2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Dfw38

Looks great @roundtuit, I love your little piglet! ❤ 

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks to include MMiM - do this before I go to bed

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 ‘Urgent’ daily mail immediately & the rest at the weekend

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

Good afternoon fellow declutterers (12:20) 🙂 Sunday is another overcast day & rather chilly 🥶 As I didn’t get up until after 12:00, I decided to go straight into tackling an MMiM whilst drinking my first cuppa 😉 As I had found a fountain pen a couple of days ago, I have added a new MMiM to my list - practice writing with a fountain pen for 23 minutes a day 🙂 to see if I can improve my writing 😉 So today I gathered up my scraps of paper with notes on & started transferring them to a notebook. 23 minutes was enough to transcribe half the notes. Very sad of me I know but I had forgotten how much I like writing with a fountain pen 😅 I have noticed that I have stopped paying attention to my Daily Mantras so will be making some revisions especially to No.4 which leads me nicely on to the MMiM I did today - I dealt with the non urgent mail (charity raffles, requests for donations & an envelope for jewellery and/or old/foreign bank notes) that I had gathered through the week. Ended up as 2 x 23 minute sessions. One very useful thing was the envelope, as during the hunt for the elusive balance lamp (still hiding) I had found an old Christmas pudding bowl full of old & foreign coins AND notes 😊 Now I just have to investigate what to do with the coins 😉

After having his porridge pot, DH set off for his walk at 12:45 & was back 15:10 having explored a new area. No more ‘episodes’ & 8,000+ steps. DSis has not put in an appearance today - she is suffering from a severe headache & has just been drinking water. Now has a cup of tea which I have just taken up. I needed to refill the tea bag jar so grabbed a handful from the catering sized bag only to discover 10 split bags with no tea 😖 

770 Foreign bank notes in charity envelope

771 Filing, shredding etc from dealing with mail

Liverpool_Anne, not sure I would quite say you were ‘flagging’ on Saturday seeing how much work you got done 🤔 You were busy all day - cooking (I will have to check freezer for leeks as I quite fancy some leek & potato soup 🤤), tidying & doing digital decluttering 👏 It will be lovely to see your nephew next month 😊

Neroli2, sorry to hear that you are feeling so worn down 😔 Now that you are back, please spend some time in the TLC Carriage 🙏 Gardening Definitely counts as decluttering 👏 as it not only declutters stress but also declutters physical lethargy 😊 Might I suggest you join in with the MMiM (Mini Missions in March) - 23 minutes a day doing something in the house rewarded with spending time in the garden? 

‘Oh dear Brie’ 😔 I was going to use a stronger phrase but thankfully remembered the forum rules 😉 Is the repair under warranty as you might be able to get some of your money back 🤞 Although it does sound like you will need a new boiler, yet more expense ☹️

roundtuit, I like that idea MADiM - Make a Difference in March 😊 Excellent work on your MMiM of cleaning bird feeders 👏 Another task added to my ever growing list (more likely to be MMiA when the weather is warmer 😉) 

Millie2008_2, ‘pesky work’ has a lot to answer for when it interferes with our decluttering 🤣 but you have still managed some excellent decluttering 👏

Neroli2, I have to agree - at least with no heat you can wrap up & move around to keep warm 😔

Just noticed the time so will post this & head to the kitchen to start prepping dinner 😉

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

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 771/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £43.00

Dfw38

Completed my 4th make in March, got it for £3 in h0bbycr@ft January sale and made with the dds this afternoon. 
Dh has taken my box I have been using as my box declutter measuring device so I am going to revert to 2023 in 2023 from now, (unless the box is replaced or returned).
Just about to start running through dcs cuddly toys. Dh thinks it is getting out of hand that they are not looking after their things (he is right) but are not willing to part with anything. Watch this space...you can cut the air with a knife at the minute! 

Muddy_Walker

DFW38 my step daughter was similar had tons of stuff and looked after none of it. I had to bite my lip so often!!! Immediate family complained about expensive things they’d bought being broken but no one would do or say anything. Ho hum!

I was thinking about basket-less stands - if it can’t be used in the garden for floppy plants get rid. I have many pots and have used wierd and wonderful things for them to be plonked on to add height.

Not feeling the best today but had to Hoover as the dogs decluttered some log thing all over the kitchen floor 🤨

QueenJess

Mrs_Salad_Dodger said:

I had found an old Christmas pudding bowl full of old & foreign coins AND notes 😊 Now I just have to investigate what to do with the coins 😉

Here's one option (take it or post to Oxfam) in case that helps.  They also take used stamps, so I tear mine off all my mail and send it to them.  I'm sure other charities take coins as well.

Dfw38

@Muddy_Walker it is so frustrating isn't it? In the end dh gave up. Dc are in bed and I am about to start a tiny declutter. We have some clothes that are outgrown so am going to sort and bag for tomorrow. Bring on 2023 things!

