Monday, November 21, 2011

Simply Good

Do you ever think you have too much stuff? This time of year we start putting out all the decorations, the trees, the garlands, stringing lights and trying to remember where everything goes and how to plug it all in gets a little stressful. Boxes and boxes of ornaments that were made by our daughters, bought on trips or precious memories from our past.

When we were building the house, we lived in a house at Bella Vista. It was one of those vacation rentals, the house was furnished with everything down to an iron and ironing board. All we had to do was bring our clothes and our toothbrush. It made the interim period from when we were supposed to be in the new house and out of the old house, bearable. The BVPOA managed the rentals, some were used by the owners for summertime fun, the rest of the year they rented them out. It was an older ranch style home, probably built in the 1970's Inside that house where we lived for roughly 12 weeks, was everything you need to be happy. It had the amenities that were common in houses of that time period, i.e. 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We lived there quite comfortably for 2 1/2 months with one tv and one phone. The kitchen had a stove and refrigerator but no microwave. In the cabinets there were a set of pots and pans, just the basic set... no dutch oven, no omelet pan. It had one cookie sheet and one set of mixing bowls and enough dishes for 4 people to have a meal. When we finished dinner I washed the dishes, there wasn't even a dishwasher. It was kind of nice, simple and uncomplicated.

I think about that sometimes when I'm unloading the dishwasher.... plates and bowls of every size, glasses, mugs for coffee and cups for tea, spatulas and whisks, knives, knives and more knives. How can two people dirty up so many dishes in one day? I.Don't.Know.

We have too much, yet we can't give up a single fork. The sentiment behind so much of what we call our "stuff" keeps us just shy of  "hoarders." I love tidy and efficient so I don't think I'll ever go there. I still like standing at my sink washing my morning coffee cup and breakfast spoon, pretending it's that first apartment on Church Street.

13 comments:

  1. I love the simpler way of life!

    I have to fight myself about buying more 'gadgets' for the kitchen. I remember just having a coffee pot, a toaster and a mixer.....and an 8 foot long kitchen cabinet and I got along just fine.

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  2. I'm with you. We got rid of a truckload of stuff when we moved. I haven't bought anything since except food and potting soil. Simple is nice. Tidy is nice. Less is definitely nice.

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  3. I have been thinking about this lately a lot...I want to be stuff free in the second half of my life...I'm working on it.

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  4. Oh, I hear ya! But I'm just not ready for that yet. So many cool things at garage sales.....

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  5. Oh Joycee, I just married a man that was married for 52 years and me for 50...talk about stuff!! Over 100 years of stuff. I think we need serious help!! LOL

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  6. Joyce, I am reminded of just how much "stuff" we have that we could really do without daily. When I get down my Mister always reminds me that God has promised to supply our needs. Do I doubt that? NO WAY. But,,,, our needs are the basic things in life as you stated in that little home you rented. How many of us could be happy withou the extras? Our special gadgets, our PC, cell phones, T.V. are all extra blessings in God's eye. A great post for this Thanksgiving Week. You have a good one,
    Angela

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  7. so true. we have so much trouble letting go of 'stuff' which then just makes life more crowded and complicated. both physically and emotionally!

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  8. Sometimes I think I have too much stuff but when I've gotten rid of something I thought I'd never use again it seems like the next week I was needing just that. So I'm kind of afraid to let go, if you know what I mean.

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  9. Great post. We are working to get rid of. I was going through books just yesterday and I thought "if I never get another library book...I will never get all of my own books read."
    We are trying. That is all we can do! My daughter encourages me because she knows there will come a time when it will be her job to get rid of my stuff.
    xo, Cheryl

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  10. I don't have a dishwasher b/c I cannot stand the unloading bit. I do dishes by hand at every meal and I love the ritual of it. I dry them and put them away. I don;t want any clean or dirty dishes to have to deal with in the a.m. I now only have things I really love and I use all the time. No things that are off limits or only for "good" We use white cloth napkins daily and use the good towels. Hey we deserve it and we worked for it!

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  11. I'm no good at getting rid of "stuff" and my house is full of it! I haven't used a dishwasher in decades, because I hated unloading it. Plus, I always washed the dishes before I put them in, so I couldn't see the point.

    The few times I HAVE parted with things, the person I gave them to didn't appreciate, or take care of it and ended up making me mad as a wet hen. They can just buy their own things to ruin and discard. I'm hanging on to my stuff!

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  12. Joycee
    I know what you mean. Sometimes the stuff gets too burdensome.

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  13. We have been doing a lot of "cleaning out" now that the kids are getting older. No more toys about and "stuff" that seems to be everywhere.

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