Covid was quite something around here, for stuff being left out on walls (the tips being closed). I came away with a lot of stuff; a surprising amount new, or not very old. It makes me wonder what goes over the wall at the tip every weekend, now the tips are open. I don't understand folks not using charity shops - there are loads here, not far away, some even collect, and I can normally find one to take what I have (including things like office chairs which I bring home from the work skip because no-one, despite the corporate greenwashing which goes on, can be arsed to find new homes for them. Red cross gets 20 quid a pop for reasonable ones). More enjoyably, this year I have recycled two table football machines which the students broke, and no-one from the powers-that-be could be arsed to spend 10 minutes fixing. It's a funny world.
(Most recent work-skip find - four brand new 1000x700 bevel edge toughened mirrors, delivery stickers still on them. Not sure if the charity shop or ebay will be the route for those. Brand new, unpacked just to bin them. The fact my indignation is probably eccentric makes me even sadder - but there we go).
I was in much the same situation at a job long ago--we did a LOT of dumpster diving there to outfit the mission. Couldn't believe what they were throwing out.
On the other hand, my current workplace gets applause from me for donating all the half-decent stuff
... that they were replacing by giving it to school children and employees who could use it (office supplies and furniture). And they replaced the furniture with almost new stuff from a previous workplace of mine (which is how i recognized it!) that was closing down. Very proud of them.
That's really good to see - so there are still some sensible people in the world. (And as my Polish friend jokes with me - I'd be bored in Poland where people are resourceful and the skips are full of soil and broken bricks!).
When I worked at a certain maker of flying machines in Texas I once picked up some cardboard boxes that were being thrown out, as we were packing for the move back to Canada. I was stopped at the gate and advised that rubbish was company property and that I was stealing from the company. I dropped them there and let the security man deal with them.
That's really good to see - so there are still some sensible people in the world. (And as my Polish friend jokes with me - I'd be bored in Poland where people are resourceful and the skips are full of soil and broken bricks!).
Heh. My husband calls this "being Vietnamese." This is one of his highest compliments--that someone can make a good thing out of almost any trash.
That's really good to see - so there are still some sensible people in the world. (And as my Polish friend jokes with me - I'd be bored in Poland where people are resourceful and the skips are full of soil and broken bricks!).
Heh. My husband calls this "being Vietnamese." This is one of his highest compliments--that someone can make a good thing out of almost any trash.
I think he and my Polish mate might see eye to eye. There's a fair chance they might also find common ground politically!
When we were moving house I felt very grateful to have a load of boxes from a friend whose employer had just received a batch of new desktop machines. Between those and some from another friend who worked occasionally at a health food shop which had a lot of deliveries, we didn't have to buy a box at all. It made a stressful time a whole lot easier. I think I only have one or two of those boxes still unpacked after 8 years!!
Tidying at mine will be a bit out of routine this week as Cheery daughter is working overnights and sleeping during the day. My morning vacuuming will have to move to just before dinner time!
We have just bought a smaller house and have started discarding what will not fit in it from our current house. We've started with what we have kept just in case we might use, but have not for a long time.
When we moved house three years ago from the Manchester area to the Bristol area, we had to downsize dramatically.
We also had to put everything in storage in Bristol for six weeks while we lived at our son's - waiting and hoping for the purchase to go through.
The scale of our downsize is shown in the removal vans. My son and husband did two trips in a hired transit van to the storage place with everything we owned. I kept out of it as I'm not allowed to lift - and stayed, with the dogs, at my brother's farm.
I now work hard on a 'one in one out' policy with purchases. Especially clothes as we share one small wardrobe.
Our forthcoming move (contracts exchanged today, moving next Monday) is not a downsize but, as I think I've said, I fully intend to be in downsizing mode in the new house as we can't leave all this stuff for our children to sort out. We're going for it as much as we can now but there isn't time to engage with everything.
Mr Nen continues with his Car Parts Project. They are all out of the loft now, but yesterday evening he brought down from there a disintegrating wooden box holding Corgi cars from his childhood ...
@Nenya - how about taking photos as you move stuff into the new place (since it's all in transit anyway), and making an inventory of what goes with what, 2026 prices, and (OK, only current for now) email addresses for car clubs etc for help with new homes in the future? Perhaps then you can relax a bit more with enjoying stuff. I know sharp 85 year olds who are still very in the 'enjoying stuff' mode and if I were (lucky enough to be) in their shoes it would be nice to keep going as long as possible. When one is not really 'into' something it can look like a pile of undifferentiated shite, but to someone in the scene, it all makes a lot more sense. Maybe my kids might be ripped off a bit, or might choose to take a low offer to move a lot of stuff in one hit. I guess that'll be their choice - for me I'm OK with that.
