Yep, I nest. You know, putz around the house acting like I’m cleaning while I’m really evaluating stuff and clearing things out. (Preferably the beloved husband’s stuff.)
Most people do it in the spring. After a long hard winter I want to be outside in the spring. No time for nesting then.
I like to do it in the fall. I can clean out and rearrange and feel renewed right before the holiday gewgaws come along.
Don’t mistake any of this for true house cleaning where you rip everything apart to clean every last speck of dust. I am allergic to all that. (Really, dust makes me sneeze!) I’m talking about tossing out knickknacks that are 30 years old (but have some sort of sentimental value that I can’t remember). Or discovering a bunch of hairballs tucked away where only visitors can see them.
When a house gets truly dirty, I move. That’s my idea of house cleaning.
Barring a grand decision like that, I de-clutter and re-clutter and feel good about it all. Then I go out to celebrate. Big time.
Yesterday I tossed seed catalogs….from 2013. I tossed them all even the new ones. The pile was almost two foot high. I don’t garden like I used to. Besides next year will bring new ones to fondle through the cold snowy winter.
I found a stash of catnip mousies that lost all their catnip fizz. Deader than opened champagne. Out! (Not one single cat challenged that decision!)
There were a couple of cartons of cards. Why do charities send me cards? Don’t they know I won’t use them but hate to throw them out? I put them in a box and throw out the box when it’s full. And no, if I didn’t order them I’m not buying them either.
Perhaps I should check my spices. The ones I use regularly are fresh but there is that odd ball spice I only use for one dish. I wonder if it’s dated with a year starting with “19.” Surely I must have cleaned them out in the past 15 years.
Speaking of which, how fast did that go. Wasn’t it just Y2K?
Done enough. I believe it’s time for the celebration.
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
Catching up here Kate, Im allergic to dust bunnies too. But you have reminded me its time to do a spring clean and start at the spice rack. Wow I am amazed how fast time goes when I look at the dates on my spices. But it all feels good when we are done and thats the best reward.
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I found a moldy oldie this week. It was a can of sunburn spray that expired in 1992. Don’t know how that’s been missed over the years!
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Yep its scary, its like they get lost in another time zone and reappear ten years down the track.
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Yes! There is no way I have moved that spray can 4 times, two states without checking it!
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A woman after my own heart: Declutter and reclutter, forget the dust.
Gewgaws?
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Gewgaws at a minimum!
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Kate, I need to keep my wife away from your blog, you’re giving her bad ideas! She’s now eyeing my knickknacks!
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That lady leg with the lampshade has got to go. I’ll email her about that.
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Nooo! That’s a major award! What a great lamp! Hey… I better hide the glue!
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I love purging no matter the season. My husband is a semi-hoarder. He wants to keep everything. I love tossing things. Somehow we make it work. I totally understand the need to do your fall deep-cleaning. Carry on!
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Semi-hoarder! I like that word. Sometimes I am like that and at other times it all goes out. When I was young, like in the 70s, I made candles. I was good at it and made very unique ones. I bought wax in 55 lb. boxes. Long after I stopped that hobby, I was moving 110 lbs. of wax from house to house. Then I found someone who wanted to try it and out they went. That was a load off my moving truck!
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Every once in a (great) while the cleaning bug hits and nothing’s safe. Hubbs usually ends up missing something … hee hee! MJ
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Doesn’t happen often here either. I am blaming it on Jake. I can blame every deviation from normal life on him for a while.
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You know I LOVED this post! I’ve been tearing apart our two main closets to reorganize boxes, bags, hurricane supplies, batteries, lightbulbs, linens, pillows, blankets. extension cords, etc. Dropped off stuff at Goodwill today and then went and bought a new desk. Spent the rest of the day getting my office de-clutterized.
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You are such a simplist (is that even a word?) that I can’t believe you have anything to get rid of. You are my idol when it comes to living a decluttered life.
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I’m a minimalist . . . in training.
I’m delighted to give stuff away to people who want to adopt it, but often that means hanging on to it until they realize they “need” it. This is especially true of all the family heirlooms I’m keeping until nieces and nephews start setting up “house.”
