Organizing and decluttering the homestead

[baymule]

@milkmansdaughter it may take you awhile, but when you finally have it all cleaned up, the fenceline cleaned and you put up a fence that says THIS PROPERTY IS OURS, you will be so proud! Every bottle, every can, every piece of trash picked up is a victory unto itself.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. I've helped clean up more than a few farm dumps and the satisfaction of getting all of that off the land is immense.

We have our own little dump out of sight, out in the wood,s that we utilize to store things that should go to the dump but we may dip into at any given time to repurpose or scrap together a new thing. You know the kind...broken and old lawn mowers, weedeaters, odds and ends of scrap metal, old garden hoses, paint cans, tires, etc.

Mom has decided it's grown enough and that this year will be the year to finally haul it all to the dump~will likely fill the truck and the trailer and only take one trip. I'm sure I'll find a few things I don't want to part with because we may need it "some day"...I'll have to restrain myself. We'll get it all cleaned up and hauled off before garden season.

Then it's likely we'll start a new depository.

 

[treerooted]

There are several depositories around here (not of our making), but around the house they're mostly well organized. I'd like to get the scrap wood pile a bit more organized but that's not a priority.
There's a big one at the treeline - it's a mystery pile I have not explored yet. Mostly twisted holely metal and broken glass by the looks of it.

 

[tortoise]

I finally made a bit of progress here. I purged and organized my sewing stash. It's 2 filing cabinets stack one atop the other. I file my fabric over hanging folders. I have a friend who is into crazy quilts and art quilting. I gave her scraps from old projects I'd rather not be reminded of and cut down my excess useless stash. I just kept fabric I might actually use. There's still a lot of it!

 

[Beekissed]

What an excellent way to store fabric! I would never have thought of that, but it would sure keep the dust and any sun damage from happening, while also keeping it neatly organized.

Though I never have enough fabric for that, it's something to "file away" in my brain case for other unconventional things one could file into a file cabinet.

 

[CrealCritter]

You are so lucky to have this copper kettle.

 

[Beekissed]

You are so lucky to have this copper kettle.

View attachment 7036

I know! It was passed down from my paternal grandmother and she had gotten it from her mother. None of grandma's girls had any interest in it or using it, but Mom did, so it got passed down to us.

I like it because it's not too large, not too small, but just right. I've even used it for scalding chickens prior to plucking them. Comes in handy.

 

[CrealCritter]

I know! It was passed down from my paternal grandmother and she had gotten it from her mother. None of grandma's girls had any interest in it or using it, but Mom did, so it got passed down to us.

I like it because it's not too large, not too small, but just right. I've even used it for scalding chickens prior to plucking them. Comes in handy.

Don't ever let anyone talk you.out of it..it's one of the good ones, made when they cared about making stuff to last.

 

[Beekissed]

Took some time this weekend to restore the pantry/mud room to order once again...seems like, even though all the bins are labeled, folks can't place things back from whence they came.

Also, shelves seem to collect the flotsam and jetsam of life when folks are in a hurry, so it felt good to restore some order and neatness in there.

Had to pull everything out of one side of my large closet to access some plumbing, which gave me a chance to evaluate what is exactly IN that closet, once again. Two big totes of pictures....they are and have been stored in these big totes for over 20 yrs. Suffice to say no one is going to "use" them any time soon.

I proposed to Mom that we make that part of our winter list of projects to clear out~we'll sort them out and send each kid their own pics, then comprise an album that represents Dad and Mom's lives and leave it at the nursing home in Dad's room, so people can see how he used to look and the things he's done. May just make him more human to them so they will take better care of him. I'll also do a story board of pics representing his life to place on his wall there.

We can also do an album of the same type, to keep here for Mom and, eventually, the eldest son or daughter to inherit.

Dad's hunting pictures will go to my boys who would want them the most...they are in most of them anyway, as he taught them to bowhunt and took pics of most of their earliest kills.

We've been meaning to do this for years and one winter we even made a good start, but never completed it. It's time. I'd like to get those big totes out of the closet and off our backs, so to speak.

Then I'll do the same with my batch of pictures, giving each boy his own and then making a general album of us all so that anyone who wants it can have it when I'm gone.

Uncluttered life, easy life.

 

[sumi]

I love your plans with the pics, Beekissed! I so wish I had more pics of my parents, especially my dad. Sadly they didn't take much photos over the years, as we grew up.