Bye Bye, Candles and Vases

family, Fitness, happiness, health related issues, humor, lessons learned 1 Minute

I finally got around to some Spring Cleaning this week that was obviously long overdue.

One of the things that stood out to me while cleaning out one of our corner cabinets is how many candles and flower vases we have accumulated over the years.

We have not burned a candle in our house in a few years (except during the occasional power outage), yet we never seem to throw any of them out, and we kept receiving more as gifts. There are now no candles in our house.

While the vases have gotten some use over the years, there were many that were just taking up space. I think we ended up throwing out close to 20 vases.

I like the feeling of getting rid of stuff that is rarely, if ever used or looked at.

We plan to continue the purge over the next few weeks.

When I mentioned to my wife and son that I was going to start this decluttering, I said the only things safe in the house were the two of them and our dog. Everything else was up for discussion.

I know the hardest thing for me will be trying to decide which, if any, of our kids’ school projects to keep and which to toss. I know there are many that we have not looked at in years, but I have trouble getting rid of them, and all our kids are now in their 30s.

I’m also helping that the house purge coincides with a weight purge. I’ve heard of the freshmen 15; I wonder if there is a thing called the COVID 10.

In the meantime, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there are no power outages in our future, or at least not until someone gives us a candle as a gift…

*image from FTD

 

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

Published

37 thoughts on “Bye Bye, Candles and Vases”

  2. Good for you, getting rid of all that clutter. It sucks doing the work, but it’s so nice having all that cleared up space.
    My favorite charity is our local thrift store. I give my junk to them, and we both benefit.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. I too have been on a long process of decluttering. One of my hardest projects was what to do with all the treasures I had saved from my now adult children. I finally decided to take much of it and put in a large ziplock bag what belonged to each child and then gifted it to them privately so they could take home. This way they could look through, reminisce, and decide if they wanted to share some items such as old school report cards with their own children. It has been fun to hear them commenting with enjoyment about some of their findings. Now their childhood treasures are with them. I too feel your pain about candles. Enjoyed your post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s a great idea about giving your children’s treasures to them to make the decision. I am sure ti would create a fun conversation with their own kids. And yes, candles were everywhere…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. I had to dispose of a lot of stuff when I downsized a few years ago. I solved the problem of my sons’ childhood souvenirs by passing them back to my sons.They are neither lost nor destroyed… just not here 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. I have also been doing a lot of spring cleaning, Jim. We also get candles as gifts and I don’t keep them either. As SA gets loads of power failures, I give them to people who need them. We have a generator. Your wife and son are lucky they are safe. With my boys writing on-line exams, I think they might be the first to go this week [hahahaha!].

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. We’ve thought about a generator – if we were going to stay in our house another 10 years, I think we would have bought one. Maybe while your sons are writing their exams you can clean out their rooms… and if you still need space after that, then they are fair game as well 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. I am known for my purging skills and for ‘putting things back out in the universe.’ when I moved last year, I only took things that I really loved or needed with me, or 1 of something not 7. it’s a process but sounds like you’re on your way. best of luck to the family.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  10. Snap we are working through the house it was the dining room today and tomorrow one of the kitchens..Purging as we go..Good exercise though we will sleep well tonight and have earnt our sundowners…I haven’t that many vases I did purge before we came here…:)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. That’s the same sort of process we are going through. And it works different muscles that I’m not used to using, so I was a little bit tired afterward as well. And a nice cold beer was my reward!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. I would love to have a bit of a tidy, but sorting stuff goes hand in hand with taking bags to the charity shop or stuff to the council rubbish tip for recycling, but they all closed in lock down! They have opened since, but we’re still isolating. I thought you were going to say your threw out all the vases and then received several bouquets of flowers. I have three vases I inherited ten years ago that I would never part with, but it was only this year it occurred to me I could actually put water in them and use them for my Mother’s Day flowers!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Power outages are common here… well, aside from the occasional scheduled maintenance, when a storm hits, there’s bound to be an outage. If you don’t want candles in your house, you better have some emergency lights available, at least.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. When I send flowers for Mother’s Day or a birthday, I’ve stopped getting the vase.
    My mother used to have a ton of them.
    It’s just a waste of glass once you have two or three of them.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to salsaworldtraveler Cancel reply