View Full Version : Dehoarding the barn
Chicken lady
6-7-16, 1:17pm
I am cleaning out my goat barn.
to put this into perspective, the previous owner hoarded it to about 75% capacity and then kept a feral dog locked in it. We had to specify that the dog would be gone before closing.
We we moved everything in order to clean out the dog waste, but I probably kept about 10% of her "useful stuff". The. I started stashing my own "useful stuff"in the barn. Now I am trying to (completely?) clean and organize it. I won't really get done because today is all I have set aside, but my goal is to have the barn clean and safe enough for my 6 y.o. Niece to come in with an adult who is not me. In case she wants to play with the goat babies while I am busy.
so far:
I found a dead chicken under a pile of fencing - she either got trapped or was injured and crawled in there to hide and died. I knew she was gone, but I thought a hawk got her.
i filled our largest trash can with things I can throw away.
and I hit myself in the head with a falling oak 2x6 that I thought was part of the wall when I pulled the support out from under it.
i really want to do a good job today, because to be honest, I don't know when I'll be motivated again.
and I feel like I deserved to be hit in the head.
Hey, I always support a good dehoarding! Use that motivation. Go for it!
and I feel like I deserved to be hit in the head.
You're funny! :laff:
I hope you get lots done. It's nice that you're doing this for your niece.
Chicken lady
6-7-16, 2:56pm
So the barn is a big rectangle about 30x60. The 10x60 strip down the center is generally clear, give or take, as things leak into the aisle and get moved back. The sides on one half have been kept pretty much clean because besides the aisle there are 5 10'x10' goat enclosures and some hay/straw storage racks
the two remaining 10'x30' sections (minus an 8'x16' chicken coop) stay at various levels of bad.
I reached the wall on the side with no chicken coop. There were three Storm doirs with glass in them leaning against the wall. They date from before we replaced the doors twelve years ago. My hoarder brain really wanted to keep them, so my rational brain had a little discussion with it.
rational brain "ok. I know you really want to keep the doors. They look really useful don't they?"
hoarder brain "yeah. It would be a shame to throw them out."
rb "but you know they could be dangerous if they fell, right?"
hb "yeah, but I'll be really careful, I could turn them sideways and put this fence in front of them."
rb "and then you would never forget they were there. Just like you didn't forget propping up that 2x6. Tell you what. You can keep them."
hb "really."
rb "sure. All you have to do it pick that 2x6 up and drop it on your head again - that's not nearly as bad as tripping and falling through sheet glass."
Hb, using mouth "hey (dh) will you help me take these doors up to the curb?"
i have about 150 square feet to go. Shoulder high, but not packed solid.
Teacher Terry
6-7-16, 3:24pm
Great discussion with yourself:)) .
Chicken lady
6-7-16, 10:32pm
I did not finish. The big (on wheels) trash can is full, the recycling bin is full, there is a pile of metal recycling twice the size of the recycling bin, the scrap wood burn pile is so full I'm thinking about suggesting dd have some friends over for a bonfire, and the three doors.
dh took me out to dinner, so I had to quit early and shower.
i can finish making it safe in about an hour, so I will get that done, but it will still be messy and not all sorted out - for example, I have a wagon piled with plastic chicken waterer parts, even if she turned the wagon over on top of herself she would get no more hurt than minor bumps. And she is taller than the pile. But some time, I should figure out if I can assemble any actual chicken waterers from the parts and then cut down to a reasonable number.
it is really a lot better. I feel pretty good about it.
oh, and on the way to the other wall, I did not find any more glass or dead chickens, but I did find 30 rotten eggs.
I did find 30 rotten eggs.
:doh:
Chicken lady
6-8-16, 7:49am
It's a barn UA, it has a dirt floor and the walls don't quite touch the ground. I also found live mice. I have chickens that Free range during the day and chickens like to crawl into little safe spaces and lay eggs. Especially under things.
so, reminder to me, if I create a small inaccessible to humans space in my barn "storage", the chickens will lay eggs in it. (One new favorite space is inside the cat carrier - I left the door to it open yesterday.) Going to leave that, it's easy to collect those eggs.
It's a barn UA...
I know what a barn is. I was born in one!
Chicken lady
6-8-16, 9:39am
Lol! So you don't close doors?
when one of my kids does something socially inappropriate at a family event and their s.o. corrects them, I say "it's ok. I'm the wolf that raised them.
Lol! So you don't close doors?
when one of my kids does something socially inappropriate at a family event and their s.o. corrects them, I say "it's ok. I'm the wolf that raised them.
LOL
Chicken lady
6-8-16, 1:47pm
So my big job for today is preparing the extra bedroom for dh 15 y.o. niece.
