Wednesday night, between the two of us, we managed to get the box of patterns out of the bedroom and into the living room where I sorted through the box of memories. It was a fun sort. I found the pattern for the dress I wore to my five-year class reunion for high school.
I am getting rid of ~60 patterns and keeping 11. I think I did well. However, it took going through the "Keep" stack several times until I whittled the number down. Some I kept will/might be used. Some are for just the memories. There is a coat pattern and a cape pattern. I know those will be used.
There may be 8 more boxes with the same number of patterns in each box. I determined I was going to sort through one box each day. However, I am anxious to get my hands on memories, so I may start before 11 pm from now on and do more each day. I am in the mood, but Tommy might now be so inclined. I have to fight my way into the room, walk around a bunch of stuff and get a box off a stack and sort of push it across some other boxes.
Part of the problem is the way he put the boxes in the room. The first box is right inside the door and is about the size of a shoebox. I think there may be 8 boxes in the stack, each larger than the one underneath. So, it is dicey getting around that stack. I know it all needs to be restacked, but that is not happening. So, there. This causing me distress to get rid of what I am letting go. This is part of my identity.
I don't want to throw these away. I don't want to answer questions about whether all the pattern pieces are in the envelopes. I see what happens to donated patterns when the pieces are pulled out, strewn around and lost. Yes, I am still attached and know it. Don't try to dissuade me. I have to do the mental work myself.
Thursday, I bought a pair of Halloween leggings about two sizes too large. Hopefully, they will not be tooooo large. I just don't want them too tight. These will be for around the house. If these fit and wash well, I will buy more, just $8. For me, that is cheap. Any leggings are just for around the house! These are orange and have Halloween designs.
I also bought a larger skillet, 10". The only thing he has is 8", and I cannot easily scramble eggs. I want to be able to scramble a dozen so that I can just microwave 2 or 3 each morning. The 8" skillet is also shallow, where the 10" skillet is deep. Trying to scramble eight eggs, I was slopping them over the side! I like stirred scrambled eggs, not the scrambled kind that just sit and make a pancake.
While we were driving along on the way to my shopping event, Tommy became animated, saying he was getting gas. Then, he told me the gas prices. Two stations across the street from each other were selling gas for $2.87--Fuelman and Raceway. Several blocks up Allison Bonnet at Murphy's gas was $2.71, so he filled up, getting approximately $35 of gas. That is an exciting price. So, that is in Alabama. What are you paying for gas and what is your location?
Tonight is a make-do dinner. Sweet potato in jacket, cooked cabbage, and hotdog. Maybe the hotdog will have homemade chili sauce and cheese. There are no buns; we need no buns. If I can spot some frozen chicken easily, we may not have the hotdog and chili/cheese.
In a bit, Tommy is going to help me get another box of patterns and I will be walking down memory lane. He carries the box on his walker after I extract it from the corner and the rest of the room.
Here in Ohio we are paying $3.09 for a gallon of gas. I think that if you are only keeping 11 patterns and are getting rid of about 60 you are doing excellent at decluttering them! :)
ReplyDeleteRachel,
DeleteThat's high. One minute, I think I am doing great and the next, I think I need to get rid of more. Thanks.
Bowling Green, KY - most places are 2.99 a gallon, but I searched on Gas Buddy on my way to work yesterday and there were two that were 2.79, so I stopped at one on my way to work to fill up. I got $50 worth of gas, so it was worth a few minutes of my time to stop on the way. My fear was that they just hadn't gone up yet.
ReplyDeleteI like your methodical way of planning and sorting. I need to make a list of things to go through and just get it done. Years ago if I needed to declutter, I watched the show Hoarders and that helped. It made me want to throw everything out!
Alice,
DeleteI need to put Gas Buddy on my phone. Thanks for reminding me. I always want gas as soon as I hear of a good price because, like you, I am afraid they will go up before I get back. \
I may add a hoarding show if I cannot get rid of enough patterns! That should do it.
Your gas is cheap!!! I paid $3.20/gal earlier this week. My friends in California are paying over $4/gal.
ReplyDeleteMs Goose,
DeleteCompared to your prices, yes, it is cheap. Thanks.
I think it was $2.99 when I last noticed-in Minnesota, but it can vary town to town and how close to the freeway the station is. If you have room to store said patterns, they are not harming anyone by you keeping. I bet there are some lovely things that a good sewer would love to try and make.