Keiths_Mum

Evening All

Condolences to Vulpix, it is a uniquely difficult time when a close relative passes as you have many difficult decisions to make whilst also grieving and supporting others, thinking if you.

My project for the weekend has been towels and duvet covers/sheets. I kept seeing posts about duvet covers and it got me thinking, I have about 8 and only 2 duvets, I have culled 4, which are in good condition and will go to the charity shop, unfortunately I am not crafty enough to make anything out of them. I must say when I saw posts about people making clothes it made me think of The Sound Of Music!

The towels, I had eighteen! I have kept 6 and the rest will go to a local cat charity. Now I have much more room in the dresser where I keep them, for other linens, so I can have everything in one place.

A couple of people have mentioned finding treasures whilst decluttering. Look who I found whilst looking for a vase for my daffodils, isn't he dandy?

grandmanerd

Platypus as in duck billed platypus, the Australian animal. This one is a soft toy version and was given to me in June by my ex  s-i-l (presumably for the baby). He's very soft and cuddly, light brown in colour and rather plump. That day I had rather a lot of stuff to carry and I put him on the side whilst I was seeing to some lilies I'd been given. I had enough to carry upstairs with me,  so left him downstairs and the next day he was sitting next to DS3 and then disappeared, so I presumed that DS3 and Beloved had 'adopted' him and he'd gone to live in their room.

This didn't bother me because it's quite large (not huge but about 2' tall) and DS2 and his gf live in a small modern house so I would have had to ask if they could cope with before handing it over. DS2 gave me a video tour of their house a while ago (saw the baby and her mum briefly but they went off to swimming class - I have a video of them at swimming class too). I don't know if they've got it under control yet but they had bags and parcels of toys and clothes in several different rooms. Baby's other grandma helped them decorate the nursery a couple of weeks before the birth and I think they were only gradually moving things into the nursery. The baby's sleeping in their room for at least the first six months but mum and baby sometimes used the nursing chair before bedtime.

But no the poor platypus was stuffed under the exercise bike, buried under blankets and boxes. There are 4 bedding items, all of which have been used on the couch at one time or another. When not needed they've been folded and put on the arm of the chair and then at some point either fallen or been pushed off into the bike void. If whatever DS3 has been using is grubby and I take it away to wash, he just grabs any suitable cover he can see. Yesterday I turned the back cushion to rest on the arm for support, pulled the duvet over me (I think that was originally put over the bike to dry when I'd already used all the doors and anywhere else I could hang things) and later rolled up a very old soft blanket to put under my neck for more support. I've put one box back next to the bike and rolled and folded the other two and put them in the box (one's a throw and the other's a child size patchwork of knitted squares (£1 at the cs) which is lovely if I've forgotten my cardigan and need something round my shoulders or covering my legs.

I have a list of things I did yesterday (will write it up tomorrow) and today I've travelled across the borough to have the injection in my hip and have been told it might be painful in the next day or two and I should rest, but it will start to take effect in about 7 days.  It was pleasant day for a drive in the country (we have some rural areas outside of the town centres and built up bits) and a bit of an adventure. The driver who took me had been told I was going to Wrightington Country Club, not Wrightington Hospital and he'd never been there before and when I phoned for a taxi to take me home the girl didn't know where it was - she kept saying 'Which Wrightington Hospital?'. Luckily I hadd my appointment letter and gave her the postcode to put in the system. Five minutes later they phoned me back as the driver was bewildered, so I gave her the full address.

The driver phoned me when he was about 7-8 minutes away and after my phone messaged to say he was arriving he phoned again from within the grounds - I'd just started walking up to the main driveway and he saw me.  He kept saying it was a very long way, was bewildered as to why I'd come there (it is part of our health trust and is probably the best hip place in the country. Hip operations were pioneered there and the man who developed it was honoured by many countries as he taught surgeons all over the world) and kept saying if I knew a better or quicker route than the satnav, to tell him. We passed the sign for Haydock race course and I told him we used to go nearly that far to have babies (Billinge Hospital which is actually nearer to St Helens in Merseyside). 

I plonked myself down on the sofa when I got in and later asked DS3 if he was planning to go to bed soon - since when I've ahd the wholle couch to myself. I've made myself a bowl of prawn coleslaw (prawns were taken out of the freezer yesterday and the dressing was mayo, tomato puree, tartare sauce -only a couple of teaspoonfuls left - and Worcestershire sauce mixed vigorously and then the cabbage mix and prawns stirred in alternately. I've just opened a tin of peaches and will be going upstairs as soon as I can summon the energy.

QueenJess

Another update from this evening:

2,991-3,000 - online accounts deleted

3,001-3,010 - cardboard (recycled)

Ta da! I officially award myself a bronze medal having got past my first goal of 3,000 items.  🥉 Tons left to go still I assure you..  I'm also under 200 online accounts to check up on.

daisy_1571

Aw platypus sounds amazing,  give him/her a cuddle from me please.  I'm not sure whether I wanted it to be a toy one or a real one more

Daisy xx