Here we are, well into February and I’m still decluttering. I can’t pretend that it’s going at a rip-roaring pace, but it’s definitely still going.

Every couple of days I tackle another cupboard or a couple of shelves. I’m being quite ruthless….but frankly I need to be…there is a lot of stuff stuck in the back of cupboards that hasn’t been used in decades. Most of the cupboards are/were hopelessly overcrowded…and you know what that means…the stuff at the back absolutely never, ever gets a look-in.

Today it was the turn of the kitchen cupboard full of bowls and assorted ovenware. A lot of the odds and ends were inherited from my brother when he emigrated to Canada 20 years ago. I’ve maybe used them once or twice and most of them are two-person household small, so no good at all for my 5-person family. I can’t imagine why I’ve ever held onto them as most of them are rather sad looking. Well, not anymore! Now the excess is boxed up ready to go to Church for the White Elephant stall at our annual bazaar and my cupboard is fresh and organized. I can actually find things without having to take everything out. Wow! That feels good.

Over the weekend I also had a big sort out of my knitting and quilting books. They have never been weeded through before. Knitting and quilting stuff has always had holy status round here, but when I took the books out of the bookcase to clean it, I really saw them in a new light. This is a collection that goes back 25 years. Quilting in particular has moved on – a lot – since then and so have I.

I’m never going to make a Baltimore Album quilt, really I’m not. Nor am I likely to wear quilted waistcoats or make things that verge on kitsch. My style has changed and a lot of the books had never been opened in 20 years. So I ruthlessly made a pile of those that had to go and at the end surprised even myself with how many there were.

I have a hard time throwing books away, a really, really hard time. Mostly I give everything to the church – English books can be sold for Church funds at a premium in Switzerland – but ancient quilting books? I don’t think so. There’s no point me dumping the church with the cost of getting rid of things that don’t sell. We pay for our garbage here by the bagload – and it isn’t cheap!

My problem has hopefully been at least partly solved by a friend who suggested that I should try to sell them second hand on Amazon. So that’s what I’m doing. Of course it only works if they earn enough to more than cover the postal costs and the percentage that Amazon take, so I’ve had to weed through and only list the ones that I could sell at a slight profit. I’m certainly not going to make much money, but at least the books will hopefully be going to a good home. Even though it is all a bit of a hassle, I’m really in favour of re-homing things if I can, rather than just throwing everything away. I’ve only sold one book so far though, so this could take a while!

Slowly but surely I’m simplifying. It all feels like there’s been a breath of fresh air through the house.

Helen

Today it’s even colder – minus 17 this morning. Sounds terrible doesn’t it?

Actually it’s glorious. I was out briefly this morning – the sky is blue, the air crisp with the cold, dry, mountain air feel that we don’t usually have in the lowlands and best of all, the snow is frozen so hard that it squeaks when you walk through it. Honestly it felt like a joy just to be alive and out in it.

As soon as the sun shines I really do notice that my spirit lifts and I start to get my old energy and enthusiasm back. Both have been rather lacking round here recently, although I can now walk without limping with only slight pain in my knee, so I know things are on the way up.

Today my head is full of projects that I want to get going on….

First up, I want to make Camille Roskelley’s new pattern Hopscotch using Terrain by Kate Spain. I’ve got two jelly rolls looking at me in my cupboard and mixed with bright fresh white cotton I think this would really make a knockout quilt. Isn’t this a fun pattern!

…using this….

I’m also on the look out for a pattern for a table runner – any recommendations, anyone? – Would you believe that despite having made oodles of quilts I have never ever made a table runner. Crazy huh!

I also need to knit a hat. Today I had to wear a very dull black beret to go out in because there was nothing else (Daughter No.2 thinks I look like a granny in it – it’s that attractive!). I have a few nice knitted hats, but they seem to have all migrated to our place in the mountains. I confess that I have never, ever knitted a hat. That would make it about time, right?

I’m also itching to get this…

…onto my needles. February’s socks for the 12 in 2012 challenge. Pretty cool, don’t you think? This yarn is so totally me. there couldn’t be a better colour combination. It’s Ranco Multy by Araucania – the yarn is wool and polyamide, which should wear well – yarn from Turkey, hand dyed in Chile – I guess that’s globalization for you!

Here’s wishing you a happy and creative Saturday!

Helen

Writing invoices.

House cleaning.

Nursing a slightly under the weather teenager.

Trying to gain enough momentum to force myself out of the door and to the farm shop for vegetables.

Keeping cosy and warm.

Helen

The temperatures are dropping – we’re going down a few degrees a day and by Friday it will be minus 15….brrrr….too cold to snow.

I’m hunkering down as much as possible and trying to make the house as cosy and welcoming as I can for all those coming in from outside. There is a log fire burning, candles lit, bread rising and a Victoria Sponge cake in the oven…I’m mostly by the fire knitting and reading when I’m not in the kitchen.

It still doesn’t seem to be enough to stop teenagers from locking themselves away in their bedrooms though. What is it that makes cosy family time so deeply unattractive to them? Hormones? Mothers?

I’ll keep trying. One day they will realize that it’s so much nicer down here!

Helen

So…that’s it then. January is all but over. A drab month this year, but surprisingly mild although Siberian air is on its way and it should be down to minus 15 by the weekend.

For me it’s been a month of hibernation, sometimes frustrating and sometimes painful. A quiet month. A time when I’ve retreated, stayed home, hit the sofa, knitted, sewn, read. Never as much achieved as I expect when nothing much else is going on, but some projects finished and a few new ones underway. A few good books read. No shopping. A little headway has been made in the various stashes…yarn, fabric, books and DVDs.

I’m still simplifying, sorting out and rehoming where I can. Trying to create elusive space, order and simplicity. There’s a huge amount still to do and a lot that I can’t really get my hands on because it’s other people’s stuff…and I guess I just have to live with that. I’m learning to change what I can change and accept the things that I can’t. It’s a long-term project in patience and tolerance.

Spring still looks a very long time away. More hibernation is in store. Not a bad thing when it’s cold outside!

Helen