Busy, busy!

[LadyA]

Seems everyone is busy, the forum is gone quiet!
I've been running around like a headless youknowwhat! (shh! Don't want to frighten the feathered ones!)

Dau & Son in law have finally moved into their new house! Yay! But, oh, dear! The moving process! :shock: They had bought a tiny 2 bed terraced house about 3 1/2 years ago, which tbh, was too small even then as SIL has a teenager, and they intended having a family themselves. But, they could afford it (which is always good!), and it's been good for the few years. But now, they have a toddler, and there was literally nowhere to put him a bed of his own. Plus, their house had a large green area just across the street, where every kid in their own and neighbouring estates congregated in Summer to play. They didn't mind that, until they were trying to get a child to sleep! And then the ice cream van would come clanging up the street twice a day, and stop right outside, bell ringing loudly, usually at the child's nap time in the afternoon, and again just as dau was trying to get him to sleep in the evenings! Grandson is just gone 2 now, and very lively and likes being outside, and they knew that come this Summer, he would want to be out with the other children, and they didn't want him out crossing the road or wandering the estate (I've come across toddlers wandering in that estate - kids of no more than 3 or 4, completely alone!) - so they started looking for a new place with a larger garden, out of the town, last November. Found one within a day that they could afford (unusual for here), and then put their house on the market. The Estate Agent put it on their website, but didn't even get time to put a sign up outside the house - it was "sale agreed" within a couple of days! However, time moved on, and nothing was happening. Christmas came and went. January came and went. Then, suddenly, one Wednesday evening, they got a call from the Solicitor "It's closing. Any chance ye could be out by Friday?" Um, no! But, we did get them moved out of their house by the Tuesday. They packed up everything - and dau had been on a major decluttering binge since they put the house on the market. And they moved all their stuff in to my house, and moved themselves in to my mum's for a few days until the purchase of the new house closed. Which it finally did on Friday last. So, then we've spent the last several days moving everything (well, not quite everything yet!) to their new place. I'm so thrilled for them. The new place is amazing! And has just had a new kitchen fitted! They're so pleased. And it's about the same distance from me as they were. Dau does find it a bit of a faff, now that she can't walk to the shops etc. but it's so worth it!

So, anyway, that's mainly what I've been doing! I have started my big clean of the chicken house and run, to get ready for a new batch of hens. And I have started digging over the veg garden. And I've also been bitten by dau's decluttering/organising/tidying bug! I'm on a major tidy up/declutter and organise binge here, organising drawers and clearing out clutter! It's amazing the difference just taking that extra couple of minutes to fold clothes properly makes! Like, yesterday, I did the drawer I keep hats & scarves in, which was full to bursting. I rolled all the scarves neatly and folded all my woolly hats - and now the drawer is half empty! I've got containers and baskets for things, so towels, teatowels & dishcloths are now all neatly folded and stored in the airing cupboard, rather than just piled in! Because I can tell you this - if I ever have to move out of here, I don't want to have to go through what they did, packing so much stuff, and not even knowing what they had! I can tell you, I'm on a roll, and I'm not going to stop until this house is SORTED!! :lol: :lol:

 

[Margaid]

Gosh you have been busy. I keep trying to de-clutter and at least use the "one in, one out" principle when I can but I don't have the energy for a major sort out. I am really looking forward to chucking out all the paperwork relating to the divorce, but that still isn't going to happen for several more months. That may give me the boost I need to de-clutter other stuff

 

[Marigold]

I would LOVE to have a good declutter, as I'm not a hoarder myself, but live with a man who is. He never throws anything away and the roof is stacked full of boxes, the garage is full of model planes, the shelves are full of books he'll never read again, the small bedroom is his workshop, like the Tardis, full of stacked-up boxes etc, the front 'bedroom' is full of shelves of computer equipment, boxes of filed papers, modelling equipment, books of photographs from pre-digital age, and goodness knows what else, with my sewing machine on a small table in the corner. We spent 20 years building a railway in the garden, accumulating masses of rolling stock, engines and other gear, and then he went back to his first love, RC planes, and started on adapting the garage. When we got a new kitchen I insisted the engines and coaches had to move out of the shelves in the kitchen and into boxes in the roof, but now he's wondering where to put them because his interest in the railway has suddenly revived, like a virus, and wants them downstairs to be handy. My normal Spring programme of gardening is being subsumed into track clearance and re-ballasting.
It's nice for a man to have a hobby, and it's good that he can turn his hand to making or mending just about anything, and I love him dearly - but I shall always remember his mother, when we had just returned from the hospital on the afternoon her husband had died. I sat her down for a cup of tea, and the first thing she said was 'You'll think it's dreadful, I'm sure - but now I'm going to have a good clear out of all his stuff!'

