Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas
A very merry Christmas to any readers who are both reading this and celebrating it. Eat lots of great food, give and receive nice presents, and enjoy your family and friends if you can.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
House photos
Rather than do a hugely picture heavy blog spot, here's a link to a Facebook album with photos I took around the outside of the new house on Saturday.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100548&id=1274941519&saved
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/deadeyeconstance/NewHouse#
There's lots of inside photos too but they include the vendor's stuff, so I don't want to publish them. I took them more to get an idea of where we could put things.
Back to the grindstone. Considering that we probably won't move in till April, G's list of essential jobs to be done while he is at work gets longer every time he speaks to someone. I am sorely tempted to stop answering the phone!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100548&id=1274941519&saved
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/deadeyeconstance/NewHouse#
There's lots of inside photos too but they include the vendor's stuff, so I don't want to publish them. I took them more to get an idea of where we could put things.
Back to the grindstone. Considering that we probably won't move in till April, G's list of essential jobs to be done while he is at work gets longer every time he speaks to someone. I am sorely tempted to stop answering the phone!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Our New Home
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-vermont+south-107049445
Now, while there is many a slip, etc, I think I can announce that we are buying this house. Unless there is a disaster.
I don't know how long the link will be up for. Hopefully by the time it goes down I will have my own pictures to show off.
Now all we have to do is sell this place. Oh, and pack :( That has started. George is doing his sergeant-major thing and pushing us to do everything ASAP even though it will be three or four months before we can move. Books are being packed by the hundred.
It;s a pity I'm not doing the Decluttering by Numbers thing any more, I must have put about 300 books and magazines in the Op Shop pile yesterday!
Unfortunately in the last 12 months we have moved MIL into a new house; packed/unpacked/repacked my father's stuff; and now this. So it feels like our third move in a year even though it isn't. The last time I did that (four moves in 14 months) I collapsed in a heap for two years before being diagnosed with CFS. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) .I'm not sure how I am going to cope! And I need to find a job as soon as possible after moving to pay the increase in the mortgage.
Wish us luck!
Now, while there is many a slip, etc, I think I can announce that we are buying this house. Unless there is a disaster.
I don't know how long the link will be up for. Hopefully by the time it goes down I will have my own pictures to show off.
Now all we have to do is sell this place. Oh, and pack :( That has started. George is doing his sergeant-major thing and pushing us to do everything ASAP even though it will be three or four months before we can move. Books are being packed by the hundred.
It;s a pity I'm not doing the Decluttering by Numbers thing any more, I must have put about 300 books and magazines in the Op Shop pile yesterday!
Unfortunately in the last 12 months we have moved MIL into a new house; packed/unpacked/repacked my father's stuff; and now this. So it feels like our third move in a year even though it isn't. The last time I did that (four moves in 14 months) I collapsed in a heap for two years before being diagnosed with CFS. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) .I'm not sure how I am going to cope! And I need to find a job as soon as possible after moving to pay the increase in the mortgage.
Wish us luck!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Decluttering by Numbers - The Last Post
Well, we are negotiating over a property that we LOVE, and we don't get that, there's another I fancy having another look at, and plenty more on the market too.
So we signed up with an agent to put our on the market last night. Which means that Decluttering by Numbers has to come to an abrupt close, as a whirlwind of decluttering and packing needs to start right now.
Just for the record, this is Monday - Wednesday of this week:
IN
2 x exhibition catalogues
2 x trashy magazines
2 x craft magazines
TOTAL 6
OUT
2 x cooking magazines, recipes removed RECYCLE
30 craft magazines OP SHOP
1 shirt beyond repair and not interesting enough to reuse BIN
1 x trashy magazine RECYCLE
3 x photocopied bundles of paper RECYCLE
2 x mouldy pillows (casualties of the Great Indoor Waterfall Affair) TIP
1 x broken desk chair (broken in such a way as to not be mendable) TIP
7 x my father's books OP SHOP
TOTAL 47
47 - 6 = 41
We are taking a storage unit at the weekend and putting all of my father's stuff in plus anything else we can box before then, and presumably further boxed items afterwards. It makes sense to box the majority of the books and craft materials right now, even if it is a few months before we move.
And other regular blog posts will probably cease for the time being. I will continue to blog when I can, and when I have something to say or show, though.
PANIC STATIONS...
