2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Siebrie

@Liverpool_Anne A tip for sending post to someone in hospital: put their home address as the sender's address, instead of your own. If they have already left the hospital when your post arrives, it will be returned to them.

GrannyKate

Just reporting in.  Many thanks to all for their kind wishes and support for yesterday.  The procedure went ok (Preparing for it was worse) and everyone at the hospital was lovely.  I had some polyps removed and these have gone off to the path lab for examination.  Just have to wait now - no other obvious nasties were seen.  

I have now decluttered workmen and children and think I will be on my own for a few days pottering.  DD staying until lunchtime as I had a sedative yesterday but no need to drive car or anything.  

185 Decluttered workmen and DS2 has put pictures back up and most things are back where they belong
186 Decluttered hospital appointment 

Moorviews

Finally caught up with reading the thread! Well done everyone 👏 what amazing work especially often in very trying circumstances. 

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger - good luck to your husband with his training for the charity challenge. I think you should have a 🌟for getting your fridge cleared and your vegetable box put away. 

@weenancyinAmerica - that’s very sad for you all in the loss of your friend. You are so thoughtful and kind in all the help you give to others. 

@Florenceem - your baking always looks delicious and must be so appreciated at the SA.

I spotted a beautiful photograph and thought it was a lovely addition to the thread 😊

My declutter days continue -

I have cleared the upstairs desk and will now be able use it for some sewing that I need to do. I need to make a bag for grandchild’s toys to keep them tidy here and also repair and convert a king size duvet cover into a single. This will help to make space in a cupboard and give grandchild’s toys a home. 

Sitting room bureau desk of doom has been started. This is more of a 🐸 really so I am very pleased that 2 drawers out of 5 are now empty. I want to get rid of the desk completely and not replace it with another; everything must either go, or be put away elsewhere. 

Basket of outdoor wear/accessories in the hall has been tidied with all unwanted things to CS or bin. 

Huge hall cupboard has been emptied out, sorted and tidied. I can’t believe I tackled it but I was suddenly inspired to get in there and crack on. A ridiculous number of old plastic bags to be taken to the SM for recycling. I have to think about that steaming machine as to whether I really still want it. 

Wednesday2000

Too much to catch up on as I haven't posted in a while.

Sorry that people on here have lost friends.xxx
Mrs SaladDodger - good for your hubbie!

I am finally getting around to booking the bulky waste collection. I had to add an office chair that broke the other day. I'm going to call up in a minute.

I am recovering from catching Covid after managing to avoid it since last March! It wasn't that bad at all this time and I only had a fever for a few hours on Tuesday. I did some light Spring cleaning in my bedroom last night and this morning and have another bag ready to go. Two dresses, a jumper, an ornament and a set of curtains will go off to the chazzer either this weekend or early next week.

It is quite mild and sunny here today. I hope everyone has a good weekend.:) I am just resting at home today, reading and watching TV and maybe an Aldi trip tomorrow, ooh the excitement!

vulpix

Hola, 
 Enjoy your pottering grannykate.

 Reading about all the decluttering happening really encourages me to get on with it. At the moment I want to declutter frogs and have a clean,tidy house.

 Yesterday J came and pointed the back of the fireplace, the plumber came to look at the radiator move and the boss came and had a cup of coffee with me! They have never been so busy,no sign of a recession for them.

 The massive stone hearth is reclaimed from a very old pub. It has in the past been painted red. Last night I used up a bottle of paint stripper on it. Whilst waiting for it to work I had to do crochet and watch telly, obviously. So doing a couple of coats of paint remover,talking to all the workmen ,making soup for lunch and making dinner I didn't do all I intended to do.

 Today's plan is to go to Ikea and buy a mirror,buy more paint stripper. Do another application of paint stripper using toothbrush and pan scrub to get in the stone. Finish stripping the chest of drawers and refinish them. Paint first coat of paint on the chimney breast.

 I have it all going on. MIL still in hospital,Mum now moved to brothers but wants me to take a list of things to her. DIL in hospital. I have visitors galore imminent. Some day visits,some will be staying here. We are going to go away whilst they stay to make use of them cat sitting. Yesss. Bridge still closed, cutting the town in half ! Mother has been asked if she will rent her house to a relative. Good idea,but I will have to empty rooms to enable it !!!!! You know how it is,it is relentless.

 Better crack on,neighbour moving today,and the van will be blocking our lane if I don't hurry up.

