Pages

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Tuesday - Car Update and Decluttering

I'm really missing my car. I think I'm going crazy. I think I need to at least go for a walk around the neighbourhood if nothing else. I don't really like doing it as I don't want to talk to anyone lol. Anti-social or what? I like just wandering with my camera and not sure I want to do that around here either. Sigh. Husband did get an update on the car and (hopefully) it should be done by Friday. They are apparently just waiting for a bit (not a lot lol) of tinting for the back window. I can't wait for it to be done!

So what am I doing while in the house all day? As I haven't got to the shops this year I've been pulling things out of the freezer to make meals this week. That's not a bad thing. Hopefully I'll be able to use a few things I've been meaning to use. Housework? Can't say I've done a lot extra of that. Decluttering? Well...

I must admit that I don't find it easy to declutter. I've been trying to concentrate a bit more on the craft room as I really want the space to be able to create and right now I can't because things are cluttered up. As I sort through things, I feel that I'm just moving a lot of it around from one place to the next. However, this afternoon I did tackle some of the (too many) paper pads I have. I pulled out quite a few and added them to the donate pile. They aren't full pads, I have used some pages, but they no longer fit my taste. There aren't that many pages missing though, enough I know that they will be able to sell them. 

I've also been sorting through some more magazines. As I write this, I have a pile beside my chair that I am slowly sorting through. I have put quite a few in the recycle bin, a few in the donate box and three I added to Ebay yesterday and they sold almost right away! They have already left the house thanks to husband making a trip to the post office today. In a couple of cases, instead of keeping the whole magazine, I (shock, horror, gasp!) pulled out a pattern/picture I wanted to keep and got rid of the rest. 

I am beginning to realise that this decluttering journey is just that. It's not going to happen overnight. I can't just pull out a bunch of stuff and get rid of it. I can pull things out, easily get rid of a few and then have to revisit to pare things down a bit more. As long as I'm going forward the clutter will become less. 

I've also been working on one of my photography projects for the year which is to organise some of my older photos. As I'm not taking a whole lot of new ones I'm looking back through the old ones and cataloguing them. It's going to be a huge job. I did some while I was at daughter's and am still plugging away. 

As for what's making me smile? 

85/366




As I was sorting though things in my craft room I came across these cute little wood cut-outs. I have now put them up on the wall in my room. They make me smile. 

86/366



I had some nice cup a soup in my mug today. Mum got me this. It came with an Easter Egg one year. I always complained how hard it was to get a 'real' chocolate Easter Egg over here in America, so Mum bought me one and kept it until I came over in the summer. It's a good memory. 




Monday, March 25, 2024

Sunday Adventure

We didn't go too far yesterday as we had to use husband's work minivan. We did what we call The Loop. Our house to South Haven, along the lakeshore to St. Joseph and back to our house again. We made a couple of stops along the way and I had a nice but chilly walk along the beach at St. Jospeh. There were a few people about, mostly fishermen and women all bundled up. 

It was nice to get outside and see a bit of sunshine. I do wish it would warm up a little bit! Husband did actually walk with me for a little bit but after a while he went back to 'warm up the van' while I had a little more of a wander about. I like it when the beaches are empty, and they aren't out smoothing out the sand each evening.  As always it amazes me how much the beach can change. A couple of years ago the lake was really high and eroding lots of areas, now it is low again and the beach has expanded. 






Pretty soon this whole beach will be packed with people. 






You might recognise this lighthouse from last week as Michigan City and St Joseph as they are very alike. I can't find information to see whether they were designed by the same people. The one in Michigan City doesn't have the little light at the back (the photo before this one). I find it really interesting. 

My Phone Photo Things That Make Me Happy 84/366

This is my favourite phone photo of the day. 



Look at that wonderful view! If I hadn't told you that it was fairly chilly yesterday you'd think it was a deserted beach somewhere really warm lol. 

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

Saturday, March 23, 2024

It's Definitely Saturday Now!

Well, husband did sort-of hear from the car place. No estimate on when the car will be done, but they did send costs. We only have to pay $100 but the actual cost of the damage is over $4000!!! Yikes. I'm glad we have good insurance coverage. 

I got out for a walk today. Took a few phone photos but I made them into a little video. 

83/366


This view just makes me smile. Would be better without the snow lol



We're off on just a mini-Sunday Adventure tomorrow. 

 

Friday, March 22, 2024

Is it Friday?

Strange sort of day today.  My oldest son, who lives with us, is working four ten-hour days so has Fridays off currently and husband took today off so he could take the car in. Halfway through the day I realised I didn't know whether it is Friday or Saturday! I always message with my sister on Fridays, so had to keep reminding myself. Added to that, I had the remember that, at the moment, she's only four hours ahead as her clocks haven't changed. Sigh. Can't wait until it gets back to the regular 5 hours! I forgot last week and ended up messaging her early. 

Husband did take me to the shops today to pick up a couple of things, but other than that I stayed home. It wasn't the sort of day I wanted to be out in. We had snow. Yes, snow. Sigh. It doesn't feel quite like spring here yet. My sister was sharing photos of blossom and flowers and I shared snow lol. 

