Prosperous soul embraces creativity & mortgage neutrality

SandyShores

I would love to share some of my creativity savingholmes, it will give me encouragement to start and finish something - however small.

With any kind of survey, I rarely do them now.  Not unless I am sat waiting for an appointment and I've nothing else to do (and someone provided a great service).  I listened to a comedian a year or so ago and they were being really funny about all the surveys we are asked to do.  We've already paid them for something and now they want us to do something more.  I know its nice to do the surveys for people (including the GPs) sometimes, but for now its one thing I have cut out - maybe one day when I have more time.

I was just reading your thread and the cat decided to sit on the keyboard, I'm not sure what keys he pressed but there was a lot of flashing and scrolling - I'm just hope he hasn't 'reported' any posts.  I'm off to see if reports are logged  anywhere.

savingholmes

Waves @Cheery_Daff - welcome aboard. I have now put the three drawers of paints back in its plastic unit and returned a sand pit (for catching the paint) to the garage. 3 canvases I still want to do more work on are now in my study - together with 4 spare canvases... I motivated myself to do that much by making banana bread at 11.30pm as you do when you have to be up early the next day...  roll eyes at myself sometimes...

DancingInTheRain said:

The change in tone in your posts recently is lovely to hear & even though you're juggling lots of things you're sounding so positive and motivated, really lovely to read. Would also echo @Blackcats post, you've done so much these last 2 years!

I was so depressed at points last year I scared myself - hence prompting my severe life change. Do what you've always done, get what you've always got. So trying to step out of my comfort zone and try new things - but all without breaking the bank! Even Ex when he spoke to people about the divorce commented on how much happier I seemed to be once I made the decision. People at work say my aura has changed for the better - even though I still have so much practical stuff to work through.

DancingInTheRain said:

Definitely have a break despite the ballet being cancelled, you've earned it!

I have postponed the trip to sis until early Feb - when I don't have a 100 mile round trip the day after. I'm looking at what else I can do this weekend instead though - so will update you all I'm sure once I've decided. 

DancingInTheRain said:

On the decluttering front, when DH & I moved in together 9 years ago ;;;;we did quite a big declutter then... Followed by another big declutter  6 years ago... Followed by another big declutte 3 years ago... Followed by another big declutter when lockdown started 2 years ago... Followed by another 1 I've started this year 😳😳 definitely a work in progress 🤣

each big declutter has just helped to get rid of or repurpose items as life changes so by the time this declutter is completed,  most things will have a purpose and their own 'home' and then there'll just be our loft to sort (which is mainly DH's stuff). As you're the main occupier of your house & with your children now being adults I think you'll get your house in order a lot quicker than me.

Just keep going 1 thing at a time x

When I decluttered the kitchen around lockdown 1 - I ended up with a pretty much empty cupboard which has now refilled. I plan to empty it again - and then fit baskets of my pouring art stuff in it so it isn't such a faff getting it in and out of the garage when I want to use it / put it away as it would be next to the table I want to use. It needs to be in the kitchen as I often need to wash my hands. One day - I will put a sink in a different room - and then it can stay out full time - and the kitchen can be tidier. 

One of my issues is that all the stuff came down from the loft. (I felt it wouldn't be safe for me to go up there at my current weight and if living alone. I also have a condition that makes me clumsy at the best of times so heights/fragile floors/ceilings aren't a good mix). The boxes plus anything DD dumps are currently blocking up my 'spare room' and part of the landing. Again it would all fit in the spare room - it just hasn't moved from where it was dumped about 7 weeks ago. The pile on the landing has gradually shrunk though. At first it was on the dangerous side and barely passable - so I have been shifting stuff either into the spare room or out of the house permanently. I've got the landing down to a wooden chest and probably around 4 boxes/huge bags worth of stuff. Like I say huge progress but if you didn't see the before you wouldn't know it.

I hope I do manage to get my house in order. My cleaner is great - she gets a lot of job satisfaction from my house as she can always tell the difference she's made!! She's coming tomorrow. I am very excited! When I get stuck - she often gets me past the hump so I can carry on.

Night all. Thanks for the encouragement.

savingholmes

Looking forward to seeing your art / sewing projects Sandy. Not heard from @BellaLasagna2018 in a while - hope you are okay.
 

savingholmes

The banana bread was truly worth it - last night and this morning. So glad it's just for me. 

I need to rush around and get dressed but am on a mega go slow today having been up too late last night. I have a 9am meeting and need to shove some make up on too. But that would require my eyelids to cooperate which seems unlikely. They are in the held open by matchsticks stage.

MovingForwards

Does your cleaner have a partner? If so, slip them some money to get stuff into the loft, also consider part-boarding it out for ease of getting around.

savingholmes

Hi MF
Nice idea but planning to reduce the inventory in my house permanently partly for the sake of my kids but also to aid future decisions around downsizing.

DS's old room has storage I can potentially use too that I haven't yet. I am trying to treat it as if I'd just moved in and review everything to see if it should stay or go. I don't want to fall into the trap of keeping things just because I have the space. Focusing mainly on downstairs currently.

I won't end up minimalist but want it to be a decluttered oasis of calm and creativity. I looked at the landing last night but it was much better than I thought. Shifted most of it now. Landing window sill almost cleared now too.

Cleaner was impressed with the difference in my ensuite and the landing which was encouraging.

edinburgher

Our attic is so cluttered that it has stuff from the people who lived here before us. Not good stuff (like rubies and sapphires), more broken kitchen units and crap Christmas decorations. I am dreading the clearout before our loft conversion. Maybe the builders will be able to fit the staircase first, making it easier than doing 50 ladder trips?

BellaLasagna2018

savingholmes said:

Looking forward to seeing your art / sewing projects Sandy. Not heard from @BellaLasagna2018 in a while - hope you are okay.
 

Hi @savingholmes, I am fine thank you! It is so sweet of you to ask ☺️ I have been reading your diary nearly daily, but I’m back at work and I’m finding it exhausting (I am a teacher and the mix of teaching in freezing cold classrooms with door and windows open, and the various stresses of COVID and mocks exams at the moment is really tiring me out, plus trying to lose weight and possibly not eating enough during the day) so usually my brain is too scrambled for me to post anything sensible! 

I’ve noticed the last few posts mention decluttering so I’m going to catch up with these, as I have been decluttering for a few weeks. We are hopefully moving soon. I am a minimalist at heart, and live in a small space so I don’t usually tolerate a lot of clutter around me. I like  everything being closed doors, mostly tidy but often not, but I’m quite amazed at how much I still had to get rid of! 

EssexHebridean

You'll get there with the decluttering SH - and it's a great idea to treat it as though they are boxes from a house move. when we moved to our current home we decided that we didn't want to put off dealing with the boxes to be unpacked so were clear of them inside three weeks - I'm glad too otherwise stuff would have been hanging about forever! 

Cheery_Daff

We unpacked our last boxes recently from our house move almost 4 years ago - they were the only ones, and they were decorative stuff from the kitchen, and we knew we'd replace the kitchen here. However they weren't all decorative, it turns out - they were glass jars, some had things like dried lentils in and are fine, but the home made jam fared slightly less well 😂😂