360 And Up

The fourth trip. 

360 items have been decluttered from my home since October 2017. This time I mean really out of the house, not just stored in cupboards waiting for the Yedidya Bazaar. This is because 1. The Yedidya Bazaar 2018 started today, 2. DD's school fair was on Friday last, and 3. the February Project is one final decluttering (and spring clean) to minimalism.

So here's how it went. I made four trips to Yedidya with big bags filled with good things that we no longer, if we ever did, use or need. It was about 10 bags in all. Big bags not shopping bags. More like small suitcases if you will.

Most of it was stuff I'd put away in October when I started my 500 Clutters Challenge. It was all in a cupboard over a wardrobe and some drawers under the same wardrobe. Everything gone. That was three trips. (I walked it there with the help of my shopping trolley as I don't have a car, hence the multiple trips, but it's only 5 minutes down the road.) And I concluded the first half of the challenge in October with a tally of 250.

Then DD had her school fair. That ended  up being 38 bags of miniature Kinder egg toys to sell so I counted that as 38. I took 4 things to the little girl downstairs. I binned 1 T-shirt as I had gone through my wardrobe a year ago and thrown out anything that was too far worn to wear again. Are you keeping count? We're up to 43 items.

On Saturday afternoon I went into my wardrobe and managed to find 46 things (including 5 pairs of shoes, counted as 5 not 10) that I could let go. That was one hour of just looking through and pulling things out. I didn't get anywhere near Narnia and, as I mentioned somewhere last week, I still have clothes from 30 years ago that I will never fit into again and I know it. I am sure sure sure that I'll have an other 50 items of clothing at least, to let go when I reach a confident weight. I am not proud of this mass of clothing but it is is what it is. However, it made up the fourth trip to Yedidya on Saturday evening so that's a good deed done. 43 + 46 = 99.

I gave 4 jumpers to DD that are far too small for me and adorably large on her. One of them is a pure wool Koala Bear jumper that I bought in Melbourne in 1990. I also gave her one of the 3 bathrobes I have and don't use any of them. Another one went to the Yedidya Bazaar and the third is a sort of interior design feature hanging on the back of my door. Well there are hooks so you have to hang something. 104

To my horror, I found 7 shoe boxes in the back row of a shelf in the wardrobe. I had to throw them out as I saw that I was turning into my father. "You never know when you'll need a good box." 111.

I know that 250 + 111 is actually 361 but I think DD stole back a few of the teddies I was taking to Yedidya, and I'm sure some other things have gone out since October. It's not a science so I'm comfortable with declaring it to be 360.

I honestly don't know when I'll get to 500 but I hope to get rid of (or start the Yedidya Bazaar collection for next year) this month as I tackle the February Project.

R2BC - The Spring Edition

The street light eclipses the Supermoon. See below where I cropped it out.

Yes Spring has sprung here in Israel. I saw some almond blossoms on my way to school the other day. On Wednesday we celebrated Tu Bshvat, the New Year for Trees, and the weather just keeps on getting warmer. We're now in the late teens C, with blues skies and happy hearts. So plenty of Reasons 2B Cheerful this week. The Linky is back with Becky this month, on Lakes Single Mum. 

1
Spring
See above. And additionally, a bit of warm weather makes everything fine. I am enjoying my school teaching again, as I do every year as soon as the cold weather passes. We finished the first semester, We are in February which is a lot closer to fun festivals like Purim and Passover than January was and seemed. At college I get three Tuesdays off work for the mid-semester break (the fourth Tuesday is my students' exam so I'm hands on all day.)

That's better.

I've given up on getting a snow day this year. It's almost certainly not going to happen. It was a very mild winter although they are forecasting more rain in the middle of the month. We're still using the heating in the evenings just to take off the chill and for a pleasant apres-shower experience, but not at all during the day.

And to think I used to call February the Monday morning of the year. Well it was and maybe still is in old Blighty. I think it used  to be here too but the winters have got shorter. Oooh crikey! Note to self - go vegan, stop using plastic, swim to London for the holidays....

All the fun of the....

2
The School Fair
LOL, DD and her friend came home with 32 shekels each (about £7.50) from those little bags of old Kinder Surprises and other clutter around their bedrooms. And they probably spent a good 10 shekels each at other stalls. We didn't take any extra money with us so we were well chuffed with the extra pocket money this week.

