Clearing out the loft

We've having our loft insulated, it's been so long since we last had it done that most of the insulation has disintegrated. A major clear out of the loft was in order. It took the whole weekend to clear 30 odd years worth of accumulated c...  er junk ! Why oh why did we keep all this stuff? Did we really think we'd need it?  I'd kept every birthday card that the kids got up to the age of 18, they're not interested so that all went into the recycling. There were school exercise books ...even some of mine! And I won't tell you how many suitcases there were - why did we buy so many? Just one of life's mysteries I suppose. A lot of the stuff  is junk, some we'll take to a car boot and the rest we'll have to put back after the loft has been insulated and re-boarded. Until then our conservatory will continue to look like Steptoe's yard.

I did find some of my old clothes from the seventies, in particular one size 12 skirt which I got my soon to be 14 yr old Granddaughter to try on. Now, she is a very active girl, she does 8 hours of gymnastics and 3 hours of dance every week on top of School sports lessons, and eats healthily. In contrast to most of her friends, she is tiny (not in height), a size 4 to 6 and like a long piece of string. The skirt swamped her on the hips - she has none! But around the waist it was a perfect fit! I think it's for a 24 inch waist. When did we get so big that a modern size 6 equates to a 1970's size 12, bearing in mind that the last time I wore it I was about 25 and my Daughter was about 2, so I was no teenager and never considered myself to be exceptionally slim. It can't be just that people are less active as my granddaughter is far more active than I ever was, she's not always snacking and doesn't eat large portions of the wrong foods. I think it must be that portion sizes have gradually increased and a general improvement in nutrition. I just wish I could still fit into that skirt, though I'd probably look ill if was that slim now....ah those were the days....

Another of my finds was a box of old dress making patterns that I had accumulated over the years. There are patterns from the 60's, 70's, 80's and early 90's. As you might have noticed, I'm a bit of a hoarder by nature and hate throwing things out. We are going to be ruthless this time but the patterns will be staying, along with all my books. To me these patterns represent a piece of social history, and you never know, they may just come in useful some day...........