Diary of a tosser

in8Toss June 2014

The diary of a tosser!Being a tosser is a good thing!

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The in8Toss Challenge

toss [taws, tos] verb (used with object), tossed or ( Literary ) tost; toss·ing.1.to throw, pitch, or fling, especially to throw lightly or carelessly: to toss a piece of paper into the wastebasket.2.to throw or send from one to another.3.to throw or pitch with irregular or careless motions; fling or jerk about.

So what is a tosser?A tosser is a person who regularly tosses items out of their home, office and life! They are proud to be decluttering and simplifying their space.

The in8Toss Challenge asks participants toss on average 8 items a day over a one month period. They post their tosses and photos on facebook.Bev’s diary has been put together to illustrate a month in the life of a tosser!

1 JUNE - LUGGAGE

WOOHOO! A new month! Apologies to all my Facebook friends who are not one bit interested in seeing the junk I'm throwing out on a daily basis. Sorry, you're just going to have to scroll on by!Today's prompt is luggage/travel. I've heard it said that nothing dies as hard as a bad idea and that is certainly true for some of today's collection. Like the drawstring bags that I thought would be oh so useful for separating clean and dirty clothes on holiday. Far too much faff for something that will get used once or twice a year for a job that a carrier bag will do just as well. Or the very pretty craft bag with all sorts of enticing pockets and compartments which, in practice really doesn't hold any of the things I might want it to.6 pieces of baggage (in more than one sense of the word) tossed plus 4 items of summer clothing that I realised I do not love wearing.

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2 JUNE - PHOTOS

100 photos deleted from my photo stream. Almost a third of them were pictures of piles of discarded clutter. Can't imagine how they got there......I also tossed 100 "real" photos. I do not believe that future generations will be impoverished by the lack of a legacy of faded photos of trains, ducks, fuzzy waterfalls and unidentifiable hillsides.

I haven't photographed the photographs because that would just be silly.



3 JUNE - GARAGE

Uh Uh! No Siree Bob! I do not have a passport for THAT territory.Depending on how the day pans out, I might have a go at the area just behind the said Cavern of Darkness, which has become a bit of a rubbish heap. But for now, I've just spent a happy hour investigating my lifetime of being a magpie and I found 27 bits of costume jewellery that I'm sure somebody else will love more than I do. I feel quite relieved knowing that I've just untangled them for the last time! 27Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


4 JUNE - SOCKS

This season's collection from that famous design group, "Scratchy, Holey and Odd".And once again the magic number is 8!



4 JUNE - SUPPLEMENTARY

I managed to get down to the cellar today (long story!) and made a little start down there.More plastic hangers that spontaneously generated in the dark, some boxes that I was keeping for....,,,,something and a sieve with one too many holes. The plastic things are packaging for wine bottles: in which parallel universe is wine LEAVING the house?. And a couple of hooky radiator clothes drying thingies because they are a contraption of the devil. 16Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


5 JUNE – HATS, CAPS, SCARVES

And on the conveyor belt tonight: a very ugly and impractical umbrella, one odd glove and a pair of nasty bobbly ones. Two sets of ear muffs: I like these, but now that I wear glasses full time they hurt the sides of my head and give me a new found sympathy for babies delivered by forceps. A hat that only brings back memories of when I had no hair, and two other hats that I bought 10 years ago whilst I was waiting to become the kind person who would actually wear them. Which hasn't happened. Unsurprisingly. 9Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


6 JUNE – CARThe car is not here today, so I'll have to wait for that prompt to come round again. Instead, I'm going to bite the bullet over something that has been niggling me for ages. It's a bit of a ramble, so bear with me or scroll on by.Now, don't judge me, but I have a collection of Bunnykins figures - little china, anthropomorphised rabbits carrying out a range of unlikely activities. I like them, ok? Excruciatingly twee, but that's the way I roll. They are on display in a glass fronted cabinet and they are not the problem.The PROBLEM is the boxes that they came in. Here is the conversation that went on in my head which has finally allowed me to get rid of the blasted boxes."So, when you have "collectables" you're supposed to keep the boxes, right?""Um, yeah........ Why?""Because they are more valuable that way.""Valuable to whom?""If you want to sell them. You'll get more for them if they have their boxes.""I don't want to sell them. I like them. They don't take up much space.""Somebody might want to sell them. You know.......later...... I bet they're worth ever such a lot of money....a valuable inheritance!""I can't imagine any of my children, who are some of the least materialistic people I know, being bothered to sell them. But just to shut you up, let's have a look on eBay tosee what they go for..........just as I thought, pages of them unsold and a few that went for 5 or 6 quid. Not worth the faff.""Well, if we move house, you'll need the boxes to pack them in.""No, I'll just get a roll of bubble wrap.""Ok, I give in. Get rid of the boxes.""Thank you. I will." 9Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


7 JUNE – TABLE LINEN

Not having quite given up on the notion that Royalty may yet call in for a cuppa, I think I've already gone as far as I can go with the table linen.Instead I've started to explore the bookshelves down in the cellar and picked out 45 worthy tomes that somebody else might actually read. You might notice that several of them are on the subject of healthy eating. It turns out that you have to actually do it, rather than just read about it for it to have any benefit. Who knew?



