Having recently heard of the term Swedish Death Cleaning, I decided to put it into action! It is where a person cleans out all the stuff they’ve collected over the years, so when they die, it’s not left to their survivors to deal with! I’ve started, although I don’t expect to expire soon, I’m not sure I can wade through all the collections I’ve accumulated over the years, before the end arrives!
Fortunately, I have a vendor booth at J&B Country Store in Broadway, Va. Many of the treasured items find their way there, hopefully to be adopted by other collectors! Check put booth #39, Mountain Meadow Cottage- you never know what you will find!
Some items are given to friends, others are donated to a little thrift store down the road, Cat Meow. Sales from those items are donated to his mission work.
I’ve gone through my much-loved collection of antiquarian books. Rather than have them posed on a shelf, collecting dust, they have found their way to Mountain Meadow Cottage. One treasured tome found a new home, with a local lamp artist. It was a set of books of mid 1800s to early 1900s writings of American poets. They will have a new life, as a one-of-a-kind lamp. A bibliophile might be horrified that these old books will used in that way, I am intrigued to see what she creates!
As the purge continues, toys and excess household goods will find themselves at the end of my driveway for someone else to enjoy. Clothes will be donated, and when I get tired of sorting, pricing, and donating- dare I say- some things will just go in the trash!
I learned, when my mother passed, that it is not always fun, weeding through years of collections. I don’t want to do that to my kids, when ( and if!) the time comes! Of course, I plan to live forever, but we all know how that works out!
