Hoarding - Springing Ahead

ginnyknit

I always get frustrated with hoarding programmes as they seem to have hundreds of empty cardboars boxes lying around - obviously intending to 'sort the hoard' If only they would chuck the boxes there would be half the stuff sat there:mad:

Few more parcels to pack and send off - thank you fleabay! Bin bag full of bits of fabric and general carp chucked. Am getting a grip of the living room this week and the latest throw is 3/4 finished so will be in the post asap. All paperwork burned or binned since hubby revolutionised the shredder I cant use it :eek: cos the cable is missing. Another bag for the Cs hanging on the coat rack so I can grab it and go.

Went on a short road trip last weekend and grabbed the map book only to find it was an American one which has been hanging about. I will retrieve it and cut out the 2 pages I need to make Ds's wedding anniversary gift ( he got married in Vegas last year) then recycle the rest. The bookshelves in the living room are groaning again so need to sort them first.

Have piled up all the trimmings of raspberry canes that were strewn around drying and put them on the hm outside fire place but have a bit more tidying to do out there. Greenhouse cleaned and started off seeds so much tidier in there at least.

Righty ho! off to put the washer on, 2 loads to do then Im clear again. All pots done and Halogen washed so as soon as I have put the pots away all will be tidy there too....and breathe :rotfl:

lobbyludd

the recycling is tamed and most of the washing is away....

I've made much more mess stripping wallpaper from the ceiling, but the end is in site for this job (undecorating the hall! once done I can get it looking lovely in a fairly short amount of time, but the stripping back has been tortuous).

Have been making sure I spend quality 1-1 time with each of the kids, because they are struggling with various things and enjoying the sun this weekend. Will have a quick declutter out there later. The bumbles are out and I've been enjoying their busy meanderings

yellowdots

Hello everyone

I still read this thread regularly and am always really pleased with peoples successes and hard work but I do realise I can't be a regular poster for the reason I would have to acknowledge and reply to every single post and would never get anything done hehe.

I thought I would pop on though to share a possible solution I came up with for approx 80 Readers Digest mini magazines which have been a massive block for me.

I couldn't get rid of them in case anyone 'out there' wanted to read them, arrrrgghhh. My usual completed listing search on ebay proved they were not worth anything anyway (which I already knew) and the charity shops around here don't really take magazines so they've been piled in my hallway for approx 3 months!

Today I have put them neatly into a box with a note attached saying please take if you like reading and have left the box at the bottom of my drive. Great if someone takes, if not they can go into the recycling tonight. How simple was that

Why is the decision making process so difficult??! lol

All the best to everyone and always cheering you on x

Gingernutty

yellowdots wrote: »

80 Readers Digest mini magazines which have been a massive block for me.

I couldn't get rid of them in case anyone 'out there' wanted to read them, arrrrgghhh.

Give them to a dentist, doctor or hospital.

Charitable friends of hospitals are crying out for reading materials - all the 'slebrity'/beauty/fashion magazines drive guys nuts - they need something for the boredom too.

GreyQueen

I have 'decluttered' all the seed spuds which have been sitting in various containers in my living room for the past month. Chitting, which isn't something rude, just getting them sprouting before planting them, in case there are any easily-shocked non-gardeners present.

Which mean I have Surfaces. Visible Surfaces. We all know that this phenomenon can easily lead to them accumulating clutter but I am determined not to succumb.

Yeah, right; famous last words. But I am starting to turn this supertanker, possibly MV ClutterMonster, around.

There is only one library book on the premises and that should be able to leave on Tuesday, and I am working my way through the stored 'to read' books. By this, I mean the ones which will be read and depart, rather than reference or special treasures.

Now I have lost the pot (or possibly the plot) I have 58 inches of bookshelf, about half of which is devoted to 'keepers' and half of which is for things which are just passing through. For an avid reader this would be a bit alarming bar the fact that Central Library is 10 mins up the road and they have lots and lots of books, none of which I have to dust, shuffle or eventually move flat with. Deep joy.

:T Neat idea about the mini-mags, Yellowdots, and I second the idea that a GP/ dentist/ hospital clinic might be glad of them. Although I'm a woman I have limited tolerance for fashion & beauty mags and would leap on something more interesting. It's a joy if I can find a Nat Geo mag in the GP surgery, so much more satisfying.

I have decluttered 3 lots of potted-on strawberry runners to 3 different people in the past 7 days, with eager hands wanting more as I can liberate them from among the couch grass tussocks on the Feral Strawberry Bed.

And I have planted all the potatoes this weekend, in the area-formerly-known-as-The Rough. This is the image I held in mind when I was busting a gut fighting with the carp, buried rolls of chickenwire, buried tarps and gawdknowswhat last autumn. The sustaining vision, if you like, and 6 months on, it has come to pass.

:beer: I'd just like to thank my fellow travellers here, as I'm sure I wouldn't have tackled this problem without the moral support of you all in the background. I know the perennial weeds won't give up without a fight but I'm more than up for fighting back, now.

Righty, I have a cuppa, and some interweb time now the dishes are done and before bath and bedtime. It's all good.

