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.

compost arrived (delivered) and I've planted up several pots, and made an incredible mess in the garden, old plant pots, discarded plants. Tomorrow I am planning to clear out the greenhouse (I said that two weeks ago didn't I?) feel more hopeful now first batch of rubbish has gone that I can tackle another batch.

front path swept, half..

had some groceries delivered so can spend more time clearing and less time grocery panicking!

so, as per usual I did the opposite of what I was planning...not the shed but ds's bedroom and all his revision stuff.

3 bags of recycling now, dusted and hoovered and disinfected and washed bedding
found cat at the bottom of the laundry basket (it was nearly empty I hasten to add, and a live cat! in there) which reminds me that I can now throw away the cosie cat shelter and cushion stored and needing to be washed, in shed, because they really much prefer anything human.

rest of house in disarray after sorting ds's room, still have loads of pots and pans to wash from Friday, and groceries to put away, and rubbish to take to the outside bins

but I'm very glad I tackled his room, it was so incredibly dusty in there and needed a big turnout before the exams, as a bit of a confidence booster for him.

I've thrown away the cat cushion (very manky but was hanging on to it for some reason)
lots of garden compost sacks
some weeds
put recycling in the bin
put rubbish sack in bin
unloaded dw
reloaded
hung out the washing from ds's bed
thrown away dead flowers
shook out the rug in the front room
churned a lot of music from the front room into the shed (nice shed) as a temporary solution to the revising problem/make space
emptied the food compost
put all the dirty laundry downstairs
moved one of the dustbins to store plastic pots in
now going to try and tackle greenhouse further and sow some seeds in it, that's what it's for after all..

sorted the greenhouse out, and hung up some tools in the shed which is a walkthrough but too damp for electrical stuff in winter. found the shower attachment for the watering can and watered some pots.

Tomorrow, need to plant seeds and disentangle the hose, also sweep the patio after which dd says she will pressure wash for me with a friend. Its very cluttered out there, cannot even walk past the pots without spearing myself on something..

Wow! Nettle you're flying Well done you!

Solo thanks, but this morning the kitchen looks dreadful,

grimy
smelly
pots and pans need washing

and the tide of laundry is not receding

dunno about you, but a all out energetic declutter/big tidy leaves me exhausted.

dd has started the pressure washing and is bringing mud into the house, and most of the patio is still covered in mud which needs to be swept first!!! And it's a Bank Holiday, so I feel guilty I am not making this nice calm relaxed atmosphere for the poor revising children.

lunch will have to be jar tomato sauce with pasta and salad.

so today: seeds
more washing (will dry very quickly)
put big bag of winter stuff in the loft
ENJOY SUMMER LIFE and do what I can do without getting bogged down.

It’s still amazing progress though! Something has to give, can’t all be done at once.

I on the other hand have done nothing. Spectacular lack of motivation here.

Well! I unblocked my drain! Yes, I did. Gloves on, took the cover out having to take a part of the pipe off first and then hand down and pulled out the blockage. Very pleased about that!

This afternoon I've been going through my wardrobes. I can't believe that some of my clothes fit my 11yo Dd! I was soooo slim once!
I've also got a few bits for the C4C bags though, probably not enough. Sadly, I can't put the winter clothes in the loft because I need it to be empty for the eventual rewire.
Dd has been weeding the front garden...well, I haven't looked yet so, we shall see!

Nettle you are doing really well and Cag you can have an off day :)

the joy of unblocking a drain yourself, zero to hero, Solo what a relief

Dd has been mowing the lawn, the dses on the other hand have done very little to help except suddenly to demand sausages when there aren't any, I refused to go out; ds2 has gone to buy them from Tesco himself. We are having Colcannon, bacon and eggs for supper in the meantime.

I've done a massive amount of gardening, mostly just sweeping the patio and throwing clutter away/old plastic pots and trying to ruthless about plants which are past there best. Trying to focus on clear open alley, not distractions of pretty but time consuming pots, which then silt up the through way. My back hurts now and my wrists have developed some RSS from vigorous scrubbing with a stiff broom.

Dd has made a cake from a packet mix, with the usual not washing up to follow..(I did some washing up this morning but it looks worse than ever) However she did cook lunch for her brother, and the other brother cooked his own lunch (fry up) so I've been able to keep going with garden all day. I hate being interrupted when I start decluttering!!! probably the reason I hardly ever get into the swing of it, I'm always being interrupted either by Dh or the usual tasks.

