Here is what one of our tossing members decluttered during the month of JUNE 2014. What makes her effort stand out from the crowd was her entertaining daily descriptions! Bev you are so entertaining and funny!

1. in8Toss June 2014
Bev Storey’s daily TOSSES!
Being a tosser is a good thing!

2. 1 JUNE - LUGGAGE
WOOHOO! A new month! Apologies to all my
Facebook friends who are not one bit interested in
seeing the junk I'm throwing out on a daily basis.
Sorry, you're just going to have to scroll on by!
Today's prompt is luggage/travel. I've heard it said
that nothing dies as hard as a bad idea and that is
certainly true for some of today's collection. Like the
drawstring bags that I thought would be oh so useful
for separating clean and dirty clothes on holiday. Far
too much faff for something that will get used once
or twice a year for a job that a carrier bag will do just
as well. Or the very pretty craft bag with all sorts of
enticing pockets and compartments which, in
practice really doesn't hold any of the things I might
want it to.
6 pieces of baggage (in more than one sense of the
word) tossed plus 4 items of summer clothing that I
realised I do not love wearing.
10

3. 2 JUNE - PHOTOS
100 photos deleted from my photo
stream. Almost a third of them
were pictures of piles of discarded
clutter. Can't imagine how they got
there......
I also tossed 100 "real" photos. I
do not believe that future
generations will be impoverished
by the lack of a legacy of faded
photos of trains, ducks, fuzzy
waterfalls and unidentifiable
hillsides.
I haven't
photographed the
photographs because
that would just be
silly.
200

4. 3 JUNE - GARAGE
Uh Uh!
No Siree Bob! I do not have a
passport for THAT territory.
Depending on how the day pans out,
I might have a go at the area just
behind the said Cavern of Darkness,
which has become a bit of a rubbish
heap. But for now, I've just spent a
happy hour investigating my lifetime
of being a magpie and I found 27 bits
of costume jewellery that I'm sure
somebody else will love more than I
do. I feel quite relieved knowing that
I've just untangled them for the last
time!
27

5. 4 JUNE - SOCKS
This season's collection
from that famous design
group, "Scratchy, Holey
and Odd".
And once again the magic
number is 8!
8

6. 4 JUNE - SUPPLEMENTARY
I managed to get down to the
cellar today (long story!) and
made a little start down there.
More plastic hangers that
spontaneously generated in the
dark, some boxes that I was
keeping for....,,,,something and a
sieve with one too many holes.
The plastic things are packaging
for wine bottles: in which parallel
universe is wine LEAVING the
house?. And a couple of hooky
radiator clothes drying thingies
because they are a contraption of
the devil.
16

7. 5 JUNE – HATS, CAPS, SCARVES
And on the conveyor belt tonight: a
very ugly and impractical umbrella,
one odd glove and a pair of nasty
bobbly ones. Two sets of ear muffs: I
like these, but now that I wear
glasses full time they hurt the sides
of my head and give me a new found
sympathy for babies delivered by
forceps. A hat that only brings back
memories of when I had no hair, and
two other hats that I bought 10 years
ago whilst I was waiting to become
the kind person who would actually
wear them. Which hasn't happened.
Unsurprisingly.
9

8. 6 JUNE – CAR
The car is not here today, so I'll have to wait for that prompt to come round again. Instead, I'm going to bite the bullet over
something that has been niggling me for ages. It's a bit of a ramble, so bear with me or scroll on by.
Now, don't judge me, but I have a collection of Bunnykins figures - little china, anthropomorphised rabbits carrying out a
range of unlikely activities. I like them, ok? Excruciatingly twee, but that's the way I roll. They are on display in a glass fronted
cabinet and they are not the problem.
The PROBLEM is the boxes that they came in. Here is the conversation that went on in my head which has finally allowed me
to get rid of the blasted boxes.
"So, when you have "collectables" you're supposed to keep the boxes, right?"
"Um, yeah........ Why?"
"Because they are more valuable that way."
"Valuable to whom?"
"If you want to sell them. You'll get more for them if they have their boxes."
"I don't want to sell them. I like them. They don't take up much space."
"Somebody might want to sell them.
You know.......later...... I bet they're worth ever such a lot of money....a valuable inheritance!"
"I can't imagine any of my children, who are some of the least materialistic people I
know, being bothered to sell them. But just to shut you up, let's have a look on eBay to
see what they go for..........just as I thought, pages of them unsold and a few that went
for 5 or 6 quid. Not worth the faff."
"Well, if we move house, you'll need the boxes to pack them in."
"No, I'll just get a roll of bubble wrap."
"Ok, I give in. Get rid of the boxes."
"Thank you. I will."
9

