2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Fizz2015

Morning All,  Yesterday morning I got up to find my DD binge watching Sort your life out, she loves it. She has put more items into the carboot pile and was very disappointed that the one we were going to do on Saturday was cancelled due to the weather. It was really cold so we thought it was a good idea to cycle to the allotment!! Even with layers and thermals it took forever to.warm up once home. Then Sunday was a complete contrast and 10 degrees. Did Traipse around the shops with OH (needed outdoor gear for work) and realised how much I dislike shopping now!  Realised if school run time, back later. 

Moorviews

I’m still happily on a gentle roll with decluttering and enjoying the gradual improvements it is making in the house. I have to push thoughts about the loft, sheds and garage out of my mind for the moment as that is far too scary! Despite spending a few days in the TLC carriage for an annoying recurring health issue I was able to potter about, or sit and go through papers. I have started on the grim and disorderly piles residing behind the writing slope of the desk- just one pile at a time is enough for me. 

More books have been added to the CS bag. My goal is to be able to get all our books neatly into the various bookcases so I still have a little way to go. We had been considering building more bookshelves but we have decided that definitely isn’t the best way to go for us! 

This weekend I decided to tackle the mending and alterations, upcycling cupboard as the door barely closes. It’s where I stuff worn out bedding, clothes that need altering or refashioning etc. and of course I never actually get around to any of it! Thanks to a bit of weight gain, aging and longer hemlines being back in I have moved a skirt into my wardrobe that used to be too big. Also, a sundress which just needed the strap sewing back on. A coat and some other items are going to the CS as they don’t even suit me anymore. I have kept a dress and skirt which are currently too tight but I love them. Will see if I can lose that half a stone that needs to go and usually does by summer. I was going to do something creative with some old t shirts but they have gone to the rag pile in the garage along with some ratty jeans. I still have enough denim for patching. I eventually managed to throw out a raincoat after adjusting the sleeves to get rid of the fraying. I realised that I actually don’t like it anymore and the hem is a bit frayed too, so thought, “What’s the point?”. Big success was converting a favourite, and originally expensive, king size duvet cover into a single duvet cover which I was in need of. The head end part had discoloured so I cut all that away and used the remaining fabric. It took me hours but I am very pleased with the result as I have saved myself money and avoided waste. It did mean that I had to change all the threads in the overlocker to white but that is now usefully set up for the gift bags that I intend to make. 

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger and @QueenJess thank you for the advice and reassurance about the very spaced out post that I did, hopefully avoided this time! 

Lovely upcycling to see of the tallboy and the duvet cover into a dress. 

Thanks for those sharing advice on the digital decluttering and photos. All things that I still have to do so definitely taking notes!
 Fantastic work everyone 👏 It’s so inspiring reading what you are all up to. I can’t believe how much easier this process is to do by taking part in the thread. Thank you so much @Mrs_Salad_Dodger, you definitely deserve another 🏅 

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, up, showered and dressed and just on my way out. Have a good day everyone

vulpix

 I quite agree Moorviews, decluttering is so much easier by taking part in the thread.I like the variation of conversation and the never ending encouragement and companionship.

 Thank you for my medal Mrs SD.

 Off to Nottingham shortly. I need to try to improve the sitting room as the Vicar is coming at 11:30. By hook or by crook I will empty the conservatory,back bedroom,bathroom and a large part of the living room today. Leaving the awful mess in the kitchen and the garage. Plus the garden. There are hundreds of garden ornaments past their best,plus the massive cut down shrub.I am afraid that I am being quite ruthless in making decisions for items and about not bringing things home. MIL treated herself and she had a huge amount of nice things. Actually I did bring a very old coral necklace home the other day. I don't agree with coral harvesting but this one looks like it could have been Mr V's grandmas. The church shop has put a photo of their Mothers day window display on FB. A lot of the jewellery donated and the jewellery boxes feature which I am pleased about. I found 2 ornaments that I am dithering about,we shall see.

 DD1 is coming tomorrow,weather permitting. You can imagine what it has been like in The Shetland's recently. We are going away to Wales on Wednesday. It's all a rush,doesn't feel restful in any way!

 I have managed to sign up for online consultation with my new GP. I have to take some identification in before it activates. My nose is slightly improved, thinking about it a B12 jab might be just what I need, I haven't had one for about a year. I honestly always feel rough. I just put it down to getting older.

 Gotta get on the road. laters as the kids say. Vx

QueenJess

Another thing for digital photos, but I am trying out an app called Slidebox for those on phones.  It lets you add folders, move photos around and delete really easily and quickly.  Looks pretty good at the moment and even if you delete the app they stay arranged in your photos (just tried that out).  I really like that it tells you how many photos you have and how many are considered to be organised (and the percentage).  Really works for tracking how you are doing!

I think I will do that and just deal with a few each day and see where I get to.  It's another frog, but a long term one and not top of the to do list yet!  I currently have 6885 photos and videos (601 are videos) on my phone.  The ones on my laptop I think are already organised (one to check at a later date!).

Wednesday2000

I was watching a YouTuber give a tour of his kitchen yesterday and he has a huge cupboard that he said he uses for storage and I was thinking that I don't really use my airing cupboard properly considering it is nearly floor to ceiling storage space. I have ordered a couple of hanging shelves from Amazon as the cupboard has a rail and I'm going to take everything out and rearrange it.

I think I am going to try and find space for some other things that I am storing in our wardrobe. I have an exercise mat, two sleeping bags, some cushions and various other things that might all fit in the airing cupboard if I rejig everything. I also have an electric fan for the summer, but I think that might be pushing it to fit it all in there.

