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.
