KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Went to bed about 9.30 pm last night and slept better than I have for the past three nights. Still coughing like a 60-a-day smoker, tho.

Yestereve, started one of the books from the To-Be-Reads, which is actually my brother's and which I've had on loan, shamefully, since August 2016. Will read that then take it back when I next visit, which will probably me about mid-Feb now.

Also had a LBM about a black bag which I got from Nan's, one of those generic plain rectangular nylon shoppers/ shoulderbags. Millions of them about with slight variations. Decided to use it as my work-bag as it's here, nice and anonymous and not presently being used for anything else. Bit classier than the present plastic bag-for-life, hey?

Refuse and recycling will be into the communal bins on my way out of the block but can't think that I'll be doing any other kondo-ing today. But I have got the metaphorical drawbridge up and the guards instructed not to allow any kipple onto the premises for any reason whatsoever.

Stopping Stuff coming into the home is a good half of the battle.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Karmacat

I'm longing to get going on the next phase of Kondoing - all my laurel hedging has gone to the tip yes, so I'm off to visit my brother in my mum's old house later in the week, to work on the probate documents.

The Kondoing there, though: I was used to seeing the shelves in the airing cupboard with just 3 or 4 items in each pile, but by the time I left at the start of January, we'd cleaned everything in sight, and every single pile was completely full, two feet high! I'm sure a lot of them are only fit for ragging, but I shall take great pleasure in finding out

Siebrie

Karmacat, do you mean that all the other items in those piles were originally all over the house and in the laundry? Good for you for finding and corralling them. Now onto the sparking joy part

We came back from a weekend in my hometown. We took: a tv we were given secondhand with surround system, small bag of rags, cans of foods-we-don't-like. TV went to sil where we were staying and dh set it up for her; rags and cans went to my parents for recycling and foodbank.

We brought back:
- a secondhand bike for dd2 from 3bay-like website for only GBP33
- grocery shopping for items that are more expensive or not available where I live (specialty cheese, nice bread, licorice!, nappies, meat)
- huge bag of plastic bottle screw caps for guide dog (local schools collect them and send them to a plastic factory. The factory finances a guide dog from pup to owner for every 3 tons or so of bottle caps collected. It's about 3million bottle caps per dog )

Everything was unpacked within an hour of getting home, and half an hour later all the meat and bread was packaged and in the freezer.

Karmacat

Siebrie wrote: »

Karmacat, do you mean that all the other items in those piles were originally all over the house and in the laundry? Good for you for finding and corralling them. Now onto the sparking joy part

Exactly that, Siebrie - it wasn't usually quite that bad, but with the three of us staying there for days at a time, plus the needs of the carers in looking after mum in the last few days, things had got completely chaotic - as long as there was enough clean stuff for my mum, we didn't care where things were.

I'm now acknowledged within the family as the person who does exactly what you describe - finding and corralling :j I've mentioned kondoing, and sparking joy, and the principle of putting like with like to consider what you need has indeed filtered to my sister, but my brother is still fair game for the kondo propaganda

Save

LizzieR

Just seen this and thought it worth a share. Terrible thing to have happened.


https://uk.yahoo.com/news/family-are-crushed-to-death-by-their-stash-of-clothes-that-forced-flat-to-cave-in-114531800.html

ivyleaf

GreyQueen wrote: »

Will do if it comes to that, hun, and thanks for the good wishes. I've had a jab against pneumonia a handful of years ago, dunno if that would make a difference?

This particular grotty cough has been circuling around my office and laying low even the twenty-somethings with no pre-existing medical conditions, so not surprising it caught up with me.

I'm not sure tbh, the info on the 'net is a bit confusing - some authorities saying one one jab will ever be needed (which is what OH and I were told), others saying it needs re-doing after 5-10 years...and apparently it doesn't protect against viral pneumonia. I'm a bit confused now Apologies if I've confused you as well!

GreyQueen

LizzieR wrote: »

Just seen this and thought it worth a share. Terrible thing to have happened.


https://uk.yahoo.com/news/family-are-crushed-to-death-by-their-stash-of-clothes-that-forced-flat-to-cave-in-114531800.html

I saw that earlier today. What a horrible, horrible thing, that poor teenage girl has lost her entire family. Mind-blowing thing to have happened.

Clutter sometimes, in very extreme circumstances, actually kills people. Oftentimes, the injuries are more minor but insidious, racking up a series of lumps and bumps over time.

There's also the injuries to self-esteem, the family relationships, to social life (the dreaded CHAOS; can't have anyone over syndrome).

ivyleaf, don't worry about it, if I feel it's necessary, I'll get me to a doctor. Otherwise, I am just practising my smoker's cough and husky voice. My natural vocal pitch is quite low and a sore throat drops it an octave - get the funniest reactions on the phones sometimes from men who should have more sense, lol.

SparksAlive

I posted here recently as I'm moving into my first home had a bit of an experience with one of my neighbours vs. my plan to not accumulate stuff 'just in case' already!


I had my sofas delivered and one of my new neighbours, a little old lady who seems very friendly (although alarmingly eager to share every detail of her life with me, including bowel problems...) was outside trimming her hedges at the time. She saw the men unwrapping my sofas from the protective plastic and came over to tell me I should hang onto it and put it in my loft so if I move in the future, it can be reused.


I can see the logic in this, but the sofas I've bought aren't delicate or likely to show the dirt easily (I have a cat, I had to pick something hardwearing). So I nodded along for a while but then said I just didn't have the space. She didn't look very impressed and tried to argue about it a bit, but luckily once the men got the sofa inside I had an excuse to run away.


It's definitely difficult to get rid of the 'I might need this' mind set. I had carpets fitted upstairs last week and was left with several offcuts, some of them quite large. Even though they're unlikely to actually be useful (too small to ever re-carpet a room with), I still felt a pang when driving them to the recycling centre. All they would have done is take up space in my loft, but it's so hard to throw out stuff that's brand new like that!

GreyQueen

I started reading your post and was running ahead of myself, imagining that your neighbour was going to ask you for the plastic wrapping to make a cloche or greenhouse arrangement for her plants.

I think you've made the right decisions about both the wrapping and the carpet off-cuts. I know my parents have the offcuts from the hallway-stair-landing carpet in their loft, mostly no more than a few inches wide by a couple of foot long. They've been up there for over 30 years and not been needed, never will be needed and are just clutter.

However, when I've remarked on them, they're being saved for Justin (!)

[Deleted User]

I am glad you have turned the corner GQ and are on the mend

sparksalive, I am glad I don`t have a woman like that next door to me, they are far more subtle here, lol. We all know what is going on and watch for signs of illness or need but no-one is in each others faces. I can see you having to go out when the coast is clear for a quick getaway but I bet she has a heart of gold and a lot of time to herself

Went to costco yesterday and was very proud of myself having no inclination to buy anything permanent, same today at sainsburys. I think the MK way is ingrained and I love her for it. I think my next big MK session will happen when I swap to my spring/summer wardrobe.