9. 7 JUNE – TABLE LINEN
Not having quite given up on the
notion that Royalty may yet call in for
a cuppa, I think I've already gone as
far as I can go with the table linen.
Instead I've started to explore the
bookshelves down in the cellar and
picked out 45 worthy tomes that
somebody else might actually read.
You might notice that several of
them are on the subject of healthy
eating. It turns out that you have to
actually do it, rather than just read
about it for it to have any benefit.
Who knew?
45

10. 7 JUNE – SUPPLEMENTARY
Another random trawl, including
2 hanging shoe holders that have
been so overloaded that the tops
have given up under the weight,
some rusty bobbins and a thing
out off a desk drawer that is
supposed to hold suspended
document files. The drawer in
question does not house
documents but even if it did I
wouldn't use those suspended
folders because they are another
contraption of the devil.
Total 19
19

11. 8 JUNE – NOVELS
A stack of NOVELS, unread, and I only have myself to
blame. They belonged to my neighbour and she had
them bagged up and was actually ON HER WAY to the
charity shop with them when I said, "Hi Jane, watcha got
there?"
And she replied, "Novels. I've finished with them."
"Ooh," I said, "anything interesting?"
"Yes," she said. "I enjoyed them very much. Do you like
reading? Would you like them?"
And so I took them.
That was a couple of years ago and whilst I'm sure they
are a jolly good read, I just don't think I'm going to get
round to it, so I am going to complete the journey that
she started 2 years ago and take them up the road.
The one on the top, Moby Dick, was mine from the start
and I'm not sure that the word "novel" is adequate for
this weighty volume. I've tried to read it, really I have. I
understand all the individual words, just not the way
Herman Melville has put them together in sentences.
Quite frankly I don't propose to spend any more time
trying.
8

12. 9 JUNE – GLASSWARE
A couple of jam jars that my son took
for washing paint brushes. A set of 7
(?) little glasses which were not small
and cool enough as shot glasses but
were too small to count as tumblers
and just made you look mean when
you gave somebody a drink in one.
The glass storage jars had to go
because they give me the abdabs,
imagining them full of flour or sugar
or whatever, slipping out of my hand
and landing in a million treacherous
pieces on the kitchen floor.
Total 16
16

13. 10 JUNE – MUSIC
Now then, let's try to look at this logically.
I have thousands of photos, taken over the last
decade or more, that I am completely happy to
entrust, digitally, to my computer, (well backed
up, of course!)
But when it comes to music, which is infinitely
more replaceable than my precious photos, and
which I hardly ever listen to anyway, I have a
great deal of difficulty believing that it can still
exist without the physical presence of the CD. Go
figure!
So this is one that I shall have to work on and
revisit, but for now I have winkled out 4 definitely
redundant CDs and made up my quota with 4
books.
8

14. 11 JUNE – MOVIES
Oh dear.
All but 3 or 4 of the DVDs in the
house belong to the DH and I just
can't bear the "Will you leave
off?" look that I get if I even dare
to suggest we might see if any of
them could be passed on. I've
managed to syphon off 4 that
were bought second hand,
watched and admitted to be total
turkeys, but further than that, I
cannot go. So I've added in some
audio tapes (yes tapes!) that are
definitely mine to give away.
10

