Hoarding...not just on TV

valk_scot

Sitting here watching the cats fighting over the cashmere cat bedding. Teeny Cat would be quite happy to share but with two big fat cats (one of them fluffy) crammed into the basket and overflowing on all sides there's not much room left for him! So he's sitting on a corner of the cardigan I'm knitting atm. I think I am going to have to make another cat cushion and blanket...

Spent the morning watching DS play rugby in freezing sideways drizzle. Despite five layers of winter clothing I was still cold, it doesn't bode well for the upcoming winter. I felt too stiff after that to go to the allotment so did Lidl and some odd household chores instead and picked up DD from gymnastics. Am now sitting here wondering what to do with myself, dinner is all organised and the laundry is temporaily under control. I feel some decluttering is in order but can't think of any corner that particularly inspires me tbh. Big dresser in the dining room? Walk in cupboard? Books?

alec_eiffel

whitewing wrote: »

I am typing this quietly so DH can't hear when I say that actually he is right. I couldn't face scanning in some of the stuff. So far I have emptied 6 folders and just put the contents straight into the bin. I have pulled out 6 sheets for scanning but even they look a bit pathetic in their own.

Had to laugh at a photocopied sheet for writing essays. I wrote on it 'should have a climax somewhere in your essay'. That's now in the bin!

byatt,

I have been having horrible dreams too over the past couple of days. In one I dreamt I was high up on modern building spire that had a square staircase spiralling up the top and the sides were glass and the wind was blowing and I was so scared that I was clinging like crazy to the inner sides and could hardly move. My brother was there perfectly fine, even though he is the one scared on heights in real life.

I think as I dejunk, my brain is also dejunking.

That's great to hear ww. The thing is it doesn't really matter than he was right because you got there through your own process. Had you have chucked the stuff away there's a chance you'd always have that niggle that you should have scanned it. But merely by having your DH say that then you went to do it anyway you could separate what was important from what wasn't. That's really big. You should be really pleased with yourself. And even though he was a bit negative well done to DH too - he almost certainly helped but not in the way he thought.

blossomhill_2

Byatt wrote: »

You are all appreciated and valued and I want to wrap you all up in fluffy marshmallow, or the lovely fleecy thing Jo-Jo had in her fruit and veg box.:D:A

Hope Blossom and Calico are ok? I know I may have missed someone, but I'm not good with names.

Thanks for thinking of me Byatt - you can wrap me in marshmallow anytime, as long as I can eat it all! Or just bury me under a pile of Fluff! I have pm'd you.

I am fine, just had a catch up, was getting a bt too engrossed reading here instead of getting on and doing it, so took a bit of a break - well done everyone for keeping going and keeping posting! Hugs to (((those with health and family concerns)))

I know that wobbly feeling of "what happens when the clearing is over" but DD assures me I can then "live" (reminds me of Richard saying he just existed in his house) so I am plodding on

I quite relate to the "extension of the hoard" thing about CS or wherever our hoards go, so deliberately shut the door when 3 piece was loaded onto CS van and resisted the urge to watch it go (or visit the shop to see if i has sold|)

I mistakenly looked back at my bundles of clothes on the "clothes4cash" scales and now keep thinking about one particular top - sigh!

I had a great bootsale this am as I bought things that I know will be immediately useful and earn their keep as things are so much clearer at home

whitewing

My stuff is still in the bin and the sky still hasn't fallen in.

Re: what happens when the clearing is over? You will have the space to be more spontaneous.

I have it half in the back of my mind that I need to do this decluttering as a means of preparing myself mentally for the next career move. (Although I will say that the two are linked in a bad 'hoarder' type way discussed previously on the thread).

SpikyHedgehog

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Glad to hear that you've been able to ward off a large amount of the inconvenience/hassle long before there's any sign of it approaching, DfS.

Like a bit of preventative medicine.

Has anybody here considered Flu jabs yet?

Got to phone docs tomorow to get mine & DS2's booked, DS1's asthma isn't bad enough to warrant flu jabs anymore.

valk_scot

I did a couple of drawers of the big dresser in the dining room. These drawers are HUGE, about a yard across, two feet to the back and a foot deep. And there's six of them.

One of them is DD's old art & crafts drawer and with her help we threw out all the dried up playdough, stamp pads, crumpled paper etc and consigned a few more old paint brushes to the bin. One pile of odds and ends to go to the CS and one other pile to go through to her other craft stash in hed bedroom.

The other bottom drawer is where I keep the table linen. I use oilcloths on the dining table 90% of the time so I only have one white linen tablecloth and matching napkins otherwise, I recycled all the old ragged ones a long time ago. Except for the set that had come from my late SILs house, which I don't like. I will CS it but to a posher CS than usual which deals in vintage textiles, it could raise a bit of money in the right place.

