I have bitten the bullet. Started packing my stuff up, put my old loved desk and a table top loom on Freegle and even sealed three boxes. Now I must go through all those box files. Correspondence before the advent of emails is enormous. A box on divorce, a box on the Whitby holiday cottage and a box on all the foreign students I cared for. I no longer exist in those worlds though, to be quite honest I am enjoying myself getting rid of stuff.
Books have been difficult, I have three bookcases, one has been emptied and most of the books reside in carrier bags because they will probably not appeal to charity shops. The other had craft books and those have gone to a local charity shop, the last has special books that I shall keep along with the glass fronted bookcase they reside in.
I have watched others move in blogland and realised it is a hassle but not as difficult as my mind says it is.
Down sizing is a good exercise, I shall stay with my daughter for a while and we shall look for something to rent for me around the area, my granddaughter is already looking forward to stopping with me.
So now with some of the restrictions lifted it is time to move on and live that last bit of life left. I shall carry memories of this house and the happy times lived here and still hanker after an old mad spaniel. My feral cat is also a bit of a worry, but will talk to Lottie at the Cat Protection place. How do you rehome feral cats?
And this morning notice that my Antiquarian answers went up. Thank you Alan ;)
Having been through the downsize process I don’t envy but you’ll get there. 7 years later I still wonder what happened to various things I got rid of, did they go the charity, to friends or family and in some cases why didn’t I keep them. There may be a few regrets but really I wish we’d down sized years ago and I’ll never ever clutter another house as long as I live. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny, I still find that with books I have got rid of over the years. There is a sort of cleansing in downsizing of course - reduction brings relief ;). Love that almost last line; " I’ll never ever clutter another house as long as I live" Will try to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI just went over to "The Heritage Journal" to read your responses to Alan's questions. I am surprised that he didn't ask you "What's your favourite boy band?"
ReplyDeleteI am also a little surprised that you will be moving in with your daughter before finding a place of your own nearby. However, upon reflection, I guess that this allows you to choose somewhere at your leisure - reducing some of the pressure.
There is a long history behind Heritage Journal, I was surprised to be asked. If you belong to The Modern Antiquarian it would have to be Julian Cope! As for staying with my daughter, it will give me time to settle in and find somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSlowly but surely, I have been trying to get rid of the things I no longer need or use. For years I saved things I thought my kids might want when they had their own places but they often don't want it after all! I have a charity group that calls every couple of months and they pick up from my doorstep so I am motivated to leave stuff for them to take. I still have loads, tho, and can't imagine how I will downsize one day... Good luck in your move and search for a new home!
ReplyDeleteI remember beds from the cottage in Whitby going to a homeless charity, he spent all morning taking it to pieces up in the top bedroom. Giving things away is the right way of going about things, just finfing the right charity.
DeleteSome things I find easier to dispose of if I photograph or scan them first.
ReplyDeleteHaving given some books away, I have gone out and bought a second hand one because I miss the books so much ;)
DeleteWhy are our books so difficult to dispose of I wonder? Most on my shelves will never be read second time - some have not even been fully read once. I don't feel this way about music or photographs - both of which I am happy to go digital. Of course, books say something about us - they are a store of memory, or lessons learned and moments in life - perhaps by giving those up we feel we are losing something of ourselves. In a sense I hope that is so, for our holding on needs to be more than just a fancy background to a video call. Meanwhile, I'm ready to downsize and simplify almost anything but them.
ReplyDeleteBooks become part of our lives, I can go to a shelf and pick a book out because it is there in my mind. I still feel the loss of books that I have owned and given away. The mind of course remembers the content of books.
DeleteEven if you do continue to blog - and I sincerely hope you will - I shall miss you being 'over the hills' so to speak.
ReplyDeleteYes Pat, I shall always blog, active minds never settle down and I shall still be over the hill only in a different part of Yorkshire.
DeleteI take my hat off to you for starting, and letting go of books. That was the hardest part for me. It will still be difficult when I get rid of yet more books we brought with us as I wasn't prepared to give them to the charity shop I didn't really support, but was the only outlet . . . The books, for me, have an emotional attachment. I can remember where I bought many of them (especially the day out in Hay ones). Some thrilled me so much to find, they aren't leaving. I can let go of most novels but not my Phil Rickmans or most of my Barbara Erskines. I still have all my childhood pony books in boxes in the attic and perhaps they can be my grave goods! Tam did tell me I didn't need 30+ biographies on Thomas Hardy so I shall have to go through some of those I suppose - the ones I am less likely to read again.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame to part with your loom. I have some spinning/weaving things which I was given after my craft friend Annie died. Those need to go this year, but I shall probably take them to a Fair (IF we ever do them again!)
It will be such a wrench to leave your beautiful home and all its memories.
There is someone wanting the loom, no experience of weaving, so I might let her have it. Jennie you can only read one book at a time, I can collect the audio versions of Phil Rickman, a book read takes about 30 hours though but is very soothing. Forgot to say though I am only giving the larger loom away, still have the small one though.
DeleteI have a move in front of me, and I know that downsizing will be hard, but I also know that every time that I've done it, I find it to be a freeing experience. To that end, I've begun a bit of tentative weeding out.
ReplyDeleteWe shackle ourselves with 'stuff' Debby, I suppose it is called home making but then grow old and the home is not needed anymore.
Delete