Shouldn't think so. I was wondering about all those "guest soaps" that are probably older than my boys. Do they still smell? And who on earth uses them.
Getting towards the end of the great library move. All the books have moved, and been dusted. Just 2 large box files of miscellaneous photographs that don't seem to belong in any album I can find. Having fun labelling them and cross-referencing to the family tree so someone will be able to identify them. The interesting one is a portrait that was behind my parents framed wedding photograph. I assume it's my paternal grandmother, but there's no one left to ask.
I cleared yet more bags of clothes and cr*p from the Dowager's house today; at least some of the wardrobes are empty, but I can't help thinking they magically refill themselves when I close the front door behind me *sigh*
On the other hand I have re-cluttered my bedroom by fetching down three crates of Lego from the loft and starting to sort it so I can reconstitute some of the sets for The Intrepid Grandson... however he is clearly destined to be an engineer as he loves taking things to pieces and putting them back together differently. It's beginning to feel a bit like whatever fairy tale it was - or maybe the Odyssey? - when whatever you did by day gets unpicked by night
I have come to a standstill. I was going full speed ahead and have all things sorted in piles in the guest room, but now have lost the wind to take them to various donation places. Clothes to charity shop, books to library, and books to high school who asked for some that I had. I think it is the lifting and carrying to the car and then again for some distance from parking area to donation spots that has me avoiding the trip. So there the piles lay for two weeks now. The library is only open in the afternoon, and I am a morning energy person and the school is now out for spring break. So I am closing the door and avoiding the guest room and feeling a bit discouraged.
Have you any young relations, friends or neighbours who might help with the heaving and carrying if you slipped them a fiver (well, maybe these days it's a tenner)?
‘A place for everything and everything in its place.’ is my goal. I’m now a third of the way there.
It’s a s.l.o.w job, I’m about four years down the line now (I know! ) but rushing it means things get shoved - which is what I’m avoiding at all costs.
When we were first together hubby and I bought ‘good’ china, and crystal (the latter from a shop in Stratford on Avon, shipped in wooden crates and packed in straw – we felt so posh!). Many a good conversation over dinner with those beauties. But now the circle of friends grows smaller, and dinners simpler. So, we sorted it all out onto the table, and kept 4 of everything.
A sweet younger couple we know have dined off those plates, and after 5 years together have decided to marry. So, they now have service for 7 (we’ve had some breakage!). They are chuffed, we have more cupboard space! It feels doubly good.
Bathroom is still tidy (!!!!!) after what, four weeks? Rest of house still a pit. Hoping to expand tidy area by a trifle this week, but it may have to wait till the stress of Holy Week dies down.
We went away for a week's holiday just as one of the Beaky daughters and family moved back here and we came home on Thursday to discover the results of her decluttering efforts now residing in our house.....
Hey ho!
Good grief - decluttering to a deadline is boring! I want to get the spare bedroom usable temporarily and so everything that's in the middle of being sorted just has to disappear. So it's a question of shoving it all in boxes and hiding it away, knowing full well that this is going to undermine all my good intentions.
It's getting there, though - and I have resolutely "hidden" some of the stuff in the car so I can take the boxes out one at a time over the next few weeks and sort them - no excuses if I actually want to be able to drive anywhere!
I could do with the weather being just as sunny (a good motivator) but less warm - decluttering and hot flushes and warm weather just do not mix!
Hopefully I've burned off some of the Easter Egg calories though.
We now have three piles - one for selling (Two good golf bags and a good guitar). One for charity shops and one for the skip.
We are hiring a skip next week for all the garden and shed tat, so we decided now was the time to do the loft. I’m going through the spare bedroom tomorrow.
Good on you, Boogie! Just remember, with your impending grannyhood, think before you ditch things like cots, high-chairs and whatnot.
When my nieces and nephews were little* there was always a ritual of bringing such things down from the attic (and putting breakable things out of the reach of Little People) before they came to stay.
Good on you, Boogie! Just remember, with your impending grannyhood, think before you ditch things like cots, high-chairs and whatnot.
When my nieces and nephews were little* there was always a ritual of bringing such things down from the attic (and putting breakable things out of the reach of Little People) before they came to stay.
We don’t have any cots etc, but we do have many boxes of duplo, Lego and brio which are still in the loft, in new boxes, ready for grandBoogielet.
We don’t have any cots etc, but we do have many boxes of duplo, Lego and brio which are still in the loft, in new boxes, ready for grandBoogielet.
