Hoarding - Springing Ahead

MyHappinessProject

anirtak191 wrote: »

before

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/x2x98ufe1k065p7/AAAK4XmBSfSfYY9vB2Nyc6bNa

after

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/l2y0rola1sjke76/AAC9muOvZaxlBAjc60c9eF_Aa

Fabulous work Anirtak! I have been following your posts and struggle to get things the way you want them. Well done sticking with it!. I think the BEFORE and AFTER really show how much things have changed and how hard you have worked.:T
A friend of mine who has a lovely house has always been my inspiration for getting things achieved , and when I am struggling , I hear her voice in my head saying
' ..But think how nice it will be to come into the room when it is all tidied and clean...!' -
That inspires me to keep going when I am struggling to keep going, (or even get started...!) So I try to get a picture in my head of what it will look like when its done, and I aim for that, with my friend's wise words ringing in my head.
Good luck with your stuggles to make it lovely today folks, whaterevr you are doing.
Happiness xx

anirtak191

afternoon,
i do seem to have eye to see things the way i want them,
but if i cant get it the way i see it, it usually puts stoppers on anything,
tak emy garden for example. ive not used it in 3 years now, and i cant see me going out there to try and tidy it up anytime soon.
when imoved in i had a whole picture of how i wanted it to look, and even managed to incorperate the oil tank intot he design i wanted to do it.
but when they put the oil tank in they refused to put it where i wanted it as it wouldnt have been to regulations. so instead they put it almost slap dab in the middle. only for me to get told 6 weeks later it wasnt to regulations any more as between that time the regs had changed again. 12 months later i got told that my garden is actually now not big enough to house the oil tank, so they may aswell have just put it where i wanted it in the first place.
i spent a lot of money, and 5 years trying to get it to look nice, but no matter what i done the oil tank alwasy due to its size ended up being the centre of the focus.
i threatened to paint flowers or something on it to try and blend it into the garden more so it wasnt such an eye sore, and got told i could get done for destruction of proprty if i did, so planed to put an arched trellis over.
cant do that unless its metal as it owuld be classed as a fire hazzard, but then even if i did spend the money on a metal trellis i could have flowers growing on it as they are classed as a combustible material that could be a fire hazzard. and i just got fed up of working out there for it to never look tidy.
my plan had been, oil tank right at the back of the garden, with a trellis in front and a little raised garden, then patio the rest where i could put a little table and read during the summer.

unfortunately, i think even if i had managed to get the gardent he way i wold have wanted it at least it would have been tidy, but i probably would have stopped using it any way. my garden backs on to a farmers field, (i stand in kitchen window and watch the sheep quite often.find it relaxing some how,) and the brambles and stingys etc keep comingt hrough altho, i had managed to get some pallets from a local shop and made a fence with them that reduced the spread slightly. but other than that, being in a flat, i have to walk through that is sposed to be a communal garden area, that is directly outside the downstairs flats back door, (yes a flat with a back door, ive never known that before.) and they treatt he are as if ti is theirs and if i put anything outside my shed they move it as if i have infringed on their area, as they keep a gate open, (so i have no idea why they asked the council to put a gate up there in the first place.) witch blocks my sheds door.
then i have to walk through their garden under their kitchen window to get to my garden gate. and then when i am in my garden i am directly out side their bedroom window. so i feel i am invading their privacy, but hten they also stand in their window watching me, and the one sister will contually walk back and fore her garden doing something, like moving a plant pot. tidy their table and chairs, move the spinner flowers around etc. just silly little things but she will also stand there and watch aswell for a few minutes, and i feel like my privacy is then being invaded, and that i am doing something i shouldnt be doing.
even to the point if i do have visitors or someone knocks on the door and i talk on the door for a few minutes she will let the do gout and then stand by her back door with it open about an inch trying to make it look like shes not standing there listening.
then i realise why i dont spend a lot of time out there feeling like im being spied on.
we have been the longest tenants to live in this flat for years, apparently we have put up with a lot from the neighbours downstairs.
they are sisters, both are sposed to be deaf, and i say ssupposed to be, as even their mum has told us they can hear more than even the drs originally thought. but if they dont want to hear soemthign they will say cant hear you im deaf, well the one does.
and we had the same problems any other tenant has had according to other neighbours that we get on with. after we first moved in for the first 5 years we would regurly get letters of complaint as a neighbour has complained. main one being the dogs barking, but they were told that it was continuoise, no our dogs only bark when someone is at the door, as when they neighbours have habit of standing outside our front door talking, yes the dogs bark as they think someone is at the door. and if it wasnt for the dogs we sometimes wouldnt know someone was at the door.
they also compalined that i had put a padlock on my garden gate that i was blocking their access path, so when i went in to speakt o the councl about that i drew a diagram of the gardens and the flat, and they said so its not an access path and they have no need for use of it, i said no, unless thay want to wash their window witch i told them if they needed to just ask i will unlock the gate, so the council disregarded that aswell, but they left it a year after i had put the padlock on before saying anything, and the reason i put it on in the first place was cos i was told they were letting their dog in there in the mornings, and sorry but i have my own to clean up after and i dont want to clean up affter other peoples dogs.

