Camping 101

As I mentioned a few months back, I'm fascinated by RVing. Fellow author Sue Ann Jaffarian has become a full-time RVer. She's still got a day job, but she's currently living in her class B RV and will hit the road when she retires at the end of the year. I love to read her posts and hope she becomes a vlogger.

I'm not great behind the wheel. What I mean by that is, I can drive for about an hour and then I want to fall asleep. That would not be good, so I will have to live vicariously by watching Youtube videos.

But -- someone in my family is more adventurous than me.

A few weeks back, my brother said his wife was bugging him to get a pop-up camper. She thought it would be fun for their granddaughter and give them something to do as a family. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when two weeks later he announced, "We bought a pop-up."

They'd looked at several used campers, and then they found this. I found it almost impossible to believe this pop-up is over ten years old. It's pristine, and they got it for a very good price.

View looking forward.

It was a lot roomier than I thought it would be. I believe one of the "beds" is a king while the other is a queen, and the table breaks down so it could be a bed as well. It's got a little 2-burner propane stove, and outdoor shower, and was spotless.

I had been in a pop-up when I was a kid, when they were still made of real canvas, and it smelled musty, which is why I could never see myself wanting one. But this pop-up not only didn't have an odor, but it was a hot day and it was actually very pleasant inside.

View toward the back.

So far they've only gone camping one time because kids today are scheduled up the wazoo. (Soccer -- and like why? It's not like this country is a fan of "real football" (as my Dad would say). Our team couldn't even qualify for the World Cup.) So they are going in two weeks--if not sooner.

I kind of envy them, but then I remember there's no bathroom. (Although they do have a "marine toilet." My brother had one on his boat so he knows all about it. Still....)

Now I would want to do some decorating. Nice laminate on the floor. Maybe paint the cabinets, etc. but they are fine with it as is. (As my brother pointed out, they were outside most of the time anyway socializing with their friends.) 

Anyway, I wish them lots of great adventures in their little pop-up.

Are you camper type of person?

A message from beyond?

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

Yesterday, I stopped at a couple of garage sales on the way to the grocery store. At one, I saw a brass bracelet that made my heart stop because it looked so much like one my Dad had made for me when I was in college. Mine is in silver, the one I got today is in brass.

Dad often worked in brass, silver, and stainless steel. When I asked the woman where she got it, she said a cousin had given it to her. (I should have asked her who her cousin was.)

 Dad probably didn't make the brass one. He never sold his jewelry, just making it for family. And he went to several jewelry-making classes at the Memorial Art Gallery here in Rochester, so this could have been made by a fellow classmate.

 Still, the lady said to me, "Maybe this is a sign from your Dad. Maybe he's saying hello."

 What do you think?

Poisoned Pages is Now Available!

Like a box of a dozen doughnuts, the 12th Booktown Mystery is now available!

Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, throws a housewarming cocktail party in her new apartment and has cooked all the food by herself--quite a feat for someone who previously couldn't boil water. Then one of her guests is poisoned and dies. Tricia's left to wonder if her cooking is to blame or if there's something much more sinister at play. Either way, Tricia's once again in hot water with her ex-lover, Chief Baker.

Meanwhile the charming town of Stoneham is being disrupted by a vandalism crime wave. It's the hot topic in the race for Chamber of Commerce president which sees Tricia pitted against two bitter rivals. With all that's going on can she find the killer before she's the next item on the menu?

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Happy Father's Day!

Chalking it up

I watch a lot of Youtube videos on a variety of subjects. I like to watch DIY ones, especially about furniture refinishing. These days, a lot of DIYers are using chalk paint. Hmm. That sounded interesting. No sanding!  YAY! But man, have you seen the price for a quart? It can be as expensive as $30+!!!

What do to? I went to Etsy and found you could get sample pots of paint. I got five of them for $20. Of course, I got charged $7 for shipping, but they arrived in less than a week and I wasn't sure what to do with them. The site didn't show you the colors, just listed the names, so I chose what I thought would be "cool" colors. The ivory and sage green work best for me.

