Time capsule

I have a flat in Prague which has been neglected for a few years. I would come over infrequently, for a short time, and there was always something more interesting to do than sorting out old boxes.
Yesterday, I bought a new vacuum cleaner, the old one had been a pain in the arse for years, and started cleaning and decluttering. So far, have found:
high school diploma that I had missed for years. Not that I would need it, I got a duplicate years ago when I misplaced the original and that duplicate, misplaced a few times in between, now lives in the tube with my university diploma but it's good to have both of them in a known spot.
a silk blouse
and a Puma hoodie with a puma applique I got in Italy, it's one of the disappearing and appearing things as well
a flyer from a small Regensburg gallery where I got some nice bowls many years ago and of which only one wasn't stolen by some goddamn tenants; I hope the lady who made them is still alive and willing to make more of the same

There's always something cathartic about decluttering. I've always liked this place. I had good time here - I was at the uni, I liked studying, I had excellent social life which gets complicated with the damn introverts and yes, some people would think it no social life worth mentioning but hey, I went to the opera, there was always someone to feed the cat when I was gone for more than Tähti the Meezer would consider polite, I had mild academic ambitions. Then depression struck and guess what. It was all before this blog - one day, I'll find out how to merge it with the old one which I abandoned because an asshole started stalking me - and it wouldn't seem that far away weren't it for the last few years of job from hell, depression, more depression, a textbook example of burnout and the related fun. I keep ranting about my memory problems but they're too pervasive - I want my jasper cat back but I can't remember where it is, all I can remember is that one time, I lived between three places and I always remembered what is where.
I'd better go and get some groceries, it hasn't been done for a while. Had rice, lentils and chopped tomatoes for dinner (see that there's no mention of salt) so today I'm out of tomatoes and lentils and I'm staying for two more days. Oh, the good old days of eating leftovers of leftovers because all food money was spent on books. It feels almost as if I were young again.

Winter

We haven't had a decent winter since 2013/2014. In 2013, the spring was about a month early although there had been a lot of cold and snow and there has been hardly any winter to speak of. Well, last season, there was one night in early January when the temperatures fell to - 15 and my purple Vanda orchid and one of the big Ornithogala froze to death.
I haven't acquired a new Vanda yet, I'm going away for a few days so I'll order it for the next week and I learned my lesson. Soooo... Occupy Windowsills!

Halp?

So I decided to be productive and decided that my closet needs decluttering. Because I apparently have a lot of clothes but nothing to wear. Which is due to the fact that I don't throw out things very eagerly, that I've gained quite some weight in the last few years and then some ten years ago but kept the clothes because they would be useful one day. Also, I lived in the damn hotel with some everyday basics and the rest stayed at home, vaguely remembered but not really used.
The stuff got sorted out by size rather vaguely and I stacked some of it in boxes in the attic. Upstairs I went... to discover rotting moldy floor. I picked up a few boxes which stood in the wet area - luckily it was yarn and I tend to pack my yarn in plastic bags anyway. The boxes happily disintegrated, I threw them away, relocated said yarn and phoned dad that the boiler is apparently leaking. A pic of destroyed parquet floor may follow, I made a few pics in case parents had some insurance to cover this (no they don't). Today I resumed digging in old clothes. All I managed is to spread a layer of random bits and pieces in the hallway and now I'm panicking. At least I have a small pile to throw away and another small pile to donate. Plus a major heap of rather nice stuff which is half a size smaller than yours truly - I'm approaching the pre-hotel weight (I might have gained around 13 kilos there due to stress and stress eating) so I'll keep it somewhere near the surface. It should feel good but somehow, it doesn't.

Archaeology, of sorts

For various reasons, I spent the time between around January 2013 and March 2016 as a manager of a hotel in a Bad Ass of this world. It took a toll, I ended up burnt out, with less than stellar eating habits and, well, habits in general and now I'm struggling to put my life together. Things are going sorta fine, thanks, although I still have all sorts of problems with memory, concentration and the combo of both. And with the clutter.

Today I decided to reclaim the closet. I have barely used it for years, one of the reasons being that I had most of my everyday clothes at the hotel where I lived and the other being that I gained a bit of weight (stress eating, stress drinking) so whatever was in the closet three years ago, wouldn't fit this spring anyway. And, well, the surprises keep coming. I have a certain penchant for Japanese textiles and since we have fleabay where one can get just about anything, and quite a lot of stuff for something like $9.99 plus shipping, I amassed quite a pile. And now I dug out said pile from the closet. Actually, I have a thing for textiles of all sorts, and fashion, and whatnot. I should make a pile of fabrics that are meant for some clothes when the time comes. And yarn. I would love to provide pics but I'm afraid that I would be ashamed by the horribly messy backdrop of my place and all the stuff is all over and... anyway. There'll be a trip to the trash bin, or many, actually, but before, I should get rid of dust, hair and various other crap so I can spread the other crap on the floor to sort it out. Damnit.

Anyhow, I'm alive, kicking, doing things and feeling quite okay. Keep tuned for more of the same.

Irises

That's Iris x germanica, the yellow one; I should cull the clump and get some in different colours, and two bunches of Iris sibirica, the blue ones, which would deserve dividing and spreading all over the place - if there was place. There's somr Iris chrysographes at the other side of the garden but it's an early one, it's gone by now. The Austin rose, I think it's Jude the Obscure but I'm not sure, is coming to bloom and there's another one on the left which will be dug out as it never blooms.