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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 2, 2022 14:50:32 GMT
I have been obliged to spend some time in my cellar these past couple days, and it has been quite an eye opener. Although I have owned my flat (and cellar) for more than 30 years now, I have barely used it and almost never go down there. I have put maybe 10% of the things in the cellar, another 20% was deposited by anonymous workers or inconsiderate neighbours, and the other 70% has been there for about 80 years.
But the water main has been leaking, so one of my neighbours contacted me. He is the guy to whom I enthusiastically turned over the presidence of the co-owners association several years ago. He seems to like the responsibility as much as I hated it. I never go to the cellar -- had not been down there for more than a year -- so there was little chance that I would have noticed the plop-plop-plop on the back wall.
So, okay, there is a leak in the cellar, but also in the building next door. The owner of Bruno Optique converted his basement room into an office and has been battling the leak for almost a month, with no help from his useless building association. In preparation of the inevitable, my neighbour asked me if I could clear out some stuff (with his priceless help) to make access to the wet wall easier.
This afternoon we went down there to move things and to dispose of what we could. There were a few things of mine that I had totally forgotten. For example the shipping box of the artworks that a friend and I had purchased in Vietnam in the late 1990s. Why did I keep this box? Well, it's gone now. There were broken office chairs, not mine, abandoned at some time or other. There were quite a few planks, boards, shelves of mine -- more than I expected -- which still look like they can be reused, maybe, some day (ha ha -- one of the main reasons of hoarding). I kept them of course. There were also other wormeaten boards from the 1930s, not mine of course. Mine will look like that if they are still there in 2060.
The two biggest items are unmoveable. There is a massive supply of coal (illegal fossil fuel in France) along with a coal bucket, burlap coal bags, some sort of coal rake (?)... Actually, the coal has probably been useful in absorbing some of the leakage since the coal is along the wet wall. The other item is a really huge bottle rack full of (empty) bottles. That is all as old as the coal. Why did they keep all of the empty bottles? I have no idea. There are at least 100 bottles in the rack, so I finally began today something that I have been promising myself for years. I removed 8 of them and took them up to the recycling bin. Our recycling bin for glass is not huge, so I did not want to fill it too much. Out new youthful neighbours (in two different flats) have already proved that they can completely fill the bin with just one party, so I am willing to ration myself.
My only worry is that after I have managed to make more space in my (quite large) cellar and the leak has been mastered, it is looking pretty appealing for storing more stuff.
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Post by casimira on Jun 2, 2022 16:55:43 GMT
I had a similar experience when my brother and I had to clear out both the cellar and the attic in my mother's house. I took away some stuff that was in the attic but didn't take much from the cellar.
I still regret not having taken a dozen or so old Mason jars in the cellar that had the lid attached by a wire clamp of sorts and have a rubber gasket that is part of keeping the lid sealed. (the gaskets would have to be replaced as they were all dried up and useless.) I had to seriously restrain myself to not take anymore "stuff "but I regret to this day my not taking them.
In addition to being a hoarder which is an affliction to begin with, the aspect or criteria of not only hoarding I'm cursed with obsessing over something that more than likely be tucked away in a box somewhere.
It's rather pathetic really.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 2, 2022 17:08:28 GMT
Mason jars are great until you realise that you have no specific use for them.
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Post by casimira on Jun 2, 2022 17:44:45 GMT
They would go to use for me for Moroccan preserved lemons or pickled okra. The problem is, I would want the jars back after giving them away with the lemons etc. It's one thing to expect a casserole dish etc.be returned but I think it would be tacky to request or expect the same with these jars with the exception of some friends who would understand.
I would also use them for storing things like lentils and similar dried food items.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2022 21:36:40 GMT
FYI ~ those kinds of jars are called bale jars (sometimes spelled bail), as the wire apparatus is the bale.
I learned this because it was just too awkward to keep saying, "You know -- those kinds of jars that close the same way a Grolsch beer bottle does."
