{Simple Daybook} 24 February 2020

For Today ~

Looking out my window ~ beautiful sunny day.  The roses in front are growing new shoots but I had meant to cut them back this year.  I think I will anyway, and hope in the additional sunlight and fertilizer to get them growing again soon . . . better and fuller and more beautiful than before.

I am thankful ~ for my home.  Always.  Every Moment.

One of my favorite things  ~ is sitting with my daughter in companionable silence with a movie on, we each working on our own project, or working on bullet journals together.  I love her creativity.  She inspires me.

I am creating ~

 

 This is a small Biscournu cross stitch.  I started it at the beginning of the month while I was in hospital.  This past weekend I started using it as a daily Stitch 30 project, which simply means that I'm committing to stitch on it for 30 minutes every day.  I'm pleased with even the little bit of progress that has been made so far.  

 

I am reading ~ Only the River Runs Free.  Four chapters in and the story is developing really well.  It is the first book of a trilogy.  Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

I am hoping ~ to get the pantry rack placed in the kitchen where it belongs, once daughter and I move the existing cabinet out to the garage.

In my kitchen ~ the dishes get loaded and counters wiped every night {happy noises} Yesterday I made the Curried Quinoa which was delicious.  I added an extra lemon (juice) and a little pepper.  The recipe will be going into my folder as a regular.  I also made a pan of our favorite Amish Baked Oatmeal (per Sue Gregg I use 2 cups of buttermilk instead of regular milk) and tonight daughter is making homemade tortillas for some green chili chicken enchiladas she has planned.  Lots of yummy things happening here.

In the school room ~ a nearly complete high school curriculum is sitting in my hall closet.  I really need to pull them out and list them of find someone to give them to.  That's a goal.

Shared Quote ~ 

Just because you're trash doesn't mean you can't do great things.  Its called a trash CAN , not a trash Can NOT.  

(a quote daughter found on Pinterest and wrote on our chalkboard as inspiration for the week)

Truth from Scripture ~  

 

He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind.  Proverbs 11:29

(the reality of this truth is evident in our lives today.  all traces of what was are slowly being wiped away and replaced with beauty, peace, and happiness)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Feat

Monday started off inauspiciously with a head-full-o-fluff and a nap.  

 But when the cleaning spirit catches you, you obey.

The picture below may not look like much of anything.  An old, nearly empty closet in a room that is in great need of painting.  You would be completely on target with the painting part.  This has been the one room (Laundry) in the house that has never even been close to being finished since we moved in over seven years ago.  And in those seven years, this poor, centrally located closet has borne the burden of every unwanted, unneeded, not-right-now/I'll just put this here until later-item that I could throw at it.  That is to say, on Monday when I made an innocent trip to the kitchen and walked past this sad closet for the umpteenth-thousandth time, my heart said "Enough is enough."

This closet was stacked helter-skelter with boxes and bins and papers to almost the full height of the ironing board.  I cannot even tell you what ended up in the garbage can and recycle bin except that my heart and brain were finally in agreement that it was past time to get rid of things that I have no intention of using.  I organized the packaging and bags I want and will use; I discovered a binder full of photos and notes of phone calls with my father and his first cousin, both of whom are gone now, about my grandparents and my extended paternal family; I made the determination to greatly lighten my collection of stamps (Stampin' Up!).

After the closet was cleaned out, I put together a metal six shelf unit to go inside the closet - it looks beautiful!!  But, alas, I cannot overcome physics and when purchasing the shelf to go in the closet, I did not factor in the four inches of overhang on the framing.  See, the shelf unit technically will fit inside the closet, but once it is built I cannot put it inside.  I won't tell you how long I stood there staring, questioning my mental capacity, luck, fate, etc.  

Once I snapped out of it and accepted the reality of the situation, I went and sat down for a much needed break.

When I was watered and refreshed, I got back up and cleaned all of the debris from the utter chaos I had created.  The five things that remain are, clockwise from wok, a small bin of clothes one size smaller than what I wear (yes, I'm keeping them as incentive!), Large bin of scrapbook paper, supplies, and albums, clear bin of stamps that haven't been used in many, many years and will soon be listed on eBay, and a box with a started quilt top.  I'm still vacillating on the quilt top, but by the time I reached that box around the corner I had made too many decisions already and saved that one for later.  I also cleaned up the rest of the laundry room, including lots of clutter in front of closet #2.  (Yes, there is another, with even more stuff in it!)

Then it was time for the finishing touch:  Sweeping and mopping my laundry room.

Oh.  My.  Goodness.

It was an UTTERLY Exhausting day, I cried a little bit, took some tylenol, made a cup of tea, 

and went to bed for the remainder of the day with a heating pad on my back.

The reward, though, is this beautiful closet just waiting for some new shelves 

and to be a loved and useful part of our daily lives.