In new boxes? Wow - what we had was all in plastic crates, the boxes long gone.
At the moment I am steadily working through reconstructing as many little Lego vehicles, castles, pirate ships etc as I have the instructions for. This is brilliant fun as it is like doing a jigsaw in 3D, with all the pieces of hundreds of jigsaws muddled up together. My built-in wardrobe now contains shelves of fire helicopters (whyever did we have 3?) diggers, road sweepers and so on, and as soon as The Intrepid Grandson bursts through the door it's 'Can I see what you've been doing, Grandma?'
This is all 'Grandma's Lego' regardless of who originally owned it, so that other (rapidly) impending grandchildren have a claim on it, too!
Mr. S thinks I'm mad...
Mrs. S, believing that money spent on Lego (or Duplo, or Brio*) is never wasted!
* other wood- or plastic-based toys may be available, but are Just Not As Good
...Mrs. S, believing that money spent on Lego (or Duplo, or Brio*) is never wasted!
* other wood- or plastic-based toys may be available, but are Just Not As Good
Some of us are deeply attached to Playmobil. (I rather wish that the Junior Valkyries weren't, though - I had a friend who was eager to buy some of ours, but the girls wouldn't sell.)
One of my oldest friends comes from a family that our parents used to describe as Bohemian in front of us: when they thought we couldn't hear a rather more harsh view was taken on the unbelievable mess and (frankly) filthy state of the house.
When they returned from holiday one year they found the front and back doors unlocked, the kitchen table clear (something I didn't see in over 15 years), clear sink, empty bins, etc. A note on the table read "You should be ashamed of yourself: this is the dirtiest house I have ever broken into. God help your kids.". There was no signature...
We have the Playmobil Nativity, boosted by a couple of strategic Roman soldiers overseeing the census, and an Egyptian scene set up on another table, waiting to provide a refuge for the Holy Family. If I had spare cash I would increase the flocks of sheep and add some more Romans. The Playmobil Wise Men currently progress from piano to window sill to bookcase en route to the stable, but I'd like to add trees etc to make their journey more epic. And I'd like a Roman chariot.
As some of you may remember from the genesis of this thread (long, long ago),
I live with a hoarder. I am none so perfect myself, but am presently going freaking NUTS as he has bailed on me, leaving me to ready the house for our new foreign student guest/roommate--who had an emergency that is forcing the move-in.
I am freaking beyond embarrassed at the state of the house, and sympathize with the burglar upthread. I'm doing what I can. And it's probably for the good that Mr. Lamb has chickened out and bailed, because if he were here today, he would have opposed every freaking decision I made to try to bring order out of chaos.
Pray for me, would you? Our new boarder is not a Christian, and has made it clear she is watching us very closely to see how Christians behave, and my turning the atmosphere absolutely BLUE while screaming at Mr. Lamb will NOT have a good impact.
I’ve discovered Facebook local marketplace. It’s great! I’ve sold all sorts of golf bags, a coffee maker and a cheap guitar (not the vintage one that’s Worth Money). People pick up and hand over cash - we’ve already paid for the cost of the skip.
If you google there are a whole series of suggestions of how to sell a guitar effectively online, including lots of good photos showing every aspect and total transparency as to condition. Basically a serious guitarist is not going to buy a pig in a poke, they are only going to bite if they know what they are getting.
A week ago I was praying about the house situation, particularly the kitchen, and the fact that I can't seem to get it to be clean and stay clean, what with our general grief and depression plus Mr. Lamb's tendencies.
Enter the Student.
She spent the day after arrival going through the kitchen like a tornado, tossing things left and right and basically emptying the place. There were a few missteps, like when my sterling silver bud vase wound up in recycling. Still, we rescued those. Now we can't find a bloody thing, but the kitchen looks like a magazine.
Oh, LC, I love this. It is likely for the best but will take a little while to find your new equilibrium. I hate change like this but that's likely the biggest part of the problem. Tell her you hate her but you love her for it. And ask her if she wants to come study in Canada. I know a house where she could be content for quite a while.
LC, it strikes me that your student would probably be glad to hear you turn the air blue. It's always a relief to discover that your hosts are human. If you want to send her over the Pond, I could let her loose on L1's bedroom. Chances are, she'd never be seen again.
I have come to a standstill... So I am closing the door and avoiding the guest room and feeling a bit discouraged.
