Decluttering 2012, this year, definitely ...

[Lilyplonk]

morning everybody -

Flaming Norah - I can't sleep this morning, I've been up since silly o'clock! Visiting the flat yesterday has put my brain into so much of a spin that I'm having 'Dumbo-style' dreams - only difference is that mine involve packing boxes / sofas / staircases / freezers crowding me - instead of pink elephants .

Despite being told that it's 'ready to move into', it still needs a stairlift removing from the stairs - can barely step past it, let alone get furniture up the stairs .

I'll get my washing machine into the kitchen but not the Tumble Dryer - however there's an old 'hot water tank cupboard' with an unused electric point that just might house the TD - fingers crossed.

Only room for my fridge/freezer in the kitchen, but small verandah/porch has enough space (plus electric socket) to house my small chest freezer - will even take a 'midi size freezer' .

I'm afraid that no decluttering got done at all yesterday - apart from keeping on top of throwing out rubbish / recycling / food waste on a general basis - for me that's good !


It's good to see that the rest of you aren't letting the team down:

Sorry to hear about your mobile phone, happytails - I'm sure you can quite do without spending £70 on fixing it at this time of year . Enjoy your Christmas Meet with your sling club - sounds like a fun place for babies AND mums!

Thanks for the comment on Gumtree, fitness - maybe I'd be better using the local paper instead :unsure. I have the top shelf of a small wall cupboard for mugs (double/treble layered) with the lower shelf housing my herbs/spices and a couple of stray mugs. Those are going to have to be drastically culled as I've only got one double wall cupboard in this new place - think I'll start today by taking anything with advertising slogans on to the charity shop! Well done on parting with some books .

Wow, mineallmine - pampering AND decluttering all at the same time - now that is what I call multi-tasking . Thanks for sharing the videolink - I'd not seen any of hers before - doesn't she put us all to shame ! But some great ideas on there - I had a look at some of her others as well .

Great cs find, museumworker - and well done on getting rid of equal number of items too ! Great idea to set breakfast things out before going to bed - good start to next morning .

Good work suzeesu - hope your OH is feeling better soon. Your poor knees will be glad of the rest .

Congrats on finishing off some of your tasks, loopychriss - bet your BR feels much warmer now that you've insulated the garage door. In this house - open plan - it's the front door that lets all the cold air straight into the living room !


Oh well nearly time to go for a shower - use up some more shower gel and then there's yet another bottle to head for recycling - only another 10, or so, to go now !

Bye for now ladies - keep up the good work and I'll speak again later - Lilyplonk xxx

[dannie]

Hi everybody,

Recent decluttering jobs have been fairly similar to last time.

Another 4 food ingredients/recipes used up, uses for cardboard and/or recycling it, reusing plastic containers before recycling them, composting and bags of recycling out. Various small tasks like finishing a last toiletry item, getting rid of a dried up felt tip, started to read a pile of old magazines which are years old, clearing computer bookmarks and reorganizing a crockery cupboard.

An example of a "thinking task"; going out yesterday which was to a churchyard. Had a bag of decorative items to take. Tidied up and decluttered the grave of old plants.

Lilyplonk - thanks for your comment. I think my examples of decluttering "thinking tasks" are those that can be mood lowering, involve decision-making, are time-consuming and usually sedentary. They seem the last to be tackled but once done, no longer cluttering one's mind?

mineallmine - also thanks for your comment about a "fantastic amount" of decluttering. It never seems enough!

Good luck decluttering today all.

[mineallmine]

Morning all.

Hope you're all ok. Busy decluttering

The flylady room today is the room of doom. These are the more cluttered areas (like the others have been a breeze....). And the declutter finds are a plenty:

67. Bag of rubbish
68. Bag (CS)
69. Bag of shredding/burning
70.71.72. Books (CS)
73. Old earplugs
74. Another bag (CS)
75.76. Knackered old clothes pegs
77. Old catalogue
78. Brochure
79. Old membership cards
80. Old bank cards
81. More old brochures
82. More old bank cards
83. Yet more old membership cards (what am I collecting these now??)
84. Leaflets
85. Recipe book
86. Plastic soap dish
87. Bamix recipe book

This lot came from 2 bags that were stuffed full. There's still stuff to sort. It may have to go into 1 bag, but thats still one less bag overall.