So far I've done three projects.  Yeah, no sanding. But what they don't tell you is that you need to do at least three coats of paint for everything. And then they have to be sealed with either wax or some of polyurethane product. Hmmm. For the first one, I decided to distress the little picture frame. It's plastic and looked way too shiny.

(FYI: This little framed piece of lace in the frame is about 5 inches across -- and it hangs on the nail that supports my calendar.)

Here's the second project.

Again, the frame was resin, and I just didn't like how shiny they were. I decided not to distress these.

I did one more project but it got scratched (I should have put more than one coat of the varnish on) so I have to start over on that one.  (It's the lid to a large glass (square) jar. I painted it sage green to make it look older and it worked. But like I said, now I have to start over.)

So, what do I think of chalk paint? It's a pain in the butt to use. It's time consuming, it has to be sealed or it scraches right off. Right after I bought the paint, I saw a blog post from a woman who is gutting and revamping her house (by herself!!!) and she wrote a long treatise on why she doesn't like/use chalk paint. I could have saved myself a lot of time if I'd found that blog post first.  But now I have all that paint and I feel obligated to use it up.  Oh, and by the way, a little goes a L-O-N-G way.

I've got a gold mirror (also plastic) that I thought I would like, but never did. I'm going to paint it ivory and distress it and I'll bet I still have a lot of paint left. How eager am I to start that project? Not so much. But it will be done later this summer.

Last weekend I bought a little shelf. It was in pretty rough shape, but I scrubbed it clean, bought a can of spray paint, and now it's very cute and will house some of my cookbooks.

Wow.  Spray paint is a lot easier to use. The paint hardens and is good for years and years. (Oops -- sorry. this is actualy the before picture. I forgot to take the after.)

So, what's your latest DIY project? Did it come out the way you thought it would?

NOW AVAILABLE!!!

I know a lot of you have been waiting for Booktown #11 to come out in paperback. Well, today is the day!  Not only that, but the publisher has dropped the price of the ebook! You can't go wrong!

Here's the description:

Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, is in for a surprise when her ne’er-do-well father, John, comes to town—and promptly becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a woman with her own scandalous past. Even Tricia’s faith in the old man is shaken when the Stoneham police break the news that her father is a known con man who has done jail time. From merlot to murder, Tricia is determined to clear the family name before another body shows up and ruins Stoneham’s first—and highly anticipated—wine and jazz festival.

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ENJOY!

Three months later

Grief can hit you when you least expect it. Yesterday, I opened the first can of tuna we've had since we lost Fred. Fred LOVED tuna water. He knew that if you cut up onions, that tuna water MIGHT happen. So if he smelled onions, he'd be dancing around my feet in anticipation. It would break my heart when I was cutting them for some other purpose.

So yesterday, I cut onions. No boy. Today I opened a can of tun and drained the water down the sink. Man, that was hard.

It's been almost three months since I lost my tiny son and it hasn't gotten much easier. We will have new cats sometime this summer, but they won't be Fred or Chester and that's really hard to wrap my head around.

New from my pal Ellery Adams

Ellery Adams's long-awaited 7th Supper Club Mystery, PASTA MORTEM is now available!

Librarian James Henry and his supper club sleuths will take a trip down memory lane searching for clues that will help catch a killer . . .

Get your copy now!

Kindle US | Kindle Worldwide | Nook

Kobo | iBooks

It's a bumber crop!

This year I've got a bumper crop of rhubarb. Of course, the thing I love to make most is rhubarb chutney, but I made so much of it two years ago, that I haven't even started last year's jars.  And -- holy cow, did I mention that bumper crop???

Luckily, Mr. L loves rhubarb ANYTHING. In years past, I've made him rhubarb crisp and strawberry-rhubarb pies. My folks used to like stewed rhubarb with Bird's custard.

I'm going for rhubarb bread and here's the recipe I'm using.

