The behaviour and genetics of a hoarder

I am evolving into less of a hoarder. This evolutionary feat is no mean task, and flies in the face of thirty three years of deeply embedded behaviour. I collect clutter. A neat handbag is a mystery to me. My drawers are full of crap. But this is changing. Today I've been tackling one of the bedrooms. Lots of stuff has been sorted through, and organised for the tip, the charity shop, the car boot. And the child has been telling me off, because "We need to keep this". Child is a product of two hoarders. Lord help her.

We are a little exhausted

Nephews and gigs and friends staying and sun shining... Kittencat is lying on the sofa in a frazzled slump, and I'd be with her, but she needs her tea, and my mate's coming round later for film watching, and I've promised to bake the not terribly chocolatey brownies for tomorrow... Knackered. On the bright side, I was going to make birthday brownies (the terribly chocolatey ones) for a mate's birthday last night to post today, but realised I don't have a current address to post them to. The thought was there. I'm sure the brownies would have been preferable. But an immensely early night was had instead. I love my bed. I have not seen it enough of late, because I keep doing everything but sleep. Last night, I did nothing but. It was good.

Current projects

I'm very into knitting on a round right now, so socks, hats, all that shit. However, I have filed all those projects in neat half completed piles as it's the child's birthday shortly, and she has requested many hand knits. So if you have a birthday and expect/want knitted, it's too warm right now anyway, so your half finished woollens will be available later as complete woollens via the magic of the IOU.

Reading wise, I'm reading Gut and Psychology Syndrome (Dr Natasha Campbell), The Paleo Approach (Sarah Ballatyne), Organic Gardening (Charles Dowding), and Madness and Civilisation (Michel Foucault). With the child, we're currently doing a chapter a night of The Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett).

The inaugural craft and cake night at Cat Lady Towers

I've just spent a really nice couple of hours with a couple of my friends. The lemon drizzle was lemony enough (common bug bear to all is unlemony lemon cake - I didn't think it annoyed everyone so much as me, but apparently so), and there was much fun and chatting - I don't know how much craft was done, but really it's just a reason to gather and have a brew and see friends regularly. And under the guise of craft night, I might remember to knit a bit more regularly.

And, if we do it regularly, I get to bake more often! And expand my repertoire... I'm woefully out of practise.

Yeah, tonight was really awesome, even if I do have slightly sunburnt legs (my legs haven't seen the sun properly since 1988, when I stupidly started getting a little paranoid about the vitiligo)  from being at the beach earlier with Kittencat, my nephews and my parents. We collected shells, and mostly avoided the plentiful jellyfish, and the elder nephew and I ate seaweed straight out of the sea. Good times.

I'm a little preoccupied

And my coffee and vitamins and racetams have not yet overridden my simple brain. I need to be on optimum form NOW.

Hurry up brain. We haven't much time.

This week is suddenly surprisingly hectic

House is a heap, child's friend (and mother, and 2 year old brother) is coming over to play at 2.15pm, tomorrow we're going to the seaside with my folks and my nephews, tomorrow night is craft night at Cat Lady Towers (cake will be baked tonight in preparation), Thursday we're going into town to see child's father for lunch and hopefully watch Ex Easter Island Head as part of MJF, Thursday night is Kevin Drumm at Islington Mill, so spare room will go through bedding change one as child's father will be babysitting, Friday morning we're meeting another one of the child's friend's to play, and Friday afternoon my best Driver is coming to stay for the weekend (spare bed change two). Friday night is to be a nice chilled one, Saturday day we will do something, Saturday night is the ERC at the Mill (so living room camp bed for child's father), Sunday lunchtime Driver is catching a train, Sunday night will be watching as much as possible of the Vengeance Trilogy with my mate.

Somehow I need to find time during all of this occurring to de-heap my house so that the bits that occur at my house can occur.

I have 5 hours before nothing stops for a week. Let the games begin.

It's crap TV night at Cat Lady Towers

I'm watching series 3 of Once Upon a Time. It's fantastically bad. Some stuff is so bad you really just have to. And I am.

And I'm eating all the garlic. Living alone has serious advantages.

Strip back, pare down

I've now been living alone since September, and single a lot longer. It's been an interesting year. A challenging year. I've passed all my exams, so now is the time to finally simplify my existence, get rid of all the stuff in the house that's surplus, find ways of making things more peaceful.It's a load of practical organisation that will have a profound effect on my metaphysical self.

This is the big thing I realise I need. Simple. Peaceful. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for excitement, but I'm a simple girl, and when things drag me in several different directions my head starts to spin. So my environment needs to be intensely controllable, easily maintainable, my relationships with folks simple.

Probably why I want rid of all the social media crappity crap for a time...

I took myself off the social media

You can't see me!

(No doubt after a time my phone will realise that half my contacts are set up my lazily linking into Facebook or Twitter, and they'll disappear, and I'll slink back, my absence unnoticed. I don't want these things any more. But they seem to be a fact of life for the time... But not today! You can't see me!)

I'm not entirely sure why I'm still awake

It seems to be a pattern of late, though I could use the sleep. I'm catching up with knitting, and Game of Thrones, and not sleeping. Life's pretty good, albeit it a little too peaceful. I probably need to go out more, or have friends around more. I miss the society of people. But that does not seem to be the main topic of my thoughts at the moment. I'm a bit focused on trying to design the layout for my garden, and what to grow, and how to do it. There will be vegetables. And herbs. And hopefully a nut tree. I'm not sure if there's room for a mini poly tunnel yet, but it's under consideration. And coldframes. And hotbeds. And I need to plan the space to incorporate room for chickens at a later date. I don't think there's room for chickens and goats, and goats would be way more complicated, and requires licensing, and a bit more work. Chickens would probably be fine.

I'm flitting between that and furthering my reading surrounding nutrition, inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Possibly as this has an impact on my planting goals. I don't know. Creating a mini ecological bubble seems the include all aspects of my life at the moment. It's quite nice. Life is starting to be a holistic machine, instead of a multitude of ropes pulling in different directions.



DJ Format is playing on Friday. I'm not entirely sure why I'm not going. First time I ever saw Ugly Duckling, Format and Abdominal were the support. Best gig I went to in the four years I lived in Exeter. (Possibly excluding Leftfield, I can't entirely recall, I was quite drunk that year, much was a blur.)