DD and her business partner.
The sun was in my eyes so I just pointed and clicked.
I had no idea they were both looking the other way.
#Rubbishphotographer

True to character, DD's friend wanted to save the money and was very strict about how much they could each spend. DD kept saying it's all about spending it not saving. My viewpoint was that all this money was going from stall to stall and it had to end up somewhere at the end of the fair. Anyway we did all right and I brought home our six leftover bags to give my youngest pupils as treats.

A lot of cupcakes, cookies and sweets were eaten but there were also less sugary options for refreshments - a pasta stand, popcorn, two fruit salad stalls, a strawberries and cream stall, fruit skewers, and a fruit smoothie stall.

As always the kids were very enterprising with one member of each team going round peddling their wares while the other minded the shop. I saw one boy sell a stallholder some popcorn for a shekel and while he was there, he bought something off the stall for a shekel. The shekel was handed back. I don't know why they did't just swap as everything was a shekel and there were no taxes to declare.

I thought this pancakes and toppings stall was a very good idea.

3
Report Card
DD got her report card for the first semester. It was a solid B report. She was a bit disappointed because she's come a long way this year and so expected more. I was very pleased with it. Having always been a C+ sort of gal myself, a B report is to be celebrated imo.

4
Supermoon
Apparently there was a Supermoon on Wednesday. People on facebook were urging me to look eastwards and be amazed. As my apartment faces west, I had to go out. Meh, it was big. Someone said something about an eclipse and the moon going blue and red. I didn't see anything like that but it was big and I got an eerie photo of the end of my street.

Our Kinder Surprise

Kinder Egg Heaven

DD's School Fair is this Friday. Like last year, DD and a couple of friends are having a toy stall. Unlike last year, there will be real money involved. But everything has to be 1 shekel or less (about 20p) so we're not talking about fortunes. And the kids get to keep any money they make. It's a shame there's no charity involved or anything going to school funds but it's still a great opportunity for us to get some stuff out of the house and into other people's houses. Tee hee hee. 

World Cup Footballers

We had quite a few games and puzzles going to the Yedidya Bazaar, which coincidently is on Sunday and Monday next week, and I said DD could take them to school for her stall. However, she very wisely decided, imo, that these games are worth far more than 1 shekel and she'd rather they went to the Yedidya Bazaar where people who couldn't afford nice games could buy them for 3 shekels. And the money goes to charity rather than just for her and her friends to be able to buy more sweets. "Where's the goodness in that?" she asked with her earnest face on.

Hello Kitties

Then we had the most brilliant idea, even if I say so myself. Absolutely inspired. Thanks to about five years of Kinder Eggs and ice lollies with figures in them, we had an enormous collection of miniature toys and nothing to do with them. Hello Kitties, Angry Birds, World Cup Football figures, spinners, cars, little animals, Disney princesses, and tiny Bratz dolls. We sorted them all out and made sets in sandwich bags for 1 shekel each.

35 bags in all

I found another bag of spinning tops that I'd bought for a Hannuka party once and never used so they will go for a shekel each. And see those coloured necklace cords on the final photo? They were from party favours - flashing balls that you wear around your neck whilst disco dancing in the dark, left over from my nephew's Bar Mitzva four years ago. The flashes had died so I removed the cords and attached them to those little dolls that came out of Kinder Eggs.

Angry Birds

Who says I'm not creative

DD has 35 bags to sell for a shekel each. I told her that whatever doesn't sell she should give away at the end.

This is the last year we will be able to do this of course, because I'm going minimalist next month. I took two big bags of stuff to Yedidya today and I've got two more big bags and the booster seat waiting to go tomorrow.

But for now back to the January paperwork....

February Celebration and Project

A decent haul for the Yedidya Bazaar next week.

As announced at the beginning of the year, I am choosing a celebration and a project for each month. January was celebrating Turning over a new leaf. The project was to organize all my papers, teaching materials, paperwork of every kind, and be up to date with all work assignments, grading and preparing courses. I've necessarily had to extend January's project into February as my students are sitting their mid-semester exam on Feb 6th and I'll have 40 papers to mark before the following weekend. And there are one or two other jobs that need finishing off, as I mentioned yesterday.

I also said that February had to start early. The celebration for February is Spring. The almond trees are beginning to blossom, the weather seems to be getting a bit warmer (though I've not given up hope completely for a late snowfall next Sunday - it's happened before), and the days are getting longer at the evening end.