Rhubarb Bread
Ingredients
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1½ cups brown sugar
1 egg
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (liquid or made from powder)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cup chopped rhubarb (small but not fine)
¾ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC, Gas Mark 4). Mix the oil, brown sugar, and egg together in mixing bowl. Alternate with flour, salt and soda. Add buttermilk, vanilla, rhubarb and walnuts. Bake in a well-greased tube pan for 34-55 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if done. This recipe tastes better the day after baking. Refrigerate any leftovers. Keeps well in the freezer for several weeks.

Yield: 12-16 slices

What's your favorite rhubarb recipe?

Are you ready for A REEL CATCH?

The 2nd Lotus Bay, full-length novel, A REEL CATCH, is now available for pre-order in ebook. The paperback and audio links will come later (not so easy for a small press to get a pre-order for those editions).

Really happy with this book and hope you guys will love it, too. Why make you wait? Because I have books coming out in June and July (and possibly two short stories coming out this summer) and don't want to inundate you.

Here's the description:
Swans Nest Inn is about to open, and Kathy Grant solicits her BFF, Tori Cannon, to help spruce up her property at the marshy end of Lotus Bay, only they didn’t count on finding a body. Who was he? What’s his connection to their friend Paul Darcy? Meanwhile, two entrepreneurs with vast business ties are interested in helping Tori reopen the Lotus Lodge, and their real motives are as murky as the bay after a storm. Will Swans Nest open on time? Will the Lotus Lodge reopen at all?

Kindle US  |  Kindle Worldwide  |  Nook  |  iBooks  |  Kobo  | My Website

The season for birdwatching

Wow -- this has been the spring for birds!

Over the weekend, Mr. L and I saw several birds we'd never seen in NY. I saw my very first blue bird, which is the STATE bird of New York. We were in the car and I saw a blur of blue and orange out my (passenger side) window and there it was -- flying alongside us.

Then there were these wee birdies pecking around around the deck looking for something to eat; the hummingbirds, of course, and then an oriol. Not being a birder, I always thought a red-winged blackbird was an oriole. (Oh, the wonders of Google!)

This morning, there I was drinking my tea and I looked out the dining room window and said, "Holy crap--is that a hawk?" I tiptoed to the window to see what could only be (and was) a wee owl! You better believe I ran and got my camera.


I tried taking its picture through the livingroom window, but there are screens. So I went outside, got my shoes hopelessly wet, crept around to the deck, and took a couple of shots. I didn't dare try to get close, so this is an extreme crop of my picture. Isn't he handsome? It's only the second time I've seen an owl--the first time was more than 30 years ago at our cottage. It was like a flying log.

Have you ever had an owl in your yard?

Cheaper than a cup of coffee -- and much better!

Why pay a buck for a cup of Mickey D's coffee when you can buy a laugh-out-loud funny cozy mystery?  I was only too happy to blurb her book, DEAD AIR, and you can get it for 99 cents until midnight tonight!  You won't be sorry.

"Frasier Meets Murder She Wrote"—that's how readers have described the Talk Radio Mysteries. It's all about a NY psychologist who moves to sunny Florida to become a radio talk show host. Start with the first release, DEAD AIR and you'll be hooked on Dr. Maggie.

Licensed psychologist Dr. Maggie Walsh, hosts On the Couchwith Maggie Walsh on radio station WYME. When charismatic, dishonest New Age prophet Sanjay Gingii appears on the show and then dies in a suspicious manner, Maggie's roommate is named the prime suspect, but Maggie soon learns that plenty of other people had means and motives to do Gingii in.

Kindle  |  Nook  |  Kobo

 TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

Lost in Grief

It's been seven weeks since I lost my cat, Fred. To me, he wasn't just a cat. He was my tiny son. My little Prince. Additionally, it's been five weeks since we lost Chester, Mr. L's feline son.

