2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

2Scratters

@TC77 hugs to you for your dilema time. Get your coloured tights on girl! Please don't save them for best. 
If you haven't returned all the stuff from the under stairs try and find some easy bits that just simply need to go, no thought process for them, just go and that will be a good start in moving stuff out. We are all different and remember non of this stuff came about overnight. Some people can move  good sized boxes out at once, me mine is more like a shoe box and the everything in it was more like match boxes. 

We have varying days on what we can handle and that's all good.

Placing like with like is also a good move if you struggle with decisions. You then have more visual and can compare what shouldn't even be there taking up space, that what needs to go and some to save and revisit another time.
Clear an area that bugs you, coffee table or a shelf or a box, it doesn't have to be big. 
Each time I get up and move I will look for something, anything that is not where it should be. Even down to a piece of paper that simply needs to go in the bin next to the fire. 
All the Peeps on here are great for support, suggestions and hugs too. There is always room on the TLC carriage with cake and time to take in the view in comfy seats along this breath taking journey.

2 Scratters xx

joanie

Morning! 

Can anyone advise why I am getting an email every time someone posts in this thread? I’ve obviously changed a setting but I’m stumped ???
thanks 

EnergyShifter

@joanie   Crikey your inbox must be over-flowing!  - I think its your notification preferences.  Go onto your profile, click "notification preferences" and you can change it.  (I had this happen for a while - I think it was default settings).  Good Luck x

EnergyShifter

Wow - I was only away for a day and I missed 9 pages of posts - I will try to catch up over the course of today.

I had a lovely day out - a friend & I visited a mutual friend who lives near Margate.  Lots of chatting, laughing, eating and a bracing walk along the Coast.

Tasks

• Nuffin'

IN (running total 32)
 
33.  A very warm jumper (CS) - bought as an extra layer - not sure how long I'll keep it

OUT (running total 133)
 
134. Used up my confirmation candle - it was just hidden away in a drawer (took a pic first) 

@vulpix & @Mrs SD - thanks for kind words re: me & DS  

carolbee

EnergyShifter said:

Wow - I was only away for a day and I missed 9 pages of posts - I will try to catch up over the course of today.

I had a lovely day out - a friend & I visited a mutual friend who lives near Margate.  Lots of chatting, laughing, eating and a bracing walk along the Coast.

Tasks

• Nuffin'

IN (running total 32)
 
33.  A very warm jumper (CS) - bought as an extra layer - not sure how long I'll keep it

OUT (running total 133)
 
134. Used up my confirmation candle - it was just hidden away in a drawer (took a pic first) 

@vulpix - thanks for kind words re: me & DS  

In my neck of the woods, I’m three miles from Margate 

grandmanerd

I've done something to my back, my sleep has been disrupted and getting a stabbing pain like a stitch in my upper back (roughly where my bra strap would be) so going slowly and getting lots of rest. I had ordered a food delivery (mainly fruit and veg) to come early. Was  awake for several hours and drifted off as it came light, woke 2 hours later and DS3 had brought it in. Gathered stuff to take downstairs as I had other deliveries ('next in series' books) due (also ordered toilet rolls and a few essentials as I was spending on food - I'd done some working out before I went away to check for anything needing to be done and which could wait until I was back).

DS3 was coming to bed so gathered my laptop, reading book, notebooks etc and took down 3 bags of rubbish and recycling. Brought the bins back to the house then collected enough for 7 more bags of rubbish and recycling from all corners of the house, including gone off veg (gone off before I went away but didn't get to the green bin with it) and the tree branches I'd chopped to pieces, 2 small takeaway bags with bits in (stuffed them to bursting) and a bin bag from the kitchen which was half full but heavy and smelly so out it went.. A pile of stuff feel on the floor and a mug broke so that was binned too.

Food was mostly from stores - I'd made a small salad (finely sliced leeks with tiny tomatoes and green pepper) and added a tin of mixed beans with a little of the vinaigrette dressing and sliced meat and bread buns I'd put away in the freezer before Blackpool.

I emptied the TD and packed the contents and another earlier load (mostly bedding and towels) into a bag for life which I brought back upstairs later. Looked at the DW (they'd switched it on), removed contents of the upper layer and found they'd switched it on by adding the 'casserole dish' part of the slow cooker and succeeded in redistributing the dried on burnt bits to the other things in there to rearranged stuff and filled it and set it going (mostly done sitting down. I hurt too much to add another load to the WM or TD.

