Hoarding...not just on TV

Gingernutty

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

How do you know if you are a hoarder or if you just have a lot of stuff?!

Do you keep nice well maintained stuff, that is well used, well looked after and has a place in storage that doesn't require a major logistical exercise, Sherpas or ladders to locate, pull out and use?

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

I have a craft mountain and lots of books and magazines but I don't keep rubbishy stuff.

None of us has any rubbish. Perish the thought. :eek:

We all have craft stuff "that'll come in handy", good quality things that are "too good to throw away", old packaging that will be useful for when we tackle that big project we don't have time for, never got around to doing or will do when we downsize, go part time, retire or get a bit more time.

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

I do have clothes that are too small for me though .....

Aaaaaaaaah. What are they doing? Are they souvenirs? Are they waiting for you to lose weight? Are they waiting for a younger relative to grow into them? Are you going to Ebay them when you get time? :huh:

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

I tend to think that the issue is not enough space rather than too much stuff - maybe I am deluding myself!

Maybe you are!

I went through the craft stash today and found dozens of cross stitch magazines (complete with a load of free gifts) and I had absolutely no clue as to why I bought them.

There were a few where I could see patterns or more often the one pattern which I had bought the £5 magazine for and I had just piled up with the rest.

I scanned the patterns I wanted, matched up the free gifts with the mags and put them into a big storage box along with lengths of fabric, jeans patches, cross stitch kits, iron on interfacing, sticky stuff for patches, elastic, a crochet instruction book and stand alone cross stitch patterns.

I took it all to the only charity shop in Wolves that opens on a Sunday with a picture, a clip frame, a pair of shoes and a selection of pairs of gloves that haven't seen wear since I brought them into the house.

I only kept two magazines.

I'm still agonising over a picture my brother gave me (Snoopy, not my thing). :think:

As far as my own handiwork is concerned, I've got an expensively framed cross stitch figure based on a Picasso painting (every time I look at it, I can see more and more mistakes), an expensively framed latch hooked rug (zebra stripes :eek:) and an expensively framed cross stitch of a teddy bear - all of which I sweated over, stored carefully until I had the money to get it professionally framed and now I'm sick of the sight of the things.

And I know no one will thank me if I gave them as gifts.

lostinrates

Thanks for asking spikey hedgehog. I am doing ok. We have a few answers, but not all. It seems the plan is for me to be seeing these consultants fairly regularly, but I am latrophobic. This weekend I have felt considerably better, and I have been saying I would like to return to self treating but the problem is I do know I need access to prescription meds .to me life is not about staying alive, and constantly being in hospital, having everyone stressed, not enjoying life etc etc.
Dh's boss and his old boss are both in Milan (dh is Italian) and they have been suggesting theyu get me over there to see some consultants, but while it's a very kind offer I am not sure it will help to feel further bemused my Italian extending beyond my working vocab.

I dunno really how I feel on average, i feel a bit more confident about the medium term certainly, but this weekend I definitely feel a lot better physically. To orrow I have my friends toddler for the afternoon, which will wreck me so I might feel abysmal on Tuesday! Lol.

valk_scot

I was teaching at a craft event today. there were stalls, lots of stalls. All selling tempting craft supplies in gorgeous colours and all the rest. Drool...

But I've got all of this sort of stuff already, in multiples, and I'm fairly skint too. So I only bought two balls of the fibre I needed for teaching and ignored the rest. I felt a bit guilty though, these fairs are how many of these suppliers make their living of course. So when I was talking to the students I made a point of saying who at the event sold such and such supplies and hopefully made the suppliers a few sales that way. But it's the first time I've come home from an event with so little in many years. :A

Patchwork_Quilt

Well done Valk-scot. Craft stuff is devious in the way it sneaks in!

Little to report this week, but both significant to me. Huge picture of my Gran and some of her embroidery has been packed up in a sheet I also couldn't use and posted off to my cousin. Well worth the £5 it cost in postage. Then FIL wanted a piece of electronic equipment that DH has been hoarding for years, so that was handed over, making a nice empty space in the craft cupboard. Also got rid of some Sunday School resources that someone lent me ages ago by quietly leaving them in the cupboard at church.

Something else that we have done this week is made a start on decluttering our finances. That's not quite the right word but I've cancelled a direct debit we didn't need and reassessed our giving. I've closed about three accounts we're not really using in order to simplify things. Savings will be redirected shortly, if I can keep up the momentum. In a perfect world, I would then work on collecting information on any shares we have floating around and putting them somewhere or selling them. My Dad left me a couple of hundred in the company he worked for and I've not really considered them in years.

Heigh-ho. It goes on.

Picklepot

Thanks to all for your posts and support. I'm sorry i still haven't got the hang of the multiple quote button:mad: so big sorry if i miss someone..
Byatt - thank you for the kind words and for sharing your journey , so many of your comments mirror my thoughts.

