Hoarder's Anonymous, Part 6

[Solo]

Well, here we are embarking upon part 6 of our epic journey of sorting out our homes.

We are a varied group of likeminded householders that are leading somewhat challenging lives; be that living with too much 'stuff' that we find difficult to deal with, houses that are falling apart (mine included), health issues within the family unit, wider family, or ourselves that makes sorting out our households challenging, to say the least. So...

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us for support, adding their own ideas to help others out, storage ideas, even tips on actually getting those items out of the house which sounds so simple when you say it. Encouragement abounds here, and we do not criticise. EVER! We even try not to criticise ourselves as it's not helpful to anyone.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, don't know where to start, can't be bothered but really do want to be bothered...think you are lazy, just need to see it in print here...we'll help. We'll virtually fist bump your achievements - small or large, and virtually hug you when the need arises, and if you want a hug, just ask because we are here for you. Here for one another because we get it - the highs and the lows, the art of washing up is sometimes our great achievement of the day, but it's still an achievement.

Welcome to thread #6 of Hoarders Anonymous - Carrying On Sorting It Out

HERE

@BlackeyedSusan you've been busy. Anything you do will help get you closer to your goals. I also like to make lists of what I've accomplished, it feels good.

I did two big loads of laundry yesterday. The second load had ten million socks! I hung everything up to dry yesterday evening. I felt much calmer after I'd achieved that. I didn't feel behind, I felt ahead.

I cooked a nice dinner last night, that felt nice.

Today I've bought two replacement small clothes horse's, I have two where the paint has peeled off and they're rusty. They need to be thrown away. But I guess I'll put them in the garage. I bought three flexi-tubs. I want one per child, in their room for dirty laundry. I can try! I can ask them to use them. I have good intentions. Would you believe that I think I own four or five laundry baskets but I can only find two of them? Where are they?

Well done Down. Good to feel ahead.

I have a boy off school again.

Yesterday I didn't get much done.
However, I did:
Empty a carrier bag and wash contents. Wash ex's washing and send home. (I did my washing at his house for ages when my machine broke)
Get a boy ready for school and bring them home again
Look after a poorly boy
Teach boy to take tablets
Cook /heat up tea
did an emergency wash up of a few pots for breakfast.
Ring school twice
Sort charging phones

today:
ring school
breakfast for boy
Top up shop (the fridge is full of veg to eat up before another online shop and I needed cheaper Aldi stuff)
carried 12 litres of pop and 12 pints of milk, and 4 litres of apple juice a kilo of raisins and a bag of assorted other stuff up two flights of stairs. (In several goes)
take girl to school.
make sure ex has remembered to go to work at work so he will be home for DD.
wiped a lot of shopping and put fridge stuff in fridge wiping down bits of the fridge...
Got the spilt soya milk off the top of the freezer. Wiped tiles and stove.
Put some pots away.

Going to get back to it.

I opened all the windows to enjoy the sunshine & put on a quick wash of the most urgent clothes so I can wash bedding on an eco wash straight after, stopped for my morning coffee and now somehow it's nearly 2pm. The urgent clothes have been sitting in the machine for 3 hours 🤦‍♀️ I look forward to my alone time all week because I'm desperate to get organized. Why is adulting so hard?

Not much progress being made here. It’s looking like rain so the wet washing is still in the machine while I decide whether to put it on the indoor airer or chance the line.

I have so much gardening to do. The brown bin is collected this week so I should be able to fill it again pretty quickly.

Hello fellow hoarders.
I've got Ukrainians coming in under a week and I've got to get their room clear of all the junk I've accumulated with a toddler. The garden grass needs cutting and weeds need pulling up. I'm going to start on all the clothes all over the floor in three rooms and sort through what needs washing and what doesn't. I don't like most of my clothes and DD has just had a growth spurt. I'm debating whether to get rid to charity shop/donate or sell them so I can buy things that I do like for myself. İt's a lot more work and faff but I may hoard less if I only have a few bits that I love instead of trying to make outfits out of random bits that I don't like! Not even sure where I will start with all the toys in the cupboard in the room for Ukrainians.