7 JUNE – SUPPLEMENTARY

Another random trawl, including 2 hanging shoe holders that have been so overloaded that the tops have given up under the weight, some rusty bobbins and a thing out off a desk drawer that is supposed to hold suspended document files. The drawer in question does not house documents but even if it did I wouldn't use those suspended folders because they are another contraption of the devil.Total 19 19Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


8 JUNE – NOVELSA stack of NOVELS, unread, and I only have myself to blame. They belonged to my neighbour and she had them bagged up and was actually ON HER WAY to the charity shop with them when I said, "Hi Jane, watcha got there?"And she replied, "Novels. I've finished with them.""Ooh," I said, "anything interesting?""Yes," she said. "I enjoyed them very much. Do you like reading? Would you like them?"And so I took them.That was a couple of years ago and whilst I'm sure they are a jolly good read, I just don't think I'm going to get round to it, so I am going to complete the journey that she started 2 years ago and take them up the road.The one on the top, Moby Dick, was mine from the start and I'm not sure that the word "novel" is adequate for this weighty volume. I've tried to read it, really I have. I understand all the individual words, just not the way Herman Melville has put them together in sentences. Quite frankly I don't propose to spend any more time trying. 8Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


9 JUNE – GLASSWARE

A couple of jam jars that my son took for washing paint brushes. A set of 7 (?) little glasses which were not small and cool enough as shot glasses but were too small to count as tumblers and just made you look mean when you gave somebody a drink in one. The glass storage jars had to go because they give me the abdabs, imagining them full of flour or sugar or whatever, slipping out of my hand and landing in a million treacherous pieces on the kitchen floor. Total 16 16Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


10 JUNE – MUSIC

Now then, let's try to look at this logically.I have thousands of photos, taken over the last decade or more, that I am completely happy to entrust, digitally, to my computer, (well backed up, of course!)But when it comes to music, which is infinitely more replaceable than my precious photos, and which I hardly ever listen to anyway, I have a great deal of difficulty believing that it can still exist without the physical presence of the CD. Go figure!So this is one that I shall have to work on and revisit, but for now I have winkled out 4 definitely redundant CDs and made up my quota with 4 books. 8Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


11 JUNE – MOVIES

Oh dear.All but 3 or 4 of the DVDs in the house belong to the DH and I just can't bear the "Will you leave off?" look that I get if I even dare to suggest we might see if any of them could be passed on. I've managed to syphon off 4 that were bought second hand, watched and admitted to be total turkeys, but further than that, I cannot go. So I've added in some audio tapes (yes tapes!) that are definitely mine to give away. 10Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


12 JUNE – EMAILS

100 emails deleted and whilst it is true that there is happiness to be found in an empty inbox, it's not quite the same as seeing stuff go out of the door. Like Jane, I felt the need to shift some stuff that would leave a bit of a space so I started to think big (well, bigger, anyway...) 10 sizeable items that have, luckily all been assigned new and more appreciative homes. 110Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


13 JUNE – KNITWEARWell, I dithered over my cardigans and was getting nowhere at all so I went in search of more fertile ground. I descended......down, down, down into the Cellar of Doom, that Pit of Despair where Gravity has grown from a mere law of physics into a Malevolent Force which sucks all matter into its deep, dark, evil core.Ok, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect, but you get the picture.Now I know I'm amongst friends who understand, so I can tell you what I found. 37 empty boxes and 44 used Jiffy bags, all waiting I suppose, for the great eBay selling binge that is never going to happen. All binned. Not because I truly believe in my heart of hearts that I'll never need them but because they got on my nerves. Which may or may not be the best reason for throwing stuff out. But the deed is done. 81.No photo. I'm embarrassed enough as it is. 81Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


14 JUNE – SLEEPWEARPJ's all present and correct. Although I wouldn't consider going shopping in any of them, unlike a certain former school mate of mine (you know who you are!), nevertheless, if I have to open the front door before I'm dressed, I am not totally humiliated. I have, however, tossed one dressing gown, for the following reasons: a) it was pink, b) it had a habit of slipping undone and c) it had big floppy sleeves that were apt to trail in my porridge.So, to get to my 8 for the day I have tossed some random toot, including a pot plant that should have been put out of its misery a long time ago and the second ugliest candle in the world. 8Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


15 JUNE – SHOES

I can count each shoe, right? Ok, here we go...A pair of black canvas dolly shoes with a broken strap. I had put them to one side with the notion of trying to mend them. Don't know why now, as I have 2 other pairs, identical. A pair of Perfectly Good black ankle boots. I don't like wearing them, I am a adult and nobody can make me.A pair of ugly flip flops. Not only do they hurt my feet, but the left one makes a weird and unpleasant sucky noise when I walk.And finally some black strappy sandals that act upon my feet much in the manner of cheese wire.There now, that wasn't so hard!



