Monday 28 January 2013

Loft

The loft  - enter at your own risk....

I used to mock my Dad about his loft, saying it was Steptoe's Shop up there. It IS like Steptoe's shop up there to be fair. For those who aren't familiar Steptoe & Son was a British comedy broadcast in the 1960's and 70's about a pair of rag and bone men with a shop filled to the rafters with useless rubbish.

Our loft is totally squeezed full, every conceivable space is packed. What's up there you may well ask. The only answer to that would be EVERYTHING. You name it, there's one in the loft. It would probably be quicker to list what was not somewhere in Dad's loft. We're not just talking your bog standard Christmas tree, boxes of decorations, that sort of thing. I swear he could easily kit out an entire other house with all the clobber up there.

It particularly amuses me because outwardly my dear old Pa is an incredibly neat and organised man. The loft is his Achilles heel, the guilty secret that would badly let down his public image....and I know it's there MWAHAHAHA!

I sometimes lay in bed at night worrying that the weight of the lift contents will crumble the ceiling onto our sleeping bodies, and that we'll be found, weeks later in a catacomb like tomb made up of waste paper baskets, dog beds, train sets and old cheque book stubs. I used to complain like mad that he needed to get it sorted, well not any more!

Before Christmas (expensive wedding present) microwave inexplicable broke. It may have had something to do with me snapping off an important looking piece of plastic from the door with my dressing gown sleeve (it was EARLY) but I haven't confessed to that happening so it must have been Mr Husband Sir's fault. Ahem.

I recounted our tale of woe (well, part of it) to my Dad, who said nothing. Went up to the loft, and came down minutes later with a replacement microwave. What a star!

When the kettle gave up on life (limescale this time, not me) he produced from the loft a choice of not one, but two alternative kettles.

On Thursday our lounge lamp passed away. We changed bulbs, fuses and hours of surgery passed in vain. I girded myself for the thought that the corner of our sitting room would from now on be a dark and soulless place. My Pa, in respectful silence left me alone with my thoughts.

He returned, from the loft, with an identical lamp that I did not know existed, this is less weird than it sounds, he gave us the lamp originally, and used to have three the same, he hasn't been cloning our furniture for emergencies. Anyway he lit up the room once again, and quietly retreated to the East Wing (the extension).

It turns out my lovely Dad is not a secret hoarder, or a lunatic of any kind. The reality is that he is SO organised and SO prepared for any twists, turns and minor mishaps that may occur, he has a whole loft full of contingency plans so we don't have to suffer.

I love that man.  And I am never mocking his Steptoe loft again.

So which are you?  Hoarder or chucker?  Can you part with what someday might be just what you need?  Do you plan for what might happen, or go with whatever comes along?  Is there anyone else out there with a loft full of just-in-case?



8 comments:

  1. Awwwl your dad sounds like a legend!

    Our loft is the same, it is filled with everything. Not a place for it in the house my Dad's answer "I'll put it in the loft". I have gone up there recently to put some clothes into my "summer bag" that I'd bought off ebay and it has stuff my parents had before they were even together!

    I am not a hoarder myself, I cannot stand clutter in my own home and everything needs a place! But I'm so glad my dad has kept so many of my child hood things as it means my daughter is going to get to enjoy them!

    Amy x cocktailsinteacups.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Haha! I have a bag of summer clothes in the loft too! It's so silly, I wash them to pack them up, then wash them again when I get them down. It is a bit like Christmas though when I get the bag down, I fill the room with clothes and shout "Ooooh, I'd forgotten all about that!"

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  2. Your dad sounds fab. Im' a bit of a hoarder but do try to have a good chuck out every now and then. Won't chuck out anything that has emotional value though.

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    1. I'm just the same, I still have my teddies up there somewhere. They're just taking up space, but I couldn't bear to bin them :)

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  3. This whole post made me "awww", your dad sounds great lol. I'm not at all like that, total opposite. Unless its in use or will be soon, it has to go. Admittedly my garage acts as somewhat of a limbo between wanted in my house and sold on ebay/freecycled, but for the most part everything I don't want MUST GO!

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    1. He is pretty good! I need to put so much stuff on eBay, I should really get round to it. It's far more likely to end up on Freecycle though, I can't face the hassle of photographing it all!

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  4. Your dad sounds AMAZING... And not a little like Mary Poppins! Like magic. I don't have a loft to store things in (I live in a flat) so have had to curb my natural hoarding instincts!xx

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    1. Ha! You've hit the nail on the head there, Man-ry Poppins perhaps?

      I used to live living with no loft, you have no choice but to be ruthless. No bad thing.

      Thank you for following my dear lady, I very much appreciate it :)

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