Decluttering Totals

I almost didn't post this. So tired I can barely keep my eyes open! I am giving up and going to bed lol. 

I didn't get as much decluttered as I had hoped, but joining in with the 28 in 28 days did make me keep looking for things to get rid of. 

Books 19

Magazines 1

Misc. 20

Crafting 40

for a total of 80 items

The craft total sounds good, but it was mainly little bits. I am really struggling. Hopefully, by at least getting in the craft room will help motivate me to clean it up. 

Phone Photo from Sunday Adventure (details tomorrow lol)

It snowed overnight, just a little, but the roads were a little icy. Really cold, but sky was blue!

Night!

Last Day of February

We had a lovely morning out yesterday. The sun was shining and it was quite mild. We had a good walk along the beach. There was still lots of ice. We were lucky enough to see 13 eagles out on the ice! They were quite far away but we were able to see them. Husband saw one first and we walked a bit further out on the pier and then saw the rest of them. They must have been a family unit. It made us both smile. It was quite far away to get a decent photo but I managed a snap of a few of them. They just look like little blobs lol, but there are two adults in these one and five juveniles. The adults have full white heads. 

I did manage a few photos when they flew overhead. 

They are so majestic! 

Before we saw the other ones out on the ice I was walking along and stopped as a few flew overhead. A lady walking in front of me also stopped. It was quite the sight to see as they aren't that plentiful in this area. 

Today, the weather was all change. Lovely sunny, but chilly morning and snow this afternoon. Not a lot and I'm hoping it won't stick to the roads so when we go out in the morning there isn't an issue. It seems the weather always seems to be bad on Sunday! Mind you, it's supposed to be chilly but at least sunny. It looks as though Monday will be the last sunny day for a while as the forecast calls for rain from Tuesday to Saturday. March is forecast to be a rollercoaster of weather from cold and snow showers to rain and high temps. Ah Spring must be coming!

I went for a walk this morning. It was beautiful and peaceful. I was planning on coming home and doing some crafty things, but it wasn't to be! I was reading my email and came across an email from the tax place I use (online) saying prices would go up to file taxes through them by 40% after tomorrow! It made me think I wanted to get them done, so I dragged things out, added up all my shipping receipts and inventory receipts (took a while) sigh and the time was gone. Daughter and Baby A chatted and when I told daughter what I was doing she said I should check another sight and it looks as though things might be a lot cheaper through them, so I decided not to file with the original company. At least I have all the numbers ready to go! 

Everybody here in the US has to file a tax return. Taxes are taken out of husband's pay, but you have to redo them and make sure you've paid the right amount. Sigh. Not sure why things are done this way, but hey, suppose it's a US thing. 

Tomorrow, we're off out somewhere. Depends on the weather. 

I've added up the decluttering totals for February and will share tomorrow. Have I managed the 28 in 28 days challenge I committed to at the beginning of the month? If I could insert an emoji here it would be gritted teeth. I'm struggling. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Everyday Life

I've been keeping up with the lists, and I certainly feel more productive using them. It's just a matter of remembering to write them each night! Same with the food menu. Writing one cuts down on the popping to the shops for random items which saves money. I feel as though I'm doing more to watch the spending, but it still seems as though we are hemorrhaging money as things are more expensive. I am glad I'm doing the reselling thing (for now) as it does bring in some money for extra things. 

I can't believe it's coming up to the end of February. Once again, I'm not sure where the month has gone! It's been another cold and snowy month so I'm hoping March will be better. 

I have been up in the craft room this week, though I haven't been decluttering it. The desk has a bit of space cleared off that I can actually craft on it. I feel as though I'm starting all over again with some crafting things. It's lovely to be up there though. Perhaps the more time I spend up there, the more I will want to clear out more space. I did notice that quite a bit of the reselling inventory ended up there so I need to work out a space somewhere else that it can go.  

Husband has worked his 40 hours this week and has tomorrow off. The weather is supposed to be lovely - sunny and a temperature of 54f/12C - a definite improvement on the temps we have had. It's back down on Saturday with snow in the afternoon. Not sure why there is such a jump in temperatures for one day, but I'm going to enjoy it! 

