Self indulgent cat photo - though I think it illustrates that the kitties are relaxed and refreshing themselves in my newly completed office!

Over the past few days my loyal laptop has begun to get slower and slower, and the internet browser I use has begun to hang (and sometimes crash) with increasing frequency.  In one of those supreme ironies, in order to find out how to fix the browser problems, I had to use its help facility which, you've guessed it, opened the browser.

So, a good hour and a half this morning has been devoted to clearing out redundant software from my laptop, going through web bookmarks and deleting those I no longer use and, finally, doing the 'refresh' which opens up the browser without all the bells and whistles that have, deliberately or otherwsie added themselves over time.

And now my laptop is a lot happier, it has to be said.

Refreshing and clearing out clutter... that feels like a metaphor for my life at the moment!  Yesterday I threw out another two black sacks full of stuff that I had kept 'just I case I ever need it' and know that, between perosnal and church clutter there will be a fair few more in the days ahead.

I am sure that I will never attain 'minimalism', nor would I want to, there are stories and memories embedded in so many of the things that surround me, and lots of things that undoubtedly will come in useful.  At the same time, it is surprsingly liberating to let go of that I haven't looked at in years.

What has struck me, both with 'refreshing' the laptop and reordering my home (still a work in progress!) is that it demands concerted effort, determination and patience, along with accepting that it may get worse before it gets better...

Learning to work from home again is quite challenging, especially as the kitties have to learn what 'work time' looks like (hence beds for them in the office!) but it is, or at least will be, quite refreshing.

Next job will be the routine back up of all my key files from my laptop... and then from the church PC...