Auntie B's Wax

A few years ago Charlotte, Diggy, Pinky, Paenney, Fojo and I helped my mom and dad clean out my grandparents’ house.  Gram and Grampa lived in that house for forty years or so.  It was a nice house, on a lake, beautiful view, nestled in the woods.  The thing I never realized about that house while I was growing up was its tremendous amount of storage space.

Storage space is something people look for in houses and one would be glad to get a lot of it.  The problem is, you can store stuff…lots of stuff…and no one will ever know how much “stuff” you have.  Not a problem you say?  I beg to differ.

With every cupboard, every closet and every drawer we found things we couldn’t believe.  Really,  how many baskets does one need?  Might as well keep them all if you’ve got the space for them.  Hosiery, dozens of unopened packages of hosiery.  In the garage my grandpa had a barrel…a barrel… filled with yardsticks, and another filled with brooms.  There was multiples of everything, and most of it wasn’t worth keeping.

We all keep different things for different reasons.  It isn’t hoarding, necessarily, but a lot of us have certain items that are harder to part with than others.

This weekend I began decorating my house for Christmas.  For me it’s a matter of having to take down the everyday knickknacks and artwork to make room for the Christmas decorations.  As I went through the house, cleaning and clearing I noticed something very disturbing.  There, in the rumpus room, sat a pile of magazines.  In the bedroom there was a magazine rack, full of magazines.  In my sitting room not only was there another magazine rack filled with magazines but also a freestanding pile of them as well as a grocery bag full of them.  And there, in the closet, another pile on the top shelf.  Oh my God, I’m turning into my grandmother!  How many magazines does one need?!

It’s time to start clearing things out.  I’ll make a project of quickly paging through all of those magazines to see if there was something inside the covers I thought was worth keeping.  After all, why would I keep them if I didn’t think there was something valuable they could offer?

Every year one of my New Year’s resolutions is to get more organized.  This year will be no different.  One way for me to do that is to make room, to get rid of the many piles and racks of magazines.  The reasons for this are 1) I don’t want to turn into my grandmother, and 2) I don’t have the storage space Gram had.  And guess what?  I’m not going to wait until 2012 to get started on this.

What can you do to make your home less cluttered and more inviting?  Because your home should be your sanctuary, not a storage space for things unused and forgotten.  Plus, if you’re going to turn into your grandmother go the route of being the baker she was, not the neurotic stasher.

Read Full Post »

It’s early Saturday morning.  The weekend, which started on Wednesday around 4:00 p.m., has been a marvelous one so far.  I don’t normally post anything on Saturday or Sunday but here I am, up before the crack of dawn, feeling compelled.

What am I writing about today?  I’m not really sure.

I could talk about Thanksgiving Day, which turned out to be the most laid back and stress-free Thanksgiving I’ve had in years.  Husby and I were on our own for the meal, which consisted of shrimp scampi (unbelievably easy to make!), baked potatoes, herbed vegetables, and a refreshing and festive raspberry applesauce jello salad.  Of course I can’t neglect to mention the ever-famous Harriet’s Pumpkin Pie.

I could also talk about our time in Taylors Falls working the Holiday at the Depot show yesterday.  Did I say “working?”  It was more like a social gathering of very cool people complete with interesting and entertaining conversation, delectable goodies, and amazing craftsmanship and art.  Throw in the visitors to the show and voila, we had ourselves a paid day of partying.

I could also mention how Husby and I are venturing out this afternoon to choose the perfect Christmas tree to grace our home for the season.  We’ll be off to the farm with saw in hand in just a few short hours.  The afternoon will be ours to have a little glass of wine and a movie, or whatever else suits our fancy.

There is an overwhelming feeling of contentment consuming me.  I think that’s what I want to write about.  The stress, sadness, and uncertainty of the prior three weeks of this month have toned themselves down a bit and I’m getting into a new groove complete with positive attitude and new priorities.  It feels good to be able to slow down mentally and to regain some control once again.

Still dark outside and quiet as a tomb, the winter creeps upon us.  For me the dormant season is a time to reflect, reorganize, slow down and savor.  How I love this time of year.

Read Full Post »

A grateful heart is a joyful heart.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Read Full Post »