“We’re the ever-helpful imps, quick and quiet as any shrimps!”

It’s been a few years now since we became Stuffoholics and started our quest to sort out our clutter-filled homes. Back in 2017, I suspect we would’ve hoped to be slightly further down the decluttering path than we find ourselves today.

We really have tried. Honest.

I’ve rehomed over 800 books, sold 600 items on eBay and made countless trips to the charity shop… yet my house remains the opposite of minimalist (well, maybe not the exact opposite- but pretty close!)

It’s easy to blame this state of affairs on lack of time, lack of help, lack of motivation… but none of that is very helpful. On the hottest day of 2020, I’m trying to summon the enthusiasm to continue my Stuffoholics journey. And I’m starting by acknowledging the immensity of this task.

Today I listed these badges on eBay. I joined the Brownies back in the 1970s and hated almost every minute of it. After persevering for a year, I finally told my disappointed Brown Owl that I’d rather be watching Top of the Pops on Thursday evenings. I don’t recall much about how I gained these interest badges, but it does seem ironic that my childhood “interests” were apparently so domestic… making cups of tea, cleaning the house & doing things with fire guards! Maybe that’s why my time as an Imp was so short-lived. Even then, I knew that Domestic Goddess was never my calling.

Fast forward almost half a century (gulp) and the badges are here to remind me I once knew how to do hospital corners on beds. And that kinda sums up the enormity of the task ahead of me. My house is so full of pointless clutter, I still have these souvenirs of times best forgotten.

The badges are now on eBay. Hopefully they will spark joy for a fellow ex-Imp. And another envelope full of stuff will be leaving my house.

It’s a long, slow process, but I Do My Best.