Your storm was here around midnight, I think. First the wind and then the rain, no damage though, only the usual oak tree clutter.
Slowly but surely we all have to let go of the "stuff" of dreams. For me it is two steamer trunks of remnants from the times I still sewed, fabric I bougth and never used and clothing, washed, ripped apart, ironed, all of it for the quilts I was going to make one day. That day has not come yet, not even for a quilted placemat and I am pretty sure, never will come. Just don't know what to do with it.

Hope the storm left you unscathed and Roxie not scared anymore. The wind phase here was about 30 minutes.

This is such a timely thread for me and I can identify with cleaning out stuff. We have a big 5 bedroom house. We have three children (all grown). We had a dog, cats, birds, various reptiles and fish tanks galore. Sports equipment and various other stuff. Bits and pieces were left at the house when the children moved out. Then came the grandchildren and their stuff. In addition, I'm a crafter so more stuff,
At some point I decided that although a lot of the "stuff" brought back memories, it was no longer needed in it's physical form, the memories were in my head and my heart.
I've been cleaning and it is liberating to see nice clean, newly painted rooms. A new beginning at an advanced age.

Oh yes! I am in a radical get-rid-of mode right now, much of it is destined to the landfill, because no one else would want it any more than I want to keep it - gadgets, old reference books (still, they are books and I hate to discard them). There are some so-called collector's items, and some of them my son and his spouse would certainly love, so I am going to bundle them up and send them on their way to Idaho.
It seems strange that as long as there is "storage" one wants to fill that empty space with something.
I have some bare shelves now and may even have some empty drawers, good to feel uncluttered.
Photographs are a daunting project to tackle, I will do it, but not yet, boring winter-days may be suitable, but I rather spend them with a good book, so maybe I just leave them for my descendents to sort and puzzle over.

Lol, at your " I am in a radical get-rid-of mode right now, ".
Me too. The family is getting somewhat nervous about what I'm throwing out, and I have invited them to come and choose what they want from my disgards.
Yes, the photos are another story. I'm saving every single photo taken of the family. That goes from film, super 8, kodak, from hard copy to the net. It is all here, and if they are interested, they can chart some of their history from the photos, it's all there.

This is a timely thread for me, too. When we down-sized almost 19 years ago, we got rid of lots of stuff, but now, lots of it seems to have come back. But DD, who has been with us for a little over a year, is going to move on, and when the bedroom is reclaimed, I swear I'm going to keep it free and uncluttered, plus clean out lots of other stuff that keeps accumulating and expanding. Bare shelves and empty drawers sound good to me!

The storm came thru our area around 12:30 p.m.--sideways rain with lots of wind, lightening and thunder. The area to D.C. east of us had tornado alerts and at least one confirmed tornado. Spooky weather, but it's supposed to be cooler next week. Hallelujah!!

Anneliese - perhaps call an assisted living center near you.

When I used to find peaches or strawberries in bulk for the nursing home where Bob's mother is, they had a little list of women who enjoyed peeling and slicing from the more independent assisted living part of the nursing home.

Not too long ago, a little group was sewing something...

A big thing in nursing homes is small 'scarf' sized blankets
to cover the knees and feet for those in a wheel chair, or
to put around their shoulders while sitting in their chairs, or to fold at the end of their beds to cover with if they have a nap.

betcha you will find one where there's a group of retirees who can still move a needle pretty good that would be thrilled to have your cloth.

s

Ladies, maybe it's something in the air?!

Shilty, that's a great idea about sending useful items to the nursing homes---we also have a Senior Center that could make use of leftover pieces of this and that, also.

One of my DD's had a yard sale---she lives next door, so I got out the Cub and little metal trailer (that sweet little trailer has probably hauled more brush than 50 tractor-trailers over the years!!)----

Anyhow, just kept loading her up and taking stuff up there----got rid of a TON of stuff and am so happy about it----don't miss one thing.

After 4 days, they hauled the leftovers to Goodwill---there was one pile of stuff I carried back down to my house on a huge silverplate serving tray----by the time I got to the house, each step had gotten harder and harder as I carried that heavy tray. Well, I just started loading any and all of my other leftovers in the PU with theirs----even the beautiful stemware!! ACK!!!!
I saw it sitting on a shelf at Goodwill some days later and didn't even shed a tear! What a GREAT FEELING!!!
---FREE!

(I buy all my work clothes there---$3.50 a piece----sometimes I have to change 3 or 4 times a day, depending on how hot it is, or if I'm weed-whacking, so this way, it's all gonna get stained and torn anyhow---just wash and dry and they're ready for the next round! :o)