Gilligansyle's outside her comfort zone

gilligansyle

So.....
yesterday we took bin bags to charity shops; a mixture of things, mainly clothes. Today we went through all the good stuff. Some of it still has labels on. There is Jaque Vert, Wallis, Planet, a fair amount of M&S. Someone can make use of it, but its such a shame.
We have enough boxes of toiletries to keep us going for many years!

But its almost all done now; just waiting for the charity to come and take the big items.

So I'm really, really tired.

Glass of wine is calling me, is it too early?

Karmacat

Of course its not too early! And anyway, its an hour later now :D:D

Hope the charity van arrives soon. It must be so strange, to be dismantling things like this :grouphug:

hypno06

It took me 5 years (and some) to sort out my Dad's stuff......and then only because I was moving house and I would have been cross with myself if I had taken the "easy" option of moving all his stuff with me. Until that time it remained in my garage, giving us a sort of "its a knockout" challenge to attempt every time we wanted to go to the tumble drier

Eventually I bagged it all up, along with some other surplus stuff of our own, and simply rang one of the local charity shops and asked them to come and collect it - there were dozens of bags of stuff and they were incredibly grateful......as was I!

I would join you in a glass of wine, but I am promising myself a night off today......xx

savingholmes

Hi Gill - congrats on being so organised.... Like hypno says.. they may come and collect from you - I know my local heart foundation would

gilligansyle

Glass of wine duly consumed.

Being back at work puts a bit of a tight timescale on things.

Charity shops will take stuff, but the driver has the right to refuse it. So far, all the furniture has gone, the white goods are going on Thursday - Heart foundation are taking them; they are also going to see if they could sell the tv,dvd etc.

They won't take bric a brac - you have to take that yourself. And believe me, I have never seen so much *junk*. It really is junk, she bought it in charity shops and is awful.

We've done a fair amount of taking stuff to charity shops, but there are still 5 bin bags full of clothes, and loads of books.

In some ways its easier that none of us have a garage, so we can't take anything back except things that we really want to keep.

So after this weekend, the house will be completely empty. That in itself is a big step.

Money type stuff - spent hardly any money at the weekend, except for the hire of a van to shift stuff around, and a couple of bacon butties!

One of the good things is that I am now in touch with some cousins who I've always got on with really well, and the other cousins who drive me nuts - well I don't feel the need to keep in touch with them anymore.

Typing this during a break in a meeting, so will catch up later.

sashybo

Hi gilli *waves*

You've done so well sorting out your Mum's stuff. My mum found it so hard clearing my Grampa's house and she had nine siblings to help out. It was very emotional for everyone so I think you very much deserved that glass of wine. *hugs*

Hope you get your router sorted, nothing frustrates me more than not being able to connect with something - I'm of the "get very frustrated, shout and throw offending item, thus breaking it and not getting anywhere" school of thought. :whistle:

Karmacat

I agree with sashybo about how well you've done! To do all of that already ... I can't imagine myself doing it, tho of course I/we will have to at some stage. My heart goes out to you.

gilligansyle

I'm taking no honours for having done everything so quickly. In some ways its stopped me thinking about *why* we're doing it. I've just 'project managed' it, after all that's what I do for a living. But at the weekend I felt like we didn't stop.

I remember speaking to a girl in work a few years ago who said that she wouldn't be able to cope if anything happened to her parents, but of course you do. You have to. Otherwise, you end up with a lot of stuff you've got to deal with later.

When Dad died, Mum wouldn't let us do anything, said she'd sort his stuff out, although it was different as there was no furniture etc. to sort out. When she sold the house, we realised she'd just shoved it all in the loft!

I'm out early in the morning, to Derbyshire and then to Berkshire. In a week or two I'm in Lewisham for a few days, and then I've got some time in Scotland and Cornwall. A fair bit of travel coming up, just hope its not all in the same week!

Karmacat

gilligansyle wrote: »

I'm taking no honours for having done everything so quickly. In some ways its stopped me thinking about *why* we're doing it. I've just 'project managed' it, after all that's what I do for a living. But at the weekend I felt like we didn't stop.
Of course thats why you're doing it. Thats okay - but be careful energy-wise, you can't go on forever without hitting a wall.

I remember speaking to a girl in work a few years ago who said that she wouldn't be able to cope if anything happened to her parents, but of course you do. You have to. Otherwise, you end up with a lot of stuff you've got to deal with later.
Well, not everyone does. There *are* people who can't cope even with counselling and therapy - I meet them regularly Again, please, please look after yourself.

When Dad died, Mum wouldn't let us do anything, said she'd sort his stuff out, although it was different as there was no furniture etc. to sort out. When she sold the house, we realised she'd just shoved it all in the loft!
Ah! Yep, I understand that, oops - when my dad died, I tried to help my mum get rid of the fishing rods, which hadn't been touched in over 25 years - no go, she didn't want to make a decision, they're still there. In the garage. Which hasn't been opened for 3 years, apparently :eek:

I'm out early in the morning, to Derbyshire and then to Berkshire. In a week or two I'm in Lewisham for a few days, and then I've got some time in Scotland and Cornwall. A fair bit of travel coming up, just hope its not all in the same week!

Oh my god, that *is* a lot of travel - mind you, lots of beautiful places, if you ever get to see the countryside. In that respect, the job I travelled most for was a delight, because I was setting up those jobschemes for unemployed people to help mentally handicapped people ride horses. It was brilliant!
Hope it all goes well.

gilligansyle

Hi KC - I do understand the pitfalls, and yes not everyone copes in the same way.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing a bit more of the country. Yesterday for example I was in Lancashire and was surprised by how high up I was. Some lovely scenery as I was driving along.

There's lots of this country I've never seen, so maybe now is the time to start taking my camera out with me.