On Wednesday it's Tu B'shvat (the 15th of the lunar month of Shvat). This is a minor festival celebrating he new year for trees. We eat lots of different fruits, we plant trees, we sing songs about the almond blossoms, and we look forward to the annual pilgrimages to see the hillsides covered in anemones (that's poppies to you and me).

And the  project is Spring Cleaning. It's a sort of extension of getting the paperwork in order but it's also one final declutter towards minimalism, actual cleaning with soap and water, and possibly some new furniture, but only if I get rid of some old furniture first.

I was going to have a more nature orientated project in keeping with the Tu B'Shvat theme and keep the spring cleaning for March when it's warmer. However, they brought the Yedidya Bazaar forward by a month this year so I've got to get all my clutter over to them this week. And DD's school market is on Friday, so she is taking a load of old toys that I had to get down yesterday to sort through.

I am pleased to see that my Yedidya Bazaar haul is nowhere near as big as last year. A sure sign that all this decluttering is having some long term effect. However, what's in the photo is only what I put away in October when I did my 500 Clutters Challenge. I fully intend to get all this stuff over to Yedidya and then spend the weekend going round looking for more clutter as the final drop off is on Saturday night. For the record, I only managed 250 clutters for the challenge but that's because I refused to tackle my wardrobe which still has outfits in it from 30 years ago.

I'm sorry not to be helping at the Yedidya Bazaar this year as for the second year, I'm teaching on Sunday. Give me a few more years and I'll be able to leave DD at home while I go and help in the mighty marathon sorting that takes place all night on Saturday. Or maybe DD will come and help too.

January Extension, February Early Start

Before

Here's an update on the January Project. A quick reminder - January's project was sorting out all paperwork, filing, employment forms and finances for the coming work year. In Israel the tax year finishes on December 31st. (I'm not self employed so I don't have to get tax returns in but we have to set up our tax positions for the coming year in January if we work for more than one employer.)

I finally tackled all the photocopied papers I've been storing for years and not using. I had five box files which I've condensed down to two. (See the photos.) The pile in front of the boxes is papers that are photocopied on one side only. I'm going to ask the local kindergartens if they want it for drawing paper. Next to that on the right is paper for the recycling bin. In front are files for school and college that I can use now - long lost copies of lessons I still copy regularly. Also on this pile are some packages I made up to give to colleagues who I know can use them.

Reader, I found lessons about phone boxes, tape recorders, and posting letters and waiting for replies. Cultural references to life in the UK including the milkman. I found computer printouts on long sheets of accordion-folded paper with the holes down the sides. I found photocopies of texts of topical interest about food and nutrition, women and work, people around the world, science..... if you still live in 1998. Pages of old fashioned typewriter print, pages of hand-written and photocopied exercises, pages so crammed full of small print that you'd never give them to students now. But back then we were so grateful to have some photocopied materials and there was no internet to provide anything. I found practice papers from exams that no longer exist.

After
(Yes that is my laundry drying in the background.
In the winter I bring it in from the balcony at night.)

I'm a bit disappointed that I still have two boxes of papers. I've not touched these papers for years (except to declutter once when I got it down from six boxes to a feeble five) so in theory it should all just go. I also told myself that I'd keep only one of each lesson and not all the copies of it. But if I already think I might use it, why throw away copies that I'll have to copy again? Doesn't make sense to do that.

The  January project was going great. I thought I'd finished my freelance work, I did my reports, I cleared out my teaching materials, I was up to date with my grading. I still had to organize the study and file bills, receipts, work forms and pay slips but this is only a couple of hours of sorting. January was winding down nicely and I was ready to jump into February's  project (to be announced).

Suddenly I got hit with a load more paperwork. The freelance writing is only half done. I'd conveniently forgotten about the other half of the deal. I found out yesterday that I have to write a summary of what we've done this semester for each of my nine school classes. I'd stuck my head in the sand about the fact that my students have an exam on the 6th of Feb. So that will be 40 exam papers to grade.

January is bleeding into February. In fact I've given it an extension until February 10th. And, if the truth be known, February had to start today. I need to be ready for two major events in it on Friday and Sunday, and Thursday is too late to get it all done. It's a fair swap.

More about February tomorrow. Suffice to say, life isn't so neat that one episode finishes on he 30th or 31st (or even on a neat 28th) of each calendar month and the next one starts on the 1st of the next month. Events that fall at the beginning of a month sometimes have to be prepared before the month starts. Such is life. All is good. Hectic but good.

Meet me back here tomorrow evening to talk about the February Project.