ReplyDeleteSam,
DeleteAnd, today, those same stations will be different prices. I did not check anywhere else. I have to start somewhere decluttering my things I brought here about 8 years ago. Oh, there are children's, men's, and women's patterns. I know it sounds silly, but I don't want to answer questions if I give them away!
I hope you're sitting down, but I pay $6.43/gallon over here in France (that's for diesel - I have no idea how much unleaded is). Thankfully I don't drive far any more but I have to say I'm used to it too!
ReplyDeleteTreaders,
DeleteWhew! That is expensive! That would likely keep most people from driving. Thanks for that eye-opener.
I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah & paid $3.91/gallon for mid-grade fuel. Ridiculous!!
ReplyDeleteBri,
DeleteThanks. these gas prices hurt!
Price here (rural Australia) is $5.25 gallon
ReplyDeleteJan,
DeleteThanks for the figure. And, I suppose being rural, there is no way out of driving. As much as we complain, I suppose my price is not too bad.
Gas here is about $3.45 so you are doing very well.
ReplyDeleteKim in Idaho,
DeleteObviously, and I did not realize how low our price is.
I do not know the prices as I fill up at the same place, regardless.
ReplyDeleteI am glad Mr. Tommy is helping out.
Urspo,
ReplyDeleteHe takes spells of helping out. Well, I suppose I take spells of asking...lol. Well, that is an easy decision as to where to buy gas.
If you are only keeping 11 patterns out of 60 you have done a great job of decluttering. I guess you will need to continue getting rid of a similar amount from all your other tubs. As for gas, we always pay a lot more than our dear neighbours to the south. Today it is $1.48 per litre (average as it varies from place to place) and that is about $5.92 per gallon.
ReplyDeleteJoyful,
DeleteThe count of keepers is larger now after the second box. I will probably go through them after I finish all the boxes and maybe get rid of more. That is expensive gas! I am sure you have other benefits.
I don't easily get rid of things myself so often have to go through things two or three times before I end up with a smaller amount to keep. The thing that keeps me where I live are excellent services, fantastic scenery and very good public transit.
DeleteThe gas at the bottom of our cross street is $4.19 and that is the LOWEST in this area! If I go to Costco (about 6 miles away) the price drops to $3.89.
ReplyDeleteI am doing a similar purge in my home. I am going through saved recipes. I have saved recipes for 45+ years. Some clipped from the newspaper or magazines, others handwritten by friends and family others that were printed from the internet. For years I had filed them by category in an portable accordion file. A couple of years ago I went through those files and choose the recipes that I used most often and inserted them into plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder. The other night I was searching for an old recipe and needed to pull out the old accordion file. After digging through those I decided to toss recipes that I had never made or didn't plan on making again, including a few recipes of my mother's!. I sat down, turned on a movie and went to work.
The ones in m mother's hand and some other hand written recipes were difficult to discard but as I read them I realized that many of them were recipes of mother's that I sorted through and saved after her death. Some told the story of her sitting around the table with her sister, cousins or aunts. I saved many of them. Others were ones that she had clipped from the paper and magazines just as I had done.
The ones that were bittersweet were the recipes I had saved during those days when I entertained. For many years the kids, their friends and all the grandchildren gathered here for EVERY occasion. These days we are pretty much alone. Almost all the grandchildren have moved away and we just don't entertain any more. I had a sad moment then moved on, realizing that that season of my life has passed but there are still seasons in my future.
As I went through the hundreds of clippings I discovered several patterns. In most categories I found multiple recipes for the same or very similar dishes. Apparently I adore Coconut cake, grits, shrimp, scallops, ribs, pot roast, quiche, spoonbread, Chili relleno casseroles, eggplant, tamale pies, Fish Vera Cruz, Indian food, pasta dishes, vegetarian meals, broccoli salads, Chinese dishes and dinner rolls... etc.! There was a true pattern to the recipes I saved. 80% were from the above categories!
Janet,
ReplyDeleteThat is a good story of saving and discarding. I think my recipes would fall into chocolate, chicken, and casseroles. I will never entertain so much, but I could do a little. I, also, hope to have other seasons.
My recipes in my mother's hand are gone to the landfill, not my choice. I lost so much that I am still sad.