(I know people change - I have - and letting things go at the right time rather than hanging on for the sake of it is also a good thing to do. I just though the suggestion might help - I might have a go myself, the cataloguing itself might help me decide what to keep and what not to!).
After Mr P died we found stuff in the loft untouched since we moved here ten years previously. Most has gone, some is still there.
All the best for your move.
Today I took a car boot full of stuff to the charity shop. Brief cases, shoes, bags, curtains, bedding, and an unwanted Christmas gift. ( Nothing from the loft).
A good feeling.
New curtains arriving next week, which will release more for the charity shop.
Will you allow me to brag for a minute? This morning I persuaded Captain Pyjamas to go through his toys and get rid of loads of stuff he's now too old for. We have four bags/boxes to give away, and have thrown out one bin bag full of stuff that wasn't in good condition. And he didn't even complain about it.
Well done for involving him! My mum used to do regular sweeps of our toys and disappear things without telling us - I once went to the school's annual toy fair to find my dolls house taking pride of place on a stall, and damn it, I wanted it back!
Toys and clothes get circulated among my little great-nieces and nephews (there's eight of them) in what usually works out very sensibly, except when one of the mummies' sister (not one of our family) decided to either give a load of stuff to a charity shop or dump it after her child had outgrown it rather than recycling it to the next littlest one of ours! 🙃
New curtains were fitted this morning. I now have three pairs of curtains to get rid of. They could still be used, but they have done years of good service in two houses. I’m not going to pay for dry cleaning, but still trying to decide whether I should attempt to wash them before taking them to the charity shop. I don’t have a tumble dryer.
A fourth, smaller pair are fit only for rags. A blind was meant to replace them but when the fitter saw the proximity of the window to a sliding door, he said the blind could not be fitted. It will need to be altered to fit in the recess. Not my mistake as the firm came to measure up.
The fitter kindly put the ragged curtains back up for me, so I can decently go to the bathroom in the night. The window is on the landing.
We are downsizing, and triaging what we have into what to take, what to give to the OP shops, and what to throw away.
Most of my CDs and DVDs are taken out of their plastic cases and into either thin sleeves in a metal case for CDs, or into a material folder with pages to locate the DVDs.
They are really a backup and proof of ownership as they have been copied onto my home server.
Lots of plastic that can't be recycled. Plastic CD cases were a bad design. DVD cases look like they could be recycled, but none have the necessary symbol on them.
Extra garden tools will be taken to our local community garden.
Landcare tools and chemicals will go to the Landcare organisation.
Books that have no or little memory connections will go to the shire library book fair.
Our neighbours are buying our house and will get our trailer when we have finished with taking things to the 60s house we have just bought. They used our trailer more than we did, anyway.
LKKspouse is deciding what cuttings of plants to take. We will take a korm from the dwarf ladyfinger banana.
I had a Trinity College gown from my university days that I bought second hand not knowing it was not my college's. The local drama society is keen to have it.
It's a good thing our "new" 60s house has quite a good storage area, so we have some leeway in decide what would fit best in our rooms.
I love the sound of your new place @LatchKeyKid and I'm glad your spouse has the chance to take some cuttings from the garden. I wish I'd had success doing that. Our move fell at the wrong time of year and all the cuttings we took died, bler.
I think your plans outlined above sound fantastic. We too have a home server and our dvds are stored in packets which hold the cover and the disc only and we retain them for the same reason you do.
Do you have access to an auction house for anything that you want to sell? We have gotten rid of Dad's stuff that way as well as being major purchasers from our favourite place!!
Thanks to those who suggested that enzyme cleaner for cat accidents. I've obtained some recently and it's proven to be very helpful and I am grateful to have heard about the products available.
I am waiting on some carpet cleaning wipes to arrive. I had seen a particular brand on that famous site of a major river. I did find some available on another site and am looking forward to their arrival. They were well rated and am willing to give them a try to give our carpet a tad more mileage. It is 20 years old so will be replaced eventually, but I don't want to do it in a rush.
Comments
(Most recent work-skip find - four brand new 1000x700 bevel edge toughened mirrors, delivery stickers still on them. Not sure if the charity shop or ebay will be the route for those. Brand new, unpacked just to bin them. The fact my indignation is probably eccentric makes me even sadder - but there we go).
On the other hand, my current workplace gets applause from me for donating all the half-decent stuff
... that they were replacing by giving it to school children and employees who could use it (office supplies and furniture). And they replaced the furniture with almost new stuff from a previous workplace of mine (which is how i recognized it!) that was closing down. Very proud of them.