I’m happy to donate stuff we don’t love, need, or use to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, and Salvation Army. My old desk (which we inherited with the villa) will be picked up by Habitat next Tuesday. I know we could sell it, but then I would have to send checks to these charities. It’s easier to donate the stuff and let them sell it.
I’m also happy to recycle stuff that can be recycled.
But . . . I hate to throw things away (or toss them into recycling) if they still have a useful life. That means I hang on to bags and boxes and shipping supplies (foam peanuts). Which made sense when I sent gifts to the wee ones 13-20 times a year. Now they get birthday checks in easy-to-mail cards and I should recycle most of the boxes and packing supplies. But I haven’t.
In case you’re wondering, I am NOT in denial about how old they have gotten. I am in denial about hold old I have gotten!
Plus we’ll need that stuff the next time we move.
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I’m a lot like you in that I can’t toss if something is useful. We have granddaughters across the country so I know what you mean about shipping supplies. We toss peanuts but keep the air bags thingies. Damn stuff takes up space. In our recent kitchen update, I changed out the towel rack. The old one is good and I have on a pile for Habitat along with some lighting fixtures we never used. Gotta get them out of here!
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Yes, Y2K does seem like it was about five minutes ago. I guess I’ll never have another chance to wear my novelty year 2000 glasses (the ones where your eyes look through the two middles zeros).
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Don’t throw those glasses away. Perhaps for a Halloween costume?
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Or if I add a little bit to the number “2” and have myself cryogenically frozen, perhaps the year 3,000?
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That is a novel idea for sure. Probably the glasses won’t last as long as your frozen body!
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That’s a good point! I guess I’ll just have to climb back out of the freezer, then.
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Every time I clean out the stuff that’s accumulated since the last go round I say I will not let this stuff happen again. Before I know it it’s time to clean out the stuff again. I haven’t looked at the spices in years.
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Me too! As for spices, I swear I clean that cabinet out yearly yet I know if I go there I will find things that expires 2 years ago. I don’t know how that happens. Either time flies or I misses on the last go round (very unlikely).
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It just never ends.
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Good for you! It’s been so darn hot here lately and we don’t have air conditioning (we’ve never needed it for more than a day or two in the past so never put it in). That’s my excuse for not de-cluttering and I’m sticking to it (as well as sticking to everything I sit on).
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That sounds like a sticky situation!
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“When a house gets truly dirty, I move. That’s my idea of house cleaning.” I love it! It’s a quote worth saving in my treasure box of wise sayings. And Kate, this whole post is hilarious.
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Glad I could entertain you!
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Well, if the cats approve, I guess you can toss it.
I’m jealous – you are sorting/grouping/tossing without construction stress. Must make it more entertaining….although I’m with you on just moving…
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Construction mess — I don’t envy you. Repainting in two days was enough chaos. Now I have piles of stuff in the guest bedroom but I can avoid going in there until the pick-up truck comes to take my treasures elsewhere.
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The extra room strategy is a good one. I’m moving stuff that needs to be go through and the extra furniture into one, too. Close the door and pretend it’s all fine until there’s time to deal with it. Survival skills are critical with any kind of home project.
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Yes and lots of chocolate and wine.
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I love doing this! But then hubby picks through the garbage, looking to see what treasures I’ve thrown out and I have to put 1/2 of it back.
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That happened once with my ex. He came home to find a lot of his “treasures” (read: junk) out for the trash guy. After that I put the stuff in black plastic bags so he couldn’t see what was inside. I doubt whether he ever missed them.
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That makes me chuckle.
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He is my “ex” for a reason. Guess throwing out his dirty worn childhood baseball cap did me in.
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When it’s hard to part with an object I’m sentimental about, I take a photo of the item first. That makes it much easier for me to donate or throw out. Gosh, I love Maxine’s attitude! She has all the answers 🙂
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Sometimes I feel like Maxine but her follow through is better than mine!
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Funny! I’m in denial about cleaning right now ….
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I like denial. I’m usually there too.
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I agree with you about doing “Spring Cleaning” in the fall. I’m always in the process of de-cluttering but clutter, like fat, finds me. However, I’m much better at getting rid of things this time of year. All those leaves dropping from trees remind me to let go.
