Decluttering the side porch

No, there are no pictures. I should have taken a before and after, but I did not think of it.  It became dark as we finished. This is the entrance everyone uses, so it was important that it not look so trashy. Exbf came up and helped me. Actually, he did the lion's share. I cannot afford to hire anyone. Plus, I can trust him to take care of my things. He knows where I am telling him to put something in the basement. I would have to walk down the concrete steps to show a stranger or even a friend who had not been down there and put things away before. That would defeat the purpose of getting someone to help me.

He loves my cooking. He had a bowl of soup I made.   Then, I gave him a pint to take home. He will take the pint and make two quarts. He puts cans of vegetables and tomatoes in it to stretch it. Then, he does not have to cook. I made a huge iron skillet of cornbread. He ate a small piece and took the rest of the half skillet home. I froze the other half, four huge pieces.

Back to porch cleaning. He removed things I could not handle. I tried to help and tripped as I came indoors. Once again, I hit my head, and in the same place. If this keeps up, I will be addled. My knees were hurting and my left shoulder was wrenched in the fall. After I cried a lot and he tried to comfort me, I just sat and cried more.

One more time--back to porch cleaning. He removed everything except what I was carrying when I fell. He swept the porch and steps. It took him several hours. Somehow, I feel a burden lifted. I could not move my reel mower to the basement, nor could I manage to put the garden tools in the basement. I might use a tool every other day and then not for a week.

We left to purchase a trash can. This now holds my garden rake, yard rake, shovel, hoe, a pink stake, and the broom. After putting a cinder block in the bottom for me, he does not think it will blow over. My permanent solution will be an outhouse sized storage "building" that will afford shelter for my everyday tools and my reel mower.

All the leaves and outdoor trash are  now swept off the porch, the first time in probably two years that the whole thing has been swept at once. Oh, I swept around the door and part of the porch all along. The sand from the snowfall and ice of a few weeks ago is gone from the door mat, porch, and steps.

The best I could do some days was just stack one more thing on the porch, things I wanted. Lest you think I just keep cluttering it, I was not. There might be ten things taken to the street, thrift store, put into the trash, or given away for every one I put on the porch. Now, it all has a proper place in the basement if I kept it.

The perfectly good fan that I don't need, a 20-inch box fan that sat on the porch in its original box, is on the curb. If it is not gone before I go to bed, I will bring it back to the porch so it is not hauled off by the garbage men and end up in the dump. THEN, I will put it back out tomorrow or donate it to a thrift store.

A box of figurine planters remains. They will go to the consignment shop. The badminton rackets are in the trunk, ready to make a trip to the thrift shop, along with two goose neck lamps that I hope to restore.

It feels good.

Your turn
Did getting the side or back porch decluttered ever make you feel lighter? That's how I feel. My porch went from cutish to cluttered because of my inability to cope with the carrying.  It is far from cutish since there is a door and screen door still leaning. But, I have seen progress today. I will bet your back or side porch is a repository of clutter if you are not vigilant. Right?