We had the school open morning and I managed to get around just about but then was stuck on the sofa for a few hours after it not being able to move . So far both schools we’ve seen will remain on the list and we’ll register for them . also had slept only 3 h so that didn’t help ! I had wisely quickly done first floor before going since I knew I’d be tired after the tour . I then managed to tidy and clean a bit downstairs ,and to deal with laundry before going to bed until dinner . DH had taken the day off and went to do a sport and can now declutter a bigger board for it back to his moms with a bike DD friend borrowed for the triathlon on Sunday . She managed it all with her broken finger and injured left wrist ,and had a good day out with her friends , so proud of her ! I went through the larder shelf of Christmas food ;nearly all gone , a few things to foodbank and lots of packaging to recycling . Also sorted out another shelf and threw away Halloween candy etc and replaced with the remaining Easter chocolates . I folded the 6 baskets of laundry there was a bagful to rags and clothes bank . We also changed beds , all towels , did the weekly cleaning in bathrooms and kitchen and DS dusted , washed the floor . the weekly food order came so DH cleaned the fridge . We’ve been trying to reduce the washing mountain but it’s still there we’re still catching up after the Finland trip and changing all mattress and pillow protectors didn’t help. Next I need to send all 4 winter duvets to be washed via the laundry app we’ve used for dry cleaning . Hopefully it’ll work as well as getting his school trousers done ! It’d be so much easier than carting them all like in the past somewhere in person .
DH washed both cars on Sunday and we’ve gotten bits of admin done but I’ve got lots more calls and ordering and appointments to make in the morning . Today the auctions also finish so with any luck we’ll get rid of some if not all of the 4 listed big items ! On Friday we’ll have an appointment with a different new landscaper so I’ve got to find some pictures …

I've got dd2 home today with a cold and cough.

I've been online and paid for a school excursion, they changed the payment thing, I had to type all the info in twice! anyway that's done.

I lost an earring yesterday, not sure where. It's from the top of my ear. Today I went and bought a replacement. DH works from home so that gave me the chance to pop out even though DD2 is home from school. I got it in my ear with a small amount of jiggling, so I'm pleased with that. Sometimes it's so tricky getting earrings in.

I've not had a drink of alcohol since I decided to cut it our for a while, I'm pleased with myself. I just needed to screw my head on straight, and make a positive decision for myself.

I'm going to put a chicken in the oven this afternoon.

More usual housework and a load after load of laundry today . We got some admin done as well ; rescheduled some medical appointments and cancelled DD hobby because of her finger injury , booked a restaurant table for me and DH we never go , confirmed another with a friend tomorrow , confirmed several groomers app for the dog , ordered a few things and tried to continue with school registrations but the printer broke so that’ll be decluttered to dump DH ordered a better one . I also decluttered a few bits of stained clothing and will throw out DH raincoat that’s not waterproof anymore I got him a new one . Our auctions ended so hoping they’ll all be out of here soon , one at least being picked up tomorrow . Unfortunately the most expensive item buyer cancelled so DH offered it to the next one down ,maybe we’ll have to relist it though . Landscaper is coming tomorrow and I have no pictures for inspiration for them yet so I’ll need to try to find something in the day .

@Nordicmom

Or this time with the message

@Nordicmom I don't think I live near you but am always on the lookout for more Finnish books. If you still have some you no-longer need please let me know. I'm happy to pay postage etc.

Wow so many people getting so much done.

Thursday turned into a bit of a difficult day. Already peopled out from parents' evening, a very difficult morning with school attendance led to emotional exhaustion and not much else getting done. Friday I went shopping again. Top up shop as the fridge is still jam packed with veg that needs eating and it is difficult to spend £40 on delivery without veg included at the moment as prices have risen and I am shopping around and no longer buy the more expensive than elsewhere stuff on delivery.

Today is catch up day:
One boy up, breakfasted given clothes and cajoled out to swimming. (DD does herself)

Refereed children via phone re an activity and had a boy dropped back for lunch while DD did activity.

One load of washing has been done and is drying. One load is in the machine... (Joins the leave washing in machine for hours sofas)

Cleaned outside of loo, mirror, bath, tiles and basin. I attempted wiping the shower head but got cold water down to my armpit. Brought some of the abandoned loo rolls down and put in the compost bag. Fished a piece of loo roll out the toilet tank...(slightly broken awaiting mending when the bathroom is not so cluttered )

Wiped some shopping not yet put away.

