Stuff

As I was walking from the house to our second-story garage/office, I thought about what I would write today.

Unless I'm away or exhausted – both of which have happened frequently in the recent past – I like to throw a post up every weekday. Sometimes I sit down and the words flow; most of the time I have to compose (in my head) ahead of time. I'm sure some bloggers work in a word-processing program first and then cut-and-paste; I'm too lazy to launch two programs to write a few paragraphs that two people are going to read (you and me).

Anyway, the topic I came up with today is "stuff," and it looks like Laurie has written my post for me. Thanks, Laurie!

I've not watched the television show she refers to, but I really don't think I qualify for an episode. I'm more like Laurie – sometimes overwhelmed and sometimes comforted by the things I own.

I'm very comforted by my yarn. I've sold some of it over the past year, and am down to the point where I would have a hard time letting any more of it go. I'm not sure why, exactly, since most of what's left is good wool and I live in a climate where wearing wool sweaters happens only a few times a year. Three of my grandchildren live farther south than I do, so they're not good candidates for knitted gifts. The triplets live in Ohio, and they'll get sweaters and hats and mittens, oh my, for Christmas, but not wooly sweaters and hats and mittens. Mothers of triplets don't have time for hand laundering.

I enjoy knitting with wool and wool fulls into a thick, impenetrable fabric good for bags and decorative bowls and … stuff.

I'm very overwhelmed by dishes. I had a complete set of china when I moved from Ohio to West Virginia. I moved into a furnished house (owned by my husband), complete with – you guessed it – a set of china. We added a set of handthrown, beautifully glazed dinnerware to the kitchen cupboards a few years ago.

One couple doesn't need three sets of plates. I'm ready to get rid of the stuff I brought with me.

There is a theory floating around out there that decluttering can lead to weight loss. I'm not sure if it's true or not; theories tend to come and go depending on who's funding them. What I do know is that the time spent cleaning the kitchen cupboards and pantry is time spent not snacking.

To follow up on yesterday's post about eating more healthful meals – we had stir-fried chicken with lots o' veggies for dinner yesterday. The spring onions and Chinese cabbage came from the garden. The chicken provided enough protein, so I left the little cabbage worm in the dirt. But with the way the economy's going, it's nice to know that I can grow protein along with greens!