 Vx

 

bit_by_bit

Thankyou @Dfw38 I can see how its such a good system. I have packed up much of my stuff in boxes this last month. It is mostly 'stock' for selling but a lot of it will go as I sort through them. I have also been allocating storage for things and getting rid of excess e.g. toys that won't fit in. That simplifies things a lot and the whole place feels better despite still keeping things.

I hope you are feeling better soon @TC77 . 

Sorry to hear about your colleague @weenancyinAmerica. 

That is comittment from MrSD. Good that he is doing the training. 

I hope DiL is OK and hear that your Mum is settling in at your brothers @vulpix You are working very hard just now. 

So yesterday I went up to Manchester to visit SiL as she came out of hospital with MiL. Took BiL to sort out a financial frog as their 'friend' is trying to look after their money for them. Visited DD and dropped in a load of stuff of hers ( 1 bag out) and MiL brought back a double quilt cover she was getting rid of. FiL only has one. 

Today I have some technical frogs to sort out. I have a new phone and I need to re register on all the apps. 

Got some admin frogs for BiL today. Scottish power are sending red letter and a collection agency have also written despite that they owe nothing as the ombudsman says so. In fact Scottish power still owe them £100 or so as a sorry to them! Also need to find a suitable nearby vet for their cat.

Also more cleaning this morning. I have a few bags for the CS. When I met with my friends on Wednesday one gave ame some stuff for the CS. Hats and bags. MiL has looked through and had several bags so the rest is going as in and outs.when I get there.

QueenJess

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger you must let us know how he gets on with his steps.  Take care for those under the weather, recovering from procedures/bad news.  Apologies, the thread moves so fast and I forget who had what etc.

Managed a pile of decluttering without even doing my tidying yet today.  Still need to pick up party food as well as party plates/cutlery/decorations (coming from someone nearby as they are reuseable ones), change the beds, do a load of washing, do my tidying and somehow do a days worth of work before I pick the kids up.  Better get my skates on!

My packaging box is slowly going down.  I hate to just throw out/recycle when they can be reused.  I've been using them to leave things outside for buy nothing people and also as my charity bags (top tip - if you get a delivery in a plastic bag, just turn it inside out to reuse it again).  My personal aim is to try and deplete almost the whole box of packaging.  It now actually fits into the box which is a start, but I must still have 50 bags etc to get through.  I'm also trying to buy less online this year and get things locally wherever I can, so hopefully what is coming in is minimal.  The box usually lives in the big cupboard upstairs that has too much rammed in it, so if I can sort this, then it is one thing dealt with in the cupboard.

I've also been deleting some duplicate photos on my phone.  It is useful because I would have to move them off there completely or pay for more storage soon.  No point in paying for storage I don't actually need.. It's just so tedious and long a task that little and often will be the way forward.  Anyone got any top tips for organising digital photos and find a better way of actually enjoying them?  I don't look at them enough but really should do!

1,464 - pack of resistance bands (Buy Nothing)

1,465 - app deleted

1,466-68 - storage boxes (Buy Nothing) - if you get rid of stuff you no longer need so many storage boxes; it's a win, win!

1,469-1,519 - photos deleted

1,520-1,523 - packaging (used)

Right, better run!

2Scratters

Well my declutter day went ok and then hoovered up. House all lovely. THEN... in my wisdom decided a chair that is damaged and not very comfy needed to go. Thinking there will be some wood that can be recycled into the fire I started to demolish it. Made more mess and simply undid what I had achieved in the day.  So now there is a part dismantled chair to be finished off today. Will get DH to assist with his power tool to cut it up. This will not happening with the other chair when that time comes. Too much work for little benefit. 
Decluttered money savings and moving around - used a list struck each one off and then list screwed up ready for fire starter fodder.
Am out for tea today as one of the lovely ladies at work is moving on.
Tried to drop off the soft plastics at Aldi and they only take it in small amounts. So bag is back in my car until I pass Morries. 
See how today goes 

We are on this peeps!

2 Scratters xx

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks

2. Commence ‘Operation Frog Tickling’ I have an acronym - I.R.I.S. being Identify, Re search, Implement, Sign Off

3. Implement a new sleep/wake up regime - start going to bed earlier (target before 2:00 a.m.) get up earlier (target by 9:00 a.m.)

