I am in major major major cleanout mode. And trust me - it doesn't happen often. I am a hoarder of mammoth proportions, daughter of two hoarders. No hope for me really. But this week I have the blitz mood on me. I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning our bathroom cupboard. Now lt me set that into context. When we had the bedroom fitted with units I had a single wardrobe unit built into the en suite bathroom for storage. It is all shelved and I couldn't get another thing in there. There are two shelves used for walking boots and stuff but the rest - yes single wardrobe size - was full of toiletries. I swear I could give Boots a run for their money.
I am one of these people who likes to always have a spare ins tock so a spare shampoo, a spare deodorant each, spare bath foam, shower gel, suncream and so it goes on. I am also a sucker for buying new stuff and not using it and keeping old stuff and not using it. I threww out 7 carrier bags full of stuff. I still have three or few new cans/jars/bottles of the stuff we actually use. I have kept just 20 perfumes (some unopened, all of them expensive ones too) threw all of the makeup apart from the mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow I actually use away. I had no fewer than 6 new anti wrinkle age defying creams - never opened. Five new body lotions. Eetc etc etc. Most of it gone. I am down to a minimum and am NOT going near any toiletries aisles, chemists, perfume shops etc for a long long time.
Today we did the garage. OMG what a job. Nij bought the van home from work and we filled it twice and tipped it and filled it a third time for the charity shop. It is still quite full but of useful stuff. It's all been emptied, cleaned, swept and sorted. We found no trace anywhere of any mice so it looks like they really have all gone - we have seen no trace for over eighteen months now.
The fridge, in there for almost a year, has gone, so have all out LP's (we'd sold all the good ones ages ago but the dealer declined all of my David Cassidy, Donny Osmond etc and just took Ni's valuable ones .... which was most of them) Got rid of 80 books (all waitingt o go to the charity shop and never quite made it, two printers, a TV, videos etc and about 20 jigsaws. I am knackered but so satisfied.
One of the hardest things I threw out was my Daddy's kit box from the army. He had it since he left the army in 1953 and he kept it in the shed full of tools. When Daddy died it was one of the most important things I took from the house because ever since I was a child it was a part of Daddy.
It was full of woodworm, all cracked and not really repairable. The most damaged part was the painted part that was the only bit that mattered. Nigel had kept the workbench - the other thing that was quintisentially daddy - and it is in his workshop now. So the day had come for the box to go. I took some pictures of it and will scrap them, and I guess I will look at the pictures far more than I ever did at the box, which was just in the way and not useable. But it was hard and I hated letting it go.
