2022 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

vulpix

WoW energy shifter. What a triumph for your son. Xx

 Good result on being awarded pip grandmanerd. 

 I am having a concerted effort to be more sociable irl. Went to the pub last night with friends and meeting up with another friend tomorrow. I have instigated the meetings too. I usually don’t. I loved lockdown. I take no persuasion to stop at home in my own company. I am never bored. But no man is an island as they say. I wouldn’t like there to be a day when I had no one left to be social with. 

 We bumped into an ex colleague/friend of Mr V’s last night in the supermarket. He is coming round to look at the studio and have a nosy round the new house. I had better pick all the tried on and rejected clothes from last night then! Visitors certainly spur me on with tidiness!

 Small wooden cupboard sold  
 socks-rags

 Vx 

2Scratters

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger Sadly, I am paid monthly - however I intend to save enough so I can finish earlier and make those savings last till state pension. Today it is now 30 pay days I need to revisit the budget sheet and check all bits. Give my head a wobble and re-focus on the task in hand. Continuing to live below our means but not being miserable about it. 
So for today I will be decluttering my untidy bonnet and nip to the barbers for a cut. I am picking up GD later and she is staying for 2 nights with us. We purchased a gadget that will peel and core so she will be helping with the bag of apples that need just that doing with them. They will go straight into the freezer when cold for later. We have a new card game for her to play tonight. 
Tomorrow afternoon off to parent's old house to help do some decluttering with DSis2, hopefully I don't come back with stuff not really needed. My school reports have already been disposed of. Could bring some identifying papers back and use them as firelighters. No doubt GD may want to come she likes a good route she is her Grandma's child when it comes to stuff like that, she does not have the hoarding tendencies which is good

2 Scratters xx

grandmanerd

Well Tuesday didn't go as planned but was delightful. I had to scramble to the end of the bed to get my laptop charging cable (had pulled my laptop back from the edge during the night and guessed the cable, being lighter, had gone over) so whilst there, I emptied the two boxes of mostly canned food onto the bed and decanted it into an assortment of bags (7 with a few items left in the box). A couple made it downstairs with the others following yesterday.

I intended going to Art therapy but started to get anxious as the time approached. Made myself get up and go. They're all lovely people and I really enjoy the sessions but because I haven't been for the past 4 weeks I had to force myself - if I give in, it will get worse and I'll retreat further and further inside myself until I'm not leaving the house at all. I love being on my own but some connection with other people is necessary (and pleasant). I spent so much time in isolation with mum that I found it difficult to cope with people when she started to let them in again.

Took 2 books back to drop in at the library then went upstairs - no-one there. The new exhibition is now open in the larger gallery so I asked a member of staff coming out of the small office. Session cancelled because of half term (I had had an e-mail when I checked later - I'm only doing email every 2-3 days, just to keep on top of clearing it out). I decided to carry on to a small shop to collect lunch items.

It's a while since I walked that way and several months since I was out for that long but the weather was lovely (I had a spare plastic bag to cover the walker seat as it had been outside and was still wet inside) and I sat in different places and had different views and noticed some of the changes in building use and shop ownership. The old woman who used to work there was back behind the counter (no idea how old she is but she's seemed ancient forever - at least the last 35 years).

On the way back I went in the library. I'd spotted a couple of books on the new books display but didn't want the extra weight on my way to the little shop and back. The new Terry Pratchett official biography and a book with a black and white photo of daleks on the front (The BBC, a People's history). Found some new to me authors as well (I'm constantly on the hunt for new authors as some of my favourites have been read over and over), one picked from the blurb, one because the opening paragraph made me laugh out loud, one I'm not sure about - a cosy mystery which means it will either be delightful of dire. I am giving it a good effort but spotted 2 bad mistakes in the first 20 pages (factual stuff that could easily be checked) which annoyed me.

Was tired when I got back so sat in the yard to eat. Took the paper bin to the end of the backs and the neighbour from no 8 (just arriving in a special taxi with his grandfather in a motorised wheelchair) told me he'd take it the rest of the way. Decided I needed a proper rest so brought 2 bags upstairs with me (picked out a couple of the new books and other essentials) and asked DS3 to bring the two heavy bags (packed with my kitchen stuff) when he came upstairs - they arrived before midnight.

Yesterday I went downstairs to get drinks and a yoghurt for breakfast. The kitchen wasn't flooded but there was water over a considerable area. I couldn't work out if the box catching drips under the sink had overflowed - most water there or if it was from the washing machine which someone had set running (I have a list of things to discuss with them soon) as there's still a slight slope on the kitchen. I squelched my way across to the drinks (if I'd left them by the front door it wouldn't have been necessary) and threw  a towel and sheet that were waiting to be washed at the biggest puddle (several have already been used for that purpose in the last couple of weeks - the drain for the WM is too low to even use a baking tray for catching the drips).

I cleaned myself using baby wipes when I got back upstairs. The bathmat was absolutely sodden the day before and I pulled it off the floor and put it over my bath board so it could drip into the bath (hence starting the list of things to 'have words' about) but it meant there was no way for me to use the shower. Baby wipes were very pleasant though (in an emergency kind of way).

