h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I don't know what got into me today, whether it is because I am a bit manic or what, but I cleaned up major portions of my room! I've had boxes piled up against the wall since I moved in here - they've been there for years, and I no longer even remembered very well what was in there. So today I went through the boxes and threw a ton of stuff away. Put the rest in the attic where it belongs. Now I have a proper place to put my art supplies! It feels very good to get this done.

I've also been downloading pictures from Webshots. I have found wonderful photos of England, France, and Italy. They reminded me so much of my trip there I almost cried; mostly from happiness that I get to "revisit" my beloved Europe visually, but a little sad that I do not have the money to go back!

If it was only a room, I might be inspired by the autumn sunshine, too. But if you count every nook, cranny and corridor in my house, I have somewhere between 17 and 21 rooms and that's not counting the garden shed and garage. All in dire need of a complete overhaul.

I wish I had your problem! Small house. Toys and kids everywhere (all covered in various stick substances). Not enough room for books.

stick -> sticky

Banana pulp, yoghurt and PVA glue, mainly.

Yummy combination, great for making cheeseboxes!

Trillian, do you live in a chateau or what?

zdt

No - German houses are usually big. We have 3 kids with a room each and my husband being a teacher needs a room at home to work in, too.

We have a large lounge which is really three rooms opened up to each other, as well as a loo, kitchen and dining room on the ground floor. This pattern is repeated in the basement and on the first floor (basically five rooms each on three floors). In the roof we have two more bedrooms and a large attic area. So, counting all the stairs and landings, which are also chocabloc with bookshelves and linen cupboards we're quite full.

As all space is used for rooms (our predecessors had 5 kids each with own bedroom) we have nowhere to just dump junk.

Now the kids have grown up, everywhere needs a thorough de-cluttering. But I'm usually so exhausted I have to count myself lucky if I manage to get the kitchen straight by Sunday night.

Hi JEllen and everyone!

My place is in dire need of a de-cluttering, as well. My apartment is large for a city flat: a huge kitchen (they knocked out the walls from the third bedroom and expanded the kitchen to cover the entire back), dining room, living room, one medium-sized bedroom (which my roommate now occupies), a smaller bedroom I use for my computer and a couple of bookcases, and a bathroom. And an enclosed back porch which currently houses all of the things I no longer use but am too lazy to get rid of.

I wish I had the energy to seriously clean it up rather than just tidying the perimeter and stuffing the rest into closets and cabinets and drawers. But then again, I have a similar problem to those of you who've mentioned you have smaller homes- things get cluttered up quickly just for lack of places to put things!

Nice one, JEllen

I always thought Autumn cleaning made much more sense than spring cleaning. You are closed up in the house might as well be clean then. Too bad they both seem to be needed here right now!

Yeah, I get a lot more cleaning done in winter than in summer. Autumn and spring are bad for me, I spend too much time playing outdoors, allergies notwithstanding.

Abbi, I know what you mean about needing two season's worth. Especially when extensive remodeling is going on- I used to live in a building which was totally rehabbed while I was living in it. What a mess, and all the dust!! I wish I could get away for a long weekend and come help you with some tidying up. There could be a big cleaning party!

Just don't invite me!

As the late, great Quentin Crisp once said:

'Never clean! One finds that after the first four years the dirt does not get any worse.'

I'm a tidy freak...I don't clutter too much...altho I do have a bad habit in the kitchen of just throwing pans and pots in the cupboards willy nilly and hope they stay there - rather dangerous feat opening a cupboard in my kitchen, it should be approached with care..

If we don't use it, I either throw it away or give it to charity..I don't like keeping stuff I don't use, which has irritated peeps in the past - with the "what if you need it later," to which I usually respond with, "I'll get another then..no big deal"...

I suppose this attitude has been conditioned into me, we moved around allot when I was kid...and as an adult I've moved allot too, the less clutter, the easier it is to pick up and go.

I'm going to have to motivate my little self to clean soon. First we're having a fire inspection this month. My apt won't pass in it's current state. Then I'm moving in January. I gave notice. They're starting to look for a tenant. I've gotta do something with all this stuff. I'm moving to California. I have boxes here which I shipped FROM California 10 years ago and which I have not opened since they arrived here!