Will any of the charity shops pick up any of your items? Some of ours will, especially if you have large amounts of items. Might be an option...best of luck to you.
I have come to a standstill... So I am closing the door and avoiding the guest room and feeling a bit discouraged.
Will any of the charity shops pick up any of your items? Some of ours will, especially if you have large amounts of items. Might be an option...best of luck to you.
British Heart Foundation are great for this. You phone the local shop and they make a date to pick stuff up. On Tuesday they collected golf bags, suitcases, laptop bags, all sorts of games and bags of clothes.
I have come to a standstill... So I am closing the door and avoiding the guest room and feeling a bit discouraged.
Will any of the charity shops pick up any of your items? Some of ours will, especially if you have large amounts of items. Might be an option...best of luck to you.
British Heart Foundation are great for this. You phone the local shop and they make a date to pick stuff up...
It really is very helpful not to have to carry your iems all over kindom come.
The guest room is now tidy, I ended up putting some of the books in the trash, and was able to get rid of the other two bags by taking them to two different libraries. Each having a donation limit of one bag per person. Clothes made it to two thrift stores over a month of small trips. I feel such a relief. Today I am getting our back deck ready for summer sitting. Cleaning out spider webs, leaves, pulling pots of flowers out from the winter freeze safety of the corner, filling the little fountain, and putting out the chairs, and napping cot. It has been a long wet winter.
Our guest room is getting there. I need to clear a chest of drawers and get rid of it - too much furniture in there. We are having a new carpet before the guests arrive (August).
Later this week I'll be helping a friend box up stuff as she prepares to move into an "active retirement" apartment. I'm sure that when I get home I'll be doing another purge/declutter. It will be several more years for me, but seeing someone else having to deal with such things always gets me inspired... at least for a while.
My tuppence worth towards this discussion is that I had a major house move about nine months ago. Before I moved I had a mega decluttering exercise - and I was ruthless. I haven't regretted a single thing I got rid of except a lid gripper for overly-tight lids. (Weird eh?)
When I eventually moved I got the British Heart Foundation to do a house clearance for me. They kept what they could sell in their shops, and got rid of the rest. I think compared with regular house clearance companies they were very reasonable.
I know what you mean though - we had a fairly ruthless declutterance the last time we moved, as we were going to a smaller house (although adequately, and rather cleverly, provided with storage space). If I'd had my way it would have been a lot more ruthless, but D. can't do without all his organ periodicals from the year dot (which he did do without for about 15 years until his parents brought them over when we lived in Belfast - grrrrr!).
Comments
Getting towards the end of the great library move. All the books have moved, and been dusted. Just 2 large box files of miscellaneous photographs that don't seem to belong in any album I can find. Having fun labelling them and cross-referencing to the family tree so someone will be able to identify them. The interesting one is a portrait that was behind my parents framed wedding photograph. I assume it's my paternal grandmother, but there's no one left to ask.
On the other hand I have re-cluttered my bedroom by fetching down three crates of Lego from the loft and starting to sort it so I can reconstitute some of the sets for The Intrepid Grandson... however he is clearly destined to be an engineer as he loves taking things to pieces and putting them back together differently. It's beginning to feel a bit like whatever fairy tale it was - or maybe the Odyssey? - when whatever you did by day gets unpicked by night
Mrs. S, who has only herself to blame
It would be worth it to get shot of the stuff.
It’s a s.l.o.w job, I’m about four years down the line now (I know!
A sweet younger couple we know have dined off those plates, and after 5 years together have decided to marry. So, they now have service for 7 (we’ve had some breakage!). They are chuffed, we have more cupboard space! It feels doubly good.
To celebrate we purged the fie cabinet!
(Yeah, I thought it sucked too).
Hey ho!
It's getting there, though - and I have resolutely "hidden" some of the stuff in the car so I can take the boxes out one at a time over the next few weeks and sort them - no excuses if I actually want to be able to drive anywhere!
I could do with the weather being just as sunny (a good motivator) but less warm - decluttering and hot flushes and warm weather just do not mix!
Hopefully I've burned off some of the Easter Egg calories though.
We now have three piles - one for selling (Two good golf bags and a good guitar). One for charity shops and one for the skip.
We are hiring a skip next week for all the garden and shed tat, so we decided now was the time to do the loft. I’m going through the spare bedroom tomorrow.
Boogieville is a decluttering heaven! (hell?)
When my nieces and nephews were little* there was always a ritual of bringing such things down from the attic (and putting breakable things out of the reach of Little People) before they came to stay.