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 3, 2022 2:40:36 GMT
I think "clamp lids" and "spring loaded tops" are more common terms. At least that's what comes up on Google.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 3, 2022 8:53:00 GMT
I am very interested to learn the cause of your leaking wall Kerouac. Reason is because as we speak, Mr.Tod is peeling back the iron roof on one of the BnB's to try and discover where the water is coming from that drips through the ceiling in one particular place. At first the few drips were blamed on condensation but as the months and seasons passed it has become serious enough to remove part of the roof and replace the damaged ceiling. Then, down at my sons partners beach house a wall is very damp and causing paint to flake off in the one bedroom. The reason is easy to see. The soil on the outside is higher than the depth of the room. So that has to be seen to which will mean going with a small building crew and staying there for four or five days until it has been sorted.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 4, 2022 21:38:23 GMT
I like mason jars. I'm gradually replacing my plastic food storage containers with mason jars. I use them for all my dry goods... for pickling and jam making. The only problem with them is that they're quite heavy.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 4, 2022 21:47:55 GMT
I use old pickle jars for a lot of minor items.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 4, 2022 22:43:28 GMT
Come to think of it, my little neurosis comes under the banner of hoarding. I save ALL glass jars, and a fair amount of plastic ones, too. In my defense, they do get used. Some of them leave my house because I give a friend something in a glass jar. (& yes, it's a wrench each time ) I make up a box of culls from time to time, then put a notice on a local facebook page. The box is generally picked up that same day. All that discipline and nobility of character aside, it doesn't excuse my saving of face cream jars, particularly the night cream ones. The brand I use comes in a square (ooooo!) glass jar and the nighttime one is black. The labels peel right off, leaving an elegant little jar that resembles an inkwell.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 6, 2022 20:52:31 GMT
Oooh...I love a nice glass jar. In our futility room (I kid you not) we have some cupboards FULL of glasses that belonged to my parents (we rarely use them)), glass vases, plastic party platters that get dragged out every time we have visitors, umpteen paper napkins, old sweetie tins, a soda stream, shoe cleaning kit, a whole shelf full of candles,a cupboard full of booze and loads of glass jars with lids. The nicest jars are some old honey jars. I often use the jam jars as little vases.
My empty moisturiser and body cream jars are cleaned and taken to John Lewis where I get £5 off my next purchase (for 5)...but if they were square and black I'd probably keep them too...
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Post by casimira on Aug 11, 2022 13:33:36 GMT
I know your penchant for glass jars Bixa and am surprised that you are willing to part with any of them.
I have recently found myself falling into my old pattern of acquiring books, magazines etc. I only hope that I can summon it up to discard them (maybe not all the books) when the time comes.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2022 14:12:53 GMT
Since I never use them, I have a box of plastic straws, now illegal in the EU. I will be willing to part with them when the black market calls for it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 11, 2022 16:17:21 GMT
I know your penchant for glass jars Bixa and am surprised that you are willing to part with any of them. I have recently found myself falling into my old pattern of acquiring books, magazines etc. I only hope that I can summon it up to discard them (maybe not all the books) when the time comes. I simply don't have enough storage space, so it's thin out what I have or wind up keeping stuff on the floor. If I had a "futility room" like Cheery, or a nice walk-in pantry, it would probably be crammed with jars & other stuff. Fingers crossed that your new house has places for the books and magazines you love to keep around I got a useful nudge towards de-cluttering the other day. A friend takes some glass bottles off my hands if he finds them attractive. I offered him one, apologizing for not successfully removing he label. He said, "That paint thinner I left here would get it off." I didn't answer because I was thinking he was delusional, having no memory of any paint thinner. Later I looked into the new utility room -- the one created from the ugly service patio -- and realized stuff was just shoved in there any old way. Reorganizing things, I quickly found the paint thinner and other useful stuff. This got me on a roll, so I tackled one of those drawers that I hate to open because I have to dig through so much crap to find anything I want in it. Then I hit the china cabinet, pulling out the wine glasses & a few other things and putting them in a box to be sold. They've been replaced with the kind with no stems and the cabinet is now organized and more accessible. Next were books, which I've culled into groups to be sold as bundles. I'd already separated out a bunch of huipiles in my closet that I want to sell. The goal is to keep going by reminding myself I only need to do one little task at a time. Even the smallest step in getting the clutter out of the way is inordinately pleasing. Now the question is how long the stuff to go will set around until I take pictures to post in order to sell.
