tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38964544292696065992011-05-10T16:45:22.709-07:00Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-25707895149019242282008-11-24T03:49:00.000-08:002008-11-24T04:01:26.298-08:00

Image taken from facing into the kitchen through the living room area.Living room, as seen from the kitchen.Living room, as seen from a different angle of the kitchen.This is what happens to stainless steel after not having use, or cleaning, for over 5 years.Kitchen, as seen from the back door.Living room, as seen from the doorway of the storage closet.Storage closet, as seen from the 1/2

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-62295295192308592782008-11-24T02:48:00.002-08:002008-11-24T03:05:43.731-08:00

A view of the livingroom, with the over head light on, during the late afternoon. The year of the calendar? 1998. This was the last time anyone had been able to get back to that area to hang/change a calendar. The Foyer hall way, as seen from the inside of what will become our son's bedroom.Our son's soon to be bedroom, as seen from the doorway of the Foyer Hall. In order to get this shot, I had

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-32292540380920405892008-11-24T02:48:00.001-08:002008-11-24T02:48:41.225-08:00

Tuesday, November 18, 20086:34:57 AM Waking up this morning wasn't as easy as it normally is. Suffice to say, the word 'normally' has its own relative definition lately. At any rate, I can definately feel winter settling into the mountains. I expect to see snow here within the first week of December, if not sooner. The nights are dipping down to just below the freezing level now, and although the

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-85269690001765262242008-11-24T02:47:00.002-08:002008-11-24T02:48:14.086-08:00

Monday, November 17, 20084:07:23 AMDay 20 With the bulk of the house being at least livable, and, for the most part, cleaner than it has been in over a decade, the physical effects of our labors are finally starting to set in. I'm the one, at the moment, that is feeling it the most. While the air here is still crisp and clean, the over all environmental changes have been reaking havoc on my body.

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-83446279359294794822008-11-24T02:47:00.001-08:002008-11-24T02:47:44.068-08:00

Wednesday, November 12, 20085:20:11 AM/05:20:20 AM We woke up this morning around 5:00 AM only to smell snow. It's faint, but definately in the air, and with the snow elevation already down to 4500 ft. our first good snow fall of the season is not too far away. Today we're going to be getting rid of several objects in the house. Hopefully, most of the objects we won't be using will go today. The

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-60869968099761762502008-11-24T02:46:00.000-08:002008-11-24T02:47:18.928-08:00

Tuesday, November 11, 200810:30:28 PM/22:30:39 Today is Veteran's Day here in the United States. In Downieville, all the living members of the United States Armed Forces (both current and former) gathered in front of the bell/siren tower and had their celebration. Most of the people present were in Vietnam. However, there were 2 people present that served in WW2, one of them being Gene Schutt. Dr

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Tuesday, November 11, 20087:01:38 AM It's been just over 2 weeks since we've moved here and the house is already looking like a home again, and is nearly at 75% function. Both of the toilets have to still be replaced, as do several small pieces of plumbing (mostly due to the large amounts of Lime and other mineral deposits that have built up over the 5+ years of dormancy). Some of the personal

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-59582053807227385982008-11-24T02:43:00.000-08:002008-11-24T02:44:04.968-08:00

Thursday, October 30, 20085:54:10 AMDay 5 A good night's sleep is what I needed, so I thought. After finally drifting into a deep evening slumber, I found myself waking up around 5:00 this morning with excruciating pains shooting down both of my legs from my Pelvic bone area. My lower back is so tense, that even a good massage won't be of too much help at this point, and given the fact that the

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-80359152602761490892008-11-24T02:41:00.000-08:002008-11-24T02:42:39.402-08:00

Wednesday, October 29, 20089:15:40 PMDay 4 We finally got into the house a bit more today. Within the first 3 square feet of the floor we uncovered, we gathered up $41.00 just in change, mostly consisting of Quarters, Dimes and Nickles. Only $.50 consisted of Pennies. I also found a $1.00 bill, but that was the only bill found. In the master bedroom were tons of empty boxes piled up on top of

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-89977707054253991652008-11-03T07:06:00.000-08:002008-11-03T07:41:50.845-08:00

The title of this post is kind of misleading. Yes, my grandfather panned for Gold from the river here. Yes, my mother collected real silver coins. However, those items are long gone and likely saved in some safe deposit boxes I'm not aware of, and my mother has probably long forgotten about. Time will tell in that aspect of this ordeal we call 'cleaning out'. I'm referring more to her

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-52635142223659405592008-11-02T05:55:00.000-08:002008-11-02T05:56:44.632-08:00

Tuesday, October 28, 200811:30:12 PMDay 3 Today we went to Orangevale, CA. to have the chiropractor try and help Jerry with his back. Amazingly, with just one visit, Jerry's back was visibly on the way to recovery. At least better than it has been in over 10 years. We know he'll be in a great deal of 'aftermath' pain tomorrow, but he's got some good Glucosemine liquid and Tylenol pain killers

