2021 MISSION DECLUTTER and CLEAN

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. KITCHEN WILL CONTINUE TO BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT

2. JUST DO ONE THING EVERY DAY (courtesy of bit_by_bit) OTHER THAN DAY TO DAY CLEANING & DECLUTTERING 

3. ONCE A WEEK LEAVE THE HOUSE (e.g. Go into city centre for bank & butcher;  go to local town for cs dropping off or buying; visit the pub with DH 😉

4. CLEAN & EMPTY SURFACE AREAS - DAILY

Sunday morning was a late departure- 10:37 a.m. so we missed out the first 2 old landmarks. Sunday was overcast all day with a bit of sunshine but absolutely no rain on us - we followed it around 😉 Buckie to Arbroath to Dundee via Insch over Tay Bridge. Stopped at a car park with a coffee kiosk & facilities. 30 minute chat with other bikers. South to Elie then back to Perth Holiday Inn Express. (We saw the aftermath of a car accident - large white van embedded in the back of a car which shunted another car into the back of a pick up. 3 fire engines, police car but no ambulance 👏Two families sat on grass verge & seemed everyone ok. Now for the weird part the accident took place by an off road parking area exactly between the entrance & exit so the police were able to keep traffic moving - so journeys were only delayed for 5 or so minutes). Initially we were given a key to Room 29 which wouldn’t work, so door opened by receptionist only to discover that the room was already occupied 😱 we were actually supposed to be in Room 26 😉 Landmarks for the day - Water powered Sawmill - not in use + Arbroath Signal Tower (lots of starlings), water pump aka non working fountain + sun dial on wall of a privately owned chapel. 

Wildlife: Cows, sheep, horses,ponies, 1st magpie, DH - rabbit & 2 pheasants & one LIVE RED SQUIRREL 🐿which ran across the road in front of us & then sprinted back the way it had come into the trees (after 20 years of visiting Scotland we have finally seen a red squirrel) I can tick that off my list now - I saw a black squirrel in Prague in 2019 🙂 & when we are at home we can’t move for grey squirrels 🤣

We had dinner in The Maltings Pub next door to the HIE - DH had burger & chips, I went full Scottish & had haggis, neeps & tatties. The evening was enhanced because an old biking friend P + 31yr old daughter L joined us for drinks at 8:00 p.m. - they live about a mile from the pub. Laughter & chat from 8:00 until we were kicked out at 11:00 p.m. 😉😉 We had not seen P & L for over 10 years but one of those easy friendships that you just pick up where you left off 👏🙂 Oh for the enthusiasm & passion of youth - L is a kind, talented, caring & feisty young lady who rails at the injustices in the world. She also has a big soft spot for my DH as she first met him when she was about 13 & he treated her like an adult rather than a child 🙂

Monday was a Buffet breakfast of hot food OK & we had slept well due to copious amounts of alcohol on Sunday night 😉😉 - we left 10:15 a.m. Overcast but bright - no rain at all & about 2.00 p.m. we had about an hour of blue skies, fluffy clouds & brilliant sunshine with temperature reaching at least 24C. Perth to Sterling to Newhouse to Peebles to Kelso & checking in at The Cross Keys hotel by 4:45 p.m. I went to co-op for ciggies & shortbread.

Landmarks - Clock Tower & fountain + roadside sculpture viewed from an industrial estate + war memorial near Peebles + packhorse bridge + a signpost showing the place name ‘Peaston’. Managed to find a recycling bin - so plastic bottle & 3 bits of cardboard packaging recycled 🥳 we had been carrying it around 3 days 😉

Wildlife: Cows, large bull, sheep, horses, ponies, donkey, Rabbit, geese

DH - cockerel & 2 hens + dead badger & Me - a dead wild deer ☹️ - so very sad as it looked like it was sleeping but in an awkward place. The poor thing looked untouched so it must have been a very recent accident & the carrion eaters hadn’t yet found it ☹️ 

Another lovely room (210) but there is a lift 😮‍💨 I had a lovely hot bath - my left hand has healed very well - no blood, no infection & the skin is growing back 🥳 DH showered.

Dinner in the hotel restaurant - we shared two ‘while you wait’ dishes - garlic bread with a pesto dip 😋 & haggis Bon bons in a peppercorn sauce 😋. DH had battered haddock, chunky chips & mushy peas whilst I had a Caesar’s salad with added chicken - both nice but not spectacular. 

