Debby Hallett

Here I am again. At the moment I am shredding old journals. I know, I know, someone may want to read them one day after I’m gone. That’s just TOO embarrassing to contemplate, so I’m shredding them. Every now and then I glimpse at what I wrote 20, 30 years ago, and cringe. So I’m seriously trying not to look at them.

In 1991, as I turned 40, I listed the places in the world I wanted to see ‘If money were no obstacle’. This is some of what I wrote.

1. France and all the sites having to do with the French Revolution.
2. English countryside, home of Yorkshire veterinary James Herriott, site of Merlin and Arthur’s legends.
3. Paris France and the museums, galleries and artists.
4. Trans-Canadian tour from Vancouver to Alaska, cross-country to Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables.
5. New England, and presence of American history where ever I turn.

Isn’t that sweet? The reality of Paris and the English countryside was quite different to the dream. Museums and galleries put me to sleep, and I’ve not yet been to Yorkshire. But the countryside around these parts in Oxfordshire is great!

This week I had notification that all our CDs and DVDs have been received, so that part of the Clear-out is nearly complete.

Today Dave got the foam mattresses out of the changing room (there used to be a pool there, and it used to be a changing room) where the bumblebees had a nest this summer. The bees are all gone, so we can clear it out now and make it a nice place for storing things we use to work our veg patch at the bottom of the garden.

Also today, Dave contacted a Vale sponsored charity that supports homeless people and offerred some of our furniture. One we call ‘the dog chair’ because they love it, but only Beck uses it anymore (penny can’t jump up on things anymore). I’ve kept it covered all these years, so it’s in OK shape. I bought it from Macy’s Furniture Store in Concord, California, in about 1994. And of course, a few CD racks. 🙂

I found my old DayRunner! I used to haul it everywhere with me. Phone numbers, Calendar, ToDo list, everything all in one place (hmm — antique Blackberry?). I found a 1998 letter from a friend who thought they’d lost me when I moved to England. And three different copies of my natal horoscope chart, one of which Dave did for me about 14 years ago. I saved those, and will set him down for another reading. All the rest of it I recycled or binned.

And finally, 5 years worth of Morning Pages, ala Julia Cameron and The Artist’s Way. I’ve no idea why I kept them around all these years.

This feels GOOD! Highly recommended.

 

 

I decided to give myself a break. Any day that I work on The Great Clear-out I now count as the next day. So even though there have been a few (quite a few, really) days between my last post and this one, today I’m making forward progress, so it counts as the next day. I think that’s a generous and helpful outlook.

Today the courier is due to pick up the boxes of CDs and DVDs that we’ve sold to MusicMagpie. Each box is properly  inventoried, boxed and labelled, waiting by the front door, ready for pickup.

Also ready to go out the door, lots of books for Oxfam, which I have to courier into town myself.

Also gone: old frying pans, bits of hardware no one recognised, and a japanese print cloth that we’ve kept for years and have no idea where it came from (well, probably Japan, at some point).

I took a few days off this week to attend the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Birmingham. This was my first conference, and definitely won’t be my last. I found it uplifiting, and downright inspirational that there are so many people in this country for whom fairness, human rights, and a commitment to do everything in their power to life children out of the trap of poverty are HUGE, TOP priorities. I feel proud to be a Liberal Democrat.

Anyway, in the run-up to conference, and during it, I lost my clearing-out mojo. In order to grab it again, I’ve asked for support, read blogs of master clearer-outers and talked to my friends and family about their methods and outcomes. I don’t know if Mr Mojo will move on again, but for today, it’s here. The Great Clear Out continues…

CD’s are done! Well, as good as. dh has a collection in his office that he’s agreed to cull this week.

More than half the CDs got an offer from MusicMagpie, and the really great thing is that because I had more than 50, they’ll provide a free courier pick-up. I pack and use their label, and arrange a time for the package to be picked up. Total take (without dh’s additions): more than £92. Some were rejected: no one wants Dido, Elton John or Robbie Williams. But Jennifer Warnes, Steven Halpern and Styx were hot!

So, the empties. For the two smaller racks, I think I’ll post them on Freecycle.

I sort of actually like the larger one, but I haven’t found a use for it yet. DVDs only fit on their sides, and not all DVDs have labelling on their sides. Anyone have any ideas?

