Laura

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Username:: troutbend
Name:: Laura
Location:: Estes Park, CO
Birthday:: 08/01
Status:: Married
Job / Career:: Hotel - Hospitality

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Home & Garden > A Refuge, a Hideaway

A Refuge, a Hideaway

I have been throwing away a bunch of old Country Living magazines because I couldn't find anyone who wanted them. First I looked through them, enjoying not only the decorating ideas, but also the 1980s advertising.

One of my favorite articles was about a couple in Ardmore, Oklahoma who have (or had - it was more than 25 years ago) a real train caboose in their yard fixed up as a guest house. That has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I tore it out to save.

At one point I remembered on the Hoarders show how the organizers or psychologists will make some comment about how the hoarder insists on looking at every piece of trash and making a decision about it - trash, donate, or keep. It has become a little joke between Mr. Troutbend and me - are you really going to have to see everything? Well, as a matter of fact, yes I am going to have to look at everything.

So I quickly did the looking, and now I'm done, and the world of organization did not come crashing to an end.

posted on Sept 25, 2011 3:57 PM ()

Comments:

My most stressful clearing out was when I was packing up my New York loft. It was filled with Jay's accumulation and he was a hoarder, and yes, I went through every single thing. Ed tried to hurry the process so I told him to go home (by then I was living with him in Queens) and I spent the next two or three days sorting and crying. And I found some jewelry Jay had bought in Cairo and forgotten about. In that little ornate box there were also harbor passes, notes on Cairo shops, notes from shop keepers to him (he always made friends). Now if I had just tossed things without looking, I would have missed this lovely vignette of his life.

comment by tealstar on Sept 28, 2011 8:40 PM ()

I know what you mean. I looked in a box labeled 'doll stuff' and found some of my mother's jewelry.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:31 PM ()

I'm not a hoarder...but I keep certain things for their sentimental value.

comment by redimpala on Sept 27, 2011 3:01 PM ()

Yes, I have. The rest went a long time ago.

reply by redimpala on Oct 4, 2011 1:20 PM ()

You've moved enough that you have probably got it honed down to the things that really mean something to you.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:35 PM ()

My mother never saved anything and as a consequence all her roseville pottery
went to the dump. My grandmother's oak dining set would now be a treasure
but she had it dumped in the canyon and bought new. That is why I save things to be given to my descendants. If things have little but utilitarian
value, I donate them or put them on the curb.

comment by elderjane on Sept 27, 2011 6:17 AM ()

I can picture the day she told someone in the family to take that old stuff and dump it in the ravine.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:37 PM ()

Fredo has a good idea. I might try it! I'm not a hoarder, but I have a lot of old things--like my childhood toys and baseball cards. Actually, they're valuable and not for give-aways.

comment by solitaire on Sept 27, 2011 6:01 AM ()

You would put your childhood toys out on the road with a 'Free' sign? See if your grandson would like them.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:39 PM ()

Those Hoarding shows are interesting, but it does worry me when I watch it - do they try to sell any of it and get some money back? Or can it only be trash/donate.

There is a country place we drive past that has a caboose in the yard. But can't tell if it's just a decoration or if it has a purpose.

comment by crazylife on Sept 26, 2011 8:14 PM ()

They often have a 'sell' pile, and sometimes when the hoarder insists their hoard is a valuable collection that they need to convert to cash, experts in selling online have come in and helped decide what would sell. At least one of the shows mentioned how much they made from selling some of their treasures, but naturally it was a lot less than the hoarder paid for it or thought it was worth.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:42 PM ()

The day after my garage sale the Canadian Diabetes truck will be coming for the leftovers and I won't be looking through them.

comment by nittineedles on Sept 25, 2011 6:23 PM ()

It's such a good feeling to let go of things.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:43 PM ()

I used to get that magazine, too, and still have a few holiday favorite issues on the bookshelf. Country Living has a nice website now and a fun weekly e-newsletter I subscribe to. Check it out: https://www.countryliving.com/

comment by marta on Sept 25, 2011 5:56 PM ()

I sure will check it out. Thanks for the info!

reply by troutbend on Sept 25, 2011 7:42 PM ()

'a real train caboose in their yard fixed up as a guest house'--do you remember a restaurant chain called Victoria Station?? They were all in cabooses and specialized in Prime Ribs--I always promised myself that when I win the lotto I was going to get one for my 'dining room'!

comment by greatmartin on Sept 25, 2011 4:55 PM ()

Yes I do remember Victoria Station restaurants. It would be fun to restore one of those little rail car kitchens and cook in it.

reply by troutbend on Sept 25, 2011 7:44 PM ()

There must be a collector out there somewhere might like this?
Just leave them outside and put a sign saying "Free"you never know.
It works for us.We leave stuff on the sidewalk and amaze how many people stopped by to see it and take it.Good for them.Try it.

comment by fredo on Sept 25, 2011 4:10 PM ()

Nobody is picking up old magazines off the side of the road - we tried that already. Furniture is a different thing.

reply by troutbend on Oct 2, 2011 1:38 PM ()

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A Refuge, a Hideaway