As most of you know I've been trying to downsize for quite some time. So far my greatest success is to get something to blog about.
I have discovered some things about the micro manager that I hadn't recognized. The Micro Manager will hang almost anything on the house walls. She has an untanned sealskin on a wall that she bought from one of the Inuit while she was nursing in the Arctic. It's a good thing she doesn't find a skunk skin or that might be on the wall too.
Her cousin found painting late in life and we were the beneficiaries of many the these creations. Guess where they went? Well yes, onto our walls. Guess who framed and hung these treasures? Ya , Red , that's who.
I found one little room with 10 treasures on the walls.
Well this year there is a little more movement to actually discard things. If something is on paneling it's gone because it doesn't leave a nail hole.
So these two treasures are being disposed of. I know I'm not supposed to end a sentence with a proposition.
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These were meant to be bumper stickers that were passed out by the Alberta Teachers Association in the 1980's.
I didn't know what to do with them so I mistakenly brought them home.
The Micro Manager got busy right away and found the two cedar planks and voila the stickers went on the planks and on the wall.
I also found several coats that I never remember seeing.
So here are piles of this and that that are really going to leave the house this year.
Too funny! I rather like those signs since I'm a teacher too. I've been trying to downsize. I really am. In our household, ART is the hoarder (excuse me) keeper of things. He has a hard time letting things go. Hmmm... Now you've got me thinking. I need to look in my closet.
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends who lives on his own said he would sell his house as is and forget about downsizing.
DeleteOops! My memory is going. I just wrote the same sort of comment on your next post.
DeleteGo you! You're making great progress.
ReplyDeleteI really don't have much of a choice in the matter.
DeleteLuckily my house has walls that resist most attempts to drill into them, so after some initial enthusiasm when I first moved in, my wall-hanging activities have been curtailed. Anyone want some worn-out masonry drills?
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should use more of that iron hard material to build houses with.
DeleteDownsizing is a job, it could take a year to clean out a house.
ReplyDeleteTake care, have a wonderful week!
A quick move would man downsizing in a hurry.
DeleteA lot for you to see to.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising how much room those kind of things take up once off the wall!
ReplyDeleteYou're making progress, Red. Just keep trucking
Yes, it would be quite a few boxes.
DeleteGood luck with your downsizing. It can be tough, especially if one of you puts a lot meaning into things. I am a minimalist, married to a maximist, and have fought and lost the fight of too many things. I sigh and think of our poor son, and what he will be stuck with when we are gone.
ReplyDeleteThis is funny. Exactly the same thing happens here. I know that my kids want very little if this stuff. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House.
DeleteThe preposition rule is one that I don’t agree with although it seems right to a valid it in formal writing.
ReplyDeleteFrom https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/ending-a-sentence-with-a-preposition.html
“It's perfectly acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition if the alternative would create confusion or sound unnatural. “What are you sitting on?” and “This is the movie I told you about!” sounds much more natural than “On what are you sitting?” or “This is the movie about which I told you!” “
Yes, this!!
DeleteI write informally for the blog . In fact, that's the only way I write. However, once in a while it's interesting to think of formal writing.
DeleteI like those two bumper stickers. And you do have quite a lot of stuff on your walls, it seems. :-)
ReplyDeleteSome people would be horrified.
DeleteMy ending of sentences with prepositions really irked my father and one day he announce he was going to have a word with my English teacher and arranged for a conference. I was tremendously worried. When he came home from that meeting however, he said not a word and only the next day did I ask what my English teacher had said. My father told me that she had told him that English was an evolving language with spellings and rules constantly in flux, and that she wasn't concerned by my ending sentences with a preposition. The whole affair stuck with me though and I am very self conscious ending a sentence that way.
ReplyDeleteAnd this, too!! (see my reply to Anvilcloud's comment) Your English teacher was ahead of her time, and you shouldn't be self-conscious about doing what turned out to be the right thing.
DeleteFormal rules are fine but we don't have to die by them.
DeleteWell, good for you, Red! You are making progress! I have lots of things on the walls - lot of pictures drawn by my children and now my grandchildren drawings getting added to the mix. I can I take down a sweet drawing that says "I love u, Grandma"!?!
ReplyDeleteYes, grandchildren can supply you with lots of artistic creations.
DeleteDownsizing is a lot of work. I keep looking around the house here wondering about how we're going to get rid of most of this stuff. Good luck with all of it.
ReplyDeleteDown sizing really puzzles your puzzler. It's hard to decide what goes and what doesn't.
DeleteI am being ruthless with the clear-out here. Husband isn’t sadly. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm on your side. We don't want to leave our stuff for others to take care of.
Delete“So these two treasures are being disposed of.” I agree with you, those are treasures. My suggestion is to drop them off at a nearby school. 😊 That should spread some smiles to a few.
ReplyDeleteDownsizing will keep you busy for a bit but you'll appreciate it when you're done.
ReplyDeleteI will appreciate it but someone else may not feel the same way.
DeleteI so agree with Anvilcloud and Ed about the preposition - language allows for the most natural sounding arrangement of sentences and your sentence "sounds right" so it's okay.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm right there with you on the decluttering. How some things reach such significance in some of our brains is probably a topic for somebody's doctorate study! Good luck with your ongoing efforts :)
We do have to be careful that we achieve the correct meaning. Funny how grammar helps in crossword puzzles.
DeleteTwo great quotes to put up on the wall. Interested in your downsizing. I know we have to start ours more in earnest.
ReplyDeleteWe got rid of big stuff quite a few years ago but it's the little stuff that's the big problem.
DeleteI'm on a holding pattern on downsizing for now. I am thinking about it though.
ReplyDeleteI've started on family pictures. Too many duplicates. Too many meaningless photos.
ReplyDeleteI did photos quite a few years ago.
DeleteTo me it sounds like a war is developing between Red The Declutterer and Jean The Hoarder. A bit like Russia v Ukraine but more brutal.
ReplyDeleteThis battle is more like a siege.
DeleteYou can do it, Red. I single handedly tackled six downsizes, and succeeded so well that today I had to buy measuring cups to dish out Kitty's cat food.
ReplyDeleteMy parents downsized in several phases. They would ask each of we 3 kids if we wanted items or furniture, and if none of us wanted it, they donated it to Goodwill. So, you might want to consider asking relatives if they want any items NOW. By the time my parents exited this world, I was surprised of the large amount of stuff left, but more surprised about what items were important to the 6 grandkids. They each had a list of things bequeathed to them, but we did a round-robin for several items for ourselves and the grandkids. Never would I have imagined a stuffed white swan that my son gave them was so important that he wanted it. It's behind glass in his home's curio cabinet. Hope you win the siege. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteWe have a fox pelt that I have no idea what I am going to do with it! It is on the wall in the Living Room, it was a gift from a fox trapper. Sadie thinks it is very interesting when she visits...Chance didn't care about it at all:)
ReplyDelete