Duvet Days

I've almost finished the stupid project.

When I've done the last few, I will have washed, dried and pressed 28 duvet covers,  41 sheets (21 frilly and 20 flat) and 102 pillowcases.  I also accidentally washed half a dozen large curtains, which had looked like frilly duverys).     It's taken me 46 (I think)  washloads to complete.

I pressed them only because they needed squashing down a bit.

I've moved the enormous stack of frilly sheets into a large box.  I put the flat sheets on top.    The box was unwieldy when it was empty, and there is no way we can move it now. I think it will have to serve as a table or something.  

The pillowcases are folded and stacked in a large open box, which can sit on top of the boxtable.

The Duvet covers are currently piled precariously on top of the air conditioning unit in my bedroom.  I need to locate another ridiculously sized box to move them in to, once the last two covers are dry and pressed. 

They will then have to stay somewhere until we can take them to Monkey World.    We will have to decant them into crates to take them,  as stacks of massive duvet covers are surprisingly heavy.

All have come from my Mum and Dad's house.      And what I've got here isn't all of it (although it IS all I am going to do this with). 

I threw away stacks of bedding  at my parents house.  A lot of it smelt musty, so couldn't be donated.  When we got to the dusty rather than musty cupboards,    I had the idea of donating to Monkey World.  We started to pack it in vacuum bags,  and the number and weight soon got out of control.   When we went to bring some of the bags home, they opened (as vacuum bags have a habit of doing), and I realised that everything was going to need washing before donating.

 I had also  used a lot of the  dusty-not-musty stuff  for wrapping china.   I'd disposed of loads  other bedding, like blankets and such.  It was not my favourite job.

I'd thrown some of the bedding  away when I unpacked them here, and some of them I threw away after washing.    

I had brought home a couple of vacuum bags of blankets and bedspreads, but I can't face dealing with them.  They will be too much work to wash and dry,  so I'm going to bin them all.  I'm not going to let myself feel guilty about it.

It's taken a ridiculously stupid amount of time and effort to deal with it all, and I probably should have just binnedeverything in the first place.

But it seemed like a worthwhile idea originally (before we realised just how much bedding my Mum had hoarded kept.)

Of course we won't be going to Money World for some time, but at least the bedding will be ready to go.

 

 

New Year

I am so glad to see the back of 2024.

Some of the stuff from last year is still going on,  and I had an odd curveball lobbed at me when I went to visit Mum on the 27th December.    It was a bit of a kick in the stomach, and  timely reminder of how things used to be.   

I had already been thinking about what I can or need or could do, so that this year is better than last year, or at least so I can try and get some of my own life back.   Some of the stuff from last year, like the house,  is still ongoing.  The small but significant incident made me more determined to.... to.... I don't know how to express it. 

I've got some stuff that I'd already started and I'd like to get completed.  I tried to get one stupidly large task completed yesterday, as I really didn't want to start the New Year with it.  However, despite me working on it all day and evening,  it hasn't been finished.   

I'm now trying to finish it today.  It's as dull as ditch water, but I'll share it when it's complete.

I also went back to using paper lists, which are a bit of a pain but do give a lot more satisfaction when crossing off (or highlighting, in my case) tasks that have been completed.     I haven't included routine tasks.

I also made myself work formalise the various bits of exercising I have to do to, and I found writing that down quite helpful.   I wrote a sign telling me to do a "controlled sit", which I put under the TV.    It worked, I did try and do a controlled stand and controlled sit from/on the sofa each time I sat or got up.  I say, "controlled".  I could only occasionally manage it with my legs crossed, most of the time it was enough of a challenge to do it  uncrossed.  Hopefully I'll see things improve over the coming weeks.

Some weeks ago I bought one of those desk block calendars, the sort everyone used to have on their desk at work.   It's the fabulous Strange Planet cartoon by Nathan Pyle,  and I've had to resist looking ahead. I don't think I can bring myself to rip off yesterday's page,  it seems such a waste!  I'm sure I can find a way to recycle.  Ooh, maybe I can convert them into cards!

Well, I need to go now as the stupidly large project needs attending to.    I'm not quite on the home straight, but I thnk I'm approaching the last circuit.  Maybe. 

Happy 2025