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Nana.
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Nana
Another boot full of things went to the dump this afternoon – videotapes, a grill, radio and various other bits and pieces. The dustbin was full when collected yesterday. Plastic jars and boxes were usual around the house, but they are becoming fragile and not safe to use so they are being phased out.
Glass jars with plastic tops are becoming a problem, but I got some stretchy silicone covers to replace the cracked tops and put elastic around them to hold them securely.Having surfaces to put the fans has been good in the hot weather, and I am sorting out my craft books into sections, patchwork, lace, and separating machine and hand knitting. I have got rid of crochet instruction books – they were never much use as I work rather differently to most.
I needed to put away a bag of stuff, opened a cupboard and found it entirely empty – it is just so good to be able to live like this.Somuchstuff
I also have a problem with fragile plastic, outside.
Finding an empty cupboard you didn’t know you had sounds unusual. Do you remember emptying it?
There has not been a problem with surfaces for fans here, as I can’t find the fan. It is in one of the storage units. I put it in a box last year and could not find it when the heatwave started.
It must be so nice to have your books sorted out.Tomorrow is rubbish bin day and yet again the last few items are being squeezed in.
I sometimes pause and realise just how much stuff there must have been in the house, it was no wonder that I could not get anything done to make things better, there was just no room to do anything anywhere.
I used to watch the hoarding programs on TV, but I found it disturbing when people were left with houses completely stripped of everything and made to look ‘normal’ – or bare naked, to my eyes.
I am 72 now, and still do not have to rely entirely on savings and pension income, as I can generate income from what I have in the house.
Yes – it can be messy, but I get £10 here, or £30 there, or several hundred pounds from each of the three departments I visit at the local Arts University during the long break each summer. As far as I can tell the alteration in my mental state is permanent, so things will continue to progress. It might be derided as just inching along sorting things out down to miniscule levels, but uncovering a mislaid ear ring or patchwork pattern is all part of the process, a reward for keeping on track and making it better.
Finding something damaged by mice or careless stacking is also part of the process as it has to be accepted and disposed of, just the other side of the coin and it still helps with the changes which need to be made.If you are 72 and it is your own home, inching along or going at your own pace, sounds very reasonable. I suppose the ‘helper’ is concerned about you getting older in the same situation. Or health problems.
“Just no room to do anything anywhere” is how things are here.
“Generating income from what I have in the house” -was this always your plan, or what you have decided to do with it all?
I have a lot kept, that made income before, thinking I might go back to that if I needed to. A lot else was acquired towards generating income then, and future income when I am made to retire.I have little future pension, no longer own, and have health problems. Family think I should get rid of everything and go on to benefits. The savings I had for old age, have mainly gone. On them and storage. Foolish but it is done. I am glad for you that you are ok, but think the welfare pension bill will be slashed for the generation coming along behind you.
I find those TV programs extreme. So many of them are walking or climbing on things. Or they have let pets toilet everywhere, or everything covered with cockroaches. Or they have broken toilets and live with sewage and keeping everything that should go down them.
I don’t mean to judge and feel awful for many of them as they seem to have given up. But I don’t understand it. Isn’t that stuff what they filled homes with because they wanted to keep it?
I could relate to Jasmin’s mum’s house. It was keeping far too much of everything for the size of the house, to be able to use anything properly. Feeling things needed to be kept because they could be used for something or held memories.
Not feeling they didn’t matter and could get walked on, toileted on, damaged and destroyed.That is what I see ordinary hoarding as. Those TV programs often seems to be hoarding and something else?
As soon as I left home at 18 I found that I had skills which would generate an income, and that really altered my life from that time onwards.
Last weekend I was at the centre for ancient technology in Cranborne, Dorset. I took some fleece and did a demonstration of spinning as well as playing music for dancing.
Whilst I was out today the social worker phoned, and I suspect that we are no longer considered in need of their attention. There are no further visits scheduled.Also whilst I was out, I was very close to being hit by a car which did not stop when the lights were red at the pelican crossing. It is a fairly large junction close to a roundabout, and I had crossed two lanes, reached the island and then had almost crossed the first of the next two lanes when a car came whizzing around the roundabout and I put full lock on the mobility scooter. I was level with the back of the driver’s door by the time it stopped and there was hardly an inch of space between us. The scooter has a very small turning circle, which kept me from going under the front wheels of the car. I think that I can really count myself as one with a guardian angel, blessed with good fortune.
I can only advise perseverance and keeping working on a small victory such as a clear sink until it becomes the normal thing to see when you enter the kitchen. At first is was a slight shock every time I went past, but now it is normal and so I keep clearing it whenever it becomes cluttered up again. Habit is a great helper in housework.
The damp patch in the ceiling of the middle room downstairs is almost gone now, and I am actually thinking of clearing that room out completely and doing some decoration and even using it as a dining room.
My husband wants to renew the windows in the front of the house, and that will be easy in the front room downstairs, and I have managed to clear most of the big front bedroom.
I will be throwing away most of the books I used for my Open University degree, and maybe putting a desk and computer from the middle room downstairs into the corner where the shelves are now.Oddsocks
I dont know how much they help, but in the UK you report scams that have happened to Action Fraud (Google it- problems with links here). Tho they are busy. I sent them all the information from an email scam, but got a message back that they wouldnt be taking action
Everyone: important to tell your bank, as soon as you know.
There is lots of info about avoiding scams available online. I know all of that but still got scammed! It was an email from an aunt’s email address asking me how I was getting on. It wasnt asking for money, but did further on… There were clear signs it was a scam- awkward language
chaosqueen
Scammers are so sophisticated these days. They are a true pain in the rear. How they would feel if somebody did that to their grandmother? I think they would happily scam their grandma themselves.
Lots going on with you Nana! glad you did NOT get run over. About generating income. My sons has a scarf he loves and has been wearing for years and it is falling apart. I have been trying to find something that looks like it. If I sent you a picture would you be able to tell me if you could make something like it? I’d pay in advance. I think it would be a great Christmas gift.
So much stuff. Not sure if we crossed paths. Welcome to the forum!
I have sent a message about the scarf – I hope it will be possible to make a replacement.
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