Hoarding...not just on TV

beanielou

I thought Richard was a lovely lovely man.
He had some issues but then dont we all?
I know I do.

katep23

Thank you all, it makes me feel better to put it down in words and also knowing others do the same things and get into the same lulls as well xx

Byatt, that's exactly what I have to tell myself re bargains but it doesn't always work (hoping OH won't notice when I substitute turkey instead of chicken in the next stir fry - why not just not buy it?!)

Right, must stop lurking and get on! OH is out for guitar practise shortly so that's my cue to get a camomile tea and get sorting.

katep23

moneysavingmumofone wrote: »

Im so fed up of all my pretty things being hidden, I bought a dressing table Id been after for AGES for £20 in a charity shop (moved faster than the speed of light when I spotted it. :rotfl:) and so far two legs have had to be repaired as they collapsed under the weight of stuff on top of it and its been basically covered in junk for about 2 years!

I know about this one, got a lovely desk for the spare room to use when I work from home. It's a repro desk with the leather top, really lovely and I lusted after one for ages then a friend of ours wanted rid of it so I got it for £50 when they were selling for £200 in eBay.

I can't even get to it right now so I end up working at the dining table instead

Byatt

Katie, it doesn't always work for me either :rotfl:, hence my ticking off from Blossom after a visit to the CS, who has my best interests at heart.:A

Gingernutty

Just catching up - wow progress. I like to keep up with Hoarding Woes too.

I've been clearing out the cupboard under the sink in the kitchen, tidied the drawers in my bedroom - 30 bottle of half dried nail varnish gone and all the newly dyed towels in a drawer that can contain them.

A lady at work is going on a hike for British Heart Foundation but first she must raise about £3000.

One suggestion is car booting. We could bring in our old stuff, donate it to her and she could raise money that way.

I've taken that as a personal challenge

Pressure cooker anyone?

SpikyHedgehog

blossomhill wrote: »

Oh Spiky you made me laugh, what sort of friends do you have –that would turn up for an impromptu dinner party?!?

And if you needed to take a cake ... what are you storing all those plastic boxes for .. you’d be taking tosomeone who owns a plate, surely! But we all have this type of thinking (wellhoarders do anyway!)

The plastic boxes sort out sounds great – so well done, it is so easy to have a couple/three of each thing spread around without knowing it. Winter clothes are a pain – I always decide in summer that I don’t need them – then it snows and one pair of gloves gets soaked and I want another while they are drying out ...

My what-ifs came true this weekend – having batched up all my green vases saying “why on earth do I have so many same colour vases” and ready to fling, I entered a flower show that didn’t provide vases – 3 classes meant I had to provide 7 vases! They are now going in a lidded plastic box, in the shed, clearly marked Flower Show Vases instead of being among the china cabinet and on shelves.

One what-if I was always concerned with was “what if I had to go in hospital, I keep all these little sachets just in case but DD would never find them in a hurry”. So I set up a “hospital bag” like you do when pregnant. It has sachets (freebies) of shower gel, toothbrush/paste, shampoo, mini soap, deo, flannel etc and has made it easy to see that I wouldn’t actually need too many sachets – if I was in for more than a week I’d need a bottle of shampoo. Same with nightwear –the ones I wear at home are not suited to communal public living so I have one pair of the sensible PJs I was given (!):p packed too, and ditched the others.

Then I set about using up all the other multiple sachets on short trips and everyday use.

Lol, oddly enough I don't have impromptu dinner party friends! But that's the problem with whatifs, the plausibility or the aspiration - I'd love to have casual, spur of the moment meals with friends. But as the house is a mess, I can't let them past the front door, which makes it hard to feed them...

I had a miscarriage before DS2, & had to stay in hospital overnight - DH brought me stuff up but not what I'd have got, so I put a bag together then. Don't have 1 now, when I release a big enough bag, I'll put 1 together again.

Lazy_Liz wrote: »

Have been reading this thread for a while and while I am not a horder (I think) I can see hording tendances, a definate infestation of whatifs, a childhood where we didn't have a great deal and parents who having been brought up during the war and rationing didn't like to throw anything out that could be used. Learned behavior on top of a genetic tendency to collect and a need to be ready for a rainy day, I bet all it takes is some severe mental stree and another horder could be born.

One thing I do try and do is rember the William Morris quotation,
Have nothing in your home you know not to be beautiful or useful.

A good rule to live by.

That William Morris, he tricks you though - his house looks jolly busy when you go round. Probably the wallpaper patterns, but my memory shows it as full of stuff.

wannabe_sybil wrote: »

Looby - lots of hugs. It is so hard swimming against the tide.

Byatt - you are doing really well. I write lists for drs appts, and if I feel I need to I book a double appointment. Though my current doctors are absolutely lovely.

Three bin bags of rubbish out.

I am trying to deliberately use stuff up now. Saving things for 'just in case' is dangerous territory and if you have too much stuff you can't find the stuff you do actually need. I think I will be looking into the 'hospital bag' type thingy. Thankfully I have no anticipated need - but that's the point isn't it?

Yarn has arrived today. Knickers to it, I am going to comfort craft tonight and start it.

hugs to all.

I've temporarily misplaced my knitting bag & haven't got to the bottom of the pile of stuff in front of the ' built in wardrobe that has the only hanging rail in the house so is chock full of clothes & other stuff', so am unable to knit! I was in the range earlier for some navy sewing thread & resisted the knitting needles though.

blossomhill_2

Thanks short bird, just watched every gripping minute of it ... bit of a shock to recognise people in it, very close to home. I'm anxious about the follow up programme now as I want him to be doing well ...

Horrible newspaper billboard stating "HOARDER CLEARS UP" reminded me of the poster on here whose father had been in the news ... I hate to think of dear Richard delivering the very papers that have him as sensational news ...

lostinrates

beanielou wrote: »

I thought Richard was a lovely lovely man.
He had some issues but then dont we all?
I know I do.

Yes, he was. We found it interesting that we both said we liked richard, we liked the gardener neighbour very much, and some of the others, even those who expressed frustration, but a fouple of the cpmplainers seemed very unpleasant.

katep23

Hmm, well I didn't manage to clear the bottom of the wardrobe (did a bit more lurking on here )

BUT I managed to unpack my overnight bag and put clean clothes away (can't put bag away as it lives in the bottom of the wardrobe ), clear my desk so I can work in there tomorrow (mostly involved moving things out the way but managed to chuck several things away in the process), put a loaf of bread on, put a load of washing on, make OH's lunch, tidy the kitchen a bit and hoover the kitchen floor.

The last one is the best in some ways - you enter the house through the kitchen and it always drags me down when I come in to the kitchen being a mess and the floor needs hoovering. So hopefully that will help the house feel more welcoming when I get home

Byatt

Well done Katie. For unpacking your overnight bag. I still haven't unpacked (all clean clothes) my case from a holiday in April.:o

However, I am adding more things to my kitchen pile for the CS...I am actually now using my lovely Portmeirion set.

Plus I have a clear pathway, through the kitchen and into the utility/bathroom area. :T
Really tired now though, so off the bed!

xxxxx