At last, actually sorting out our Lounge. We live in a smallish bungalow with a 'smallish' lounge. i am a terrible hoarder, i can't bear to part with things, especially ornaments that have memories, like gifts from the children. we have 3 cabinets full and a large coffee table in the middle.
i have started finding it difficult to walk around the obsticals, and to stand from sitting from the furniture. we are decorating, well hubby is :), we have got rid of one of the cabinets and the coffee table., not sure where our cups ect. are going!! but hay hay.
Today we went to a British Hart Foundation furniture charity shop and bought a lovely leather settee with recliner seats at both ends, not a mark on it, i am so chuffed have wanted to get one for ages and couldn't afford a new one!!
I have put most of my 'nick knacks' in storage box's in the shed and told my boys that they were their inheritance Now have so much room, makes me feel that i have accomplished something Yaaay. Now to start in the bedroom !!
Love to all
Tisha xx
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tisha1953
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Thanks Jill, i already have a loft full! we moved here from a three bedroom big house, it was difficult to fit it all in. Its like a treasure trove up there, i could be a rich woman :).
The weather is lovely isn't it Makes you feel you want to be out in it. Are you able to get out much? I must admit i am not doing much of the physical stuff, but directing. Trouble is it is very hard to let go, i get very frustrated watching someone else doing the work. I am grateful that i have a good husband and son but can be overpowering sometimes !
yes it si v frustrating having to let other s do the work that was once so easy - there is a saints match away at huddersfield tonight but i did nto fancy a late night home - had a mercy trip to see dad in n yorkshhire at the weekend who had possibly had aminorstroke
and he WILL NTO GET CARERS IN - HE is v lcuky at 91 to sitll be in his own home
but you ytake care as well you r yhounge rthan i am!!
lol JIll
Hi Trisha, you are doing something greater than you realise. When mum got to a point where she couldn't stay in her house it was a nightmare going through her stuff as she couldn't envisage how much room she had at the new place in sheltered housing. We ended up having to keep nearly everything from a three bed house until she realised that actually she needed less than a third of her things as a lot of it was nick-nacks she couldn't even bend to her cupboard to admire due to the risk of falls. She lost interest is looking through things with us as it was too much concentration.So you what have done is saved your sons a lot of extra worry.
Good for you making more space, it's much safer for you! Mum broke an awful lot of things falling on them. It was a real shame. With hindsight we would have de-cluttered her a lot sooner but hindsight is a wonderful thing.Keep well and enjoy the space!
- I procrasinate terribly with getting rid of what I rarely use or even no longer use. When I moved home about six years ago a new girlfriend from Somalia gave me a hand to pack things. Hawa remains a friend today - is like a sister to me and we still laugh about what I have been brought up to consider are necessary items for living v's what is really required to live comfortably (kitchen and lounge are traditionally equipped including crockery and cultery of different types for every occasion... formal v's informal etc etc...) So when I look around now I can see what has been steadily accumulating and see there is work overdue.. that needs to be done... ...........................................
Good for you tho I know it's hard to do. But safety first, right? Maybe it'll take some of the sting out of it to think of it in that way.
I moved out of a 4 bedroom, 3 level home last October; lived there 12 years. But had to for safety reasons and this danged PSP. But with all the room in that house, it just allowed me to stash more stuff and not purge.
Sooo...what a BIG project that was...and sadly...still is:) Moved into this 3 bedroom, one level home last October. But, my old house was in a big state of disrepair due to my inability to work since 2005 because of orthopedic problems/arthritis, and slowly slipping into PSP. So my mobility and general get-up and go left me years ago.
Via a series of miracles, I developed my own little 'habitat for humanity' and have had a handful of individuals repairing my old home since last fall. Finally, finally, finally, it's going on the market to sell this week.
Before I moved tho, had people over several times to help purge. I was determined to direct and not examine every little thing. Was fairly successful for a person who's a keeper.
However...over the course of these many months, car loads, and truck loads of my 'stuff to keep' has infiltrated all storage space in this house, including the garage. In fact, my friend called yesterday to say he has one final car load to bring over.
A big sigh and grrrrr!
Now, it stands to reason if I haven't missed anything in all these months, what's been brought over to be stored for more purging or incorporating, I don't need them. But dang, I might want them. It is a must do; lots of pictures, personal items of that nature that's irreplaceable.
So as I've encountered new symptoms a long the way of the PSP, or some worsening of others, I haven't been up to the task, physically to touch it. Very overwhelming. So I put an S.O.S. call to my best friend, Connie, last night, who lives out-of-state. She's also the greatest 'doer' I've ever known.
Connie is going to come up for a weekend, and with some direction from me, finally get this place in order. If I were physically up to it, it's a great time to have a garage sale, but that's a whole lot of work in itself. I know 75 percent of what's sitting there will be tossed or donated.
When it's done, I know I'll feel better mentally, for sure. Hopefully if I feel mentally better, it will help me physically feel better too.
My old house is on a corner lot, 2 blocks from an elementary school and 4 blocks from major shopping, which the traffic you do not hear. It's in a subdivision from the 60's called "Royal Oaks". It's full of mature trees of all types but the oak trees are my favorite. I miss my former home and neighbors a lot.
