Friday 23 August 2013

Rambling on . . . why is nothing ever simple . . .

For two years I have been patiently waiting for a new freezer – the seals had gone on the old one – it was like Antarctica inside.  But could we find a new freezer with the same dimensions to fit neatly into its allotted space.  No we couldn’t.    This is where it gets complicated.  The cupboard above it had to be lifted.  The work-surface at the side had to be shortened, the side panel removed and new edging applied.  All this revealed  spaces on the walls that needed re-painting.  And I checked with the Council and they want to charge £30 to take the old freezer away (it used to be a free service).  The final insult.  Oh and I forgot to mention that whilst I was stepping down from the work-surface (in order to reach the top of the cupboard) the stool that I was gingerly stepping on to, toppled over, and I went crashing to the ground, slamming my back against the cupboard on the opposite wall.  I now have a beautiful knob-shaped bruise on my rib cage which hurts when I try to lay on my back in bed.   I despair sometimes.

So now the whole kitchen is to be re-painted.  One job just leads on to another.  Major disruption.  The kitchen emptied.  The living room floor littered with all sorts of kitchen paraphenalia during the re-decorating process.  My worst nightmare – clutter everywhere. 

kitchen clutter in the living room



I shall be assessing every piece before it goes back into the kitchen – do I really need all those enamel coffee pots I have collected over the years or the china cup collection or all the paintings of hens on the walls. 

Maybe I’ll just keep this pale blue one – my favourite

Serious decisions will be made – a lot of stuff will hit the charity shops – serving dishes that are never used will go, glasses that have never seen a drink will be ditched.  My kitchen is small – I don’t have vast areas to display my wares.

And maybe this handmade tea set

I shall only keep those things that are used regularly or I can’t bear to be without – I shall be ruthless for the sake of my sanity.

And definitely this 50’s style measuring jug and bowls.

And my favourite striped mugs.

Oh dear – I’m going to have to have a re-think.  Making decisions has never been one of my strongest characteristics.

On the bright side – I am still picking sweet peas

And the sunsets have been spectacular

And I have been loving how the Phlox come into their own at dusk

So it’s not all been bad – and by the time I post next week everything will be back to normal (fingers crossed) and I will be enjoying my new bright kitchen again.

Have a good weekend – hope yours will be less stressful than mine.

51 comments:

  1. Then the council wonder why people fly tip. They need to reassess their priorities.

    It is so so hard to declutter - I wish you luck!

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    1. I agree - unless we can find another way to transport the freezer to the tip then we'll probably have to pay the fee.
      I also agree about decluttering - it is hard to get rid of things especially when they have accumulated over a number of years.

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  2. Don't things like that annoy you. My wall oven needs replacing but, of course, the new ones are different dimensions - hence I keep putting it off. At least you are getting things done.

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    1. If the manufacturers standardized all the equipment it would make life a lot easier.

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  3. It will be worth it - hang on in there!

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    1. It will be worth it I know that - it's just living with the mess that does my head in.

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  4. You be careful now, Elaine. If you throw stuff away you are BOUND to need it the day after! Hope your injury gets better soon!

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    1. I have now been bought a proper pair of short stepladders to use when I want to reach the top cupboards. I know Mark - that's what worries me - but ruthless I must be! Thanks - the pain is starting to ease now - it could have been a lot worse.

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  5. What a beautiful sunset that you captured. Lovely. I am sorry to hear about your tumble, I hope the knob heals quickly. Sometimes things snowball don't they?

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    1. Thanks Keith - you're right about that - one job just leads to another.

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  6. I sympathise - these things always turn out to be bigger jobs than you had hoped! I am still trying to get my kitchen (which is now complete apart from the end panels) painted so that the joiner can come back and fit the flooring and said side panels. But the walls are in a terrible state, so mostly I am filling, sanding, resting, washing the walls, spotting more bad bits, repeat... I do love your blue bowls and jugs, really beautiful - good luck working out what to keep and in putting everything away again.

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    1. I know you are going through worse than me in the kitchen - thankfully we aren't renovating, just tarting it up - still a long job though.

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  7. Ah, I am completely with you here, I'm redecorating most of the house and am moving clutter from one room to the next. It's a nightmare deciding what to keep and what to get rid off, I'm in the exact same boat! Hellish it is!

    I also sympathize re the fall and hope you feel better soon. I too have taken a few tumbles and it's not funny.

    I do love the things you're keeping, oh nooooooo, how can you part with the coffee pots????????

    Beautiful sunset and lovely that you have sweet peas, mine have only just blossomed.

