De-cluttering - Quarantine version

 

As I've been self-isolating at my parents house it seemed like a good time to go through the things I had stored in their attic to see if there was anything else that I could get rid of.  It didn't go quite as successfully as I had hoped as there's still quite a few boxes to take to my next home, but I did manage to get rid quite a few things.  The biggest issue this time round is that I'm not certain what the future is going to bring or even what work I'm going to be doing so I'm not sure what items I should keep and what things I can get rid of.

With that in mind I've kept all my outdoor/work gear as, even if I'm no longer working outside, I'll still be going outdoors as a hobby, all my warm gear, and all the kitchen stuff I've acummilated and which survived the last purge. 

The easiest thing to get rid of was all the books I'd read in the digital form during my lockdown in New Zealand and just needed to pull out of the box and put into the charity bag.

Clothes were also pretty easy as I'd gone through most of my items whilst I was in New Zealand and there were just a few that I had left here and either didn't miss or knew I wasn't ever going to use again.  I also added a hoody and an outer fleece to this pile after I had taken the photo.  There's some fabric I'm never going to use and an outer casing for a wheeled suitcase I don't even own.

I'd already gone through all of my make-up brushes and gotten rid of the ones I knew I wasn't going to use but I completely forgot about these eye curlers.  I compared what my mascared eye lashes looked like after using and not using the curlers and noticed absolutely no difference.  I also can't be bothered to do this extra step, so they're heading off.

There were also a few pieces of jewellery that I either haven't worn in years or am bored of wearing now.

There's a few bags which are either falling apart or that I've tried but just haven't liked using.

Now for the more difficult items.  Firstly, I decided that I would actually let go of all my David Attenborough and Disney DVDs.  They've survived previous purges as I'm emotionally attached to them, but I've come to the decision that I'm not really going to watch them again, especially as I haven't had a DVD player for the last few years and it's very unlikely I will have one in the future either.  So, it's time they went somewhere were someone is actually going to get some use out of them.  I also got rid of a few other DVDs that I won't watch again any time soon.  I have kept some DVDs which I'm not ready to get rid of just yet and some to watch over the next few weeks whilst I have a DVD player, but they will probably go after that as well.

Secondly, is the soft toys I've held onto, mostly because they were gifts from people and even ones that had been made for me.  I did get rid of more than these but my nieces have already headed off with a few of them.  I kept my first ever soft toy, a bear, and another older soft toy both of which I'll probably keep out, but it seemed a shame for the others to just be sitting in a box unused so they're off to where someone will give them the use they should have.

And that's it for now.  I'll probably keep getting rid of things over the next few weeks, but this is at least a start and it's funny how much easier it has become to let go of things that I only have an emotional attachment to since I started decluttering a few years ago.  I haven't regretted anything I've gotten rid of so far either.  However, this is really an on-going process and I see a lot more decluttering in my future.  I usually just have a bag which I fill up with items I find, but every now and then I'm in a situation like now where I have the chance of doing something a bit more thorough.  Definitely worth doing this as a regular thing.

Walking in New Zealand during Lockdown

Here in New Zealand, we've spent the last few weeks working out way through levels 3 and 2 and, with each move, we've had a little bit more freedom allowing us to walk further away from home.  We obviously wanted to carry on doing our bit to keep Covid-19 at bay so we didn't go too mad, but we did drive a little bit to remind ourselves what the outdoors actually looked like and I thought I'd write a little bit about it here to remind everyone else.

Duder Regional Park.

This is a pretty nice park on the Whakakiawhara Peninsula with paths that take you by the coast, through a working farm, and along to the Whakakaiwhara Pa located right the very end of the peninsula.  There are actually remains of houses and pits at this Pa, but you can't see these when you're standing on the site, though there are really obvious terraces found in most Pas.

We were lucky to have a really beautiful, sunny day (a little bit strange for the fact it was actually autumn) with just the right amount of cool wind to make walking actually enjoyable.  We also took a picnic to eat by the water's edge knowing that we would have no trouble in keeping a good distance from anyone else there and enjoyed watching the birds and little fish swimming in shoals along the water's edge.  