Oh, the other day, after the snow had cleared (and before snow returned again) I happened to look over in my neighbour's garden (there is no fence on that side) and saw SNOWDROPS!!!! 

What a lovely surprise!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Still Cold and Random Thoughts - Beavers!

It was cold again this morning, but not quite as bad as yesterday as the wind wasn't blowing when I went for my walk. I was so excited to see a beaver today!!! Asylum Lake is still mostly frozen, but the beavers have managed to open a small area. Really made my day today! When I got to the beavers' lodge, there was only a pair of Canadian Geese in the small area of open water, but as I arrived a pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in and landed. This caused the geese to swim down closer to the beavers' lodge. A beaver promptly popped up as though to warn them they were too close! The same one (or another one) popped up a little later close to where the Sandhill Cranes were standing. For a while it was pretty eventful. I love watching nature, animals, birds and their interactions with one another! A little later three more Sandhill Cranes flew in and for a while, as the two that were already there walked across the lake to the newcomers, I was sure they were not going to be happy with one another. It was lovely to watch them all end up walking together! What a way to spend the early morning. 

After my walk, I dropped off some items for shipping, picked up a couple of things I needed and then headed home. It was a semi-productive day at the house. I got all the things checked off my list. I was trying to find five items to declutter, and I found it a real struggle. I did manage it, but barely. It really shouldn't be that hard. 

I have pulled out a few books to look through and let go. 

I found one quite fascinating and might struggle to let it go lol. It is going though; I've already made my mind up. 

I really like the pressed flowers cards. They are really beautiful. I think I'd like to give it a go. I don't think I've pressed a flower since I was a child, but I really like the way these were done and presented. It looks like it might be fun. Has anyone pressed flowers properly? How do you do them? I looked on Amazon and there were a couple of cheap-ish presses I'm thinking about buying. Thanks for the input!

False Spring OVER

It was a very dreary, dull and snowy day yesterday. Our Sunday adventure didn't amount to much. We couldn't see a lot of anything at the lakeshore as it was snowing and very windy! We got out a couple of times, but the wind and cold forced us back into the car. Oh well, I did enjoy the false spring while it lasted. 

The plan had been to drive along the lakeshore for a while and check out some smaller roadside parks and see what ice there was left. I usually enjoy this as there are some out-of-the-way spots that have fantastic ice hills and such. Although we couldn't see a lot, we did see that there would have been some lovely spots if the weather had cooperated! We have decided that, if the weather cooperates, we'll try again next weekend. The weather is colder again this week - not above freezing until Friday so the ice shouldn't melt. 

There were quite a few Mergansers at this spot, and I did manage to brave the weather enough to take a couple of photos of them - it was fun watching them fish!

This poor female caught a fish, and a gull immediately flew down and nabbed it!

Before I went to bed last night, I wrote my list for today and managed to stick to it. It wasn't a bad day, quite productive. I struggled to stay warm today though. I went for a walk this morning and it was brutally cold, dull and windy. Quite a change from last week. I didn't stay out long, but I couldn't get warm. It took until late afternoon for me to warm up! I did keep busy and usually moving around helps but not today. Maybe it's just taking my body a while to adjust back to the cold lol. 

Hope everyone had a good start to the week!

Saturday

Another dreary day. It started off a little icy as there was a thin coating of snow/ice overnight. Husband and I took a drive to the Amish shop. We haven't been there for a while and it's a treat, so we got some donuts, cheese and bread. Yum. Definitely something we only do once in a while. 

For the rest of the day, I got together a few of the things I need to ship on Monday, listed a few things and then spent a bit of time up in the craft room. As usual, there was more moving things around rather than getting rid of them. I think I ended up only pulling 5 items out - sigh. It's five more donated than I had earlier lol. 

I had a chat with daughter by herself and then a video chat with Baby A. They think she has her molar teeth coming through as she is very grumpy. Every little thing seems to upset her. Poor her and poor parents. 