16 JUNE – LAUNDRY CUPBOARD

Hhhmm...Have I got a laundry cupboard? Well, there's a sort of ex-pantry thing that houses the washing machine and tumble dryer, and it has a door on the front, so I guess that's it. But there is minimal scope for clutter as it is literally the same size as the appliances it contains. So I gave it all a bit of a clean - exciting times in the Storey household! Then I felt a bit uninspired so I've done a random 11 toss, but I'm not bothering to post the photo because it's not very interesting. Even by my standards...



19 JUNE – CRAFT MATERIALSI have some catching up to do! I can jumped straight in with yesterday's CRAFT MATERIALS which I had actually sorted out before I went AWOL. Amongst crafters, I think card makers must be the ones who keep every teeny, tiny little scrap and shred of everything to be reused. (I'm sure it can't only be me.....) But I have had a MASSIVE cull of all sorts of off-cuts and half-made doodads that were like an endless to do list in my head. Didn't count them, but I'm claiming 500. It must be that, at least. 500Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


20 JUNE – ALCOHOL

As for June 20th's ALCOHOL, I think that must be a typo or something. The idea of anything alcoholic being unrequired clutter just makes no sense. I do not understand that at all, I'm afraid........



21 JUNE – PLASTICS

It's fair to say that I was a bit complacent last time this prompt came up ~ a cursory rummage in the kitchen cupboard and I declared myself free from extraneous plastic ware.Now I'm a more hard core declutterer, I've done an Access All Areas and come up with a bunch of rogue items lurking in dark places. 17, all binned. 17Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


22 JUNE – SPORTSWEAR

It's going to be a busy day tomorrow so I'm posting early. But it's only to say that I am afraid I am going to have to sit this prompt out. SPORTSWEAR? No, sorry, don't understand what that could be. I have clothes for sleeping in, clothes for being awake in and a couple of posh frocks for going out in. That is all.



23 JUNE – STATIONERYThere's no point trying to deny it, I do have a bit of a stationery fetish. I would rather browse the aisles in Staples than go shopping for clothes. So I wasn't sure how I would feel about relinquishing anything from my treasure trove.As it happens, a quick sweep revealed a BAFFLINGLY huge number of envelopes. More than I could possibly use in several lifetimes. Whatever was I thinking? The only explanation is that every time I bought some, I immediately got zapped with one of those Men in Black style memory erasers so I just went out and bought some more.Here is a pile of them, bagged up ready for the charity shop. I might as well admit that after I'd taken the photo, I found at least as many again. Believe me, I am just as mystified as anyone else.I didn't count them, but I think 500 would be a conservative estimate.



28 JUNE – RECEIPTSOoh, I'm all behind! What with one thing and another I have been completely distracted from my clutterbusting mission this week, but now I'm full of vim and vigour to get back on track!So let's dive in with some receipts. These little impostors somehow managed to achieve archive status simply by lying quiet and still in a dark place; many of them for decades. And of course, the longer they lay there, the more gravitas they acquired. Until finally the cold, rational light of day was shone upon them, revealing them to be 95% obsolete. I counted 249, which is NOT a satisfyingly round number and in this I think they were trying to get the last laugh. But as you can see, I ran each and every last one of them through the shredder, less because they were a security risk than because I wanted to show them who is boss.



29 JUNE – CUTLERY

Hands up if you like using plastic cutlery..... Anyone?.......No, I thought not.On the very rare occasions that we have a picnic where any kind of utensils are required, I can understand that plastic plates, bowls and cups have a use, since their china and glass counterparts may be too fragile for transportation to the great outdoors. But I fail to see what harm could befall normal knives and forks, should their presence be required beyond the dining room. I am happy to receive counter-arguments on this subject from picnickers more experienced than myself, but for now these neon green lovelies are in the toss pile. 8Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


29 JUNE – CUTLERY - 2

And while we're about it, let's pause to think about soup spoons. Do I really need to maintain a whole section in my cutlery drawer devoted to eating (drinking?) soup? I don't even like sipping soup off the side of a big round spoon, even though etiquette suggests that one should. Two out of the original six soup spoons seem to have already got the message and have made a quick getaway, so I'm despatching the other 4 after them.



30 JUNE – TOYSThankfully not a major problem any more, although I have, in years gone by, nearly drowned in a sea of primary coloured plastic and still occasionally have traumatised flashbacks of treading on Lego.I had a good rummage today and found two ancient footballs in the garden. I know they are ancient as one of them was a Manchester United one and my son hasn't supported them since he was 7 when he had only heard of one football team. I also discovered 3 pots of play dough in the cellar. I seem to recall that we bought it for a Christmas board game but it smelled so nasty nobody wanted to touch it. So, where else to search? There is somebody I cannot tag in this post, but she will home in on it anyway, because in lieu of toys I have discarded some...... da da da.... rubber stamps. Now, Sharon, sweetie, please don't have palpitations or kinniptions. They are very ugly, poor quality stamps. Really no use at all and purchased before I had truly grasped the concept that to buy cheap is to buy twice. So please just breathe and trust that I do not yet require an intervention. Or an exorcism. All is well. 8Join the in8Toss challenge NOW!


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xxx MaryAnne BennieAuthor of Paper Flow and From Stuffed to Sorted

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Diary of a tosser