A Simpler Life 2018

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

dND, I am very impressed :T Sounds like ‘whirling dervish’ territory :rotfl: It seems to be that once ’one’ has reached a major decision, the decluttering mojo rises to the occasion - we were the same when getting ready for DSis’s move from France :rotfl: Of course now she is here the major decluttering has come almost to a standstill The good news from my POV is that I am still keeping the living room, kitchen & our bedroom tidy & clutter free :T
Once the shed project is completed, we can start on the garden planning & clear out ready for next year’s patio project :eek: Re the inside of the house I need to be brave & brutal but first I need to decide what to sort first I am sure it will come to me - I will just have to embrace the chaos that I need to create :rotfl:

squirrelgirl, sorry you are poorly but great that DH is on board :T Sending healing vibes

DH & I are about to start some shed work :rotfl:

Onwards & outwards :rotfl:

MrsSD

SmlSave

I've just come back to MSE after a time and wanted to say how nice it was to see this thread back up and chatting
I am sooo looking forward to some more routine when the kids go back to school (littlest starting) and I can the house in order and some jam bubbling away.
I seem to remember that "have interesting times" was used as a curse in Discworld and having been dealing with family issues and difficult people I can say that it certainly is a bad thing!

Molillie

good to see this thread running again, it's hard not to fall off the wagon sometimes, but this really helps with motivation. I'm trying to move into getting rid of a bookshelf, and set of drawers this month. They are currently still full:) Will continue to declutter paperbacks from all the different bookshelves, so can completely empty the one that's going. It's all part of the longer-term wish to simplify cleaning and dusting.

Decided to try to be ready to move (downsize) a year from today, barring emergencies and accidents. This doesn't mean to have found somewhere else and sold up the current place, but to have done all that I can manage and afford to make the place saleable. It seems like a lot of time, but other things still happen! Just off to house and pet-sit for a friend who has a family emergency to go and deal with, and another friend of 80+ has texted to say that she fell in her flat, and broke her shoulder, so I am hoping that I can be of use to her over the next few weeks.
Keep on keeping on everyone.

Molillie

A bit quiet on here, hope all is well for everyone.

Hoped to give some paperbacks to a friend today, but she'd read them already, so will need to go to the charity shop. I chose books by authors I knew were her taste, which made my weeding a bit easier.

The tree surgeon has begun on my garden, and as part of the simple life process, all trees and big shrubs are going, plus the shed, which is rotten. (and most of the contents) He is then going to level the lawn area, and lay new turf, incorporating the parts where the trees were. I don't think that I'll even have flower beds, just some tubs maybe. He said that I'll be amazed by how quick it will be to mow and tidy without sycamores and brambles constantly appearing and growing, as they will be easy to spot and remove then.

Keep simplifying!

lessonlearned

Oh how I long to be simplifying again....:rotfl:

Contracts exchanged yesterday, move on Monday. I am surrounded by boxes and my house is a tip. I feel like I have been living in limbo for months now. I really have had enough.

The new house needs work but it's a long term project. One of the first jobs will be to get a tree surgeon in....there's a row of huge conifers, they have to go!!

Onwards and upwards.....

Molillie

Lesson Learned,
How exciting! I hope that the move goes smoothly. The good thing is that you know you want to keep it simple there. Jump forward to Christmas in your mind, it will be so much better by then.

[Deleted User]

good luck on the house move LL!

Molillie, i hope all is okay with your friends! good luck with the de-cluttering

Smlsave - welcome back

MrsSD, hope all went well with the shed!

Not a lot to report here.....still feeling ropey so haven't really done anything - basically, I'm just working and then going to bed! :rotfl: On the plus side, no expenditure, on the minus side - I'd cooked food that has had to be wasted (not freezable ) Oh well, these things are sent to try us....

I am hoping that this weekend will be a warm and dry one - we have a mountain of elderberries which are ready to pick :j- last year we just didn't get a dry enough weekend to do it so I am extremely low on elderberry cordial.

If the weather isn't great, I think I'll be bottling some wines this weekend - I have about 12 demi-johns full that should have been bottled quite some time ago but I just haven't managed to find the time to do it yet (far too busy slobbing!! ) I have decided that I am not going to make any chutney this year as my sis has made enough to sink the titanic - I have about 12 jars in the fridge already and she's threatening me with more!! :rotfl:

okay, i'm rambling....sorry! have a great day everyone!

Primrose

lessonlearned wrote: »

Oh how I long to be simplifying again....:rotfl:

Contracts exchanged yesterday, move on Monday. I am surrounded by boxes and my house is a tip. I feel like I have been living in limbo for months now. I really have had enough.

The new house needs work but it's a long term project. One of the first jobs will be to get a tree surgeon in....there's a row of huge conifers, they have to go!!

Onwards and upwards.....

How I rejoice when I hear about these awful conifers being removed. They must be such a bane to neighbours too and they will,probably be cheering at the increased sunlight their garden gets too! Too many people plant them, let them get out control and then find it too expensive to have them pruned back so they just go on growing and terrorise whole neighbourhoods, quite apart from sucking all the moisture and goodness out of the local soil.

A couple of neighbours in our road have clubbed together to help fund the cost of removal of an absolutely massive conifer in somebody's garden nearby which was completely cutting out all the winter sunlight for several gardens all winter when the sun was low in the sky. The effect has been amazing. We can now look up and see clear sky and i'm so looking forward to seeing what sun there is in winter back in our garden again in a few months time. Previously the frost used to stay on our lawn all day because the sun never got to it so our lawn will probably improve too with a massive reduction in moss.

lessonlearned

I think conifers should be banned in the urban environment, or in a normal garden. They grow into monsters, block the light and poison the soil. I hate them.

When I was house hunting I had to dismiss so many really nice houses because of confers in the neighbours garden. I nearly didn't even view this one because I could see a row of the blighters in the photos. Something made me go and take a look. Imagine my delight when not only did I love the house but I found the trees were on my side of the boundary......:D

I know it's not going to be cheap to get them cut down but it will be worth it. I'll probably need new fencing too. More money. :rotfl:

There is also a huge shed right next to the house, again blocking the light. I'll have to keep that for a while but eventually that will go too.

I can't wait to get cracking.

I won't be doing much in the way of renovations till next spring. Just get in, get the place cleaned up - it looks like Miss Haversham lived there:rotfl: get warm and cosy for winter. I can dress it nicely for Christmas and then make a start in the new year.

Wine making sounds fun. Definitely something I want to tackle next year. Removing those conifers will give me another 5 or 6 ft wide strip added to the length of the garden. Perfect for fruiting trees and bushes.

Getting excited at the thought.

[Deleted User]

Another one who hates conifers!! :mad: I took a load out when we moved here - the neighbour still has a load on the boundary but I noticed the other day that they have cut their side right down so I will do the same and then have a chat to see if they want to get rid of them....;)

LL - make wine!! Honestly, I love doing it - I've made some real beauties and some paint stripper but as a trooper, I drink it all! :rotfl: A couple of years ago, I managed to get an absolute job lot of fruit and veg dirt cheap over xmas and I made the majority into wine.....

I've got some grapes growing in my back garden at the moment (first lot I've ever had and I've had the vine for about 5 years :j) so once I have rescued them from the bindweed/nettles/brambles that have surrounded them, I will be making my first batch with my own grapes! :T It's very exciting!!