Order Out of Chaos

I'm am disorganized to the extreme. Some would say that I've turned disorganization into an art. I have piles of things stacked all over the house. I have books sitting on my stairs waiting to go upstairs to be shelved in my library. My desk is piled with articles I've meant to read, story ideas that haven't been fleshed out yet, and plenty of knickknacks. My laundry is either in the hamper waiting to be washed or in the hamper waiting to be hung up. I'm not what you would call an amazing housekeeper.

Most of the time I don't have any problem with my regular bits of chaos. Every couple of years though I decide that I need to clean house. And this is one of those times. Both Jeff and I are pack rats. We collect things. We buy things for hobbies that never get used. I wish I could count the number of origami books that I've bought over the years and never used. And it's the same with every other hobby I've tried.

So this week I'm going to start going through my books and my clothes and my knickknacks and hopefully getting rid of some things. I'm trying the three box trick (one box to keep, one to throw, and one to give away). Everything in the "To Keep" box has to find a place in the house. I guarantee that I will evaluate things quite a bit more if I know that I have to find a spot for them. There aren't a lot of spots left. Wish me luck. This should be a monstrous task.

Domesticity, Cat style

Okay I'll be the first to admit that I'm not domestic. And all my friends will gladly back me up. I'm not much of a housekeeper. I don't cook, at all. And I don't do a lot of interior decorating. In fact one of the only things domestic about me is my knitting. 

But this past week has been a bit odd. Since I'm heading into Chicago on Monday for a funeral I have been doing laundry like a madwoman. And enjoying it. Weird. I planted some wildflowers for the front porch which I hope will come up soon with all the rain we have had. The yard looks bad so the flowers may smooth over the rough patches. I've been cleaning the upstairs and organizing my library. I even hand washed some dishes that I could have easily dropped in the dishwasher. 

And lastly I have added a hummingbird feeder to the front porch. I put that up on Thursday with the idea that they wouldn't find it for a couple of weeks. Heck it's been so cold here that maybe they weren't even here yet. So I was shocked and awed to find one buzz directly over my head this morning and scout the feeder. I have been trying to get a picture of them all day with no results. Every time I have the camera ready they don't come. The moment I put it away they arrive. Here is a picture of the set-up along with my lilacs. I may have to bring some of those in and really pretend I'm domestic.