4. Deal with daily mail immediately 

5. Don’t put it down, put it away

6. If I spot a mini task deal with it immediately e.g. refill olive oil pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc

7. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

Friday is a lovely bright day although still a little too cold for my liking 😉 I was up before 10:00 a.m. only to find DSis already up & about 😉 Made my cuppa & sat down to catch up on the cheerleading 🙂 I was speeding along only to be disturbed by DSis who had ‘misplaced her wallet’ 😱 After 20 minutes of mad & increasingly frenzied searching, the wallet was found in a drawer - not the usual place she keeps it 😮‍💨

Will post now to get a morning post in 😉

Lovely cheerleading post Liverpool_Anne 👏 What a delightful Thursday, the pure joy at being kicked out of a venue because you are enjoying yourself so much with friends that you don’t realise how much time has passed 😊 Perhaps you ought to make it a more regular occurrence 😉 Then the added bonus of visiting the craft shop & picking up the bits you needed to start & finish a project 👏 Never mind the quantity of the decluttering, sometimes the quality of the decluttering brings more joy 🥲 The gift bag should definitely count at least double 😉

GrannyKate, hope yesterday went well🤞both with your procedure & completion of the kitchen decorating 🙂 

Lovely post Soontobeoap 😊

QueenJess, pleased to hear that DS had such a lovely birthday 🎉 I am not at all surprised that you have sorted out DS’s room 😉 Perhaps some sort of reward system - if DS keeps his room tidy i.e. putting away toys each evening before bedtime - you could award him a star & when he gets 7 stars a small treat 🤔 of course DD would have to have a similar arrangement 😉 - just noticed the last paragraph of your post - so my idea might just work 😊 Excellent decluttering 👏 & good luck with identifying your next decluttering project 🍀 

vulpix, what a good Thursday - joiner, plasterer & plumber - a full house 👏 A bit of a shame that you are having to redo the new drawers but better to do that & be happy with the finish rather than look at them in a weeks time & then do it 🙂 Especially if the rest of the work has been completed & you have already cleaned up 😉 Your reward will be to be able to concentrate on making the curtains 👏😊

Dfw38, an exciting project 🙂 but I think you should spend a bit of time in the TLC Carriage building up your reserves of energy 😉 Hopefully not too much chaos when DS moves into his sisters’ room 🤞Excellent work dealing with your freezer frog 👏 I really love the idea of allocating a shelf to "be a future friend to your self shelf" to hopefully make some dinners a little less frantic! 😊

QueenJess, sorry to hear that your council are joining the ranks of councils who don’t really understand the impact of messing around with rubbish & recycling collections 😖 You might have to keep your 2 rolls of council bin bags & start double bagging 😔 Well done on your tidying away of 23 things 👏 Your next area for decluttering will probably reveal itself when you fill up a cupboard, drawer or space & there is nowhere to ‘tidy to’ 😉 Great decluttering 👏

Excellent decluttering mhagster 👏 Very impressed that you resisted the lure of the charity shops 🙂

Sorry to hear you & MrF are so exhausted Florenceem 😪 Please try & take it easy & spend a lot of of time in the TLC Carriage 🙏 What a marvellous action for MrF to take - supporting a dear friend rather than working 🥹 Everything crossed that the friend is now OK & that you can cope until the business is back on track 🤞

Soontobeoap, ouch, ouch & more ouch 😓 The last thing you need when forking out so much money is to be reminded that you are getting older 😖 I can just picture you grinning like a Cheshire Cat when the bus driver failed to get the bus pass to work 😁 Perhaps there are a few things in your home that you think of as clutter but could be someone else’s treasure 🤞 Enjoy your afternoon of pottering 🙂

What a lovely surprise 2Scratters 😊 Proves that your decluttering muscles are fully working  & your decluttering vision is 20/20 😉 Finding more to declutter from an already decluttered & tidy area is proof positive 👏 re your side of the wardrobe - perhaps one non JM item could be donated 😉 🙃Well done on sorting out the top of the bathroom cabinet - it is so gratifying when there is ‘space visible to the naked eye’ 😊

Sorry to hear about your OH’s colleague Brie ☹️ Your observation (Sad to say we and our friends are getting to the age where such things seem more likely and one begins to dread anyone coming out with "oh did you hear about X?") is regrettably true 😔 Always comes as a shock even when we know the person has reached a ripe old age ☹️

Florenceem, sorry to hear about the loss of two friends in such a short space of time 😔

Fayolle, you are right the EDT is moving so fast that it is difficult to hang on 😉 Last year we had reached p118 by close of the 3rd of February, this year we are on p166 & it is still the morning 🤩 Sorry to hear about the tyre 😖 - you need to book Sir Rod Stewart to fill in the potholes 😉 Well done on the bedside table decluttering - remember every item out is a win 👏

Thanks for your good wishes for my DH, Dfw38 👏 When he starts the challenge proper on the 1st March I might just have to accompany him on one of his loops around 🤔 

Excellent decluttering skogar 👏 Repurposing does count as decluttering as you probably disposed of the little plastic pot 😉

