2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Dfw38

Thanks for the well wishes for 2nd dd @Mrs_Salad_Dodger. She has woken up this morning clear of the rash, I am beginning to wonder if it was just something working its way through her system (she was poorly off school last Friday). Well 1 child better  2 poorly.... eldest dd has woken up with fever and belly ache. Currently eating rice crispies and watching cartoons. Ds woke in the early hours with a fever and extreme dribbling, would only settle if I was next to him. So at 1.30 I slept on the bedroom floor with him. Not very comfy but back isn't as bad as when I sleep on our mattress.... what does that say about it! Add that to my declutter wishlist I think 🤔. Think it might be his back teeth coming in but he does have a few spots on corner of mouth and bottom lip so 🤦‍♀️ 😬🤯. He is currently napping, so I am catching up on a few frogs with 2nd dds assistance. No point trying to declutter on a day like today with constant interruptions, quick and simple jobs are all that will be happening today. So frogs:
🐸 13: wash camping pillows 
🐸 14: wash hot bottle covers
🐸 15: clean buggy upholstery 
🐸 16: wash ds car seat cover, fortunately dds covers are clean - relatively new as they moved up to the next size of seat.
Once cover is clean I will put the seats in the loft until we hear outcome from mechanic on Tuesday. I have also emptied the car out just in case. Be back later - hopefully with more success! 

MadamMim2013

Busy busy in here.. keeping up has not been easy 😆
Yesterday was a doing day more than anything, along with shopping in and an old milking stool, it’s to put beside my bed for my phone, etc.. (valentines gift from OH🥰)
Ooh.. two large parcels posted and lots of recycling out.. that counts!😉
Off to post another parcel and visit the bank..
Window peeps to come later this afternoon and replace DS1’s large window and our small hall one, they’ve both blown (DS1’s has mould growing between the pains of glass!!) 😵‍💫😮 so that’ll help keep the heat in the building!
Sending hugs, spoons and luck for all in need..
💕

Brie

OH has set aside 5 pairs of shoes to be sold/donated/something.  Not to be put in the bin!  He has very high standards when it comes to shoes so I doubt there's a pair there that cost much less than £100 when new.  He's very good at keeping things polished and repaired so I suspect these are ones that might pinch his toes a bit too much (he will go for style over fit at times and sneers at my comfy sketchers).  

When he'll actually do something with these & the big bag of clothes I don't know.  Hopefully sooner rather than later but at least they have moved closer to the door.....

Meanwhile I've dismantled the broken clothing rail - I hadn't realised how badly the plastic bits had fractured when it collapsed.  Plastic will go in the recycling and the metal rails will be offered on freegle - perfect for someone doing a diy rail or kitting out a cupboard.  

Siebrie

I'm checking myself into the care carriage.

- Husband has just told me he gave a friend €10,000 to buy a piece of land off of her in their mother country, and she is now refusing to give him the paperwork. He has sent all documentation to a lawyer. He did not inform me of this until yesterday.

- Husband called DD1 (14) an imbecile and is refusing to apologise

- DD1 refuses to talk to husband unless he apologises

- DD2 has ongoing problems connecting to her classmates. She is now insisting they connect with her, using violence if 'needed'. I contacted several psychologists last year, but they all had long waiting lists and I decided to try it myself, but I have to get an expert in now. A new psychologist came to the neighbouring village and I have sent her an email.

- Due to DD2's problems above, everything she does is backfiring. All jokes she makes, any accidents that happen, etc, it all gets taken the wrong way and she consistently gets blamed. The teachers are aware, but a lot is happening outside of their classroom.

- DD2 had a friend, the Mother was moving from acquaintance to friend for me, and then dd2 decided to bully her daughter. Now I have an angry motherbear (quite rightly), that I doubt will ever be a proper friend. I'm mourning, I think.

- My Father's PSA-values have gone up despite the chemo for his prostate cancer. He also suffers from skin cancer and lymphoma cancer.

- My Mother suffers from skin cancer, breast cancer and Hodgkin's disease (there's a lump in her tummy that shouldn't be there. It's not doing anything apart from growing slowly. She then gets radiation therapy, it slinks, it slowly grows again, etc). Mother and Father are both fine, despite these cancers, it's all under control, it's just that my Father's prostate cancer suddenly decided to flare up. The chemo has no side effects, apart from weight loss.

