Decluttering

Calendargirl

I took a large framed old family photo out of the loft the other day, about 18inches by 12 inches.

It was my mum’s family, probably circa 1918, faded and old.

Mum had small copies done of it, so why I still have it, I don’t know.

Anyhow, I have passed it on to a cousin, who is going to donate it to the last remaining male on my mum’s side of the family.

Whether he wants it or not!

When my mum died I found an old family photo in her flat. I’d never seen it before. Thankfully she had a cousin who was still alive and she was able to tell me who all of the people in it were. If I hadn’t been able to do that they would have all have remained anonymous to me.

I took a large framed old family photo out of the loft the other day, about 18inches by 12 inches.

It was my mum’s family, probably circa 1918, faded and old.

Mum had small copies done of it, so why I still have it, I don’t know.

Anyhow, I have passed it on to a cousin, who is going to donate it to the last remaining male on my mum’s side of the family.

Whether he wants it or not!

Yes. That’s my problem. My partner offers to help clear out my house but it’s full of m life and my memories. The only people that can throw away things are my ex husband and my children. However my ex always says he needs to find the time to go through a lot of his stuff ( and his fathers which is in my loft). To be honest I think he still can’t move on from the divorce; I don’t think it’s a controlling thing but more emotional, especially as, as the years have passed, we have become good friends again.

It's my stuff and I'm the only one who can sort it out .

Yes.

I get surprised in life[not really talking about me] at people who think they can sort out other peoples' stuff.

Started on the mountain of stuff which has accumulated in what used to be a dining room .
Some of it is in clear boxes and some in big shopping bags .
It's been dumped there since last October .
It's my stuff and I'm the only one who can sort it out .
Bit miserable with a flu bug , but when it passes off I do a bit more . Having constant viruses means that everything has been on hold .
I've found all sorts of mislaid things -my florist's ribbon and more art stuff .
I need some shelves built to accommodate my huge collection of books .
I'll get there in the end .
I can hear the wind whistling and I can't sleep .

Have you got help with the furniture moving Primrose? I hope so. Don't put your back out trying to move heavy tables etc.

It will be good to have your DH home, I'm sure - will carers be coming in?

We are having a busy time with family things so will hopefully be back on the sorting and decluttering in a few days🤞🏻

I plan to start decluttering tomorrow. I need to clear space in our lounge for a hospital bed for when my husband comes home. We mainly eat in the kitchen but we also have a large, round dining table and six chairs in the lounge which will have to be removed to make more space.

Our 4th bedroom is/was our office and clutter room. I hope to store it all in there if I can declutter enough. Fingers crossed!

Wear it, don't keep it for 'best', Maybee!

I haven't done anything in the house since friday, except to find a dice at the back of a drawer to go in a Cluedo set that was otherwise complete, charity shop might like it & my other boardgames.
But I had a really enjoyable time at DH's business today shredding stacks of old wage records going back to 2000. Very dusty, but satisfying - why is other people's decluttering more fun than my own?

I started wearing a pair of hiking trousers the other year that I hadn’t worn for years. I searched for them high and low and when I eventually found them lived in them for months until I found a similar pair online. I still wear some vest tops that I bought from Top Shop over thirty years ago and a shirt that I’ve had since I was 19. Alas, as someone whose weight fluctuates all the time I have to keep clothes in varying sizes. I’ve got a beautiful Laura Ashley coat that I bought in a sale when my marriage ended thinking that I needed to stock up on quality clothing that would last me a long time. I’ve never worn it because I continued to wear my long woollen old faithful coat. It’s a bit big on me now but I can’t give it to a charity shop as it’s very warm even though I tend to live in scruffy old Berghaus raincoats.

I'm always of people who say thst if they haven't worn something in 12 months it goes out.
I hang on to things just in case. In case I might go somewhere to wear it, in case I lose weight etc etc.

Do I need two wedding hats? No.

Not everything is going back into the kitchen.
Repeat.

In fact, it can't because there will be less space.

I agree that we need to prioritise items we use a lot when it comes to giving them convenient space. It doesn’t make sense to have heavy items at the back of the cupboard (or on a high shelf) if we use them every day.

Still no progress here. I have another five weeks of hospital visits so time is going to be tight for a while. Luckily it’s deep decluttering I need to do (cupboards and wardrobes, rather than more visible areas) so it can wait. I don’t want mess to build up though, and full cupboards do encourage that to happen.

Paperwork today. A large sackful 🙂
Some shredded too.

Perfect sense.

No decluttering at all here
I'm still not able to.

So, of course, now I'm thinking "oh, if only I could".... and kidding myself I'd be throwing stuff away with gay abandon.

(As if!)

I havent written that post at all well. I messed up the last paragraph and was going to write it seperately.

plus, i was going to send the first 3 lines of the post, seperate to the rest of it.

Hope it now all makes sense.

Doing more decluttering today.

On the minus side, found I only had 2 of something, when thought I had 6-8.

On the plus, found I had plenty of about 3 other things.
I did find it helpful, on the thread I started about Housekeeping systems, someone posted about how often I needed things.

That has become a bit of an eye opener.
I was giving the same space and accessibility to things I only used once a year, to those things I need access to, and use, 3 or 4 times a year, or more.

Nil desperandum, Allira. This too will pass.

A fair few bits thrown out so far but mostly just piled up and decisions will be made as to whether it goes back again.
A final Hurrah with the oven - roast pork with crackling tonight and no need to clean the oven!

Well, apart from my woks (two out, one in) I've made no progress this week.

I want to get on with the bedrooms, so I can accommodate visitors without having to muck them out. I don't get surprise visitors these days, but it's good to have the rooms ready just in case. I still haven't thinned out the wardrobes either. I must get on and do it, but I am going to the hospital twice a week just now, and it's taking up so much of my time that I can't be bothered.

I know I'll feel better when it's done though, and I'm waiting for a quote to have storage built into the boot room, which will involve more clearing out, so getting upstairs sorted before that starts would make that feel so much less onerous. I'm dreading having my now tidy kitchen cluttered up with all the 'stuff' from the boot room, but it will make a huge difference when I can hide it all in cupboards.

Nil desperandum, Allira. This too will pass.

AreWeThereYet

That's a shocking amount of "spares"!

We were doing really well.DH had been doing a good job clearing the garage then DD arrived with a car boot full of stuff.Some for us to store and some that apparently DH thought would be useful🤯

I still have the empty shelf I cleared though!

MissAdventure

It's strange, because I get really riled by people keeping "spare irons", for example, in case something goes wrong with their newer one.

When I started decluttering I found I had five hairdryers. Only one had ever been used.

Plus 3 hair straighteners, 2 never used. I can't even remember where they all came from.

Kitchen is nearly empty.
Everywhere else is cluttered 😁
Boxes, boxes everywhere.

I just dot around from place to place, aghast at what's become of my once pristine little home.

Every little helps, though, I'm sure.
Better out than in (like some other unmentionable things!)