5 things to get you uncluttered!

1. Define your vision

In her new book When Organizing Isn't Enough, SHED your Stuff, Change Your Life, Morgenstern advises people looking to declutter to come up with a theme. "No one lets go without reaching for something else," she says. "You need to come up with a theme for the next phase of your life. Giving a name to what you want to do or feel or express will help dislodge you from your current state of stagnancy." Some common themes are creating a nurturing home, striving for career excellence, and focusing on self-expression and enrichment. Walsh agrees. "If you focus on the stuff, you will never ever get organized," says Walsh, author of the bestselling It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff. "The starting point has to be, 'What is the vision you have for the life you want?,'" he says. "Then you're in a position to ask, 'What do I need for this space?"

2. Define the clutter

Once you have your vision or theme, separating the treasures from trash should be a little easier. Ask yourself: does this item help me get there? What doesn't fit gets purged. Morgenstern emphasizes that clutter doesn't have to be messy. "A perfectly organized closet or drawer is clutter if it is filled with clothes that you haven't worn for years," she says. And clutter doesn't have to be made of stuff. "It can be any obsolete object, space, commitment or behavior that weighs you down or distracts you or saps your energy," she says. "It can be bad habits that take up too much time."

3. Start small

Purging can be very emotional. "It's a big mistake to dismiss clutter as junk," says Morgenstern. "These piles are things that were once important to you, to who you once were or who you wanted to be." To help ease you into the process, she suggests starting in the room you are least attached to. If books are your great love—and clutter weakness—don't start your purging project by the bookcases. Move to a less emotional area, like the kitchen or hall closet. Once you are successful in those parts of the house, it may be easier to tackle the rest. "And be ready for the panic," she warns. Every once in a while you will be overcome with thoughts of "what if I really need that later?" If that happens, just take a deep breath, remember your goal and keep going. "Keep in mind that if you aren't careful, what you own will end up owning you," says Walsh.

4. Let your good riddance help others

It might not be as difficult to say goodbye to your belongings if you're giving them to organizations that can really use them. For instance, those books that are gathering dust in your home could be page-turners at a library, school or senior-citizen center. And those skinny clothes that you'll probably never fit into again could be doing a whole lot more than making you feel bad; take them to a charity shop or shelter.

5. Examine all aspects of your life for clutter

Morgenstern points out that poor uses of time, outdated commitments and bad habits can all be defined as clutter and are worthy of purging. Walsh makes the case for a strong mind-home-body connection in his latest bestseller, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? "If you think about it, the reasons why a lot of people buy stuff are exactly the same reasons why a lot of people run out and eat inappropriate food—to make themselves feel better," he says. "The parallels are amazing. Our homes, heads and hips are connected." At the end of the day, experts agree that there are many different types of clutter, and they all rob us of peace and harmony. So look at the vision that you have for your life and then ask does keeping this item — whether it be a chair, vase or eclair — help me get there.

I feel like I shouldn't be surprised, but yet, I am still shocked...

Regardless, of what many people may think of Michael Jackson and the strange, eccentric life he lead that was definitely filled with much controversy and scandal, I can't deny that he was a huge part of my childhood who influenced my taste in music as I was growing up in the 80's. I remember fondly, how I asked my parents for the "Thriller" album for my 11th birthday in February of 1983. My sister and I used to listen to it religiously on our turntable stereo in the living room and sing and dance to all of the songs...We had them all memorized!! The first full-size poster I ever had was of Michael wearing white pants, a white shirt and a light yellow vest, and he had his hands in his pockets. My sister and I shared a room, and the poster was hung on the wall between our 2 dressers and right over our TV. We even wore one white glove to school occasionally with whatever outfit we were wearing that day. Our dad was a police officer, and he had given us each of pair of white gloves that he would use to direct traffic. I even had the Michael Jackson doll...the one in which he is wearing the "Beat It" outfit. I am a product of the MTV generation and used to love watching his videos...in fact, it was an event, when the "Thriller" video made its premiere. A whole group of us gathered at a friend's house to watch it for the first time...I thought it was scary. And, I also will never forget when we had our 6th grade dance, and one of the highlights of that evening was when we had the moonwalking contest...I did not win, by the way.