Tomorrow, we're off on a Sunday Adventure. Not sure where it will be or how long as there is predicted to be a bit of snow overnight and into the morning. Not a lot of point going far if the snow is obstructing the view!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend

Photo today - the Sandhill Crane couple are back at Asylum Lake. It must mean Spring is on the way!

Friday

Thanks for all the comments about Living Simply/Slow Living. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or even the losses perhaps. Whatever the reason, I know it's something I want to think about, especially with husband sliding into retirement, working on what kind of life we want to live and what's important to us. 

Today I woke before the alarm, a common occurrence lately. It was noticeably colder this morning, Our False Spring is over for now and it was snowing this afternoon and this evening, the winds howling up a storm outside too. I did manage a walk this morning and only got a little bit wet, an improvement on yesterday. 

I didn't have to go anywhere after the walk and went straight home. Husband was off work early as he had put in his 40 hours and they don't want overtime. He took two boxes and three large bags to the charity store for donations! I have already started another bag. I'm glad the items left the porch (where they had been stored) though.  

This afternoon I actually went up in the craft room! It's still quite a mess  a big mess, but I want to make a point of going up there and at least looking at things. I sorted out a bottom shelf on the one of the bookshelves I have and threw out a few bits, tidied things up and sorted a few bits for donation. There is some space on the desk, and I pulled out a couple of 3d decoupage pages and put them together. I find it kind of soothing to sort out the layers and put them together. That's as far as I got but it's a start! 

There are sentiments that came with them and when I put them together on cards hopefully, I'll take photos and share. I paid 10p for the pages

75p for this one, it came with more bits I haven't put together yet. I think I got it because it reminds me of the deer in the garden. 

I spent a bit more time up there working on some mini albums again. I kind of have to get back in the groove again to make those. I'm hoping to go up there again tomorrow. I had to stop as there was a Zoom meeting I had to attend. 

Dinner tonight for the guys was Chicken Chilli. I don't eat meat so it's hard to taste these things. I usually toss in stuff and hope it works. They liked it so I'll mark that down as a win. I stuck it in the slow cooker early this morning. I really need to find more meals like this as it's so nice to have everything ready to go by the time I'm running low on energy late afternoon.

Hope everyone had a good day! What are the weekend plans?

Thoughts and...stuff

The days seem to be flying by. I kept thinking today was Friday as I messaged with my sister today as she is going away with her children and grandchildren for a long weekend at a holiday camp. I also had quite a long video call with Baby A. Daughter picked her up from daycare and she was a bit upset and said she wanted to talk to Nana, so she was in her car seat with the phone and crying. I asked if she wanted to hear a story and she said yes so, I had to grab a book (luckily, I knew where I had one stashed) and read to her. It quietened her down a bit and then we chatted some more when she got home. It did my heart good to know that she enjoys chatting with me. Sometimes, it makes me a little sad that I am missing out on so much as I am so far away. This is one time that makes me feel good that I have a mobile phone!

I've been thinking a lot lately about the simpler things in life and living a simple life. What makes a simple life? There are a couple of YouTube channels that I enjoy (Beltaine Cottage and Joy of Things) but if you put in simple life (usually over50 goes with that in my case lol) there are a lot of channels that pop up where the people just seem too perfect and not real. I want to watch, listen to, simple life over 50 but I don't want perfect people with perfect bodies, perfect make-up and perfect houses. That doesn't scream simple to me. That would take too much work! 

Is it Simple Life or Slow Living or are they the same? Sigh. Big questions lol. I'm not even sure what I'm searching for, perhaps just less of the stuff and more of the taking life as it comes. I sometimes think about moving as I'm not entirely happy living where I am now. I'd love to live somewhere with a bit more space around me, not a bigger house, but just less neighbours lol. A place where I can sit out and not hear traffic (it doesn't help that the main road adjacent to us is a lot busier now than when we moved in and people race up and down our hill to avoid it). I'm not sure it's feasible. I am really thankful that we do have our own house. I know a lot of other people aren't that fortunate. Should I instead think about how I can cultivate my space to make it closer to what I'd like? 

