That darned buffer on this iPad. I must add that to my list of things to get checked out when I’m home because it’s so annoying. There is probably an app (blogger) for the iPad, but I hate the Apple Store. OK - that’s going on the list of things to check out when I’m home.
I took some videos of the old house yesterday. But as Glen agreed, you CANNOT appreciate the magnitude of this situation until you see it in person. And it’s so gross that I’m sure many people would never set foot in that place. But being the tough (god - I’m so much a city girl now) “farm” girl that I am, it was OK to go in. Oh - I should mention that we found a trunk of old clothes. Yep - stuff that could have been donated at one time, but not now. There were clothes in there of mine and other family members. Those little green gingham pants that were probably made by my grandmother or mother would have fit me when I was about three. Why were they kept? God only knows.
It’s best to just get the job done, and let everything else go because there is NO rationale for what we’re finding. It’s the result of a disease - a very sick mind. We don’t really talk about that part much with my Mom. At least she’s realizing now and that’s all I care about. I’m not going to ask her why she’s spent THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars on stuff that was NEVER used.
OH GOD - just like a quilter. ACK - we’ve all got the disease.
It’s time to check in with you. I haven’t heard from a single person about what you’re doing. If you want, I can post those gross videos so you can see the HUGE mess. Send me an e-mail and let me know what you’re doing.
I’m dead serious, you NEED to pick a spot in your house and you NEED to get to work. Start some place easy. Why not the powder room in your house if you have one. What’s on the back of the toilet? What’s under the sink? Is that stuff new or old? Used or brand new? You don’t want it? Can it be used by someone else? I’m not of the mind frame to sell much of this kind of stuff, I’m donating or throwing. Please, please do your children a favour and start to go through this stuff. It’s a HUGE, overwhelming job and I’m totally blown away. I can’t wait to get home and tackle a couple of areas and make plans to get to the rest. It’s something that I keep putting off, but I’m going to tackle it full force when I get home.
On that note, I guess I had better get myself out of bed and get ready for the day. We’ve got ONE more day scheduled at the farm. Oh yippeee - I can hardly wait. I’m going home on Thursday and I can’t wait for that either!!!
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!!!
When we moved from our hobby farm seven years ago, it was a great opportunity to clear out a lot of 'stuff'. We had a kitchen fire the year previous to our move and the appraiser words to me at the time were "older people have so many knick knacks, these all have to be cleaned. It is going to be a long job". In our new home, I didn't even hang any pictures and very few quilts on the walls. Minimalist it is! And only a very few knick knacks.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate what you are going through. We sold our farm 'as is' with all the outbuildings.
A few years ago, I knew that mom's house was full of paperwork and pictures and who knows what else so every time I visited her, I went through a room, closet, dresser, desk etc. The amount of paperwork was incredible but it all got sorted into shredding, recyclable and we were fortunate that her church has a rummage sale twice yearly and mom was willing to part with a lot of her collectables, donating them to a worthy cause. The paper bags! Greeting cards, and bank statements! It is amazing how long it takes to sort through things but was a nice way to take a trip down memory lane with her although she did get to the point that she would say to just get rid of it all. As she got shorter, she had me clean all the top shelves throughout the house, especially the kitchen, because she couldn't reach them.
My own house isn't bad except - all my quilting and crafting and that is almost impossible. For sure if I get rid of my fabric paint, it will become "in" again and the same excuse for everything else - applique and embroidery supplies, knitting and crochet. But recently, I have gone through every magazine in my house and they are ready to leave and attend the garage sale at our guild meeting this week! That was hours of perusing each one in case there was a perfect project in one of them and, now, finding I am passing by the magazine aisle in the grocery store without stopping. Feel bad for the publishing companies but feels good for me.
I've just cleaned out a couple drawers in my sewing room. Wasn't too much to get rid of except for notions for sewing clothes but I always have a box for the guild's giveaway table that gets filled up when I come across something. Zippers, snaps and hooks are so cheap I'll re-buy if I every do make a dress again. Also have to go through the clothes closet again, some shabby t-shirts have to go and a few things that are too big. Which is better than getting rid of clothes that have gotten too small :-) Overall I'm happy with the house, husband's garage is another story....except for some gardening supplies it's not my stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are on a 4 year plan of cleaning up and out the stuff in our house. The upstairs is not too bad. . . but the basement looks like a hoarders house.
ReplyDeleteHe was away for a weekend and I went through a ton of paperwork. . .most was ok to go into recycling, but there was a bit that had to be shredded.
I think our biggest problems are with our hobbies. . he is into model trains and I am into quilting and crochet.
Books and paper (like all the quilt alongs and free patterns available on line) are also a bit of a problem, and I have quite a lot of Precious Moments that have not seen the light of day in over 15 years.
I think that the Salvation Army and Goodwill be getting lots more than the 2 boxes I have ready for them right now.
Good luck with the rest of your clean up.
I have started as well. I've committed to 15 minutes a day in my sewing room, plus I have started clearing drawers and the closet in my room. I have a blue bag ready for donation in just 3 15-minute chunks.
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