Spring Projects Galore

It was another CHILLY day but the sun was blasting down so I decided to make the best of it and head outside. The snow is gone, hopefully for good this time (damn you Mother Nature!), so it was time to tackle my two small flower beds at the front of the house. Yes, I am testing the weather gods, I know! I cleaned up the back patio and it snowed...I clean up the front and perhaps we'll be blessed with hail...any bets?!

There will be several steps to the cleanup process, of course, and today I just started with picking up the dead leaves, pruning the hydrangea bush and moving some rocks around.

Darn, I should have taken some closeups while I was working as I came across some lily of the valley poking up here and there. The bleeding heart bush is up about 8", about the same as last week before it got covered in snow. Same with the daffodils - they're about 4' high - no change from last week.

My other small bed - I cleaned up the dead leaves and moved more rocks over from the other bed. This garden has killed hundreds of dollars worth of plants over the years - nothing grows well here. About 20 years ago it was dug up for some reason I can't recall and then the dirt was put back in with the clay on top. I've tried different bushes and trees with no success. Right now there are a few different types of ground cover and lots of rocks. My plan is to find a "statement" rock/boulder, call it a rock garden and be done with it.

Cleaned up with more rocks. I have a new hose to replace this sad one, you know, for watering the rocks lol!

Inside I am sick and tired, VERY SICK AND TIRED, of the mess of boots/shoes in the foyer.

Time to fill a few bins with the detritus of winter: boots, toques, scarves, gloves etc and CLEAR THE CLUTTER!!  Another view - what a mess!!

This area needs some work. We do have a coat closet but Kazi prefers to hang every coat and scarf and throw every pair of boots and shoes she's ever owned onto this coat rack/shoe rack. The two bins on top hold all of our hats, gloves and mittens. Oh, and a bike helmet. Oops...that's mine!

Here's her shoe rack tidied up. I haven't finished the coat rack yet. That involves lots of shifting around from upstairs closet to downstairs closet - I was feeling faint and had to go meet a friend for coffee!

My rack - hiking shoes, Blundstone boots, hiking boots, more Blunnies, and underneath my hiking sandals and my shoes du jour. Much tidier...

Lots more to do but it's a start. And at least I'm not tripping over things...for now.

Makeover Madness

The long list of projects to do around the house (and trailer!!) continues to grow. Dragging my sorry pain-filled butt around to make minor repairs or do some redecorating just doesn't seem like something I want to do right now.

HOWEVER.......sometimes some little thing catches your eye and you realize you need to take immediate action...

EEEEEEEEEK!! Some horrible, hairy creature is living under out bathroom sink!!! And it's GROWING!! And trying to ESCAPE!! Is it a black widow spider???

Let's zoom in on this hideous creature!! Hmmmmm...there's something familiar about it....yes, it's my daughter's hair!! No, don't worry, my daughter isn't living in the cupboard under the sink but some old hair extensions are!! Along with lots of clutter!!

It's time for MAKEOVER MADNESS!! 

Uggghhh! Hair extensions mixed in with a jumble of other crap! It's gotten to the point that when we need to put something away we yank the cupboard door open with incredible speed and toss the item in quickly slamming the door shut again before debris tumbles out onto the floor. It's time to get the mess under control and it'll be a quick, easy on the back, fix!

First I cleared everything out from under the sink.  Kazi went through everything and tossed out most of it :)  I did a quick wipe down and added some contact paper that I had left over from doing the drawers in the kitchen.

I added an extendable extra shelf to help keep things organized, just a few dollars from Walmart.

And...ta da!! All is now organized and easy to reach.  I hope I can keep the momentum going and continue with the bathroom redecorating. I have paint for the walls and cupboard doors, new cupboard handles and some new shelves to put up. Now that my back is on the mend (but not fully mended) it's time to start doing some tasks around the house that won't be too taxing on the back.

It feels great to accomplish something, even if it is relatively minor. Are you working on any little projects??

Hoarders

Welcome to the dirty little secret in my life. No, you won't be seeing an episode about me on TV but I am at a point where I need to take some action. I went downstairs today to start sorting and my plan was to pack away things that will be going east with me next summer in a little used storage area off the laundry room. Well, imagine my horror when I looked in and saw that it was stuffed to the ceiling full of stuff!! 


Add to that the four boxes just inside my front door containing Kazi's new bed and mattress.  Add to that a furnace room and understairs closet full of Michael's belongings.  Add to that all the piles here and there in the basement of stuff we brought home when we sold the trailer. I am drowning in stuff and it's bugging the hell out of me!  The purpose of hanging on to all of this stuff is to have several garage sales in the spring and make a little $$ that will go towards our trip to PEI next summer and the things we need to purchase, like a fridge and stove. I just don't know if I can put up with it all until then.  There must be someway of organizing it, decreasing it, making it disappear! 


I just haven't figured it out yet. But it's really bringing me down. Part of the problem is that Michael and I only have one day a week together which is Sunday. He works Saturdays and also in the evening on Saturdays and on Sunday we usually head OUT OF THE HOUSE to go hiking. So NOTHING gets done! 


I'm at the breaking point. I'm thinking that I need to DONATE a good chunk of our stuff and not worry about getting money for everything. My peace of mind, currently nonexistent, is a trade off for $$ and it's time for me to realize that it's definitely more important. Its so much harder to CLEAN around here and a cluttered house also clutters up my mind!


So I am bravely going to head down to the basement and make some sort of start. It won't be easy and it could even be dangerous! But somebody's got to make a start and it looks like that somebody is going to be ME!


Pray for me!