Skatekatey - Not patronising at all.. sheer amount of paperwork i have feels daunting, personal information seems to be dotted all the way through it, i find it so frustrating i just find it easier to shred whole pages. Also i have been the victim of identity fraud it was a long time ago but its made me a bit obsessive that i feel the need to destroy info that probably isnt strictly necessary.
Falady ..thank you yes that was helpful

Blosom hill ..mmm not though about cat repellant and the boxes, will try it, hope it doesnt make her go and wee anywhere else :rotfl:
Jo Jo.. Oh yes cat has a plastic fettish too. licks plastic bags and wees on my plastic/tins/glass/cardboard that were in plastic bags for recycling as well:eek:

Spikey hedgehog I could write a book on this tortie.I have had cats all my life but this one has tested every ounce of patience i have. I think she would be 100% better if she would go out but life is too scary outside.She is a sweet girl to DH, DS x2 but for me she is a horror hence her nickname is demon princess. For the first two years my tom cat kept getting the blame for the boxes because my DH couldn't believe a girl cat could be so 'dirty'!! maybe Jo Jo's cat can put her through her paces:rotfl:

blossomhill_2

katep23 wrote: »

won't list everything but have 78 lots of meat which is all at least a 2-person meal portion or a joint which could do 2 or 3 meals for 2 of us 17 pies, 30 lots of fish...

Am I allowed to say :eek: you could feed a small island nation? :eek:
Well done for tackling it though katep23, and saving electricty is a big incentive

I know it is hard to understand other people's hoards - the mention of "interfacing" reminded me of 1974 when we had central heating installed iron-on interfacing was used instead of dust sheets as it was cheaper - enough to shroud the entire house - guess who ended up asking if she could keep it, probably used about 2-collars worth then stored it for decades - I don't expect anyone else to understand why I had to have (rescue) it

Gingernutty, your post is :rotfl: :rotfl: and v true for me

lir - wishing you good health

In fact wishing everyone good health - for those not in good health, don't try to "just do something" - you have a finite amount of energy so it is important that you prioritise - for the healthy "just doing it" can become a habit and muscle memory and get easier the more we do but for those in poorly health it is important to prioritise otherwise you will wear yourselves out rearranging the deckchairs

PQ - Sunday school cupboard reminded me of the one of my childhood - it used to house our hyacinth bulbs and funnily enough I bought some today to force for Ch**st**s.

GreyQueen

blossomhill wrote: »

Glad to know that my years with EH were of some use (EH being Engineering Hoarder, not Errant Husband!) :T


Are you telling me that I have had not one, but two,
man-magnets in my shed for all these years and haven't been using them?

It seems that you may indeed have Man Magnets. All you need to do it get them out for the boys and sit back and wait.............:rotfl:

I can't tell you how funny it was watching those miserable geezers dragging themselves along in their ladies' wakes, clearly wishing they were down the pub, not seeming to be taking any notice of any of the stuff for sale until.... ta dah! they spotted the Engineering Brick thingummy and it was as if they had suddenly jolted awake.

The only time I've seen a similar reaction when someone's boyf was standing in a group of us girlies chatting and saying nowt and apparently comatose and someone mentioned FOOTBALL and it was as if someone had flicked a switch and he came alive................:rotfl:Proof positive, if we doubted, that he was actually listening.

I went to my allotment and tackled an icky job which I have been postponing for months and I feel very chuffed.

I have a lot of couch grass and you can't compost it (well, you can if you like, but it'll survive several years in a heap and carry on growing). So I was bundling it into old compost sacks and piling them on the path of the lottie to take to the green waste section of the tip, which is otherwise where all the leylandii clippings for the whole of my city end up.

But I have a pushbike and can only take one sack at a time and I collected more and then they piled up and got sodden and stinky and drippy and full of slugs and snails and ick and I've been walking around them for months............

Until today. There were 5 of them. I emptied the icky organic matter on the soil to dry out a bit. I killed the slugs and snails on, in and under the sacks. I rounded up and crushed the hundreds of eggs of slugs and snails which had been laid under the sacks. The sacks were bundled up and binned and I can walk up my allotment path without weaving around the bliddy things for the first time in about 6 months.

:j Oh simple joys. And I have killed 68 adult gastropods and hundreds of their eggs. If only I had had chickens to feed them to, it would have been soooo delightful to hear that burbling warble they make when you head towards them with some grub. But they're gone, anyway.

blossomhill_2

GQ why am I picturing the opening credits of Men Behaving Badly?

GreyQueen

blossomhill wrote: »

GQ why am I picturing the opening credits of Men Behaving Badly?

Ummm, I don't know?

I gave up watching TV in 1987 so have very little idea about that programme- sitcom? - so the jest is wasted on me.

You could explain...........if you like.........or leave me frowning in bafflement to the end of time.

No guilt, of course!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You could look for the credits on YouTube.


But I have no idea either.