When what was enough has become too much...

 I wonder if you find yourself following an intentional reset with each new season - whether that be seasons of the year, or seasons of life? 

January is always my kitchen reset, where I open wide all the cupboards and drawers to remove all the contents and give them a good scrub. Once that is done, I carefully consider how much of what is now before me on the table and countertops shall return to these cleansed and empty spaces. 

Normally there's always a few things I choose to donate, and the sense of wellbeing that mentally follows my opening the car boot and depositing those items at a local opshop is simply lovely. However this January was a little different. I wasn't sure if it stemmed from the past six months of dealing with the pain of a knee injury that seems not to want to heal and slows me down with household and garden tasks; or perhaps it was something deeper? Maybe both, with a nudge from the Lord to seal it. 

Then a realisation, a sincere knowing, that I simply do not need, or want, much anymore, and that last year's enough, had become this year's too much. 

It's funny how when you're on a self discovery journey, and you've prayed for God to guide you along whatever path He'd have you follow, that particularly relevant and revealing things will catch your attention throughout the days and weeks ahead. I have learned that when I ask of Him, He will use many different avenues to answer or direct me...and it is always for the best. 

Something I heard a woman say recently, stopped me in my tracks. She mentioned how she'd finished decluttering her life, and kept only what she now loved, but because she still had "too much stuff demanding attention" scattered around, she chose to organise her belongings into categories, such as forty notebooks she had scattered through her house now being placed together on one shelf, and so she continued through her home doing the same with other items. Once done she was quite content with all she had in her home.

Now how she meant her statement "too much stuff demanding attention" and how I understood it to apply to my own life, were different - and isn't that often the way? To me, I immediately assessed our home, room by room, and noticed all the things that got in my way, took extra time to care for or tidy; things I'd often thought about in passing but never consciously made an effort to remove or change. And in my heart it became evident that now was the time to release items that made no sense, were not used, were excess or duplicates, or - and this was biggie - that I'd held onto for sentimental reasons. 

Every day so far this week has been spent making decisions about what to keep, what to let go of, and then following through on that decision. I take numerous breaks of ten or fifteen minutes to rest my knee, but in those rest times I am making conscious choices about why I will keep one thing, whilst donating another, for it's not wise to make those decisions hastily. I'll be 67 next month, and I'm not sure about you, but my husband and I find that we don't have many needs (or are they wants?) anymore, and for me personally, I'm ready to let go of far more than usual this January reset. 

My cupboards and drawers are no longer crowded...

...and yet we still have enough for ourselves to use daily, and enough for when the family visit. 

I have often questioned myself at this time of year "How many coffee mugs do you really need Jennifer??" because purchasing more coffee mugs throughout the year is my weakness. I had drawers of them you see, and more stored in a box under the bed! Now I have one drawer in the kitchen which holds my favourite mugs, a tea pot, our glassware, and the children's mugs. Everything else has gone, along with the all the vintage tea cups and most all of the vintage plates I have collected for more than twenty-five years. I don't feel sad, I feel relieved. 

An entire bookcase, the white ladder one, has been emptied and removed, which opens up more space in the living/dining room. I have a pile or ten or so homeschool books which I'll sell, but all the other books on that item of furniture have been donated. The ladder bookcase is now under cover out back with orphan plants on it's shelves, beautifying an empty outdoor area.

Did I need six vases? No. I donated three. Did I need eight mixing bowls of various sizes? No. I donated four and kept only the ones I use regularly. And so it went on. I have not finished yet, but feel enormously grateful to the Lord for this prompt. Gradually our little house is looking bigger inside, and that's another thing I heard someone say which really caught my attention - "Do you need a bigger house? Get rid of stuff in your home and you'll have more space." How simple a statement, but it made a huge impact on me. 

I do want to point out that 'stuff' is very different to pantry preparedness, or having items on hand that can be used to make things you need, or repair what's been broken. I am very mindful of having a pantry that can feed us for an indeterminate length of time, but even in that I am having to go through all our supplies to make sure they have not spoiled in our fierce hot and humid tropical heat, and also that I am not wasting space on things we don't like to eat. 

I heard a woman say "Don't buy things to stock up on that your family won't eat - it's a waste of money. So spend those dollars on items you know everyone will be happy to eat." This resonated with me when I heard it about four months ago because I have plenty of dried beans, chia seeds, barley and quinoa, among other things - but my husband hates them all and I never cook with them. I see now that though they all look nice in their pantry jars, they will never be used. So that's something else I'll be removing, and thus making space for items we use all the time. 

I could go on my friends, because in so many ways these lessons I am applying pertain to my garden work as well, but I'm not there yet, one thing at a time.

I'd love to know your thoughts on how seasons of life have brought change to your homemaking habits, plans and routines? I learn a lot from the experience of others, and then sometimes my own experience is a help to someone. Homemakers over the centuries have shared so many wonderful methods, tips and strategies for managing homes and belongings and family - and we're part of that today with our own experiences to share with the next generation. 

ABIGAIL...

Part 2 of the Abigail study will be up next week. We had a huge weekend with a cyclone bearing down and that means all hands on deck to clear the yard and tie everything down and no time for anything else. Fortunately, what was initially forecast as a direct hit on our town, did not eventuate, and it made landfall about 100 km south of our house. As this is just the start of our cyclone season, we shall stay on top of everything around the yards and shed so that next time it's not such a big job to prepare for. And of course, that was another prompt for removing what's not needed or wanted.

ORGANISING A COOL SPACE...

Here's just a quick peek at my sewing room, which got the treatment yesterday. Our main air conditioning system broke down on Boxing Day and the smaller unit in the kitchen cannot cool down the large area where most of daily life is lived, so rather than whine about how long its taking to get the unit fixed, I decided to move things around in the sewing room (and remove some things) so that I can sit in there comfortably where there's a small air con unit, and listen to audio books or watch shows on my iPad (Marple and Poirot...yeh, same as always!) while I craft. 

I have good light coming through the window, and I can sit in my comfy white chair looking out at the birds flying back and forth in the trees, while I work on a couple of different projects. I had these two inch applique circles made since 2024 and they are on my 2026 Adventure UFO project list, so I decided to combine them with sashiko...

...and as I have sorely missed knitting, and can now return to it, I have started a blanket made with small squares. There's a horizontal seam through the centre that adds so much to the overall design! It will feature four different coloured yarns by the end, but I'm currently working on this one first.

The embroidered 2026 Adventure UFO project I chose for January is finished, but not yet framed. As soon as that's done I'll share pics with you. 

If you missed the info about the 2026 Adventure, you'll find it HERE. 

Take care sweet girls, and always remember that God is only a prayer away, so if you need help, a direction to follow, comfort or encouragement, just close your eyes, lift your hands to heaven and ask Him. There is no greater help than His, and no greater love you can experience than that which the Father has for His precious children.

Until next week...

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