Mar 10, 2017

Quirky Stuff ...

Ten years ago we sold our house in town and moved out to the Marlborough Sounds to live in our very much smaller beach cottage for two years while we decided on our next move. Yep, those two years have stretched and stretched, and every time we look elsewhere to move to we end up coming home and agreeing we live already in Paradise.

BUT - isn't there always at least one of those? - this place is tiny and at the time of moving here we had another house load of furniture and all the other stuff people collect over the years, including quite a lot of my late mother-in-law's that the boys have yet to sort through. (Another short term project that has stretched)

So we have a lock up that is chock full of furniture and stuff that I doubt we'll ever use again. This week I decided to start sorting and clearing, disposing and yes, keeping some of the contents. I'm already making inroads, though it's going to be a long project as the lock up is a hundred kilometres from where we live, but then on the bright side there's an excuse to go to town and the shops.
The charity shops and tip are going to see quite a bit of me, I think.

BUT - another one - I found these and am going to hang on to them, use them. No point in keeping them if I leave them wrapped in newspaper and stuffed in the back of a cupboard. which means making space here by getting rid of other unused stuff.




 This little plate was my mother's and I like the colours so it's a keeper.


 
 
 
 

I love my cups of tea, drink gallons of it, and this cup is large, perfect for when I'm writing and don't want to keep getting up to go to the kitchen for a refill.

I Strangely I've been looking for a butter dish for some time but hadn't found anything I liked. Guess this was the reason. I love it. Totally odd and quirky. Courtesy of my late mother-in-law it is now in use.
 
Of course these are the easy things to deal with. Anyone want a chest freezer or a washing machine that's out of its prime or a .... I could go on and on.
Have you got a hoard of things like these hidden away somewhere? Or in use? Or are you more sensible and restrained and have tidy cupboards and shelves?

14 comments:

  1. That plate is so pretty -- definitely a keeper. But I'm so clumsy the butter dish would be lucky to last a week in my house before it took a tumble. ;-)

    We have a tendency to be hoarders too...but mostly of books. I can live with that. :-)

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  2. Yes, Michelle, the butter dish might not last but these days I tend to think better to be used and broken than stored out of sight and out of mind for years. Growing up my mum and her generation had dinner sets that came out once or twice a year and I just don't see the sense in that.

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  3. I'm not a hoarder at all Sue and regularly declutter. But I do have a soft spot for old pretty china so my china cabinent is full and rather eclectic :-)

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  4. I don't usually hoard, Amy, but we were keeping everything for when we bought another house. But it all dates, except for things like these. But again, decluttering is not something I do often.

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  5. Sue, what pretty pieces. The butter dish reminds me of a cottage shaped teapot my mum owns. We're hoarders though I admit we're currently decluttering. The trick is to find a time when we both want to do it! At the moment we're minding stuff for elderly relatives and younger ones too and it's a great incentive to streamline what we've got.

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    1. Annie, it's hard to get time when you're both available, isn't it? Though I admit to doing most of this on my own as then more goes out than stays.

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  6. Sue, well done you on decluttering. I love all the things you saved, they're pretty as well as useful. My husband, daughter and I are all terrible hoarders - we have way too much stuff that never sees the light of day and I dread the day we have to move!

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    1. Kandy, moving is a nightmare. For every load we brought down here we took another back to town and the lockup, and now it's coming back to haunt us.

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  7. I do a spring clean each year, it gets easier each time. I toss, sell and donate. I found cupboard space I never knew I had.

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    1. Mary, I like that idea, but not sure I'd be ruthless enough.

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  8. Hi Sue

    Oh I do love those little dishes and butter dish sadly I am a hoarder but have decided that 2017 is the year of decluttering we have started and the coffee cup cupboard had a massive declutter the other week it is going to be a slow process and I also have china cabinets filled with little things that have come from my Mum and Nana :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Oh Helen, those things we collect from our families are such treasures they're hard to get rid of.

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  9. Hi Sue,
    I love all your treasures! The little flowery dish is gorgeous. I love using quirky stuff and I love mixing old with new for dinner parties and so on.

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  10. Melanie, I like that idea of mixing old with new. Will do it next dinner party. Will be a talking point if nothing else.

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