Apple muncher's number crunching

apple_muncher

Mum had such a shock when I knocked and went in to see her this morning! We were giggling for ages about it.

Dh did a sterling job with tip/recyc runs. Dd and I got to go to the church fair and met big sis there, then dh collected us and we all went to dad's. Work on the garages has commenced, me attempting to clear the route in to garage 1 and dh working on garage 2. We have to access them from the back as the up-and-over doors were dodgy even before I left home for uni, so I am not prepared to try them now!

Big sis worked on the upstairs and dd was so good we hardly knew she was there. Dh and I took her out for a walk and to the charity shops which did us all good.

Big sis returned to mum's while we were out, and mum was rather agitated and fretful. She had been with a friend who is great with her, and had taken her out and about, and who had coped really well with her becoming agitated. So instead of all 3 of us piling in to mum's for tea, we ate in the flat and big sis stayed with mum for a while. Then I came over (dd was very happy for me to go once she realised there is wifi (ie utube) in the flat!)and we've watched telly while I have been manically sewing owls for monday's fair and tuesday's brownies. Ihave had to stop as it is now bedtime, and my thumb joints are hurting. Oops.

Work in the house was quite physical - and very mucky, as expected. And tomorrow, we do it again...

greent

SOunds like lots achieved - but still lots to do at your dad's? xx

apple_muncher

Greent - unless you saw the innards of the house, you simply cannot imagine the amount of gubbins/stuff/hoarding. Yet hidden (very well hidden) in amongst it all are the nuggets that make it worthwhile. We don't have items of value or heirlooms, so the 'treasure' is stuff like dad's certificates, or mum + dad's correspondence when courting. I think you have cleared a relative's house recently so know what I mean. There is no way I would pay someone to clear the house. Big sis would, but only once we have been through it all. But I go through it by allocating it to a pile/destination: recyc, rubbish, keep, charity; and now I'm in the garage: recyc, rubbish, wood (if we stay for a few days, I will join freecycle here and offer it for free), tools (dad's friend gets first dibs and then his friend runs a charity that 'does up' old tools and sends them to needy places/people), scrap metal...

Big sis said that she may take mum up to her's for 2 weeks (have I mentioned how awesome my big sis is? I don't think I say it enough!) TWO WEEKS!!! Think of how much we could get done without mum to 'distract' us... I need to be careful how much I put on dh and dd, but we could stay at mum's, have 'time off' to do nice things together... The length of time at dad's house would be dictated by the daylight which will not be much around Cmas.

I am probably jumping ahead here but any sorting of the house is good. It needs doing. Big sis cannot get away to do it. Anything I can do then helps her as it moves us infinitessimally (sp?) nearer to being ready to sell it. Which means money for mum. Which means care home fees. Which means big sis can go home. Gosh, am welling up at writing that - that there may just possibly be an end to this, one day...

Thank you all for popping by and giving me your love and support. I get so excited when other people post on my thread!

apple_muncher

Found dad's secondary school reports today. Let's just say that it took him a while to get going...

apple_muncher

My school's fair today. I think I sold about £45 of items, so I'm happy. The pta are a lovely bunch who always make you feel welcome.

Dd and I counted up our 'money found on the floor' pot and have £20 there to share.

I also counted up my own coins that I've been putting aside throughout the year and I have just over £70, which I shall use to get some more running shoes.

Dh has exchanged some tescimo vouchers that were running out and got 4x their value for Pizza Xpress. Dd loves their version of her pizza, so we shall probably go there for her birthday.

I am very, very tired. Nighty night.

apple_muncher

A day off. Much needed. But had dd's company as her cold had worsened, so much less of the doing of my own stuff, and more of the necessary availability for her.

We trundled to sainz and I found some snacks for my niece for Cmas, then alladin's cave yielded some gel pens, and a bauble moneybox for my niece - chosen by dd. Dd spent some of her 'free' money on a stamper with her name on it - so that she doesn't have to sign her name on the cards she writes!

We have opened the box with Christmas in it - it always makes me think of the Goode Life episode where the Harrods (?) Christmas hamper fails to arrive and Margot's Cmas is 'ruined' so she and Gerry spend it with Tom and Barbara and their home-made entertainment. It is an 'event' as it means we have tidied up enough to be able to put up the decs. Go us.

apple_muncher

Still only have dd's little tree with a few decs on it. I really do not feel like bothering this year. I have asked dh to be the one to clear some space and set it up soon...

Had the final one of the craft fairs yesterday. It was quiet but nevertheless £33 of stuff was sold. Dd usually then uses up whatever remains and distributes it among her friends. But this year we found a couple of bracelet-making kits (plastic bands with charms you thread on to them) in the ch shops for about £1.50, so she has used that instead.

Our car needs a new gearbox and that will cost us around £600. Yikes. That is about 1/3 of the car's top value. Yikes. It is worth a go, as the alternative is to source a new car. Yikes again. I have started to consider not having a car for a while, in which case I would need a new bike...

I am extremely grateful for charity shops - we source so many of our clothes and stuff from there, eg bath bombs for mum at 6 for £2, and a GAP hooded sports zip up top for dd for 75p.

Watty1

Just catching up. We paid someone to clear Granny's flat as I just could not face doing it. But, years later, I regret that I did not do it. All the "treasures" just gone. My stepfather let a family friend strip my mothers stuff out of the house within a day or so. I know he was dealing with grief but the shock of seeing everything gone and there be nothing my sister or I could take was heartbreaking. Sadly the "friend" felt it was all hers and she had taken it because dad would have thrown it. But it was awful. Tough though your clearing has been, hang in there, because the regret some time after is harder I think xx

apple_muncher

Thank you for writing, Watty x. You are so right about the regret - or no regrets. I do not mind the clearing, wouldn't want anybody else going through my dad's stuff.

earthgirl

Hope you get the car sorted out cheaply. I'd love to live without a car but need one for the work I do. Positive vibes for the house clearing