The truth is ... we were prepared to lose Chester. He was almost 20 years old. He had multiple health problems. Mr. L and I had learned to give him subcutaneous fluids back in July 2016 because he was suffering from kidney failure. He had other health problems that had us giving him pills five days a week, and cream in his ears almost every day for several months. But until a week before he had to make the terrible decision to euthanize him, Fred was okay. Yes, he had lost weight, but he didn't give us any real sign that he was in distress. He had apparently suffered in silence with the cancer that was rapidly growing within him.

We thought we were prepared to lose Chester. But to lose Fred was absolutely devastating. And then...12 days later, we lost Chester, and he did not have an easy time. We waited a day too long to take him to his last visit to the vet. On the morning of his last day, Chester had a violent seizure. Ive seen people have seizures but nothing like what our poor sweet boy endured. That was at 7:50 am. I called our vet at 8 when they opened, and they said to bring him in at 10:30. I wasn't sure he'd make it and I worried about him suffering. Five minutes later, they called to say, "Bring him in now," which we did.

Some might cynically say the vet only wanted to make the $50 charge to euthanize him, but I don't think so. We didn't want our boy to suffer .. and he certainly did.

Truly, we have been lost without our boys. And our quest to find new cats has not been easy. Honestly, no cats could ever "replace" our boys. We loved Fred for just over 13 of his 15 years, and Chester was two weeks short of his 20th birthday. But ... April isn't quite "kitten season," and the truth is, Mr. L and I want older kittens, not tiny babies.  Maybe we're just a little too old for that right now.

"You should adopt older cats!!!" we've been told sternly.

Okay, but we just LOST two older cats. We are not prepared to get attached to and then lose an older cat or two too soon. I feel terrible, but between losing my parents and three cats (we lost our beloved kitten, Betsy (aged 20) two years ago), I've had too many losses these past few years. I don't think my broken heart can take much more.

So, we're without cats making tracks on our freshly vacuumed carpet. We're without food and water bowls in our kitchen. We aren't maintaining multiple litter boxes and doling out treats ... not that we haven't scoured websites and Facebook pages looking for our next much-anticipated kittens. It seems our timing is just OFF.

We will have cats in our lives again.

It can't come soon enough.

Help me make some BUZZ!

If you've wanted to read A JUST CLAUSE and have been waiting for the paperback, the wait will come to an end in 40 days. You can help me build some buzz by going to Goodreads and clicking the green WANT TO READ button.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32791157-a-just-clause

 Thanks!

It's Friday the 13th -- are you nervous?

Like the subject line says ... It's Friday the 13th. Are you nervous about it?  Are you a superstitious person?

I'm not. And the reason?  Black cats are supposed to be unlucky. I've had black cats for most of my life. My first came with a very silly name. I was six and I didn't know you were "allowed" to change the name of a cat. Poor cat was saddled with that name for twelve years. Since then, I've learned that as long as you feed a cat and call it by its new name, it will learn very quickly, "Hey, I'm not stupid name anymore, now I'm called Most Excellent Name!"

Well, here we are on Friday the 13th 2018 (first of two this year.  the other is in July) and I have no black cat. In fact, I don't have two black cats.  We lost both our boys last month (within 12 days of each other) and have been in mourning ever since. We know there is another black cat somewhere in our future, we just don't know when.

Walk under a ladder?  Well, I wouldn't do that just because it's unsafe.

Breaking a mirror?  That upsets me, because it can be terribly unsafe and I don't like getting cut, but I'm not worried about seven years of bad luck.

Opening an umbrella inside? Fahgettaboutit. Why worry?  In fact, it didn't faze me at all when I bought some "studio lights."  Love them!  Haven't used them much, but I have no problem opening the umbrellas that diffuse light.

Spilling salt? And then canceling out the bad luck by throwing it over your shoulder? No. First, I've already spilled the salt ... probably on the counter.  I'm not throwing it over my shoulder so that I have to clean off the counter AND sweep the floor.  Not gonna happen.

There is one thing that I am wary of ... and only because my mother would have a cow if anyone put shoes on a table. But in retrospect, for me it's more a matter of germs. Eeeek! I know where those shoes have been! Imagine the bacteria they've trudged through!!!

