so it could freely flow.

Hi Just Me 🙂
Are you being treated for that vertigo?
Don't want to scare you but when my neighbor got like that she was finally diagnosed with MS.
Take care. (((hugs)))

Hi Karl 🙂
Happy you got a ride to storage and were able to get out some of the items you needed. 😀

Hi Diane 🙂
Thank you (((hugs)))
Your soup sounds real healthy and will be nice to have ready to eat whenever you are ready for it. 🙂
Your smaller garden oasis will be so nice for you and easy to care for.

Well, despite the dizziness and the late, late start, I did get a couple of things done. Sat in the floor with the cats for a while and got them brushed pretty well. That's an ongoing thing or else there's clumps of hair everywhere. Cleaned up a few containers that were still on the counter and washed the drawers that were still out from my refrigerator clean-out on Sunday and put them back in. Then started emptying my cabinets, loading dishes into the dishwasher. Most of the dishes in my cabinets have been sitting unused for years so they are dusty and covered with nicotine. Wiped out the cabinets where those were and the dishwasher is running.

Hopefully the vertigo will be better tomorrow and I can get busy again.

Tillie so sorry to hear of your storm and leak.
I cooked soup today and it has broccoli and cauliflower in it so house smelled like an out house. I was out working in yard while it cooked, came in tofind a house full of flies, apparently they didn't realize my cooking smells like rotten food. Put soup out on deck to cool down a bit and flies followed.
Clothes are still staring at me, from the couch. I agree with you tillie, sometimes you just need to hide from life after stressful days. Working on upper yard, realized, a lot of problem is I had fenced off upper yard, so have to remove weeds/grass on both sides. All the fencing was for dogs and today I realized, I never asked what I want, it was all about dogs safety etc. Down came the fencing and opened up the yard more, I like it so much better and will be so much easier to deal with. I have worked on it lots of hours and not done, but when I realize I am cleaning up some of it for the first time in years, and that in the future there will be much less to do, it is ok. I did some watering today. Played fetch over and over and over and over.
Boiled somer eggs, washed dishes as well as the soup and yad, so I feel tired, plus woke up too early again today thanks to dog. She may sleep on deck tonight so I can sleep, should be ok, covered area.

On Tuesday I was near my storage unit, this time with a helpful friend with a car, so I finally picked up the quilt that I've been wanting to add to my makeshift bedding. (It was too bulky to carry in my backpack, so I've skipped it on previous visits.) I also took a pot that I might use to cook some spaghetti soon. I had a couple of other items in mind as well, but they weren't easy to reach and I had a time constraint.

I then stayed up way too late surfing the Web, but I think I did sleep better with the new arrangement.

Well, thought I'd check in again. Unfortunately, I don't have much "good news" to report. After the chat on Sunday night, I went to take a bath before bed and as I was rinsing out my hair in the tub, my vertigo hit again really fast and hard. I had an attack a couple of weeks ago, right after I had started on the cleanup and it lasted almost a week. Going on the 3rd day this time and though it's not quite as bad as last time, it's still keeping me from doing much. (I can't move around much and can only really look straight ahead and side to side a bit.)
I did manage to make it to the dentist on Monday and got my teeth relined, but because I didn't want to be taking a chance driving around a lot, I just wandered around a few of the home improvement stores that were right by the dentist's office all day between appointments. I was proud that I only brought home 3 sample chips for new countertops in my kitchen from Lowe's, 3 from Home Depot and 2 from another wholesale place and estimated how much it's gonna cost to get the materials from each. I laid the samples against my sink on the counter to decide which I like best.
Yesterday, I still couldn't do much and didn't really get anything done. I had to go out again to pick up a Rx antibiotic for one of my foster kitties to get her started on. And took with me a couple of the "return to the store" bags that I could drop off on the way to and from that vet's office. Still can't look up, down or tilt my head, so didn't get much else done after that either.
I slept really late today because every time I got up I was so dizzy, I just went back to bed, hoping it would go away. I finally made myself get up, but still dizzy, so sat down and read some of the posts on this site for some inspiration. Not sure what I can do, but gonna try to go find something that I can work on, maybe just sitting on the floor and do something.
I know, not any progress to report so far this week. Maybe I'll have something positive tonight.

Oh, Tillie, I am sorry the storm was so destructive.
We have had intermittent storms today and a tornado southeast of here, but nothing like what you endured and so far no damage.
On Monday, the gutter men found a nest with 3 baby birds in one of the gutters. They carefully put it is a safe place. I did not see mama or daddy bird while they were working. I did not think they would survive. The men carefully placed the nest up in the top of the lilac bush under the eaves after they finished. Mama and daddy returned that evening, fed the babies and the 4th egg hatched. I am so relieved. So often, some birds just abandon their nests. I wish that your baby birds had been as fortunate.
Be sure to poke holes in your ceiling and put a tub underneath to catch the water. That will keep the ceiling from falling in.

My plan for the rest of today...I am going to try out: Work 15 minutes on maintenance or decluttering, then work 15 minutes in yard and/or garden. And just keep alternating back and forth and see how it goes. I will check in later with a report on how that turned out for me.

Hello to Everyone
What I have done so far today as best that I can remember"(since I "usually" like to to write down each thing, as I get it done. Washed dishes, cleaned bathroom wash basin, wtered some of my huse plants, took 3 pair of shoes from living room and returned them to the closet upstairs, washed out humminbird feeder to get ready to fill with the boiled sugar watr, and read the "What are you dong today posts of 19, 20 and 21.

Tillie....I just read your post about the awful storm you had. That is so disheartening 🙁
And especially so sad about the bird nests and your sweet little garden.
My thoughts and prayers are with you Tillie (((HUGS)))

Yesterday it rained, sprinkled and drizzled all day long.
Last night shortly before midnight I was woken up by the noise of a raging storm.
Looked like a hurricane out there.
Buckets of rain, winds blowing fiercely.
I comforted the cats as best I could till it passed.
The bathroom ceiling started to leak and now the plaster is threatening to fall.
Tree branches are down all over. Nests that had held baby birds are down too.
My garden looks pretty trashed.
Everything that he has piled up in the carport is completely saturated.
Weather prediction is for more rain today.
Think I will take today off from life,, calm my nerves and worry about it all tomorrow.