Need to clear a bookcase in this room. Its a crappy old one thats unsteady/ knackered. So I need to rehome everything on it so hubby can enjoy smashing it to bits!!

So I've reached 87 things out of where I should be today which is 120 things decluttered. This room is really soul destroying. I mustn't keep focusing on how awful it looks but instead think this room will house my shiny new (second hand) sewing machine soon.

[museumworker]

keep going mineallmine!

will have to edit with numbers but just wanted to record:
33-4 2 books to friends house
35-6 used up 2 shower gels

[mineallmine]

Thanks MW! Keep attacking those books.

[happytails]

Originally Posted by museumworker

happytails - interested in your sling meet. I carried DS a lot when he was tiny as he had such bad wind and was really unsettled. Used a wrap sling. However he is now ENORMOUS - probably about 19lb - and quite heavy to carry. What would you recommend? OH has a manduca but not tried it on me yet as looks a bit complicated to do up.

You need a woven wrap or a good SSC (soft structured carrier)/mei tai for bigger babies

I still carry ds (he is nearly 2 and 30lbs) in my mei tai or woven. can carry my near 4 year old at a push, it's finding what works for you

Whereabouts are you? There might be a local sling meet near you (they are all over), I co run Blackpool and Lancaster

Sarah xx

[mineallmine]

88.89. Old birthday cards

[loopychriss]

Just a few odds & ends today, don't make a vast difference in the house but they weren't needed..

17. Expired Morrisons's money-off coupons - didn't realise I had. Recycling
18. Plug in air freshener: plug bit will go to electrical recycling, glass in glass recycling. It's cheaper to buy a whole new one than to get a refill... how mad is that?
19. Fabric used up today making 4 morsbags - 2 given away, 2 kept for next Tuesday's coffee morning
20. Junk mail in recycling
21. Old yellow pages - recycling
22. Jar of olives used up. Lid in recycling, jar in glass recycling box
23. Pair of tiny wellies given to daughter for grandson

Jobs done today:

Trip to building society to withdraw money for builders
Made 4 morsbags at local library
Finished project for my quilt group Secret Santa

Tomorrow I need to go shopping so there will be more ins than outs. Not my most favourite pasttime but it's got to be done as we're running out of food!

[Lilyplonk]

Good morning folks - another silly o'clock wake-up for me today . I've already taken my meds and had some .

Business in charity shop, yesterday, was quite slow - apart from the last hour of my shift (around lunchtime) when we seemed to get an influx of customers - all looking for tea/coffee - so we 'got them' for our Charity Christmas Raffle while they were in . It may have had something to do with the sudden downpour of rain - oh well every cloud and all that ...................! I was very good, the only thing I brought home was a pack of 'Christmas Tree Seeds' - obviously not for this year . Don't know how good they'll turn out to be, but will never find out if I don't try them . Could possibly turn out to be very !

Yesterday afternoon I trailed all the way into Liverpool to visit the Pavers Shop with the boots that I bought last week in the Fleetwood Outlet Shop. How sadly mistaken I was to think that an exchange would be straightforward ................. was told that the shops don't actually exchange Outlet Shops purchases as they carry a 'different stock'. What Bunkum - the stuff in the shop was identical to what was in the Outlet place! What on earth are you supposed to do if, like me, you pay a visit while on a daytrip or holiday - go all the way back to flaming Fleetwood just to change a pair of boots. Anyway, I stood my ground - stated my argument again - and waved my till receipt in a shop full of people until I got a 'manager' who contacted the Warehouse to find that what I wanted was in stock and that they would order it in for me. They'll phone me to let me know when to collect - result (of sorts) !

