The last week before Easter

[wiseheart]

... started with our bi-weekly cleaning frenzy. God, I hate it! Not the cleaning itself, although it isn't a pleasure, either, but all the packing and rearranging only to be able to reach the dirt. Relatively small rooms combined with fairly large pieces of furniture can do that. Plus, we are both hoarders... just a little bit. Mum keeps mementos, I pile up craft supplies, and living space gets smaller and smaller.

But I've made big decisions to change that. I've organized a big cardboard box from school (my friend Evie will bring it tomorrow, since she has a car and I haven't), and I'll start sorting out my books right after Easter. I'll be way too busy before, with cooking and making Easter bread and a festive cake, but right afterwards. I've got a number of books that were either gifts from dear, well-meaning friends who thought I'd be interested in them, or I've bought them in the hope that they'd be actually useful but weren't. All of them are in a pristine state, so after I've written a list and put them into said box, I'll start contacting various second-hand bookshops and sending them my list, in the hope that they'll want some of them. If I want to sell a lot and they actually buy them, they'll come and fetch them without demanding a fee for it. So, fingers crossed!

The other step will be going through my wardrobe. There are lots of clothes I haven't worn for at least a decade and probably won't wear till my last day on Earth. Our cleaning lady said today that one of the big clothing chains (I'm not sure if C&A or H&M, she said it but I've forgotten) accepts used clothes and they give a small bonus for future buyings. Well, I don't have a smartphone, so I won't be able to use their app, but the cleaning lady has one. She also has three grown children, so she can use that small bonus, or the children can. I don't really care, I just don't want to throw completely good clothes into the rubbish bin. And Red Cross no longer has those containers where you could throw your used clothes.

What else? I improvised a quick lunch after the cleaning was done, worked a bit on my baby books and talked to Evie on the phone. All in all a day of various accomplishments, so I'm not complaining.

Comments

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

I should do a thorough cleaning of the ground floor tomorrow, because a student of mine will show up for her usual Easter visit. Oh dear...

[meathiel]

I should go through my clothes as well ... and my books. Soooo many of them.
But when I clear a shelf I can be sure my dad puts something else there. *sigh*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Cleaning is evil! And the results never last...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

At least Mum stays clear of my shelves. Her own ones... well, that's a different kettle of fish entirely.

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

You’ve got some really good ideas. When we moved I got rid of 90% of my books. Worst decision ever. But I only winnowed my clothes by about 10%. Second worst decision. I should have reversed that — kept the books, and passed on the clothes. Most of them don’t even fit! At least the books could have been re-read.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

That's great news on the decluttering. I warn you, though. It can become addictive when you see the newly opened space. I think I may have lost as much as half of my inventory since I started.

[wanderingmogwai.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the book sellers!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That is true. Although by having started to make my list I've already found more than 20 books in a pristine state that I never read, despite having owned them for decades. So I think I can let go of them with a good conscience, as it is unlikely that I'd ever open them.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

The newly opened space will be filled immediately with craft supplies. *g*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I hope they'll take as much as humanly possible.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Cleaning definitely sucks.

Do you guys have thrift shops there that take in donations?