-The renovation is on hold until the Architect can find a builder. Plenty of builders, but they all want to do it 'money under the table', and we don't want that, can't afford it, need the invoices for the extra mortgage. The extra mortgage term (the time of the availabe offer) ends end of this April...

- I have arthritis in both my thumbs

- I have a painful shoulder, probably an inflammation of the muscles/tendons that just won't go away

- DD1 is in a class of 9, 3 of which have a 'yellow card warning' already.

Madbat60

Afternoon all

I can't keep up with the thread. Yesterday I had a tidy up and declutter of the porch which tends to be a dumping ground.  Lots of stuff binned and recycled.  It's a lovely day here so I'm off into the garden to declutter the summer house.  I like to sit out there and have my lunch.

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, Research, 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

Not sure I woke up full of the joys of spring but I did wake up with enough energy to start on the cheerleading 😉 Friday is another overcast day, still quite dark and also very breezy. I am up & dressed by 11:00 & am having my 1st cuppa whilst settling down to blitz the cheerleading 😊 

Absolutely excellent decluttering sumb7170 👏 🤩 indeed - 1933/2023 has earned you your third Gold Star ⭐️ Really excellent work on all your other targets too - so I have a couple of medals to award - one medal 🏅 for book reading, one medal 🏅 for mending, one medal 🏅 for home maintenance & one medal 🏅 for being ahead on your 1 in, 1 out target 👏 Keep up the good work - you are an inspiration 😊

Excellent decluttering regnbue 👏 Isn’t it a marvellous feeling when you have the correct tool for a job - makes it so much easier 🥳

Excellent work Dfw38 completing 🐸 12 👏 Well done on prepping the DDs’ bedroom for DH to do the wallpapering 🙂 Fingers crossed it is done this weekend 🤞Love the before & after photos 🙂

Excellent work dealing with frogs DundeeDoll 👏

Great work on reducing CS bags from 10 to 4, Florenceem 👏 What a beautiful view, no wonder it makes you happy 😊 

2Scratters, well done on filling the parcel & a gentle reminder to post it asap 😉 Sorry about your last 2 collies but very nice that the collars will be going to the Border Collie Trust 😊 That is the kind of dentist visit I like - no cost + you were very restrained with your purchases👏  Great work following the 1 in, 1 out method 👏 New log store to be built using pallets you already have - Well done DH - very MSE 👏

Oh Brie, that really was not a good day ☹️ although there was one bright spot - the macadamia nuts 🤞Keeping everything crossed that the boiler can be revived whilst you decide on a replacement & find the funds 🤞

donna73, perhaps you can find a bit of gold paper, cut out a star & carry it around in your pocket - it might help 😊 Rolling up yarn can be very therapeutic, especially if you have clips to keep it neat & tidy 🙂 I have spice & herb jar envy 😉 When you can arrange things that neatly, a storage purchase is a great idea 👏

Good advice re the spam, Floss 👏

Dfw38, I really, really hope that your car can be repaired & give you good service for a few more months so that you can take your time finding a replacement 🤞🤞

Sorry to hear you are poorly Muddy_Walker ☹️ The TLC Carriage is definitely the place to be 😊

Great post daisy_1571 👏 You are right, sometimes we do need to give ourselves permission to buy storage solutions especially when it makes our lives easier & is so aesthetically pleasing 😊

Thank you EnergyShifter for gently reminding us all that we don’t need to be decluttering to post 😊Good luck with the cataract operation & we look forward to seeing you in the TLC Carriage 😊

Excellent decluttering Florenceem 👏

Well said QueenJess 👏 The spice drawer is a thing of beauty so I have copied the photo & added it to my picture of 2Scratters button box & Keiths_Mum’s Thunderball for when I need cheering up 😅Excellent decluttering & condensing of clothing 👏 Nice that you chatted to a few other parents about the clutter - always a relief to hear that you are not alone in the war against clutter 😊 Fingers crossed that the ear improves without a visit to the doctor🤞

Excellent decluttering short_bird 👏 Good luck getting everything done before the carpet cleaner arrives 🍀

