Scanning

Over the past few weeks I have scanned thousands (and thousands) of pages.

I bought an even faster scanner, and I'm glad. It's really earned its purchase.

My Mum and Dad seem to have kept everything in their esoteric filing system.    I've spent many, many, many hours, opening envelopes, separating the ocntents,  re-ordering the contents, then sorting the contents of multiple envelopes into date-ordered sets to scan.  

I've scanned hundreds of pages of bank statements. Electric bills. Council Tax bills.  Payslips.  Letters from the DWP and the taxman, P60s, solicitor letters, pension letters.....

It's good, actually, that Mum kept everything. It turns out we need some of the documents as proof of something or other.

Last week we emptied Mum's ancient desk, and found yet more stuff in the drawers, under the desk, on the desk.     Some of this included ancient folders with information for her CV, and letters of recommendation from previous employers (going back to the late seventies).    There was a project Mum did at college in her fifties;   some old photos;    letters from friends;   thank you letters from my brother's nieces and nephews and step children;  postcards;   all sorts.   

This was much more enjoyable to scan, as it wasn't just official boring stuff.     Some of the items I've put to one side to pass them on to their originators, to remind them what they were like as children.

I've uploaded everything I've scanned  on to a shared space,  and I'll give Mum access.    She can choose not to look at it, but there will be the opportunity to flick through and reminisce, if she'd like to.

I also found a file containing all the properties they went to see, when they were looking at buying a smallholding.  One of them was the farmhouse that my brother and I ended up AirB&Bing in.   I've sent an electronic copy to the now-owners,  who were delighted to receive it,  and we'll drop the original off next time we are passing.

I thought I might send the others to their new owners as well.   I'd find it quite interesting to find the selling prospectus for 40 years ago.    My husband thinks its a bit of a weird thing to do, so now I'm not sure. 

I've still got a few bits to scan (awkward htings like passports, for the photos), and I'm trying really hard to get it finished. (I'm on a break!)  I've found the original plans for their house.  I think they are A1 size, so I might be able to scan them on my big scanner.  I have to excavate the room a bit to find the scanner though, and I don't have the energy or enthusiasm at the moment.

I found an old Scenic Drive leaflet, which happens to go past the house of my BiL.   I scanned it and sent him a copy, thinking he'd not take myuch notice.  He was quite interested in it.    I googled something from the leaflet, to try and date it.  I then found that the originator of the leaflet was looking for memorabilia to celebrate the 60th anniversary!    I've sent them a scanned copy too.

Now I wish I hadn't been so hasty in putting various other leaflets in the recycling.  I'm sure many of them would have had a passing interest for the places they came from.    

Oh well, too late now.

 

Puzzling

My DB and I go back yesterday from four days and three nights of clearing Mum and Dad's house to make it presentable for viewings.  This time my DH and DB's DW came as well, and we really got a lot done.

Because we had 2 cars this time, we also took it in turns to drive and visit Mum, to make sure she had plenty of visits over the 4 days.

One of the things we tried to do was to corral all the jigsaw puzzles into one room.   Mum and Dad were very particular about passing puzzles on.  On day 1, I said we'd have to get rid of any that Mum and Dad hadn't done: we couldn't be sure that they were complete.

We found stashes round the house. n cupboards, under tables in the loft, in boxes, in piles, in bookcases... , I opened each one, worked out if Mum and Dad had done it , and then I either filed it ot I emptied the pieces into a bin bag and broke the box for recycling

It was a bit sickening.  Some of them were lovely puzzles.  If we'd had less to do, I would have offered those puzzles free (postage only).   I had to remind myself  that  there is just too much work, and too many good puzzles to sort out,  and all the ones that were being destroyed had not been done by my parents (so I shouldn't feel any attachment to them). 

Thousands and thousands of puzzle pieces ended up in black bags, and in the recycling at the local tip.  I've got a picture somewhere (can't lay my hands on it) of the first tip run of puzzle pieces.

These are the bin bags for the second tip run of puzzle bits.

I thought I'd finished, but then DB and DH opened a wardrobe and found another 20 or so puzzles.  Later, DB found another box.  It seemed never ending,

I organised all the Mum-and-Dad-done puzzles on shelves.  My organisation started off perfectly. I organised by manufacturer and by size.  Eventually, the system broke down as I had more puzzles than space,  and I committed the cardinal sin of stacking puzzles in the same pile even when the box sizes were different.  This is an absolute no-no, as it results in boxe sbeing crushed and damaged,  and I felt awful doing it.I think we halved the number of puzzles by doing this,

We also discovered a couple of stacks of jigsaw puzzle boards from various manufacturers in a range of sizes.  They are now stacked with the puzzles.

