2021 MISSION DECLUTTER and CLEAN

TC77

Good luck @3secondmemory.... it is always good to escalate complaint, and writing to the CEO's office can help, as they will have an executive complaints team.

Watching TV far too late into the morning,then not sleeping well and then waking up early which makes for a v grumpy me. Our V large cat had a v large accident on DD2's duvet and the landing in middle of the night. Duvet cover disposed of...(her favourite from v young).beyond rescue but duvet ok so 1 added.
Weekend mornings are usually an hour or 2 of decluttering to start the day but too exhausted today. Will write a fresh list, as finding with other distractions too easy to get behind with everyday maintenance.
Take care all, and yes Mrs SD every item decluttered is a win, and when things are v tough just getting through the day and coping with stuff is a win. Thank you for cheerleading us all. Had hoped to declutter clothes but cluttered the lbs with comfort eating so more to declutter.

Floss

@3secondmemory please also mention the way you were spoken to last night - he might have been in a grump but there was no need to be horrible. Take your time, jot down things as they come to you and if you can keep it short, sharp & to the point, stressing you're disabled & as a result of their incompetence have now lost £50 essential to your wellbeing 😉

stellata

I mended my dressing gown which to my shame has been waiting for a repair since winter before last, so that's in use again.
cut up some boxes which aren't going to be useful after all, and binned all the boxes and packaging from a set of ornaments I love and have taken from house to house over many years. I'm perfectly capable of packing them myself next time. I think it used to be that you had to keep the boxes if you were going to resell them, but I'm not so they can go. I'm not going out today so will hunt out some more junk and fill up the recycle bin for collection this week.

GrannyKate

@3secondmemory  sorry to hear about your stress and upsets but do keep strong as you have done so well.  We all have set backs but losing money can be particularly difficult.  Like others I have often found things in totally unexpected places with no recollection of how they got there.  My diet is a disaster - I know I felt better when I lost weight but I have put half of it back on again.  This needs to be my focus for Autumn along with finishing off all the projects I keep starting.  
I settled at £300 with BG as I couldn't cope with arguing with them anymore.  I also got the £60 excess back which I had paid.  

Went to DS2's to collect school things for wash (they went away straight after school for the weekend) and very spooked when I heard grandchildren's voices - they were talking to me through the smart doorbell.  I told them I'd stolen all their toys. 

In light of @Vuplix reference to Christmas I bought a nice t-shirt for DGD4 at Mr M yesterday.  £1.25 in sale.  I need to order birthday present for 2 weeks time and pay my contribution to short break DD has organised nearby at half term.  

Off to tip in a bit with another car load of pruning - will count when it has gone.  More to do but I can see the ground area round the bushes.  It is lower than the lawn so I plan to spread the compost from this years pots across the area and plant a load of bulbs which I dried off from the spring.  I need to get this job done before the Autumn really sets in.  Childcare next week only one pick up Monday and then an overnight stay Tuesday so I should have plenty of time to get on with it.  

Will have a wander round the house to see if there is anything else to go to tip and see if I can add to charity bag - another job for next week. 

vulpix

 Good Morning, a lot of posts to catch up with, and plenty going on.

 bala and 3second memory ,hugs. 

 Productive trip to the city, bought a couple of shirts for Mr V and a top for me from the chazzer and a new coat for Mr V from a real shop!
 Visited my step son who gave me a huge bag of apples from his tree. They are the loveliest eating apples, no idea what type. I also bought a couple of little vases from the chazzer. 60's I think. They have a ball of coloured glass at the base and clear stem. I have 3 now. I am going to collect them. Mr V hates them haha. He also hates my collection of little mice in a shoe/hat/vegetable etc. They remind me of my Grandmas house when I was small. In all honesty I will probably collect for a while then get rid. I like to ring the changes. (in case you haven't noticed)

 Today is a stay at home day. I still need to transfer the contents of my bedside drawer into the new drawers. I would like to get the old bedsides drawers and chest of drawers down stairs, photographed and listed on FB. With all the excess furniture out of the way I should be able to get into the spare room to look for curtains.