Once I had donned my protective armour (the mountain hiking trainers) I took myself, the remaining food bags and my essentials (phone for telling the time, wallet in case I went out to buy something, old falling apart diary and some pens, books to read when resting and a handkerchief). Left the laptop upstairs charging.

Put the 2 towels by the washing machine in the yard - draped over the walker and a garden chair (there's already a bathmat and another large towel draped over the garden table) hoping they dry out a bit. I don't have the strength to wring them out, very wet and heavy. I spent all afternoon under the stairs, taking a couple of bags at a time, adding them to the things already on the shelves and putting them back into a coherent order.

I now have three shelves of tinned and dry goods, all in order and listed in my notebook. The fourth shelf (highest usable without going up steps) is as it was - it's only my soup and a few jars of curry and pasta sauce and there's lots on the other shelves to work away at. My festive supplies (I love baking but don't do a  lot as it's mostly things I shouldn't have) from the stores include sultanas and dates (there's a pack of chestnuts somewhere too), loads of nuts (mum loved them, I do too but it's another 'only in moderation' thing), a variety of flours, a treacle lake and a golden syrup one too, sugar (one bag lasts me a year or two), a large tub of baking spread in the fridge and a tub of sprinkles and a good supply of all the things that make life worth living - mayo, mint sauce, vinegars, peri-peri sauce (anything I had problems getting hold of during lockdown, I ordered in when they were available). 7 empty bags and extra bits dotted around. 

The usual rubbish and recycling went out (3). I still need a proper bag for the kitchen (the other bags were completely full before I got to the kitchen) and I will need one for the garden too, for broken items and ones that have been used way beyond any useful life. When I was resting, I persevered with the cosy mystery (I had an alternative read if it got too sweet), made a list of furniture in the front room which is their's and an extra list of things they can take if they would like to. DS3 has done terrible things to my large couch (as if the cat scratchings weren't enough) so it will do as a 'starter item'. It went with DS1 and his gf (now wife) for a few years until they could afford something they chose. If DS3 doesn't want it, I already know which bedspread I will use to cover the worst of the damage. I'm hoping it will recover some of it's shape once it doesn't have to cope with an over sized human in residence most of the time (think young Hagrid). Henry's still in the shed at mum's but DS3 has already been told that when he returns, he and Henry are going to deal with all the crumb debris.

The next stage of the under stairs is to move their 'gadgets' to the visible end of the cube shelf on the floor. I can see a large  insecutor, something which I think is a slushy maker (possibly a crushed ice maker) and an apple corer/ peeler at the pointy end. I've also seen several trays for the dehydrator (but think the bit that makes it 'go' was thrown out by the cleaning team last December), a small insecutor, part of the rice cooker (has been replaced by the slow cooker I think) and a machine which grates things with a range of grater bits (definitely replaced by a new one).

I've done 3 of the cube cubbies. One has all my wholemeal pasta, rice and noodles (their non-w'meal has been separated out into a mixing bowl and a large tub. One has all the flours but the ones in use (in labelled jars). The third cubby has excess tins of soup, beans and chopped tomatoes - at least 6 of each on easily reached shelves. I also need to have a proper look at the far cubbies
which have paint cans. As I last did all through 5 or 6 years ago any that are bits can be left open outside to disperse any VOCs and then binned. I think there are a couple of unopened ones in my favourite colours (all warm whites). I did judge it very closely - I finished the last square on the stairs using a tester pot. Front room and the big bedroom took 3 cans each, my room took 2 and the stairs and landing used up any leftovers - different colours on either side of the stairs but the lighting hits it differently so no-one will notice and the little landing bit (more doorways than wall) has a different colour on the ceiling (mostly in shadow).

What other paint is under there I do not know, so some decisions to be made. The stage after that is to spread my tools and fixings on the kitchen table and sort through. Any duplicates can make up a small tool box for those two (I divided my tools with DS1 about 3 years ago but some duplicates are things mum had and some are things I bought because I was sick of humping things back and forth between my house and the bungalow).  I'm already putting bits aside for a 'useful box'.

I did this for both my brothers when they set up home - it will have things like batteries, scissors and sellotape, a few pens and pencils (DS3 has many drawing pens, 0.05 and 0.07 but has to ask me if he needs an actual pen). I'll round up all the command hooks as Beloved is very fond of them. Stuff we have lying around and take for granted but can be expensive if you have to go out and buy them. There's another category to gather which is things for a busy board for my grand-daughter - I know I have one of those battery operated push on and off lights, a castor, a small bolt and probably many other things. Somewhere in one of the unpacked bags I have my mum's icing board which I will paint as a base - that will be a link with the great-grandma she never met. DS2 plans to do something similar with my ex's stuff. He's already playing her some of the records he owned that he remembers listening to with his dad, the grandad who was so looking forward to the baby but didn't quite make it.

Just seen the time and think I'll have lunch before starting again, making sure to have plenty of rest breaks and alternating jobs.
So 7 bags of food unpacked (more really as I took an empty bag back for the leftovers and gathered other items from around the house), 3 bags of mainly kitchen taken upstairs (I left 2 heavy ones for DS3 to bring), 3 bags of rubbish/ recycling. A little more weeding done but not collected it all yet, an extra one for lists and organising. 14 to add to my previous total of 633 = 647/ 2022. I want to improve on that a little but there was much more organising (so it's easily visible and will get used) than letting go yesterday.