Keiths_Mum, I did laugh at your description of your holey knitting being unable to be described as crochet 😂 Now you are a skilled seamstress I can just see you sewing on your badge to your virtual Brownie uniform 😉 Great work on the paperwork decluttering 👏

Thoughtful post TC77. I am going to give DH a medal 🏅 for preparing for his challenge as actually most unusual for him 😉 If you like the office carpet then that is all that matters - DD2 will just have to close her eyes 😉 Re the freezer, rather than opening & grabbing perhaps open & let something fall out - you could have some interesting meals 😉😅 Good decluttering 👏 I do like a small easy win 🙂👏

So sorry to hear that your friend is in hospital Liverpool_Anne ☹️ Sending positive vibes for a speedy recovery. Please spend a bit of time in the TLC Carriage 🙏

Excellent decluttering plumduff55 👏 No need to feel embarrassed about the curtain rods - I believe we all have something similar - an item that escapes our ‘decluttering gaze’ until the time is right 😉Rather than feeling embarrassed, you should be feeling pleased that you have made a decision & they will soon be out of your home to either your son or the CS 👏

What a great tip Siebrie 👏

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐🍰🍾🌟

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 437/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks

2. Commence ‘Operation Frog Tickling’ I have an acronym - I.R.I.S. being Identify, Re search, Implement, Sign Off

3. Implement a new sleep/wake up regime - start going to bed earlier (target before 2:00 a.m.) get up earlier (target by 9:00 a.m.)

4. Deal with daily mail immediately 

5. Don’t put it down, put it away

6. If I spot a mini task deal with it immediately e.g. refill olive oil pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc

7. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

Just made it - my post landed at 11:59 a.m. 🥳

Back to finish the cheerleading before making plans for the afternoon 😉

Very pleased to hear that procedure went well GrannyKate 😊 Good news that you have decluttered the workmen & will soon be able to enjoy some time to yourself 👏 A lot of rest & relaxation is on the menu now with time in the TLC Carriage treating yourself to some nice food 😉

Thank you for my star 🌟 Moorviews 👏 I have added it to my signature already 😂 Excellent decluttering 👏 You have been busy & have got so much done 😊 Very impressed at the starting & completion of the huge hall cupboard decluttering - one Gold Star ⭐️ coming your way 🙂 Also very well done on starting the frog 🐸 that is your “Sitting room bureau desk of doom” 👏 

Wednesday2000, thanks for the encouragement for my DH 🙂 Sorry to hear that you have had another run in with Covid ☹️ but pleased to hear that it was a mild case 🙂 Well done on taking it easy whilst recovering 😊 Please try not to get Too Excited about the trip to Aldi 😉

vulpix, your renovation plans sound so exciting 🤩 I will have none of that ‘I didn’t do all that I intended to’ thought wagging finger emoji  You have so much on at the moment that I am constantly astounded at how much you do each & every day so one Gold Star ⭐️ on its way 😊 Hopefully you can enjoy some time away when your visitors can perform cat sitting duties🤞Putting on my ‘prevention of possible problems’ hat, if you do rent out your Mum’s house (even if it is to a relative) please make sure the agreement is in writing 🙏  Meanwhile, please take care not to exhaust yourself - a few sojourns in the TLC Carriage should be factored in 😉

Lovely supportive post bit_by_bit 😊  Pleased to hear that SiL is out of hospital 🙂 Good luck with sorting out all the ‘challenges’ presented by BiL 🍀 & fingers crossed that this ‘friend’ can be eased out of his life 🤞 Less stressful all round 🙏 Also please try to get some time for yourself - I do worry about you.

QueenJess, I will be reporting on DH’s progress 😉 I believe today’s training will be 2 loops + a walk to the post box 🙂 Excellent decluttering, you have been so busy I am surprised that you ‘haven’t met yourself coming back’ 😉 One Gold Star ⭐️ coming your way for 1523/2023 🙂 Re the turning delivery bags inside out & reusing them, I do that with the smaller bags for Kitchen detritus i.e. the bits & pieces that cannot be composted or recycled 🙂

Great decluttering 2Scratters 👏 bit of a shame that you undid your good work but we all live & learn 😉 Hope you have a lovely time this afternoon although it will be tinged with sadness at ‘your lovely lady moving on’ 😔 At least you can take comfort that you have had the pleasure of knowing her 😊

Look at that, I have caught up 🥳 My initial plan now is to start writing the birthday cards for April to June 😉 but will be back later to firm up plans for the rest of the day.

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐🍰🍾🌟

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 437/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00