Clutter, Stuff and Hoarding

It's resolution time and I bet along with loosing weight, exercising more and quitting smoking that organizing is one of the top five resolutions people make at this time of year.

New Years signifies the end of something, and beginning again with a clean slate. A clear calendar with no mistakes. January 1st can be a great starting line, a start date for things you have always wanted to do.

An organized home is not something taught in school. Organizing and the ability to discern clutter from usable goods is a life skill usually passed down from parents or other mentors in your life. If you had neither of these and from infancy you have always managed to keep everything well organize and shiny clean then you are a freak of nature and probably anything I say will be of little use to you. But read on if you wish.

...for me to claim ownership of something I simply must love it or love it's usefulness

Organizing is finding a place for everything and putting everything in it's place. Easier said than done but do-able. When I was younger I certainly was not the best housekeeper. Over time I have amassed tips and techniques that have slowly but surely transformed my home.

The main thing I needed to master was defining clutter. Is clutter something superfluous or something usable? Could I have clutter and still have organization. I believe the answer is yes and no. Clutter is a group of items gathered with no or little purpose. Clutter neither brings me usefulness nor enjoyment. That is not to say that anything without a purpose is clutter. Certainly not but for me to claim ownership of something I simply must love it or love it's usefulness.

Using the above definition we can classify clutter as just stuff. Our modern society loves stuff. Big stuff. Little stuff. Expensive stuff. Cheap stuff. In fact we love our stuff so much our economy is kept afloat by our continued desire to amass stuff.

When our desire to claim ownership grossly exceeds our need we call it hoarding. Hoarding is a growing phenomenon, something that happens behind closed doors, away from prying eyes. It is something I think everyone suffers from to a certain extent. We buy and buy and buy, getting rid of things we bought a year ago to make room for the stuff we bought today. The only difference between us and diagnosed hoarders is that hoarders never get rid of anything and just continue to add to the pile.

When I hear stories of compulsive hoarders I am struck by the poignancy of their plight. These people are just doing what the last century of marketing told us to do. Their homes with floor to ceiling piles of clothes never worn and gifts never given away is really a reflection of each and every one of us. We are a society of hoarders, collectors, and stuff savers.

Somehow we think this makes us affluent. Somewhere along the line we told ourselves this makes us the envy of the world.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned on this road to simplicity is that these things, these materials make us no better at our jobs or our relationships. They provide us with no more comfort than a rock. In fact these things only further our sheltering from those around us. Like protective padding, this stuff is really just cluttering up our heads even more than they do our homes.

Give you one guess what I am doing Jan 1st...

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

What an extrodinarily busy time for us. We were unable to complete our 12 Days of Christmas celebrations as we planned mainly because my children were both enrolled in a day camp program at the local museum. For Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday by the time we got home from camp and picking up my husband from work it was just enough to get dinner on the table and do a bit of housework before the kids got started on their bed time routine. And by Thursday it was Christmas Eve.

We still plan to do the Solstice activities I had planned, and a few others things as the Christmas season comes to a close.

We are beginning to look ahead now at what promises to be a very eventful year for us. Namely we plan to buy our first home in the spring. I am holding out for a country property and the more acerage the better in my opinion. In this area, a reasonably priced piece of land is as much of a pipe dream as a wish for total world peace. But like all lofty goals, remote possibility of success is a poor excuse for not trying, so we shall see what the future has in store for us.

I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends and the odd treat or two...or three!

Christmas Continues

Things have been just rolling along. And there is only a few more days left.

For anyone just dying to know here's what we have done the last few days as part of our 12 days of Christmas.

On the 5th Day (Thursday) we attended a Christmas party at my husband's work. The kids received a Kinderegg and a Barrel O' Monkey's game to share. I thought it was sweet that they thought of the kids that way. My husband just started his job there and it's a small but growing company. It will be nice to have some faces to put to names when he talks to me about his day.