So speaking of wanting to keep things, now that the house is all fixed up on the inside, outside, and the gorgeous lot is cleaned up - I WANT TO KEEP MY OLD HOUSE
What a pickle I'm feeling right now, oh boy!
You take care...and thanks for the inspiration as to purging; it took my small flame up to a larger one
hI all, enjoying de cluttering, sorry made some of you feel guilty and inspired !! If i had enough cupboards i would probably just hide everything away, out of sight out of mind as they say. There is just too much lying around in the way and making it difficult for cleaning ect. There is a lot of 'stuff' that i am finding difficult to get rid of, they hold memories and a lot of it is my Mums stuff i had when she died. She would say 'get rid'. I'm afraid it will be down to the boys to decide when they have to. In the mean time i shall enjoy it all for many years to come (I hope!) As long as i have more space i will be happy. I have 8 black bags to take to the charity shop (clothes) and still more to sort, i have put on so much weight since leaving work and now i don't need my work clothes any more i live in 'comfortable' clothes.
Judy your old house sounds nice, i am sure it is a hard decision to decide what to do ! You are lucky you have such a good friend.
A year ago we converted our garage into a wet room and very small bedroom if it is ever required downstairs. Our garage was full of stuff with just a narrow path down the centre so I could get from the back to the front to open the door when the meters needed reading. It was a mammoth task to clear it and all 3 sons and 3 daughters in law came to help. In the end they told my husband and I to go and do something else as we kept saying, "We may need that one day". One daughter in law sat on the front door step with her laptop, checking ebay for the value of items they found. Most of the contents ended up in the skip. We had already bought a summerhouse with small shed attached to put the lawnmower and tools in. The skip was totally full by the end of the day and we were left with a large clear space.
I decided to decorate the rooms when they were built to save money, and guess what...I had to go out and buy paintbrushes, sandpaper and filler etc. Our large supply had ended up in the skip, (or our son's sheds). 36 years of loft clutter awaits attention now but most of it belongs to the sons. It's funny how they aren't so keen to help clear that.
Hi Nanna, our loft is also full of our 3 sons stuff! School work, toys, games and baby clothes, even the carry cot that all 3 have been in including bedding for it. Also i have some dolls and soft toys from my childhood. The boys don't want it in their house but won't let me get rid of it. As i said before, out of site out of mind!!
Sounds like our loft. The only thing that did come in handy was the crib our boys all slept in for 2months. They were all so long at birth, at 2 months it was too small. Our 3 grandsons have also used it and I lovingly relined it and bought a new mattress. It's now back in the loft just in case any more grandchildren arrive.
WOW! What feelings you all are bringing out in me. My husband and I had lived in our old house for over 25 years. We had over an acre and a half. We must have planted three dozen trees over the years including a small orchard. Lots of flowers, shrubs, blooming perennial vines, flowering trees, etc. But my husband got PSP, has been unable for several years to keep it all up. I am "almost a hoarder." There was still plenty of room to walk around and there wasn't anything stacked up - but every space that was flat had something on it and with a garage and basement to store things, I had never felt the need to not accumulate. I was "going to" use all the things I collected on one project or another. The problem was I never got around to doing it.
Well, after my husband's hospital "event" and subsequent three months in the hospital, we HAD to get out of our three story house with big lot and move to something we/I could manage. We are now in half the space in a 55+ development without large trees at all and precious few small ones. I was so unhappy to move; it was a real trauma on top of what had happened to my husband.
First, we had a yard sale where the more loved of my accumulations were disposed of. Much went to the hospice thrift shops (I felt good about that) but so many things I loved were just thrown away (wood scraps that were beautiful, colored glass panels, a zillion corks, lots of flower pots, kitchen stuff - and the list goes on and on. With that having been said, fully one half of our 2 car garage is now chocked full of what I did move: boxes of material, Christmas ornaments, tools, "treasures," etc. We've been here a year and I've used very little of what is out there.
So . . . now what? I missed the one yard sale/year we are allowed in this development. Have given the three adult children more than they really wanted. The task of going through all this stuff hangs over my head like the sword of Damocles. Since I haven't seen all this stuff in a year, I can't think what is out there that I want or need. It's amazing how you can pare down all your possessions to the essentials - and how small is the amount of things you really need.
Some things I was too hasty with. I only kept six bath towels. Nothing for guest to use! I kept four mugs. Same thing. We have way too many coats, especially since we mostly stay home. I rival Emelda Marcos with pairs of shoes! I mean, for heaven's sake - I only have two feet! I kept only a few reference and gardening books. But I kept ALL the art work. There aren't enough walls in this new house to even come close to displaying it all. Oh well. I guess it will all sort itself out in the months/years to come. We are blessed to be near the library, the grocery, the doctor and the church. Really, what else do we need?
So, thanks to all who commented about space and the use there of! You helped me vent.
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Now have so much room, makes me feel that i have accomplished something Yaaay. Now to start in the bedroom !! 
Eating issues
PSP Carer Survivor Forum?
This is sooooo hard.