Thankfully, it won't stick around for long

82/366



I was glad husband drove when we went out. The roads were slick and icy in spots.

 


I was hoping we would at least hear from the car place today, but we didn't. Sigh. Husband says it will now be Monday at the earliest we'll hear from them. I was hoping we could at least make plans for the car rental, but now - who knows? It will be strange being without the car. There isn't a lot of public transport around here. Sigh.

On the plus side, I did work in the craft room today. I have more space to work and have started to go through some things. At some point I'll have to make some tough decisions so I can have the space I want. I also need to make sure that I don't bring anything else into the house! Isn't that part of decluttering or at least stopping the clutter from coming back in? 

Later in the afternoon I was sad to hear the news about Kate. I've felt so bad lately with all the fuss going on around her. A diagnosis of cancer is a shock for anyone but having to put it out there in the public with everyone speculating and gossiping has to be extra hard. I know that when Mum had cancer she really didn't want anyone to know. She didn't tell most people though once she started losing her hair I'm sure people knew. It was just the way she was, private about certain things. 

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Are you up to anything fun? EDIT - see I'm thinking it's Saturday again!

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Day at Home

I stayed in today. No car. My friend had offered to pick me up to go for a walk, but it was supposed to be really cold. I think it was about 17f/-8C when we would have walked so I said no. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Sigh. I think Mother Nature has decided that we need a bit more of a dose of winter. Husband is home tomorrow. He's dropping off my car to have the windows done. Hopefully it won't take long. I should have the car back sometime. I think it might be a while before they get to the body work as there is a backup. As that will probably take a bit of time I shall get a rental car (mostly covered by my insurance).

As I spent the day inside I got some housework done and went about doing some sorting. I didn't do too bad on the books. I think I might have got another 20+ ready to donate. I have two pretty good size boxes ready to take to the library bookshop and a big bag for my friend. I'm really pleased with the book situation. 

I'm not so pleased with the craft room. I seem to just keep moving things around from one place to the next. I am really struggling with it. My new plan is to get a couple of clear plastic boxes and load them up to get stuff out of the way so I can then sort through things. I have managed to pull out a few things to donate, but I know there are more I want to get rid of. I need to at least get the table sorted so I can actually 'do' things. Am I just putting it off if I put things in boxes? I feel I need a clear space to look through things. 

Ack. Any help? 

On the plus side - I am doing quite well with the magazines. The piles are dwindling and I am finding it easier to get rid of them. I am also not bringing lots into the house which is a definite plus. 

81/366 - I think I've messed up the days somewhere lol. I shall have to check on my phone as I am keeping them in a folder!




Sunrise from the garden.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Grrr.. Not a Good Day

I had a nice, but really cold and snowy walk this morning. 

I'll get the Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Smile out of the way first as nothing afterwards made me smile. 



 

It was really snowy, blowy and cold, but once in a while the clouds would part and the sun would come out. 

Sigh. From there it went downhill. 

I got back to my car in the car park to find a police business card tucked in my driver's side window. I looked at it and then noticed that the passenger side of my car had all three windows damaged. Apparently, someone - a vandal - had pulled into the car park and shot a BB gun at my car. 

The whole thing involved police, the insurance company and husband. At the end of it the damage just makes me feel a little sad. I have to have most of the windows replaced and also work done to repair damage the BB pellets caused. 

When husband went to the local offices of the insurance company, they - sadly - weren't a lot of help. Pretty brisk almost to the point of rude. It seemed as though they thought we should know how things work. Thankfully, when we got on to the phone of the claims department, they were a lot more helpful and friendly. I'm tempted to leave a review of the local office though - being British - I don't like to make complaints to companies. 

If I do make that complaint, I also want to write a compliment to the police officer who responded and had left the card in my window. BTW the card was left after a passerby reported the incident. The officer was really friendly and helpful and even brushed off the driver's seat that had some glass on it (that I hadn't seen). 

This is (probably) the only moan I'm going to make of it. I'm taking a deep breath and putting it behind me. The car was damaged, I wasn't there, and cars can be fixed. Although there isn't a camera in the car park right now there is one being installed. 

Onto the next day. 


Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Lakeshore Visit and Getting Rid of Knick-Knacks

On Sunday we also visited Michigan City, Indiana. It's about an hour and a half away from us, but it is in a different time zone too. It makes it quite early in the morning when we usually get there. Nice for a beach walk as there aren't too many people about. On Sunday it was so cold and windy. Husband opted for a really quick walk before he headed back to the car to 'warm it up'. Lol. 




 Such wonderful skies

A video - as much as I could stand before my fingers froze!



The inner lighthouse



I like to go there to see the daffodils. A few years ago the beds were really full. They could do with a makeover lol. 

Today, I went for a walk with my friend though the wind was bitterly cold. I was glad to get done with the walk. I had some errands to run and then was happy to spend the rest of the day inside. 

