This week’s decluttering

After the high heat we had last week, we’re now enjoying a few days of much cooler weather–good weather to do a little decluttering.

This morning I “decluttered” our garden of a cart full of weeds, while Mr. B did some decluttering and organizing in the building where we store our lawn and garden things.

I’m looking around the house for a few things we don’t need any more too.

So far these things will be going:

-4 saucers, 1 box of ziploc snack bags that don’t zip, 4 business books that have been read once (will see if our library can use those)
-1 plastic tablecloth, 1 fabric round tablecloth, 6 placemats

Simplicity makeover

Now that our children are grown and gone, Mr. B and I enjoy a quiet, simple life here in Vermont. I love to read about others who have escaped the rat race, and this morning I found an interesting article about a couple who had a “simplicity makeover” in their lives. The woman in the article read a simplicity book by, and later became friends with, Wanda Urbanska, who writes about voluntary simplicity.

I especially like this principle from Wanda Urbanska’s 7 Paths to a Better Life:

6. Plant a new victory garden with fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables and allow its growth to spur on your own. Grow flowers for your body and soul.

Beginnings of a new flower bed

Growing flowers for body and soul. I like the sound of that, especially now, as summer begins.

A little bit too much rain

After the wettest May on record, which followed the wettest April on record, we’ve finally started getting a few warmer, sunnier days here in Vermont.

Lake Champlain rose to its highest level ever this spring, and the water is still so high, some of the state parks around here weren’t able to open for Memorial Day because they were all under water. I think some still are.

There’s a LOT of flood damage around the state. Thankfully, the flood waters are starting to recede, but it’s going to take weeks before they’re back at normal levels.

Hopefully things will dry out soon so we can all get our gardens in.

Lake Champlain reached its highest levels ever this spring

Featured: decluttering blog-365 Less Things

Whether you’re new to decluttering, or have kept a decluttered home for years, you’ll enjoy 365 Less Things. 

Colleen from 365 Less Things

Colleen started her blog as a year-long decluttering project, decluttering one item each day. She has recently completed her 365 days of decluttering, and has decided to continue blogging, in response to her readers that would have missed the wonderful decluttering suggestions and tips she offers.

Over the past year Cindy has been guest-posting for Colleen, and now writes a regular weekly post of her own at 365 Less Things.

Colleen has built a nice community around her blog, and readers are now beginning to share the results of their own decluttering projects that started when they received help and encouragement after reading Colleen’s blog.

Another nice thing I’ve noticed is that Colleen is very warm and friendly, and takes time to answer each comment. That’s something that’s not always continued once a blog has established a following. It’s refreshing to meet a blogger that remains accessible like that, and I enjoy my daily visits to 365 Less Things.

Vintage summer dresses from the 1950s

Look at these vintage summer dresses from the 1950s! They’re so pretty and feminine.

I was born in 1956, and I remember my mother’s dresses. She always looked beautiful.

Credits for the Flickr photos above go to:

1. Vintage 1950s Swiss Dot Sundress, 2. 1950s Drop Waist Full Skirt Dress, 3. S4744 Gallery, 4. M9407 Gallery, 5. 365 Outake–Quintessentially Southern , 6. Mom in a Convertible, May, 1953, 7. 1950′s Vintage Pink Roses Day Dress, 8. Photo scan, Glamour Magazine, 1957, 9. 1950′s Vintage Novelty Print Strawberry Day Dress, 10. Beauty, 11. 1950′s Vintage Novelty Print Cotton Day Dress, 12. Simplicity 4743, 13. Early 50s Sundress, 14. Fashion Frocks “As Lovely, As Changeable As …” 1950, 15. So Femme! 50s Shelf Bust Halter Dress, 16. 1950′s Vintage Black Floral Day Dress, 17. Party girls – 1953, 18. Disneyland 1958

Friday decluttering

Gone today:

-three old Easter baskets
-one truckload of pine needles taken to the yard waste section of our town’s recycling center

Some of the pines that drop all the needles…notice the hot air balloon?

I’d rather have roses

I’d rather have roses on my table…

…than diamonds on my neck. ~Emma Goldman

Thank you for visiting. Have a wonderful weekend!

Vintage dressmaker dummy

Mr. B found this vintage dressmaker dummy a couple of summers ago. When he showed it to me, I laughed and told him to keep it because it might make a fun seasonal decoration. I haven’t had a chance to really do anything with it yet, but there are lots of possibilities.

Because of the silver thing on the neck, it looks like this might have been some kind of a display mannequin from a store. If it is, it’s probably very old. I searched online, but wasn’t able to find anything similar. I’d really like to know how old it is.

How to recycle some of those old jeans you’re decluttering

I just stumbled across a great way to recycle worn out jeans, including the seams!

Visit Polka Dot Pineapple to see how she makes coasters out of the seams and hems of worn out jeans. That’s a very creative idea.

Thursday decluttering

When you declutter regularly, it gets harder and harder to find stuff to get rid of, but there’s usually something if you look hard enough. I had a few minutes today, so I decided to declutter one of my bureau drawers.

There’s not a lot of excess in there, but I managed to find a partial tube of coverup cream, an old blush compact that I never use any more, and a new tube of lipstick I bought from Avon, but it’s a hideous color. Clown orange is what I feel like each time I try it, then I wipe it off. Out it goes.

There was also a new mirror-in-a-compact that had been given to me for Christmas, but it was made in China, and broke when I opened it, so it’s in the trash now too. One pair of worn-out jeans will be cut up for mending patches.

Image: JillOW on Flickr

Image credit: JillOW