Organizing and decluttering the homestead

[Beekissed]

Today I started the declutter project on the back of our log storage shed. Scrap lumber, odds and ends of things, a cabinet with decades worth of things stuck in there, etc. Got all the lumber and the existing lumber rack(could barely be called that) deconstructed and removed and now it's on to the other junk~steel barrel, turkey feeder, lime spreader, cabinet, dolly....you name it, it's stuck under there.

Took a before pic and will post an after when the project is completed. This should make our DIY projects MUCH easier when it comes to accessing our odd lot of lumber scraps~all sizes, shapes and types.

 

[Beekissed]

Emptied and tore down the large cabinets my Dad put on the back of the shed nigh 25 yrs ago....they are HEAVY! Kind of a sadness doing that...seems like we've been tearing down a lot of Dad's old construction these past few years and I can see Dad in every one of them~porches, steps, outhouse, etc. When Dad built something, he built it to stay there for his lifetime. LONG nails, plenty of them, and sturdy construction.

In those cabinets are such a hodge podge of things to use for home maintenance that I'll be sorting it out for some time....spent the evening sorting out hardware of all kinds. Between this new store and the stores I've already sorted out, I'm starting to feel RICH! I have scads of washers of all sizes, rubber washers/gaskets of all sizes, screws, nails, bolts and nuts of all sizes and kinds, various pipe straps and hose clamps and odds and ends of numerous other things.

Once organized, we shouldn't have to be buying new hardware for a good while, as we have both new and used hardware aplenty here for all the DIY projects I could do this year.

So, for now, the back of the shed is completely stripped of all junk and stuff. Need to burn that cabinet and various sundry wood scraps tomorrow, along with two very large wagon sides that are ancient and rotten. Might also burn some pallets we've had for many, many years and are just in tatters now. Going to the feed store this week and will pick up a few much stronger/better pallets to replenish our pallet stores.

Getting things done that have been waiting for 10-25 yrs to be done properly feels very cleansing and uplifting! Those cabinets and all this junk on the back of the shed was just a haven for bees, mice nests and odd places for the chickens to lay eggs. It will feel good to get that all gone and replace it with a setup that will discourage such shenanigans.

 

[The Porch]

I

Emptied and tore down the large cabinets my Dad put on the back of the shed nigh 25 yrs ago....they are HEAVY! Kind of a sadness doing that...seems like we've been tearing down a lot of Dad's old construction these past few years and I can see Dad in every one of them~porches, steps, outhouse, etc. When Dad built something, he built it to stay there for his lifetime. LONG nails, plenty of them, and sturdy construction.

In those cabinets are such a hodge podge of things to use for home maintenance that I'll be sorting it out for some time....spent the evening sorting out hardware of all kinds. Between this new store and the stores I've already sorted out, I'm starting to feel RICH! I have scads of washers of all sizes, rubber washers/gaskets of all sizes, screws, nails, bolts and nuts of all sizes and kinds, various pipe straps and hose clamps and odds and ends of numerous other things.

Once organized, we shouldn't have to be buying new hardware for a good while, as we have both new and used hardware aplenty here for all the DIY projects I could do this year.

So, for now, the back of the shed is completely stripped of all junk and stuff. Need to burn that cabinet and various sundry wood scraps tomorrow, along with two very large wagon sides that are ancient and rotten. Might also burn some pallets we've had for many, many years and are just in tatters now. Going to the feed store this week and will pick up a few much stronger/better pallets to replenish our pallet stores.

Getting things done that have been waiting for 10-25 yrs to be done properly feels very cleansing and uplifting! Those cabinets and all this junk on the back of the shed was just a haven for bees, mice nests and odd places for the chickens to lay eggs. It will feel good to get that all gone and replace it with a setup that will discourage such shenanigans.

think it is so wonderful you are getting all of this done. I truly believe in being organized.
I does in deed feel great to get things cleaned up.

 

[baymule]

I’m highly organized and a complete slob. Haha Sometimes I’m on top of everything, sometimes I just can’t keep up. This has been one of those I can’t keep up years. But I have cleaned up a lot of the porch, still have more to do, but it’s a hundred percent better. We cleaned up and burned a lot of scrap lumber and rotting pallets. Hauled off crap that piled up and multiplied, so at least progress has been made. But the garden never got fully planted and is a jungle now. The yard needs mowing for all the stuff the sheep won’t eat. I’m so behind on things, I feel like I’m chasing a train on foot, trying to catch it.

 

[Mini Horses]

Me, too, Bay! Ditto..... I look, I wonder --- how'd this happen???

 

[Beekissed]

That's exactly what I say too.....how did it GET this bad???? Seems like I'm busy all year long but behind me is a trail of devastation that then needs to be cleaned up and organized once again. Either where I put something now looks horrible or it doesn't function as well for our needs as I first imagined or I've been using an existing "drop spot" all these years because I never got around to changing~as in the case of this current overhaul.

Always, though, I have to go back and put things back where I first organized them in order for the whole thing to work right....keeping things workable and neat is an ongoing project, I've found.

I've learned, over the years, to establish one place in each area where I can drop things I'm in too much of a hurry to put away properly and then come back to that spot and put everything away on occasion. It's the never stopping to put things away that makes it all a problem.....gotta remember to STOP, Hammer time! and dance in place until things are back in their rightful spots.

I've got a pretty box on top of our file cabinet that says "To Be Filed" on it so that Mom can drop things in it and I can too, when we are too rushed to bother with filing it properly at the time. That keeps us from having little stacks of paper piled here and there, waiting to be addressed.

I need a large bin in the outside work areas for the same reason....tools, scraps, items that need "to be filed". Hmmmmmmmmm.........where would I put it? What would I use? Now my wheels are turning.....

 

[baymule]

It’s time I walked around picking up garden tools, shovels, rakes, hoes, etc. How come I never put them back?

 

[The Porch]

I’m highly organized and a complete slob. Haha Sometimes I’m on top of everything, sometimes I just can’t keep up. This has been one of those I can’t keep up years. But I have cleaned up a lot of the porch, still have more to do, but it’s a hundred percent better. We cleaned up and burned a lot of scrap lumber and rotting pallets. Hauled off crap that piled up and multiplied, so at least progress has been made. But the garden never got fully planted and is a jungle now. The yard needs mowing for all the stuff the sheep won’t eat. I’m so behind on things, I feel like I’m chasing a train on foot, trying to catch it

The garden is not a 911 right now, the yard also is not a 911. the yard is technically clean and something you can do later in no time. You are on a good track stay with it, dont do like me and get waylaid by 3 other things.

You are doing good, I think all of this is good to get done before fall and winter. In Oct. & Nov. you can clean up, till under and feed the garden area in preparation for next spring. All of the major inside stuff can wait until the weather turns.

YOU ARE DOING GOOD LOVE!!!!!! stay with it,

 

[The Porch]

You all work so hard everyday, and have taken on so much.

 

[Beekissed]

You all work so hard everyday, and have taken on so much.

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 1 Thess: 4:12,13

God likes things done decently and in order~" Let all things be done decently and in order." 1 Cor. 14

I pray each morning that I do each day what He would have me be doing and that I work as if unto Him in all things. When it's for God, it's not a heavy burden, as He helps you bear your burdens. I'd likely not be doing any of these things if it weren't for God, nor would I have the strength or health to do it without Him as well. I rejoice that He gives me good work to do and that it honors Him to do it!

A lot of folks look at it and think it's just busy work or that we are neat freaks of some kind, but it's really just an obedience to the Lord and good practice for obeying Him in all situations, not just with the things He gave us stewardship over. I love to work when God's my boss! Easiest work EVER.