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Seems like I am too. I tossed a bunch of things but today I found an interesting fall turkey made out of metal and bought it. Sigh.
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We have bulk pick up every October. I know this, I’ve lived in my house for 18 years, yet every October sneaks up on me and I never have time to throw out the big stuff. I managed to get a broken table to the curb but would like to go through the attic and garage. Maybe this weekend? I’ve also got closets and piles of paper on my desk that can be thinned out. Sigh. Love the quote and your idea about cleaning, right there with you!
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Wish we had that. We have to make arrangements for pick ups and they are very particular here. Right now I have three huge garbage bags of clothes but I have more wine glasses than I need, dishes and cookware too. I’d like to thin that out but I seem to lose my energy after a few hours.
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My daughters are fabulous “declutters” If you have been to my home, you know that they did not get that gene from me! They are constantly telling me how much better I will feel…how good it feels to do it! And as much as I intellectually understand that, emotionally I am a clutter mess!
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Perhaps it’s because you value the old stuff. I have no problem getting rid of anything that isn’t comfortable in favor of comfort. I kept very few sentimental pieces from my mother, one is her coffee cup. Other than that, everything hits the road. I remember visiting my mother-in-law in a nursing home. The family had brought a few pieces of her old furniture to make it feel more homey. It looked like a hodge podge of oversized pieces that didn’t fit in her closet-sized room. Nothing was comfortable to sit in. If I am moved to a nursing home, I want all new stuff, perhaps a nice white washed bamboo set with colorful pastel prints to make me happy. Bring my photo albums for when I want to reminisce. Your daughters are right, lightening up feels good.
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Spent a good chunk of the weekend cleaning the attic and tossing stuff. How do those things migrate up those stairs? A few things took me and the Hubs down memory lane. The organic chemistry textbook was not a happy memory. Hubs started it all by getting a huge dumpster to clean out his shop which is two blocks away. He provided large boxes delivered by skidloader and I cleaned out. I used to be a cardboard box hoarder. I was raised by parents who married right before the Depression and they saved everything. I broke down and flattened and then recycled an obscene amount of cardboard from the attic. Soooo many trips up and down those narrow stairs. I hope I lost a pound or two. There are still books to sort but the junk is gone!
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I remember cleaning out my Mom’s attic. Narrow steps, stuff, more stuff and even more stuff. I found 20 lbs. of sugar in a tin can. There was depression glassware and old jelly glasses. I try not to let my stuff get that bad but it doesn’t take long. Stuff multiplies all by itself.
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We had to clear our living room this week because they need to take down the ceiling and do some structural support work. Threw out or re-homed (books to the library sale, etc) all sorts of stuff. Feels so good!! The living room is completely empty right now, and I kinda like it that way.
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As I get older, I like less. People give me cat tchotchkes. I have passed most of them on to other cat lovers. Last time we did the living room there were 20 boxes of books that were either trashed or donated.
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It feels so good to get rid of all the stuff, though, doesn’t it!
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Yes! And it feels even better when someone else is grateful for it (instead of putting in the trash).
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It was amazing to me how many of my spices hit the bin. I have only bought one replacement as I only remember I need them while I am cooking.
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Poultry spice is one of those that I only use at Thanksgiving and every year I check it because it gets old before it gets completely used. I don’t cook recipes with exotic spices that I won’t use for anything else (at least mostly). That’s what restaurants are for! Yes, I am so bad about not checking all my ingredients prior to the start of something. Back in the day when I did a lot of cooking, I always had things on hand. Not so much today. I try to keep it to simple and fresh veggies and meats. I rarely bake.
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Once I get my book back to my editor, I plan to do a lot of nesting. I love to de-clutter!
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Can I borrow you? I peter out fast.
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Sure! 🙂
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Did you find any hairballs from Jake? I cried when I found mummified hairballs from my dead cats tucked in a corner under the bed. Sniff.
Fall is a great time to clear stuff out. It’s colder, brisker, more business-like. 🙂
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Jake’s fur thinned as he aged and he didn’t have many hairballs. He was more slobbery than hairballs at the end. He did leave a patch of black hair in a circle in his favorite spot under the bed. Still there. I have to undo the bed to get to it.
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