In our room by 9:35 p.m. - bags are mostly packed as we need to be gone by 10:00 a.m. as parking restrictions come into effect 😉

1615 - 1618 Plastic bottle, 3 bits of cardboard packaging- recycled 

Now I will do some cheerleading- although I am miles behind 😱

Your name is dumpling & you are a strong determined lady who has survived sepsis & has a few too many crafting materials 🙂 By the way you have not waffled - you have asked for a bit of advice/guidance which I see has been offered by lots of lovely people - Floss, Siebrie, vulpix, Liverpool_Anne, bit_by_bit, ruby_eskimo. I see you have started already - well done 👏 Please take a little time to savour your success 🙂

TC77, one of my grandmothers used to give a birthday card with 10s - a small fortune & I would wish my life away 😉😉 I also remember popper beads 😉 Really well done on dealing with so many admin frogs - even if they were not yours 👏 you have eased the burden on your dad & dds 🙂👏🏅 Lovely comments for balabooberlies, EneryShifter & elsien 👏🙂

Excellent work stellata 👏 a bit everyday gets you into a habit of dealing with items immediately - bin, recycle, cs bag or even put away in their correct place 🙂 I wish you every success with ‘the great wardrobe cull 🙂🤞 There is a time & place for decluttering but far outranked by celebrating your weight loss by treating yourself to new clothes 🙂🙂

Great work villagelife 👏

vulpix I am having a lovely time in Scotland, such a shame that Monday night is our last in Scotland ☹️ As a marked difference from England, everyone has been wearing their face masks until they are sat at a table drinking or eating & everyone wears masks going into shops. The only exception to this was the wedding on Saturday night - mask wearing was not a feature 😔 so fingers crossed we don’t get a notification by text (DH doesn’t have the ‘ping’ app anymore after 500,000 people were pinged 😱 Planning a trip to the North East is very exciting & I see several people (Floss, Liverpool_Anne, GrannyKate) have offered suggestions of places to visit. Hope you can get a cat sitter as it would be nice if you could have several days away 🤞🙂

As to your Christmas decorations you should keep as many of the really loved/unusual/well made ones as you can - they cannot be replaced 😉 Perhaps have two boxes & alternate the decorations each year. Any excess can be donated to cs 🙂

Great work with the painting ( 😖 to having to do another coat 😖) & the gardening 👏 , excellent cheerleading 👏 + kind & compassionate words for EnergyShifter👏 As to the ‘take more water with it, sadly I was sober as a judge’ 😔 just being clumsy 😔 but my hand is definitely healing.

Very sorry to hear that ‘someone’ is making your work life unbearable - any chance he/she can be got rid of or even moved elsewhere?

Absolutely everything is crossed 🤞 that DD1 gets the Shetland Isles job - sideways & happy is better than promotion & not so happy. Fingers crossed for DD2 re her house purchase 🤞Excellent clothes decluttering 👏

At least I have finished p367 😉 Will try to do a couple of pages tomorrow night 🤞

Keep up the good work everyone, thank you all for your kind wishes re my damaged hand & hugs to all those going through tough times.

MrsSD🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🥇⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Decluttering Target: 2021    1618/2021

2021 Savings Pot:  £300.90 to end of August

vulpix

 What a lovely post Mrs SD. I feel like I am there with you. NE Scotland is my old stomping ground, I trained as a Social Worker in Dundee and had placements in Aberdeen, Perth and Edinburgh.
 Sadly the new girl at work is a permanent feature and it just isn't right to say to the boss "me or her". Someone else who has worked there 20 years has refused to work with her so that means we have her every day. She is good at her job though.
 When you said give Christmas decorations to the charity shop ,my heart stopped! It will take some time to come round to the idea. I came round to the idea of getting rid of a lot of kitchen stuff. Christmas and kitchen have been my most difficult areas. I think it's the memories of hosting lovely times.

 Still on with painting,groan.

 704. 2 pairs boxer shorts
 705. worn out trainers

 Vx

balabooberlies

Right then !

1 bag of paperwork recycled.

Ergo........  ............

25/104

love to all

bala

x

short_bird

1456-1464: Another 9GB of data deleted
1465: Went to see the phlebotomist for the yearly thyroid check. Always nice to get that one decluttered.

skogar

Oh dear - Mrs Salad Dodger must have her beady eye on me - all the way from Scotland.

