The Hoarders Anonymous Thread Part Three...Still Sorting It Out ~ Together!

[Solo]

Are you are any of the following? Can you be described as a clutterbug? Are you a hoarder, in a mess, untidy, disorganised, lazy with housework that has lead to something that you now feel unable to deal with. If you are ill and not coping with the housework. If you are emotionally attached to items for whatever reason. If you cannot just ask someone in for a cuppa at a moments notice or dread the meter reader asking for access.

Are you nodding whilst reading any of these words? If you have a combination of any or all of these things or something completely different, please join us. No one here will judge you. We have something in common and we have a common goal. We share our ideas and we share our disappointments no matter how big and our celebrations no matter how small. We cheer one another along and drag the drowners from the depths of despair.

Join us; we don't bite :) Welcome to thread number 3.

I wish that was what my house sounded like nettle 🎹 but nope I barely play nowadays. I even said to DH the other week (after a mini meltdown about how I do nothing for myself at all) that I would make time for it, but I haven’t :(

Aaah baby stuff. We ended up donating it all after selling a few bits and pieces at boot fairs and on eBay. I really CBA with eBay anymore though. This time I’m not planning on selling anything except my sling (as I need to fund the next size up), and as I know without doubt this is the last baby, I am going through clothes as she outgrows them. Anything tatty is going out straight away and the rest are all sorted into size and type, as there are a few recipients who will be getting them (although that partly depends on a couple of people finding out if it’s a girl). Determined not to just have them building up and up this time.

As for toys, well we saved a few bits which are now boxed up for the toddler years but we had no baby toys and I’m trying to be very choosy indeed. I am enjoying being snobby about buying naice wooden toys :o

I am exhausted. Had a nap with the baby. Still exhausted. House an utter tip. Finding it even harder to keep up now that cagletini is having food (exciting but messy) and getting more mobile and grabbing everything.

And apparently SIL is visiting tomorrow. With a lot of notice as usual. But at least we can pass on a couple of big baby things to them. I am not keeping them any longer.

I spent the whole of today (it seems) ironing rolling and boxing up dh's ties He let me throw away 3 which were particuarily manky. They've gone in 2 plastic cake storage boxes with lids and I'll put them under the bed. where someone might see them and use them (dh used to have a job where he had a tie everyday)!!!! I offered some to ds1 but he looked nonplussed, bring back the New Romantics...

I also managed to convert £6 in coppers into a Morrison's voucher, which I upgraded spice/herb cupboard with, bought new herb refills for newly organised cupboard.

cag hope you have a nice nap, life with a baby is truly exhausting, lots of naps are required whenever you can squeeze them in. Don't worry about tip house. Hope you get chance to play even smallest piano piece over next week, I bet it would sound beautiful.

the utility room/tv room has stayed tidy, and the washing is being processed in an orderly fashion.

I tried scrubbing round the loo and tiles in the shower today, not really a success although some mould disappeared, so much effort and not really any change, felt quite discouraged. Threw away a lot of old plastic bottles though.

Also kept kitchen tidy and avoided the silting up the fridge with leftovers and little plates..Dishwasher loaded and unloaded.

I need to tackle the landing again. I could work wonders on it if I just spent two hours there, and remove some impediments to serenity for good.

Ooh yes I also managed to turn a big tin of pennies into £22 food voucher at Morrisons and buy food with it, an errand I had been putting off for ages, using the Coinstar machine. That has been in hall since forever.

Nettle have you tried bi carb mixed into a paste with thin bleach for scrubbing the shower and tiles? I find this works really well on my bathroom tiles. Use a scrubbing brush. Well done on the other jobs though :)

I cleared my sink yesterday of dirty pans! I also scrubbed the kitchen sink which is white - well, it's supposed to be but, it's really old and worn now so, it is really nasty! I think I'll cover it in thick bleach before I go to work, leave it for 5 hours and see if it improves any.
I cleaned all my chopping boards and cutting mats. Not enough really though.

solo thank you so much for that tip, I really cannot seem to find anything that works but was only using regular bathroom cleaners and brute force, which would explain it!

Pans are my nemesis too, if it wasn't for dh I would just get rid of all the baking tins and keep one only, and at least I would wash it IMMEDIATELY. It is the sausages I find that are to blame, I suppose I should line the tin with foil or greaseproof paper.

It is a good tip. Spread it all over with the scrubbing brush and leave it on for as long as you can - at least an hour. Scrub again as you rinse. Rinse well obviously :)

Hi sort of related to decluttering.. I went into homebase yesterday they have such cheap storage!!! Got these and also a Stair basket that's not on their website... Very cheap compared to similar products well worth a visit
www.homebase.co.uk/ezy-storage-dumpster-box-80l-green_p394056

www.homebase.co.uk/oval-basket-natural_p915053

as the clutter recedes the sheer dirtiness of the whole house, skirtings, lightfittings, bannisters becomes more apparent

I've soaked the loo seat
and polished the tiles for a quick fix (will have to scrub them with bleach mixture next week to clean the grout, but for now there is soo many other things to do)

thrown away an old bikini and old towel
hoovered the stairs
hoovered the kitchen
wiped worktops
been to shops for supper

now I am going to put the children's clothes away, the heaps of clean clothing are beginning to mingle with the dirty ones in their bedrooms, and as it is coming up to GSCES/A levels I think I can "support" them at this point, possibly not dd, it is just a waste of time to sort out her room and she finds it therapeutic when she is in the mood for tidying.

Loving that basket mickey :) Unfortunately, those storage boxes are too small for me. I have a stair basket. One day, I'll use it! Although to be fair, I have used it in the past albeit briefly.

Still going strong Nettle :)

I am jumping back into the thread again

Hello everyone.

