2020 - banish the clutter

nannywindow

Yesterday's de-rooting unearthed....... a domino, half a hula hoop, a plastic drinks carton and several more pieces of wire, which have all now been binned. I'm having a day off from the garden and so today the decluttering will be ......consuming an Easter egg or two

Happy Easter all

nan

Willowtree222

Glad you're feeling a bit better energy shifter. 
Nothing from me so far today might have some later x

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. WRITE AND USE “TO DO LISTS” - MINIMUM 30 MINUTE BURSTS OF ACTIVITY AT LEAST TWICE EVERY DAY

2. KITCHEN WILL BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT

3. I WILL ENDEAVOUR TO BE NICE TO EVERYONE & TRY TO SEE THE FUNNY OR PECULIAR SIDE TO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
4. DAY TO DAY DECLUTTERING WILL CONTINUE

Having slept sitting upright on the sofa Friday night 😱 I was woken up by the milkman 🙂 Left the exact money on top of bin, backed off & had a chat observing social distancing. 
Very lucky that he had a spare sliced loaf as only had 4 slices left 🙁 & the shopping had been done on Wednesday 🙁 

With the sun blazing & lifting my spirits, had my first cuppa, watered the plants indoors & outdoors, then decided to pop to the P.O. & send Easter Egg package (from his mum) to DNeph in France. Bit late but beggars can’t be choosers 😆😉 Stuck to my decision to buy something in the shop - 3kg bag of Demerara sugar (really need to do some baking 😞) & three £1 bars of chocolate - after all it is Easter 🐣 Then as I was out (only the 3rd time in 29 days) I popped into a newsagents & picked up my weekly Take A Break magazine & a 4 pack of TR 😉. Got home, no sign of life so kettle on, prepped the bolognese sauce, washed up as I went along. Read my book whilst enjoying my coffee, then joined the neighbourhood ‘meeting’ observing social distancing (aka sd or salad dodging😆 ) Half a dozen of us chatting about the current situation & discovering what is happening from those who have family in France, Spain & Germany, what is still missing from sm shelves etc. One neighbour unable to get pasta - (the benefit of listing my larder contents was that I knew I had his favourite pasta ( not ours 😉)). When the ‘meeting’ broke up I sorted out a bag of pasta & delivered it to him. Yes, yes I did observe sd ! It made his day & mine. Looking for the silver lining - neighbours are pitching in, keeping each other’s spirits up etc. 

By this time both DSis & DH we’re moving about 😆 Next task was to rearrange my freezer contents - I have not listed the contents but now everything is neat & tidy - I now know that I have plenty of everything. My menu plan has been tweaked slightly, so future sm trips will be for milk & fresh stuff only. 

DH has built the frame for the raised bed - plenty of Justin wood 😂 
Dinner was spaghetti bolognese with fresh pasta retrieved from the freezer. 

Sunday has dawned bright & sunny but with a few clouds. Plants watered, first & second cuppas drunk, read a few chapters of my book, phoned my uncle - 80th birthday today & rather despondent that no party 🙁 but he will be ‘zooming’ - not quite the same (we are very Italian when it comes to family & friends 😉) Nice discussion about the new Labour leader - my uncle is a diehard Labour supporter & is very pleased at the new direction of the Party - apologetic & inclusive. DH is up & about now but no sign of DSis 😱 
My next task is to update & arrange my ‘To Do’ list - rather losing track of the days so need to build in an actual structure - only taken me 4 weeks 😞 

710 Kitchen packaging etc - Recycled
711 Kitchen detritus - Binned
712 One pair of DH’s Sunday pants cut up for polishing cloths 

Great work TC77 👏 Isn’t it wonderful when you have a 💡 moment 🥳 just proves that you are a declutterer - mind is open to ideas rather than same old, same old 😉 Aren’t some of us very lucky to have gardens 😃 - builds up our numbers rather nicely & gets us out without risking our health or others. Hopefully those without gardens are managing to find a safe outdoor space to top up their vitamin D. Who knew you were so organised 😉 - oh right, we did 😉

Hiya bit_by_bit 👋 I have said it before - tidying IS decluttering - it might not add to your numbering system but it declutters stress - you can find things, it is to clean & it is a joy to have clear spaces.