Picked up three things from kitchen floor for recycling. Sometimes things have to wait down there if I am too dizzy or too sore to manage picking up.

Currently resting while deciding where to allocate the rest of today's spoons while not borrowing too many from tomorrow and next week.

Also opened mother's Day presents and sent the bag back to their dad. Things have been hectic so not had chance and they got forgotten.

2 loads of laundry today that I've just remembered I still have to hang, and some long overdue tidying in MiniFool's room. Only a few things decluttered but it's a start.

It all helps FSH. Well done.

I washed up a bit this morning after I got up ridiculously early for a Sunday to get ds to football. Also a load of washing that is still in the machine.

Sent some presents off.

Things have been quite up and down for me. No progress with decluttering but I’ve had a few cheering meet ups with people I like and I’m still slowly reading my way to clearer book shelves (most end up in the charity box after a re-read). The flowers are beginning to bloom in my garden too which always makes things seem brighter.

Hope you didn’t run out of spoons BlackeyedSusan.

DH has done lots today while I’m all crippled so not so much . He was doing stuff before his mother comes for the night on thu before DS and her trip next week . He deep vacuumed the top floor where the guest room and bathroom are and also spent a good while organising in the attic room where she’ll definitely go since the new foosball table is in there . It looks now much better one end is all clear it only has the foosball table and my storage cupboard and the other end now mostly has stacked up new labelled storage boxes I’ve gone through all and organised and labelled clearly . There is mess still I need to
sort out but it’s not that bad . There’s moving boxes I’ll need to empty the contents of into plastic storage boxes ( some crystal etc I don’t want to display now but want to keep ) and there’s some new spare shoes in boxes I can put all into big tubs and get rid of the boxes , wire baskets and other baskets and plastic home edit boxes I need decide on and then store in a better way etc . I think I’ve done the most of it once I finish the 4 boxes from the dining room . I will try to look through one or two tonight and the rest will go up to the attic so we can empty dining room tomorrow of that stuff from the locker and move the dining chairs in and order the table . We will list old storage boxes that aren’t broken on olio , list the elliptical on eBay and DH has agreed to throw out most if not all of his sailing box contents that’s not needed so that can go . He has also tidied in the garage and other than the many bikes and the mowers that are waiting for the shed it’s apparently looking much better too so hopefully he can then deal with his motorcycle next . Our re listed motorcycle panniers are reaching a good sum again fx they’ll go on this second try . He also cut the grass again ,we’ve had lots of mushrooms the dog tries to eat coming up so need to mow them down weekly . He took DD riding too and took a parcel away . We changed some beds as well and sent half the duvets to be washed through a new app I’ve only used for dry cleaning before so will be interesting to see if it’s good for this too . I have the 5/6 baskets of laundry to fold again but I think it’ll be tomorrow . I dealt with a bunch of deliveries and will have to tidy and clean quickly still a bit and maybe do some admin . DS had an appointment in the morning and then went to a school sports thing . He’s doing javelin and interestingly enough DD yesterday did it at school too and got the best in her year ! Must be my Finnish genes 😁!
so far we’ve managed to wash all he muddy clothes clean so after school trip only the old trainers and the holey bag going .

@ConfusedBear I’m sorry I forgot answer to you about the books earlier , it’s been hectic ! We put them all in a box on Olio since they were very heavy and they went immediately. 2 Lego boxes went right away too so so far I’m very happy with the Olio app !