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Post by casimira on Aug 12, 2022 12:49:48 GMT
I'm surprised you were able to restrain yourself Bixa and part with the jars. I'm also impressed with your capability to purge items you have deemed superfluous or no longer in need of. Most especially the huipiles which I would love to snatch up one or two of to replenish my wardrobe.
Yes, the new house will have more than ample storage for my acquisitions. Much more space than our previous abode. As you may well recall how little space there was before save the space in the overhang in the guest room where I just shoved in anything I was not currently utilizing. Judging by the amount of mouse droppings in there I was providing harbor for the little varmints.
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Post by casimira on Feb 12, 2023 15:08:17 GMT
I took advantage of the inclement weather yesterday and attempted to declutter, discard and destroy the accumulation of magazines and the like in the tiny space where we now live. it doesn't take much for them to build up in just a short period of time. Of course, it is compounded by my having to make sure there wasn't something in many of them that I had yet to peruse in the event it may be worthy of saving (recipes, poems, maps, cartoons). Pathetic.
I need to let the gentleman I know who saves them for me to maybe hold off on dropping off umpteen bags every other month where they remain in stacks taking up precious room in such a small space. I appreciate him saving them for me and want to let him know that I don't have all the time available to really appreciate them at this point. (Many of these periodicals are costly when on the newsstands and there are reems of information and entertaining reading etc. worth saving them.) I just want to ward off yet another habit that leads to cluttered up spaces.
T. has his own penchant for saving certain items which I need to discourage him from keeping. Combined it takes up a fair amount of space.
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Post by bjd on May 1, 2023 18:55:10 GMT
Anyone who watches Youtube videos gets these "suggested" videos along the side. For some reason, today I saw one called "3 legit reasons for decluttering after the age of 50". Well, I'm not really a hoarder but the suggestions were really good. 1. Don't make your children have to deal with your stuff. 2. If you have to go into a care home, you won't be in control over what you can take with you 3. Life is easier if you don't have to look for things, clean stuff you don't use...
The videos are called "The Life Tidy".
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Post by htmb on Sept 14, 2023 13:37:44 GMT
I’ve been cleaning out drawers, cabinets, closets, in an attempt to de-clutter and simplify. I’ve got a long way to go, but I purchased some see-through bins last week, plus a drawer divider for my kitchen "junk drawer." My pantry is 75% complete and quite organized, and my junk drawer is now amazingly arranged! Even better, I found two extra keys to my house, so no longer need to go to the hardware store to make copies. I’ve had this task on my "to-do" list since July, but continued to put it off because the hardware store is in an out-of-the way location for me. I’m feeling quite pleased.
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Hoarding
Sept 15, 2023 6:11:04 GMT
via mobile
Post by whatagain on Sept 15, 2023 6:11:04 GMT
👍👏
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Hoarding
Sept 15, 2023 7:40:40 GMT
via mobile
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 15, 2023 7:40:40 GMT
See-through boxes are always a good idea.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 17, 2023 21:23:33 GMT
Ooh I adore little plastic storage boxes I had some John Lewis vouchers last birthday. I got some large, clear plastic boxes that fit on the fridge shelves..one for butter and cheeses..the other one has my yogurts and Jeff's dips etc. They stop things disappearing into the black hole at the back of the fridge. I also got some for storing things on my craft desk shelves...one for reels of cotton, another for glues and sticky tape, one for my chargers. A tall one for paint brushes.... Anybody would think that I was an organised person ! (anything but I assure you) Jeff insists on keeping bread in the fridge (the maniac!) Which means that when we've got a 'big shop' to put away it's a big struggle...BUT I treated myself to a Tupperware bread keeper. We all have different bread... Russ has white, I get small wholemeal loaves and Jeff likes 50:50 (neither here nor there) bread. Now Russ and I use the new Tupperware box...Jeff still uses the fridge but we've freed up 2/3 of the shelf (for stuff that actually needs to be in there!).
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