I'm not necessarily a big fan of walking through farmland as they tend to be quite samey, but the undulation of the land was pretty unique here and the views were beautiful, including a good view of the Hanua Ranges.

Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill and Cornwall Park.

Based in the centre of Auckland, this gives you a really good view of the city - if you like that sort of thing.  The paths that head around the park are lovely gentle walks surrounded by a lot of oak trees.  One Tree Hill itself is actually the peak of a volcano, so the walk up there is a little steeper, but still pretty doable for just a casual walk.  Interestingly the hill did use to be a Pa, but it was left in the 1700s and all that remains, visually, are the terraces you can see at every angle.

The tree which gave One Tree Hill its European name (and possibly the Maori name as Maungakiekie translates as 'mountain of the kiekie vine') was cut down by one of the white settlers (it isn't sure if it was vandalism or just for firewood) and the remaining tree of those Sir John Logan Campbell (Major of Auckland in the late 1800s) tried to grow on top of the hill was attacked by Maori activists to highlight the treatment of Maori people by the New Zealand Government.  Both are a real same, purely because the trees are lovely living things, but a few years ago the Tupuna Maunga Authority held a ceremony which included the planting of young totara and pohutukawa trees (grown from parent trees on the hill) and later a kiekie tree.  

There's also a memorial obelisk to the Maori at the top and beneath this the grave of Sir John Campbell, who gave a substantial sum of money to the building of this memorial in the belief that the Maori would soon die out.  Not surprisingly this has led to some objections to it being called a memorial and suggestions that it should instead be called a centennial tower to mark the signing of the Waitangi Treaty. There's also some really cringy writing on the memorial which talks about the Maori signing the Waitangi Treaty and that they were basically happy to accept the sovereignty of the Queen and all that entailed, completely ignoring all the issues like the mistranslation of the treaty into Maori and the treatment of them after the signing.  Just as well the views are pleasant from that spot.

As before, the weather was really good for autumn and, probably because of the location, the fact it was a Sunday afternoon, and the fact that it was the first weekend in level 2, there were quite a few people there enjoying being outside again.

Hunua Ranges Regional Park.

Found to the south-east of Auckland, this range is quite a large area of native forest.  There are quite a few walks that you can do, but we stuck to the Cossey-Massey Loop and then the Hunua Falls Loop.  They're not particularly long walks, we basically took an afternoon to do both, but we did get a really good workout as the Cossey-Massey Loop takes you up quite a steep track before it flattens out into a high loop before dipping down to the Cossey dam and back round.

As with most native forests in New Zealand, the vegetation is quite dense so you don't really get much of a view of the surrounding area.  This is more about experiencing a walk through the woods and the wildlife that's there.  The only problem here was, there didn't seem to be much wildlife when we were here.  We heard a few calls and got to see a fantail up very, very close, but mostly there was a very eerie silence as we walked around.

The Hunua Falls Loop was a very easy walk and the one that most people do.  We decided to add a bit of excitement to our day (sarcasm) by crossing over the water at the falls to meet up with the path that takes you directly back to the car park.  The falls might be small, but they were still beautiful and it would be a really nice place to have a picnic before carrying having an afternoon walk. Perhaps something to do in the future.

The weather was a little bit cooler when we did this walk and much drier then it should have been, but the air was still pretty heavy within the forest, so we ended up getting quite warm despite the coolness.

Kariotahi Beach.

There's not really a whole lot to say about this one, you literally just walk up and down the beach.  However, it was so beautiful that I just wanted to add it in.  These are located to the south-west of Auckland and were probably the further we drove to go somewhere to walk, about a 45-minute drive.

It was really interesting seeing the black sand sandwiched between the ocean and what looks like sand cliffs on the land side.  There's usually quite a lot of activities that can be done here, including driving your car on it, but when we went it was pretty empty with only a few people here and there.  To me, that made spending time here all the more special.

It was quite a bit colder on this walk than others as the wind was blowing off the ocean, but the clear blue skies were amazing and really added to the views of the beach.

