Well, I have been Rocking the Declutter program of 2021.. I mean its been crazy good, around 30 to 50 percent of things are being rehomed, about 20 to 40 pecent is being recycled in some way and 10 percent is being trashed.

I have reached the goal of 365 and blown past it.. and I have full plans to keep going! We had our big spring garbage clean up. We hauled things out and set them in three ways.. Scrap went in one area, all kinds of household items that I felt could and should be recycled and then there was need to go ot the dump, including very old bed/mattress that we had taken out of the house late last fall/early winter when we got new beds in the house.

I am thrilled to report that the scrap was snagged first and formost, in fact the first batch went so fast, that we looked, pulled an set out a second grouping and it was also snapped up.. while it took a little longer, EVERY single thing that I was hoping and felt that could and should be rehomed also had folks stop and take them home with them. Things were put on Saturday and Sunday..

Weds, the county trucks arrived and loaded the bigger stuff let that was and should have gone to the dump, it was great to get them off the farm. When we moved to the farm, there as was a spring/fall county wide clean up.. but three years ago, they went to once a year only, they also limited and narrowed the focus on what could be picked up.

Having said that, they increased our blue box recycle program at the same time, so its a bit of a trade off there and they increased and created a number of recycle programs drop off places at the local dump, instead of just throw it in.. they have a number of spots where you can sort things depending on what you are taking so that ideally it can be sorted properly.

Many/most of the things I am sorting is NOT garbage, and so it has gone to the second hand shops, been gifted to friends and so on.. Its the strangest thing, I would have thought that the stress of the pandemic would have me gathering in more resources and in many ways it has.. depending on the items, I have increased some things by 6 months or upwards of 2 years..

However, on the flip side, its really pushed me hard to narrow my focus in many ways.. I was honestly not expecting that narrowing but I am good with it.. I am not getting rid of anything that we use even if its only used only once a year or certain times of the year in regards to homesteading.. I still am firmly in the camp of 2 is 1 and 1 is none.. and I perfer to have at least 3 or 5 of the really heavy duty, we use those all the time things..

The narrowing is far more focused on the “someday” or the “wow, what a deal”

The someday items are things are back ups of back up that I ha never used in years because my perferred choices are solid.. let me give a example of that, I love my cast iron pots and pans, I use them all the time, then i use my stainless steel pots.. but I have had back up pots nad pans that just sit there.. in case.. but I finally went.. really.. I mean I have three back up cast iron pans, if for some unknown reason I break my current cast iron pans, I am going to reach for the “backup” cast iron pan, not the hey what a great deal, I got a whole box of pots and pans at a farm sale.. time to let those “somedays go!”

The wow what a deal is tied into this directly, I love finding high qaulity items at the second hand stores but I also tend to have ended up over the years with more then I need.. a example there is my heavy duty soup toureens.. I love my small one that would hold for 4 to 6 peaple.. and its a keep for sure. but I do not need 2 of the 10 to 12 peaple large ones.. so I am letting one of them go.. because the truth is, while it is nice to have one, if I need to do so, I have three big roasters that could be used for the same purpose in a pinch.. sure it would not be as pretty to put a roaster on the table.. but again.. I might use the big one a few times a year max.. and really want I normally use is my shuttle chef.. it keeps everything so much hotter to serve for folks..

Sorting though things and organizing is where I am at.. I want to use my space to its max ability, I want to be able to know where things are, what I have and keep the older being used first and the newer being properly stored for future use. In this regards I am making huge strides and I could not be more pleased.. I am not lowering or leaning things we use, need or that we could save money on in regards to sales an so forth.. but I am working to have a more orderly life and to knowing what and where everything is.. onwards and upwards..

Has the past year made you gather more, made you put up more into “storage” or has it made you a meaner, leaner, much more focused as well?