Tidy Is as Tidy Does

So if yesterday was fun day then today is chore day. In the ongoing effort to tidy up the house and discard things we don't want to take with us when we move, both of us are tackling a couple of our problem areas today. Scoob is back in the garage shredding papers. (I still have no idea where all the papers came from or were stored, but he's dealing with it.)

So far I've tackled my ever-growing stack of magazines. It seems I always dog-ear pages for things I like for decorating or organizational tips and recipes I'd like to try. Unfortunately, once I read the magazine I set it aside and completely forget about it. So I've reviewed about a year's worth of magazines—turns out I'm really not interested in about ⅓ of the things I'd marked. Then I cut out the pages for the things I am still interested in and file them by personal care, clothes, household, recipes, and organization.

The recipes folder is way too full people. I'm going to have to start trying some of these recipes so I can separate the keepers from the what-the-hell-was-I-thinking ones.

I did come across this tip for getting rid of old electronics and gadgets—list them at Gazelle. You tell them what you want to get rid off (an old digital camera, for example) and it's condition, Gazelle shows you the current retail value and makes an offer. If you accept their offer, Gazelle sends you a post paid box and you ship it to them. Once they receive and inspect the device, you get your check. You can also choose to donate your check. Sounds simple enough to me. I can think of a few gadgets around the house that we could get rid of, and if we can actually get some cash out of it I think Scoob will be more willing to part with some things.

More than a couple of the blogs I read have started talking about plans for a vegetable garden and I thought this tip from a magazine might be helpful—try hanging non-breakable red Christmas ornaments on tomato plants early in the season to fool the birds. When they find the hard ornaments instead of juicy fruits they'll supposedly abandon their efforts by the time the real fruits are ripe. Does it really work? Who knows, but it sounds plausible.