KonMari 2020 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying

Siebrie

My kondoing has stalled due to working from home, and feeling guilty every time I stopped working to put something to rights, adding to my working day until it was 10 hours long.

Also, the stuff I want to kondo is stacking up in the attic. Husband is leaving for Africa end of May, so that will be 2 suitcases full of stuff (mainly clothes) gone.

Winter items I had kept separate to donate to charity shops, but they were closed last winter, so I will keep it until September and then donate it.

Old, holey, worn clothes are still up there, too, because I didn't know I could disregard the 'clean and whole clothes only' sign on the collection bins, and those are now also either closed or overfilled. I will have to check the one closest to us regularly and immediately donate when I find it open and empty.

We had a rat in our garage for about 3 months (husband kept promising to hunt for it 'next weekend', but he was always gone to visit his mistress....). The rat (the animal, in this case) ate its way through our soft plastic swimming pool, its cover, a floaty toy, the cover of the party tent, and a few other items, so they are all thrown out. We have killed and found the rat (that took us 5 days, because it had died somewhere in the false ceiling and we couldn't find it).

PollyWollyDoodle

Oh Siebrie ... I tackled the garage at the weekend, it had got in a real mess in there, and I found the rats have eaten part of my tent. I’m very cross because if I had packed it up properly it wouldn’t have happened, I can patch it but it’s quite an expensive tent! I don’t know why they seem to like plastic so much.

I might come and join you on the “Declutter mind to Declutter house” thread. I’m so sorry to hear about things with you and your husband, although it sounds as if you’re very clear on what you want to do.

I managed to get the house tidy for estate agents photos, and now I have some viewings so I’m back on to it with a vengeance. Some of the things I am putting in the car to get out of the way, pet bedding (apparently its best if you make the house look as if no animals live there) and bowls, spare coats and shoes. Despite doing Marie Kondo I still don’t seem to have homes for everything, but as you say Igamogam, my attitude has changed. 

wort

Biggest change for me has been the change in attitude to the possessions and 'stuff'. I can now see why things got out of hand at times but there is no point dwelling on it. It happened and now it doesnt. I have changed. If nothing else the last 12 months have brought a lot to be grateful for and that gratitude is not found in collections, things, possessions, stuff! 

 

Igamogam ! How very true this is, I wish I had known kon Marie, when I was younger I certainly would have saved a lot of money!! It’s even harder I imagine for youngsters now as social media is pushing the “must haves” and bombarding them to keep up with the Jones 😞
I am known in the family now as being the ruthless person who likes to throw out ! I very often sit and ponder if there’s anything I can get rid of😉😂

Green_hopeful

Our efforts have stalled. Like lots of others life has conspired against us. However I had another go at the junk drawer in the kitchen. Thinned a few things and at least made it tidy. Plus some old bank statements chucked to make space for the instruction booklets from the junk drawer. Little wins in this stressful time. I also kondoed the side of my thumb on the cheese grater which is less successful. 

wort

Green _ hopeful   one way I found to keep a drawer tidy is to use drawer organisers,  these don't need to be expensive ones, I started with small punnets that had tomatoes and mushrooms in ! They stopped everything rolling together in the drawer, and easy to see what you need when you open it. Also stopped me putting in items that did not belong there!

PollyWollyDoodle

Oh yes, the mushroom punnets!  I ended up using iPhone boxes for some things (that sounds as if I had loads ... well over the years, my habit of never throwing anything out had acquired quite a few!) - dividers or containers are definitely the way to go though, and keep them relatively small if it's a general 'toot' drawer - I have one for batteries, one for post-its, pens etc, I still seem to have a lot of loose ones rolling around but the idea is there. 

I hope your thumb recovers (did the cheese turn red?)

Green_hopeful

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Oh yes, the mushroom punnets!  I ended up using iPhone boxes for some things (that sounds as if I had loads ... well over the years, my habit of never throwing anything out had acquired quite a few!) - dividers or containers are definitely the way to go though, and keep them relatively small if it's a general 'toot' drawer - I have one for batteries, one for post-its, pens etc, I still seem to have a lot of loose ones rolling around but the idea is there. 

I hope your thumb recovers (did the cheese turn red?)

Thanks all for the suggestions. I use rectangular cotton bud boxes which are a good size and a couple of ice cream tubs. Thumb still sore. I saved the cheese, but it did bleed more than I expected. It’s a menopause thing that cuts to ages to heal. Completely off point but I didn’t realise all the things your hormones do for you. 

Siebrie

I'm turning 50 in December, and somehow, that is a significant number in my head, and leads to questions popping up, for instance 'what do I want to be when I grow up', and 'how much longer will I live'? Which led to the fun exercise of 'what items are SABLE?' The answer is: bath towels, beach towels, hand towels, tea towels, kitchen cloths, soap, duvet covers and pillow cases, hair gel, hairspray, combs, pots and pans, daughters, books, knives and spoons (but not forks)

My parents are continuing their Swedish Death Cleaning exercise. Dad is 80 and has prostate cancer (treated, but they couldn't remove everything) and has suspected moles on his head (the doctor removes them before they turn bad, but they come back after a while). Mum is 85 and has a tumour in her stomach area that is not supposed to be there, but doesn't really do anything, either. It grows, gets radiated, and then stays calm for a couple of years before it starts growing again. She has recently started having epileptic attacks, she has had a small stroke, she had a suspicious mole removed from her leg last week, and they discovered she has breast cancer which has already spread to a lymph gland and the other breast; it's not lumps, but areas of cells that shouldn't be there. Apparently, it's treatable. Knowing them, you would never guess they have all these physical problems! They still walk their 5km per day, they cycle, are active in the church, invite all the neighbours around for drinks (before corona...), they run their house with hardly any outside help (a cleaner comes every 8 weeks for the more difficult jobs). It's what I aspire to They had their kitchen renovated only last month, and now have an induction cooker, which is safer than a gas stove.

Siebrie

So, I spent last weekend packing for husband's trip to his homecountry, and have filled 2 barrels with stuff we nog longer need, mainly clothes. 1 Barrel used to contain 120kg (drained weight) of olives, the other 100 kg of same. DD2 (10) has been a trooper! She fit about 400 items of clothing over the weekend (although some were clearly the wrong size and were not tried on); all items were received from colleagues, friends, neighbours and had stored in the attic for future use. She picked out about 70 items to keep, which we/I will wittle down in the next few days. About 50 items were still too large, and are back in the attic.