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-4704897731578157742008-11-01T07:18:00.001-07:002008-11-01T07:34:12.785-07:00

Here you are looking at only 1/4 of the living room of the home. The book cases are ones my mother had built into the house back in 1994, so that she could keep as many of my father's books up there as possible. This photo was taken while I was sitting on a 3 foot high pile of old magazines and newspapers. Here is another angle of the living room. This one looking in a right hand direction from

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-42051338719898808262008-11-01T07:08:00.000-07:002008-11-01T07:17:49.540-07:00

Monday, October 27, 20088:49:41 PMDay 1 We arrived on Sunday, October 26, 2008 around 4:00pm PST. At the time, the weather was warm and sunny, with temperatures at approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit. After checking into our motel room at the Riverside Motel, we went to the Grubsteak Saloon for a nice dinner. Jerry and I were totally exhausted after the drive to Downieville, but none the less

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-56994339842054410232008-08-26T10:20:00.000-07:002008-08-26T11:12:41.371-07:00

One of the most recognizable features a hoarder has in their personality is 'belonging'. This does not mean that they do not have a sense of belonging within their circle of family and friends. It means a sense of belonging to themselves. It's not arrogance nor egotism. It's simply a security-type emotion. Self-esteem, self-worth, self-awareness, self-consciousness and so forth. Sometimes, as

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-40225084412276020622008-08-23T10:11:00.000-07:002008-08-23T10:46:18.124-07:00

More often than not, when hoarders are in open spaces in their homes, they feel a sense of insecurity. My mother, for example, 'needs' to pile things around her in order to have a sense of security about her home. More or less, the same type of secure feeling you'd get from living in a castle or fortress. Even when my mother tells me that certain things are 'expendable', she's not talking about

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-84011781925264792312008-08-20T10:43:00.000-07:002008-08-20T11:14:12.902-07:00

Hoarders have a very different way of looking at items that they see on a daily basis. For example, the average person will empty a basket of strawberries into a colander to rinse them off, and throw the basket away. A hoarder will do the same, but will not throw the basket away. Instead, the basket will get washed, and set aside. A million different reasons for this can be going through a

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-24749090761914607222008-08-18T20:17:00.000-07:002008-08-18T20:57:26.406-07:00

Suppose you're driving down the street of a residential area. Lots of nice homes, manicured lawns, clean vehicles in the driveways and lots of full grown trees lining the road. This could be in almost any suburban town, it doesn't matter where exactly this is. It's just a nice neighborhood. Now let's drive down this very same street again, taking a closer look at things. The homes might have

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-52574876011987965682008-08-17T20:37:00.000-07:002008-08-17T21:29:36.916-07:00

Having grown up with a hoarder, mentally preparing myself for once again diving head first, and willingly, into such an adventure is a short and very easy procedure. It simply involves putting my mind set into that of my mother's. Again, for me, that is an easy step for me to take. It is not, however, an easy step, nor an expected one, for anyone else to have to make. In fact, if a person is not

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-41453614759112048052008-08-16T10:26:00.000-07:002008-08-16T11:09:26.984-07:00

We all have certain things around our homes that once belonged to other people. We tell people about these things during casual conversation, or in response to a person's compliment on the item. Someone might speak about their appreciation for a piece of art in your home, and your response might be something along the lines of, "Why, thank you. It's been in my family for years. My (whatever the

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-59944291865967885742008-08-15T12:56:00.000-07:002008-08-15T13:36:38.926-07:00

Hoarders come in many varieties. Some hoard animals (such as an excessive amount of cats). Some hoard books, other hoard collectibles, and then there are some who just hoard everything they can get their hands on. In my mother's case, the typical line of 'This will be worth money some day' is used as her excuse of hoarding. The secondary line is, 'I can't believe someone just threw this _____ out

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-50672144161965483532008-08-15T10:35:00.000-07:002008-08-15T11:44:17.208-07:00

It's probably best to begin by explaining what the disorder is NOT. There is a difference between collecting, sloppiness and hoarding. Collecting is the process by which someone has a certain item, or items, that he/she collects as a hobby, simply because that person likes that item, or items, and wants to have a nice collection to display, or possibly hand down to their children. Collections can

Carrie Blakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11241430146108127245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3896454429269606599.post-48646567882919188132008-08-14T11:27:00.000-07:002008-08-14T11:54:28.598-07:00

We all have things we like to save and collect. Sometimes it's a set of keepsakes to be handed down through the generations. Sometimes it's baby items to be used when the new grandchild arrives. Other times it could be favorite sets to be collected, like book series, teddy bears and hats. Some people collect tin boxes. Some people collect old vinyl records or perhaps 8 track tapes. Heck, some

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