Tuesday 23 March 2010

Staffordshire Hoard.

A hoard also means an accumulation or preservation for future use. Such as a hoard of gold. The truth is a lot of our  modern day "hoard" will not be needed. However, here is a hoard which is worth holdng on to.

Anglo-Saxon  crafted gold and silver ornaments were discovered in Litchfield, Staffordshire, 6 months ago by one man and his metal detector on a farmer land.
Today it was announced "The Staffordshire Hoard" will stay in the West Midlands. A proud moment for the country and region as much money  was raised by the public and the National Memorial Heritage fund to keep it in the UK.
This precious piece of history is open to the public at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery,Birmingham city centre. Nearest train stations are Birmingham New Street and Snow Hill station. Although entrance is free you are welcome to give a donation

For further information look at the bmag website
Picture taken from BMAG website. :)

Sunday 21 March 2010

Link

OFFICIALLY SPRING!

21st March is officially spring in the northern hemisphere and so daylight is longer. A time for people to "spring clean" It is my favourite time of the year but i also dread every Sunday for it is my dads hoardophilic day of clutter :"car boot sale" day. He fervently attends and I guarantee he will not return empty handed.

Last week he brought a black metal computer table to place in the living room which already has a computer table packed with stacks of (crap) books, what incensed me was when my youngest brother asked what use is it (since we disposed of the last PC while he was out of the country), he quipped "to do your homework on", errm one slight snag its one of those with lots of holes for ventilation..holes that represent the hole in his logic and consideration.
 And to top it off, dad had trouble finding something in his room so he got rid of an ugly green chair and placed it in the living room. Last winter we packed away the dining table to make some room so we could walk from one end of the room to the other without doing a detour and walking at a sideways stance.

Has anybody else experienced this kind of situation where you make some improvements to make space and the hoarder just undoes your efforts?

The making of a hoarders daughter

They do say hoarding runs in families but whether it is due to inheritance through our genes or learned behaviour has yet to bescientifically investigated
I have a confession :(- i have broke my new years resolution the one about no buying books, well i did borrow library books and read them... but they didn't have the latest books i was in pursuit of and so I ended up buying some at Waterstones, well the 3 for 2 offer is tempting and not to mention their loyalty card which the sales assistant boasted had been voted the 4th best retail card.
I know i could have ordered in the books from another library  if i couldn't get them or even looked on Amazon for a cheaper deal but hey everybody else is treating themselves to food, clothes, cigarettes and cosmetics. Besides one of the books Beauty is the Costa award winner.

Anyways i have been severely reducing my chocolate intake this year so these small purchases make up for it especially since i read the chocolate connoiseur. Apparently what we regard of chocolate is mostly sugar and this is what people crave  for when they say they are a chocoholic- so i might as well admit i am addicted to sweet stuff.
Did you know that Cadbury Dairy Milk is not considered by the EU to be a chocolate but more of a vegelat?! Well i do say chocolate is made from a cocoa bean which grows on a tree and thus a vegetable (a very processed one).

Ok in one post i am justifying my reasons for buying books and as compensation for giving chocolate. I'm battling with the hoarder within me.


Back to the main topic none of my brothers are hoarders, yet my little sister is. She went through a bizarre phase of collecting empty plastic bottles which she claims was for an art project, but she changed her mind so then i ended up finign TWENTY empty plastic bottles hidden behind bed and boxes.She also hold on to other bits and bobs, and i shudder to think what posessions she will hoard at my age.Which got me thinking if one acknowledges hoarding is a problem would it be best to see a GP and get referred to a psychotherapist for cognitive therapy or to get private psychotherapy

Friday 19 March 2010

SPRING CLEAN 'n' CLUTTER FREE

I love spring, daylight is longer and as the sun enters the house you can see the specks of house dust-this usuallys  end my dad into a panick and blames the "dust" on my mum not cleaning HIS books-logic? no
 I was wondering if those of you who live with hoarder are blamed for the hoarders cause of collection and maintenance.

Usually i'm out with the damp cloth wiping away surfaces AND carefully each book, allowing it to dry before placing back in the "correct order"  i.e "the horders order" but as you guess this year i won't- firmly sticking to my new years resolutionn

I tried looking for  a secondhand bookseller in Birmingham city centre but couldn't the one i was looking for closed down this is perhap a sign that selling books is no longer a viable business....

Thursday 18 March 2010

savvy storage

Upon waiting in the doctors surgery last month i was browsing through magazines and came across the mention of a website "supersavvy" that had tips on how to declutter the home without spending a fortune. It suggested you can get storage boxes from poundland and other discount stores, so if you're skint and a student then you can get one from here. Upon my trek the local poundshop i learner they also sell kitchen storage and vacuum sealed bags for clothes.
On the other hand if you want something that will match the room the obvious choice would be Ikea and homebase.
Here is a handy link to a article on savvy-storage: lounge options
The website is aimed at parents but i will be book making it as it has lots of other interesting sections

I can do one better than poundland:
98p shop sells those little toiletry baskets in bright colours!

Back to hoarding- my dad does not allow cardboard boxes to be disposed of just in case. They are usually used to keep his books in until they can't withstand it and break, i admit this is friendly to the envionment- recycling but it just encourages my dad to buy more. Sometimes my mum ends up folding clothes and putting them in cardboard boxes since his wardrobe is jammed with clothes.
At the top of the stairs on the landing my dad has THREE   (just checked Four)  blue reactangular plastic boxes stacked with books, upon which sits a 2metre high tower of books. The top box looks bent from the pressure.It's a miracle nobody has been hurt, Oh and there is 6 foot expandable ladder next to it-(because we couldn't find a better place).That will be handy if any of us shorties end up in an avalance of books!Yes we do have bookshelves in our house but they are packed as you've probaly guessed.

Thursday 4 March 2010

World BOOK DAY

Today 4th March is world book day. Children up adn down the country are give an £1 book token to use on a book. I never used mine, then again i was probably sick of books and my spend thrift dad would never buy a full priced book.Always had to be on sale or "bar gain" .

This year the website are giving books for a £1. Books today are a lot cheper to buy with onine bookshops and discount stores such as The Works.

See here for more details about what all the fuss is about.http://www.worldbookday.com/

Wednesday 3 March 2010

Hoarder wins court battle.

Did you see "The One Show" last night?Richard Wallace is a hoarder who has filled his garden with "mostly building materials".  His neighbours have lost a court battle to get the eyesore removed. I'm not sure if the bbc will let me put a link to the video but it can be seen on iplayer at their website, date 02/03/10 and starts 4 minutes in.Amy Williams the Gold medallist was on just before that.
 
I thought it was brave of Richard to even appear on TV in the first place, admitting his hoarding developed 34 years ago:
"i must confess a lot of it is to do with household waste" he adds his grandad was a hoarder so it has probably rubbed off onto him. Would be nice for the BBC to explore the issue further.
Aggi Mckenzie, from the TV show "How clean is your house?" (love it) gave her opinion too. The short clip is about 3 minutes long

My dad's hoard is not that bad compare to one shown but at one point we did have 2 useelss cars and a motorbike in our garden and lots of junk. It would be nice if there was a programme focusing on why people hoard. Is it inherited? are certain characteristics or illnesses linked to hoarding? is it triggered by a life changing event such as the death of a family member or fear of losing or forgetting?