On the 6th Day we went to the movies to see Disney's new A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey. We rarely get to the movies and this was such a treat for us. The script was very close to the original story and my husband and I enjoyed it very much. It was scary at some points... I mean really it's a tale of a man haunted by four ghosts on Christmas Eve who are trying to scare him into being a nicer person, it's not your typical Christmas movie. But then again my children sing songs from Nightmare Before Christmas and try to pass them of as Christmas carols. 'Kidnap the Santy Clause, chomp him into bits, kidnap the Santy Claus and find out how he ticks" I kid you not. These are my children, encouraged by my third child, my husband.

On the 7th day of Christmas we went to my sister's house for our Christmas dinner and gift exchange with extended family. I presented my finished quilt to my 1 yr old nephew. He kept wrapping himself in it. He is still sleeping in his crib but he will already have a nice twin size quilt for when he gets his big boy bed.

And today, for the 8th day we went to the mall (Ahhh!) and allowed our kids to use their gift certificates from their aunt. We got there a bit after opening, went it and go out just as the crowd was thickening. It was close but we had a good time.

The next few days are going to be crazy busy but hopefully we will have enough time to continue with our 12 days celebrations.

12 Days of Christmas: Day 3 and 4

On the third day of Christmas my family and me... constructed a house made of gingerbread!

I set it up, piling the icing in place and holding it until it stuck then I let them go for it. Turned out very festive as always.



For the icing I used 1 cup of shortening, put it in the mixer and mixed until spread out around the bowl. Then I added 1/2 a cup of icing sugar at a time, and stopped when the icing was thick enough to hold the gingerbread together, but smooth enough to pipe from a piping bag. Cheap, quick and easy! Why do people pay for ready made icing at the bulk store?

On the fourth day of Christmas, my parents gave to me... something new and fun too!

There was some confusion this morning when the kids came downstairs and found our hollow book empty. That is until they realized there were two presents under the tree which obviously could not fit in the book. Their squeals of delight were priceless. It's like we got to experience Christmas morning a bit early! My husband and I were listening from our room as the kids screamed. He looked over at me and said "You are such a great mom." and made my heart melt.

My daughter received a book on Fairy mythology and my son received a book about pirates complete with fold out ship and paper masts, sails, crew and canons. It took a while and some patience to get everything worked out so he could play... I am so thankful this gift did not take up 45 minutes from my Christmas morning. I think I made the right choice for their early gifts.

On the Second Day of Christmas...

On the Second Day of Christmas my family and me...

made paper garland!



An oldie but a goodie!

On the first day of Christmas...

The Christmas season has officially started at our house. This morning the kids awoke up to find our little hollow book titled "The Twelve Days of Christmas". In the book was a little note which read:

One the first day of Christmas my family and me... brought home our Christmas Tree!

And here it is!




After a long line of mishaps we finally got it up, balanced and decorated. We discovered at home and after we paid, that the base of the tree was warped and curvy which made it difficult to centre it and secure the pins that hold it in place. The trouble was so bad I nearly swore off real trees for good, and I was preparing myself to drive to the nearest department store to buy the most artifical tree I could find, just to be done with it.

We had to reposition it numerous times and for a while thought we had done well until we started to put the decorations up and one bump sent it tipping over. We lost one ornament in the fray.

In the end my husband had to bring in his saw, we undecorated the tree in haste and ended up cutting off another four inches to get to a nice straight part... but now I have some lovely cedar boughs to decorate the shelves around my house. It smells so nice in here.

We decided on a real tree three years ago after learning that artificial trees release a toxin into the air as it breaks down over time. This toxin is not good for the Earth and neither is the petrol-based process used to manufacture the fake plastic tree to begin with. If you live in an area of the world where evergreens are abundant and tree farms abound (like my neck of the woods) then a real tree is a local solution that quickly returns to the earth in less than a year after the last Christmas light is packed away. I have the remnants of three trees at the tree line along the back of our rental property, the first one can no longer be found, and the other two are mere shadows almost returned to the earth.

Once we get our land, we'd like to buy a potted tree to give it a try. It would be small, maybe a table top size but we could plant it in the yard in spring when it thaws (probably storing it in the greenhouse until then). But we'll deal with that when we get there... hopefully next Christmas.