Is there something you're superstitious about?

Who knew? I've been Trendy for Years!

Okay, I lied in the subject line. I've never been trendy ... until now, I guess. Why?  

I've been going to yard, garage, estate and rummage sales for years. I always assumed it was because I was cheap. Now it turns out I'm "thrifting."

I admit it. Before I had a booth in an antiques arcade, I rarely went to such sales, but when you need stock and have a weekly rent to pay, you visit these sales and thrift shops. Since then, I begrudge paying retail. And since I'm into recycling, etc., I like the idea that things aren't ending up in landfills when they can be used and/or repurposed.

It was only a week or so ago when I was looking at decluttering videos on YouTube that I learned about thrifting.  I've subscribed to a few of those channels.  My favorite is Thrift Diving (by Serena Appiah -- she's funny, knowledgeable, and knows how to use power tools!).

Another one I like (because of her Thursday Thrift Store Hauls) is Robin Johnson's Happy At Home channel.  She likes white rooms, which aren't my favorite, but she has lots of great tips for repurposing items.

I like shabby chic, but not too chippy when it comes to paint.  For one, they might have lead paint, and for another ... some things look like there was a reason they were discarded in the first place.

I'm a sucker for teacups, china (particularly square plates and brown transferware), and doilies, but lots of other things tickle my fancy.

Yard sale season starts in a couple of weeks. I've signed up to get a weekly email announcement that tells me where all the sales are within a five mile radius of my house. Can't wait until tomorrow to see if it comes.

Do you go thrifting?

From the Ashes? Teacup Tuesday!

Happy Teacup Tuesday. Isn't this cup pretty? It's a peacock, but I like to think it's a phoenix. Imagine that -- Sassy Sally's (Victoria Square Mysteries) came back from the ashes (metaphorically speaking). It was a ruin -- and as the next story will show, it is now a show palace. A wistful Katie Bonner couldn't be happier.

Yule Be Dead now available for Preorder

Happy Monday!  It certainly is for me and Gayle Leeson, my co-author on Victoria Square #5, YULE BE DEAD, which is now available for Preorder. No cover yet -- but I'll share as soon as I get it.

 Read all about the next book is the series by clicking one of the links below.

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books A Million
Chapters/Indigo
IndieBound 

Kindle US
Kindle Worldwide
Nook
iBooks
Kobo

Who knew I've been trendy for years?

Okay, I lied in the subject line. I've never been trendy ... until now, I guess.  Why?  

I've been going to yard, garage, estate and rummage sales for years. I always assumed it was because I was cheap. Now it turns out I'm "thrifting."

I admit it. Before I had a booth in an antiques arcade, I rarely went to such sales, but when you need stock and have a weekly rent to pay, you visit these sales and thrift shops.  Since then, I begrudge paying retail. And since I'm into recycling, etc., I like the idea that things aren't ending up in landfills when they can be used and/or repurposed.

It was only a week or so ago when I was looking at decluttering videos on YouTube that I learned about thrifting.  I've subscribed to a few of those channels.  My favorite is Thrift Diving (by Serena Appiah -- she's funny, knowledgeable, and knows how to use power tools!).

Another one I like (because of her Thursay Thrift Store Hauls) is Robin Johnson's Happy At Home channel.  She likes white rooms, which aren't my favorite, but she has lots of great tips for repurposing items.

I like shabby chic (but not too chippy when it comes to paint.  For one, they might have lead paint, and for another ... some things look like there was a reason they were discarded in the first place.

I'm a sucker for teacups, china (particularly square plates and brown transferware), and doilies, but lots of other things tickle my fancy.

Yard sale season starts in a couple of weeks for now. I've signed up to get a weekly email announcement that tells me where all the sales are within a five mile radius of my house.

Do you go thrifting?

Should I run away?

