Hoarding...not just on TV

wannabe_sybil

Just skimmed the last few pages, but I am so impressed by those who are tackling real hoards! Looby - my heart really goes out to you.

Found another patch of black mould. Realistically the house needs to be cleared of as much as is practical, then I think we will need major rebuilding - if it is possible. I am fairly confident that a lot of the damage is because the houses that join onto us are not properly maintained. The hole in next door's roof got fixed after the council got involved, and I think the water company's work may help as I suspect a mains may be leaking at the back, and they are replacing the main (or should be - who knows!) Some of the falling paper/falling coving/crumbling plaster may be because some of it is drying out.

I have three house sized dehumidifiers going at the moment, and they are barely scratching the surface.

Minimalist stuff in house will increase flow of air, and hopefully help. So off to tackle the dining room. It is full of ironing, despite all the stuff I donated/threw it is still choked - not helped by four tyres stuck in the door way.

Gentle hugs to all.

Byatt

Morning all! I've just taken 4 paperbacks and a mixing bowl ( which I have been struggling to part with as it's pink and so cute, but I rarely if ever use it and it was taking up too much room in my kitchen, I just stored plastic containers in it), to the CS.

I am struggling a bit generally again, and seem to be filling up the spaces left by the big furniture items going. It's getting a bit overwhelming again and I can't see the wood for the trees. I have felt unwell because of a new med the dr gave and which I've now stopped as it was making me sleep all the time, so maybe in a day or so I will have more oooomph.

Sigh.

blossomhill_2

Hugs to all - just stopping for some soup ... it's going well using my "doing words" method but a new strategy has emerged which amuses me and makes it all a bit easier; may help someone ;-

I won't allow myself to call pieces of furniture by their traditional names until they are being put to their intended use - they must be called by contents

So the wardrobe must be called "would-be-clothes-store-which-is-actually-half-full-of-items-I-have-bought-cheap-as-presents-several-months-before-Christmas-and-half-full-of-clothes-that-don't-fit"

and Granny's dresser is now called "hamster-food-although-we-haven't-got-a-hamster-stamp-collection-more-envelopes-than-I-could-use-in-a-lifetime-and-bizarre-but-thougthful-gifts-from-foreign-students-I-will-never-see-again-foreign-coins-from-countries-that-now-use-Euros-cupboard"

as the name gets shorter I will know I am making progress

Try it - it makes you realise how ridiculous some stashes are!

Byatt - you will fill spaces you create, at first, because space is useful stuff so you will want to use it - but eventually you will want more of it and see the stuff as robbing you of it - chin up, getting used to some meds is a pig isn't it

mollythewestie

This morning I took all the clothes that I cleared this weekend to the charity shop - I didn't stop to look at buying anything either .

Another ebay parcel posted and another 5 items put onto ebay that should sell on friday - already lots of interest.

DH and I started ebaying our hoard about 3 months ago and we have already made about £800 :eek:, and we still have loads more to go on.

DH is currently wiping the upstairs PC (He built it from parts himself). It rarely gets used, it is enormous and takes up far too much room, so he is going to sell the parts.

Brighton_belle

Monesavingmum - well I am very grateful I don't have your needle phobia as I have to self inject my meds every week I really wish I could think of a way to get you to the GP - you may be living half the life you could if they could check your bloods and sort out any medical issue.
Byatt - are you filling the empty spaces with new stuff, or old stuff being 'churned' (great word/expo blossom). If it is old stuff, then you are still making progress? You just need to empty that space again.
You are bound to have emotional ups and downs during this process. Well done for getting rid of the cute pink bowl. There is no shortage in the world of cute stuff to admire, you just don't need to own it.
And my sympathy re the meds - I have had 6 weeks now of awful nausea due to mine and I too am very tired. I'm declutering in bouts of 20 mins max and then resting.

Blossom - like the naming idea. I am in the process of getting rid of the 'dining room table' because it has never been a dining room table in 10 years, just a 'handy flat surface for storing things on that I don't know what else to do with' table.
Desk has been sold on ebay as has new top for £20:j. Old bed frame that has been stored in dining room for 6 months has been taking up to inlaws who needed one:j.
Next job is to check over the 'two wheeled attic filler that allows me to feel I am virtually fit and healthy as long as I continue to virtually ride it'.Then ebay it.:rotfl:

£800 mollie:eek::T:T

PipneyJane

moneysavingmumofone wrote: »

Yes indeed, am feeling the sick feeling thinking about it! I would really prefer it taken from my hand but have been told several times in the past that only an anesthetist can take it from there and when I was pregnant (after nearly fainting, rocking back and forth and throwing up everywhere!) they actually had to go and get one to take it from my hand? x

[press delurk button ]

I'm a former [STRIKE]vampire[/STRIKE] radiotherapy and oncology nurse, and that's just a load of bunkum. It is more difficult taking blood from the veins in the hand because they're smaller and you can't take as large a volume as you can from the veins in the elbow. However, a competent phlebotomist should be able to do it easily with a butterfly needle.

For anyone with a phobia: often the fear of the phobic reaction is worse than doing the actual thing that scares you. Ultimately, the only way to break the cycle is to confront it by acknowledging the fear and doing the act anyway, whether it is decluttering the hoard or facing the phlebotomist. You do have to learn to control your breathing, though, and breath slowly and deeply. Most physical symptoms are due to the effect on your body of the panting-type quick, shallow breaths we do when we're panicking. Oh, and tell your "evil angel" to p*ss off (that's the voice inside your head that keeps reminding you "last time, you fainted").

(I can thoroughly recommend Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway but the above is a quick summary. The title summarises 95% of the book's contents, anyway.)



[ / press delurk button ]

Scrapaholic

Have been skimming through the posts . Best wishes to all struggling whether it's clearing out or having bloods taken . We're having some new bedroom furniture delivered next week . All the old drawers and contents are in spare bedroom and our room is clear for the new furniture coming . It's such a mess but not sorting through until the new stuff comes . I'm going to try and be ruthless as there's so much clutter in those draws , not just mine but DH's too . He's agreed we need to clear them . It's hard trying to get him to throw clothes out and they can't be recycled as they're past it really . I'm so looking forward to getting everything tidy again . I'm then going to start on my kitchen and utility room cupboards . I've got brasses that belonged to my parents and a lot of other stuff too . Remember when brass ornaments were popular ? Anyway , thanks to reading this post I'm inspired to have a big de clutter . I'll definately feel better for it . Thanks all.

Brighton_belle

Just got rid of an unused pestle and morter to a friend who's husband took it with him when he left. One more unused thing gone and now being used by someone who really wanted one.

thriftwizard

Excellent, Scrapaholic! What is it with men & clothes - mine still has, and wears, clothes that should have been binned a couple of years ago, IMHO!

I didn't get far enough in the conservatory to post pics, though I went at it all morning & most of the afternoon - maybe tomorrow? But I listed a few things on Ebay and sold 3 at a decent price almost immediately, which pleased me. And more stuff's gone on Freecycle. I also found the Christmas lights that I couldn't find last Christmas - which goes to show it's not just shop stuff brought in in the last 5 weeks, by a long chalk!

wannabe_sybil

In passing

Little bear just complained about the house being untidy. He is five.

And just to make everyone shudder. My late mother left over sixty thousand (60,000) postcards. I threatened all sorts if she left them to me, so she left them to my poor brother.

Apart from the vast volume, some are cheapo ones, some are worth a great deal and some have massive family connections. That is what I call a burden. Just getting rid of them seems almost unthinkable.

My brother has had to deal with loads of emotions with this, and nearly a decade later is finally ready to sell them (which my late mother was always fine with).