Heh. My husband calls this "being Vietnamese." This is one of his highest compliments--that someone can make a good thing out of almost any trash.
I think he and my Polish mate might see eye to eye. There's a fair chance they might also find common ground politically!
When we were moving house I felt very grateful to have a load of boxes from a friend whose employer had just received a batch of new desktop machines. Between those and some from another friend who worked occasionally at a health food shop which had a lot of deliveries, we didn't have to buy a box at all. It made a stressful time a whole lot easier. I think I only have one or two of those boxes still unpacked after 8 years!!
Tidying at mine will be a bit out of routine this week as Cheery daughter is working overnights and sleeping during the day. My morning vacuuming will have to move to just before dinner time!
We also had to put everything in storage in Bristol for six weeks while we lived at our son's - waiting and hoping for the purchase to go through.
The scale of our downsize is shown in the removal vans. My son and husband did two trips in a hired transit van to the storage place with everything we owned. I kept out of it as I'm not allowed to lift - and stayed, with the dogs, at my brother's farm.
I now work hard on a 'one in one out' policy with purchases. Especially clothes as we share one small wardrobe.
Mr Nen continues with his Car Parts Project. They are all out of the loft now, but yesterday evening he brought down from there a disintegrating wooden box holding Corgi cars from his childhood
(I know people change - I have - and letting things go at the right time rather than hanging on for the sake of it is also a good thing to do. I just though the suggestion might help - I might have a go myself, the cataloguing itself might help me decide what to keep and what not to!).
All the best for your move.
Today I took a car boot full of stuff to the charity shop. Brief cases, shoes, bags, curtains, bedding, and an unwanted Christmas gift. ( Nothing from the loft).
A good feeling.
New curtains arriving next week, which will release more for the charity shop.
I feel like this is quite an achievement.
Toys and clothes get circulated among my little great-nieces and nephews (there's eight of them) in what usually works out very sensibly, except when one of the mummies' sister (not one of our family) decided to either give a load of stuff to a charity shop or dump it after her child had outgrown it rather than recycling it to the next littlest one of ours! 🙃
A fourth, smaller pair are fit only for rags. A blind was meant to replace them but when the fitter saw the proximity of the window to a sliding door, he said the blind could not be fitted. It will need to be altered to fit in the recess. Not my mistake as the firm came to measure up.
The fitter kindly put the ragged curtains back up for me, so I can decently go to the bathroom in the night. The window is on the landing.
Most of my CDs and DVDs are taken out of their plastic cases and into either thin sleeves in a metal case for CDs, or into a material folder with pages to locate the DVDs.
They are really a backup and proof of ownership as they have been copied onto my home server.
Lots of plastic that can't be recycled. Plastic CD cases were a bad design. DVD cases look like they could be recycled, but none have the necessary symbol on them.
Extra garden tools will be taken to our local community garden.
Landcare tools and chemicals will go to the Landcare organisation.
Books that have no or little memory connections will go to the shire library book fair.
Our neighbours are buying our house and will get our trailer when we have finished with taking things to the 60s house we have just bought. They used our trailer more than we did, anyway.
LKKspouse is deciding what cuttings of plants to take. We will take a korm from the dwarf ladyfinger banana.
I had a Trinity College gown from my university days that I bought second hand not knowing it was not my college's. The local drama society is keen to have it.
It's a good thing our "new" 60s house has quite a good storage area, so we have some leeway in decide what would fit best in our rooms.
Still a few more weeks to get ready.
I think your plans outlined above sound fantastic. We too have a home server and our dvds are stored in packets which hold the cover and the disc only and we retain them for the same reason you do.
Do you have access to an auction house for anything that you want to sell? We have gotten rid of Dad's stuff that way as well as being major purchasers from our favourite place!!
Thanks to those who suggested that enzyme cleaner for cat accidents. I've obtained some recently and it's proven to be very helpful and I am grateful to have heard about the products available.
I am waiting on some carpet cleaning wipes to arrive. I had seen a particular brand on that famous site of a major river. I did find some available on another site and am looking forward to their arrival. They were well rated and am willing to give them a try to give our carpet a tad more mileage. It is 20 years old so will be replaced eventually, but I don't want to do it in a rush.
I also threw out my 16 x 20" BW mounted prints that I had never framed.
Some garden tools were taken to the Community Gardens, which say they have a lot of thefts.
Some friends bought a headless naked female garden statue we had given to our sister in law and retrieved when she died in 2010.
The glyphosate supply I used for killing Camphor Laurel and other invasive weed species have gone to a new home.