KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Frogletina

I've been through my memory box today which is a chest and I have decided that there are many things in there that I no longer want to keep.

Some things I found in there were things I realised I did not want to remember. There were wedding invitations for marriages which had not lasted! Letters from people who I'm never likely to meet again. Even work related things that seemed important at the time - they will not be going back but I still need to go through them. Do I need my old CVs? I guess not, nor my appraisements!

But I've got some lovely bits and pieces which will stay in there. At least until the next round. I don't think it's easy to do everything just one time, although that is what Marie Kondo expects us to do. Sentimental things are so difficult to do

frogletina

Chrystal

I haven't got far but I have been busy trying - honestly!

Decided that instead of ebaying things, which I just haven't got the space to store now it's 'out in the open' I'll just phone a CS and get them to pick it all up. Then realised that the 6 chairs that go with the big table are 'vintage' so don't have the fire retardent sticker which is needed. :mad: Had a rethink and decided to put the vintage stuff back in the kitchen and donate the newer table/chairs - anything to get stuff out of the house. :rotfl:So upstairs looks as though a tornado has gone through but quite a lot of junk is in the bin and I have the beginning of a plan :cool:

I've also done an inventory of the large freezer in the kitchen, made a list so I can see what's being used/still in there and stuck a 'shopping list' on the door so I don't come back from the shops with loads of stuff I don't need. Still got the shed freezer to do but I WILL get it done soon.

Think I'm going to donate most of the knitting machines to the Charity that sends them abroad so women can make a living making things on them to sell. I gave 4 last year but didn't have these ones sorted so must make a determined effort to get the 'bit's together for each machine. They also take yarn and I've got mountains of it... bit upset to find that 4 cones of 100% cashmere have been nibbled by mice :eek: Such a flaming waste and all my own fault! Wonder if they'll take the Machine Knitting magazines??;)
I feel a bit more upbeat now I've got some sort of plan of action. :T

Floss

Chrystal do you have any vintage shops near you, who may take the magazines? Or maybe advertise them on Freecycle or Gumtree for free collection?

I think that's a really good plan for the machines and yarn, and you are helping others while helping to sort things out for yourself too.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Yesterday, after work, I popperd into my pal's [STRIKE]junk sh[/STRIKE] err very reasonably priced antique(ish) emporium. I bundled up a whole load of spent fluroescent tubes and he has now taken them away to the recycling centre. They'd been hanging around for ages in the corner of the stock-room, in peril of falling and smashing into smithereens, which worried me.

By special arrangement, I will be going up there this morning with Henry d'Vac and his accessories, to chase some dust and spiders out of high corners where his upright vac cannot reach. No actual living spiders will be harmed in this exercise, but there are decades' worth of filthy webs in some of these corners.

Mum & Dad have visited Aunt this week and have taken some things to her and received a prize draw winnings (booze, so no clutter there). I have also read three books from the to-be-read shelf thus far in 2017. Was a bit naughty and acquired two more late yesterday, but have made a start on the first of those already.

All in all, creeping steadily on through the WIP rug (37 rows til completion!) and then it'll be lying flat on the floor and not taking space as a project.

Keep up the good work, and kudos to Chrystal for her generosity in donating her knitting machines and yarn to a worthy cause. :T

Igamogam

silvasava wrote: »

Anyone got any ideas on what to do with the old topper rather than take it to the tip?

Offer on freecycle? I did with ours and it was very popular. Some times animal rescue centers will take things like that.

