Daylight Standard Time in the US and Canada (I think) starts on the first Sunday of November, which is 2 November this year. I will have six clocks to change in the house and one clock in the vehicle to change. Three clocks will automatically move backwards. Every year everyone raises a hue and cry to end this practice, but no one wants to take the first step. Miss Kitty has an internal clock that never changes. I would think our falling back will put us more in line with her clock.
One of the notable aspects in attitudes toward possessions, from my family of origin, is being captive to things perceived as being "good quality." They came from more scarcity, so keeping and maintaining items of good quality really mattered.
"You can't give that away! That is real [high quality material]! How dare you move that along!"
I understand their objection. My counterpoint is that I refuse to be owned by my possessions! I am very clear on the relationship of who or what is being owned here. If I don't want it any more, have no need or space or preference any more, I do not need to be owned by the thing in question. I am not the possession of my possessions.
Made much easier as Mr Boogs is away hiking in the mountains of Majorca. He tends to slow the process down by deliberating over every piece of paper.
My strategy is - keep all tax, pay and pension stuff. Get rid of everything else six years old or more. I no longer shred as we have a wood burning stove, so it goes on there.
I stopped to chat to the lady who raises money for the local kids' football team by selling stuff outside her house on market days, and came away with three lovely little nesting boxes with woodland scenes on the lids. They will be Very Useful for rounding up all those little things that need to be in one place, and I can get rid of a couple of dented old sweet tins that I was previously using.
I actually remembered to take two items to the charity shop this morning and fortunately it was a day when they were accepting items. Every little helps - them and me.
Today I am doing a major clean of the refrigerator. Taking everything out and washing down the inside. I am sure I will find a few sauce bottles that need to be tossed. It is the day before my weekly shopping, so the timing seems appropriate.
I stopped to chat to the lady who raises money for the local kids' football team by selling stuff outside her house on market days, and came away with three lovely little nesting boxes with woodland scenes on the lids. They will be Very Useful for rounding up all those little things that need to be in one place, and I can get rid of a couple of dented old sweet tins that I was previously using.
That had me scratching my head, as a 'nesting box' might be a thing with a hole in the front for a family of blue tits. 'Woodland scenes' - must be high-end blue tits!
Originally posted by Nenya: Mr Nen keeps things because they "might come in for..." or "will be good for mucky jobs in the garage." It's very difficult for him to part with any.
The NE Man can get rid of clothes, but not shoes. Worn out shoes are kept to be used as "gardening shoes" in the event he ever takes up gardening.
@mark_in_manchester I can see the confusion, now that you've pointed it out! These were not nesting boxes for birds, but three boxes which fit one inside the other, like those Russian dolls.
Upthread we were talking about ovens and the cleaning thereof.
This afternoon the friendly engineer came round and replaced the element in our fan oven. When I apologised for the state of it he said, "Believe me, that's spotless compared to some I've seen." I told him I liked him a lot . I asked him about professional cleaners but he named a proprietary cleaner which I've used before and said that would be fine - the key is to leave it on for at least 6 hours.
In other news, the sorting of Mr Nen's paperwork progresses slowly; mine, not at all. There is currently Much Sawing going on in the loft... not sure what that's all about...
Update on the missing bits of my keyboard stand. I popped into the handyman shop and the friendly proprietor provided me with exactly what I needed for the huge sum of 30p!
Update on the missing bits of my keyboard stand. I popped into the handyman shop and the friendly proprietor provided me with exactly what I needed for the huge sum of 30p!
Result! One of those use-it-or-lose-it places - we have one here.
Update on the missing bits of my keyboard stand. I popped into the handyman shop and the friendly proprietor provided me with exactly what I needed for the huge sum of 30p!
Result! One of those use-it-or-lose-it places - we have one here.
We do too; it's called Linlithgow DIY, but I always refer to it as Fork Handles, because it's so much like the shop in the sketch!
Today I made preparations before my son comes tomorrow to move the spare bed into the new room. Tucked away in a corner of the room I found two boxes of Duplo lego. My youngest is now 18 so they have been there a while.
I should have said that my youngest grandson is 18, meaning it is at least 10 years they have been hidden away!
No great grandchildren, and highly unlikely for some time yet ( I hope). They’ll be taken to the charity shop.
A move to a new Chateau de Nen is looking increasingly likely and to that end there is currently Much Sorting. I made a trip to a charity shop yesterday with a few nice clothes that I haven't worn for several years (I usually wear mine until they have holes in them and are only fit for the fabric recycling) and generated an extra (smallish) amount of paper recycling and rubbish from a bag that I used to use for work. It's been sitting in a corner of my study since I was made redundant in 2020 .
A large amount of Stuff is coming down from the loft and so far none of it is mine... It's good to be getting it sorted now so that we don't have to move it, and I'm sure we wouldn't be doing it now if we didn't have an impending possible move, so that's one good thing about it - otherwise there would be a risk of leaving it all for the Nenlets to sort out and that wouldn't be at all good - but I confess to being a tad shocked at how much of it there is.
I hate the part where I actually have to get stuff out of the house. Deciding I don't want it any more is fine, but then having to sort it / clean it / list it / take it to the charity shop takes forever. Clothes are ok. A possibly working railway set, 2 unused bottles of engine oil, and a booster seat are defeating me.
A cleaner? I have a Wee Treasure comes once a month and does more in 3 hours than I manage in the rest of the time. But it does prompt me to tackle overdue chores - yesterday I sorted the sock drawer - and incentivises me to try and maintain the level of clean.
I'm sorry to hear that @ThunderBunk - it can be overwhelming. Is there someone who could help?