* two of them now have children of their own
What exactly is wrong with a bathroom (very small) that isn't full of clutter?
We don’t have any cots etc, but we do have many boxes of duplo, Lego and brio which are still in the loft, in new boxes, ready for grandBoogielet.
Hurrah!
For those who know about these things it’s an Eko E/20, made in Italy.
In new boxes? Wow - what we had was all in plastic crates, the boxes long gone.
At the moment I am steadily working through reconstructing as many little Lego vehicles, castles, pirate ships etc as I have the instructions for. This is brilliant fun as it is like doing a jigsaw in 3D, with all the pieces of hundreds of jigsaws muddled up together. My built-in wardrobe now contains shelves of fire helicopters (whyever did we have 3?) diggers, road sweepers and so on, and as soon as The Intrepid Grandson bursts through the door it's 'Can I see what you've been doing, Grandma?'
This is all 'Grandma's Lego' regardless of who originally owned it, so that other (rapidly) impending grandchildren have a claim on it, too!
Mr. S thinks I'm mad...
Mrs. S, believing that money spent on Lego (or Duplo, or Brio*) is never wasted!
* other wood- or plastic-based toys may be available, but are Just Not As Good
"Man says someone broke into his home, cleaned his bathrooms and bedrooms" (Yahoo Lifestyle).
And left roses made of bathroom tissue.
One of my oldest friends comes from a family that our parents used to describe as Bohemian in front of us: when they thought we couldn't hear a rather more harsh view was taken on the unbelievable mess and (frankly) filthy state of the house.
When they returned from holiday one year they found the front and back doors unlocked, the kitchen table clear (something I didn't see in over 15 years), clear sink, empty bins, etc. A note on the table read "You should be ashamed of yourself: this is the dirtiest house I have ever broken into. God help your kids.". There was no signature...
Alas, no-one else in family shares my enthusiasm.
As some of you may remember from the genesis of this thread (long, long ago),
I live with a hoarder. I am none so perfect myself, but am presently going freaking NUTS as he has bailed on me, leaving me to ready the house for our new foreign student guest/roommate--who had an emergency that is forcing the move-in.
I am freaking beyond embarrassed at the state of the house, and sympathize with the burglar upthread. I'm doing what I can. And it's probably for the good that Mr. Lamb has chickened out and bailed, because if he were here today, he would have opposed every freaking decision I made to try to bring order out of chaos.
Pray for me, would you? Our new boarder is not a Christian, and has made it clear she is watching us very closely to see how Christians behave, and my turning the atmosphere absolutely BLUE while screaming at Mr. Lamb will NOT have a good impact.
(votive)
Be careful what you pray for, people.
A week ago I was praying about the house situation, particularly the kitchen, and the fact that I can't seem to get it to be clean and stay clean, what with our general grief and depression plus Mr. Lamb's tendencies.
Enter the Student.
She spent the day after arrival going through the kitchen like a tornado, tossing things left and right and basically emptying the place. There were a few missteps, like when my sterling silver bud vase wound up in recycling. Still, we rescued those. Now we can't find a bloody thing, but the kitchen looks like a magazine.
I feel like I've had an impromptu colonoscopy.
And I can just hear God laughing.
I once rescued my Grandmother's engagement ring from such a whirlwind.
I'm afraid my student has already heard me exclaim "Shit!" as I realized that the newly purchased angel food cake had ants on it...
Will any of the charity shops pick up any of your items? Some of ours will, especially if you have large amounts of items. Might be an option...best of luck to you.
British Heart Foundation are great for this. You phone the local shop and they make a date to pick stuff up. On Tuesday they collected golf bags, suitcases, laptop bags, all sorts of games and bags of clothes.
It really is very helpful not to have to carry your iems all over kindom come.
**Building inspection next Tuesday!** Yikes.
(running in circles, screaming and shouting.)
When I eventually moved I got the British Heart Foundation to do a house clearance for me. They kept what they could sell in their shops, and got rid of the rest. I think compared with regular house clearance companies they were very reasonable.
I know what you mean though - we had a fairly ruthless declutterance the last time we moved, as we were going to a smaller house (although adequately, and rather cleverly, provided with storage space). If I'd had my way it would have been a lot more ruthless, but D. can't do without all his organ periodicals from the year dot (which he did do without for about 15 years until his parents brought them over when we lived in Belfast - grrrrr!).