stuff!! so much stuff!

I’m trying to get rid of stuff. We have so much stuff – I have so much stuff! The stuff I have most of is books, notebooks, papers which have been written on and other stationary. I do have clothes, and there are possibly some which could be discarded, but i don’t have that many. Summer is shorts, t-shirts, sandals or trainers, winter (from autumn half-term to the following Easter) is jeans, long sleeved t-shirts, jumpers, trainers or boots. So even if I have a purge, it makes little significant difference. I used to do a lot of cooking but no longer, i never make cakes anymore as there’s only the two of us, I don’t belong to any social groups which need cake or buns – we meet in town in cafés or bars. I’ve thinned out baking equipment and cutlery, and some of our china

What I do need to get rid of – is books. I must have hundreds of books, and although I love them, in actual fact I read nearly everything on an e-reader these days. I have started to read proper books again, but felt somewhat discouraged when the John le Carré book I was reading while travelling home from Newport, got left on a shelf in the ladies’ loo at Bristol Temple Meads station. My son gave me an actual book a couple of years ago, so I picked it up last night to read in bed – it weighed several tons (exaggerating but it is a dobbing great big book), ‘House of Leaves‘ by Mark Z. Danielewski. I have read some very long books in the past, ‘War and Peace‘ several times, ‘2666‘ by Roberto Bolaño, which was unfinished but magnificent and despite the heartbreak I’ve read it a couple of times. I came across a list of sixty-eight of the best long reads, and I had read seventeen of them, some more than once. Many of those on the list I’d never heard of, a few of them I’d disliked so intensely that I didn’t finish them, and a few which I have mentally put on my to-be-read list.

Back to tidying – yes I must be strict and severe and get rid of books, many books. Another group of items are still in the house because I am sentimental. Items from my childhood and my children’s childhood. These can range from baby clothes, to toys, to things they made for me, to books (more books) items to do with hobbies they had such as karate kit and sports equipment, birthday cards they received – in fact pretty much the same as the “precious” things in my possession!

So, “hello charity shop!” – and that place of last resort – “hello town waste and recycling centre” ! I mentioned some time ago, probably about this time last year, that we were thinking of moving, downsizing to a property suiting the two of us, not the family home we’ve lived in for so long. That idea failed because I found it so stressful – so if I start down-sizing the number of our possessions now, – when we are ready to move on it should be easier!

Yes, I can hear the laughter from across the digital spectrum!!!

My featured image is of my mum and her two sisters – I have hundreds of family photos, and some of them must go, but I will copy them first! They are wearing their girl guide uniform, and I believe I still have the uniforms from when my children were in the guides and scouts!! They don’t want them, so why am I hanging on to them???