Saturday 25 April 2015

The best laid plans...

Today I had big plans.   I have nothing I necessarily have to do today and I knew that the farmer would be busy in the vegetable garden getting ready to hire a rotovator to give it a good going over.
So I planned to empty my wardrobe and clean it out, exchanging my winter clothes for my Summer ones which are all folded in the drawers in the spare bedroom.   Then I would wash all my jumpers and put them away with sweet-smelling lavender bags for the summer.

Did I mention the word Summer?   Well of course our contrary climate here in the UK meant that after a week of glorious spring weather today has dawned damp, cloudy and cold, with North wind sweeping straight down from the Arctic.   I have even put my thermal vest back on.   And I abandoned my plan about T shirts versus jumpers.

Instead I took all the scarves and bags off the top shelf and sorted them out, throwing away handbags which are greatly out of date and which I have carted around from place to place for the last twenty years. Similarly with the scarves - I have far too many anyway, so they have gone off to the charity shop.

Then it was sort out shoes from the floor of the wardrobe, throwing away several pairs I no longer wear and which are well past their best anyway.

I am now sitting here feeling virtuous.   Somehow after doing this kind of job one's mind seems to be more in order.   Do you find the same?

On a different subject - is anyone else watching Gryf Rees-Jones in his programme on Africa?  I am finding it compulsive viewing and enjoying every single minute of it.   The people are so lovely - what a pity that in so many places in Africa there is such turmoil and so much killing and so many thousands desperately trying to get away. I heard on the News that many of the refugees who are being drowned daily in the Med are sub-Sarahan - what terrible journeys they have already had to reach the coast and what terrible fates await so many of them.   There are so many mothers with young children - one wonders what they have been led to expect.

19 comments:

MorningAJ said...

Will you come and help me to sort out my wardrobe? You know that saying about hell and good intentions? I've not seen the Griff Rhys-Jones. Maybe I need to look at catch-up.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

I like to organize and sort through things - sometimes it takes me a while to get started - but watch out when I do.

I can't believe that you can burn your handbags - here we are not allowed to burn any rubbish or trash - ever. The air quality is better because of it - and if anyone is caught burning things they receive a hefty fine. It has taken a while to get the point across to some people but they are learning (that hefty fine is a good way to educate I think)

Heather said...

I never put my winter clothes away, they just stay in the bottom two drawers of my chest of drawers so they are to hand when the weather catches us out. However I do go through the wardrobe and fill up a bag for the charity shop occasionally - and it's time I did this again.
I can't bear to think of the suffering of those poor refugees, before and during their fateful journeys.

Rachel Phillips said...

Cabri mort n'a pas peur du couteau. A dead goat doesn't fear the butcher's knife. Old North African saying.

Joanne Noragon said...

I've been a minimalist for many years, and I find it even easier with granddaughters. One day something no longer fits; it's into the GoodWill bag and some more of mine to fill it up. Then we must go shopping, because, OMG, those were her favorite turquoise capris. By how often I see them on her, they were/are. She's not about fit, but about fashion.

Terry and Linda said...

Your tree is just lovely. I'll bet is smells devine also!

Golly Boomer, and the worst we have here is the odd rat and maybe a fox now and then. A deer calls once in a while too.

donna baker said...

Purging my closets and drawers makes me feel so much better. Either it goes to Goodwill or in the creek. That sounds trashy, I know, but I am trying to fill in the headwater as the creek is getting deeper and larger. It has grown so deep, nothing can be seen except maybe from a birds eye view.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Great post :)
I feel sort of sorted out and virtuous just reading about yours.
I have the same thing planned for today. So far, I've looked at the trunk that contains the summer clothes. I beam with pride.

Em Parkinson said...

Very impressive Pat. I put a few things away six years ago and then forgot they were there!

Tom Stephenson said...

I get the council to take away my old clothes.

Cro Magnon said...

Luckily I don't really have old clothes hanging around; I wear them until they dissolve naturally.

Rachel Phillips said...

I wear the same clothes all the year round.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I often find that after completing a task like that (not that I have any handbags!) I find a weight lifted from me, as though it's been nagging away at the back of my mind just waiting to be done.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Hope I have persuaded a few folk to get on with the job - it is a lovely sunny day today - but still need those winter woollies. Thanks for the visit.

Frances said...

I don't have summer and winter wardrobes as our weather can change from one to the other in the blink of an eye, but it is good to throw out clothes that haven't been worn for several years.
I have been enjoying Griff's adventures in Africa. He is a very endearing character.

Frances said...

I've also been giving a long farewell look at some of my clothing, and been making regular donation visits to my neighborhood charity thrift shop. The folks who work there are beginning to recognize me.

It's a wonderful feeling to lighten up on my own possessions, while perhaps presenting some other people with some clothes they will enjoy.

Of course, our NYC weather keeps zigzagging between warmish and chilly. The down coat was back in action for yesterday's walk across the Park.

I seem to remember seeing Mr Rees-Jones on the West End stage a few times, once in a play with Joanna Lumley and another time in a Dario Fo play. All this was long ago. Interesting to learn what work he's now doing.

xo

Linda Metcalf said...

I did my sort out and cleaning last week. If I hadn't worn it in two years it all went to the Beacon for them to use for the needy. It feels fresh and clean in mind and matter!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

I have lots of scarves made of different materials and different sizes. They are very useful when weather is undecided. I can put them off and on and even carry a spare for a different temperature.
Re. refugees. It's interesting how people react differently to the terms 'refugees' and 'asylum seekers'. It seems to matter quite a lot what roses are called.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I now find that there is a Salvation Army crate at our local tip site, where one can leave clothes, shoes etc. for the needy - so I intend to take everything there in the morning. See you all tomorrow.