Keep up the steady work, lovely peeps, and well done us all. GQ xx

Patchwork_Quilt

Thanks to all posters for their encouraging news and hi to all lurkers!

Been to the allotment today, and, shamed into it by Grey Queen, have started another non-weed bucket to go to the tip: all the broken glass, nails, random bits of ironwork, tin cans and broken mugs will eventually be taken off the premises.

Rather worried about the number of large bones I find, though. I think some of the goats kept on here in ages past were simply ploughed in when they perished.

At home, DH voluntarily and rather randomly got rid of 3 pairs of shoes. He only owns about 6 pairs, all of them rather tatty. I got rid of a duvet cover. It was a cream cotton king size number from a well known country-style store that had always annoyed me because the hand-sewn embroidery on the top always scrunched it up, making it hard to fold neatly. I don't really insist on a pristine duvet cover so I put up with it, but then it unfortunately blew off the washing line and got stained with mud. I thought I might use the good bits for patchwork but when I started cutting it up, it seemed rather fragile. So it's gone. I suppose this illustrates the worthy MSE attitude of using stuff up rather than buying more all the time but I wonder if it would have been better to look out for something decent at the charity shop and do a swap years ago instead of being irritated every time I had to launder and fold it up.

It's in the rag bag, anyway, along with a few other rejects. Nothing much else has been decluttered but due to the charity shop embargo, nothing is coming in.

Heigh no. Happy decluttering everyone.

caitybabes

Just wanted to pop in and mention that I spent the weekend at my sister's and helped her dehoard some of the things in her kitchen to leave lovely clear surfaces she can work on. It seemed to be a total revelation to her that you're allowed to get rid of something useful if you don't actually like it - she was so pleased with what we did and I kept mentioning things I had learnt here, so thank you to all who post.
Cait

ginnyknit

Sometimes Patchwork quilt you just have to admit defeat. I do things like that 'Oh that would make a lovely xy or z' but it wont and it will annoy you so you did right. We all have the best intentions of re- using/ re-making things but sometimes you just have to say 'S*d it'

Caity well done on spreading the word and showing your sister how good it feels to make that decision.

I think I have been holding all my stress in and it caused a mega migraine yesterday, today I feel very hung over and wobbly but am going to sit and sort ready for a trip in the car to the CS. usually I go with my bag on wheels but have to take Dd's dining table tomorrow so will take advantage of going in the car.

Florenceem

Mr F aka - Womble - brought home - lever arch files and box files - from an office up the road. He asked if he could get them out of a skip - to take to a charity shop. So they came in to the garage yesterday but have gone out to the CS now along with some newspapers. So we are on the right side of getting rid at least today.

GreyQueen

:T Well done, caitybabes, for helping to shift your sister's view. It's amazing how a little nudge can open someone's eyes to a new way of doing things.

I've had to learn that just because I like something, I can't have it. It's not ususally an affordability issue, not because I'm rich, but because what I want is ususally a chazzer or carbooty item for pence or a few pounds at the most.

No, it's a space issue. If something new comes into an already well-equipped and very small home then, to prevent insanity, something has to go out. And do I like the new thing more than the thing I am intending to evict? If the answer is no, or not sure........well, I can leave the new thing there.

It's tough because I'm a very visual person with a background in design. I like pics and objects d'art and nice textiles and could really go to town on that sort of stuff. But I also like to have areas of blank wall to rest my eyes on, and enjoy the crispness of the doorjamb contrasting with the wall or the edge of a piece of furniture against another wall. It there was stuff hanging all over the place I wouldn't have that.

I wasn't being melodramatic about that TV prog, those ornaments really did freak me out. Stuff everywhere, breakable stuff.......ick. Reminds me of one of my late uncle's comments on ornaments; dust gatherers. As if the cheeky beggar had ever dusted anything in his life.

Past 48 hours have been very busy with me running in and out of my life due to evening activities after work. I promise to stay at home tonight and may start a sewing project which has been pending for weeks.

I did get the last library book off the premises yesterday, plus finished a book I got last week just to read, and that it now the start of the next c.s. bag. I'm reading another to-be-donated book off my shelves, part of a stash which have been there anything from two years to two months. I'm finding it hard to resist the siren-lure of the central library but tell myself that I bought these books because I wanted to read them, and read them I shall, and then they can go and some of my 58 inches of shelf space can come back.

The no-charity-shop spell is going well. Apart from food, bills, a small frying pan and my archery lessons, I've bought nowt this month. Oh, and I did spend a few pence on a library reservation, but that was for my bookclub read for April and I have to get that brought in from another town.

Even though I didn't come in until nearly 8 pm last night, I didn't just slump on the sofa and not eat. As the kitchen was orderly and the pots washed, I smacked a meal onto the stove, chucked what I was wearing straight into the washer, showered, made a chatty phonecall, ate and washed up and tidied the kitchen and still had the wash racked and did some reading before bedtime. It's amazing what you can achieve if you are determined.

Keep on chiselling away at it, lovely peeps. GQ xx