Great work skogar 👏

I am having a short break now. There is a load in the washing machine of clothing that DH needs, both DH & DSis are up & about & one of them is running a bath 😉 I am going to have another cuppa & deal with today’s mail - yippee my Premium Bond cheques have arrived so I will have a trip out next week 😉 

See you shortly 👋 

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐🍰🍾🌟⭐️🌟

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 618/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £43.00

vulpix

 hello,

  Mrs SD you are so kind, you always say just the right thing.That is a superpower without doubt. Thank you everyone for understanding my predicament. I know I am slightly over reacting. Whatever the opposite of superpowers are I am world champion at over thinking, saying slightly the wrong thing without intention and thus being guilt ridden. I berate myself for years over the most minor faux pas. 

 On a much,much brighter note, we will become Grandparents later this year. Dil and DS are so happy after a very difficult and tortuous journey. I am so happy for them.

 Liverpool Anne I was going to suggest what has already been said about your fridge. I had similar when a paper bag had stuck over the hole.Poked it through with a kebab skewer!

 Grannykate, Mr V has a video of me trying and failing to get on the donkey statue at Mablethorpe.We almost moved to your area. Lockdown stopped our business plans in their tracks. I had done comprehensive research for the business and spent such a lot of time there,it feels like we know the area well. We quite often nip over for the day.

 I am sorry to hear of so many people being poorly and grotty. Get well soon.

 The situation with my Mother's house has focused my mind. I have done a lot of thinking in the last few days. She is not a hoarder but has saved everything for justin and best. Everything is neatly stored but my goodness it is a lot of stuff. It makes me want to declutter even more. I watched Stacy and Nick the past few evenings. The participants have disposed of at least 50% of their stuff. I reckon we have disposed of about 80% of our stuff in stages in the last ten years. I want it to be more.The areas I could concentrate on are kitchen,Christmas decorations and clothes. I want everything in use or it could go. I want the kids to be able to empty the house in a day.

 Like others here I comfort eat. last year was very hard because of DIL's pregnancy journey, both Mother's in and out of hospital. I have put 3 stone on! I have clothes that at the moment don't fit. I have clothes that are waiting for that cruise that we can't go on because of the Mothers. I will leave clothes at the moment and revisit when times are less fraught. I will though severely restrict clothes coming in. This includes shoes,bags and jewellery too.

 Christmas decorations,Easter decorations,Halloween,Valentines,Chinese New Year,yes I have all these. Can you tell I used to work at a school? I will revisit. This house would probably fit 3 times into the last house.I do not need as much,I don't have the room to display it.

 Kitchen. I do not have the space to host dinner parties. I got rid of so much before we moved here but more could go. Use the good stuff,don't save it for best.

 All Christmas and most of Kitchen is stored in the pantry of doom in the banana boxes that they moved here in. Shortly I will have to empty the pantry as it is being removed. That will be the right time to go through it all. Or perhaps when it is unpacked and put into the new kitchen.

 I won't try to press my cast offs on the family.My treasures are not necessarily theirs. I will keep and use useful things and decorative things that I like. I don't have the space for everything that I like so some hard decisions will be made, particularly with pictures that I don't have wall space for.

 A lot for me to think about here.
 
 The missing pan is still awol. I wondered whether I took it to the air b n b when we had Christmas there but the family don't think so. I am not going to replace it,I will make do with the other 4 pans that I have.

 Off for an appointment with new kitchen people soon.

 Vx

Crazycatlady2

Sorry to hear you having such a rough time @Siebrie. 

I sympathise as sometimes multiple stresses at once just us too much to cope with so have a rest in the carriage xx

Happy_Kitties

*95-98 coats and jumper x 4 handed in to CS today.

Neutral items to charity =10. Total sent 75+10=85 
Nearly at the first 100 marks for both

retiredinfrance

Your decluttering journey reminds me of mine, Vulpix. I want my children to be able to clear this house over a weekend and realistically they won’t be taking much back with them to the UK. Before we came here we decluttered good furniture and art work that they said they would like before it went to auction which made us happy. Some one here said their DC was saying they would get a skip and that is encouraging me to keep on decluttering. Areas are, paperwork, clothes and knickknack aka junk from my CS habit. And books of course.
Hugs everyone and keep safe and look after yourselves - there are a lot of us with stresses, worries unhappiness and illnesses who need some respite.