One small KM woo again yesterday......the reverse of the woo before Christmas which was the speed at getting the tree decs out and up....this time it was the speed of getting them off the tree, the tree chopped up for kindling and the decs put away - my labelled clear boxes have paid off. and sorting through last year:T

I have given a neighbour a box of work related stuff which I no longer have a use for and its more his line. Its been sat in my shed for a year and I dont know why I didnt think of him before....he received it gratefully

I have caught up with thread and just to say to those about to embark on KM joyfulness I say start small. Dont dismiss the sock and knicker drawer as your starting point even when the rest of the house seems daunting. That is where I started and those drawers are still tidy un-cluttered and organised. Folding knickers and rolling socks may seem tedious but every time I open the drawers I remember why I am doing all this - a little private inspiration has kept me going when I have been on the verge of 'oh I really cant be bothered with all this'.......and now the Christmas decs have joined in that inspiration:D

Fen1

My condolences, Karmacat. It is always a shock, so please be gentle with yourself.

Re: windowsill. I wipe them down with an old towel, which is in turn dried by our super duper laundry-mode dehumidifier. The other windows are not badly affected as the curtains are lighter, so getting a machine to clean one window would be a bit overkill. The machine would have been fab in one of my other houses. The bicarb sounds interesting. Does it turn to gloop? How much would you need for a patio sized window ( the bedroom window runs most of the width of the house)?

Am still at a standstill with my clothes. They are now floordrobe as I have been sleeping in the spare bed. ( We've had the lurgies, so sleeping separately is so much better.) Normally I never have floordrobe as all our clothes fit into the closets. It is not visible excess that is the problem. Until now.

I think I'm going to rehang everything and move on to a different area. I'm obviously not ready for this one, but I can tackle other bits and pieces. I'm itching to get into the garage, which I know I can do.

Charis

Chrystal wrote: »

Think I'm going to donate most of the knitting machines to the Charity that sends them abroad so women can make a living making things on them to sell. I gave 4 last year but didn't have these ones sorted so must make a determined effort to get the 'bit's together for each machine. They also take yarn and I've got mountains of it... bit upset to find that 4 cones of 100% cashmere have been nibbled by mice :eek: Such a flaming waste and all my own fault! Wonder if they'll take the Machine Knitting magazines??;)

Well done Chrystal. What a lovely idea for the knitting machines :A. I know that Sightsavers have changed people's lives with knitting machines (Scroll down to the video below number 4 on the list). Hopefully yours will change several people's lives and enable them to be more independent.

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Am a bit cream-crackered, to put it mildly. Me & Henry have been blitzing the junk shop and have disturbed the dust of ages. Loads of stuff on the walls (mainly pictures) had to come down to be cleaned and then we couldn't remember where everything had to go back to.:p And we put something back on every hook and still had leftover pictures, how did that happen?!

And a picture hook came out, and had to be hammered back in, and no one could find a hammer or a nail (and we had to sing part of the Simon & Garfunkel song with that lyric, of course). Hammer was eventually found, if you can call a hammerhead with about a 3 inch broken handle attached a hammer - I have promised to get the pal a new one from Poondlandia, it simply isn't worth the grief trying to work without one.

Oh, and I mentioned the fluro tubes taken yesterday? Another one failed today, so I switched it out for a new one and now we have the start of a new pile...... :rotfl: I wrote DEAD on it in marker pen, to avoid confusing it with the new spares which are in the same corner.

Have decided pal's shop needs a dedicated tool box, so will add the new-bought hammer to a box with the various random other tools which seem to be distributed throughout the building, and hopefully any future projects will be handled easily.

Hope springs eternal, as they say.

Slinky

Deep joy, not, in this household today. OH is tackling his tax return, I'm doing battle with 6 months worth of business expenses.

I had a near miss making fruit compote earlier for tomorrow's breakfast. Instead of putting cinnamon in the mix, I put chilli powder (next jar along on the spice shelf). Fortunately only some dried apricots and a tea bag wasted, but lesson learned!

greenbee

Tree down. Decorations packed up (never can remember how they were put away last year, plus I've acquired some more, but they're all away). 10 horrid cheap plastic baubles identified for current CS collection (must drop it off sometime.

Greenery is all outside and I need to tidy it and the tree out of the way as it isn't collected until the week after next.

Hoping I can blitz downstairs now there is some space and get more things put away.