Hoarding...not just on TV

lostinrates

Cat501 wrote: »

:)I do that too - but I only give them to a very, very select few after not getting some back:mad:

i let them go to friends and don't want'em back. The loans are different, and really they do only go to very few people indeed.

Re travelling....the stuff did not stop us, we put it all in store, i think that is part of the problem, we stored this rubbish so it must have some worth :rotfl:

The critters and my health stop me travelling now though.

blossomhill_2

Byatt wrote: »

Blossom, I hope I can feel that way too one day. It would be nice to be able to invite people in when they call...as it is, I half close the door, and seem very rude at times.

That is how I was! Or just didn't answer. One tip - don't wait for it all to be perfect before you do it, or you will be too old to enjoy your friends, Make sure the kettle is gleaming, cups are clean and milk is coming from a clean fridge, then if you have to move a pile or two for them to sit down it won't matter. If you feel a little embarrassed then use that to help you gain the determination to improve for next time

Useful tip is to take a photo of your rooms, so you see what others see and can plan how to tackle them, when you are elsewhere

lostinrates

W.sybil, i have downloaded that kindle app. But i cannot work out how to use it, for free books or for new books to buy. I just get a bit panicky. I would certainly switch to the quick read paperbacks on kindle to try it.

Valli

lostinrates wrote: »

Neither! I will almost certainly looks at all of them again (or for the first time in the case of some of the new arrivals) but i want them on shelves not in the corners (and middles) , but cannot have them one shelves till the builders have been in and out, so autumn.

Books bring to my life. I will do without electricity before books. I am not a kindle user, and i think, for me, reading is more than the words, but the smell, the crumpled pages, the way books fall open at the most useful page.

I thought that and had NO DESIRE for a kindle - I was given one for christmas - and when I look at how many books are on it ...no dusting...and you can get FREE books:D:D

Byatt

blossomhill wrote: »

That is how I was! Or just didn't answer. One tip - don't wait for it all to be perfect before you do it, or you will be too old to enjoy your friends, Make sure the kettle is gleaming, cups are clean and milk is coming from a clean fridge, then if you have to move a pile or two for them to sit down it won't matter. If you feel a little embarrassed then use that to help you gain the determination to improve for next time

Useful tip is to take a photo of your rooms, so you see what others see and can plan how to tackle them, when you are elsewhere

Good reminder about taking pics, I have been meaning to, but keep "forgetting"...

The meter reader called the other day and had to come in, it was mortifying.

Cat501

wannabe_sybil wrote: »

As an aspiring writer who is likely to extensively loot historical material, there are no such things as out of date atlases, and I actually have a modern day reprint of Victorian and Edwardian road systems.

Oooh I'm quite jealous of that!

I'm reading "Map Addict" by Mike Parker at the moment and I am seriously thinking of greatly expanding my very very small but much loved map collection. I'm not collecting any particular writer at the moment and I need to fill the hole....:o:o

I have got the Kindle App on my pc, but I have a real aversion to reading lots of text on a screen, even long posts on here are a challenge:o

blossomhill_2

Byatt wrote: »

The meter reader called the other day and had to come in, it was mortifying.

LOL, they have seen it all before - but you can submit readings online to premept them!

wannabe_sybil

Blossomhill - I think you are right in that putting things on a pile to recycle is a delaying tactic. I took the papers my late mother had 'for recycling' to the paper bank about 100 yards away and it took me dozens and dozens and dozens of trips. The paper had been put ready to 'go for recycling' and there it had stayed. I am guilty of this as well, but being a bit more proactive. We do not have a glass recycling collection, and a trip on a bus somewhere was often too daunting for me in the last few years, although I am now a lot better.

If you just throw something away in a skip then you create the space to have somewhere dedicated for recycling and room to think about it and a chance to think about how to set up a system to get the stuff out of the house on a regular basis. You have a fresh start and can have a benchmark to keep up to.

However, my opinion and what works for me, it is so much easier to get something out of a house if it is actually going somewhere with a purpose. I think it goes like this - this carrier bag of papers that are ten years old have been kept by me for so long that I need validation that they have some value, no matter how small. If they go to recycling then I have that validation. If they go to landfill then I don't have the validation. (sorry to sound American). No validation = feeling bad and probably leads to more hoarding.

I think a lot depends (for me) on whether it is really bad hoarding, or whether it is circumstances, and really whether it is possible to find somewhere that will take all the stuff and a way to get the 'recycling' there. I don't know what other people think.

Cat501

Byatt wrote: »

The meter reader called the other day and had to come in, it was mortifying.

:eek::eek: I've managed to dodge that particular bullet this time - I hope!!!:eek:

Byatt

Well I am on a key meter so don't understand why they need to read it, but the time before, I almost slammed the door shut saying, I have a key meter, I have a key meter, :eek: you don't need to read it. He said, I still need to read it! :eek::o

Having said that, the meter is under the stairs and as I said before, the cupboard is really tidy, phew...but my door opens onto the living room, no hallways to hide behind.

Night, night, fellow hoarders, sleep well.xx