Zoning out on my interests (possibly a long and boring post)

I am up to the part in Julie Morgenstern's book Organising from the Inside Out where you strategise and create a plan of action for sorting and putting away your things into areas where you will do these things.

And what it has made me realise is that I have many and varied interests as well as expectations of myself and responsibilities I have volunteered for.

For example, I love to sew. I love to recycle jeans and make bags, (also I love to weave flax into kete or bags, but that is another interest), and I also love sewing aprons by Olive Juice Co - I already have plenty so I give them away now to the most special of my special friends who love to cook. I also mend things and adapt clothes. Luckily I don't design my own clothes. I have a couple of projects in mind for the future too, specifically upholstering a chair and our 1960s daybed. I would also like to sew curtains to match. Plus I have some old sewing patterns from the 60s, womanly frocks similar to those from the wardrobe of a TV programme I have never actually seen called Mad Men. But those projects are for the future. First things first. Where to put away my sewing machine and related things.

There is also my Family History Project. Before my grandmother died, and my father's brothers and cousin, I interviewed them after I had attended an Oral History course with the Alexander Turnbull Library. I got a lot of invaluable material about where I came from, and discovered how interesting some of my family members were. Also, I have a collection of family photos, going back to my great grandparents' wedding in the 19th century, and a few strange things such as a book which belonged to my paternal grandfather, a pair of his braces, and a beautiful china teapot that my maternal grandparents brought with them from England. This needs to be tidily stored but not somewhere susceptible to damp. Actually I rarely need to access it as extended family never comes over (on account of them living in the North Island) and my daughter and I are not that interested any more. If it is all arranged neatly though, perhaps the responsibility for storing it can be offered to another family member.

I also have a lot of photos of myself and my family as I was growing up and as a young adult living overseas and various friends, and I have many also of my daughter as a baby and little girl. These are treasures that need to be stored carefully and cherished. One of our favourite things to do together is look at old photographs, and we have committed to sorting through the photos together over several weekends or however long it will take.

Then there are my mosaicing materials and tools (I have future mosaicing projects lined up for the courtyard) and my painting and drawing equipment and materials. I gave a lot of this away before we left for Wellington, but I still have my tools and a few very good quality materials.

I will need to keep a few moisturiser jars and beeswax etc tidy and handy, as I tend to make a new batch for my daughter and myself every 8 months or so. There is also my beautiful felting material: a small box worth of fuzzy, coloured wool which means so much to me - just looking through it inspires me because I find it so beautiful and tactile.

My children's literature study materials - will I ever complete my diploma? My own children's book illustrations and text I will keep until I have finished this work, or decide I won't.

My gift-making samples of previous gifts given (I give hand-made gifts selectively now - only to the select few who see value in or enjoy them, as not everyone has room in their houses or lives for them). However, as the topic of my ebook is gift-making, keeping the best of what I have produced has been an invaluable resource.

My film gear, tripod, lights and tapes, and DVDs of completed projects. As I plan to do some tutorials as part of my gift-making project currently underway, this needs to be accessible.

I have a small collection of publications and other samples of legal usage of my fonts.

My business records, manuals, client files. Work projects and study material, writing projects and current client work and project work. Nothing stays still in my area of work (maybe that's why I love it).

My gardening records, seeds and favourite hand tool that are kept inside for easy access. This needs to be accessible right now, because it is spring already.

I used to have a lot more bits and pieces to find places for: I got rid of a huge stack of renovation files and ideas as this is now completed (I am proud of this, for the wishlist was long, and I got almost everything I wanted), just about every wild idea I had for this place has been carried out, apart from the very wild indeed (that was the mezzanine floor idea - thank goodness I didn't follow through with that); Also landscape garden plans and permaculture notes, it's all checked off of my list as done; Steiner (Waldorf) doll making, I completed that project and no longer want to do any more like that as my daughter is now a teenager.

So the next things is to designate logical zones for where these activities are carried out and what equipment is needed. Already I can imagine myself sitting in the various nooks and crannies around the place enjoying these fun activities.