Making changes

We are trying to clear our garage/ conservatory at the moment so we can Baptise a few people in there in a few weeks time.We have two garages, one containing the freezers and storage for various dry foods and so on, the other one a dumping ground. What normally happens is that someone is in temporary accommodation and asks us to store their stuff. With the last person it was only for 14 days about 6 months ago. Then when they got into theur own flat they decided they didn't want to keep a lot of the stuff in the Garage. So we had a clearout on Saturday. First we loaded up the car with stuff for the Recycling Centre (or Tip). You can't just take stuff to the recycling centre these days, you have got to give your post code to make sure you are not sneaking in from the wrong area. You can't take stuff unless it's yours, if they find out you are say doing a favour for an old lady, you can get a fine of up to £2000. One would be tempted to fly tip rather than jump through all those hoops. Anyway we got through the Recycling Centre border Guard and managed to empty the car. A substantial amount of decent stuff we put on the front wall with a sign "help yourself" (this included 2 x TV's some speakers, some stools) after only a few minutes two eastern European guys turned up in a white van and took almost all of it. Result.

We are edging nearer to a clear garage, but how long will it last? It's much easier to make changes than maintain them. It's that steel required to say NO to the next "Tobias" (let him who reads understand) who comes along. Failing that we have actually got the use of a friends garage, someone who will never use it so if we really want to help someone out we can.

We can tidy up, but maintaining it is a chore. How long will it be before the creeping furniture takes over again?