Oh yes and the two buggies and the office chair were all collected a while ago after the auctions ended . we got 500£ + for those so happy with that . we’ve also progressed with our landscaper that came on Fri . we now have found a “garden style “we like and a bunch of pictures on Pinterest so hopefully he can then get designing .
next I think the two remaining shutters for bathrooms will need fitting in June and the developers want to come look around to see what they need to deal with in their 6 m in maintenance visit which they’ll do a bit late in the summer . They’ll fix paint cracks etc that appear in new houses . Once we get the dining room empty I’m feeling better about someone walking around here now that DH organised in the attic.
DD survived this week’s school trip without injuring her broken finger or anything else more or being sick in the bus and said she had a nice time so that’s a relief . DS is happy with his new therapist and has been signing up with university open days although it’s been a bit difficult having to then reschedule other stuff or delay some visits to sep . He also got full marks on his Engineering EPQ and excellent grades so that’s hopefully helping him feel more motivated and positive in his exam prep . These will be the predictive grades that will pretty much determine his university offers so the pressure is very high and he feels like he needs to get 4 A* added to the full marks on EPQ to have any hope of getting to one of the two top universities he’d be most happy with . He did very well in GCSEs and it’s possible but he’s worried so it’s good he’s got the therapist now !
I’ve been pretty poorly my back/ right hip is bothering me more than before besides the rest of my body always being in pain and my head dizzy but I literally have no time or energy for myself to start pursuing new investigations that I know I’ll need to. there’s quite a bit of stuff with DD school especially before end of term and the new school tours . im very worried about one next Tue since the last one nearly finished me so I’m not sure if I can go but we need to make decisions eventually partly based on visits so I feel like I need to see this one especially.
we also have to book some trips away and plan something for summer inc possibly visiting my family again or it won’t happen . Now feeling far too tired to even think about travelling I can hardly get DS packed for his trip next week . He’s got school the first week of July still I think ( or one of the kids does ) and then the last two weeks his engineering
work experience thing so any travelling with kids will have to be in august , we did consider going without them in early July if MIL could help but not sure there’s the dog to think about as well . I’ve tried to book a few meals out with friends ,and a hotel in the countryside with DH for 2 night around my birthday to have something to look forward to . we never spend any alone time without kids except maybe watching a bit of tv once a week so it’s much needed after 20+ y together.

And I managed to look through the two kids art boxes and discard more than half although it was slow going and emotionally exhausting but I know we didn’t need them all I’ve kept plenty . Still have 2 school boxes and two memory boxes so I think those will be hard and slow too . Now feeling a bit nauseous with my illness like yesterday so might not be able to make it down and just fold laundry on my clean bed instead …

@Nordicmom I don't suppose you still have the Finnish books do you? If so, would they be very expensive to post? X

@Hippywannabe no, sorry I went through all I’d kept ,saved some for any grandkids and we Olio’d the rest in one fell swoop !

Gone to local recycling centre /tip
3 computer items ( towers and an ancient laptop)
2 bags shredded paper

Gone to Salvation Army Collection
2 bags clothes and 3 pairs shoes

Going out tomorrow
More paper

this week
3 jackets and some other clothes

On A Roll Here

DH went to dump again with grass clippings , cardboard boxes and bags to the rag bank that was closed last week . Added a small bag from recent clean laundry to it as well .
He found another broken storage box ( that’ll go to dump next time ) from the box piles I’m going to look through and try to olio the older ones of . Now they’re all on my landing so I can see them all at once ,go through ,decide what to keep and put them in the attic to be used as I organise it ,and rest we’ll get rid of . He’s also brought up the 4 I still have to declutter some of the contents of since we’re emptying the dining room . Although I’m packing for DS trip etc I might do one tonight since I folded all the 6 baskets of laundry yesterday so that’s done .
He’s taken the kids out mountain biking then it’ll be the year’s first barbecue for us !
might declutter a few of the more worn out dog towels to rag bank , a broken pillow protector went yesterday , there’s a newspaper pile going and some toiletries being used up from my stash too. I’m reading through my drawer of books (I think I have about 12 left all of which will go to charity unless DH wants to read them )although I think I’ll just get rid of a Finnish one I don’t like without reading it . Now that the garage is getting emptier I might be able to get into the big cupboard full of utility items . I bet I can declutter some of it since they haven’t been used in the last 6 m although I think there’s back stock of what we use regularly so I’ll keep those ( they just haven’t been accessible until now ). DH also remembered to go pay my newspaper delivery and I’m doing online shopping for various bit needed by everyone but rest of the admin has to be later . Have been in horrible pain with my back so it’s making any physical jobs hard . Feel like I need to nap now that it’s quiet as well !