I’m a natural born hoarder. I can’t help myself – it manifests itself in many ways.. I have a huge yarn stash, and WIPs that are older than my teenage son… I have loads of useful bits of material.. some from sewing projects, an awful lot from clothes that have worn out. I’m good and send clothes my son has grown out of to the charity shop, but if it is beyond wearing, still find myself imagining what I might make with it, one day..
Moving house a few year ago was cathartic, as I was packing things, I was able to ask myself .. would I ever read this book again? etc , and once we had moved in, some things just didn’t work here, so they also went the way of the car boot sale etc too.
But still.. I have lots and lots of ‘useful things’. Not helped by himself being of a similar mindset. And with different things, so he has loads of old tools he inherited, because you never know when you might need it..It goes on outside too, scrap wood we have been given for burning – we say – ‘thats got good wood in it’ and set it aside for when we might need it.
It’s a useful trait in many ways, I never had any trouble finding the right material to make school play costumes, and we do always have the tools and materials to knock up a broody coup, etc. But it does lead to general untidiness. Minimalist we are not. In fact. I have considered taking lots of pictures now, so that when I am an old woman, and social services claim I am not coping, I will be able to prove this is normal for me!
Only recently, when once again we are wondering where this year’s harvest of fruit, veg, lamb, pig and chicken will go.. well yes we do have two freezers standing empty.. but that wont accomodate the pigs.. let alone the rest.. I realised that I hoard when it comes to the freezer too.
We are on a campaign to eat up the freezer contents. I find myself thinking: ‘but if we eat all the apples, we wont have any’ – as if a lack of apples is a terrible thing. ‘But what if next year is a poor year for apples?’ Problem is I apply this logic to everything else.. plums, rhubarb, lamb etc.. Turns out I have a freezer stash too.
But it is not as though we have been eating out lots, or buying ready meals, we have been eating our own produce all the way through (and hence the empty freezers), so its not all about hoarding.. but now have to step it up, as every year so far, we have bought more freezer space – but no more. Nope. Cant anyway as we have no more room to put freezers. So every day we have to take something out and use it. And it’s working well so far, apart from we keep putting new fruit and veg in…
I’ve just switched on our third chest freezer plus there is the one in he kitchen with the fridge – I am a natural born food hoarder methinks …… but we will not go hungry for a while 😉