I've been thinking about knick-knacks. There are too many of them around the house. I'm not quite sure how to get rid of them too. How do you sort through them? I know there are several I want to keep as I enjoy them, but several more I think I should keep because they were given to me. How do you decide how to get rid of these? Sometimes I feel as though there are some I should just box up and put somewhere until I can deal with them, but then isn't that just putting off the problem? Sigh. 

78/366



Clouds like this make me smile. It's my kind of cloud day. 


Monday, March 18, 2024

Snow to Start the Week

Spring? What Spring? 

I think Mother Nature decided we needed another little burst of winter just to remind us that, although it's been rather mild this winter, there is still some cold to come! Yesterday on our Sunday adventure it was really windy and cold and well, there was either ice or snow blowing in our faces as we stood on the lakeshore when we stopped in Michigan City, Indiana lol. This morning when I went for my walk it was snowing and cold. It's been like that most of the day. Sigh. 

Yesterday we had thought about going to watch the herons nesting at a faraway Metropark, but the weather didn't look great, so we decided to take another (sort of) longish drive down the coast of Michigan over into Indiana, through Michigan City (stopping at the lighthouses there) and going to the Indiana Dunes National Park to renew our National Park Pass. The other year when we stopped at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park we were getting ready to pay and the man on the gate asked if we were certain things (you know students, oaps etc). He got to veteran and my husband says yes and he lets us know that we can get a free membership to the National Parks. At the time it was just for a year but they were bringing out a lifetime one so we could upgrade when it was available. 

There aren't that many National Parks near us but we do stop at Sleeping Bear Dunes once in a while and up at Pictured Rocks, so we thought we'd go to the one closest to us and get husband's lifetime membership. We've been down to Indiana Dunes National Park a few times. There are quite a few trails there to walk and a lovely homestead to see. 










We found a trail at the back of the property but didn't walk that one as we had plans to walk another. We've added it to our to-walk list lol. We saw a lovey pileated woodpecker drumming against a dead tree making a really loud noise, some bluebirds and robins flitting around. There were actually quite a few birds about. 

These are a few I caught while using my Merlin App. It's a great way to identify bird songs and is available everywhere, I think. My sister downloaded it to her phone and tells me what birds she hears while out walking at her local parks. 




I think I'll leave the lighthouse and beach visit photos until tomorrow.  It will give me something to talk about lol. 

Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile 77/366




A few little flowers peeking through the leaves! Made me smile. Despite the cold and windy weather, spring is around the corner!

78/366



Snow in the woods, but I think - maybe - just maybe - the daffodils will survive. It can only get warmer. Right? 

Is it Spring or still Winter where you are? 


Saturday, March 16, 2024

Ta-Da!!!

I decluttered over 50 books today!!! Can you believe it? I can't! 

What a pile!



The sad thing is it certainly doesn't look like I've got rid of any as I pulled out some others that were tucked in different places and the bookcase is just as full. I am determined to keep going and maybe - just maybe - one day I'll have no more books tucked away anywhere and there will be space on the bookcases. 

I'm sure I'll be able to get rid of a lot more. Hanging my head, but most of these ones I had Kindle copies of too. Sigh. I'm going to raise my hand and confess to being a book hoarder. 

Before working on a single bookcase I did go out for a walk. It was chilly, but sunny. It was nice and quite while I was out. I got to watch the beavers and the crazy geese. 

Things That Make Me Smile 76/366



Tomorrow we're off out for a bit. Not sure where yet. What are your plans for Sunday? 

Friday, March 15, 2024

The End of Another Week

Isn't this month just flying by? 

It's not been a bad week. I do feel as though I'm getting something done. Not as much as I hoped, but I can see a tiny bit of progress. I've started a small charity shop box and have filled it so have to get a bigger one. I'll feel better once that one gets filled up! I don't find it easy to get rid of things. Sometimes I just wish a decluttering fairy would come to the house and just whip it into shape. I'm not sure I'd miss a lot of the stuff. It's just hard to go through and choose what I'd like to get rid of!

I went for a walk this morning with my friend. Later I video chatted with daughter while she was in a store (she wanted to show me something). She showed me Baby A who gave me (or at least I like to think it was me) a smile. I miss her. Was lovely to see her again. Her hair is growing in so dark! Later in the afternoon I messaged with my sister. I forgot that our clocks had moved forward and hers hadn't yet (such a pain!) and I was an hour earlier than we usually message, but she was alright with it. She had two of her grandchildren today, so she was ready for a sit down and a glass of wine! She babysits one on Thursday and two others on Friday so by the end of the week she's ready for a rest! I enjoy catching up with her each week. 

Not sure what's on for the weekend. Tomorrow I'm off out for a walk by myself in the morning and I hope to do some more sorting in the craft room in the afternoon, or perhaps I'll tackle a book case. Sunday we'll do a Sunday Adventure, not sure where yet. The temperature - of course - is supposed to drop on Sunday and it will be close to freezing all day!

74/366



One of the few spring decorations I've got lol. It's a bird. Makes me smile


75/366



Daffodils. A sign of spring in the woods! Seeing these flowers always reminds me of Mum. She always had them growing in our front garden. 

What are you up to for the weekend?