The sorting of garments and such

I thought I would sleep like a log last night. I was certainly tired, and the spare bed is quite comfy. For whatever reason, I actually ended up tossing and turning into the small hours. I did eventually drift off, only to be awoken by my neighbours' dog indulging in its favourite pastime of barking incessantly during the hours of darkness.

Today's priority was therefore to sort out all the guff and claim my own bed back. I made a start as soon as I was up and dressed. It was quite astonishing how much stuff I hauled out of that wardrobe yesterday: piles of shoes, (several pairs worn out) a number of bags, (half of them broken) and heaps of varied garments, (many ill fitting, shabby or unworn for years).

It's amazing how quickly you can get through such a pile of stuff if you're prepared to be sensible about it. Several pairs of shoes went immediately into the bin, (I have a terrible habit of replacing worn out shoes but keeping the old ones 'as a backup') some were turfed into the 'donation' pile and the rest arranged tidily on the shoe rack back in the wardrobe.

My previous habit of shoving handbags in odd corners needed addressing. I scrounged some hooks from the garage and made a space to hang them up. A basket on the floor next to the shoe rack will hold hats, scarves, gloves and whatever other oddments I choose to throw in there.

Finally, the clothes: these were quickly sorted into categories. Those I chose to keep went back in the wardrobe. Garments that were no longer of use to me, but still in reasonable condition, I chucked on the 'donation' pile. This accounted for the majority of items, and the remainder went either in the bin, onto a 'work around the house' pile (this pile needs further sifting, but that can wait for another day) or were set aside for rags.

One last collection was for additions to the 'nostalgia bin'. When undertaking this kind of dung-out activity, you always come across a few items you don't wear, but don't want to throw away either. These are the "oh, but I bought that in.." or the "I used to wear that when.." pieces. These are items I pack into my 'nostalgia bin'. One bin, and one only. Once it's full, I will need to review and remove some things. I bunged some bridesmaid's dresses in there and stuck it back on the top shelf.

I was left with a surprising number of coat hangers. When I think how often I have scrambled around looking for a hanger, and how many items I found today hanging two or three to a hanger, that's a clear indication that I have cleared out a whole heap of stuff.

There's now a big pile of 'donation' items in my hallway. It's going to need sorting and bagging up, but since I can't take it anywhere at the moment, there's no rush. Also, that pile is likely to get bigger, since I have yet to attack my chest of drawers. In the meantime, I'm satisfied with the wardrobe. I cleaned the doors and put them back on. I have my bedroom back.

This afternoon, I decided to venture to the supermarket. I have been trying to keep away, which is easy enough since I have plenty of food in the house, but my last shop was 10 days ago and I was running out of milk.

I'd gathered that the official advice has now moved on to "wearing masks is probably a good idea when accessing essential services". I had some in my emergency supplies, so I figured I may as well use one as not. I put on my mask, (carefully following hand washing procedure before and after) grabbed my shopping basket and headed down to Countdown.

I felt a bit of an idiot wandering down the street in a mask. Then again, it's a fairly common sight these days, so I don't imagine anyone who saw me would have thought twice about it. I'd say about 1/3 of the other shoppers were wearing masks as well, so I wasn't out of place in the shop.

When I passed Countdown the other afternoon, there was no queue at all. Today there were people lined up to the street. Of course, if you're leaving a 2-metre gap between each person, the line builds up quite quickly. It also moves quickly, so I really didn't have to wait for long.

My intention was to buy a few necessary items only. Once in the shop, however, I dropped into vague shopping mode and a number of things not on my list wound up in my basket. Not touching the mask or face became a bit of a trial, especially since the sunglasses I had perched on my head kept falling down.

At the self-service checkouts it was even more of a fumble: taking your own shopping basket is great, except at the checkout where you unload it and then frantically try to pack your purchases back into the same basket while an automated voice repeatedly exhorts you to "please take your items". Add sunglasses that drop on your face every time you look down at the scanner, a determination not to touch face or face mask, and the need to apply hand sanitiser after using the eftpos machine, it's no wonder I got a bit flustered.

When I got home, I found that a packet of salt and vinegar chips had gone astray somewhere between the checkout and my front door. Considering the haphazard nature of my basket packing, this is not surprising. It may have dropped out while I was walking, or very likely it fell on the floor between the checkouts. Never mind, it was an impulse buy I really didn't need anyway.

And luckily, my bottle of wine didn't go astray.