ok stopping with the rambling
as usual ive jumped from topic but at the same kind staying on topic.

advice please.
my kitchen sink.
flylady says about bleach water leaving it soak, should give it a good clean, is that hot water that ibeen told neautralises the bleach or cold, as ive done it both ways with no difference, industrial strength disenfectant. and just incase at one pount i thought limescale, and used toilet cleaner, with nothng else, just that and water. as its what i use when i do the big bathroom clean on the bath, i wipe it over regurly but every 3-4 months i go in and give it all a big once over, with the steamer when i had, and i use the t cleaner on the bath and sink and it seems to actually make them shine better than anything else i have tried using.
but the kitchen sink is new, kinda, put in in february, but the what seems like stains on it seem to be getting worse and ive noticed today that it even seems to be rusting. around the top. and its actually starting to annoy me that no matter what i use i cant seem to get it back to how it was when it was new. or even close to, i know it will never look new again, but i can try and get is as close to as i can.
hubby said if the rusty looking bit starts look worse then we should go to the council.
but should we wait to contact them about it as id rather not be using a rusty sink if it gets that bad to clean my kitchen, i got a bowl with i use most often as i dont need to use as much water, but on the odd occasion hubby has pinched it for something, usually cleaning stuff out the fish tank, and hes either not put it back or got it soaking to clean it.

main plans for today is just relax a bit, but ive got, well hubby got, but cos he got work tonight probably means it wont get done, the kitchen floor to wash and i got the hoover to run round and dry the load of washing i put in the machine last night before i went to bed.
if see anything else i need to do as im wandering around then will do that as well.

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Been dragging my carcass in and out of the flat today on errands (3 separate ones to three separate areas of town) and in between lying on the sofa nursing my poorly self reading a book and fielding phone calls.

Could have cheerfully slept the day away but decided a little done is better than nowt done. Have the place at sixes-and-sevens but have dropped a donations bag at Hoxfam and cleaned the kitchen floor and washed the wall behind the cooker with sugar soap and hot water - it'd got very greasy over the 3 years or so since I decorated. Cooker is now back in place, with its sides and the area underneath cleaned.

Never ceases to amaze me how grungy kitchens get, it's not like I fry chips or stuff, it's just regular everyday living.

Have also done a washload and as soon as that's dry enough to iron, will do that and the stuff left from yesterday's washload. Ironing board is up and vac is out and I'm still tired, tired, tired, but I'll get there in the end.

Pal from elsewhere in the flats rang up at 2-ish and said she wanted to come over and talk about something, was that OK? Said yes, as long as she didn't mind picking her way across the floor......I'm going to get it immaculate and call her back to view it, lol.:rotfl:

anirtak, I've heard that something called Barkeep's Friend is good for stainless steel sinks, if that's what yours is made of? I just use cream cleanser on mine, but it's not newish, so will never look showroom-fresh.

Righty, onward and outwards, my lovelies. GQ xx

Tigersilly

HOARDING STUDY: The Institute of Psychiatry is looking for more people to participate

- They pay £10 for taking part
- For those who do live around the London area, they offer a free intervention to family members and close friends of people who hoard.

Here are the details:

Do you have a family member, close friend or partner who hoards?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to the above question and would be happy to talk to us about your experiences, we would like to hear from you. We are currently running a research project about the experience of family members of people who hoard and the strategies they use to cope.

What will happen to me if I take part?

You will be asked to fill in some questionnaires and complete a brief interview with the researcher about your experience of having a relative who hoards, including the specific challenges, emotional impact and how you cope with this. These can be completed online or through the post and will take up to 1 ½ hours to do.

All participants will receive £10 for time taken to complete the measures.

If you live in the London area we are also running a new group intervention for family members of people who hoard.