A useful method - one I don't always stick to - is to choose one corner, one drawer, one box, one shelf, and sort just that one. Don't get distracted into anything else and set a timer to do it in 20 minute bursts. Carry on like that until it's done. That way you (generic you) don't go at it hell-for-leather for three hours and then not do any more for weeks because you've exhausted yourself.
I'm currently eyeing up a pile of paperwork in the far corner of my desk...
I need to crack on with cleaning my little study now that the bed has gone, but a friend asked me to drive her to an appointment, so I took the opportunity to drop off the Duplo and a holdall at the charity shop. They accepted both lots, despite a sign saying they could not accept any donations today.
I’m not really putting off the cleaning, just typing whilst having a quick cuppa.
I'm not putting off the sorting either... just having a much-needed Hobbit-type second breakfast as the first breakfast seems a long time ago and some toast with my morning coffee was just too tempting.
Our church has the Christmas Fair later in the month so I do have a box of books to take up there next week for the second hand book stall. I also plan, finally, to take the several-but-smallish boxfuls of my aunt's jewellery to our local jewellers for assessment. She was a great one for costume jewellery so I suspect that's all it is, but I don't know what I'm looking at.
The study is now clean, but I can now see that redecoration and a new carpet are needed. My next step, however, is to tackle the paperwork, not so easy now that there isn’t a handy bed to put piles on.
There's a pain barrier to be worked through though, isn't there? My paperwork looks much worse now, spread out on the spare bed, than it did in a neat pile on the far corner of my desk...
I could say the same, since only one room has an actual bed in it. Others have computers and lots and lots of books. Also wardrobes, storage boxes and a great many shelves with Stuff.
I couldn't believe it either when we were sorting for the move.
I bet you didn't have car parts in your loft...
No; motorbike parts are under the floor.
(Loft is full of obsolete electronic test equipment ).
(ETA; no-one cares I know, but actually there are some bike parts in the loft now I think about it. I had forgotten about those ones, and the ones in the airing cupboard.)
Comments
"You can't give that away! That is real [high quality material]! How dare you move that along!"
I understand their objection. My counterpoint is that I refuse to be owned by my possessions! I am very clear on the relationship of who or what is being owned here. If I don't want it any more, have no need or space or preference any more, I do not need to be owned by the thing in question. I am not the possession of my possessions.
I have ordered curtains for my new spare room today, but am still waiting for family to help move furniture in.
Made much easier as Mr Boogs is away hiking in the mountains of Majorca. He tends to slow the process down by deliberating over every piece of paper.
My strategy is - keep all tax, pay and pension stuff. Get rid of everything else six years old or more. I no longer shred as we have a wood burning stove, so it goes on there.
That had me scratching my head, as a 'nesting box' might be a thing with a hole in the front for a family of blue tits. 'Woodland scenes' - must be high-end blue tits!
Mr Nen keeps things because they "might come in for..." or "will be good for mucky jobs in the garage." It's very difficult for him to part with any.
The NE Man can get rid of clothes, but not shoes. Worn out shoes are kept to be used as "gardening shoes" in the event he ever takes up gardening.
Our cottage is tiny so definitely needs to be clutter-free. When we moved here three years ago we agreed on a one-in-one-out policy.
I stick to it and pop anything he holds on to for no reason into his workshop. Then he can keep it there or not. 🙂
This afternoon the friendly engineer came round and replaced the element in our fan oven. When I apologised for the state of it he said, "Believe me, that's spotless compared to some I've seen." I told him I liked him a lot
In other news, the sorting of Mr Nen's paperwork progresses slowly; mine, not at all. There is currently Much Sawing going on in the loft... not sure what that's all about...
Result! One of those use-it-or-lose-it places - we have one here.
We do too; it's called Linlithgow DIY, but I always refer to it as Fork Handles, because it's so much like the shop in the sketch!
No great grandchildren, and highly unlikely for some time yet ( I hope). They’ll be taken to the charity shop.
A large amount of Stuff is coming down from the loft and so far none of it is mine... It's good to be getting it sorted now so that we don't have to move it, and I'm sure we wouldn't be doing it now if we didn't have an impending possible move, so that's one good thing about it - otherwise there would be a risk of leaving it all for the Nenlets to sort out and that wouldn't be at all good - but I confess to being a tad shocked at how much of it there is.
I couldn't believe it either when we were sorting for the move.
Mr Boogs is back home and happy with my new paperwork storage solution. Good, because it was like-it-or-lump-it!
I bet you didn't have car parts in your loft...
Pianos in your loft????? How did they get there??
Most of the stuff has gone from my loft but it does need a final clear out.
The electric keyboard version 🙂
A useful method - one I don't always stick to - is to choose one corner, one drawer, one box, one shelf, and sort just that one. Don't get distracted into anything else and set a timer to do it in 20 minute bursts. Carry on like that until it's done. That way you (generic you) don't go at it hell-for-leather for three hours and then not do any more for weeks because you've exhausted yourself.
I'm currently eyeing up a pile of paperwork in the far corner of my desk...
I’m not really putting off the cleaning, just typing whilst having a quick cuppa.
Our church has the Christmas Fair later in the month so I do have a box of books to take up there next week for the second hand book stall. I also plan, finally, to take the several-but-smallish boxfuls of my aunt's jewellery to our local jewellers for assessment. She was a great one for costume jewellery so I suspect that's all it is, but I don't know what I'm looking at.
Piglet, who lives in a one-bedroom flat ...
I could say the same, since only one room has an actual bed in it. Others have computers and lots and lots of books. Also wardrobes, storage boxes and a great many shelves with Stuff.
No; motorbike parts are under the floor.
(Loft is full of obsolete electronic test equipment
(ETA; no-one cares I know, but actually there are some bike parts in the loft now I think about it. I had forgotten about those ones, and the ones in the airing cupboard.)