Blog - Alison's Notebook

A woman in her 60s in an oatmeal cardigan presses blue painter's tape onto an old loaf pan on a kitchen counter

What the Estate Sale Lady Told Me About What Families Actually Keep

One hour with an estate sale lady taught me more about what families keep than sixty years of keeping things myself. I met her the month after my mother passed. …

A woman in her 60s in a rust cardigan with a brown purse reaches into a woven basket of keys and glasses by the front door

The Little Daily Annoyances I Finally Decluttered in My 60s

Three old receipts, two lipsticks, a coupon that ran out in the spring, and no keys. That’s what I found in my purse one Sunday morning, standing at the front …

Woman around seventy with silver hair in a navy wool coat over a burgundy knit dress on a winter town sidewalk, framed in gold with green leaves

9 Winter Dresses Over 70 (Soft, Warm, And Lovely)

Nine winter dresses over 70, each for a real winter day. Soft, warm, and easy to put on, with simple ways to keep your legs warm.

A woman in her 60s with silver hair holds a small saucepan at a white gas stove, with a cast-iron skillet on the back burner

My Kitchen After 60: Keeping What’s Light, Handy and Loved

Every year, the week before Thanksgiving, I get the big roasting pan ready. Last year, my back had other plans. The pan was in the very back of the bottom …

A woman in her 60s watches her teenage granddaughter photograph a cast-iron skillet on a kitchen table

What’s Worth Selling When Decluttering: What Sold, and What Nobody Wanted

Before you list anything for sale, let me tell you about my crystal punch bowl. It has twelve little cups. We got it as a wedding gift, and I’ve used …

A woman in her 60s at a kitchen table unfolding a blue and yellow quilt top beside a clear bin of fabric

Yarn, Fabric and Half-Finished Projects: How I Decluttered My Craft Supplies Without the Guilt

It was a rainy Saturday, and my younger granddaughter was spending the afternoon with me. Around two o’clock, she looked up and asked, “Grandma, can we make something?” Of course …

A woman in her 60s at a kitchen table holding a handwritten recipe card beside her mother's open tin recipe box and a loaf of banana bread

What Not to Declutter: The Things I’m Glad I Kept in My 60s

Have you ever given something away and then wished, just once, that you hadn’t? It doesn’t happen to me often. But there’s one thing I came very close to giving …

A grandfather and young grandchild asleep together on a living room couch, with a cluttered end table beside them

Why We Stop Seeing the Clutter in a House We’ve Lived In for Years

A few weeks ago, my husband was asleep in his spot on the couch. One of our grandkids had curled up right next to him, and they were both snoring …

Baby shoes, old report cards, a crayon drawing and a macaroni card spread across a kitchen table beside a plastic keepsake bin

Baby Shoes, Report Cards and Macaroni Art: How I Sorted My Children’s Childhood Keepsakes

A woman told me something not long ago that I haven’t stopped thinking about. Her children are in their forties now, and she still has every school paper they ever …

A large plastic bag stuffed full of grocery bags, bulging out of an open cabinet under a kitchen sink

The Bag of Bags Under My Sink: How Many Plastic Grocery Bags I Kept (and Where the Rest Went)

“Grandma, why do you save bags inside a bag?” One of my grandkids asked me that last month. We were putting groceries away together, and I was folding the new …