So we signed up with an agent to put our on the market last night. Which means that Decluttering by Numbers has to come to an abrupt close, as a whirlwind of decluttering and packing needs to start right now.
Just for the record, this is Monday - Wednesday of this week:
IN
2 x exhibition catalogues
2 x trashy magazines
2 x craft magazines
TOTAL 6
OUT
2 x cooking magazines, recipes removed RECYCLE
30 craft magazines OP SHOP
1 shirt beyond repair and not interesting enough to reuse BIN
1 x trashy magazine RECYCLE
3 x photocopied bundles of paper RECYCLE
2 x mouldy pillows (casualties of the Great Indoor Waterfall Affair) TIP
1 x broken desk chair (broken in such a way as to not be mendable) TIP
7 x my father's books OP SHOP
TOTAL 47
47 - 6 = 41
We are taking a storage unit at the weekend and putting all of my father's stuff in plus anything else we can box before then, and presumably further boxed items afterwards. It makes sense to box the majority of the books and craft materials right now, even if it is a few months before we move.
And other regular blog posts will probably cease for the time being. I will continue to blog when I can, and when I have something to say or show, though.
PANIC STATIONS...
Monday, December 13, 2010
Decluttering by Numbers Week 4
IN
2 x craft magazines (subs)
1 x skirt
1 x top
1 x DVD Box Set (me)
2 x trashy magazines
2 x craft magazines
1 x pair shoes
1 x PS2 game (Wombat)
4 x books (me and the kids)
TOTAL 15
OUT
6 x decorative tins (OP SHOP)
1 x tray (OP SHOP)
8 x craft magazines (OP SHOP)
1 x craft magazine with two patterns removed (RECYCLING)
2 x trashy magazines (RECYCLING)
1 x Notebook magazine (OP SHOP)
1 x top (OP SHOP)
1 x very ugly bracelet (OP SHOP)
2 x cooking magazines, recipes removed (RECYCLING)
26 of my father's books (OP SHOP)
TOTAL 49
49 - 15 = 34
So Outs exceeded Ins again. Not doing so well on the curbing spending but at least the decluttering continues slowly.
We put in an offer on a house early in the week and were turned down - that was why I thought I might have to abandon this and declutter and pack urgently. We are continuing to househunt actively and declutter actively, and I will continue to document it until the urgency returns.
For what it's worth, I liked the house we put the offer in on, especially the kitchen, but I do not feel more than a mild regret about missing out on it. I don't think it was truly meant to be and I never did. There's quite a bit of property around and we will keep looking. This weekend we have been inside two that were horrible, looked at one from the outside that we didn't like and one from the outside that we will definitely be going back to look at properly. I will continue to post updates in my Monday post until something definite happens!
And thank you to all my kind commenters and their good wishes, it was all very well received and made me feel better about the whole thing. I swing between depression and excitement (well, most of the time I just feel tired, to tell the truth!).
Onwards and upwards for more decluttering!
2 x craft magazines (subs)
1 x skirt
1 x top
1 x DVD Box Set (me)
2 x trashy magazines
2 x craft magazines
1 x pair shoes
1 x PS2 game (Wombat)
4 x books (me and the kids)
TOTAL 15
OUT
6 x decorative tins (OP SHOP)
1 x tray (OP SHOP)
8 x craft magazines (OP SHOP)
1 x craft magazine with two patterns removed (RECYCLING)
2 x trashy magazines (RECYCLING)
1 x Notebook magazine (OP SHOP)
1 x top (OP SHOP)
1 x very ugly bracelet (OP SHOP)
2 x cooking magazines, recipes removed (RECYCLING)
26 of my father's books (OP SHOP)
TOTAL 49
49 - 15 = 34
So Outs exceeded Ins again. Not doing so well on the curbing spending but at least the decluttering continues slowly.
We put in an offer on a house early in the week and were turned down - that was why I thought I might have to abandon this and declutter and pack urgently. We are continuing to househunt actively and declutter actively, and I will continue to document it until the urgency returns.
For what it's worth, I liked the house we put the offer in on, especially the kitchen, but I do not feel more than a mild regret about missing out on it. I don't think it was truly meant to be and I never did. There's quite a bit of property around and we will keep looking. This weekend we have been inside two that were horrible, looked at one from the outside that we didn't like and one from the outside that we will definitely be going back to look at properly. I will continue to post updates in my Monday post until something definite happens!