Lately I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos about living and traveling the country in an RV.  Okay, twenty odd years ago, and only for a brief moment or two, Mr. L and I considered renting an RV and traveling down Route 66 with our (then) cat Larry. Just the three of us (and who was going to take care of our other cats?) taking in the scenery visiting cool places, and eating lots of Southwestern (hot) food.  And that's as far as it went.

But now I regularly watch a number of vloggers.  My favorite is a young couple from Missouri (Duet Justus) who bought a camper and tricked it out, although lately they've been mostly "technical" videos (like how to fix a broken water line ... not quite so interesting).  I also follow Carolyn's RV Life, and a few others.

I've watched videos made by people who are living in their vans and cars, doing their business in buckets (yes, really!) and living a "free" life. A lot of them make their living just from making videos for Youtube.  (You can do that?)

So, why am I watching all these videos?

I think I want to escape. I want to runaway because things aren't going well in my life. There are big things going on that I have no control over (sound familiar?) and the idea of getting in that RV and driving away just seems like a cool thing to do.  (Cozy mystery author Sue Ann Jaffarian picked up her class B RV, Novella, just this week and his chronicling her "RV Journey" on Facebook.)

Do you ever feel like running away?

Dirt cheap! Read TITLE WAVE ebook

The publisher never tells authors anything. A reader let me know that the ebook edition of TITLE WAVE is only $1.99. Who knows how long this will last. But if you need a good distraction while winter storms batter both US coasts, you might want to take a cruise with Tricia and Angelica.

KINDLE US

NOOK

iBOOKS

KOBO 

Let's Talk about Jeff Resnick!

Today on my Facebook Group Page we're discussing the first three novels in the Jeff Resnick mystery series.

As the author, I know a lot more about the characters than gets in the novels and short stories.

Did you know there were seven novels?

There is also a companion series (Jeff Resnick's Personal Files) of short stories and novellas.

There will be questions answered, secrets spilled, and giveaways!

And don't forget, the first book in the series, MURDER ON THE MIND, is FREE for all ebook formats, and is also available in Trade Paperback and on audio.

Kindle US |  Kindle Worldwide  |  Nook  |  iBooks  |  Kobo  |  Smashwords

Trade Paperback  |  Audio

Can't make it today?  The posts will be there tomorrow, but you won't be eligible for the giveaways.

Will I see you there?

A silky sight

March came in like a LION. A big, stinky, ROARING lion.  Yesterday we woke up to at least 4 inches of snow, when just yesterday the driveway was totally clear. Depressing.

But -- there are always cheerful flowers in my house. Right now, I've got two violets in and two orchids in bloom, but they need light and water.  That's why I have artificial flowers scattered around the house.

This beauty sits in my office. I have beautiful roses all year long thanks to this little bouquet, which I found at a rummage sale.  And last winter -- I found the exact same thing at a yard sale in Clearwater. That one lives in my dining room. (Not far from the dried hydrangea flowers in a vintage pottery base.)

These red and white silk carnations also live in my office. I did the arrangement myself, and it looks it.  Still, I really love carnations.  I think I'll have another go at arranging it and take out most of the red ones. It looks too crowded. 

This arrangement used to live in my bedroom, but the only time I'd see it was right before I'd turn out the light. So I recently moved it to the top of a little cabinet in my kitchen, where it pleases me every time I pass by it.

This little arrangement lives in the office at our cottage, but it's so cute, I didn't like to think of it being there during the long cold winter, so I brought it home. It'll be going back in May so I can enjoy it there once again.


 Do you have silk floral arrangements in your home?

It's a blanket, it's cloth with a crisscross design--it's a traveling rug!

Ever since I can remember, my parents had "traveling rugs."  What's a traveling rug?

1. cloth having a crisscross design

2. blanket 

When I was small, we only had a red-and-black traveling rug. It was 100% wood and SCRATCHY.  They brought it with them when they first came to America from England. For some reason, I always associate that traveling rug with being sick. If we were sick, we slept on the couch and what did we get covered up with? Yup, the traveling rug. 