    Well, here's to your new freezer and peace and harmony being restored!!!xxxx

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    1. Thankfully we are only doing one room - but the rest of the house really needs doing too - aarrgh - can't bear to think of that just yet. The new freezer does exactly what it says on the tin - it is freezing beautifully and it is a 'frost-free' one which means no lengthy de-frosting process - yay!

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  8. You're lucky you didn't break anything when you fell! Hope you heal up soon. I'm having a clear out too. I find the best way is to ask myself if I'd buy the item again. If not, out it goes!

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    1. I know I'm lucky - it could have been catastrophic but it only knocked the wind out of me and left me with aching ribs - I have learned my lesson I can assure you.

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  9. Commiserations on the injury. We don't bounce like we did when we were younger. I hate chaos and clutter. Having said that, I wish I could take the tea set off your hands, I think it is very cheerful. Good Luck with everything.

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    1. Thanks Susan - you're right about not bouncing. I am gradually sorting things out but am finding making decisions on what should go and what should stay very tiring - I just don't want to regret any hasty decisions.

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  10. Ouch! That sounds painful! Like you I can't bear clutter in other rooms when one is being painted I get very unsettled when things aren't in the right place. We have hardly any sweetpeas left now just some short stemmed ones at the top of the wigwam:)

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    1. When you're decorating it always gets worse before it gets better - I'm slowly getting through the chaos. I think I'll only be picking a few more sweetpeas - they are going to seed rapidly now - but they were lovely whilst they lasted.

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  11. My sympathies and I do hope that you're okay! Good luck with the clear out.
    Terrific photos, I especially like the sunset. Flighty xx

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    1. I'm fine Flighty - nothing broken just my pride hurt and a rather large bruise. There have been some lovely sunsets just lately - always got my camera at the ready.

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  12. It will all be worth it! I hate that about decorating, when we decorate every room in the house is disrupted and I hate mess too!

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    1. I'm sure most women think the same - and it's usually us who have to clean up afterwards. But the kitchen is looking better already.

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  13. I am so sorry about your fall! What if you had broken an arm or leg and had to do that kitchen re-do whilst hobbling? We should never get on stools and ladders after about, hmmmm, 40? 50? 60?
    I am clearing out too! We've tackled the attic. Half way there - how do we get so much STUFF?
    Glorious sunset, have a nice glass of wine and enjoy!

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    1. I think stuff multiplies when we are not looking. We don't have anything in our attic now we cleare it all out when we had new roof insulation - slowly but surely cupboards and drawers are being emptied. But I do find I have to be in the mood, but when I am in the zone I am fearless.

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  14. Sorry to hear about your fall and injury. How many times do we all set out to do one job and end up having to do several others first? So frustrating! Hope it all gets sorted soon.
    The sunset and flowers are beautiful. There's so much outside to take pleasure in at this time of year.

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    1. We are now in the final throws of putting everything back in its place - thank goodness, the living room looked like a bomb had hit it. But at least the kitchen has had a thorough clean from top to bottom - and it is satisfying to see the end result.

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  15. Oh dear Elaine what you needed was a man friday with a thingymajig get well soon

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    1. I was only trying to be helpful in clearing out the cupboard before work took place - that'll teach me.

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  16. Your sunset and the flowers are wonderful. But all the kitchenware in the living room is terrible, I know because we had that once a long time ago. And now our kitchen will be renovated in November, I am not yet looking forward to move all things around. Yes it is dangerous to step on stools to reach the top of a cupboard, they always warn me, I am rather wild they say, but I need a stool because I am small. Sorry you had a fall, hope the injury has gone.
    Have a nice weekend with not too much stress,
    Janneke

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    1. Good luck with your kitchen renovations - it is such a lot of upheaval I bet you are dreading it. I have learned my lesson Janneke and now have a proper small stepladder which is much more stable, no more accidents I hope.

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  17. Not fun to have to redo a kitchen. Sorry that you fell. At a certain we just should not fall. Be resolute in your vow to get rid of excess.

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    1. It is just so inconvenient when you have to cook and have to search for all your stuff in another room - but the worst is over now - soon all will be back to normal.

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  18. I did a bit of a double-think when you talked of seals and Antarctica in the same breath and I suddenly imagined a colony of Antarctic fur seals in your freezer!
    Hope the back is better soon and that the decluttering goes well. I am chuffed every time I manage to discard ANYTHING. I can only dream of having space in kitchen cupboards...
    Best wishes till the next time :)

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    1. Ha ha - I never thought about the seals/Antarctica connection when I wrote it - should've said door seals. I have even more clutter now because the cupboard which had to be lifted started pulling away from the wall. So it has been taken down again - and I have had to empty it AGAIN - I thought we were making progress - but it seems its one step forward and two steps back. Hey ho!