Cag you are entirely excused from all this, it is impossible to do much with 3 very dependent children and a chronic illness, please don't expect too much of yourself. I've only got to this stage 16 years after dtwins were born

I know!! Feels so good that the blockage is gone :)
How old are your Dc Nettle? 16yo twins I can see but, I don't recall the other age/s.

Yes, exactly Cag chronic illness is not funny; mine has been tapping at my door for a while now and I'm trying to ignore it but, I'm well aware that it can pounce unannounced through that door making it impossible to ignore further...

I'm going to have around 3 or 4 hours after work tomorrow and I hope I can do some more stuff. Maybe even get the bags down to C4C!! :)

the eldest is 18, so old enough to be an au pair and do a day's paid work, only he is doing his A levels atm so his usefulness is limited, and I cannot face arguing over small stuff atm.

This morning I've been up since 6 so slowly getting through the backlog of washing up. Dw seems to be showing an error code, I've put it on again. so far I've swept the floor, hung out the washing, whisked kids off to school, made breakfasts, found items, put out the rubbish/recycling, wiped a few worktops (not all)

This morning I need to finish the sweeping of little piles on the patio (the mud I scrubbed off yesterday) and taking old plants out to the front to dispose of, or maybe I'll put them in the compost bin. equally backbreaking but one less car journey. Have decided to recycle my zinc plants containers, will leave them all out the front for someone to freecycle. The alley looks so much better without stuff on it, just one big shrub now on the fence, it feels like your blocked drain now that it is clear, just so much less stressful to look out the window at it - now just washing line and green.

I've got rid of an old coat to Salvation Army

a kitchen tap has started leaking really badly. I've phoned the plumber (who never turns up but I'll give him one more chance) fingers crossed he will turn up tomorrow. Previous plumber couldn't work out how it had been connected, and this is the original fitter who is so elusive.

and I've already lost a piece of paper which had the tap model on it despite my amazing new filing system so much easier when one had little bits of paper here and there

deep breath, I've bought groceries and unpacked fruit and veg but still need to sweep the patio dust piles. feeling exhausted. easy supper tonight, pizza and salad. dw is working again thank goodness. but at least that was an incentive to wash all the saucepans when I thought it was broken!!!

and the hall is silting up again, I am really fighting to keep it under control!!! I've dealt with the post and thrown away yet more recycling immediately.

cleared up the piles of dust in garden
cut some bamboo down
ordered a small desk for ds1 to use in front sittingroom (and replace his existing desk in due course, which is a monstrosity and taking up his entire wall)
cooked nourishing supper (not pizza)
washed some more clothes, removed old plastic bottles and rubbish from the bathroom, put a bin in there too which I found in the greenhouse
washed out litter tray and refilled, used up last of catlitter and threw away the packet (any chucking makes me happy nowadays)
tonight I am going to wash up properly and not create the backlog of the last few days

Go Nettle! :)

Well, yesterday I thought I had 4 spare hours in the afternoon but, I'd forgotten about an appointment for Dd...Afterwards, we visited SIL in hospital, so, I got nothing done except dinner. My washing up is piling up again. I don't put my good pans in the dw and my Ikea stainless ones can go in assuming there is room because 2 of them are like stock pots.
Btw, over the weekend I washed the bed linen and put a clean set on.
Dd's efforts in the front garden were rubbish! Really disappointing! She's not well today so, I've kept her home. I thought it might be hay fever but, she's complaining of going hot and cold; no raised temperature though but, she doesn't look very well at all.

mine are hopeless at gardening but good at mechanical gadgets! hence the lawnmower and pressure washer. Ds used to be dreadful even at watering, would start watering anything except the plants it drove me insane (this is a 15 year old) so keep it short and simple and don't expect anything actually useful..
sorry your dd is ill, hope she feels better soon

I'm plodding on today. Have scrubbed the tiles in bathroom again, tidied up bathroom a bit, tried not to feel depressed by things that cannot be changed like manky ceiling, derelict loo and grubby walls in there. Have also scrubbed limescale off the shower screen, that was very satisfying.

Now trying to keep downstairs shipshape and put things away/wash up.