She's staying with us for the wedding because my bil has three kids and doesn't want to a) get two hotel rooms, b) put her on a rollaway c) sleep on a rollaway and let her share a bed with her mom. He actually asked if all three of his kids could stay with us?! And dh said "sure, as long as they don't require supervision and can feed themselves from our kitchen." He's keeping the two little boys.
anyway, the room she is staying in had all of my photos, photos and albums from my grandmother's house, and scrapbooking stuff in boxes and piles all over the place. My intent was to actually work on it in there, but I haven't had time yet. Now I am having to move it back down to the basement, which feels like a step backward because I still haven't finished sorting the basement out after the construction and flooding.
to make myself feel better, I took a short break and went back to the barn. I found two paper ream boxes that had seen better days and filled them both with trash! Yay me!
My intent was to actually work on it in there, but I haven't had time yet...
How would simply abandoning this project make you feel? What about putting a different project in its place?
to make myself feel better, I took a short break and went back to the barn. I found two paper ream boxes that had seen better days and filled them both with trash! Yay me!
Nice!! :+1:
Chicken lady
6-8-16, 3:27pm
It would make me feel like every time I wanted to find pictures of something I had to churn through boxes and that consequently my pictures were getting less and less organized - which is the situation now - and it would insure that I never got rid of the negatives (which I plan to) or doubles, because I wouldn't be sure they were doubles. So as a plan it doesn't work well for me.
i already have a bunch of "different projects in it's place" because my life is triage. Currently the "different project" is "giant family gathering" next project is "paint siding". Eventually I'll get back to "work on pictures". or I'll die, and the kids can sort through the boxes or throw them out.
It would make me feel like every time I wanted to find pictures of something I had to churn through boxes and that consequently my pictures were getting less and less organized - which is the situation now - and it would insure that I never got rid of the negatives (which I plan to) or doubles, because I wouldn't be sure they were doubles. So as a plan it doesn't work well for me.
i already have a bunch of "different projects in it's place" because my life is triage. Currently the "different project" is "giant family gathering" next project is "paint siding". Eventually I'll get back to "work on pictures". or I'll die, and the kids can sort through the boxes or throw them out.
Must you keep the pictures at all?
Why is your life triage? That sounds hectic. :(
Can you imagine life with fewer projects, perhaps far fewer projects?
Chicken lady
6-8-16, 4:48pm
Yeah, I really want the pictures. I'd rather has them orderly in albums, but I'd rather have them in boxes than not at all.
my life is triage because there is always a long list of things I want to do and a long list of things I need to do and I am always deciding which one is most important/urgent now. I could trim the lists, but my life would be poorer for it.
the room is ready for my niece, and I found a black snake in the greenhouse!
next, move plants from dining porch to greenhouse so I can use dining porch for dining on Saturday. Then all major pre-event house clean up will be done. Still picking at barn.
Sounds like you've done a great job getting ready for the wedding, AND getting the goat barn mostly cleaned out. I had to laugh when you said you took a break from the house and worked in the barn instead! Good for you!
I think I was 15 or 16 the summer I helped my mother sort photographs. My dad was on a business trip; we had the dining room table covered for days and days. I sorted into piles of the same event, then Mom culled and labeled them, then I put them in those photo books with a "pocket" for each picture. She kept them up after that, although she has box of loose pictures now that came from the relatives, aunts and grandparents who have passed away. I should help her with those this summer...
iris lilies
6-8-16, 7:56pm
Any project with photographs is a winter project. No one has tme for that in the summer!
iris lilies
6-8-16, 7:59pm
Any project with photographs is a winter project. No one has tme for that in the summer!
ps photos in boxes can be an organized collectin, depending on the gox and kind of system."Albums" are not the modern way to organze them and
I wish I had used boxes instead of albums.
Chicken lady
6-8-16, 8:40pm
I like the albums with the plastic page covers, because you can let little kids with dirty fingers look through them.
dining porch is done. House needs a light vacuum/dust and of course the kitchen will need to be cleaned several times. My parents arrive Friday at lunch time and I've already told mom (who keeps saying "how can I help") that if she gets here too early she can help dust. From 2:30 pm Friday to midnight Saturday it's all schedule, all the time.
if I get any more barn done tomorrow I'll post, but it is safe. Wedding, with a side order of elephant.
"Wedding, with a side order of elephant" - Great expression! fwiw, I went through some of this last year when I hosted 5 relatives at my house for my son's wedding. All went well. Would have been less stressful if they'd stayed at hotels but I was glad to host and cut expenses because they all flew in from out of town. Plus we had the downtime to sit and chat vs. shuttling them back to their hotel rooms.