I also found another set of cutlery, lol, my late in-laws posh wedding cutlery in a very old fashioned design and in a big wooden canteen box. Silver plated though so I will keep it, my DD's eyes lit up at the sight so yeah, it's worth keeping.

The bag of 200 tealights (why? I never use tealights) went in the CS bag. And the Christmas candleholder I never use (kids and cats don't mix with candles) and the coloured candles that fit it went CS wise too. I've got a box of 50 utility candles in emergency store, they've been there since the Millenium Bug days and they're staying just in case but I Don't Need fancy candles. There's a small bag of vanilla scented tealights that I'm keeping too, that's quite enough for the next ten years of pumpkin lanterns! And I bagged up all the leftovers of packs of party plates and cups to CS too, they'll be fine for a party where the theme doesn't matter like in studentland.

So one binbag of rubbish and one binbag of CS stuff. Good score for today and it didn't take that long either. I shall tackle another couple of drawers tomorrow, the baking tin/equipment drawer and the big divided drawer that holds things like string, foil and clingfilm, plastic food bags and...err, more things than you can imagine, I expect. In triplicate.

PS: And at least 2/3rds of what I'm chucking out from the linen drawer is Aspirational Stuff, like bloomin' C**h K*****n napkins and that fancy candle holder. Was I ever the sort of person that used this sort of thing? I don't think so and now it just looks like tired old tat, even though much of it has clearly not been used. What a waste of money. Even if I did buy it in the sales, which I undoubtably did.

whitewing

I have always had flu jabs when offered by the various companies that I have worked for.

Have never had one that I have paid for myself (has anyone - do you feel it was worth it?)

I am so pleased with the people here who convinced me to scan. I am probably only scanning 5 sheets in 100 and chucking the rest. The best part of having it electronically (which I had never even thought of) was that I can title it how I want so it is really, really easy to find stuff. It was not at all easy to pull out the correct file and wade through it with a needle in the haystack approach.

Part of it is that some of it is so old it is far less relevant. (Kept it originally for updating my CV amongst other stuff). Also, it still takes time to scan even though my scanner is quick so that helps as a decider. But because I can look on the external hard drive and see it all there, all organised, I don't feel that I am getting rid of stuff, I actually feel that I am acquiring better memories because I have the perspective of age on it all now.

lostinrates

Valk scot..2 ish i lived nea ypu cs. I would be there for the ck napkins...we use ours all the time ( gifts) because they are fun and easier to keep clean than white ones!

Gingernutty

Gingernutty wrote: »

I've only got Sunday to fit a whole weekend into.

Clothes, the dreaded cupboard under the stairs (second only to the attic of doom), all the weeks laundry and I've got to find a way to stop my fence flapping across the communal path now someone has busted the fencepost.

I think I'm looking for something like reinforcing brackets - a bit like Meccano, I suppose.

GreyQueen wrote: »

You can get various metal brackets in hardware stores, flat metal pre-drilled with holes for screws and several inches long.

You can get staight ones, L-shapes and T shapes in the flat brackets and right angle brackets, too. They're pence each. HTH.

I didn't need to go out and buy any after all that.......:o

I'm doing the laundry - it's sorted into piles across the kitchen floor ready to go in the washer - one load down and three to go.

For the only charity shop in Wolves to open on a Sunday, I rounded up four watches, the fancy box they were stored in, found the instructions for the digital ones, a small talking alarm clock and its instructions, a battery operated light and its instructions, a coat I don't wear anymore, some blouses, a bathrobe with a hood but no pockets, a pair of trousers, a pair of shorts, three very bright and lairy swimsuits, a pair of ankle weights and a radio with cable.

After I thought about the fence, I had a look in the garden tool shed (aka the green garden waste bin sitting in my front room) and yes, in amongst the spades (x 2), the rake, the hand tools, the general stuff which might come in handy and the flower pots were four cut brackets.

I had a little look in the cupboard under the stairs and found two lengths of the right screws too.

And the right screwdriver. And a two pound lump hammer.

So I set about battering the brackets into the ground and then screwing the tops to the bottom of the broken fence post. I set about the loose Arris shoes with the shorter screws on the rest of the fence and it barely wobbles now.

It's a temporary repair but it'll do for now.

Is it wrong to be tired?

Edit: 'Flu jabs - as an asthmatic, I'm entitled to free jabs anyway but now I work for a hospital, I get them for free there too.

Having had one bout of 'flu in my living memory and being floored for over a fortnight, I will always have my jab.

short_bird

valk_scot wrote: »

t
PS: And at least 2/3rds of what I'm chucking out from the linen drawer is Aspirational Stuff, like bloomin' C**h K*****n napkins

Plenty of people will be after those CK items...

I have disposed of a couple of items today like the sun cream that stained a white tshirt:mad: and assorted bits of paper either shredded or recycled. Consolidated some stuff in drawers so more items are out of sight and off the floor:o