Menogurgulating; Sorting 'Stuff'

Any ambitions of minimalist living here at the Hutch have, perhaps, become distant. There is a lingering memory of such from time on the ashram, and I had determined that having no 'stuff' to shackle one was a brilliant way to live. 

Then life happens, and 'stuff' accumulates! There is just no avoiding it, apparently. Okay. But if there is to be 'stuff', it has to serve a purpose and justify its place. What is more, there needs to be a place for it, and it must always be in its place. So minimalism may be a tad over-dressed, but it is jolly well going to be organised and disciplined!

You will recall that I began my resettlement here, post-COVID and care duty, by working the kitchen. (Part One - Part Two) That is now as complete as it can be, short of a complete refurbishment. 

Then 'stuff' arrived en masse from the clear out of #15. Apart from the bit in the kitchen, which truly finalised that, the rest lingered... and lingered. It started to haunt me as I failed to find the energy to do the necessary shift and sort required. Incentive arrived when Gail and Bertie's visit became imminent. There needed to be a major shift and sort if there was to be a bed to sleep on. I mean MAJOR. The spare bedroom had become nothing more than a warehouse. 

To begin that clearing, there was a need to work first on the main cupboard. Here is the 'before' picture... though this was taken prior to the arrival of yet more stuff, so it actually looked even worse than this!

We know how it happens, yeah? Didn't have time to sort it properly originally, then 'stuff' just kept getting added, but due to poor arrangement, it continued to get worse...

Anyway. Over the space of three and a half days, with lots of sit-downs and cuppas in between each little section of shift and sort, lots of up and down the big ladder and over-working of long unpracticed legs and shoulders, I ended up with this...

Now, it's a little difficult to appreciate just from these piccies, but that is a WHOLE lot better!!! From top-down, it is least needed to most accessed. Floor space was created to move the extra clothes rack into the side there, out of the spare bedroom and out of sight. The cupboard is a full metre wide and two metres long. So those shelves are a lot deeper than you can make out; the first shelf now has four (yes four) tubs of yarn on it!!! (There's more yarn in that pink bag and more again in the box on the shelf above that...8~()

As an aside - I inherited the lighter and more manoeuvrable vacuum from dad's place, so I was left with my own vacuum that you see tucked in there to the left, wondering what to do with it. Having hardly lived in the Hutch since moving here, it had been used very little indeed. Practically brand new. Well... Gail was talking about the refurb up at Torridon, and - you guessed it - the vac found a new home!!! I was delighted and have that square fifteen inches of floor space back.

Anyhoo. This was really the biggest part of the shift and sort that needed my attention and physical effort. My body sure knew it had been bending and stretching in totally unfamiliar ways! 

What remained was to make use of the cupboards I'd inherited and also just to dust and vacuum and generally make the place look welcoming. 

I was pretty pleased with myself. That cupboard works like a dream now. However, the truth is that there was quite a bit of small stuff that simply got stuffed in the extra drawers and cupboard space that is yet to be properly sorted. There needs to be a de-wardrobing. Lots of very old and duster-worthy tee shirts and lower-wear, items bought or received that are either too large or too small, an excess of 'just if in case' items that cannot justify their shelf space so must be moved along. I'll get round to it... eventually...