I'm not sure on what trip my folks got a second traveling rug. It's a wool/acrylic blend and much softer. When my Mum passed away almost three years ago, I found it stuffed in a suitcase.  Well, that was one item that wasn't going to Goodwill! Unfortunately, when I washed it, I must not have put it on the delicate cycle, because it ripped. Oh no!  I really wanted that "rug." I took it to the tailor around the corner, and in five minutes, the owner had sewn it up. It's not as pretty as it once was, but it's back to being useful. 

Oddly enough, when I went on Google to look for traveling rug pictures, I found that very one! Wow!

I asked Mum what she used a traveling rug for when she was in England, and she said they brought it along to sit on for picnics. She may have said something else about them, but that's what I remember. 

It wasn't until earlier this week that I remembered that they brought me a traveling rug back from one of their trips.   How could I forget?  Well, I have a laundry hamper in my laundry room that I haven't looked at in at least 20 years.  No lie.  It took me two years to find one like that (white wicker) and then I stuffed it full of items that didn't get used often (including my favorite two rayon shirts that are now too small for me and have to be ironed) and just never opened it, forgetting about everything that was inside.  It's handy to place the recycling stuff on top of that hamper before it makes it to the garage and the recycling bins. It's now empty, and it's going to stay that way.

Anyway, my traveling rug is going to live in my office on the back of my chair where I sit and edit. 

Anybody else have a traveling rug?

P.S.  I still have that first traveling rug. It's stored in a tote. Must find a way to use it, too.

All that clutter

When I'm doing non-thinking work on my computer (uh, goofing off. But still work--like graphics, or spreadsheets), I often have Youtube on in the background. I went through all seasons of The Unsellables on New Year's Day. Lots of times the show you're watching segues into something entirely different. I watched (or rather listened) a bunch of RV remodels, farm house renovations, and a bunch of decluttering videos.  Decluttering and organizational videos are VERY BIG on Youtube. All of a sudden, I was subscribing to all kinds of stuff. But it was the organizational and decluttering that kept me riveted.

Nobody wants to be seen as a hoarder, but my office was beginning to look like its owner had become one. The worst offender? Boxes of stuff (like bookmarks, postcards, etc.) and piles and piles of paper.

Well, last week I'd had enough. I knew there was some valuable stuff in those piles of paper, and I decided to go through a four-inch stack. It took me about an hour, and the discard pile had only three pieces in it. That meant something was going to have to change. Little did I know I'd be in for three intense days of decluttering.

It started with my file cabinet. I had stuff in there that was fifteen years out of date. And the stuff piled on top of it was inches thick, too.  I ended up shredding years and years worth of bank statements and checks, and tossing two and a half recycling bins full of paper (just to I could file the stuff I wanted to keep--and I found more papers in my closet that were also must saves).

It was The Messy Minimalist that said something that really got through to me in her Death Cleaning video.  Death Cleaning is a Swedish tradition where an older person goes through their things so their survivors won't have to do it when they're gone. Rachel was in a similar situation to me. Her mother had died without going through her things, and she had no idea what it was her mother valued most. I still have a room full of my mother's stuff and haven't been able to part with it. Watching that video, and several others where she talked about her mother's stuff, gave me permission to part with things I know couldn't have had any real value for my mother. (Who do you think taught me to love yard sales?) I don't get as attached as she did to that stuff (I have the catch-and-release program, after all), but I was able to come up with three boxes of stuff to take to Goodwill. And I cleared out a huge bag's worth of clothes from my bedroom closet, too.

I had planned on having a garage sale this summer, but Rachel also addressed why she doesn't do that.  Time. She just doesn't have time ... and as Mr. L has been trying to tell me for the past year, neither do I.

It's hard to break old habits, but I'm trying not to let papers sit. I've got a little sign by my computer that says, "Don't put it down--put it away" and I've been trying to do that. (I'm also amazed how much tidier my kitchen is this last week.)

Do you have any decluttering or organizations tips to share?