Floss

@grandmanerd doDS3 and his beloved have a place & date for their move?

grandmanerd

Floss said:

@grandmanerd doDS3 and his beloved have a place & date for their move?

They've seen somewhere they want. Their first choice was taken off the market. I want to wait until the bungalow sale is definitely going through (exchange of contracts) so I know the money is definitely on the way, as it puts us in a much stronger position (especially for the cheaper houses). I also want to check with a mortgage broker to see if they are eligible for any kind of mortgage, what needs to be in a mortgage agreement (my house were cash sales, I've never had a mortgage). I did hope everything might be settled by year end but when my first buyer withdrew, I thought that might be unrealistic.

Anyway the whole getting them a house is yet another elephant to tackle. What I can do, meanwhile, is get them organised, talk them through various things - when we get the chance to view 'the house' or possibly houses by then, we need to go armed with tape measures to do room sizes and layouts (not always given or obvious from online details) and mark the positions of plugs, what sort of curtain rails are installed.  They could usefully start measuring all their existing items of furniture and making scale drawings. After that I'll talk them through basic ergonomics - how much room to allow for walking round various items etc. 

Basically I want them to move smoothly, everything boxed and labelled (DS1 is very fond of the rent a van and then keep chucking your belongings in until it's full to the rafters and repeat - it drives me up the wall), to know which pieces of furniture go in which room (and the layout if possible). Beloved will be going back to her parents for the festive season (she only managed 2.5 days last time). I think her sister already has her own place (they all leave the parents and the adopted 'child from hell' as soon as possible) so I'm going to start talking about her sister coming to fetch her and maybe storing a car load of their stuff at her house (much easier to shuffle across town rather than across the Pennines).

When the other two left (they came back from time to time, when everything went wrong), I had everything as close to the door as possible. DS1 left all his dressing up clothes (cosplay, Larping and halloween), his mountaineering gear and on one occasion all his kitchen equipment and it stayed with me for a year after the furniture left and 2 years after he left). When he was finally coming to collect it all (renting a house with his then gf, prior to them buying and moving into their own home) I had as much as possible in the porch, some piled up on the couch (most of my furniture was upstairs as I was having work done at the time) and bags and boxes on every step of the stairs.

They're going and they're not coming back (they won't have the organisational skills to come back). I bought this house to live alone (bought it in 1980, moved in in 1981 after having it rewired and 2nd hand bathroom fitted and finished paying for it in 1982). Unfortunately the boys' father latched onto to me with all the tenacity of a drowning man, I was about to leave him when I fell pregnant. I knew I wanted to keep the baby (in the five days between test and result) but if he didn't, I was happy to go it alone. He said he did want the baby (he lied), my sewing room/ study/ library became a nursery, one boy became 3, divorced him over 30 years ago but he continued to disrupt my life and never paid a penny maintenance. 

I need it to be me, on my own, in my own little house. I did have a wobble when I realised how poor my mobility is but now I've fallen in love with my little house again. That's all I want, my house, enough money to make the necessary adaptations and not be worried (I'm used to existing on very little money, my needs are very modest) and for all 3 of my boys to be happy and settled - DS3 and Beloved have been in a relationship for about 15 years, since their late teens. See my new grand-daughter and be part of her life, see my grand-puppy, my other sons and their partner's from time to time,read and make things.

vulpix

I completely identify with your thoughts on sociability grandmanerd. 

 Just listing before I forget. 

 More stuff for the chazzer when I was putting stuff away. 

 A top. Worn once 
 A little leather handbag. Too small for my phone. 

 2 woolly scarves  2 pairs of gloves 
 
 I also sorted a pile of pre used Xmas paper. To use at the Christmas fair making Santa searchers with the children. Basically 2 loo roll middles made into binoculars. 

 Vx 

[Deleted User]

Wouldn't it be great if we could teleport ourselves to each others houses, then sort through and choose what we could use ourselves !

grandmanerd

An overly keen insurance salesman once said "But what if your house burns down and all your stuff is gone and needs replacing".  i replied that I dreamt of my house burning down. I've lived with everyone else's cast offs for so long the idea of all the mismatched junk gone and being able to replace it with only what I wanted and loved was wonderful. I was 50 years old before I got to go  in a shop and pick my own sofa.

[Deleted User]

It's character building @grandmanerd 
When you have to wait for something new it's sooooo rewarding though.

nannywindow

Hello all, just decluttered a family funeral this afternoon, DH's side. After the service we went to the local golf club and I was glad when a small group of us broke off into another room as the main room was choc-a-block full of people all talking at once. I'm not anti-social but you couldn't hear yourself think and so many people in one room made me feel claustrophobic. Anyway, I wore a pair of newish black shoes from the back of my wardrobe and I remember now why they were at the back, they were so uncomfortable and almost crippled me! They are now in the cs bag so perhaps someone else can make use of them.
nan