And thank you to all my kind commenters and their good wishes, it was all very well received and made me feel better about the whole thing. I swing between depression and excitement (well, most of the time I just feel tired, to tell the truth!).
Onwards and upwards for more decluttering!
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Teddy Bear Tuesday
Would you believe, this is a teddy bear turned into a rock by enchantment? It is waiting for the spell to be broken by Gandalf the wizard but he is too busy with some ring or something and keeps getting teddy bears confused with other small creatures with furry paws.In the meantime he is 2.5 cm tall and 4cm wide. I think he was asleep when the spell was cast and was lying down, otherwise he would be somewhat short and portly. I can't remember the type of rock he was turned into, I thought it was malachite but looking at it closely I am not so sure. He lives in the display cabinet with the other teddies and creatures waiting for the day...
In other news - yes, some of you made wise guesses, we may be moving house. The indoor waterfall of ten days ago convinced us that the house was, indeed, not worth saving (it is crumbling, leaking, sinking, etc, and sadly, though only 40 years old, seems to have been built under almost no building regs at all. IT would cost more to save than to rebuild, and after doing the sums we have decided that rebuilding would be overcapitalising and selling it as a development block and moving on is the best thing to do).
I really don't want to move because I love this house, and because moving is such a PITA when you have done it as many times as I have in my life. (I counted it once and it was enough for most people three or four times over). However we have been looking for a little while in a desultory way and have realised that there is plenty of decent stuff in the same suburb that would suit us and allow the kids to stay at their present school, which is important to all of us. Baby Bear only has a year to go - a year in which we definitely should not be distracting her by moving, but she will just have to cope!
Trouble is, once we find the right place and buy it, we will have to sell this IMMEDIATELY. Which means that Decluttering by Numbers will become Decluttering and Packing in a Total Panic, with no time to record things.
I will keep my half a dozen readers posted.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Decluttering by Numbers Week 3
IN
3 x craft magazines (sub)
1 x book (Wombat)
1 x magazine (Wombat)
4 x pairs shorts (Wombat - he hadn't had any new ones in three years so he needed them very badly!)
2 x trashy mags
3 x manga (Wombat)
2 x craft books
1 x DVD box set (Waking the Dead Series 6 - me - obsessed)
1 x set Maryoshka measuring spoons to match my measuring cups
1 x hoodie (Wombat)
2 x DVD box sets (Wombat, pocket money)
1 x pair cheap shoes (me - glittery!)
1 x craft mag
1 x Australian Women's Weekly
1 x DVD set (me)
1 x Decor cake box
TOTAL 26
OUT
58 x craft mags in massive clearout OP SHOP
1 x Notebook mag, recipes removed RECYCLING
14 x my father's books GIFT (to someone who will apreciate them!)
2 x trashy mags RECYCLING
2 x cooking mags with recipes removed RECYCLING
TOTAL 77
77 - 26 = 51
Yay! Sort of winning.
It is just possible that Decluttering by Numbers may cease rather abruptly in the near future, but if that is so it will be because (good) circumstances may be about to force a decluttering of a speed and magnitude that won't leave me time to record it. Watch this space.
3 x craft magazines (sub)
1 x book (Wombat)
1 x magazine (Wombat)
4 x pairs shorts (Wombat - he hadn't had any new ones in three years so he needed them very badly!)
2 x trashy mags
3 x manga (Wombat)
2 x craft books
1 x DVD box set (Waking the Dead Series 6 - me - obsessed)
1 x set Maryoshka measuring spoons to match my measuring cups
1 x hoodie (Wombat)
2 x DVD box sets (Wombat, pocket money)
1 x pair cheap shoes (me - glittery!)
1 x craft mag
1 x Australian Women's Weekly
1 x DVD set (me)
1 x Decor cake box
TOTAL 26
OUT
58 x craft mags in massive clearout OP SHOP
1 x Notebook mag, recipes removed RECYCLING
14 x my father's books GIFT (to someone who will apreciate them!)
2 x trashy mags RECYCLING
2 x cooking mags with recipes removed RECYCLING
TOTAL 77
77 - 26 = 51
Yay! Sort of winning.
It is just possible that Decluttering by Numbers may cease rather abruptly in the near future, but if that is so it will be because (good) circumstances may be about to force a decluttering of a speed and magnitude that won't leave me time to record it. Watch this space.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
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