Good work villagelife 👏 I think a lot of us have slowed down - no Tips open, no CS open, amended recycling/rubbish collections etc 🙁 & also pacing ourselves because we have no idea how long this situation is going to last 🙁

Well done Rootle 👏 I especially like the flowering boots 🙂 Rootle, I cannot remember if I have given you your Gold Star  - so here it is ⭐️ keep up the good work 👏 

Stellata, I f you can’t ramble here then where can you ramble 😉 not outside obviously 😆 Apart from the worries re food & finances, this rather dire situation is giving us the opportunity to take stock. I think that once the country/world starts to get back to what we think of as ‘normal’ there will be a lot of people making large or small changes to their lives. Hopefully we will all continue to pull together & not disappear into our own lives again. Jumping off my soapbox now 😞 

Glad to hear that teddy is safe & sound Gem-gem 👏 Oh, the green eyed monster reared it’s head - a fig tree & ‘cheery’ tomatoes 😆 - a typo from another thread (I believe) ‘cheery rather than cherry’ What a result re the book 🎉 

Very impressed short_bird 👏 talk about MSE 😉

Nice to see you EnergyShifter 👋 It sounds like you are finding your feet and the positivity is shining through 👏 A glass half full rather than half empty 🙂 Hope you have a spare gin glass 😉 

nannywindow, enjoy your day of rest 🙂 you have more than earned it 😀


A Happy Easter to everyone - enjoy the sunshine (if you are lucky enough to have it) & stay safe.


MrsSD ⭐️ 
712/2020

TC77

Just hung washing up as I can hear the distant thunder!

bit_by _bit - When I've sorted an area I count it as makes it less cluttered even if nothing thrown away.

Cleaned bathroom taking everything out ( makes me definitely want to have less) but only few bits of minor rubbish 737

4 batteries I forgot to count yesterday 738 - 741 sainsbury still collecting

742 old cleaning cloth

743-744 top and trousers to CS (one being DD2 not mine)

745 More garden rubbish

Trying to think where to start again....trying things to decide if I want to keep - I was in the garden trying some curlers after washing my hair  and the hula hoop! think both may go but a better hula hoop may come into the house   Had kept girls in case either DD want to have them..

boultdj

I've managed to do a load of washing, got it dried, ironed and put away.
Hoovered all up. 
Steam mopped bathroom.
Had storage box delivered, unpacked, put together and in use.
Ditto with rotary wash line, and now it's raining.
And a big ornament has been painted and ready to plant up.
Happy Easter everyone.

Chocolatedrinker

I've been tidying out a chest of drawers in my bedroom, so have the following:

1795 - 6 cardboard boxes recycled

1797 - toiletires sample pot recycled

1798 - 1809 - clothes binned/CS bag/recycled

1810 - 1814 - slinkies to CS bag

1815 - notebook recycled

1816 - 1" paper recycled

1817 - 1834 - bouncy balls to CS bag

1835 - magazine recycled

1836 - cardboard box recycled

1837 - make up set - CS bag

1838 - spare woggle returned to Cubs

1839 - broken radio to go to tip whe it reopens

1840 - belt to ragbag

1841 - broken solar light binned

1842 - notebook recycled

1843 - 1" paper reycled

1844 - 45 - perfue packaging recycled

1846 - notebook recycled

1847 - umbrella binned

1848 - sock to ragging

1849 - 1850 - pen & pencil binned

1851 - child's purse to CS bag

1852 - broken pen binned

1853 - 1854 - 2" paper recycled

1855 - magazine recycled

1856 - 1859 - books to CS bag

1860 - cosmetics bag recycled

1861 - notebook recycled

1862 - 1871 - beads to CS bag

1872 - old CD binned

1873 - 1877 - pieces of fabric recycled

1878 - paintbrush binned

1879 - 1880 - old pencils binned

1881 - book of knitting patterns - CS bag

1882 - old powder puff binned

That's all for now, but I have another drawer of rubbish to sort out.

Gem-gem

Cooked half a shoulder of lamb for lunch with the full works. Yorkshire pud, roasties etc Unused gravy frozen. Later we had a quarter priced Fortum and Mason Christmas pud. Box in the recycling, plastic pud basin has been washed up and stored ready to make hubby some Steak and kidney puds. I might have a go at making my own Christmas pud at some point this year. Fed the fruit cake with brandy.
Recycled:  
Milk carton
tin x1
Easter egg box packaging
Paper - used
Kilner jar lid (top disc)
Glass jar

Binned:
Several programmes that had been recorded. 
Other:

Birthday card posted whilst on our daily exercise.

