We moved here to Arizona 5 years ago. We had very benevolent former owners. They just knew we could use a number of things so left them here for us. Along with a yard containing 6 fruit trees, two rosemary bushes, two grapevines, a jasmine, a honey suckle, 5 Texas Sage bushes, 3 western petunias, 8 rose bushes and a bougainvillea. They also left a couch, two garden chairs, a metal patio sink, and bunches of “construction/building†materials. Now, mind you, they had done a wonderful job of updating the house. The kitchen was “to die for†and the pantry and laundry area were very handy. … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2013
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ What Travel Teaches Us
I am writing this post in hotel room in Amarillo, Texas, on my way home with the girls from an 11 day trip to Colorado. The girls and I drove; my husband flew. After more than two years of us having just one car, a van, I bought a Prius V a couple of months ago. I love it, and this is what we're driving. (We kept the van for kid hauling duties and use it once a week or so.) The Prius V does not have a huge amount of storage space, as we have filled it. I keep thinking that Colleen would be appalled. She's in the UK with Steve, and they probably have one suitcase and two backpacks total. Let's … [Read more...]
Let go of your “should” clutter
Should is just another word for obligation. The answer to all the following questions is NO! Should I keep this in case I need it some day. Should I keep this because (fill in the blank) gave it to me. Should I keep this, even though I have more of them than I need, just in case one day I actually have to cater to a much larger group than I normally would. Should I keep this because someone made it for me. Should I keep this because, after all, everyone has one. Should I use this only on special occasions. (Everyday is a special occasion, use it often or let it go is what I … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ Sentimental Clutter
Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and "fun" for you to achieve some quick decluttering. It is a funny word SENTIMENTAL ~ of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia. However when it comes to clutter we tend to think of it as anything with some sort of personal history attached to it. To me the only items of "sentimental value" that are worth keeping are the … [Read more...]
Taking A Break
I am breaking from the usual Friday post format to bid you all a fond farewell for a while. Tomorrow I embark on my seven week hiatus from blogging to enjoy some downtime. But never fear I haven't deserted you completely as I have set in place plenty of reading for you while I am away. During that time the blog will be running on a four day format as follows... Monday ~ Mini Missions as usual Tuesday ~ A post from me. (already written and set to publish) Wednesday ~ Cindy's Weekly Wisdom (as usual) Thursday ~ Deb J will be writing weekly. As you can see there will be no Friday … [Read more...]
How To Equip A New Home
I got to the end of the day yesterday and realised at 10:15pm that I had forgotten to put a post together for today. Luckily for me Andréia had sent me another post she had whipped up this week. She has obviously been thinking a lot about clutter lately and likes to share her experience with us. She has titled this post "How to Equip a New Home" but she could just as easily have called it "How to Declutter Your Home to Suit You".  Thanks Andréia. So without further adieu here is her post. How To Equip A New Home ~ by AndrÃa I have been decluttering for a while and this question has … [Read more...]
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Life after Death
Last week, our dog Tucker had to be put to sleep. We'd had Tucker for 9 years, and over the past year, he had steadily lost control of his hind legs, until, in his final days, he was only able to drag himself around on his hip. Even a dog leaves things behind when he leaves this world: 3 dog beds (one for each of his favorite rooms), a collar with tags, medications, a contact lens from eye surgery he had several years ago (we kept it in case he had to have the same surgery on his other eye), a leash, a food bowl, and enough shed hair to knit a sock. We all will die, and no one knows the … [Read more...]
Vanity, thy name is clutter.
How much space do you think is taken up in your home for the sake of vanity. What square footage is used to accommodate beauty products, hair styling formulas and tools, clothing that is excess to your needs, shoes, and fashion accessories. I will admit up front that I am a bit relaxed when it comes to presenting myself. I only use make-up if going to work, out in the evenings or just because I feel like sprucing myself up a little. And even then I only use the basics, foundation, mascara, brow pencil and lipstick. I don't believe that most beauty products actually live up to their promises … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday ~ Excess
Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and "fun" for you to achieve some quick decluttering. My husband and I attended an open house on the weekend. It was a quite lovely two bedroom apartment and considering the small size there was a good amount the storage space. But my oh my, the occupants sure did manage to fill all that storage space and more. As a result I am basing this weeks … [Read more...]
Friday’s Favourites ~ 16Aug2013
On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share with you my favourite comments from my wonderful readers and my favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. Favourite Comments. Enjoy! Due to problems access my blog this week I have had all sorts of trouble just trying to read and respond to the comments I have managed to get access too. Between that, illness recovery, visitors, dog sitting and a last minute house inspection (for which I really only had to weed the garden) I have had little change to select and attach my favourite comments here this week. Lucky I had … [Read more...]