Evening meal was courtesy of 'freezer diving' - curry for OH with rice, indian snacks and peshwari naan bread. I had Sweet Chilli King Prawns - so that's a bit more space cleared in freezer and packaging in rubbish bin . Everything had been whoopsied .

Dannie - sounds like you had a better decluttering day than I did - well done you .

What a great incentive, mineallmine - 'room of doom' to 'sewing room' - brilliant idea! You had a productive day with all that carp that you found .

Museumworker - are you like me where books are concerned and feel guilty as though you're deserting 'an old friend' when you get rid? Yesterday, I promised a cs customer that I would take in all my Kathy Reichs books - and although it'll be hard to part with them, I won't break that promise. Keep up the good work .

I just can't understand when you find time to do everything you do, happytails - you're such a busy person - congratulations on how you manage your family/home/life .

Well done on the morsbags, loopychriss - great for using up fabric stash ....................... maybe one day, I'll get around to making some out of my left-overs.


I took a huge bag of OH's clothing collection to the cs yesterday along with a few of my 'far too big' tops and half a dozen mugs from the cupboard. He was finally told that if he didn't get them bagged by Saturday, then I would do it for him - he's not a happy bunny, but it worked! I've still got some BIG skirts in my wardrobe - I should swallow my own medicine and take them.

One of the lovely ladies that I work with at the cs has provided me with a stack of boxes (flattened) that will be an ideal size for packing large reference books. I need to go back today to collect them, so will try to bring myself to part with the skirts at the same time - no time like the present and no point in going up there 'empty handed'!

DD will be visiting this morning to collect 24 fairy cakes for dgd2's Christmas Fayre later today - she'd better bring my cake storage box back to me. Those are things that I'm NOT prepared to part with .

Have removed some SmartPrice Turkey Breast Steaks from freezer to cook for this evening. Will turn them into some kind of 'chilli recipe' along with some peppers (from freezer), onion (from fridge drawer), Ratatouille (from cupboard). Mixed Beans (from cupboard) and spices (from cupboard). There's also some Garlic Bread Slices in freezer - so looks like a 'good feed' tonight !

Best of luck for today, girls - Happy Decluttering - Lilyplonk xx

[mineallmine]

Going into the room of doom again today. 30 minutes blitz. Probably going through a bag sitting down.

Who's up for a blitz of decluttering this morning?

[silentsister]

Good morning all

I'm really sorry for those of you who're having a rough time or not able to sleep. I was also awake early but there's no real reason. However this week has been so hard. Finishing! I find it so much harder than the regular decluttering and getting things out of the house. So dealing with the photos of a friend's party in August has meant collecting photos from 3 sources, downloading them, doing a first selection, having the friend around to do another selection, copying her choice to disc, encouraging her to decide how many copies she wanted, copying them, and telling her they are ready for collection. Nothing difficult - just pushing on until all is done. Washing includes hanging up to dry (it should include putting away from dry - I know). Washing up includes drying and putting back in cupboards. Maybe it's all part of changing the way I think. Well, I did want challenges for my retirement!

[Fizzbitz]

Hi everyone,

Doing what I can in my last two really busy weeks of the year - three shows in three days with different casts and programmes is not bad going!!! Gave myself a day off yesterday to celebrate passing my first ou module and also getting 99% in my latest assignment - a real shock as I was sure I was writing absolute rubbish! In between watching dvds, embroidery and snuggling under my duvet, I managed:

1 - 4 plastic bottles - r/c
5 dead biro
6 unwanted cd - cs
7 misc bag paper and card - r/c
8 Random hair treatment used - container r/c
9 Broken headset
10 Old phone charger
11 ink cart - r/c
12 purse - cs
13 Sack of misc rubbish - tip

Keep warm and keep slinging

Fizz

[silentsister]

Originally Posted by Fizzbitz

three shows in three days with different casts and programmes is not bad going!!! Gave myself a day off yesterday to celebrate passing my first ou module and also getting 99% in my latest assignment

That is brilliant - congratulations!