Perhaps all these questions racing around in my head are why I can't sleep! Or perhaps I'm going through a (really late) midlife crisis lol. You have to laugh. 

Things That Made Me Smile today

* Having a lovely chat with sister. It's always lovely to catch up and we always find lots to chat about

* Video chatting with Baby A. She is adorable. 

* Having a walk despite the rain. I got wet, yes, but I was distracted by seeing two Great Horned owls in the trees. We're back to snow this weekend. 

* Pulling out a different mug and having a nice hot cup a soup

Thanks for listening. I'm not moaning, just writing down random thoughts that have been on my mind. Let me know what your idea of simple living/slow living is. It seems to be the 'in' thing right now. Maybe I'm already doing it and not realising! I certainly don't try to keep up with the Joneses. 

Not a Bad Day

I've had a couple of fairly productive days. The list making helps. I got more done today than I anticipated as husband texted and said he'd be home early (he had to go on a driving trip for work, and it was shorter than expected). When he comes home differently than expected it throws me off. I know that I should go with the flow, but I find it really difficult to do. After all these years, husband is finally getting it and said he'd stop in and see his dad for a bit and then take my car for a (much needed) oil change and car wash. 

Oil changes are not cheap. I checked the website for coupons and then (for some reason) decided to google whether they had a veteran's discount. They did, so I told husband to ask about it. He did and ended up with 25% off! Glad that's out of the way again for a bit. 

Tomorrow is more of the same. One of the piles I wanted to tackle has (sort of) been tackled. Another I was starting to sort through when husband said he'd be home soon, so I put it all back away again. Sigh. It will be tackled tomorrow! I'm going to be positive and get it done. Wednesday is one of my quieter household-y days, so I'll have time. No excuses. 

Things That Made Me Smile today

The Light on Asylum Lake - the temperatures here have been really mild the last few days, but the lake is still frozen. Loved the sunlight on the ice today. 

My Merlin App picked up a Red-winged Blackbird today! It's the first sign of Spring here in Michigan. I think it's more of a false spring though as temperatures are expected to drop dramatically on Friday!

A Cooper's Hawk sitting nicely in the woods, ready to be photographed. 

How was your day? What made you smile today?

 

Lovely Weekend

We had a lovely time away. The weather was really good. It was sunny and mild-ish. A lot different form the weather we had the last time we went away! 

We meandered our way up the lakeshore, stopped wherever took our fancy, treated ourselves to a (very rare) meal out, had a good night's sleep and then meandered out way back down the lakeshore (a different way) and home. We stopped at several places we'd like to visit again when the weather is warmer. There were a couple of little towns that had interesting little seasonal shops. They would be fun to visit when they are actually open! 

We had a lovely sunset and sunrise. Our hotel wasn't far from Grand Traverse Bay where the water has frozen over for the first time since 2019. There weren't too many people around too. Always a bonus in my book!

It was quite foggy and it looked really serene and mysterious at the same time. It was well-worth standing out in the cold morning air. It was very quiet out, just me and some ice fisherman on the bay. 

This was one of my favourite walks that we took. The beach was pretty free from snow, but there was ice along the shore and ice pancakes and floating ice bits as far as the eye could see. The sky was really blue, and it was quite mild. Just wonderful. Sunshine really does make me feel a lot better!

It's back to the normal daily things now. At least for a while. We shan't be going away again until (maybe) next month. Our next planned trip is not until the end of April though so we shall see!

Plans this week - doing some organising! There are a few of those pesky spots that have gathered piles again. I swear they seem to multiply! I am going to take care of those this week. I put cleaning out my car on the list and I did that today. I had a collection of coats, gloves and scarves (all thickness for all kinds of weather) on the back seat as well as an overflowing bin so I took care of all that and it is a lot tidier now! I have planned out all my meals this week and I went to the shops yesterday so I shouldn't have to go out much this week. I am also hoping to get the piles of donations off the front porch and to the charity shop this week.