January 2, 2017 – A place for everything, and everything in its place.

          First, verifying who is responsible for the above quote I find there is a controversy about it.  I was taught as a child it was Benjamin Franklin.  But, internet sources indicate something different.  So, I will consider the author of same as “unsure” to fit this situation.

          After finding – yes, finding the missing two items that I was so feverishly hunting [I just love that Southern phrase – ‘hunting’] as indicated in my December 29, 2016 blog - Out with the old, in with the new – they were in the Christmas slush box.  My box that has wrapping paper and ribbons and stuff I need to clear out or straighten up after Christmas once I re-pack the Christmas ornaments and put them away.  It is my working box for wrapping gifts, etc.

          So, one mystery solved – and then another one up pops  – the little French Intensive Gardening manual is hiding somewhere.  A friend’s mother used to say – “The elves have hidden it.”  Not in this house, the dog and cat wouldn’t put up with a secretive elf and we’d get no sleep with them barking or meowing about a stealth entity at night.

          Because of this MISSING things or MISPLACED things I have instituted a little notebook.  I obviously have too much stuff and too many hiding places.  So much is seasonal and so much is useable that I cannot easily replace.  A perfect case in point is chafing dishes. I have a couple. I use them when I have special dinners.  I don’t use them daily and I know I can’t buy new ones at a whim. Why would I want to invest in buying new, when my current ones look so nice if I have an adequate storage place for them?

          So, I find there is a limit to the new mantra ‘if you haven’t used an item in 6 months – toss it out’. Nope, not me.  I am not buying into that.  Maybe that is why people no longer have cocktail parties or impromptu dinner parties – they’ve tossed everything out and they don’t find it chic to entertain with Solo cups and foam paper plates.

          I remember an incident that happened more than once many years ago at two of my other homes in the County.  I used to invite ladies to a Christmas Tea or a Holiday tea to share my decorations and fancy cakes and cookies and to just enjoy ‘ladies talk’.  I never seem to get enough time with other women to just ‘chat’ and catch up with their lives and their thoughts and dreams.  And, ladies never seem to get a chance to dress up and just “be ladies” anymore.  It is a rare instance. Some of us old pusses – as Agatha Christie coins the term – enjoy just that.     I must have been born in the wrong century as many have commented because I enjoy elegance.

I am fortunate that I have a dozen fancy Christmas plates [I got them the old fashioned way – laid them away – and paid for them one plate at a time while I was earning – get this – minimum wage.]   What surprised me were the comments of not enjoying a beautiful presentation or eating off “pretty things” but a back handed insult. “These are too pretty to use.”  Or, “You should use paper plates, so much easier to clean up.” Or the latest one, “Are you a Martha Stewart clone?”  That one took be back with an audible gasp. [‘Pardon me’, I thought, but I reached for a sip of wine to steady myself and mull the comment over.]

Sorry – I’ve gotten off point – I will rein myself back in to the topic at hand.

          My little notebook indicates the storage place, i.e., hiding place, of items and then lists them.  Already I have found that if I go to list them and it is in the questionable “keep this or toss this phase?” it forces me to toss some items I won’t ever use again or decide an item is totally useless.  From a psychological perspective that is a good thing.  It is a powerful force – so it must have a name.  Note to self: research and discover if there is a name for that power source.  I wonder if I know someone in that profession who can easily advise me on that.  Oh well . . .

          And, just to be sure that I don’t lose the little notebook or misplace it I have put a label boldly on the front as below:

          I am still in the out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new cleaning stage and possibly my little notebook might be a useful tool for you as well.