Here's a picture of the outside of our house with my tomato cage tree, my berry wreath, the two willow trees that I plan to use for my peas and beans in the spring. I am all about multi-purposing to save space, money and minimize our consumption.

Barn Cats

We have a barn cat. No barn but we have a cat for it once we get one. Theodora was discovered with her head deep inside an empty can in our recycling box. I caved and fed the mangy thing. She was skinny and malnurished that day with a soar under her front arm. She ate a large bowlful of the kibble we presented her and then threw it up. That was just the beginning.



Theodora

We contacted both the Humane Society and the SPCA but given how many homeless cats are out there, we decided to foster her until her family claimed her. She had to belong to someone, we reasoned. She was declawed, which meant she was probably fixed as well. Weeks passed and no one claimed her, although we did get two phone calls for a similar cat but both people said their cats had claws. She's been with us for two months and I am afraid to say we are stuck with her.

I started letting her outside. Since she has been keeping to the back laundry room exclusively, huddled on a top shelf, out of range of our other three cats who all have claws. She is somewhat out numbered, but she's also a bit of a freak. She draws attention to herself when anyone walks by and begins hissing and striking the offending intruder as if she has not yet realized she is without claws. Like a bully victim she is relentlessly teased by the other three and Theodora has not figured out that by being such a spaz she has placed a target on her back.

I haven't the heart to take her to the SPCA. She has bit me numerous times, while I was trying to feed her no less. It doesn't hurt but it leaves a mark. And it makes me wonder why I bother. But she keeps coming back, scratching at the door wanting to be let in. I can't see why. I know she would do well in a place with no other animals who could taunt her the way mine do but that action would require decision and then follow through, two things I have been lax on doing lately.

She is here now. And would make a dandy barn cat. She's a mouser too. I often see her stalking in the backyard which makes me think there is hope for her yet.

We are exceeding our maximum pet allowance now at our rental house and I am just hoping that we aren't discovered before we move in the spring. I have made a vow to take in no more strays, no matter how desperate I am for ball of fur that actually loves me. Of course it wouldn't surprise you to learn that a week ago while on a walk a furry white canine stray began to follow us. Without it's owner in sight, all I could think to do was cry.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Too often at Christmas time there is a mad dash to the Big Day, like the finish line in a big race. You can't wait to get there and the anticipation builds until you can think of nothing else. Everything else pales in comparison to Christmas morning when all present wrappings are ripped to shreds and before you know it the day has come and gone. I am ashamed to admit this was my house one year.

At a time when our kids where just old enough to know the drill, to understand there would be another present and then another, our house played host to a flurry of excitement and then I was hit by the inevitable let down. That's it? I had spent months shopping, planning, baking, decorating, wrapping (and working to pay for it all) for an hour of frenzied mayhem? There had to be a better way.

Over the years we have scaled down the gifts, and the festive engagements. We have simplified our Christmas and started our own anti-consumer Christmas. We still buy presents but we no longer compare ourselves to the standard on television commercials and talk shows. We keep it simple by not going overboard.

This year, my family and I are starting a new Christmas Tradition, actually it's an old Christmas tradition with a new twist. Traditionally the Twelve Days of Christmas begin on Christmas eve and continue until January 5. This orthodox way of observing Christmas does not necessarily fly anymore. By New Year's Day Christmas is a faint memory and prolonging the festive season when people are back to work and kids back to school just doesn't seem right, at least not in North America anyway.

We are starting our 12 Days of Christmas on Dec. 13. On the first day we will buy our real tree and decorate it. But the second day, and each day after will be a surprise. Each morning the kids will wake up not knowing what Christmas activity we will be doing. It may be making Christmas cookies, going to the movies, making a craft, observing winter solstice in a special way or even receiving a small gift.



To reveal our special activities I created a book, a hollow book that when opened will reveal that days surprise. I made up special cards that we will place in the book each night after the kids go to bed. When they wake up they can open the book and find out what we are going to do.



Each card is made out of acid free, scrapbooking grade paper and stickers so that I can scrapbook each day using the card and any pictures I took. It does take time to plan and create but it's a tradition I can see us doing every year. It prolongs the merriment of the season by creating a surprise every day instead of all on one day.