January Update and starting a new SAL

Hello everyone,
A bit late in the month but Happy New Year! We stayed in and had a quiet one this year as we were meeting friends on 1st January.  I just about made it to midnight but it was hard work to keep my eyes open.

Lots has been going on over January it seems.  I am continuing with the KonMarie clearout (after binging the entire series on Netflix). I've tackled clothes and books now... and the next category I'm dreading as it is papers.  It's not that they are scattered over the house, they are actually contained only to a couple of places but there are so many old letters and things, that I have kept since I was a teenager, and then all the adult things like bills and payslips.  I don't know why I still have them! I started looking through them at the end of last week and decided it needed a full week at least to sort through them.  Which things do you keep hold of?  I was big on penpalling back in the day...so you can imagine what a lot of things I have.

It has also been busy with birthday parties for little ones. Something every weekend!  I had heard that it is quite full on when they start school, and it certainly is! 

I've been trying to relax in the evenings and make some stitching progress... it's all going well, there will be things to show soon.  I'm not sure who made me aware, one of you lovely folks whose blog I read I think, but over Christmas I saw a few people stitching a 'Caterpillar Cross Stitch - 12 Days of Christmas' piece.  Not knowing the brand, I followed them on Facebook and was happy to see a new SAL starting yesterday.  Luckily, I have a giant box of all the thread colours which was a gift from my hubby years ago, and the perfect coloured piece of fabric, so I ordered 'Seas the Day' and began work on it today.  It is spread out over the next 9 months.  for more information or to join in, take a look here. It is the most beautiful site and the colours in this SAL or so bright and colourful that it is a welcome change from the brown, yellow and green I've been using for the last few months!

Well, I'll sign off here... well done if you made it this far.  Enjoy the rest of January!

Sparking Joy

Last year, my parents bought me the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying" by Marie Kondo. I read it cover to cover straight away and then filed it on my bookcase, not quite ready or able to get on with it and clear the house but since then keeping in mind to try not to buy any more things which would end up as junk. 

Since my daughter has started full days at school (I know, where has the time gone) I've tried to clear out the house a little, one drawer or shelf at a time, keeping only the things that 'Spark Joy'. So far I've tackled most of the kitchen (Which felt great - 2 bags full of things we never used already taken to the local charity shops) and my clothes (another 2 bags at least).  My size hasn't really changed that much since my late teenage years, but I did have enough wages in my 20s to buy a lot of things that I didn't really need or wear.  Since some of them still had their tags on, it was time for them to go.  I was pretty ruthless!  The rest I rolled.

And then I got to the underwear drawers.  These were a disaster zone - stuffed full to bursting.  I bought some lovely drawer dividers and then had a massive panic when I unpacked them as they were huge.  Luckily they fit but I had to have a MAJOR clearout.  However the results look pretty amazing.  I can see everything clearly and theres a place for each thing.

What strikes me most is how much money I wasted on things I wouldn't use or wear.  And this makes me feel terrible. 

Now to tackle the kitchen cupboard with all the cups and plates and childrens cups and plates that is like Jenga!  I look forward to having more time to actually enjoy the things I'm left with.

Have you read any of Marie Kondo's books or attempted to declutter like this?

Until next time!
Jo