Hoarding - Springing Ahead

Happygreen

I've not been doing so well lately....After spending a week at mum's in an easy care new flat with large and tidy rooms I feel like I'm drowning in stuff! It appears to be a lot of paper in rooms that are too small. Today we have no electricity so I'll spend some time sorting them (again) and dispose of some "stuff" instead of being on the computer

pigpen

I've been dying with manful all week and now I am needing to be back in control.. my house looks like a dozen tornadoes have been through!

I've caught up on laundry.. the wind is wonderful!
filled 2 wheelie bins and a recycle bin
sold 3 items (£168) and finished the Christmas shopping.

I have a scarf half finished for my mothers friend and that should be finished this week then I am cracking on with wrapping.. though I am going to wrap during the day while OH is home so my evenings do not have to be taken over by tape and paper!

Hoping to shift some more bits before Christmas..

I'm looking at fabric for new curtains and saving for a new carpet after Christmas.. next big purchase.. I need the fire place in the back room sorting (£160 quoted) and the toilet tiling.. and new lino in the loo.. and then I can start on the next round of renovating... I will have a nice home!!

thriftwizard

I will have a nice home!!

Well done, pigpen! So will I, one day, but it may not be this one...

Shifting the hoard has come to a complete halt here. Mum suddenly became drastically ill and I've been up & down the road to her in hospital 4 or 5 times a week, or staying down there whenever they've booted her out for a few days before having to re-admit her from the back of an ambulance. It actually looked like we were going to lose her early this week, but they changed her medication & she's looking & sounding a tad better now. I've not really had time for anything beyond supporting her, keeping the family provisioned & fed, sometimes just by issuing orders over the phone, and trying to keep my business afloat - ditto! So the conservatory & porch are still pretty ghastly, and there's no room for the logs I need to buy, just in case it does ever actually go below freezing down here in the Deep South of England, where my fuchsias are still flowering!

One of the issues Mum's illness has raised is whether she'll be able to continue to live alone - albeit she's in "sheltered" accommodation with carers & even a nursing home on site. But when she's been below par there, she's felt lonely & bored, unable to join in with the social activities; they "don't like to intrude" when people aren't well, and the staff are very mindful of confidentiality and don't spread the word & encourage people to visit. We can't have her here, because the house is already full and the downstairs bathroom isn't safe for her, with a big step up into the shower. Eldest brother is the only other one who could possibly have her, but his wife is already fairly ill with Crohn's and they only have a loo downstairs, which has a big step down into it. So if it looks like she's going to survive this but not be either independent or a nursing case, we'll probably have to move. Given the sheer amount of stuff we've accumulated over the last 23 years, that is a Very Scary Idea! The only way I can see of reducing the hoard, given almost no time to do it in, is to give it all away; literally have a "Garage Sale" out on the driveway, but without charging anyone for anything!

pigpen

Garage sale and people pay Thrifty.. you need the funds for moving if that is what you end up doing.. you will get a few quids for the things you hold precious.. getting something back for your effort.. categorise so people aren't rifling through.. all the books in one place, crockery in another etc.. so people aren't traipsing about and losing interest.. clearly label everything and price it.. even if you chuck books in a box and write 10p each.. you will shift more at low price than a higher price.. rope that 'house full' in..

I'd come help but its a bit of a trek I guess!

((hugs)) for your mum.. hope she continues to recover

BigMummaF

I can empathise with your situation ThriftWizard, as I'm in a very similar conundrum myself My mother was diagnosed earlier this year with Alzheimer's so I'm spending 99% of my time with her. As a consequence my own home is being tended by The Offspring & no-one has been poisoned - yet! - & the four-legged ones appear to be nourished, but...

I don't know how long I have until Mum needs the kind of care I cannot give so I bite my tongue, grab a spare smile from my secret stash & steel my soul to do what I can for all of my loved ones, because that's what I do.

My Best Wishes for your mum's continued improvement, & don't beat yourself up about what is or is not done. Just enough is plenty for now & anyone who thinks otherwise must be a very shallow individual, therefore not worthy of your concern.

thriftwizard

Thank you both... you have my sympathy, BigMummaF; Alzheimer's is my nightmare scenario because that's the one thing I really don't think I could deal with. I'm not the most patient person; when I was working in a sheltered housing complex myself, I saw some very capable, intelligent people reduced to essentially bullying their poor parents, who could no longer remember instructions or even why they were supposed to be doing something like going to the doctor's or wearing outdoor clothes. I really don't want to end up red-faced & yelling at poor Mum... She's worked so hard, and gave up so much for us; she'd deserve better of me but I'm not sure I could give it. I tip my hat to you, and if I can support you in any way, please let me know.

Mum has shown some signs of being muddled whilst being in hospital, not knowing whether she's had scans or physio, for example, but the docs are saying that that's down to sub-clinical seizures; apparently they can cause brain-fog for a good few hours afterwards. They seem to think she could recover pretty much fully, but at 89 that's going to take quite some time. Hoping they'll be able to find her a bed in one of the cottage hospitals, for that to happen; they've already asked whether I can have her at home!

Caterina

(((Thriftwizard))) best wishes for your mum's recovery and a good solution for her housing and welfare.

I really feel for you in the scariness of the idea of having to move. My DH has recently been diagnosed with a neurological condition that eventually might make him very disabled. At the moment we live in a Victorian house with steps and narrow corridors, not really suitable for adapting. As he is (thanks God) still physically in good form and totally mobile, we are having difficulty in accepting that we will probably need to leave our home of nearly 30 years. Friends and concerned acquaintances all are telling us to do it now, before we are in real need, but we are really struggling with the idea.

I wish you all the best, my thoughts are with you and your mum xx

pigpen

A lot of difficult news for a lot of people.. no wonder our houses are full they are reflecting our minds!

Caterina .. I'm sure in a deep dark corner you know moving now makes sense but the actual upping and moving is exhausting before you even start.. good luck with that decision, it will be very difficult I'm sure!

I've banished most of the shed stuff to the shed.. clearing a worksurface in the kitchen.. I must make a headway on getting some clutter out of the kitchen so the kitchen stuff on the landing can be brought back down and used.. otherwise why bother having it? oooh.. incentive... if I get the table cleared it is perfect for wrapping.. there we go.. a reason to be flinging.

I've sold loads of stuff in the last month £1200 worth.. it has kept us afloat while we have had absolutely zero income.. hoping to get back on track financially very soon!

I have a couple of parcels heading out tomorrow. not huge amounts of money but better than a poke in the eye and it is stuff going out!

mothernerd

Hugs thriftwizard and Catriona. Not a lot to add to what has been said, just look after yourselves - when every one else depends on you it is necessary.

pigpen

Who else is having a fling frenzy this week???

the thought of the fat guy in red emptying his sack in my house terrifies me... where will it all fit when I have just got the stuff we already had in some semblance of controlled disorder???

As a result at least half a dozen bags of stuff must be out by next weekend.. or I may have a breakdown on the 23rd..