It’s been nearly two weeks, and time for an update. What’s in, what’s out, and what’s lying on a table waiting for a decision? Some of these questions will be answered below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took eight thick science fiction books by Alastair Reynolds to the charity book stall at the supermarket. I\u2019ll never read them again, although I enjoyed them when I first bought them. As I left, I saw someone looking through them. I went to the same supermarket later in the month, and they were gone. They have a good home, or maybe someone thinks they can sell them on, either way, they\u2019re no longer taking up space in my home, and I hope that they\u2019ll soon be out of my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve listed a few books on eBay and Facebook marketplace, some are mine, some were donated to the charity, all the proceeds from all the books will go to the cat charity. Since my last blog I\u2019ve sold and posted out fourteen of my own books, most of them I\u2019ve had for decades. I\u2019ve also put a donated book in the recycling, it had fallen apart as I was photographing it for sale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I sorted through a bag of oddments in my study, it was taking up floor space, and had been a dumping ground for things that \u2018needed sorting\u2019. Some of it has gone to a fellow charity volunteer for the tombola, some will go on eBay. There are a few of these \u2018sorting bags\u2019. As other hoarders will attest, these bags pile one on the other, and have to be tackled one at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve also put a 40th<\/sup> birthday card in the recycling, it was from someone I loved who is no longer with us, but she wouldn\u2019t have wanted me to hang on to it. I compromised, I took a photograph then sent it on its way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also photographed my sixth form folders, and shared the images. I\u2019ve decided that they can go too. This is a really big deal, they\u2019re from my late teenage years, but nobody is going to want to keep them when I\u2019m gone, and I suspect that at some point during my London years the mice got at them. I\u2019m finding that photographing and writing about these things helps me to let go of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the negative side of things, I\u2019ve recently been given two large bags of stuff to sell for the charity, I\u2019ve sold the largest item from the two bags, and listed more, but in terms of volume it just replaces the books that have gone. Hopefully I\u2019ll sell it all quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gift bags aren\u2019t \u2018clutter\u2019 are they? They\u2019re useful, I never throw them away unless they\u2019re really far gone. July brought a nephew\u2019s birthday and my husband\u2019s birthday, so we\u2019ve gained, overall, two gift bags and a bottle bag. They\u2019ll be gone soon. I\u2019ve also used approximately as much packaging material as I\u2019ve received over the last couple of weeks. I rarely throw it away. In fact, I\u2019ve just bought some big envelopes, but I do need them for online sales. There is a space for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One problem with clutter is that it\u2019s sometimes hard to find the important things, and my phone charger was AWOL for a couple of days. I found it under my knitting, which meant that I could photograph and list things online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I made a recycling trip, and took a fair bit of sorted rubbish to the recycling centre. This doesn\u2019t really help with the decluttering, to be honest, as I do it regularly. I will, however, claim a bag of polythene from the garage, the metal bars from my sixth form lever arch files, and a dead ink cartridge that has been lying around for years as definite wins. Anything that\u2019s been in the house for more than a year is a win. I also went through my writing group file, and have put ten years of prompts, leaflets and miscellaneous bits of paper in the recycling bin. Maybe fifty sheets of A4? Small gains, but they are real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, this is very cheeky claim \u2013 I used a face mask that I\u2019d been gifted. I\u2019m claiming it because usually I\u2019d hang on to something like this, meaning to re-gift it, until it\u2019s out of date. Honestly, every little helps, and now my face feels fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve sold some of the yarn that was given to the charity. It\u2019s all been around for less than six months, but it\u2019s gone now. About a kilo, I reckon, in three separate lots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This blog will only be honest if I include additions. I bought a couple of nice notebooks and some washi tape. I\u2019m an absolute sucker for a notebook, and the washi tape is for card making once the spare room is clear enough for me to start crafting again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My paperwork system is in a right mess, so I\u2019ve started to tackle it. A big wodge of paper has gone in the recycling bin, and another wodge is ready for shredding. I\u2019m going through my box of receipts and throwing away anything that\u2019s more than two years old. My desk now looks reasonable. I mean, a clean freak wouldn\u2019t like it, but I\u2019m fairly sure there aren\u2019t any biscuits hiding in the paperwork (joking \u2026) When I was sorting out my desk, I found two of my missing pairs of tweezers (decluttering bonus!) and I also found a Level 4 Hoarding Tupperware box into which I\u2019d stuffed things \u2018out of the way\u2019. Inside it were receipts, which have now been filed or disposed of, and to my absolute horror and embarrassment, a plastic bag that my prescription arrived in. I hadn\u2019t put it for recycling because it had my personal details on it. I\u2019ve destroyed the details and put it in the recycling bag. I think that was about as bad as it\u2019s ever got. Who does that? Who stuffs random stuff in a takeaway tub, slams the lid on, and then pretends it\u2019s not there? I\u2019m beginning to think I\u2019ve caught this problem just in time. Another \u2018hide it away\u2019 tub contained a four year old part used asthma inhaler. That\u2019s gone now, and I even managed to put the tub itself in the recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, instead of stuffing a ripped pair of jeans under the bed until I have the time and the skill to repair them and embroider them beautifully (ha ha), I\u2019ve given them to a friend who has a sewing machine and sewing skills, she\u2019ll use the denim to make something nice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s been nearly two weeks, and time for an update. What’s in, what’s out, and what’s lying on a table waiting for a decision? Some of these questions will be answered below. I took eight thick science fiction books by … Continue reading