 

[bigyetiman]

I am a hoarder, and OH isn't. I have to watch she doesn't throw out things I need. I wish I was as tidy as her at times.
A friend of ours after her husband died, gleefully went out and put all his fishing stuff on a bonfire which she had wanted to do for years. So I don't think that's odd Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Her husband was fond of very highbrow classical music and used to play his CDs for hours on end in their shared small living room. After he died, the CD player was the first to go. (Of course a lot of the CDs came home to us and are still sitting, largely unplayed, in a stack in OUR living room.) Once we had taught her how to turn on the TV and select the programmes, she was also able to watch whatever she wanted, i.e, endless football - no need to follow the plot, it was much the same every time, and if she went to sleep in the middle, no problem, the score was on display so she hadn't missed much. Previously, the Radio Times had always lived down the side of his chair, as he was the only one who chose what to watch and was in control of the remote.

 

[LadyA]

I cleared out my husband's "office" when he had to go into full time care, eleven months before he died. Two reasons - first, he had taken to hiding food in there. As I cleared and dismantled shelves I found food hidden everywhere. Under shelves, behind books, in books, under desks.....! And secondly, I felt that it would be much easier on me to clear that room and make a living room out of it while I was still able to go and visit him. I think, for me, it would have seemed awfully final, if I had left it until he had died. And besides, it had gotten ridiculous over the years. It's a very small living room. He had three desks in there, screwed together in a "U" shape. One large office chair, two armchairs, and a couple of dining type chairs. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall bookshelves, plus shelves built in under and on top of the desks. Pictures, posters and oddments tacked to the bookshelves He had even put shelves into the large window! He had boxes and boxes of "files" containing, well, rubbish. Clippings from newspapers going back to the 1970s, and whole newspapers & magazines too. You could hardly get into the room, there was just enough space to squeeze between the two armchairs and sit in them, and to get to one of the desks. It took a couple of weeks just to clear it all out, as not only were the desks screwed together, with the shelves built into them underneath and on top, but all the bookcases were screwed to the walls! I shudder to think what his living conditions would have been like, had he been living on his own! It had been a hard slog always, but particularly as his dementia took hold, to prevent him from starting to build up stuff in the kitchen and our bedroom.

 

[Hen-Gen]

Fortunately neither my parents nor any of my grandparents were ever afflicted by the scourge of dementia. Sometimes I think I’m developing it because I am absolutely terrible at remembering people’s names. At times it’s embarrassing trying to avoid giving the game away and requires some really adept footwork!
As for hoarding bruck, as they call it hereabouts, I plead guilty. My house is relatively pristine but my outbuildings are a tangle of rammel that I can’t bring myself to throw out. After all you never know when you might need the baler twine from hay bales or bits of rusty old metal!!!

 

[Tweetypie]

It's amazing how much useless or unwanted stuff you find when you move house. You put everything into boxes, nicely marked for the room they will be going into, yet for some reason, there are always boxes that you never reopen! Unfortunately, for me, when I split with my ex husband, he had one of "those boxes" after we moved, which contained 2 Armani figurines (old fashioned, I know), that I bought for £70 each when I was age 22 (I'm 54 now) and at the time it was probably a week's salary per figurine! 15 years on, it is still a mystery where they went to...they probably got thrown out. :-(

Now the last time I moved, I had to temporarily put things into storage. With a soon-to-be new husband helping, one which did not like waste and unnecessary items, I was "advised" to rid myself of some of the 192 pairs of shoes/boots and 8 floor to wall wardrobe space of clothes! He took most of my clothes and around 120 pairs of shoes to the local charity. He told me the woman cried when he took them in, she was so grateful. I bet she was. Even now, 5 years on, I still hold a grudge! You just never know when you will need those shoes :lol: Aside from shoes and clothes, I am not a hoarder and I am a bit of a tidy freak.

 

[LadyA]

I am the opposite, Tweetypie, about shoes & clothes! I have a couple of pairs of heels. In a box, under the bed! They very (VERY!) rarely get worn, but I keep them for special occasions. I live in walking type boots, of which I do have four or five pairs. One of those is sentimental, my late husband bought me a green suede pair, and they are now years old, but I won't part with them! I've had them re-soled, and I don't wear them often, but I love them. With clothes, I have four "good" dresses (two are identical in different colours! Bought on a sale. I couldn't decide between black or purple, and got both for less than the original price for one!). Other than that, I have four pairs of jeans for going out of the house, track pants for at home, and various tops & jumpers. And I just keep my clothes until they are worn out. I have found that when you live alone, you kind of need more clothes, because it takes longer to build up a full load for the washing machine.

