This morning's dream.

So I was somewhere with my Mom, and we were getting ready to leave. She'd backed up her car and I got out to load whatever it was that I'd bought, and I saw two little creatures (they looked like guinea pigs) in the garage of the house (maybe we were at an auction; I disremember.) So anyway, I was rushing around trying to find something to put the guinea pigs in; a carrier or something, fretting because I didn't really have space for guinea pigs and I really didn't want guinea pigs, either, but no one else wanted them and I felt that it was my duty to take them.

And my Mom said to me, "You know, you don't have to take them."

And I realized that what she said was truth. That just because I could did not mean I should.

And I got into the car, leaving the guinea pigs behind, and Mom and I drove away having a conversation about whether or not we wanted pizza for supper as well (I guess we might have had it for lunch.)

But as I awoke this morning, that thought stuck with me. Just because I can doesn't mean I should. It's an important distinction, and one I need to follow with a lot of stuff I do.

Dreams aren't usually that obvious for me, but I'm glad this one was.

I'm going to try my best to post at least five auctions (at most, ten) every Sunday from now until forever. There's just too much stuff in this house that I don't need anymore. Hopefully I will be able to manage this. :)

I'm also going to post choice vintage items on Etsy, because I think some of what I have will sell better there. But not today. I posted my five auctions, so I'm done and can go on to something else, like... laundry.

Oh joy.

Discarding

Of the stuff I plan to sell?

100% of it can be bought again, if needed, when I am ready to buy it.

I gave myself permission to say that back when I had to sell quite a few of my beloved books because I had no money. The majority of them have remained memories; I could still replenish them if needed, but they're out there. They are not forgotten. I didn't need to have a copy in hand to remember the pleasure of reading.

Ponderings

Fabric: I have lots of vintage fabrics in pretty prints. Am I ever going to use them? The way my crafting is headed right now, probably not. Crafting the odd bunny or doll for a child not withstanding; a lot of what I have is not kiddie prints anyway. Should I save them for a rainy day in the hopes that my crafting turns that way someday? Or should I release them onto the world (possibly posting each piece on Etsy, since I think they would sell better there) and allow someone else to create something with them?

I definitely don't need to collect them and not use them; fabric was meant to be used, after all.

Crafting: as a word, 'craft' sounds like what I'm doing. I am creating something; I am creative. I am creatively crafting something out of string or fabric or fiber. I think only lately did the word tend to have a negative air for me; like glue sticks and construction paper, which is, of course, a form of craft anyway. My media is fiber; that's not new. I weave it and crochet it and sometimes knit it; I sew and stuff and recycle. It's craft, in the old sense of the word. I need to own this word in my heart. I need not to regulate crafting into a couple months of the year. I need to incorporate it into my life year-round.

A thought

Using decorative items that were meant to be used. Like teapots.

After all, wouldn't you think that a thick stoneware teapot would hold heat better than a stainless steel tea kettle? When I go to make myself a cup of tea, why not make a pot of tea in one of my teapots, since I know I will be drinking more than one cup anyway? (It would cut down on the teabag use, too. Or loose tea, depending on what I am wanting to drink.)

ReOrganization

It's fall, and the garden is about done, but my finances are still in a mess. I'm going to be posting auctions next week (just put them on my list of things to do) and I'm going to try my best to make quite a bit of money on ebay and etsy (and I'm counting the last Burlington and the craft shows in this) so I can get rid of one credit card by the end of this year.

This is not an insignificant amount of change. In fact, it's a couple thousand dollars. My goal is $3,000, actually; that would wipe out one credit card completely, leaving me with three. Which would help immensely.

However, I have the floor inkle loom, my LeClerc Bergere loom, one tape loom, assorted shuttles, and lots of other stuff that I can sell. My rule of static collections will hold here; I'm going to get rid of what I no longer collect unless I am very, very fond of the item, and then, if I have more than one, I will keep only one.

By the end of next year, my car will be paid off, which will free up $400/month to go towards the credit cards. (Along with the $400/month I already have budgeted for them.) By the end of 2011, all of my credit cards should be gone. That pushes my trip to the John C. Campbell Folk School until 2012, but that's really not that far away.

From now on, though, I am only allowed to use my credit cards for food purchases--if I don't have enough money in the bank for cat and dog food, say. I will allow myself $25/month of 'free' purchases. I'm giving myself a strict $50 to spend at the last Burlington unless I find something fabulous I can turn around and sell for more. It's going to be difficult. I already know this. But I am determined.

I just hope I can continue to be determined until the credit cards are gone.

The Entry Room

My goal for the entry room was two-fold: make it work better and attempt to find a way to keep some of the mail clutter from creeping into the kitchen. I wanted a place where I could sit down and take on/put on my boots, a place to hang my coats and jackets, scarves and hats. Since the entry room is so large in my house (it's the former kitchen) I couldn't just have a mudroom, so it serves other purposes too.

I keep both of my bikes in the entry room and out of the weather, since the shed is not watertight. And this is Mabel's room, too; her pillow and blanket are in this room and this is where she spends most of her time when I'm not home.


This room is the first room people see when they enter my home, and the first room I walk through when I get home from work. It ends up with the clutter of packages and stuff I bring home from auctions, and my mail ends up on my kitchen table where it gets buried under other stuff.

Now, though, I have a "mail desk" where the mail can go--immediately--and where it will be simple to sort through it when I need to pay my bills. I have a place to sit down and take off or put on boots and shoes--that way I'm not tracking mud from the garden throughout the house. The cats' chair is now in the entry room, too--

And they can destroy it, knock it over, and run around to their hearts' content without me having to worry about them knocking over a loom (it was in the green/loom room before.) I'm really happy with the way everything turned out in the entry room, and I think it will work out well in the 'flow' of my house.

Next up: The kitchen.