Not quite a horder - decluttering

NM, I'm sorry for your loss. You have my full sympathy on clearing out the house. Between dealing with my mother's vast hoard and my own 30 years of stuff i am really get fatigued.

Thanks, all.

Jazzy--great article, thanks for sharing!

Freya, I noticed your name because my great nephew and his wife named their baby girl Freya. She's their 4th child. I really hope they quit soon. I can't imagine the stress of 4 children that close in age. They have a 3yo, 1yo twins, and now Freya (the first girl). I wonder if they've priced school supplies. They should start saving now for those.

A woman who volunteers for my senior center crochets lap blankets for people in rehab. They take them with them when they leave. She haunts thrift stores for yarn. Another group knits hats and scarves for the homeless. The paper had an article several years ago about a woman who was in the hospital permanently. She spent her time knitting hats for preemies. It's nice to know someone can get use out of our discards.

Wrenn, I feel tired just reading about 4 children 3 and under

I used to crochet rugs and beanies for kids going through chemo. I always used bright and cheerful colours and designs. Unfortunately my hand cramps up very quickly these days, so struggle with any crafts.

Enjoy your pool time Divine. It is winter here, a very dry and warm winter so far, it doesn't even look like snowing any time soon.

Poodles, sewing is almost a lost art. I don't know too many people who do it. My mother sewed amd I wonder how she even found time raising seven kids!! But I remember all kinds of outfits she made for us. My three older sisters learned to sew and made many clothes, too. I never learned to put together something from a pattern, I think there were too many others wanting that machine and I got bumped out of the learning sessions. I sew the occasional things like curtains or pillowcases and mend some on the machine and hem and sew buttons by hand. My machine is a portable one that tucks nicely in the closet when not in use.

I dont see why you would need to unload your sewing machine. Especially given that your dh has all the power tools. Is there a reason you no longer make the dresses?

Under the circumstances, I think that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do. It's hard to keep your mind on your troubles when it's otherwise occupied.

This weekend I finally asked for help getting my 18 year old queen bed to the dump. Now a twin bed fits in a little alcove in my studio apartment, and have the whole floor almost empty. I felt the air flowing and fluttering through the empty space last night. So refreshing on a summer evening.

Gone so far: dining table and six chairs, Ikea sofa with a broken arm, coffee table, bookcase, huge bed, huge table lamp, and a 24" round pet bed that my previous cat had died in (! - why didn't I get rid of that immediately? Guess I wasn't ready.)

Inspiring posts!!

Divine- I have been swimming more this year myself, and as a result, I have gained far more fitness and strength than I have in previous years coming through cancer and other health issues. Having less time to deal with "stuff" results in more time to enjoy the things that make you happy. For me, the pool is part of that.

I am right with you on your ephiphany and do feel things from the past can hold us hostage. That is not just material items, but grudges, bad memories and feelings about people or situations that did not go right, rehearsing things about what you want to say to people who wronged you, etc. I have let a lot of that go in the pool this year as I swim. The pool is helping me in more ways than you can imagine (and down 20 lbs since Jan too!)

Y'all just keep on inspiring me! I spent all last week working at my mother's house. Got all the furniture moved to the hardwood floor areas and had carpet cleaners come in to do battle with the 30 year old Berber carpet. I really thought it was too far gone--dirt, pet stains, mud, food stains, etc. But they turned that stinky carpet from gray to cream in about an hour. Best $125 we've spent so far. The rest of the house is coming along. I re-grouted the tub--it was moldy and HORRIBLE. Gack! We pulled up the indoor-outdoor carpet in the sunroom--it was full of cat pee and mildew. Carried a cat-pee mattress set to the dump, along with a pickup truck-load of garbage bags. Took 4 carloads of stuff to Goodwill. Found some rusted pipes behind a wall--crap. And two electrical outlets had burn marks behind the plates. Yowza! Gotta get all that fixed. Then we need to repaint, clean up inside and out, and put it on the market.

Whew!. So I came home two days ago and my house is an utter disaster area. The painter is mostly done, except for getting the paint out of my carpet--grrrr. DH is interviewing hardwood floor refinishers this week, hoping to get that started next week. What??!! We have to move ALL the furniture and boxes out of the downstairs for three days. And we have to leave too. Did I mention he wants to do this next week?! So, I rented a storage unit today. Gotta line up movers to move the piano, my big oriental rug, and as many boxes as we can get packed this weekend. Hopefully, I can get all that ready and have the movers come on Monday. But of course, here I am, surfing the net, LOL.

Wren, I agree. Surfing is sort of like a smoke break, without the cigarette. I have a game on my ipad (Toy Blast) I play that gives me that kind of escape for a few minutes here and there thru the day. I won't even call it a guilty pleasure because it helps me stay even keeled.

I don't know if someone has already said this (this is a long thread!) but ask the resale shops in your area if they accept clothes, etc that are not in good enough condition to sell as-is. They can pass this stuff on as textiles to organizations that are able to use them in some fashion. I don't know the details about what happens to the stuff, but at least it keeps it out of landfills.

Here's another place for donations: ask your local high school if any of the National Honor Society students are having any donation drives. We have a very active chapter  of the National Honor Society and here are some of the recent donation drives, each for area low-income schools:

gently used Halloween costumes

gently used Prom dresses

gently used books

new school supplies

Also, our local elementary school take gently used books for grades K-8. The teachers give out the books as reading material, and prizes/incentives throughout the year.

The local VNA Thrift shops takes both consignment and donations. I donated a bunch of winter weight children's pajamas that were "not good enough" for consignment, but had plenty of wear left in them. (My kids had outgrown them, or gotten tired of the characters on the PJs.)

Pingpong: many of the big donation boxes in the parking lots take the "not good enough condition" clothes and pass it on to organizations as textiles. I've seen it written on some of the boxes.

Movers come in the morning to get the piano, oriental rug, China cabinet, camping gear, and about 25 boxes. Gotta get the floor cleared for refinishing on Thursday. I can't believe how much bigger my house looks already. Even my basement!

We sorted through 6 boxes of Christmas ornaments that havent been touched in at least five years. Great googamooga! Someone at the thrift store hit the jackpot today!

Good evening ladies- interesting experience working on some of the final shelving reorg in my garage. I was working in an area where I have some boxes of misc photos stored (some of mine, others from when we cleaned out my parents house). Sometimes when I look at photos, I see so many there that have gone before and it gives more of a feeling of sadness. But today, what fun I found!

I found a box of MY photos spanning the 1980s into the early 1990s. Some great photos from college, grad school, first job, car, lots of trips, music things, friends and famiily, etc. Made me remember some great times, and people, and places along the way. And many of the people in the photos with me ARE still around and was able to get some of them shared on FB with them too (ha ha, I tried to avoid posting the less than flattering ones....)

For me, the weight of life with family losses, my own health issues and other challenges the past few years has resulted in some of those memories taking over as dominant. I forgot about some of these great experiences from earlier days, and felt renewed to take a look back at the ride during that time. Sometimes it helps to go back and remember the whole journey, especially when recent events have sort of "taken over."

So my suggestion to you is to take time to look at your pictures next time you declutter. You might be like me and find some pleasant surprises that do your soul good!