Cleaning the nest continues before winter sets in

Practicing what I preach

What started out as a quest to live better and healthier, has to include living more efficiently. 

Efficiency has to include cleaning out, no longer needed or wanted items. Some of the "stuff" around here was still usable, so it was recyclable. Our annual garage sale/family reunion, mentioned in a previous post, took care of some of it. 

Yet other items were just too old and worn and need to be tossed.

Coincidentally, we received notice that just days after our garage sale, on regular trash pickup day, our refuse company would take large items. They only do this twice per year, so it is actually something we look forward to. 

The days of wildly pitching everything into the trash, from furniture to white goods like washing machines, to hazardous waste, are gone. And that is as it should be. 

We live on a finite planet, so we all need to be more vigilant about what we use and throw away.

For some time I've been considering getting rid of our well-worn, no longer comfortable couch and love seat. The truth is, I kept them as long as humanly possible. These couldn't even cut it as garage sale items; they were too far gone. It was time to pitch them. It isn't like we buy new things and discard the old ones on a regular basis. We had the pieces for at least 15 years. We certainly got our money's worth out of them. 

Taking out trash

Still, it was a little sad to see these pieces go. There were memories attached. 

We snuggled with cats and dogs that are no longer living. We sat with our kids watching TV or having conversations with them and our friends. We even had an overnight guest or two sleep on those couches. Furniture is like an old friend, and it is always hard to say goodbye. 

The two of us carried them out to John's truck so he could drive them up the hill to the road. 

Afterward, even the dog, sat on the front porch looking longingly at the roadside, wondering why the furniture was up there. 

With two big pieces of furniture gone, our house seemed to grow in size. It was rather nice. We had a chance to clean, shampoo the carpet, and rearrange furniture. I had a rocking chair; John had a recliner. That was really all we needed. We brought a wicker rocker from the front porch to where the love seat used to be. It worked out just fine. 

That wooden rocker, one my parents had given us 35 years ago, had gotten harder over the years. I still love it, so I would never part with it. It is where I nursed my babies. But, I'm not so sure I want it to be the only place to sit in the living room. It wasn't like sinking into a cushy couch. 

So we went shopping Friday, just to look at what was available. The first place we went surprised us. Everything was way out of our price range. Then we went to as store nearby that set us up with a love seat and recliner for the price of what one would have cost us elsewhere. They even offered to deliver it that afternoon. We couldn't be happier.