Monday 5 January 2015

On dismantling a desk...

As of last week, when Scrobs retired, there was a small upheaval in The Turrets, as Mrs Scroblene had long yearned to have the old bedroom back as a proper place for grandchildren to sleep in, and also to see the back of all the stuff I've accumulated over the last dozen years or so.

And she has got her way, as my instructions are to reorganise the various beds and chairs, and this also entailed getting rid of some really derelict stuff. It only took one phone call to realise that some new furniture would be arriving by the end of this week, and that meant that my treasured desk would have to go, or better still be made into something else!

It's amazing what sort of detritus appears if you really look in all the drawers and box files! I've found an old Blackberry sort of phone, which may still work, about three miles of cables and chargers for long-forgotten items, and also about five wallets (one was a 21st present from the folk who lived next door back then), loads of cards from the girls, the cats and the dog, and of course, Mrs Scroblene, as you kinda don't want to lose them do you!

I've found my dad's old army records and medals, some pictures of my mum digging the garden in 1953, and the leather passport case I gave dad when he was globe-trotting! There's a painting YD did about twenty years ago, and she still remembers it too!  And as for photographs, well, my target for scanning everything by Easter has just been threatened as there are all the old black and white ones from years gone by, and they just have to be preserved for future generations - but on disc...

Why on earth I still have my old school reports, I'll never know, but they may well go, as I don't want my great, great grandchildren thinking I was such a pillock all those years ago! But I discovered only recently that one of my school masters back then, was on The Long March from a German prison camp at the end of WW2, and he never even mentioned it. That's what clearing out a desk is all about I guess...

6 comments:

Lilith said...

Major project for you Scrobs. Getting rid of stuff can be very tricky. It doesn't come naturally to me, but every now and again I get on a roll....sent a bag of clothes to the charity shop recently!

Grandchildren on the other hand are a fabulous incentive!

A K Haart said...

"my treasured desk would have to go, or better still be made into something else!"

Kindling?

Or paint it really badly then tell Mrs S that it's shabby chic and extremely fashionable.

Sen. C.R.O'Blene said...

Lils, you're not wrong here! I was going to let the local charity have the desk, but I just need a load of wood for some shelves, and it will be ideal...

We may have to steer clear of the lovely three lasses for a week, as they're steeped in colds, and we've both had two separate absolute buggers over Christmas, so batteries are pretty low!

Happy New Year to you and Elbers!

Sen. C.R.O'Blene said...

I've gone though all that, Mr H, and have decided that with a good jig-saw, and a fine day, I can reduce it all to some reasonable furniture...

I will of course have to paint it all, so that's where I do the thing you describe!

rvi said...

Ask your wife if she'll lend you a few copies of her ladies' magazines to read. They are full of ideas about what "hoarders" need to do to get their lives back in order. It's an amazing feeling to see 5 large black bin bags full of shreddings of papers you'll never look at again, old and unneeded expired car and house insurance policies, every old bill over 3 months, ancient birthday cards from folk you knew 35 years ago (and have neither seen nor heard from since) etc etc, the list goes on.

Try it - but keep your wife away from all the space you have created or you'll find it rapidly being filled again with feminine un-necessities!

Scrobs. said...

I've already burnt one bin-bag of old paper, Reevers, as it was stuff from my day-books from ten years ago! I tried reading some of the notes, and nothing was relevant any more, so they went!