If you are interested in participating, or would like to find out more about the study, please Contact us through the website form or you can also contact Claire Thompson: claire.c.thompson@kcl.ac.uk or 0207 848 0733.

anirtak191

afternoon gq,
will see if i can find that and give it a go, i just remembered cos you mentioned it i might have a cream cleaner hidden in the back of the cupboard, rarely use it cos i have always preffered bleach or detol type disinfectants,and i know for definate my nan has some of that powdered cleaning stuff from years ago maybe i can try that aswell whileim looking for your suggestion.
i think it is stainless steel, but looks more like some sort of tin as it never really shined like the taps when it was put in.

got to try an dget my hands on a little bit of manolia paint aswell if i can, had to wipe the wall down hubby splashed the wall behind the food waste with t bag by the look of it and the paint doesnt want to stay on the wall while im gently trying to wipe it off. got marks above the cooker i been trying to ignore aswell cos of the paint wanting to wash off along with the marks. if i had the know how id get some tiles and tile the wall above the cooker completely, not just the couple the workers put there, but id probably !!!!!! it up, and i keep thinking ill ask gramps if he can do it next time he comes and then remember he wont be coming here again, is it normal to still have thoughts like that 7 months after you lost someone?
keep thinking about asking him other things as well, asked my hubby to look up ink cartridges for my printer for me and he said where i do normally get them? usually i ring gramps and ask if this company is ok, and he says will have a look and will get back to me and the next thing theres usually cartiridges in the post for for me. hard to believe the amount of things i used to ring and ask him or ask his advice on

GreyQueen

Hi anirtak, I'm a big fan of cream cleanser. The Tosspots Basics one is just as good as the expensive branded ones, IMO and that of rellies and friends whom I've persuaded to try it.

My cleaning 'armoury' is w.u. liquid, cream cleanser, soda crystals for the big greasy stuff and Astonish oven and hob cleaner. Ain't much you can't shift with that lot.

I got the sugar soap out although it's usually a prep before painting as the area of emulsioned wall behind the cooker had got in a bit of a state. I used the sugar soap diluted in hot water with the abrasive side of a sponge pad, rinsed with plain water on a towelling rag. The abrasive cut the colour slightly (tinted the water, nothing visible on the walls) but I've got Doolux kitchen paint in there and it's pretty darned good. I also used a little dab of sugar soap neat on the sponge to get grease marks off the plain white tiles I have above my counters (just 3 rows, not the wall behind the stove). Easy-peasy.

If/ when you're in the market for repainting, I would recommend a good quality paint marketed for kitchens as it stands up to the grease and steam a lot better. I've faddled enough with cheap paints in this life and it's definately a false economy.

I had the utensils out of my utensil pot and washed that as it lives by the stove and gets a bit greasy. I also decided that the oily natural bristle and wooden handle pastry brush, which I never use and which isn't cleanable, will go to the lottie to be part of the starter for this autumn's bonfire. Colour me wasteful, but hey-ho. And a broken wooden spoon likewise.

Lucy5781

Lucy5781 wrote: »

Have to laugh, managed to get some more clothes that are too small out of DSS's into OH's car boot and his ex is going to give them to a friend of hers with a smaller little boy and guess what........ Two weeks later they're still in the car boot.

Dear god, they're still in the boot and now there are loads of books in there too.... Doubles from his Mother's collection :doh:

anirtak191

if i had painted it i would have used decent paint suitable for the kitchen, but the council used whatever it is they use, hence why its washing off the wall and steam marks etc on the wall above the cooker

anirtak191

i spent the last few hours going through paper work i had allowed to pile up, most of it is now in its own folders and filing draws etc. but i have also got a pil ready to be shredded if i ever get my shredder back.
but what i wanted to know was how long should paper work be kept. i think i got about 9 years of letters and statements from the council, well i dont think ive thrown any that i have received since i moved in here. and i got about 4-6 years worth of catalogue statements.
water bills, electric statements, tv licenses. and i know your sposed to keep some paper work for a certain amount of time, but not sure what they class as relvant to keep or not. at one time i didnt really keep any cos i was too scared ot even open and look at my bills, luckily enough apartf orm electric beforre i had a meter ive never owed anything like that, just owe on the catalogues, we have 3 one gets paid off every year by about may, only order on it for christmas. the other rarely owe more than 150 on it and i only ever pay the minimum ammount so usually by the time ive almost paid it of christmas is round the corner and im ordering again, and the other, unfortunately we owe about 700 on at the moment as we had no choice but to get a new cooker a few months ago and we bought what we actually wanted for once, not something that would just do for now until more was paid off and we could get something we wanted as that ends up never happening.
butt he main one i wanted to ask about, was about 5 years ago we bought a car on finance, and we finished paying for it just over 2 years ago, and we sold it on a couple of months ago. when it decided to finaly break on us at a cost we couldnt afford to get it fixed so sold it as spares or repairs, but we still have the finance paperwork, and iwasnt sure if we should still keep that or if as we no longer have the car is it safe to put the paperwork through the shredder.
whats the best thing to do?

pigpen

I don't keep any paperwork at all. My utilities and bank accounts are all on paperless billing.. I just burn everything I do get..