Too Much Stuff!

You may want to be sitting down when you read this.  Sister Clara says she was, but she still needed to pick herself up from the floor.  It was the same for computer guru Roger.  He, too, had to pick himself up from the floor.  Both of these people have been in my house and know full well what it looks like.

Here is what I told them.  I awakened during the night with one thought – I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF IN MY HOUSE!  I’M GOING TO START ELIMINATING WHAT I CAN.  And, yes, Sister Clara has been telling me for years, “YOU HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF IN YOUR HOUSE.”  Computer guru Roger is too kind to say anything, but I always knew that he was thinking that very thing.

A next question is, how do I find what I need, when I need it?  Well, the fact is, sometimes, I don’t.  Find it, that is.  I make the mistake of telling Sister Clara that I’ve lost something, and her response always is, “You need a keeper.”  Not being able to find what I need probably is directly related to how much stuff I have in my house.

To my credit (if there is one), I have a rule.  Something has to leave my house, every day, and never come back.  Today, for example, the four hundred books left my house and will never come back.  They will make it to Wisconsin to start a library for college students learning about encouraging literacy in children.  These four hundred books are all children’s books.  And, so far, I have three boxes of adults books that will eventually make their way to New Mexico to be part of a program started by Elizabeth Cochran.  She purchased a vehicle and adapted it to hold books.  She takes the books to various places in Southern Colorado and  New Mexico:  schools, prisons, etc.  I think she gives them away.  I am satisfied that my books are going to places where they can be productively used.  It doesn’t, however, keep the sting away when they go out of the door.

I have kept some of my most prized children’s books that I just can’t bear to part with.  Books by Jan Brett, Alan Say, Ryan Higgins, Mem Fox, Tasha Tudor, books illustrated by Loren Long.  And, my favorite book – Rudyard Kipling’s, Elephant’s Child.  The language is so musical; I love it!  And, those are the children’s books on the first floor of my house.  I’ll have to work on the children’s books in the basement where I have shelves of them, waiting for decisions.

After the books (boxed several days ago) left my house, I went to the Big Room and started going through boxes.  There are boxes with things that I have not seen for five years.  I had planned to use most of what I sorted when I made books.

Making books is one of my favorite things to do.  It is creating something out of nothing.  I make “box books;” a real favorite.  Making a box book requires having a suitable box (of any size) that has a top and bottom.  I usually put folded watercolor paper (accordion style) into the box, securing one side to the bottom of the box.  Before doing that, I may decorate the pages for an event, a holiday, or something that has special meaning for the person who will receive the book.

But, in five years or more, I have not made a box book; and there were about a hundred boxes waiting to be made into books.  I threw them away, except some very special ones – and, there are a few.  So, they have gone into a special box marked, “For Bookmaking.”  Along with special items to use for the pages:  photographs, paintings, certain jewelry pieces, found objects, etc.  I really want to get back to making box books, but when?  And, I also want to make other books, as well.  Books with decorated hard back covers (front and back) and with pages inserted in the book to decorate and write on.  Or, the finished book can be given away so the recipient can decorate the pages, as desired.

Two garbage bags later, I had emptied five boxes of stuff.  The garbage bags went out to the trash barrels and, because today is trash day, they went into the big trucks with all of the other trash that had been collected throughout the day.

For counting (every day something has to leave my house and never come back), do I count four hundred books for four hundred days; or, do I count ten boxes of books for ten days?  And, what about the two garbage bags?  Do I count the items in each bag; or, just the two garbage bags?  Any suggestions?

I own a somewhat inordinate amount of Westmoreland Glass.  Much of it is in cabinets, most of which were purchased at Glass Roots that was owned by Ken and Martie.  Others are family heirlooms; Larry’s Aunt Tillie’s pie cabinet that was refurbished several years ago.  It is quite beautiful.  Others that have been in our family for many years.  More glass is in boxes and have not seen the light of day for years, five or more.  So, I asked my glass expert, Martie, what to do; it has to go.  She gave me specific instruction, and when the glass leaves the house, I’ll let you know.  I do think there are many pieces that will be kept by family members, but, honestly, I do not need to own three (count ’em, three) punch bowl sets of a large support plate or stand, large punch bowl, and twelve cups!

Also leaving my house, this weekend, is my entire set of All Clad Cookware.  Time was when I was cooking for family, I needed cookware the size that son-in-law Bob said he would take home to Wisconsin.  He’s really enjoying doing most of the cooking in their household, these days; a habit he started during the pandemic, when he was working from home for his university position.

I want to keep many of my possessions as I continue to live in this house; I don’t want it to be devoid of all of those possessions.  It took sixty plus years to put the collections together, and I like them – dare I say, love them.  And, I have no way of knowing how long this purging process will take.  How many tears will be shed?  It is extremely difficult to participate in this process of seeing life-long treasures go out of the door.

But, it has begun …

Be Safe and Be Well.

The Cranky Crone

Thoughtful comments are appreciated.