A clean and tidy ship is a happy ship.

[johnalison]

When I got divorced in 1990, I eventually bought this house. I lived for around 12 years without any clutter on my own, just having my 3 small kids at weekends. just a TV a chair and a bed, no mess. FF to 2008 when Mrs mess moved in and she gradually moved stuff in. The house is now bursting with stuff, it's a more homely place and I'm happy. She always marvals at how I lived in an empty house.

I visited thousands of houses over the years. You could always tell which were the unhappy families because the house would be immaculately tidy. Worse still were the tidy teenagers' bedrooms. The best houses were usually those of teachers, which existed in a state that I called 'genteel chaos'.

 

[Tamar]

I visited thousands of houses over the years. You could always tell which were the unhappy families because the house would be immaculately tidy. Worse still were the tidy teenagers' bedrooms. The best houses were usually those of teachers, which existed in a state that I called 'genteel chaos'.

I totally agree. My first wife was a clean freak, kids not allowed to make the slightest mess, I wasn't allowed in the kitchen to make a cuppa or anything, total nightmare of a marriage.
I found out later that she used to take the tops off plugs to clean inside.
My current partner is the total opposite.
I do the housework, which is not much

 

[JumbleDuck]

You don’t need stuff. Nothing virtually. My houses are minimalist, zero clutter, but the stores are full and I’m working to get close to zero possessions. I have a few treasured possessions still, but they may go.

"Houses"?

I have next to me the wooden chest in which my great-great-grandfather kept his entire worldly possessions as a journeyman carpenter working round the farms of Ayrshire. It reminds me how little I really need.

 

[JumbleDuck]

( Thread drift: Top Gear once put out a stocking filler sort of book, “100 worst cars. Ever”, sort of thing. And I have owned four of them. But not an Austin Aggro?)

A friend of mine at university had one of the last Allegro estates, with the A+ engine, a cast-off from his parents. Sure, 70s styling but it went very nicely. My local garage was servicing a brown Allegro salloon when I went it for an MOT last week.

 

[Beneteau381]

You don’t need stuff. Nothing virtually. My houses are minimalist, zero clutter, but the stores are full and I’m working to get close to zero possessions. I have a few treasured possessions still, but they may go. What underscores this is how little possessions are worth and how things change in value. My huge book collection, cost a fortune, but worthless now and gathering dust. Replaced by electronics. That sofa, ornaments, kitchen equipment, lawnmower, tools. It’s worth nothing virtually for most people who don’t collect antiques and even then not much. I have some, which were once very valuable, but are now out of fashion and worth nothing now. For example, my grandma’s wedding porcelain set. She treasured it and at the time it was a massive cost and it is a work of art, but not really desired now. Desirability of things is so fickle you have to question how true it is.

My family Royal Worcester and Doulton stuff, now worthless, kids not interested, makes me really sad

 

[Beneteau381]

Probably the most liberating thing ever done was ditching the house and everything (mostly) in it after getting too comfy on a boat

So much easier these days, books, music, piccys, all banking etc, everything digital these days. "Throw something out" is on the monthly recurring boat to do list.
Can be tricky though, you know things have gone a little to far when you take something out of the wheelie bin thinking 'that will be handy' then remember you put it in there yesterday

I out some filament bulbs in the "library" the other day. About ten minutes befire they were gone!

 

[johnalison]

My family Royal Worcester and Doulton stuff, now worthless, kids not interested, makes me really sad

You can see from the prices achieved in auction programmes these days that age, and even quality, is not reflected in today’s valuations. Georgian furniture, except museum quality pieces, can be had for double figures that would have sold for many hundreds only a short while ago. All that people seem to want now is ‘the look’.

 

[capnsensible]

You can see from the prices achieved in auction programmes these days that age, and even quality, is not reflected in today’s valuations. Georgian furniture, except museum quality pieces, can be had for double figures that would have sold for many hundreds only a short while ago. All that people seem to want now is ‘the look’.

My clean and tidy ship happily sailed across to fuertaventura yesterday where we bought a hangover.
Soon we will re stow for sea and sail back to lanzarote. As one does.

 

[steve yates]

It's a seafarer thing. Stowing for sea is as natural as a walk to the shops for landsmen.

Nothing natural about that! The thing that struck me moving down south is just how many folk need their car to do anything, even get a pint of milk! It's not laziness necessarily, it's the way the estates etc are built