It did seem that as his look and lifestyle changed in the post "Thriller" days, he seemed to lead a sad and troubled life, and no doubt, had an incredibly dysfunctional childhood, but I will always remember him for what he was to me in my growing years...which was the King of Pop. I now understand what it was like for my parents when it was announced that Elvis Presley died. I do feel strangely sad today, and I think I will go dust off my "Thriller" album now and give her a spin.

RIP, Michael Jackson.

I had no idea!

I didn't even know this business existed, until I drove to Boothbay Harbor yesterday. When did I open this?

Recipe for Viagra

Howdy,

Found this on the internet. Must be true, right?

3% Vitamin E
2% Aspirin
2% Ibuprofen
1% Vitamin C
5% Spray Starch
87% Fix-A-Flat

See, you can make it too!

Groundhogs and turtles and robins...Oh My!

So my backyard is quickly becoming Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom before my very eyes. Let me start by saying that I have no pets and never had a pet growing up either. When my husband and I first moved into our house, I was very excited about the concept of living in a somewhat wooded and private area, but yet, not too far from neighbors and civilization in general...I am not a boonies kind of gal. The thought of seeing the occasional deer or two grazing in my backyard, got me really jazzed. So, here we are almost 2 years later, and I have yet to see the deer. That does not mean we haven't had wildlife...just not exactly what I expected or even signed on for. The red-breasted robin comes to mind, for instance. A robin sounds harmless enough, until you are sitting in your living room one afternoon and you hear a non-stop tapping at your back French door. When you go to check it out, you see a crazed robin spastically attacking the door with its beak. It comes back daily for over a week, continually attacking the door, and all the while leaving its beak saliva marks on the door and its robin droppings on my porch and steps. A real live Alfred Hitchcock movie is unfolding before my eyes! Apparently, the male robin is marking its territory and seeing a reflection of itself in my door and sees competition for him with the ladies. I hope the robin has found a mate and moved on already...It really is a creepy thing to see.

Speaking of creepy, 2 weeks ago I was backing into my driveway one Saturday afternoon and noticed my husband sitting on our deck outside the kitchen watching back the car up. I got out of the car, and he asked, "Did you see it?" I didn't know what he was talking about. He asked me to follow him to the end of the driveway so he could show me the turtle that was burrowing a hole in the ground. We had to get a picture. Neither one of us wanted to pick it up, but we were concerned that a car would come flying down our street and run it over. We did not want to witness the murder, so we took a couple of pictures, and I gave it a little nudge with my foot toward our little gully and that was the last we saw of the turtle. Check out the picture...they are so prehistoric-looking! I am baffled that something like that can live here in the warm, tropical state of Maine. It must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

The latest development takes the cake for me. Since we have lived here, we have noticed a groundhog who comes out and walks around our backyard daily. We have found 3 holes out along the edge of our yard where it meets the woods. These holes are where the groundhog heads for a quick escape whenever we step outside or we pull into the driveway. No doubt, it has made a cozy home for itself somewhere underground in those holes. This past April, I noticed the groundhog for the first time since it has come out of hibernation this season...looking a little thinner and obviously hungry. It has been no big deal for me to just be used to our little backyard "pet." Yesterday, I was absolutely floored, however. I discovered that the groundhog is a woman!! That discovery came when I was at my kitchen window rinsing something in the sink and saw the groundhog sitting on our stone wall in the yard, and there was a small group of "mini-me" fur ball groundhogs hanging around their mama and walking around my yard! Oh, there's 1...wait, 2...and 3-4-5. I can't believe...Oh, no...there is a 6th one! Holy infestation!! I have to admit that I have been mesmerized. They are just as adorable as can be. I have been sneaking photos when I can. But, now what do I do?! So far, no harm has been done, but how long can that go on. I cannot shoot or take a shovel to them...I can't even "whack a mole" at the carnival!! A "Have a Heart" trap is a possibility, but that could take a long time.

I guess I will just have to let nature run its course and embrace the wildlife around me. I'll forget about the vegetable garden this year, I guess. I have to go now...It's time to go try and spot a deer!

A different kind of swing

How about this for ingenuity? Did I speel that right??

Sheep Shearing....

It's always fun to spend the morning with Roger Link Sr and Roger Jr when they come to the farm to shear the sheep. The really weird thing about it, is that sheep don't recognize each other after they have the wool removed. Really! They all start to butt heads and establish a pecking order.
Imagine if we did the same thing each time we got a haircut! That would be wild.

Dave