If there was a bright side to doing the roof–beyond rain not seeping into our house, of course–it was the garbage bin that we ordered.
Before
We took advantage of every cubic metre of our 40-yard bin to do a major clean up in the barn, the fields and even the house.
After
The indoor pool was the last room we cleaned out, hence the pool noodles and solar blanket. Can I just ask why you need a solar blanket on an indoor pool?
Underneath all of that are the shingles, the leather barn couch and numerous other treasures I was quite happy to say goodbye to.
Buh-bye junk
The final tally was 10,780.5 pounds, which equates to 4.89 metric tonnes, 5.39 tons or “freakin’ heavy” in Matt’s words–and a huge weight off my mind.
Anyone else out there find cleaning cathartic? This blitz was particularly rewarding, I think, because most of the junk belonged to past owners.
Home on 129 Acres 
Cleaning is extremely cathartic. My family calls the destressing cleaning sessions “pitch and b***h” moods. 🙂
I found pitching the old owners’ things involved a lot of b***ching. “Who keeps this? Why did they need this? What were they thinking?”
We will be helping my inlaws move out of their farm and into a smaller house soon, and we will be moving over to the farm. There will be bins involved. I’m already nervous about the amount of stuff involved.
That’s a huge move, Heidi. I can only imagine the history you’re going to uncover. Good luck!
That’s a lot of stuff! It must have been so nice to get rid of it all. I was recently helping Sandy and Clint at their new place and it was nice to paint away the old grime and grossness in the kitchen. I think it is cathartic because you instantly see the difference and that is nice!
I guess it’s about feeling like you’re making progress on making your home nice and making it for you and your family. That makes me feel good.
it IS cathartic! we also had to rent a dumpster when we moved into our house and literally 99% of what we threw in was stuff from the prior owners. there was a lot of “what WERE they thinking??” ours was only a 2 ton bin though…that’s HUGE!!
Two tons of stuff, especially when it’s not yours, is a lot of stuff. There’s “what were they thinking?” and also “who would leave all of this behind for someone else to clean up?”
I do some work with people who’ve accumulated small hoards that have become overwhelming to them, and I know that the state of what you have tucked, stored or locked away, or spilling out and over into plain sight, reflects your state of mind. That’s one reason why it’s such a good feeling to see it drive away: with it goes some of your inner chaos (or in your case, someone else’s chaos!)
I completely agree.