Threw away two more items of clothing. Cleared hall table again. Folded up shaken out rug and stored under the sofa in front room for the summer (nice bare boards that can be washed down)

put coats out for drycleaning in porch (hope that will incentivise me to take them)

I'm noticing my tendency to just dump stuff in piles everywhere, even when it could be clean and tidy and room has been already decluttered. Am beginning to see the roots of my house's confusion, I feel comforted by piles of stuff clearly makes me feel relaxed and at home. Need to brainwash myself to enjoy hanging things up and putting them away!!

also some more garden sweeping, little and often..

tackling dead plant now at the front. first cut off the branches, then pull out the old root system; it's in a pot. Have another plant to go in its place, and then I can throw away that pot.

things have ground to a halt since DH returned; I feel a bit rude to continue purging the contents of the house in front of him! However, he appreciated my garden efforts and did some pruning to get rid of that tidy look (scattering ivy around in the process)

I've managed to cook a very nice meal at very short notice entirely due to the organised fridge/veg delivery/milkman delivery so I am pleased with that side of life, makes more time for other organising efforts.

I have kept up with recycling and put some big bit s of cardboard in the car and the zinc pots (which noone took, boo hoo, they did look v manky) New desk assembled by dd (cheap simple one) child now sitting at it revising

dw on, table wiped.

tomorrow I need to go to the tip again and sweep front garden again, must not let things slide in the areas I've decluttered so far!

Nettle, I’ve been lurking on this thread for a couple of weeks and can I say all of your updates really make me happy! I am getting some energy from all of your amazing efforts!

We will be moving home in the next 3 or 6 months (depending on mortgage approval and finding a house) and I know I will need to declutter quite a bit before and as I pack up. Sometimes I can be decisive, but at other times I really second guess myself! I hate feeling wasteful but at the same time having too much clutter definitely is suffocating!

I love to sew, so I can’t seem to throw some things away because I think ‘I could make a quilt with this’. And hoard old t shirts etc

I am feeling a bit frozen with it all today. Anyway, I’ll get organised at some point.

Down thank you for your kind words. I also used to love to sew, but got so bogged down with my hoard that it was relief to chuck a lot of it. Also did the keeping for quilt thing, but never had the time to actuallly sit down and do quilting, possibly because If elt overwhelmed with tidying the other things in a house with three kids. Periodically I've bought new fabric but it has become a bit of a "fix" gives me great pleasure but I still don't really do any sewing. So trying to avoid buying acquiring until the house is a bit clearer.

The tap has been mended, unfortunately he managed to put a shiny tap on a brushed finish sink (although otherwise the tap was the same model) Dh said it made no difference and it was lovely it didn't leak anymore. Also booked builder for sept to do some bullding work, feeling quite relieved to finally sort that out, twas hanging over me to replace a loo and move a wall downstairs, I was blowing very hot and cold about it.

I'm not doing any housework todday, I've been out, and it is too rainy, so I've gone back to bed...

down I feel waste can be quite a relative thing. Time is often wasted when we keep things and space and opportunities (to do good amongst other things, or have people over or feel relaxed and happy) so I'm trying to stop my knee jerk reaction to waste and weigh it up against other lost experiences.

sunflowr seeds and basil seeds have germinated! have to keep the momentum in my nice tidy greenhouse.

Also bought some window box plants for the rront after tiying the rest of front up, all other pots have been decluttered so we are just having window boxes there and two main shrubs in the porch. a tenner for the whole front garden, since I've reused the shrubs whih were existing.

A beautiful day and all the children are the middle of big exams.

So I need to keep going with the organised mum stunt. Quite difficult! Today I am going to go upstairs and clear the landing and empty the bin in the bathroom, and dd wants me to deep clean her room. Ds2 is downstairs hoovering up attention rather than dust!

Then, if I get time, I will go to the tip with the garden rubbish. perhaps better left till tomorrow when ds2 is doing his actual exam rather than revising for it

I washed up the pans tonight...and emptied, refilled and ran the dw. Cooked dinner. I'm shattered from the weekend.

Solo I feel shattered too. Not much decluttering or organising going on at present.

I washed up a bit, and wiped round things. I washed some clothes but haven't put anything away properly. Hanging on really till we get through the exams by mid June.

Ds1's room is still nice and tidy though, and I keep removing plates and alundry which helps keep it that way.

oh yes, I hoovered under dd's bed at her request and emptied the bathroom bin.

No decluttering though, unless you can count folding up vegetable boxes that the delivery comes in. And the food compost is emptied into garden compost bins too.

Absolutely fuck all done here. Burnout (from life in general, not decluttering because I haven’t done any) fast approaching!