I'm a clean freak, but I do accumulate clutter, especially in smaller rooms, drawers, or closets. My kitchen cupboards are really tidy, but the drawers are a shambles. My biggest problem is clothes- I have only one dresser and am using the smaller of two closets at the present, and while I don't have what I'd call an excessively large wardrobe, I just can't seem to fit it all into the alloted space. So, the overflow winds up in heaps, particularly on top of the clothes dryer, or on the kitchen table, which is right next to the dryer.

Once my roommate moves, I will get rid of all of his junk out on the mud porch, and can store some stuff out there. But I still have about two dozen bags of clothes, books, and other stuff I need to sell and/or donate soon. I'm tired of tripping over them every time I take the trash out!

This is an interesting topic. I think I'll start a car boot and clutter sale on AskH2G2 ... it would be interesting to see what everyone is getting rid of, especially as the de-cluttering seems to be infectious!

I'd like to get rid of some emotional baggage and a few inches of fat.

>I'd like to get rid of some emotional baggage and a few inches of fat.<



You and me, both! But who'd buy it?

Well, you could try here:
F19585?thread=519172

(I kept my word!!)

Hi guys!

Trillian's Child, interesting thread! I don't want to reply there just yet, however!

Because of my mental illness, I've been living with my parents since 2002. We have a rather large house, and two domestic workers - one for the house, and one for the garden. My dad, my mom, and me - all of us are 'gatherers' of stuff. In my own case I *create* a heck of a lot of stuff. The house has a few rooms that are pretty messy. I find the very thought of trying to clean up and organise all of this stuff to be incredibly daunting. I don't even know where to begin ... allow me to describe some of this mess to give you guys an idea:

The whole house is filled with an immense amount of books, magazines, and a few old newspapers. Where I'm right now, the Study - three walls are lined with bookcases that go right up to the ceiling. There are numerous flat surfaces covered in books and stuff. The computer alcove, where I'm working, is covered in CD's as well. Then there are computer disks and stuff like art supplies lying around.

Some of the stuff I 'create' include large numbers of note pads with large amounts of incoherent writings on innumerable disparate topics, flights of fancy, sketches, notes, doodles, and totally nutty stuff. This stuff dates back for years and I can't bring myself to throw them away because they contain so much of myself and I don't know if maybe someday I won't find a use for them.

There are huge numbers of things I sketched and/or painted all over the house.

Here in a study ... a few of the things that I managed to discover:

Three chairs in front of the computer. Myself on one, our cat Poplap on another.

My gym shoes and socks on the floor below Poplap.

On the Computer desk, in addition to the books, CD's and so forth - a roll of toilet paper, a kitchen fork, an old map of a hiking trail in a nature reserve, an apple core dating from earlier today.

Books on the desk include -

Grant's Atlas of Anatomy.

One Must Fall (Computer Game) Instruction Booklet and Strategy Guide (2 separate booklets).

Field Guide to the Trees of the Kruger National Park.

Flowers, Grasses, Ferns and Fungi of Southern Africa.

'Bring Nature Back to your Garden'.

'People's Plants' - A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa.

'Bushveld Trees - Lifeblood of the Transvaal Lowveld'.

A bunch of papers - articles for the South African Journal of Philosophy, that I proofread recently.

Behind me there's a 'light box' used for secret artistic purposes. Upon inspection, this light box proved to be covered in the following:

A note pad with scribblings and sketches.

An Ashrad Artist's Sketch Pad (A3-size pages).

A photo album with some of my Nature and Wildlife Photos.

A Lucky Luke Comic Book in Danish.

An Afrikaans Etymology Dictionary.

A Collection of Poems by Wilma Stockenstrom.

'Trees of Southern Africa'.

A 'Limpopo Province Department of Health and Welfare' Cap given to me by some government people after I painted a painting of our premier, Sello Moloto, for them a while back.

A printout of a drawing of a Hamerkop (a sort of bird).

An old computer mouse.

A collection of stories by Riana Scheepers.

Two Afrikaans Literature Study Guides.

A Richard Scarry picture-story-dictionary for young chidren (a gift I got on my third birthday).

A World Atlas.

That's just the stuff on the light box!

In the room as a whole, there must be at least a thousand times more stuff, and even more eclectic.

Well you guys might be interested in my progress!

Poplap left.

I took my shoes to my room and put the socks in the washing.

I threw away the apple core.