As things begin to open up more and more in New Zealand we're hoping to get much more further afield in our walking outings, including some walks in the South Island, before I need to head back to the UK.  However, these were lovely little walks that kept us going and sane whilst still mostly being stuck indoors during this pandemic.  The weather has really held out for us here and, I have to admit, I've really appreciated it and how it's made these walks all the more enjoyable.

A Little Bit of Crafting: Pillow Cases

As I said in a previous posts, one of the ways I decided to stay sane during lockdown was to take up crafting again.  This isn't something I've done a lot of over the last few years, just cross stitching some Christmas cards, so I thought that it would be a good challenge to remind myself how to actually do it.  One of the little projects I gave myself was to make some additional pillow cases for these extra large pillows my partner has (their the back set in this photo) and for which it's practically impossible to find actual pillow cases for.  Just a little side note, I didn't really think about writing about this until I was already working on them so I don't have all the photos that would be useful here - just the ones I took as a little reminder to myself.

I hadn't brought any fabric for this before lockdown happened, but we did have a bottom sheet we were getting rid of and which conveniently matched another bottom sheet we were keeping.  There was also no pattern so I had to make up one of my own.  After taking the measurements of the pillows I decided to make a pattern which was one long piece that wrapped all the way around the pillow (with an overlap) and two side panels.

The plan was to follow the basic style of the original pillow cases which had an overlap opening located at the centre, back of the pillows.

As the sheet was a fitted sheet the first task was to unpick all the elastic that was around the edge.  That took a little while but it does now mean we have quite a bit of good quality elastic for another project.  I'm not entirely sure what that project will be, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

I then laid the sheet out on the floor, drew on the pattern I had created and then cut out the pieces with a two inch border to give me some leeway when working with the fabric.  To be honest I probably should have ironed the sheet first, but ironing has never really been my thing so why start now.

Then came the fun pinning game, which I've never been able to play without pricking my finger at least twice each time.  It was a little more complicated then usual in that I wanted to work the fabric around the corners of the pillows and, as I wanted to do the sewing all in one go, needed to leave the overlapping sections open until I had sewn the seams up.

I haven't used a sewing machine in years, at least 10 in fact, so it was interesting to see if it was like riding a bike.  Turns out the muscles still remember what to do and using it definitely speed up the project considerably.  The only thing that completely eluded me was how to load the bobbin once I had re-threaded it.  Admittedly it was a different machine from what I had used before and thankfully help was at hand.

Firstly I sewed the seams of the overlapping sections, then pinned them into place before sewing around the pattern.  I remembered some of the things I'd been taught in the past, like leaving the needle in the fabric when you swizzled the fabric around at the corners, which made the process a lot easier.  This machine didn't have a setting to sew the ends closed so I just have to rely on the this single line of stitching being strong enough.  I think it should be okay though.

And there you are, there is now an additional blue set of cases for these pillows.  We no longer need to try to wash and dry the original set in one day so we can use them again that night.  Always good.  It wasn't the most complicated thing I've ever done, but I'm still pretty chuffed with the outcome any way.

Staying Sane During Lockdown

Like pretty much everyone else around the world we're in lockdown.  I was still in New Zealand when they went into lockdown on 26th March and my flight back to the UK was then cancelled, so I'm still in New Zealand waiting to see what will happen.  I've been pretty lucky during this lockdown in the fact that, despite not being in my home country, I've had somewhere I can stay and as I'm not someone who is particularly social this whole social distancing thing hasn't been a particular issue for me.

However, I am still dealing with the other constraints that we are all needing to do to control Covid-19.  Of all of them, the reduced outdoor time is definitely the biggest issue for me as I'm just not used to being within four walls for this length of time anymore.  To combat that I've come up with some things that help me stay busy and a little more sane during these times.

Routine.

Most experts, including astronauts who definitely know about being stuck in a confined and dangerous location for extended periods of time, suggest that having a routine is important in situations like this.  I don't stick to mine strictly as it's important to have flexibility during your day, but I have blocked out my day into rough sections to give my days structure.  I've also left my weekends completely free so that each week this has a similar feel to what used to happen in the past.  At the moment I don't have as much work to do in the afternoons as I had hoped, but hopefully this will increase over the next couple of weeks as I carry on trying to find online side hustles I can do.