 

[Tweetypie]

LadyA, I think that we are probably at the opposite extreme. ? I just admit that I wear my walking boots most days, as I walk almost every night , just to keep active, as I am sat down all day in an office. I wear my dresses, skirts, high heels for work or on holiday. I'd rather be in my scruffs, in the forest, but must admit I do sometimes miss my single life, just for the over 30,s discos and getting dressed up. OH and me don't go out, unless it's to a carvery pub.

 

[MrsBiscuit]

I have found that when you live alone, you kind of need more clothes, because it takes longer to build up a full load for the washing machine.

I must remember that one LadyA!

 

[bigyetiman]

Not loads of shoes here either. OH does have several posh pairs for going out. We both have several pairs of walking boots and wellies.
We have some friends who go on cruises as they can have new clothes for every night and enjoy all the dressing up for evenings, which is my idea of hell on a holiday. I can see Margaid & Marigold grinning at the thought of me in a tuxedo. Mmm must get one for next time we meet at Glaslyn, or perhaps flippers and a wet suit :lol:

 

[Margaid]

You'd be surprised - I've not yet met anyone who doesn't look good in a tux although there's always a first time! But on past experience flippers and a wet suit would be more appropriate!

 

[Hen-Gen]

I don’t even own a suit. There was a funeral here in January. I had to go in a black polo shirt and a black fleece.

 

[bigyetiman]

Well they were black what more do people want. My grandad requested no black and all the men had to wear a silly tie.
i work with someone who has 47 pairs of trainers by the way

 

[bigjim]

Having a work uniform, nothing flashy just black combats, black polo, safety shoes. I tend to find I wear the same stuff all the time. Got my favourite warm colombia fleece, jeans. I've loads of clothes, never throw anything out till its warn out.
Being bald, I've loads of hats. Gotta keep the sun off me head. I'm as pale as a milk bottle lol

 

[Hen-Gen]

Haute couture for me. Lacoste, Pierre Cardin, Galiano, non! My tailor of choice is Dickies. Overalls, body warmers, work shirts etc. Remember when clothes were made for warmth, durability and cost?
Like you bigjim, fleecy hats, sun caps, an alpaca beanie (knitted by a neighbour). Boots, wellies and a pair of funeral shoes, faux Barbour jackets.
Rather spend my money on animals, books and food any day!

 

[bigyetiman]

Absolutely Hen-Gen. I do have a nice selection off Iron Maiden t shirts and a couple from RAF shop featuring Bomber command and "V" force planes that's as near as I get to haute couture
Books for me any day, especially ones on old airfields from the war years, and battles of WW1

 

[LadyA]

I thought the busyness would abate once dau & fam had moved in to their new home. Nope! Dau is expecting their 2nd baby toward the end of October, so a good while to go yet. But things have been "complicated" so far, and they've needed a lot of help. She had horrendous sickness, and couldn't even open the fridge door, much less cook anything, so I was providing meals. Thankfully, she could eat as long as she didn't have to smell the food raw or cooking! Her almost 2 1/2 year old can do very good impressions of "mama doing big vomits!" :mrgreen: Then, she's just been in hospital twice in the last week , seems she's got some complications. They hope she'll be ok from now on, but can't say for sure, because they don't really know what's causing the complications. They do though tell her that the baby is fine (as I told her, unborn babies are basically parasites! They will be fine, they take all they need, but the mother will suffer!) So, she's home but ordered not to lift anything, not to do any pulling, pushing, straining, etc... yeah, right, with a 2 1/2 year old, who's at the tantrum/meltdown age! She got home from hospital yesterday morning, I went over in early afternoon, and I almost sent her straight back to the hospital, she looked that awful, and was in so much pain. But I sent her to bed, and played with grandson for the afternoon, and gave her tea and toast, and she did improve. So, fingers crossed.

My new hens are settled in and laying well. I've never had a batch that eat so much pellets! Took them a while to get accustomed to them, but boy, they get through them! I've continued giving them a sort of mash of softened pellets in the morning, but after that, they use the Grandpa's treadle feeder. They drink a lot too, maybe because of eating so much dry pellets?

I did get a few veg planted, but not much. Just can't keep up, between dau and my mum. Still though, I remember when my husband died after years of nursing him, I wondered what on earth I would do with my time! At least I'm not bored. I'm exhausted, but I'm not bored! :lol: :lol:

 

[Tweetypie]

Nothing worse than morning sickness when it isn't just limited to the morning! I had it with all three of my pregnancies. By week 16-18 I think it had gone. I recall similar to your Dau and I recall going into the sitting room one morning and almost being sick because of the smell of the leather sofa - so it had to go! Had to be replaced with a fabric one. It's an awful time and I do feel for her. I found eating ginger biscuits helped me, however, I put on over 4 stones with each pregnancy and 5 stone with my third I wonder if some sort of low calorie ginger or diabetic biscuit might help???