Because of course, *I* did not have a meat tenderiser. I had an oddly-specificly-designed thing that pokes holes.

Given that I am unlikely to use a meat tenderiser due to #arthritis being incompatible with handling cold meat, the reasonable thing to do is pop that gadget in one of the #decluttering boxes and #donate it to charity.

But I had had *some* successes using it purely as a pre-patterned hole-making device, so I said, "It's small, so I will keep it for now."

To be clear, this sort of logic is not very helpful in decluttering generally. It would be perfectly fair to talk me into getting rid of it sooner than later, as there are doubtless many objects in my care that are still here for no better reason.

Just because one might someday have a purpose for an object is a risky thought pattern for people with #HoardingDisorder, imo.

25/x

#objects
#things
#usefulness
#purpose

Now of course, throughout all this time we had also been #decluttering the kitchen, with a great deal of progress both in permaent removal/disposal but also of putting things that did need to be kept either away or at least collected together with similar items in an accessible, clear-sided and labelled box.

Somewhere in the lower #strata, my family member found the item I pictured in the first post of this story.

They looked at me with a raised eyebrow, so I explained that I had no idea what it was but I had tried using it for poking holes in various experiments whilst creating/developing/building/modifying items to help #mitigate all these major issues in recent years.

The thing is, unlike me, they knew EXACTLY what it was. The raised eyebrow was not a silent 'WTF is this?' but a 'Why on earth does my non-cooking relative have a #MeatTenderiser?'

24/x

#objects
#purpose
#discovery
#cooking
#kitchen
#tools
#KitchenTools
#FoodPrep

In #decluttering, we discovered I had a very good, appropriately small #RiceCooker.

I hadn't used it in years, as preparing anything to eat with the rice was beyond me. (Yes, I realise many solutions to that issue probably exist, but I am and have always been genuinely NOT a good cook and it is not an area where I am likely to come up with alternatives. Figuring out stuff with wood and fasteners, no problem. Foodstuffs? No idea. Definitely NOT my skillset).

Anyhow, my family member knows I love #porridge but haven't eaten it for years due to my concerns about stove #safety and #tremours. I also loathe the instant packet porridges -- I have no idea what they do to make them taste sweet but unpleasantly over-the-top sweet, but they have accomplished it, ugh.

Annnnnnnd … it turns out you can use rice cookers ro cook things OTHER THAN #rice!

Not a revolutionary concept to many readers, I know, but this was shockingly new information for me! 😂

22/x

#MealPrep
#cooking
#accessibility
#disability
#safety

I also want to note how thankful I am for the assistance of friends and family for some of the more time-intensive decluttering and reorganising that has been done beyond what the hoarding specialist and I can reasonably accomplish in any given session.

Given literally ALL of the above in this long, meandering (but ultimately cogent, I promise!) story, it is a blessing beyond description that I can be laid flat-out from #disability issues and another person be able to make progress without my direct oversight.

There is still much to do, but the specialist and I have been making steady progress throughout our time together, and those more intensive periods of help with knowlegable family and friends has improved some things beyond my wildest hopes.

🙂

19/x

#assistance
#support
#HoardingDisorder
#decluttering
#disability
#accessibility

And of course there is a real risk that a person with #HoardingDisorder isn't going to be very open to getting rid of something that isn't needed now or ever.

I note that the fickle variations in my own disabilities means that I have learned the hard way to think long and carefully about getting rid of something I have used previously to mitigate an issue that appears to have resolved! All too often, a week after getting rid of such an item, the disability-mitigation need returns, agh! And can you find the equivalent again, whether new or secondhand? Double-agh (aka NO!). 🙄😬😡

18/x

#assessment
#decluttering
#retention
#removal
#disability
#mitigation