Exercise.

Staying healthy is always important, but that especially true during stressful moments like this.  My diet is already pretty healthy and well rounded, with a few naughty treats here and there, so ensuring I get enough exercise is what I'm concentrating on at the moment.  As lovely as long lies in bed and curling up on the sofa are it's not something I want to be doing all the time.  Exercise is also good at helping to relieve stress and mental health issues, so definitely something I wanted to block into my days.  In New Zealand we're still allowed outside once a day so we're taking this opportunity to go running outside three times a week and to have a long walk on the other days.  I'm also doing yoga every day, which a really good form of exercise for both stretching and building strength without needing additional equipment, and the added mental exercises that are added into each lesson are really helping.  

Reading.

I love reading, I always have, but I don't always have the opportunity to read as much as I would like.  However, now I have a lot more time now to read then I did before, funnily enough, and I've been really enjoying it.  I've now read through all the physical books I brought with me on this trip so I've started using library apps to borrow digital books for free.  I have to say that technology has definitely made this lockdown a lot easier to deal with then it might have been, even just 50 years ago, including helping me stay in contact with my family on the opposite side of the world.  I could, of course, borrow books off the other people I'm staying with, but I'm still wanting to carry on reading through the books I have stored at my parent's house and have managed to find a number of these at the digital library.  Once I get back to the UK these will be donated. 

Crafting.

Whilst I can't necessarily be as active as I would like to be I don't want to spend my whole time being completely sedentary.  I do let myself watch YouTube (my feed is mainly full of Ted Talks and people walking and camping outside at the moment) and TV (probably a little bit more then I should), but I wanted to do something that requires a little bit more brain power.  Some of this has been covered by doing jigsaws, but for the rest I have gone back to crafting.  I did manage to grab a few supplies before we went into full lock down, but the rest has been done with items I already had and that were already in the house.  So far I've made a few wash clothes /cleaning rags, a couple of pillow cases for some overly large pillows for a bed sheet that was no longer needed (I'm writing a separate blog on how I did that), am now knitting my first ever jumper, and have some alterations to some clothes in the pipeline.  I might even attempt to draw again, though that might be pushing it a little.   

Time to Declutter and Organise.

As I was only expecting to be in New Zealand for 4 months I don't exactly have a lot of items with me at the moment any way, but I still decided to go through what I had to see if anything needed to go.  The good things about this declutter section was that the lack of items meant that it had become very obvious to me what I haven't been using and what items no longer really worked for me.  This led to me getting rid of a few more things, mostly clothing that just didn't fit anymore.  My partner also went through a number of his items and we then organised his bedroom so that we would both be able to stay happily in that space for the duration of the lockdown.  This is definitely a good time to do a big declutter and re-organise, what else do you really have to do.

Keeping myself informed, but not too much.

Whilst it's important to keep yourself up to date with what is happening at the moment, gathering too much information throughout the day every day can be really unhealthy and actually lead to overwhelm and stress.  I do watch the evening news regularly, but not every day, and instead chose to subscribe to a couple of sites that email me information which is specific to a Brit staying in New Zealand at the moment.  For more in depth information I'm turning more to science rather than just the media and am listening to the scientific podcasts that I was already listening to, and trust, before this pandemic started.  I like these because they keep me up to date with what is happening all over the world, but in a more factual rather than emotional way, as well as what our latest understanding about the virus is and, therefore, the most up to date understanding on how to reduce the chance of it spreading.

So there it is, that's how I'm staying sane during the Covid-19 lockdown.  It's not going to work for everyone, but I hope it will help just a few of you if you're struggling during these times.  Perhaps the main thing for me has been knowing that, despite it all, I'm still very lucky.  It's not just because I stuck in doors with someone I actually like, but also because I'm in a country with good health care and a Government who has been working very hard to look after us.  Support of is being put into places to help during these times and, whilst finances might be a little tight, I'm still safe and healthy.  And, of course, there's always more books to read.

Stay safe everyone!