TC77

746 - 748 curlers (1 full set and 2 part sets) to CS - been thinking of getting rid of these for a few years so Yippee.

749 sports skins (DD) to CS

750 - 752 tweezers, and make-up x 2

751 flip flops broke so binned

752 highlighter binned

Hope all had a good easter sunday and staying safe

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. WRITE AND USE “TO DO LISTS” - MINIMUM 30 MINUTE BURSTS OF ACTIVITY AT LEAST TWICE EVERY DAY

2. KITCHEN WILL BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT

3. I WILL ENDEAVOUR TO BE NICE TO EVERYONE & TRY TO SEE THE FUNNY OR PECULIAR SIDE TO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
4. DAY TO DAY DECLUTTERING WILL CONTINUE

DSis did her washing, which had to be put in td as it rained 🙁
Hangs head in shame - never did sort out my ‘To Do’ list 😞
DH finished the raised bed - used 7 small bags & 1.5 large bags of compost. Bags recycled. Now just have to make a netting cover to stop the squirrels & the ‘stray’ cats + need to decide what to plant. 

I watched some TV, played some AB2, did some knitting & then made dinner - DH was in charge of mashing, cooking the meat & making the gravy 😂  We had - duck & veison (bought too much for Christmas 😱), roast potatoes cooked in beef dripping, mashed potatoes, mashed parsnip & sweet potato, carrots & broccoli, duck gravy & red wine venison gravy - absolutely scrumptious 😋 Have used up all my fresh vegetables apart from potatoes. 
Enough meat left for tomorrow’s dinner plus a portion of mashed potato & a portion of mashed parsnip & sweet potato. Plenty of gravy as well. Two hours later we had hm apple & rhubarb crumble with custard 😋 - one portion of crumble left - we will fight for it tomorrow 😂 or I could make an apple & blackberry crumble & then we could draw straws.

713 - 723 Nine Uu compost bags, kitchen recycling, large cardboard box- Recycled
724 - 725 Two bags of kitchen detritus - Binned

Good work TC77 👏 I was always quite useless with a hula hoop although my DM was brilliant 😆

Great work boultdj 👏 you have been busy 👏 

Blimey chocolatedrinker 😱 what a lot of decluttering - Well Done 👏 

Great work Gem-gem 👏 Is the fruit cake for Christmas? that is what I call prepping 😉

Hope everyone enjoys their Easter Monday. Stay safe

MrsSD ⭐️ 
725/2020

Roxie

Just popping in to say I’m continuing the decluttering I started last year.  After the sudden empty nest of autumn, when a lot of clutter was taken, one chick returned a couple of months back.  As well as bringing back my old clutter also brought a lot of extra stuff which had been dumped in my lovely and clear spare room.  We’ve had a really good sort out this weekend and while some things have been kept, a lot is now in the shed waiting for disposal/recycling or car booting when the situation allows.  

I have kept on top of the decluttering and no longer let piles of stuff/mess build up, but tackling hubby’s tendency to hoard is really difficult.  He has his ‘man cave’ which is full of old newspapers, mags, mail, files, books, cds, pc and console games, chargers/cables, broken phones.   Every time I mention a clear out it’s met with ‘I’ll get around to the shredding, I’ve got to keep the old phones because of the data on them, the other things I’m not getting rid of as I might need them/use them one day/read the books again/magazines will be worth something etc’. It’s all rubbish 🙄 The room is becoming impossible to clean and I see-saw between trying to clean around the junk, or thinking ‘sod it, you bl@@dy clean it’ which he never does, even though he’ll happily push a hoover around the rest of the house!  I don’t want to argue or nag him about it, or sneak things out to dump, but I’m getting really resentful that he won’t sort out this cr*p 🙄  I’ve suggested the room needs a lick of paint so we need to sort through the stuff but all I get is ‘it’s fine as it is’.  I really want him to recognise its not fine and it’s actually a bit of a problem now.  Has anyone else experienced this or have any ideas how to resolve?