The de-cluttering goes on at Moonbase as we prepare for builders to arrive in June to deal with our subsidence cracks.
Everything is getting boxed away and what can be taken into the attic is being taken up. The attic is the only room that's not being plastered and painted.
All my vintage toys and scratch models that were around have been packed away, apart from a few Hot Wheels kindly donated by Wotan that I still want to restore when we have a half-term break with Moonbase Junior.
Lots of unwanted furniture and toys that Junior has outgrown have been flogged on FB; a globe, a wooden garage, a magic set, a desk, a bookcase, some old board games and so on.
Overall though I find de-cluttering a hard process and cannot part with any of my really vintage possessions.
We do have too much furniture though. Three large obsolete pieces have been put out onto the roadside for collection by the Council. Its £30 for a maximum of three large things to be carted away in a big wagon. We've spent the last two hours taking apart and carrying out a double bed, a double mattress and a sofa.
The whole lot is piled up near the road for the truck in the morning. It all had to be covered in a huge plastic sheet and taped down as the Council staff will not take anything away that's got wet and overly heavy as a result.
When the Missus and I were a young couple setting up our first flat in 1981 on the Continent we used to check through the unwanted furniture that was handily piled up outside people's homes in the summer before being hauled away.
Our greatest finds were a tinplate remote controlled James Bond Aston Martin DB5 from Japan - see below - and a Police Patrol Car also from Japan. Just thrown out on the street!
Have you ever left any large unwanted items for the Council to collect? Have you ever found anything interesting on the street or in a skip?
Until a few years ago the Council in Auckland had a really good inorganic waste collection once a year, with people putting things out on the grass verge. Over the years I found plenty of paperback books, magazines, a really nice chair, but not often any toys. I did once find a complete car kit, without its box, I think a Rolls-Royce ? Now it is limited to a small pile, you have to book a pick-up, and it has to be on your own property. Difficult if you have no where to put things. Did once get rid of an old cupboard, broken washing machine, and a few other items. Some may have found a new home before the Council workers came along.
ReplyDeleteI too hate getting rid of anything, even if it is going to a new home, as with books. Reference books, models, and kits are all staying with me.
Over the years, have found two large tables (carried home in sections, as we don't have a car). I agree about the difficulty of decluttering- my feeling is, if we had to get rid of nice things to downsize (as we get older), then I don't want to downsize!
ReplyDeleteIn our area we have a Facebook forecourt swap and sell, 95% is free and got some absolute gems, mid century stuff for the house mostly, and it's a good way to move on toys my daughter is no longer interested in, as for the big stuff we have access to a number of clearance firms, I remember one firm arrived, a big flat bed truck and a tiny gym bunny gets out with a fella resembling Lurch's bigger brother, most of the waste made it into the truck but one last piece needed my help, it eventually makes it in with a lot of swearing, the gym bunny says" who needs the gym when you do this all day"
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