15. 12 JUNE – EMAILS
100 emails deleted and whilst it is
true that there is happiness to be
found in an empty inbox, it's not
quite the same as seeing stuff go
out of the door. Like Jane, I felt
the need to shift some stuff that
would leave a bit of a space so I
started to think big (well, bigger,
anyway...) 10 sizeable items that
have, luckily all been assigned
new and more appreciative
homes.
110

16. 13 JUNE – KNITWEAR
Well, I dithered over my cardigans and was getting nowhere at all so I
went in search of more fertile ground. I descended......down, down,
down into the Cellar of Doom, that Pit of Despair where Gravity has
grown from a mere law of physics into a Malevolent Force which
sucks all matter into its deep, dark, evil core.
Ok, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect, but you get the picture.
Now I know I'm amongst friends who understand, so I can tell you
what I found. 37 empty boxes and 44 used Jiffy bags, all waiting I
suppose, for the great eBay selling binge that is never going to
happen. All binned. Not because I truly believe in my heart of hearts
that I'll never need them but because they got on my nerves. Which
may or may not be the best reason for throwing stuff out. But the
deed is done. 81.
No photo. I'm embarrassed enough as it is.
81

17. 14 JUNE – SLEEPWEAR
SLEEPWEAR
PJ's all present and correct. Although I
wouldn't consider going shopping in any
of them, unlike a certain former school
mate of mine (you know who you are!),
nevertheless, if I have to open the front
door before I'm dressed, I am not totally
humiliated. I have, however, tossed one
dressing gown, for the following reasons:
a) it was pink, b) it had a habit of slipping
undone and c) it had big floppy sleeves
that were apt to trail in my porridge.
So, to get to my 8 for the day I have
tossed some random toot, including a
pot plant that should have been put out
of its misery a long time ago and the
second ugliest candle in the world.
8

18. 15 JUNE – SHOES
I can count each shoe, right? Ok, here we go...
A pair of black canvas dolly shoes with a broken
strap. I had put them to one side with the notion
of trying to mend them. Don't know why now, as I
have 2 other pairs, identical.
A pair of Perfectly Good black ankle boots. I don't
like wearing them, I am a adult and nobody can
make me.
A pair of ugly flip flops. Not only do they hurt my
feet, but the left one makes a weird and
unpleasant sucky noise when I walk.
And finally some black strappy sandals that act
upon my feet much in the manner of cheese
wire.
There now, that wasn't so hard!
8

19. 16 JUNE – LAUNDRY CUPBOARD
Hhhmm...Have I got a laundry cupboard? Well, there's
a sort of ex-pantry thing that houses the washing
machine and tumble dryer, and it has a door on the
front, so I guess that's it. But there is minimal scope for
clutter as it is literally the same size as the appliances it
contains. So I gave it all a bit of a clean - exciting times
in the Storey household! Then I felt a bit uninspired so
I've done a random 11 toss, but I'm not bothering to
post the photo because it's not very interesting. Even
by my standards...
11

20. 19 JUNE – CRAFT MATERIALS
I have some catching up to do! I can
jumped straight in with yesterday's
CRAFT MATERIALS which I had actually
sorted out before I went AWOL. Amongst
crafters, I think card makers must be the
ones who keep every teeny, tiny little
scrap and shred of everything to be
reused. (I'm sure it can't only be me.....)
But I have had a MASSIVE cull of all sorts
of off-cuts and half-made doodads that
were like an endless to do list in my
head. Didn't count them, but I'm
claiming 500. It must be that, at least.
500

21. 20 JUNE – ALCOHOL
As for June 20th's ALCOHOL, I think that must be a
typo or something. The idea of anything alcoholic
being unrequired clutter just makes no sense. I do not
understand that at all, I'm afraid........
0

22. 21 JUNE – PLASTICS
It's fair to say that I was a bit
complacent last time this
prompt came up ~ a cursory
rummage in the kitchen
cupboard and I declared
myself free from extraneous
plastic ware.
Now I'm a more hard core
declutterer, I've done an
Access All Areas and come up
with a bunch of rogue items
lurking in dark places. 17, all
binned.
17