 DD1 has covid. I am only surprised that it has taken so long to find her. She works in a hospital so testament to all the PPE and double jabs. It has presented itself as a cold. She would never have known if she didn't have to test all the time for work. It does mean that we cannot do the car boot sale we planned next week though.

 Mr V has gone to set up for a gig tonight. He is thrilled. The first gig since before lock down. Also taken the divan drawers and the kettle which randomly died to the tip.

 717. kettle
 720. 3 pairs unliked boxers 

 Vx

 

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

Something I forgot to mention yesterday. We have a hexagonal peanut feeder in our garden which has been repaired several times due to squirrels wrecking it 😡 hanging in our olive tree from a new heavy duty chain. Yesterday DSis discovered a baby blue tit had squeezed in through the hole at the top & was trapped inside 😢 She brought the feeder inside, found a box & padded it out with tissue paper & laid both on their sides to let the bird make its way out from one into the other. To her surprise she was successful 🙂 The bird was being allowed to recover but unfortunately it would appear that it damaged itself too much in its initial struggles & expired 😢  The feeder is now in the bin as is the baby blue tit. DSis was very upset 😭 

1665 - 1666 Peanut feeder, office detritus - binned

Saturday is bright but overcast. Plumber has just phoned advising that his current job is overrunning so will be with us midday rather than mid morning ☹️ So my GUAG has sort of arrived 🙂 - bed stripped & first load in wm. Removed armour from DH’s motorbike trousers which will be the last load as need re-waterproofing. I will let the bed air for a couple of hours, give it a light vacuum & then turn before making up with new bed linen.

Oh 3secondmemory I just want to give you a huge hug 🤗. I will not add anything as TC77, Floss, GrannyKate & vulpix have said it all. Please stay strong & know that we are there with you in spirit at least.

TC77 I hope vl cat is better 🤞 Take the time to rest - late nights might impact your decluttering but are sometimes just what you need 😉 - have you been watching the Paralympics? We are all here cheerleading each other through the ups & downs of decluttering & life 🙂 

Well said Floss 👏 

Great work stellata 👏 Doesn’t matter when you mend something that will be in daily or should that be nightly 😉 use. You are on a roll - mending, decluttering Justins & hunting out ‘junk’ 🙂 

GrannyKate, the problem with the word ‘diet’ is that it has been hijacked to only mean losing weight rather than describing what we eat & drink 😔 My problem is that when I decide that I should lose weight (& I do need to lose lots ☹️) I think about food constantly 😔 I think I would have been more than spooked at hearing voices in an empty house 😉

Excellent work in the garden 👏

vulpix, you little devil 😉 buying from a shop 😉 The ‘little mice’ collection sounds charming 🙂 as do the vases 🙂 Does MrV collect anything? like equipment for his gigs by any chance 😉😉 Good news about MrV’s gig 👏 Bad news about DD1 having Covid ☹️ but hopefully will only be a mild case & will give your DD a chance to slow down a bit. Please thank her for all her hard work over the last 18 months. The whole situation would have been so much worse without the dedication of all our NHS staff. 

MrsSD🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🥇⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Decluttering Target: 2021    1666/2021

2021 Savings Pot:  £376.45 to end of September

Happy_Kitties

Finally
300 stationery items-charity shop
301 newish bathmat which doesn’t suit new wetroom-charity shop
302-304 three other items to charity shop.can’t even remember what they are even though only took this morning! (Now remember tracksuit bottoms, cereal branded apron, very plush BN toiletry holder)

Neutral items to organiser 27= total of 140 items to charity esp as we go into Christmas fundraising season soon

Emm-in-a-pickle

Hugs to everyone for all being so nice and supportive and sharing, but extra to Bala and 3 sec.memory and anyone else up against illness and worry. Bala, hope your dad is improving, and 3 sec.memory good luck with your complaint - then try to forget the £50,though it may still turn up in a very silly place. I once lost my keys, had to use the spare car key and the back door key for about 10 days, the missing keys turned up on a hook in the kitchen under the oven gloves! I`d been wound up about something at the time but can`t remember what it was, and I certainly don`t remember hanging them there.