[mineallmine]

Wow fizz! Congrats

Fly lady in bathroom today not before a two hour sleep getting rid of a migraine.

90.91.92.93.94. Toiletries used up. Dregs used up.

95.96. Catalogues recycled
97. Bag of papers/bills to burn in the fire
98. Leaflets through the door
99. OOD/unloved food

[museumworker]

Originally Posted by Lilyplonk

Museumworker - are you like me where books are concerned and feel guilty as though you're deserting 'an old friend' when you get rid? Yesterday, I promised a cs customer that I would take in all my Kathy Reichs books - and although it'll be hard to part with them, I won't break that promise. Keep up the good work .

Yep, I'm just like that lilyplonk - old friends, and friends I haven't met yet . I do read lots, and quickly, but still don't need THIS many books!

Originally Posted by happytails

You need a woven wrap or a good SSC (soft structured carrier)/mei tai for bigger babies

I still carry ds (he is nearly 2 and 30lbs) in my mei tai or woven. can carry my near 4 year old at a push, it's finding what works for you

Whereabouts are you? There might be a local sling meet near you (they are all over), I co run Blackpool and Lancaster

Sarah xx

I think the manduca is a SSC so will give it a go in the next few days I think. Am in North East London - there is a good South London Sling Library have been to once, but is too far for me really. Yet to find anything more local.

Originally Posted by mineallmine

Thanks MW! Keep attacking those books.

Will do - before they attack me ! Sorry to hear about your migraine - I can get horrendous ones so totally empathise.

Fitz - well done on the result!

Took 4 bags of stuff to charity today, and starting to see some progress in the house. Still fighting my 'salvage' instincts though. Today I 'rescued' a pair of massive hideously kitsch vases from a house clearance. I have now 'unrescued' them and left them outside the house. If they are still there in the morning I'll drop them in the charity shop. Note to self: I can't take responsibility for everyone else's stuff!!

37. Plastic fan, not working - placed in recycling, batteries removed for recycling
38. parking consultation leaflet I forgot to complete - recycling
39. Bag of misc rubbish from the spare bedroom - bin
40. DD's old coat - to offer to sister tomorrow
41. Plastic pig from bathroom - recycling after on a blog the inside of a bath toy - just covered in black mould. euw!
42. Ipod box - recycling
43. Box and manual for phone I don't even own anymore - recycling

[Lilyplonk]

Evening all

Hope your 'room of doom blitz' went well, mineallmine . Sorry I couldn't jmake it a 'joint effort' - but will definitely 'have a go tomorrow'. Sorry to hear about your migraine - hope you've managed to completely banish it ((((hugs))))!

well done on finishing your 'photography job', silentsister. Sounds like one of those jobs that turns out to be more complicated than first thought. I'm sure your friend will really appreciate all the effort that you've gone to on her behalf.

You've certainly had a busy time, Fizzbitz and congratulations on your OU Module as well as your Amateur Dramatics (or are they school productions). All that AND lots of decluttering as well .................. .

Have you checked http://www.slingmeet.co.uk/ for details of a sling group close to where you live, museumworker? There also appears to be some kind of Facebook page dedicated to slingwearing and clubs. Hope you manage to find one where you can feel welcome. Do you ever go on netmums.co.uk - lots of interesting stuff on there?


Had a bit of a hectic day today -

Visit to cs this morning - donated around 12 skirts, 6 T-shirts and a lovely 'boyfriend-style' blouse (all now w-a-y too big ). Also donated full set of 'Kathy Reichs books', 6 Ian Rankin, couple of other 'good murders', 3 unopened bottles of perfume. While there I collected 10 'flat-packed' cardboard boxes courtesy of one of my co-workers - for packing our reference book collection. We're having our 'Christmas Event' (Free Coffee and Mince Pies, visit from Santa, Christmas Carols from Church Music Group, Raffles, Tombola) tomorrow and I've promised to go and help - at least with the clearing away afterwards.