All of this was done in small stages with reading, playing games and eating on the couch in between. Working on more use ups - bits of medical supplies left by mum and my ex, multiple tissues, pieces of kitchen roll and the last two paper napkins brought from mum's - all  only used for dabbing my eyes, mouth or nose (and even just put in my bag or beside me on the bed in 'readiness' and decanted into yet another takeaway bag as I used them. Worked on mum's accounts (working my way through online diaries for more detail on things like bedding plants when I can't find the receipts (in some cases I have the receipts but the biodegradable ink has faded or vanished). Still using up cleaning supplies - very happy with the inside of the front door, sprayed with vinegar and water and used a pad with one sponge side (door panels) and one mildly abrasive side (dirty grey part near the keyhole and edge of the door).

Something I haven't mentioned before but have started noting down -treasures.  These are the small useful things unearthed during the sorting process - not things I needed and looked for just serendipitous finds. Yesterday's treasures included 20p, 7 items of cutlery including 5 forks which was 5 more than were in the cutlery drawer (all went in the DW load), a pair of good scissors, a candle, and a roll of  weed proof fabric with about 4 -5 metres still on it (brought inside Nov/ Dec to cut pieces for the bottoms of the large bins when it was raining heavily and couldn't find it later. It was partly under the couch and the rest and part in the space around the base of the exercise bike which has a duvet, 2 large blanket hoodies, 1 sofa cushion, 2 boxes (not to be thrown away) draped over and around it and is also used for hanging a large bin bag when DS3 is organised.

Treasures from the week before last included a £5 note and lots of pennies (including one bag of taxi money, one bag of small change to put in charity collection boxes), 5 good pens, a second grabber stick, a cardboard file box, file dividers, good writing paper and envelopes and 3 unused tubes of antiseptic cream (small ones).

I'm counting 11 for yesterday (+  some the day before) so now on 1868/2023. I also sorted my mum's Council tax (large rebate less a bill for part of this financial year, notified UC (a nice man phoned me to check that I knew I was now over the limit to be eligible - I thanked him nicely for the time I had no other income but now no longer need it) and paid my mum's final water bill. Need more info to settle the gas and electric bills (wasn't going to pull out more paperwork before sorting the current batch).

donna73

@grandmanerd love the idea of treasures! 😀

one of the non -physical treasures I’m finding through this decluttering process , is the gratitude from and conversations I’ve had with people I’ve given stuff away to via olio or sold to via gumtree. 

Happy_Kitties

*47-48 two frogs dealt with, still have some froglets to do with.Hoping to do two today so they don’t turn into frogs.
*49 car mats-binned, hoping to reuse but couldn’t save them
*50 old hot choc jar fell out of the cupboard, almost empty-recycling

neutral items
28 donated plus another ten last night towards an event=38
Had a spare cardboard box this morning, packaged up another 21 items to send= 59 send so far 

mfwin2019

Wow how fast is this thread moving, I have just read 60+ new items and cannot believe how well we are doing with thoughtfully disposing of our things rather than just sending it to landfill.
Also lots of emotional talk so hugs to all that need them. My father died from dementia so a lot of what is said resonates with me. Such a cruel disease when loved ones personalities change mostly for the worse unfortunately. 
Spent my 23 minutes yesterday on the storage box under the bed - on of those large ones from the Swedish furniture store, made of fabric with a zip on 3 sides of the lid.
Well it contained Christmas cards, paper and gift bags and the same for birthdays but all very messily. 
I had everything out and hoovered the inside - note to self remember to do the zip back up then it will not fill with dust, hair and cat fur  
All put back in so neatly that there is now room for a wicker storage basket with sewing bits in.
Said basket still needs going through but that is for another time. The space in the wardrobe where the basket came from fits 3 pairs of shoes that had been languishing on the bedroom floor. 

Decluttered yesterday
107 - empty Christmas card box to recycling as all odds of cards now corralled in one box
108 - broken coat hanger to bin, why was that there
109- tiny bits of wrapping paper and scrappy saved bits binned
110 - scary Scream type Halloween mask hidden in bin under empty cat food packets etc so that DH cannot rescue it     Anyone else do this?

Well off to make some soup for lunch, have a good day everyone. 

joanie

Thanks @EnergyShifter. I had a play with notification settings but I hadn’t (consciously) been in there before 🤷🏻‍♀️ I wonder if it was because I clicked on the little tab button for this thread? I’ve unticked it now. I thought it was just a ‘bookmark’ to get back here quickly 🤔
anyway I seem to have stopped the emails 🤷🏻‍♀️