I’m going to be away for a few days from Saturday, so the last two tasks will wait unitl next week: send the package to MusicMagpie, and take the others to a charity shop.

Now — what’s next?

I got caught up in a task that’s taking a LOT longer than I’d planned for.

The trouble with getting rid of CDs is that there are three places where I still use them, although only occasionally.

1. In the kitchen
2. In the car
3. On holiday

If I can get a system for each of these situations where I can still hear my music, then I can unload all the CDs. A new (well, new to me, anyway) website called MusicMagpie buys CDs and provides a Freepost label for your shipment. They get mixed reviews, but might be better than donating them, and is deffo better than binning them.

Here’s my thought process: get all CDs loaded to itunes, and backed up externally. Get an adequate ipod station for kitchen. Ditto for car. Let the holidays sort themselves out. I have an ipod for listening, and the only loss would be the car on holiday. And that’s only until all cars have docking stations. Or I could get a car docking station that I can take with me when I travel.

So I gathered all the CDs into one place — the top of Dave’s piano (he’s out of town this weekend).

Of course, I do have some cr*p CDs, especially some I’ve received as unsolicited gifts. Often I bought an entire CD because I heard one track in a restaurant and liked it (Cafe del Mar). I never throw anything away. I notice Ally McBeal, several seasons worth – entirely cringe-worthy.

So I’ve worked out a flow chart for managing this project (as you do).

1. First, decide: do I like the music? If I’ve never listened to it, or I don’t like it, it goes into The Out Box.
2. Of those that remain, is it loaded onto itunes? If yes, then it goes into The Out Box.
3. Of those that remain, load it to itunes, and then put it in The Out Box.
4. Back-up itunes to the external drive frequently. It gets backed up off site periodically.
5. Dave can go through The Out Box and take what he likes, but he has to store it well away from the de-clutter zone.

I am still on step one, because when I run into a CD that I haven’t listened to, I think I should listen to it before deciding. That’s silly and life is far too short! So, a tough self-talking-to and I will get well into step 2 today — checking and loading to itunes.

Yes, this will only clear about a cubic metre of space, but it punches above its weight in terms of clutter and dust-attraction. (They used to call them “dust jackets” in the days of LPs for a reason.) Plus, it will feel really good to get this cleared out. (All my old cassette tapes are still in the sideboard, bottom drawer. I think (I hope) I have no vinyl anywhere.)

That’s The Mission, Styx, Bazza and The Dalai Lama showing here.

I have currently 3 CD racks. When I’m done, I expect to have one rack, barely filled. (I’m confident there will just be some CDs I must keep. Maybe those can be my holiday CDs?)

Will report in later.

She rested.

 

 

 

 

 

I love charity bags. Here in the UK, people drop off plastic pags at your door, with a day marked when they will come back around to collect. The word might be out by now that I’m having a clear-out, AND that I’ve lost quite a bit of weight and am donating old clothes.

The NSPCC (Nat’l Soc for Prevention of Cruelty to Children) just got some Nike Air trainers, pretty purple jumpers (sweaters), some long-sleeved tops and a knitted hat.

In compensation, my LandeEnd order just arrived, with two noew pairs of trousers, 2 tops and a yummy coral jumper.

I forgot to take pictures of all this.

The next thing in my sights is the sideboard in our living room.

We use it to hold all sorts of stuff, and I’m going to clean it out and maybe get rid of it. I say ‘maybe’ because I have a sentimental attachment. It’s an English sideboard that I bought while I lived in California, and then shipped all the way back to England when I moved here. I really do love it, but we don’t have a good space for it, and it doesn’t fit my end picture of a rather minimalist space.

We’ll see how I feel after it’s cleared out and cleared off.

To lower the stress levels, I have set 5 separate tasks: each drawer, then the cupboards on the side, then the surface.

First was the top drawer.

Here we have incense from San Francisco (mine) and from India (his). Plastic protectors for Beanie Baby labels (we were caught up in the craze a decade ago). A Hohner harmonica, global touch screen remote control, dream catcher, bicycle lights (never used) and a cribbage board and playing cards. Also 11p.

I was ruthless. (What is the opposite of that, ruth? ruthful?)

Here’s the result:

If you’d like my advice on how to clear out your clutter, drop me a line.