Now and Then

I excavated a load of old cat toys.  One of them was an "activity centre" that I bought for the kittens in their first few weeks with us. Its been in the lift for a year, maybe two (maybe more).

It was particularly favoured by Shelby, and I wondered if she would remember it. I put it in the living room, expecting her to go gaga over it.

She ignored it, of course.

Part of me was disappointed. A bigger part of me was happy... happy that I could dispose of it  without guilt.

Shelby must have sensed this.

She spent the evening in it, lresumably being a kitten again.

I looked through my photos from 2019 to find one of her in it.  She was tinier then

Mountains Molehills

De-lofting continues.

I finally managed to get some tote crates.

It was a slowish loft day today because as well as blitzing through things, I was also going through memorabilia boxes, which just takes time. 

I did a lot of rearranging of stuff, moving "DH to review" stuff from one part of the loft to another,  and moving some of the cat stuff in its place.   I looked at the mountain of caterobilia,  and lobbed a load of it through the loft hatch.

I'd been bending and twisting to avoid beams, and my glutes started to really hurt.   I called a halt at that point.

I'd brought down some items to sell (my lovely wedding china,  some furniture),   and I also brought down a huge box of Molerabilia, from the days when I collected Moles.

I then created a disaster zone in my living room as I went through the Mole box, unwrapping everything.   So many of the pieces made me smile.

I put a couple of items, including a mole made for me by DH's kids about 38 years ago, to one side.  They will go back in the loft, in my memorabilia box.   I also found some misfiled Winnie the Pooh figures,  which were Disney ones (sadly) and were a present from my lovely aunt.    I think I may put them to one side to give them to DGS/SGDiL to mark the birth of their baby.

 The rest needs to be dealt with. 

But not today.

 

 

 

 

Head aloft

I managed to maintain enthusiasm for loft cklearing for quite some time.

For a week or so, I spent several hours a day actually in the loft.  Pulling stuff out,  going through boxes,  sweeping up the mess.

I was absolutely ruthless with "my" stuff, which includes "our" stuff which is really my mine to make decisions on, rather than "our " stuff which is really my husband's to make decisions on.

 I realised that there was stuff in the loft which  I was waiting for DH to make a decision on, and he was waiting for me to make a decision. We've now  got a box each, where the other can put stuff in to sort out, which has solved that issue.

More stuff given away, sold, donated, binned.   

Stuff that has been allowed to remain is being stored in tote crates, which I've organised and labelled & dated.  These are stored so that the ones that are likely to be added to are accessible.

I don't have enough crates, and I'm having trouble getting responses from the network of sellers,  so I'm now having to store stuff which should be crated in a (temporarily) different way.   I've got a run of shelving for this, so at least I know I've reviewed the items on it and given them leave to remain.  

DH has been busy trying to sort out the greenhouse to get ready for planting, so it'll be a while before he gets a chance to get up there and do "his" bits. 

FB marketplace is being the joy and the nightmare that it always is.  I have to psych myself up to list things, and I try and do a load at once so I can then have a break from it.

I'm not sure how much longer I'll maintain the enthusiasm, but it doesn't matter. 

 

 

Mugging

Well I managed to give my head a wobble, and much progress has been made.

I cleared quite a lot of stuff out of the loft, and was able to squash stuiff up in the resuklting space so we could get in and make some changes to the shelving.

While DH did the shelving, I excavated boxes, and we soon had a car full of stuff for the tip and stuff for the charity shop.  I also had a busy weekend selling bits for next to nothing, and I'm happy with how its going.

Today I brought two more boxes down.  One contained a load of stuff from when I worked.  As I sifted through it,  I was amazed at how organised and professional I had been back then.

I have a box of papers which need destroying,  some rubbish, and some recycling.

The other box was labelled Dunoon Mugs,  and I had a lovely half hour looking at the gorgeous things.

I've put some of them up for sale.  It was quite a difficult decision, the mugs are mainly Cat mugs.   However, I reminded myself that (a) I'd forgottn I had them until I saw then, and  (b) they are stoneware and I prefer bone china (and (c) I have many many  mugs that are already in use).  

I was tempted to leave them in the loft, I told myself my step daughter wouldn't mind havig to deal with them.   But the reality is, there's already loads of stuff for her to have to deal with, and I'm trying to remove as much as possible.

Also in the box weresome superb bright Whittard cappuccino cups and saucers, which I've decided to take to the charity shop tomorrow.

And two Winnie the Pooh mugs (EH Shepard version, of course),  which are also stoneware but have a very special place in my heart.  They are going back in the loftm along with the bone china Winneie The Pooh mugs I've got stashed there.

While DH has been moving the shelving, I've been sorting stuff I brought down.  

I've also been sorting out the box room, while I've been unable to get in the loft, and I'm really happy with how that's been going.

DH is ready to move the next lot of bit shelving, so that'll be  another go at emptying tomorrow and Friday,

My Mum is coming to visit next week, and I'm on a deadline to try and get straight.

 

 

Blocked

After a few more successful steps forward, I'm now in a sort of paralysis.  It is very frustrating, completely irrational,  and I'm annoyed with myself that I can't just push through.

I've got a whole load of conflicting larger-than-they-look tasks and activities that I need to get done.  They all need doing, it doesn't really matter what order I do them in (many of the sets of tasks are unrelated to any other set)  and I just can't make myself start any of them.

I very rarely get caught like this (when it comes to actions, anyway),  I've no idea why it's a problem now 

I'm hoping that writing it down will help me.

Except I can't (won't) write down any more than I just have. 

I need to just....just.... pick any of the sets, and just get on with it.