Hi Maisie and All My father died nine years ago and it was an awful job going through all his stuff. I swore I'd never leave anything like that for people to clear up when I go. In the meantime I have tried several things. One was to dispose of something every day, either to give away to charity etc, or to dump it. I should have tried 10 things per day and I'm not a hoarder. I also look at things and judge whether I'd take it if I moved. This January I realised that since my father died nine years ago I had religiously filed all my accounts and I was building up a large cupboard full of lever arch files. It took me all month to shred most of it. In the midst of this I saw that the rail in my large built in wardrobe was wonky. I had to remove all the clothes to replace the rail. I donated a third, threw out a third and put the remaining third back in the wardrobe. Haven't missed anything but it's building up again. I'm still building up "stuff". I'm still trying. Good luck to all Ella Ross ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maisie Egger" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 12:14 PM Subject: [Lanark] Gut the dump, now! > Today I feel like wearing black crepe from head to toe as I “cremated” my > “paper family.” > > Younger daughter came to help me gut the joint then huffed and puffed > about why her father needed 16 paints of trousers, some as old as tea, but > he wouldn’t let her put them on the yard sale pile! However, there was no > sentimentality at all when she plopped two big plastic tubs at my feet > with a no nonsense look about her that I needed to start gleaning some of > my family bits and dabs. > > It ‘killed”me to get rid of my comfort zone items, some dated from the > 1960s. Chucked out were beautiful Christmas cards and greetings cards > that I didn’t have the heart to dispose of in years past, but it was much > easier to do than go through myriad letters from friends and relatives. > How difficult it was to throw letters of many years ago when relatives and > friends had little children and to realise now that they are adults, and > married, neber mind other passages of time with illnesses and deaths. > > In all the piles of “dedritus,” I found only a couple of family genealogy > gems, and then a letter from a relative which had me screaming in > laughter, with tears running down my cheeks, remembering our son about 10 > or so wakening our guests up by blowing on his bugle too early in the > morning! He likely got a good talking to, but looking back on it now I > laughed till the tears ran. > > My Glasgow aunt, up in her years, had written about her father’s layabout > brother, so as all the players are dead, I can add that anecdote to the > journal. I then found a letter from my father’s Paisley/Glasgow cousin > once removed who filled me in on his tree, and confirmed that his cousin > once removed in Castle Douglas had been a butcher at one time. His > grandfather, a blacksmith, apparently had had the biggest funeral Castle > Douglas had ever seen. > > There were a few other little gems to add to the family tree, but after I > re-read everything, I had to make the very hard decision to consign them > to the heap to be disposed of...paper recycling. > > I have other big tubs to go through, then more closets and boxes. > > The realisation finally hit me that my children have no idea who most of > the people are, so it would be left to them to dispose of everything upon > my departure...the only thing my younger one wanted is the nice > comfortable couch in the “pit.” What a nerve! She’ll just have to wait! > > Moral of the story...if you have encumbered yourself with all this > “stuff,” be tough with yourself and find another comfort zone...dispose > of it before it begins to take over the house! > > Maisie > > ------------------------------- > > WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier > message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] > > You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on > the following link to the list information page online: > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message

Such an easy solution, Ella. When I first began receiving acknowledgments for gifts via e-mail I used to be mightily irked, for after all I had physically gone to the store to purchase a gift, card, etc., and why couldn't the recipient acknowledgment such in kind. but now, much as I dislike this e-format, it certainly reduces the paper clutter. I have many genealogy "facts" saved on the external drive, but then I just read in the paper that such as an e.d. and memory sticks have a comparatively short life before they become defunct. My adult granddaughter found a binder on the floor (!) with my early genealogy foraging where I recorded family facts using paper worksheet records. Such was a goldmine to her as the information was right by her hand and she didn't have to turn on the computer, find where the records were kept, etc., even if she'd known where to look. This is one of the reasons why I really like paper rather than digital records as one cannot beat such easy access. The price to pay is where to keep all this "stuff." I'll try to follow your advice, Ella, by disposing of something every day, especially where paper records are concerned, my bugaboo. Maisie From: Ella Ross Subject: Re: [Lanark] Gut the dump, now! Hi Maisie and All My father died nine years ago and it was an awful job going through all his stuff. I swore I'd never leave anything like that for people to clear up when I go. In the meantime I have tried several things. One was to dispose of something every day, either to give away to charity etc, or to dump it. I should have tried 10 things per day and I'm not a hoarder. I also look at things and judge whether I'd take it if I moved. This January I realised that since my father died nine years ago I had religiously filed all my accounts and I was building up a large cupboard full of lever arch files. It took me all month to shred most of it. In the midst of this I saw that the rail in my large built in wardrobe was wonky. I had to remove all the clothes to replace the rail. I donated a third, threw out a third and put the remaining third back in the wardrobe. Haven't missed anything but it's building up again. I'm still building up "stuff". I'm still trying. Good luck to all Ella Ross

Hi Maisie If saved correctly in digital form, ie with a sensible title/name etc it is far more efficient to keep on a computer than in paper form I have oodles of stuff on my father and grandfather, notes are kept in PAF on each and the various records, newspapers clips, scanned items, ephemera, pictures etc are kept in a folder for each Now like paper its not foolproof, like paper it can be a pain when you file something in the wrong place, but correctly named you can find it with ease in seconds, rather than the sometimes hours I have spent looking for something "that I just know is there" in paper form My own system is not perfect by any means, like all humans I make mistakes but rarely do I have to consult the many folders of paper notes and records I have, as I scanned the vast majority, and am very glad I did Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 18/09/2013 17:04, Maisie Egger wrote: > Such an easy solution, Ella. When I first began receiving acknowledgments > for gifts via e-mail I used to be mightily irked, for after all I had > physically gone to the store to purchase a gift, card, etc., and why > couldn't the recipient acknowledgment such in kind. but now, much as I > dislike this e-format, it certainly reduces the paper clutter. > > I have many genealogy "facts" saved on the external drive, but then I just > read in the paper that such as an e.d. and memory sticks have a > comparatively short life before they become defunct. My adult > granddaughter found a binder on the floor (!) with my early genealogy