My house has been up and down a lot, at the moment I would give it an 5/10.

I am just finishing the daily kitchen clean and next jobs are clean litter trays and then tackle the chest freezer !

The chest freezer is a big job. It is a big one and I have used 9 small crates with lids in or but it all got too much. So I know have four large crates and I will see if these can work better.

Not looking forward to emptying driving and repacking freezer but it needs doing.

Wish me luck.

Hey! Babies it's nice to see you :) Ugh! Horrible job you have there! Good luck :)

Babies brilliant to do the chest freezer, I always find so many sad out of date things in mine and it stops me overdoing the lets freeze this soup for later -never . Labelling is important and I never do it!

Dh has gone off for a week which gives me the chance to tackle the hall table. Have decluttered an odds and ends drawer set, put overdue library books (3 years overdue) and used batteries next to the DOOR. Hope I can completely clear the hall surfaces by just decluttering and finding proper places for few things that need to be kept (ie A-Z's and stamps and vouchers)

I'm trying to run up and down the stairs and put things in right place immediately even if it is in dribs and drabs rather than making a new pile of THings to go upstairs which never gets sorted upstairs either..

panicked a bit this morning, so much to do. Need to tidy dd's room after all, she begged me to help by hoovering it cos she is so stressed by Gsces.

one hall surface cleared and dusted, more bits decluttered/thrown away
dusted tops of some pictures
put most ofl the winter coats in a cupboard away from coat rack
washed two more coats

now hoovering dd's room, I just came down to get the hoover and got distracted.

Nothing going on here! I am really enjoying weaning Cagletini (she is loving food, and it gives me ample opportunities for photos such as these...) but I’m finding the mess really hard work. It’s like Groundhog Day constantly cleaning the high chair and picking bits up. There are various tray/bib things that promise easier clean up but I’m really not sure if they’re worth the cash.

Home ed is going really well (lots of Shakespeare and plant science ATM!) so that’s great but I’m not achieving anything in the house. I’m exhausted!

I’ve received a wonderful box of handmedowns in the next size up so I really need to sort through all the current 3-6m stuff. And then once and for all, despatch all the outgrown clothes to their recipients. This means dividing up things and seeing who wants what. But then it will be done. After this things will be simpler as I will know if my relative is having a girl or not and can either keep things aside or donate immediately.

Cag I love any reason to see your beautiful daughter. What a cutie :)

I did part one of the chest freezer and proud that I got that far.

1. Emptied it all.
2. Scraped as much ice off the walls as possible.
3. Brushed up all loose ice from bottom.
4. Figured out that I could fit in 4 big crates two wired baskets and two small baskets in the freezer.
5. Filled wired baskets, crates and baskets with food in categories.
6. Bagged up food which needed throwing for various reasons.
7. Closed lid :)

Feel much better that job is done. Plenty of space for the potatoes I intend to freeze tomorrow and the fish pie I intend to make too, lol

Tomorrow I need to go through each crate and organise and check I can't chuck more :)

Cag it is a very trying stage of housekeeping!! I used those soft polyester cape thingies, that cover your arms too. I think my kids were very fussy too, so that made things worse, lots of food put out that wasn't eaten and thrown down or smeared everywhere. picnics are the way to go (outside if possible) my mum had 4 and the more picnics (rain or shine) the happier she was, I now realise this was entirely due to washing up ishoos

I'm tired today, didn't get to bed at a proper hour and a bit defeated despite this beautiful weather and calm good tempered children most of whom are out of the house today Husband away for a week which is cue for my sleep patterns to be disrupted, partly due to my own inability to get up early (I do it, but I don't like it!)

Plan is to take the rubbish to the tip, that's several weeks I've been saying it, but today I WILL. our neighbour's big tree was cut down yesterday so that should be a cue for me to sort out the front garden which I can now plant properly, as the tree isn't depriving everything of light and water. However, the planting is procrastination thoughts, it is the rubbish I need to deal with...FIRST Step walk to the car, with horrid bags, and squelchy old stuff.

and in order to focus on the rubbish I am not going to do the washing up, which is further distraction..

Cag :) Gorgeous pics!!

Well, I've just found out that one of my sheds floor has collapsed. Great! Another thing to add to the list of the house falling apart!

Go Nettle :) You can do it!

er, did the washing up and swept the floor and put washing on

well, it looks better inside certainly

I have a derelict mini shed, it took us several years to deal with and eventually recycle (someone took it away and reassembled it on freecycle) the old shed. Even one small shed now is too much for me, it just attracts junk. Mantra is declutter then mend/repair/renovate.

I'm going to do the front garden now, promise, and not get waylaid by the back garden.

www.youtube.com/c/OfficialHayleyLeitch?sub_confirmation=1

This lady was on Obsessive compulsive cleaners, and she has a You Tube Channel, she has been a great help to me! I would recommend!

A car load of rubbish has gone to the tip, yay!! that took me 2 hours of evil smelling slime and prickly branches and I've had to put all my clothes in the wash. I broke it down into tiny steps and kept pausing and trying not to panic, once I had it in the car I felt I was onto the home stretch (only to have a bin liner collapse on me at the tip)

Feel fantastic now!!! And I even threw away some "useful things" without too much difficulty kept one handy dustbin though time is short, life is for living not worrying about all these things.

Also managed to find a Kashuo Ishiguro (sp?) first edition and two Elizabethan history text books in the paper recycling at the tip(they just pulp books there) so I rewarded my efforts with those..

now am going to sweep front garden, thick with silted up leaves etc and try and put the main bins back into the alley instead of next to front gate (everything was blocked so I could never hide them strategically before)

Thanks robindl I will have a look.

Nettle that's great! :) Well done.

I've just done one wash load and put another in on timer for the morning.