Wednesday 23 January 2008

January Musings

Let's start with some January colour
The Mahonia is just beginning to 'go over'
It has been a great pleasure to me this week to have had the opportunity to talk to one of my dear blogging friends on the telephone
I wanted to surprise Sara and I just kept getting an answerphone, so much against my principles I would put the phone down. I never do this but I wanted it to be a surprise.
Little did I know that Sara was sitting next to the phone and had heard the click as my phone went down. How frustrating is that! Sara has so many unsolicited calls that her friends know she will pick up as soon as they start talking. Anyway in the end I had to leave a message and we were finally able to arrange suitable times by E-mail. It is not easy planning a chat when there are 8 hours between us. It is not easy getting a phone number either. To ask for the number would spoil the surprise.


Where do I start with this though!
This is the area in my house that I call my overflow
It is actually the garage but I think it was built for either a motorbike, a mini or a James Bond car with an ejector seat through the roof
If we drove our car in we would not be able to open the doors!
So we boarded up the back of the door, painted the walls, floor painted the floor and put some carpet down many years ago. We also added old kitchen cupoards, 2 old chest of drawers and an old cheap wardrobe for outdoor activity and walking clothes and lots of shelves that we could get our hands on.
I would like to have converted it into a proper room but as we are on a hill it is quite a bit lower than the house so it would have been an expensive job for the use it would get.
So instead we just knocked through a door from the hall and added some steps.
It is one of those places that is very useful but because it is there it is tempting to store more stuff, hence the reason I regularly declutter. The photos are just part of it.
My attempts to get the job done have not gone as well as I had thought because January did not turn out as quiet as it had first looked. Life is always full so why did I think the calendar would not fill up. My intention is just to plod on with this job as the opportunity arises then I will begin to make a start on the house. It amazes me just how much there is to throw out each year. I am not a hoarder, hubby is.




Last week I received this award again from 2 people
One was from Lindsey of
Raindrops to Rainbows
and the other from S of PR
I know those letters do not make sense but, call it a senior moment, I wrote down those initials and just cannot remember what they stand for. I have searched my post comments and there is nothing there that remotely resembles those initials. There was however one comment that had been deleted by the author so maybe that was it. So if your name begins with S and your post initials are PR then I am truly sorry, I did not intend to leave your link off this post.



13 comments:

Vee said...

Now I think it's great to have an overflow space. Decluttering is the bane of many people's existence. Why do we gather so much? Hope that Allan helps you with the decluttering process!

Anonymous said...

I have to agree that "storage rooms" or "overflow spaces" can be a good and a bad thing. The temptation to "save for a rainy day" is very strong in my household.

duopastorale said...

Garages are very useful for almost everything except cars.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Hi Barbara, how fun to see in photos something we talked about on the phone, among many other topics. My hubby is also the "saver" one, but it's probably a good thing. I get rid of things down to the bare minimum and then wish I still had something...this way, all that stuff doesn't disappear quite a fast as it would if it were just me.

Your storage room looks much tidier than my garage!

Those awards certainly were flying around blogland quite a bit recently--no wonder it's confusing. I am one "S" who sent you one, but I've no idea what "PR" might stand for.

Unknown said...

Hi Barbara,Hope your doing well.I have a hoarder here at my house to but I am so proud of him(My husband) He has organized the garage and his side of the bed.There is hope for your Allan.I must say Your garage is well organized.Hugs

Betty said...

Barbara,
Your mahonia blooms are beautiful...

Sadly to say, my husband and I both are 'collectors'......I've been on a get rid of kick here lately....I have to take advantage of those moods...I don't have them too often...Betty

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

Lovely award for a lovely person! I like your overflow space!

Linda said...

I don't have one of these spaces and, in fact, just have one closet here in Paris. I really need to get rid of some clothing. I can only wear one thing at a time so I'm not sure why I have to have so much.

Linds said...

I wish I still had overflow space, but we actually did convert our garage (and I understand your description of the size of it to a T.... I always said you could drive a small car in and then sit there in it, but no way could you get out!) and I lost that space. It is a good way to keep the clutter down. Or that is the theory anyway!

Willow said...

We have a small shed and a carport but no garage. I'm not much of a saver so with a couple of large closets, we seem to be getting along. I wouldn't mind a converted garage made into a library, though! We have books in every room in the house.

Paula said...

I love the garden color. We have Mahonia here too, but it looks much different. My hubby is a hoarder too. We have a basement that is packed with stuff. We really need to have a garage sale.

Jeanne said...

Blessings..........Decluttering is what I am doing as well.
Much love and many blessings!
Love and hugs

Greg C said...

When I was growing up, there was never enough space in the garage for a car. Dad had it stuffed with too many treasures.