The decluttering and cleaning hasInot got far but I had arranged with my sister that we would have a week blitzing the house (and I could help her with something in return) to make sure of actually making some progress. However my friend is now coming mid Sep to visit (and I will be away some of the time) so it's now panic stations! So some tidying and decluttering has started in earnest now. Still lots to be done but the bes in the spare room is now visible. Perhaps I can even make it accessible.....

EnergyShifter

EnergyShifter said:

857. Email to Consultant
858. Email to Uni
859. old folder
860. old plug
861. old wok
862 - 5. 4 x ood toiletries

In the process of trying to organise a year's deferral for DS' degree - I have to say everyone is being very helpful and his friend has managed to get someone to move in to cover DS' tenancy so he won't get hit for rent.  All very sad though - I'm thinking of the hopes he had this time last year as he was embarking on his Uni experience.  

ExH is staying at the moment and is decorating DS' room for his return which is nice ...  I need to start trying to work again - I haven't been up for working since the beginning of the month.  I'm a Coach (mostly Career Coaching) so it's not the sort of job that's easy to do when you are feeling upset as a lot of people bring emotional content to the sessions - but I need to start trying - I'm self-employed!!  I've been booking in a few clients over the next couple of weeks so fingers crossed that I can hold things together.  

863.  e - care coordinator
864-  e - letting agency
865 - e-  student services
866 - wheelie bin of green waste

Floss

@EnergyShifter please don't worry too much about your DS's uni experience - better that he returns when he is in better health. My eldest tried 2 different degrees, over 4 years, but never completed either. He is employed as a data analyst, is buying his own flat & has a 5-figure sum of savings, whereas his brother & sister-in-law each have massive student loans to pay. Their father was a mature student & repeated a year after a mental health breakdown, then went on to graduate aged 45.

njk1012

I'm a tad late joining in for this year but would like to if that's ok?

I hit a brick wall this weekend, new physical and mental health issues after being (seemingly) very healthy before has been a shocker. Team this, with a very fast paced career and slowly getting less happy but more busy, led me back to these forums. I have a real need to slow down, take stock and simplify life generally. This thread really resonates with me as I researched slower living, the need for less "stuff" especially stuff that gets in the way or doesn't create happiness is real. 

 It's going to be a work in progress, health dependant and I personally an choosing not to count things until they have gone (i.e. things sorted for charity already gifted, not just sorted in to bags and still getting in the way). 

Today I'm kicking  off with: 

2 - social media notifications turned off. 

TC77

@EnergyShifter I echo Floss but do understand, and sounds good your DS is having his room decorated and getting ready for him coming home. Glad everyone is being helpful. DD1 did several attempts at sixth form and finally an access course so uni at nearly 23, and fingers crossed can do yr2 with her ankle injury and having missed her placement for health. 

Nothing out, and going into reverse, picked up others' clutters. DD1 was meant to be moving flats and then agent told her there is a leak at new flat so has nowhere from Sat, and I know won't come home...too many steps while non weight bearing and also has panic attacks here so trying to work out what she can do. She has my dyson, and my dad's hoover cracked so bought myself a new cordless, then saw a free one which I really don't need but it is so heavy so going to give away but a waste of time collecting etc and then advertising. Sometimes I think a distraction and avoidance along with comfort eating rather than tackling the frogs or accepting what's going on. 
Accepting now isn't the time to declutter physically, still working on admin as just noticed haven't received email promised within 48 hours on 9th august!
Awarding myself 2 for noticing and chasing the latter up, and one for getting dental hospital (part 1 ) done.
And another 1 for putting dates in the calendar and diary.

I think its flylady who sees a link between physical and body clutter....I need to tackle both but sometimes the focus has to be on other things..hugs to those going through difficult times.

bit_by_bit

@mrssd; apart from the tumble you sound like you are having a great old time. You won't want to go home.
 
Yay for the red squirrel.

I had the confirmation email from the Allotment comittee to merge with my friend today. Very pleased although they are actually dividing the plot in two which wans't the idea. However it shouldn't make any differenc between me and my friend.

One binliner of stuff to the CS today and another bag is filling for Saturday when I have my next shift. Today i selected 10 books to buy and put 6 (mostly gardening) back as really I don't want them, I just like the idea of them.