Another week, another opportunity to reach a goal or two towards creating and ideal environment which nurtures you. All projects, no matter their scale, welcome here. Who's with me this week?

I am. This is the week I have scheduled for painting the sitting room as the SO is away. Other family things threaten to intervene.

Good luck, everyone.

I'm in, too, and aiming to get our living room accent wall painted at some point this week. I enjoy painting but hate prep/cleanup. (Well, WHO likes those...bleh.)

I have three very heavy mixing bowls that my mom gave me as a gift years ago. They're so heavy that I tend to not use them often. Used them for Christmas baking but have skipped hauling them out other years. This week I want to find a place that works for them. I also want to haul out all of the pans from one deep cupboard and try to get it better organized. Now I have to literally get on hands/knees and move into the cupboard to get things in the back. It's deep and to the left, so a sliding panel won't work. Guess I'll rummage online to look around at options one night. I do use those pans, though, so don't want to donate.

Hi

I've been using a portion of the dining room space that I cleared (credit) as a work space. I set up my easel and discovered it's a good place to paint in for me vs. my studio space (which is not in my apartment). The dining room has "north light" coveted by artists, and I can walk back from my work quite a ways, which is also needed. It's in a totally different area so I don't feel distracted by the tv, internet etc, except it makes it harder to get there since the distractions are here in the apartment. Plus my demanding cat, who if he's awake he wants in your lap or for you to feed him. That's tough. But he's older so sleeps more. That's a plus, of sorts.

Anyway while i was painting in the space I realized I needed more plants! So now I know my next decluttering focus is the top of my book cases and the cabinets that line the painting area. That's all on the right hand side. On the left is my box pile. Time to get back to that again. And there are still a few things on the floor to deal with.

I was surprised though that I wanted some plants.

How's the painting going nationalparker and silver birch??

*North light* is so wonderful! Excellent that you've got it in your own apartment, onebyone.

Painting here has not got off the ground. It may not this week and that's OK. No need to stress about it as its time will come. One of my clients has reappeared at last with a final version of a document to be knocked on the head this week. Other clients are jumping up and down. A friend is having a meltdown about a government form. The SO is abroad and the home fires are requiring more attention than I usually have to give them.

Silverbirch: I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Keep The Homefires Burning. Loved the rrrrrrrs in therrrrre!

I was thinking the other day of the sense of community or philanthropy that used to exist with the industrial Tycoons at the turn of the century. This song speaks of a nation responding as one, as an individual, to the sacred call of a Friend. Is this a notion that's gone? I'm not sure it is, but our current crop of Tycoons, the filthy rich/nouveau riche don't feel any attachment to the local area or a duty to help the citizenry. Charity is a global endeavour it seems. Locally in Oshawa, it was a General Motors factory town. Tycoons a hundred years ago were setting up shop to manufacture the automobile. They built mansions and they built buildings and they were connected to the Town where most of the citizens worked in their factories. With Internet money you don't see anyone except those in your office. The current tycoons are divorced from the citizenry, from the local. I'm not sure where this is going in my thoughts but it's brewing below the surface with me these days. Your homefires song twigged it. Hmmm. Thanks! I will play it quite a few more times.

Sorry this wasn't about decluttering except maybe mental decluttering!

Onward.

Lovely ramble, onebyone. It's important to get this stuff out there, I think. Out of the brain, I mean, if it's clogging things up in there. We have to keep moving forward.

Yes, for particular localities, I think there is a big difference between the industrial benefactors of the C19th and early C20th and the tycoons of today. In the UK, there was considerable distress and anger that Cadbury's (set up by Quakers with a strong moral sense - though we could all argue the point about exploitation associated with chocolate - and improvements in their localities) ended up being taken over by Kraft (a multinational which went back on its word about British jobs). There seems to be a lot of chat around about the philanthropy of today's fabulously rich (Gates etc) who are giving away large amounts of money to 'good causes' but these causes seem to be global rather than local. Perhaps there is no 'local' for these people.

I think that painting this week is a lost cause. I am keeping up with the washing up etc, and managing to put meals on the table. The SO will be back next week (he does the washing up, and makes almost half of the meals - one of the reasons I decided to go firm with him).

Thanks for keeping the home fires burning, silverbirch. My parents used that phrase, but I don't think I knew it was a song.

Mail stack. Current state: empty. Goal: empty.
Progress: kept up

Tickler. Current state: today. Goal: today.
Progress: kept up

In Box. Current state: half-completed checkbook project. Goal: empty.
Progress: kept up

Email. Current state: 798 total, 191 unread. Goal: empty.
Progress: not quite keeping up

Checkbook. Current state: half-completed. Goal: balanced as soon as statement arrives.
Progress: started balancing checkbook, but got interrupted

Credit cards. Current state: months behind. Goal: checked as soon as statements arrive.
Progress: none

Hi.

I went out this morning and bought 4 small houseplants and three brightly coloured pots for them. I am following my intuition to add some plants to the space where I will now be painting. I also dug out an extension cord so I could finally plug my two plant lights in. My poor orange tree has been suffering and dropping leaves and killing off branches here and there ever since it came in from outside. This should help. The plant store guy told me to put a clear plastic bag around it as well so it can have a humid environment. I'm going to do that. And I have a clear glass container I want to make into a terrarium. I don't know where this is all coming from but I'm letting it happen.

So I emptied the top corner of a bookcase, where my cat can't get to, for the new plants. I just moved the stuff from there I didn't really deal with it. I've been feeling very down (it was my brother's birthday today. He died 3 years ago this july. sigh) but he loved plants and I don't know. It was important for me to get this done on his birthday.

Thanks for reading.

That sounds great, onebyone.

Gardenerjoy, it's great to see all your 'kept up' signs! Re your checkbook, do you write many cheques (as we spell them)? I hardly write any nowadays. I suppose I use my card or online banking to shift money about. And cash, of course.

It will not be possible to do any painting this week. That's OK because I've prioritised doing two excellent and extremely helpful things with other people. These things will have good short-term and long-term effects so I'm very pleased indeed.

Painting next week, perhaps, or the week after. By then the weather should have improved, I hope, and it will be OK to have the windows open.

Time to wrap this week's thread. Don't want it hanging all wide open and cluttering up the joint! Did you accomplish your goals this week? Were you moved forward at all? More on your to-do list?? Join me in the new decluttering thread here.