In addition to those in the picture,  DB brought home a handful for a chap that is starting a drop in centre;  DSiL took some for a puzzle loving friend;  I put some to one side for a friend; I brought some home for me;  and we put some to one side to take to Mum (one at a time) so that we can do the with her.

By the way, the puzzles got their revenge.

 

 

 

 

Molly Coddled

I brought home their 30 egg coddlers, to attempt to sell them.

I found an excellent resource ,eggcoddlers.com, which told me all about the different patterns and sizes.  I also, of course, joined a FB group, which was also helpful.

I then washed and dried about 20 of them and, with my new found knowledge, started listing them on Ebay.  I'd had a "reduced fees" offer, so it seemed worth trying.

Some of them sold, some didn't.

I'm not sure what to do with the unsold ones.

My brain is a but full of stuff at the moment, and I can't spare the effort required right now,

Getting started

It's been a horrible few weeks.    I'm still in the middle of it, and I can't sort stuff out well enough to write it down yet.  So Im going to try and just write about specific things.

My DB and I have been trying to clear some of the stuff from my Mum's house, so we can get it ready to sell.  She needs the money to self-fund her retirement home.

Last time we went,  a week ago,  we did a few tip runs. DB's people carrier was rammed to the rafters.  We also brought home one of my Dad's sets of china (which took 3 crates),  their collection of egg coddlers,  their photo albums, and a load of paperwork.

I started with the paperwork. Sorting through it, throwing away the envelopes and leaflets, putting unwanted stuff with their address on in the "burn" pile,   and separating out the bits of important things,  Then I attempted to sort each pile into date order, and then I started scanning.  Some of the stuff I put in the "burn" pile as soon as it was scanned.  Some, I saved (for now).   As I got through it, I was able to organise the filing of the paper stuff so I could find stuff again if I needed to.   It was hard going, and took several days.

For a break, I started to scan the photos from the 7 large albums.  These were mainly photos donated by my Dad's large family to form a record of the entire clan.  The alums were self adhesive,  and it was difficult to get the photos out without damaging them.     I did several albums, but stopped.

I don't know what to do with the albums.  I need to find someone who wants to take them on and keep them.   I'm going to ask one of my cousins if she would like to take them on.  If not, we are planning a family do in June, to say goodbye to my Dad.  I will have to raise the subject then.

Then I had some small albums of photos, that Mum or Dad had taken themselves.  These were presumably important, because they'd gone to the trouble of creating little albums of them.  I emptied each album, scanned the photos, and then put them back in the albums.      I've still got 2 little albums to do.

 

I noticed that my living room was smelling like old books, and I guessed that this was probably coming from the mountain of photo processing envelopes which had presumably got a bit of damp.  My Mum had stuffed dozens and dozens and dozens of photo envelopes into shoeboxes. I'd emptied the envelopes into a crate, thank goodness.    I decided, for the sake of my nose, that I'd better get on and do those.

There were many envelopes, most from the days where we posted rolls of film off to get them developed, and a "free" roll of film was included when the photos came back.   Truprint,  Colorama,  York to name a few;  and Boots from when Mum moved to getting them developed at the chemist. 

 I threw the negatives into a clear bag so I can make sure they are destroyed. I ripped off any identifying info from the envelopes, and put it in the "burn" pile.   I then scanned each pack,  often having to break it into multiple batches.  The photos from the same pack are grouped by name,  and I filed them according to what the majority of the photos related to.  These were from the days where a roll of film might be in the camera for months,  so the subject matter could be all over the place.  

I put an elastic band round  each pack of originals , and put everything in a shoe box of my own  Eventually, I'll destroy most of the originals, but for now, for Mum, I'll keep them.

As I went along, I didn't pay too much attention to individual photos.  A few registered with me,  and some of them printed  to take to my Mum next week.  A few, I sent by WhatsApp to the subject (or their relatives). 

One envelope contained photos from the house we all lived in, or even older.  There were some of my brothers as babies, and I sent those to DB.

I've got hundreds of their house - the one we are getting ready to sell -  being built.  I hope it's bought by someone who is interested enough to want a copy of the photos.

Thank goodness for my fab scanner!   I'd been planning to upgrade to the newest version of it, but it's made by Fujitsu and I can't bring myself to buy any more of their products (Post Office scandal). 

It took most of the day to do the envelopes of photos.  The actual scanning didn't take that long, it was the peripheral stuff that took the time.

I've made a shared online album, so I can give my DB access, and my Mum when she is well enough.  And I can access the photos on my phone when I am with Mum next week.

I'm going to try and finish the sticky albums today, and then see if I can stash everything under the stairs. There's loads more stuff to come home to be dealt with, and my home is looking overwhelmed already.

As am I, truth be told.