WEEK 17. さようなら

I've enjoyed reporting on my project of tidying-up my home and my life and I hope readers have also enjoyed reading these blogs.  Unfortunately, I have to take an indefinite break from posting.  I wish you well on your own path.

[The title characters are in Japanese in honor of Marie Kondo and mean 'good bye'.]

WEEK 16. THE MISSING MONK

The head on the tall monk comes off.

I don't know where I am in the chronological order suggested by Marie Kondo. But I've moved on from kitchen equipment to what I call 'linens'. Although I don't think I have any of these items actually made from linen, that is still what house-keeping books call them: sheets, pillowcases, blankets, towels (bath and kitchen), washcloths, and so forth. I decided to start working on the items in my 'linen' closet and in a cabinet under one of our guest bathroom sinks, which has a lot of miscellaneous towels.

It's amazing what you can find in a place you haven't looked at in a long time. Under the sink I found holiday hand towels, plus various containers of sea shells collected on vacations, plus an item that my husband hadn't been able to find for several years. It is the tall ceramic monk in the picture. He bought the set while stationed in Germany many years ago. The little monk mug we had on a bookshelf but we couldn't find the taller one with a removable head. I have no idea why it was stashed away at the back of a sink cabinet. Perhaps one year I set up a Christmas scene on the bathroom counter and when putting the items away I decided in a post-Holiday deranged state that it would take less room if kept in that room. They are Goebels, sometimes known as Hummels.

I also rediscovered some curtains I inherited from my mother that I can't bear to get rid of. In the picture is a very wide one, about six feet long. I also have three smaller ones about two feet wide, featuring an angel, a horse, and an unknown object, possibly a misshapen sailing ship. All the windows in our house have blinds.  We don't have any curtains or draperies. If anyone has a suggestion on what I can do with these curtains, please leave a comment with your ideas. I'd also like to know the name of the process used to create them. Is it knitting, crocheting, tatting, or what ?

                                                                                                                                        

What process was used to make this curtain?

Of course, I've wandered fairly far from linens—although I guess the curtains might be included in the subject. But what about the towels I found. First, I put all of the Holiday towels in a box, labeled in big letters, so I could easily find them. Did I discard any? What do you think?

And I didn't discard any of the worn and raggy towels or wash cloths because they are now in the rag box under the utility room sink. At least they are now where they can be used up and then thrown away.

The area under the bathroom sink is now organized and nothing is hidden. It includes a set of decorative mirrors I need to use or give away; containers of sea shells I will send to grandchildren, a box of holiday towels, clearly labeled. And of course extra 'bathroom tissue.'

I know I mentioned a linen closet at the start of this post, that will have to wait until next week.

WEEK 15. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Many cultures start a new year by cleaning out accumulated clutter. And after a wonderful gift-glutted season I have even more reason to get rid of items that no longer bring me joy. But I still have the Christmas decorations to put away. I know everyone else in the word has already done this. But we have a tradition in our family to keep them up until after two special birthdays. Our first child was born on January 6, Epiphany. So we started keeping decorations up until after his birthday. Of course the Catholic church decided that Epiphany is now celebrated on the first Sunday after New Year's Day. It doesn't make any difference to our family of free thinkers since seven years later (including two other children) our fourth and youngest child was born January 8. To keep life fair, we extended Christmas decorations until after her birthday. At least we get our money's worth out of the work of setting up the trees, wreaths, garlands, candles, nativity sets (three large and three miniature), which take several days.

Some bowls I need to 'triage.' The heart one isn't mentioned.

This year as I put items away, I hope to use the Kondo method to try (notice the word, try) to reduce the number of them. I foreshadowed this problem in Week 10, when I mentioned the number of decorated trees we favor. Oh well, while I wait for January 8 to be over, I'll continue the work started on my kitchen for Thanksgiving.

I did reduce the store of gelatine bowls in the garage (mentioned in an earlier blog). My daughter read it and said she wanted one as she was going to have a retro Christmas dinner. So it's now in Oak Park, IL. Unfortunately, I increased the number of mixing bowls. I had bought a set of stainless steel for a gift, but then discovered a nicer set of plastic bowls that also included a measuring cup and a colander which I wrapped up instead. One thing about mixing bowls is that at least they stack so don't take up much room.

My problem with bowls comes from ceramic, glass, and silver ones. I just counted thirteen:

   a Victorian style, pressed glass on a stand (from my mother's living room);

   clear glass with silver rim and smaller bowl for dip and teeny bowl for toothpicks (wedding gift);

   old-fashioned red with white interior (mother's kitchen);

   1940s cream with pastel flowers (mother);

   four clear glass with varying design styles, including a tied basket;

   a large yellow, red and blue Mexican style;

   large, flat bowl with raised ceramic vegetables around the rim (gift);

   two silver bowls for 'fancy' parties (wedding gifts),

   and a heavy wooden one for tossed salads.

If your eyes are rolling, wondering why I'm listing all these, its because I'm sure you also have lots of bowls tucked away in your cupboards and drawers and maybe even under your bed. You don't realize how much of anything you have until you either put them all together (as the book recommends) or you list them. I found these not only in the kitchen, but dining room buffet, linen closet, and on some bookshelves. In fact as I'm typing this I looked up saw--yikes, another glass bowl, filled with my husband's matchbook collection.

In my case, these non-mixing bowls serve different purposes. So it isn't just a matter of whether they give me joy but whether I no longer need them to fill a purpose or if I can stand to give away items my mother used when I was a little girl.

Marie Kondo acknowledges in her book, that sentimental objects are the most difficult to discard. She gives various rationales for allowing yourself to discard them. You would think kitchen items are the most easy to get rid of, but they can hold lots of memories. No wonder one of the most successful advertising campaigns used the slogan, “Nothing's as loving as something from the oven.”