23. 22 JUNE – SPORTSWEAR
It's going to be a busy day tomorrow so I'm posting
early. But it's only to say that I am afraid I am going to
have to sit this prompt out. SPORTSWEAR? No, sorry,
don't understand what that could be. I have clothes
for sleeping in, clothes for being awake in and a
couple of posh frocks for going out in. That is all.
0

24. 23 JUNE – STATIONERY
There's no point trying to deny it, I do have a bit
of a stationery fetish. I would rather browse the
aisles in Staples than go shopping for clothes. So I
wasn't sure how I would feel about relinquishing
anything from my treasure trove.
As it happens, a quick sweep revealed a
BAFFLINGLY huge number of envelopes. More
than I could possibly use in several lifetimes.
Whatever was I thinking? The only explanation is
that every time I bought some, I immediately got
zapped with one of those Men in Black style
memory erasers so I just went out and bought
some more.
Here is a pile of them, bagged up ready for the
charity shop. I might as well admit that after I'd
taken the photo, I found at least as many again.
Believe me, I am just as mystified as anyone else.
I didn't count them, but I think 500 would be a
conservative estimate.
500

25. 28 JUNE – RECEIPTS
Ooh, I'm all behind! What with one thing and
another I have been completely distracted from
my clutterbusting mission this week, but now I'm
full of vim and vigour to get back on track!
So let's dive in with some receipts. These little
impostors somehow managed to achieve archive
status simply by lying quiet and still in a dark
place; many of them for decades. And of course,
the longer they lay there, the more gravitas they
acquired. Until finally the cold, rational light of
day was shone upon them, revealing them to be
95% obsolete. I counted 249, which is NOT a
satisfyingly round number and in this I think they
were trying to get the last laugh. But as you can
see, I ran each and every last one of them
through the shredder, less because they were a
security risk than because I wanted to show them
who is boss.
249

26. 29 JUNE – CUTLERY
Hands up if you like using plastic
cutlery..... Anyone?.......
No, I thought not.
On the very rare occasions that we have
a picnic where any kind of utensils are
required, I can understand that plastic
plates, bowls and cups have a use, since
their china and glass counterparts may
be too fragile for transportation to the
great outdoors. But I fail to see what
harm could befall normal knives and
forks, should their presence be required
beyond the dining room. I am happy to
receive counter-arguments on this
subject from picnickers more
experienced than myself, but for now
these neon green lovelies are in the toss
pile.
8

27. 29 JUNE – CUTLERY - 2
And while we're about it, let's pause
to think about soup spoons. Do I
really need to maintain a whole
section in my cutlery drawer devoted
to eating (drinking?) soup? I don't
even like sipping soup off the side of
a big round spoon, even though
etiquette suggests that one should.
Two out of the original six soup
spoons seem to have already got the
message and have made a quick
getaway, so I'm despatching the
other 4 after them.
16

28. 30 JUNE – TOYS
Thankfully not a major problem any more, although I
have, in years gone by, nearly drowned in a sea of
primary coloured plastic and still occasionally have
traumatised flashbacks of treading on Lego.
I had a good rummage today and found two ancient
footballs in the garden. I know they are ancient as one
of them was a Manchester United one and my son
hasn't supported them since he was 7 when he had
only heard of one football team. I also discovered 3
pots of play dough in the cellar. I seem to recall that
we bought it for a Christmas board game but it
smelled so nasty nobody wanted to touch it.
So, where else to search? There is somebody I cannot
tag in this post, but she will home in on it anyway,
because in lieu of toys I have discarded some...... da
da da.... rubber stamps. Now, Sharon, sweetie, please
don't have palpitations or kinniptions. They are very
ugly, poor quality stamps. Really no use at all and
purchased before I had truly grasped the concept that
to buy cheap is to buy twice. So please just breathe
and trust that I do not yet require an intervention. Or
an exorcism. All is well.
8