Afternoon spent at dgd2's School Christmas Fayre - my fairy cakes went down well ! Managed to win TWO Raffle prizes - a 5ft REAL Christmas Tree (gave the voucher to DD as she's got laminate flooring and the needles won't matter too much ) and a pack of 5 Body Shop Lip Glosses (will be great for niece) ! Dgd2 also won a giant bar of Aero Chocolate in the Tombola . Bought a beautiful book of Traditional Fairy Stories for reading to grandkids - they wanted 30p for it, but it's so lovely I gave them £2.00 for that and two other nice books - so much for my earlier 'dumping session' .

Got home and managed to cook the Sweet Chilli Turkey with Pasta and served it up with garlic slices .

I'm jiggered - too much excitement for one day ; need an early-ish night as I want to go to the gym in the morning IF I can shift my a$re out of bed first thing . If NOT, then I'll make do with a session of book lifting and box moving instead . Could also really do with catching up on laundry as I'm trying not to let it pile up just now.

Nighty night all - speak in the morning - Lilyplonk xx

[dannie]

Good morning everybody,

Thanks for your comment to me Lilyplonk. Sounds like your day was busy. Like yourself perhaps, actually going out for me means arriving back home with things. These then need sorting so any decluttering is then kept pending.

Recent decluttering has been recycling, disposing of medication and using a 2p toothpaste from a big supply I have for other purposes. Also, "dealing" with two visits to the doctors, the chemist and a telephone call to make an appointment have been done.

Have tasks pending like selling some scrap metal, recycling shoes that do not fit and collecting any garden seeds so to put away those already sorted. As Lilyplonk, want to go out this a.m. otherwise maybe a "catching up" day.

[mineallmine]

Morning all

You're an early bird Dannie. Hope you have a great productive day

I had a second migraine last night lilyplonk. Awful. I've not been eating enough so I think that triggered them. And not been able to get out due to bad weather here. So a walk and plenty of food today

100.101. Odd socks

[dannie]

mineallmine - so very "early". Awaiting daylight at the moment to see if road conditions are safe. Nevertheless, at least a short walk will mean putting the shoes in a nearby clothes bank with the added benefit of feeling better for the exercise.

Hope you begin to feel better mineallmine.

[Lilyplonk]

morning ladies

You two ARE bright and breezy this morning. It's darn outside today and I'm not even thinking of poking my nose out there just yet!

Hope you manage to get to the clothes bank safely, dannie - good luck on the roads.

Sorry to hear that you got yet another migraine, mineallmine - ((((HUGS)))) to you. I am so lucky that I've only ever had one of those, and that was at puberty - around 50yrs ago. The pain was so excruciating that the memory has remained with me ever since - so you have my complete sympathy. Take care and make sure that you have regular meals - even if its just a nutritious snack. It's all too easy to become engrossed in decluttering that the time passes quickly and before you realise it, lunch time has gone and it's 'time to get the tea on'.


I've been up since 5.45 but spent time faffing around with laundry - left tea-towels soaking in bleach overnight! Why, oh why does OH insist on using them to wipe up spilled tea/coffee when there's dishcloths/SmartPrice Kitchen Roll sitting there waiting to be used ! Anyways - tea stains are now OUT !

I've also spent the past hour clearing my emails that had got out of control when I went on holiday for 2weeks in September. My Inbox had got clogged up with jokes/funnies that I hadn't had time to go through. People that I 'forward to' are going to be spending most of today in fits of giggles .

I've also been on Amazon to order a couple of presents - dvd's that should be here on Monday.

That sounds like a load of self-indulgence, so I'll compensate by boxing reference books BEFORE himself surfaces .

In the meantime, I think it's time for some and toast/marmalade - nomnomnom.

speak again later, ladies - Lilyplonk xx