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  19. There is nothing worse than the upheaval that accompanies kitchen renovations! I do hope you're soon back to normal, and pain free.

    AS for decluttering, me too ... I'm trying to be ruthless, but it's not easy!

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  20. When its all been de-cluttered Elaine you'll be so pleased with your hard work but I also hate the mess it all makes in other rooms. I love your sunset its gorgeous. Hope your back is better now.
    Patricia x

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    1. I am sure I will Patricia - but I do find it all rather stressful - I like everything to be where it should be - I feel calmer when everything is organised. Not long now.

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  21. I am relieved to read you now have proper step stools... I have known of many people using chairs or other unsafe things to stand on and have really suffered major injuries. Teachers were the worst!! Climbing up and down putting up student's work and displays... anyway, ...sounds like you're in the midst of things and hopefully getting sorted as time goes by. You have some lovely items, hard to call clutter :) Just for a lark, I googled what to do with an old freezer...and there are lots of ideas, such as

    put a nice lock on it first so no children can suffocate.

    worm bed

    Cricket box

    keep wood and or kindling dry

    garbage box to keep the wild/or domestic critters out of it till you haul it off
    or garbage pick up day.

    put it in a dry place out of the weather and keep large tools in it .

    put a aerator in it and keep live fish in it till you sell, cook or clean and freeze

    All those pieces of wire that are to big to throw away cause you might need them,

    ropes that always come in handy but you can't find a place to keep them all in one spot,

    chains that you can't find a place to hang them.

    garden soil,
    peat moss,
    garden tools,
    buckets
    that seem to be thrown all over the place but you are always needing one.

    all those garden hoses you need to store for the winter.

    Christmas decorations that seem to get stuffed in every nook and cranny.

    hide Christmas presents in it and lock it.

    craft items

    space bag your material (air tight) you are not using or saving for a quilt and store it.

    space bag (air tight) all your winter clothes

    winter boots

    Remove lid , fix a drain hole in bottom that runs into garden with plug , put a faucet on it and use it as an outside slop sink for large items such as washing buckets , washing veggies, washing the dogs, dying things that you don't want to use your washer or inside sink.

    fill with ice , lemon juice and vinigar and use it to age your hogs or calf instead of 10 ice chests.
    when done, ice melts, pull plug and let it drain.

    ... i liked the one that suggested burying it partially for a cold frame...

    but as you said, one thing leads to another... it might be beneficial to pay the 30 pounds! Sorry for the long response ;)

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    1. Oh, by the way, this was from a homestead forum ;)

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    2. Thanks for looking up all those suggestion for the old freezer - unfortunately our shed isn't big enough to take it, we don't have a garage to put it in and the garden is too small to use it as a cold frame. I think it would have made great storage for keeping the apple harvest in. Anyway the good news is that a friend is able to get hold of a van for us next weekend so it will be taking its final journey down to the tip and out of our lives forever. Yay!

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  22. It's so hard to declutter lovely things! My own policy is to put candidates in a box in the attic every summer, and then to give them to the school sale of work in November. The theory is that if I miss them in the few intervening months, I can get them out of the attic. I never do.

    And I hope your back will be better soon.

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    1. That is a good idea Mise - but this time it is all going with no backward glances.

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  23. Elaine, I'm sorry I couldn't find a link to your blog when you became my latest follower. How lucky you are to still be picking sweetpeas. One job in our house always seems to lead to another one too!
    Sarah x

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    1. Sadly no more huge bunches of long-stemmed sweet peas - just tiny little posies - but still appreciated.

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  24. Ugh. Here's to hoping your kitchen is back to normal and you're able to make some decisions about items that need to go. It's a tough one when those items each have their own charm!

    How nice that you still have sweet peas! I'm determined to plant some earlier this year for a better crop in spring.

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    1. I am going to try sowing seed in late autumn to try and get sweet peas earlier then do a spring batch so they will just keep on coming - well, that's the plan anyway.

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  25. Kitchens are the most difficult of rooms to redecorate! Ours needs to have the floor replaced and I just dread it. I hope you recover from your fall quickly and everything gets sorted.
    To outwit the bunnies that always get my sweet peas, I planted them in pots. They haven't prospered though and I am disappointed again this year. This doesn't lessen my determination though- I just love the scent of sweet peas and will try something new next year.

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    1. Everything is almost back in order now and my back is much less painful thanks. I grew one lot of sweet peas in a container and they are still flowering now - the ones in the ground didn't do as well and have all gone to seed - hope you have more success next year.

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