A few months and several questions

RosaBernicia

'Nother day off :j

Had a lie in, took myself out to a favourite place and have had all my cobwebs blown away up on a hill listening to birdsong (the bits I could hear over the wind). The hedges and trees all have that magic green mist ready for spring

Came back to modern life with a bit of a bump when I realised that the same things had happened as every time I go to that county... 1) I take a wrong turn and get lost, 2) I find myself panicking while frantically looking for a petrol station... which seem to be in remarkably short supply in that patch. Odd, since it has several major roads and it would be impossible to live in most of it without a car.

This time I took a wrong turn both on the way there and the way back, which didn't matter as it was only a pleasure drive and it's all very pretty... but then realised I had gone perhaps 20 miles with the fuel light on and no sign of a fuel station, not even when I got to the town. In the end I pulled over in a car park and emptied the emergency can into the tank as I just had no idea where the nearest was or even if it was in driving distance, so using the smartphone seemed a bit pointless. The car and I came home stinking of petrol as it splashed a bit... on the bright side, I do know now that it works and is easy to do. Will top it back up again in the week. Of course 5 mins later I found a station - well more like the local corner shop and garage combined with a couple of pumps - but as they helpfully completely failed to put up any signs showing that they had a different exit than entrance, I came out the wrong way and ended up having to go another half mile before I could turn round (complete with tailback of annoyed locals). Ah well. In future I am not going anywhere near X-shire without 3/4 of a tank when I set off.

Disappeared at least one more box and will hopefully get some bags of clothes done tonight too. The flat is looking better.

Tomorrow is a fabulous lazy day exploring the local high street in my new patch (emphasis on coffee shops and patisserie :T) and a movie with a friend. And another friend has kindly offered to make me a birthday roast dinner on Sunday :j

In MS news... not much. Must text old landlord about return of deposit. Oh and finally joined National Trust today as want to use their parking over the next few months. 3 months free and 20% Quidco cashback. I was dithering whether to repay this to the general budget from birthday money, but think I won't as it's a weekends-out-with-friends thing rather than a one-off treat... and I want to keep my birthday money for my belated birthday holiday. It's only just over a week to payday with about £120 in the budget so should hopefully get there OK.

Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

All black bags of clothes now disappeared and second sofa visible :j

I have an embarrassing amount of clothes . What's even more worrying is that I don't wear most of them. I end up keeping stuff because I don't get round to Ebaying it or just sending it to the charity shop... think I need to re-read FlyLady on freeing myself from Stuff.

Think I will just keep reviewing stuff as I settle in and then go through things carefully when I swop from winter to summer clothes. All hints on wardrobe editing welcome

Rosa xx

vasseur

RosaBernicia wrote: »

I have an embarrassing amount of clothes . What's even more worrying is that I don't wear most of them. I end up keeping stuff because I don't get round to Ebaying it or just sending it to the charity shop... think I need to re-read FlyLady on freeing myself from Stuff.


Rosa xx

It's the 20:80 effect - we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time

Sorry I don't have any tips to edit wardrobe...I am just as bad myself.....

Knitting_Nora

Ooo, I like a proper sort out *settles in to yell 'supportive' comments from the sofa*

1. First cull should always be of anything which has unintentional holes, broken zips etc and you can't be bothered to get sorted;

2. Second cull is anything that doesn't fit you (*sings* too big, too small, too short or tall...it's all going down the charrrriiittttyyyy (or ebay):D);

3. Third run through is for anything which is really past its prime - here I mean those t-shirts where the pits and now...well...the pits, and jeans where the bum has fallen out (and it's not a fashion statement).

4. Now add in anything which simply doesn't make you feel absolutely fab...you know the one, we've all got at least one piece.... remember, a lady as wonderful as you deserves a wardrobe which compliments her twinkliness.

Once all that's done, rearrange your wardrobe/drawers and walk away for a few days (giving you a chance to get rid of what you've already culled - do it quickly, otherwise you'll change your mind).

Then go back and repeat points 1 - 4 at your leisure...at the same time, consider what you really want/need of your wardrobe and whether there's anything specific missing from it - that's your next proper purchase (as in non-emergency underwear purchase!).

One thing I've found every time I've done this or walked others through it, is that there are some pieces we keep because of the emotional attachment rather than anything else. Here you need to consider the balance between emotions and hoarding...to help, I usually suggest keeping one item only (even if it means you have to sit and prioritise several).

have fun!

Nora.x

kerri_dfw

Oh Nora, can you come do mine please. My clothes are at least 5-10yrs old

Hope you're enjoying a relaxing weekend Rosa xx

Knitting_Nora

kerri_dfw wrote: »

Oh Nora, can you come do mine please. My clothes are at least 5-10yrs old

Hope you're enjoying a relaxing weekend Rosa xx

Depends on how good your throwing arm is, Kerri - I'm the type of friend who actually will tell you if your bum looks big in that...usually followed by something heavy being launched at my head! :rotfl:

kerri_dfw

Knitting_Nora wrote: »

Depends on how good your throwing arm is, Kerri - I'm the type of friend who actually will tell you if your bum looks big in that...usually followed by something heavy being launched at my head! :rotfl:

I'm a weakling

kerri_gt

Knitting_Nora wrote: »

Depends on how good your throwing arm is, Kerri - I'm the type of friend who actually will tell you if your bum looks big in that...usually followed by something heavy being launched at my head! :rotfl:

and when you've finished with that Kerri's...can you come and do this Kerri's too please? I am currently sat in the bedroom looking at my draws (the ones with clothes in, I'm not staring at my pants) thinking I should sort them out....but haven't got much further than thinking it

Knitting_Nora

My biggest tip for such activities is to never undertake them alone - drag a friend over (not your OH - it's just not fair on them, and you won't get the necessary input).

ZTD

kerri_dfw wrote: »

Oh Nora, can you come do mine please. My clothes are at least 5-10yrs old

Is there something wrong with that, because most of my stuff is as well - apart from work clothes and trousers.

Knitting_Nora wrote: »

Depends on how good your throwing arm is, Kerri - I'm the type of friend who actually will tell you if your bum looks big in that...usually followed by something heavy being launched at my head! :rotfl:

I don't know why there's this aversion to big bums. JLo has a career from it. Fortunately, my bum never looks big in anything...

Knitting_Nora wrote: »

My biggest tip for such activities is to never undertake them alone - drag a friend over (not your OH - it's just not fair on them, and you won't get the necessary input).

OH's tend to be wary of the 'burn in hell for a few weeks' stage if they're honest...