So I'm sure it will all be fine, have fun and enjoy!
my life is triage because there is always a long list of things I want to do and a long list of things I need to do and I am always deciding which one is most important/urgent now.
Bless your heart. I could not live like that. I like to be deliberate and focused. For me, hurrying takes the fun and richness out of everything. Bouncing from one rushed thing to the next makes me feel like I can't really, thoroughly enjoy anything.
So I slow down the pace of my life. I think this has what has gotten me into things like fishing, and now biking.
Fishing is just so, so much better when done slow and deliberately. And biking has a built-in slowness compared to a car. You have to set the time aside to ride to your destination. And you go slow enough that you can absorb your surroundings, like the sights, sounds, and smells.
But maybe that is just how I fish and how I cycle commute. And how I prefer to live. :)
Chicken lady
6-9-16, 8:11am
I think you misunderstand, I am not hurrying. I did the crazy rushed thing when I had three kids at home with varied interests who couldn't drive. I am no longer interested.
Medical Definition of triage. 1: the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors.
in my non medical case, the sorting is designed to use my limited resources (time, money, health) in a way that allows me to do and enjoy as many things as possible. My nurse grandmother used to use the term when prepping for the holidays (chocolate santas for grandkids - critical, wrap gifts - important, dust - hopeless.)
the whole point of having a triage system is to avoid rushing around like a headless chicken. I think when I say "triage", you imagine a war zone with desperate action. It's more "I have 47 things on my list. Clearly I can't do them all now, or today, or this week. This thing is urgent (pay bill to avoid fee, clean up water from flooding, take sick cat to vet....) this thing is important (pick up kid from airport, leisurely dinner and walk with husband, brush rabbit - before it becomes urgent), this thing is hopeless - delete from list, and these are the things I want to do with the rest of my time (make cheese, plant trees, sort photos, take a goat for a walk, sew, call my cousin....changes with interests, energy level, time available, and weather)
Your system would read (in part) "Harlan - urgent/critical, bike to work - important, fish from boat - hopeless". You are just a person with fewer people/events/interests on his list. You have a more stringent cut off for "lost cause"
I think you misunderstand, I am not hurrying. I did the crazy rushed thing when I had three kids at home with varied interests who couldn't drive. I am no longer interested.
Medical Definition of triage. 1: the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors.
in my non medical case, the sorting is designed to use my limited resources (time, money, health) in a way that allows me to do and enjoy as many things as possible. My nurse grandmother used to use the term when prepping for the holidays (chocolate santas for grandkids - critical, wrap gifts - important, dust - hopeless.)
the whole point of having a triage system is to avoid rushing around like a headless chicken. I think when I say "triage", you imagine a war zone with desperate action. It's more "I have 47 things on my list. Clearly I can't do them all now, or today, or this week. This thing is urgent (pay bill to avoid fee, clean up water from flooding, take sick cat to vet....) this thing is important (pick up kid from airport, leisurely dinner and walk with husband, brush rabbit - before it becomes urgent), this thing is hopeless - delete from list, and these are the things I want to do with the rest of my time (make cheese, plant trees, sort photos, take a goat for a walk, sew, call my cousin....changes with interests, energy level, time available, and weather)
Your system would read (in part) "Harlan - urgent/critical, bike to work - important, fish from boat - hopeless". You are just a person with fewer people/events/interests on his list. You have a more stringent cut off for "lost cause"
Okay, I get it. Though I still say a list 47 things to-do sounds oppressive. I hope it works for you!
CL, I hope your daughter's wedding day is totally lovely, and you all enjoy every minute of it!
Teacher Terry
6-9-16, 7:20pm
Enjoy the wedding! You have a lot on your plate partly because of the animals and chores you have with them. I would save the pics for winter when you are stuck inside more. I have friends coming from all over the country that I went to HS with and some will stay at our house so I have been doing lots of spring cleaning. So looking forward to a week of fun.
Chicken lady
6-9-16, 10:38pm
Yeah, I was going to work on them last winter, but dealing with the construction ate up all my "free" time.
i finished* the barn. Finished being a relative term - every object has been moved and sorted except what is on two shelving units (which are bolted to the wall) and the floor has been raked clean. Some things have been washed. I filled another half trash can and the trash and recycling are up by the road.
i should probably have been dusting my house, but I was more interested in making cheese and cleaning the barn. Maybe I will dust tomorrow. Or maybe not, since I left cleaning the bathrooms for tomorrow morning.
dh caught a fish in the pond and cooked it for dinner. You can see we are very focused on this cleaning thing.
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