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If you've been reading my blog in the last weeks or so ( and your long term memory is still functioning ), you are probably aware of the fact that I have been doing a lot of cleaning, as of late.
I tend to joke that doing the dishes is one of my main purposes in life, as I have been doing them wherever I go. Those who have been around me for a while are aware of this and don't mind me taking over this task whenever I'm visiting.
It might be wise to stop repeating these words, as cleaning cutlery, plates, cups and pans has lots its appeal and I am still not ZEN enough, apparently, to take things plate by plate and to not be overwhelmed by these - seemingly - never ending dishes.
There was a dish washer in the place that I home sat from mid december to the end of April, I never used it
These days, I'm not merely doing the dishes. The above was mainly an anecdote, to segway into the serious home and garden cleaning that I have been doing in the last couple of weeks. In fact, there is was way more trash in the garden, then there is was inside of the house that I moved into at the start of this month.
That is, in a way, a good thing. But it's also only logical that I cleaned out the house already ( or most of it ), as I have been living (t)here about two weeks now.
I left the ( outside ) trash for what it was for a while.
It's hard to imagine though, that some people use a garden as one big trash pile / heap. Although - now I think of it - this is pretty much a metaphor for so called 'civilization', what people, companies and countries do. Let's not get into the latter too much, as we all know this, in the back of our minds.
Long story short, a couple of days ago, I felt a strong urge to get rid of all the trash on the patio / terrace outside my doorstep. The trash that the previous tenants left for me.
There were a bunch of bins and bags, covered by a tarp, that were so nasty, that I had to deal with them asap. First I had to empty them of rain water and old beer, then I had to literally shovel the contents, including diapers, glass and maggots with funny tails ( a type I'd never seen before ), into fresh garbage bags. It all smelled like rotten eggs but I knew that the upcoming rain would rinse it all away soon.
When I had collected most of the trash from the garden and stored it in my adega/ storage space underneath the house, I felt it had to be brought to a garbage container asap. As I don't own a car, I decided to call my neighbor and friend to help me out with this. He showed up a little later, with his 6 year old twins. And, like an experienced garbage man, I loaded all the trash into his van ( almost filling it ) and, after having arrived at the garbage container, I filled it single handedly. Asking them too help with this didn't feel right. Also I was wearing the gloves ;<)
I ended up climbin on top of the pile, in the dumpster, and jumping on the trash heap for a bit, so I could actually close the container afterward. It made me feel like a kid for a bit but the adult part of me was relieved that I didn't sink into the trash, while doing this haha!
After returning home, it felt good to have dealt with all of this, as if I'd cleaned my karma ( and dealt with some of the heavy energy that the previous tenants had left for me ).
In all honesty, prior to asking my friend for help, I considered to just leave the trash in my adega and to deal with it step by step. The thought of the maggots and other vermin finding the trash and making a mess that would be even worse to clean was stronger though. Thus, I decided to be pro active ( something I can still improve on a lot ) instead and be done with it.
Good riddance!
My neighbor/friend's wife also gifted me a bunch of incense sticks, recently and some awesome pieces of aromatic wood, to clean my house of negative energy and to further decrease the cigarette smell that infiltrated this place before my arrival.
Suffice to say that I'm getting there, step for step. Cleaning my place leads to more space in my head, so I can focus on creativity and other important things in life again but, apparently, all of this was what I needed at this point in time.
Another life lesson for me to further level up as a human being.
P.S. For those interested: it also seems that replacement solar batteries are gonna be ordered soon ( today? ) and shipped to my ( twin ) sister's, and then to my place. So I expect to have working electricity again soon. Up till then, I will keep washing by hand ( and, every now and then, at my friend's ) and saving on electricity, thereby further befriending mother nature, who is clearly aware of my good intentions towards her by now ;<)
Apparently, this write up was needed to clean my karma, I mean, my mind.
Be ( positively ) warned though, I will share my creativity again soon and if you are desperately looking for some of that content, go take a look and leave a comment on my previous Dino Cave Painting post that can surely use some more love in the comment section ;<)
TO BE CONTINUED ( my writing and, unfortunately, my cleaning ...)
The photo above this post was taken yesterday afternoon and shows my 5 year old niece, Yumi, building a pile of stones at a river beach, about a mile from my current home. I considered just sharing a photo of my trash, just before my neighbor came over but it felt too depressing and not like click bait
I find it interesting how sometimes we think it's easier to ignore something than to actually do it. I am pretty sure that just this action will be the catalyst for other positive stuff to happen. I always feel when I've cleaned, decluttered and my space is empty, I have time to think and create. So hopefully, you've found new energy to make stuff!! Keep writing Vincent! And super cool that you followed your dream of NOT living in the Netherlands! I remember when I met you, it was just before you were going to go! :)
Happens to me over and over again and then it's in the back of my mind all the time, bothering me and taking up a lot of energy.
I like to think, indeed, that all of this cleaning is gonna do me a lot of good in the long term. And, more importantly, this might indeed become my future house. That is one thing I hold in mind and it is actually possible, if I manage to sell my house ( where I haven't been staying since last September ) and then double the money ( not too unlikely in a crypto bull market ).
Thank you for the kind words and nice to reconnect after all these years.
Een knuffel uit Portugal!
I think it’s what a lot of people are destined for that aren’t lazy lol I do a significant amount of cleaning as well and it’s one of the main things we do at the lake property my wife’s family owns. Cleaning up after the previous people who didn’t find the need to, you know, throw stuff away? It went into the sand and dirt instead which is annoying lol. Glad you didn’t hurt yourself on the trash bin, glass bottles in those bags could have cut you up bad!
Aesome! I remember reading some of these post of yours. The world needs people like us ;<)
I am still cleaning pieces of glass from my patio / terrace daily. I wear gloves for this though.
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it!
Good job on the cleaning 👍, by the way I don't own a dish washer...well I kinda do since José is doing the dishes when he is around ;).
It took me some years to get him to do the kitchen stuff and since he started he is enjoying it.
All da ladies out there, they can do it 😂
#ladiesofhive
Is José your dog?
Sorry, I had to make that joke
Dogs love to clean plates if you let them ;<)
Good for you! I would probably be the 'dish washer' too, if I had a lady on my side.
Did you hear that? A shout out to all da ladies, a dishwasher would be available. Location Portugal 😂 .
It took me years to get the Spaniocle to overcome being a Spaniard lol, at least in the household 😂. If they are good in something it is being stubborn and relaxed 😉
Hahaha!
I prefer to be more than just that but I appreciate the shout out ;<)
Didn't know you had a Spanish partner. Stubborn and relaxed aren't the worst character traits to have, I guess.
Un abrazo!
José doesn't sound Swedish 😄 He is a full breed Spanish born in Germany. But doesn't own a German passport. Gastarbeiterkind ;)
Besos y abrazos 🤗
Haha! Who was talking about Sweden here?
I don't remember you every mentioning the name José before or at least I didn't pick up on it. You sure shared about another love of yours, starting with Jo... though ;<)
xx
Lol, I mentioned José once in a while but not as often. Jo...Jo...JOY 😍
Blergh :S yeh sometimes you really just have to get on top of problems (no matter how disgusting/expensive/etc they are) before they become even bigger problems x_x
The tenants knew you were moving in and left all that stuff behind just for you? :O
Yay for electricity soon :)
I know the feeling of getting rid of another's energy by cleaning when moving into a new place. I have stayed in some rooms in Cambodia that look like several homicides were committed in them, but luckily the floors are all tile there, plus usually 2 meters of tiles on the walls too, so a place can essentially be soaped and washed like a car, very easy.