Bad Habits

After sharing my first attempts at purging and reorganizing my life it may seem as if all has gone silent.  Certainly things have slowed down a bit as my attention was taken with other activities, but I am still persevering, albeit a bit more slowly and less emotionally.

I find that I am having to deal with a couple of rather bad habits that have been hanging around for way too long.

1.  Procrastination:  the action of delaying or postponing something

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An Example: This basket of magazines, some of which are several years old, had been getting fuller and fuller as I just tossed my partially read subscriptions into the basket to finish reading later.  Somehow later never seemed to come.  I knew it should only take a few minutes to sort through them and toss what I didn't want or need anymore.  The trouble is, as soon as I sit down with them I will start reading instead of sorting!  Does that ever happen to you?

I really am easily distracted, but I was determined to stay focused and get the job done no matter how many interesting articles caught my eye.  Only magazines that were less than a year old were allowed to stay.

You can see, that I took care of quite a few. The basket is almost empty.  I am also proud to say that I  immediately took all extra magazines to the library so I wouldn't be tempted to take another peek and canceled a couple of my subscriptions. Now, for those of you who are rolling your eyes at this point, you must understand that this is big for me.  Doesn't everything look nice?  Just a warning, don't let that desk fool you...which gets me to another bad habit.

2.  Avoidance:  an act or practice of avoiding or withdrawing from something

An Example:  Often times something important comes in that needs to be kept, but instead of dealing with it immediately, I just put it onto the desk so I would know where to "find" it.  Unfortunately, I had been avoiding things for a long time, and the desk can only hide so much.  I wanted to be able to start using my desk properly so I decided to go through every cubby and drawer.  Goodness!  It was definitely time to purge!

 
It took me three days to go through everything during which  I counted over 180 ink pens, nine pair of scissors, five boxes of paper clips, and eight rolls of scotch tape, not to mention colored pencils, markers, glue etc,etc.  I found all of last years Christmas Cards in a stack (I must have had a craft project in mind for them but I can't remember what it might have been.)   There were boxes of stationary rarely used, and old address books that need to be converted into one.  Trouble is, I don't want to erase the names of those who are no longer with us, another avoidance.  Then, of course, there were the actual papers that needed to be properly noted and filed.

In the end, everything either found a new home or a new place in the desk or elsewhere.  I also found the last letter from my husband's step-mother as well as a letter from an aunt with some knitting instructions for making slipper socks.  I remember getting a new pair from her for Christmas every year for many years.  I still have the last pair she ever knitted for me.  They are pretty ragged now but I keep them anyway.  Needless to say, those letters  are definitely keepers.

Now I have a working space which I am already using.  Did you notice that I found a use for some of those stacking boxes?  One is filled with colored markers and the other has bottles of glue for projects.  

My home is starting to feel more restful already.  By the way, the oil painting was painted in the 1940s by the Inspector's great-uncle who was actually better known for his portraits at the time.  

And speaking of paintings, we cleaned out the cupboard over my closet and found this little gem we had forgotten about which was painted by one of our great-uncle's students. We found the perfect spot for it.

Love that frame, and since it's a seascape it fits perfectly with the theme in my living room.

If I can continue to find fun forgotten little treasures like this, I am ready for the attic and the basement.  Bring it on!

 

A Neighborhood Walk

On Saturday afternoon we went to visit friends who had recently moved into a new home located in a lovely older neighborhood near a park, which made it a perfect place to enjoy another long walk.  Naturally, I had my little camera in my pocket and had to stop and snap a few photos here and there.  There were lots of pretty gardens along the way. 

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The light wasn't the best here, as I was taking the picture into the sun, but I really like all the different colors of green accented by the red tree. 

Maybe I will come back and take another walk in a few weeks to see if these trees have changed color.

Don't these yellow coneflowers (rubeckia) look striking against the red leaves of the plum tree?
 

 I love the way this evergreen tree as been shaped by the winds off the bay, as well as by careful pruning.  See the long shadows cast on the ground by the late afternoon sun.

Soon we made it to the park which sits up on a bluff overlooking the bay.  There was a little arboretum where we stopped to take a stroll.

Palm trees have been popping up all over in local gardens for the past 15 years or so.  I'm still surprised by them.  When I think of palm trees I think of a tropical setting, not the chilly northwest.  However, this type seems to do very well here, even in the snow.

We came upon some stone steps that led up to a fountain at the top.  It was a little too modern for my taste but the sounds of the water were pretty, and the spot felt tranquil in the dappled sunlight.

Entering the main part of the park we crossed over to the bluff overlooking the bay below. 

 There wasn't time today to just sit and stay, as it was time to head out for dinner with our friends. One day soon we will have to return to watch the sunset from this spot.

 Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed our little walk.  Come back and visit again soon.

Nature Walk

As most of you already know, things have been pretty quiet around here the last couple of months.  But now that The Inspector is starting to have more energy we decided it was time to take a nice long walk with one of my favorite cousins who was up visiting for the holiday weekend.  So we hopped in the car and made our way to the lowlands under the local trestle.

This is where we began our rambles, along the Snohomish River which flows into the bay beyond.   Doesn't this tree look like a perfect place to sit and read a book?

I love rugosa rose bushes.  These were growing all along the riverbank.  They usually bloom all summer long but as fall begins to close in all that's left are the rose hips.  I was tempted to pick some and bring them home to dry for rose hip tea.

My cousin is admiring the pretty pink pods.

 

As we continued our walk along the river we notice various kinds of wild flowers and plants.

Wild Sweet Peas
 

Little Purple CanadianThistles
 

Yarrow
 

Gold Buttons (Tansy)

Tiny Yellow Daisies
 

  Wild Blackberry Brambles
 

 
Some plants were already dried and perfectly preserved, all ready for someone's floral arrangement.

Gradually we made our way into the actual estuary looking for birds along the waterways but none were to be found.  It must be the wrong time of year.

 

 We spied a large waterway in the distance and decided to make our way across the marsh to see what we might find there.

The trail led us through a huge field of cattails, some that were taller than we were.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered  that what we thought was water was a low tide mud flat!

My cousin and I

By now it was long past lunch and time to start heading home.  As we made our way out of the marsh and back to the car we passed this pear tree laden with beautiful rosy fruit.  The animals in the area are going to have a feast!

 As we left the quiet marshes behind and headed towards the parking lot we finally saw a large flock of mallard ducks.  And where did we spot them?.... in a large pond right next to the busy and, I might add, very noisy freeway!!  Go figure.

 With the long Labor Day weekend over, Summer is officially at an end and this was a perfect way to let it go.  Autumn, here we come!