I`ve got a few bits to report - Flu jab booked as invited by GP surgery letter, garden waste bin payment done, gas tariff sorted and car insurance renewed. Phew, those are all things I tend to put off. Lots of emails deleted, and important ones answered. My best mate has found love in middle age, after 4 years on her own, and is now helping her OH to clear his house as he`s moving in with her - she`s still working and doing skip runs, CS runs, and cleaning at his, as well as clearing/sorting her house to make room for what he wants to keep. I have been cheering her on, though I`ve told her about this thread she says she`s too busy to join, and just emails me about it!

She shared a thing she`d read re sorting what to keep and what to clear " Glance at the past, but don`t stare".

I`ve tackled part of the humungous nettle patch in the back garden, pulling them up by hand (with good gloves!) and have 3/4 filled big green wheelie bin.

Went to Mr.M`s and got a pork shoulder joint and 3 good meals worth of YS braising steak, cooked the whole lot the same day in slow oven at the same time, so saved gas and effort, tonight will be the last of the braising steak and roast pork tomorrow -will make a pork  curry tomorrow  with the last knockings. I like Mr M`s pork shoulder as there`s seldom any waste, unlike the pre-packed ones I`ve had from other shops, and my loccal butcher doesn`t sell the shoulders as he keeps them for making his prize-winning sausages!

I also cleaned the fridge while cooking the meat, an overdue task that was!

I have a confession...went to Sainsbob`s  too,(looking for French mustard to go with the braising steak) and got 4 new tops (half price or less), 2 short sleeved jumpers and a couple of long sleeved sweatshirts, nothing fancy but things I will not tire of and that fit. I have started a box for CS, and it already has 6 similar garments that no longer fit, so may I be forgiven? I do make a lot of my stuff but now only buy things I can`t make myself.

The rest of today, as it`s warm and I`ve prepped the veg for later, we`ll sit outside on the decking, with a glass of wine or 3, OH will smoke his pipe, which he does only sometimes, and won`t do indoors, little dog at his feet wondering why his human sucks that bone, I`ll probably get restless and pull up some more nettles, and start on my `to do` list for next week.

Have a decent weekend all, and good luck Short Bird for Monday.

Rootle

6/52 - cancelled a packaged bank account. I wish I'd done it months ago but better late than never and at least I'm now saving the £11 monthly subscription cost.

elsien

Decluttered some wrinkles with a groupon facial and am now lightly steamed and polished.  

Then spoiled the effect with an afternoon shed and garden sorting.
From the shed - none of it mine, all left by next door when they moved:

20 odd old tins of paint, 4 buckets full of metal and wire things for the recycling bin at the tip, half filled up my grey bin with assorted broken plastic. One old toilet seat. Curtain tracking and bits of wood. 

Plus about 10 other things that can be used or freegled. Still half a shed to go. 

In my garden I demolished the knackered plastic box that was the wood store and which had collapsed under the weight. Bagged up 6 bags of wood into the empty bit of the shed. Moved the spare roof tiles into the shed. Found a stone shelf and put it on bricks where the plastic thing was, as a plant stand for the strawberries. Finished cutting back the mock orange and added to the tip pile . Cut back some roots and swept up the leaf pile. Found a home for the plant pots that were nesting around the garden.

I may not be able to walk tomorrow but I’m pleased with what I did as I can now get into the garden without breaking my neck. 

And *fanfare of trumpets* finally made a decision about IFA and pensions which I’ve been procrastinating about for several months now.