My husband is sorting out the garden as we need to rip up some of the decking as we think that might be contributing to our increasingly tedious ongoing problem with condensation and damp in the house. I will probably help him later so I might start doing the airing cupboard now. That decking will need to be disposed of as well.

It is very strong winds here today. I had to wrestle with the gate for the Amazon delivery driver earlier and I just saw that my dog's water bowl was filled with black stuff! I keep it near the fireplace in our bedroom so I think soot must have blown down through the chimney.

I'm not sure if I'm getting rid of anything. I will report back later.:)

QueenJess

Some digital progress today and I've started on the finance frogs this week with looking at pension contributions.  I decided to try and do two days of photos/videos a day until I've caught up from 1 Jan to today, then I can do just one a day and I should be done by the end of the year!

3,214-3,226 - photos/videos deleted

3,227-3,229 - DH's junk (buy nothing - I've counted this because I've had to deal with it!)

3,230-3,251 - emails permanently deleted

Wednesday2000

I just saw this about Dilly and her childhood. Interesting. DILLY CARTER: How mum's breakdown taught me the healing power of a tidy house | Daily Mail Online

gettingthrifty

Afternoon all:
94 - shredded entire contents of shredding box.
95 - dealt with 25 pieces of paperwork while on call queue (filed/recycled/binned/shredding box)
96-97 2 frogs - tackled 1 insurance renewals 1 new policy .Home and travel
Anyone else lose the will doing home insurance? all the multi point locks, 6 pin cylinders to BS standard  questions, height and meterage of nearby trees. !! What!!??
..and breathe I have put a note in diary for feburary 2024 next year and DH can go through the schedule next year a month before expiry. Lesson learned . My fault, no other. I left it until it expired (yesterday) then sat on a 34 minute call queue to find automated system had sent me to motor. Call handler equally frustrated he was getting  home calls on motor.
sorry rant over..

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 morning - I am up & dressed by 10:10 😊 What a lovely Monday morning - dry with some blue sky although it is still very breezy. Whilst making my 1st cuppa, I filled DH’s water bottle & topped up his cracker bag followed by refilling the tea bag jar - only 2 empty bags out of 20 this time 🙂

GrannyKate Two excellent pieces of advice - delete photos & ignore spam 👏 Good luck with your daily mission of deleting photos 🍀

Excellent work roundtuit 👏 Your MMiM is still out of 31 - one per day 🙂 The extra ones can be MMiA 😉

TC77, Sorry to hear that life is so hectic at the moment ☹️ Fingers crossed that DD1’s offer will be accepted 🤞& good luck to DD2 re her mock A-Levels 🍀  Also very sorry to hear that work is & has been difficult over the last few weeks 😔 Good luck with the selling 🍀 may the buyers be plentiful & generous 🙂 

What a brilliant result EnergyShifter 🥳👏 Excellent work tackling your Massive frog aka Cane Toad 👏Hopefully you will get prompt replies to your emails 🤞 I like the idea of “email archeology” & I am very pleased that it was so successful😊 Absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating & thank you for sharing your success with us 👏 One Gold Star ⭐️ is coming your way to help you remember such a wonderful feeling of pleasure 😊

Great work Florenceem 👏 still ahead of target 🙂

Excellent decluttering QueenJess 👏

You are very welcome MadamMim2013 😊 & thank you so much for my 💐- already added to my sign off 😉 Excellent work yesterday - you kept busy all day 👏 I am smiling at the idea that your OH has become obsessed with Vera 🙂 At least there are only 50 episodes (at the moment) according to IMDB 😂 

Madbat60, Good work passing on photos 👏 Sending positive vibes for a swift conclusion to probate 🙂 

Great decluttering skogar 👏 especially the ‘unappreciated’ cat toy 🙂

🥳 Floss, great work decluttering photos 👏

Muddy_Walker, I usually only watch the flyball & agility competitions but this year I did watch the Best in Show  & like you, I really wanted the Irish Wolfhound to win 😊 Hope OH has been forgiven 🤞

DundeeDoll, you must be a bit sad that your music room is now devoid of mrpiano 😞 end of an era ☹️Hopefully you will find a few ‘treasures’ in the desk 🤞😊

Liverpool_Anne, sorry you couldn’t find your craft fair & that the cafe you visited was such a disappointment ☹️ I do feel a bit sorry for the person behind the counter having to explain that the chef is a bit of a ‘twit’ 😉 Poor lady at the next table, not sure I would have been quite as calm in her shoes 😔 No wonder you were in a state of shock…..OH doing some tidying in the kitchen, whatever next…… maybe doing all the tidying 🤞It sounds like someone has waved a magic wand over OH - decluttering paperwork 👏 Good luck with the last drawers 🍀 Excellent advice re spam emails 😊

Sounds like a lovely restful weekend, weenancy 😊 Hopefully you can have another one next month 😉🤞 Now you just have to persuade your sister that she needs another break 😉😊 Your book must be coming along nicely  - have you set a target date for publication?  Hopefully your roommates got quite a bit of the moving done whilst you were away 🤞You must be completely fed up with your awful weather although hopefully the temperatures are climbing & spring will finally start properly 🤞  Good luck for this weeks book sale 🍀

GrannyKate,sounds like you have a busy week ahead 🙂 Hopefully you can continue with DGD4’s ‘training to be tidy’ 😉 Great work running with the ‘today’s photos’ idea 👏 I have yet to watch the last Endeavour episode - I hope I won’t be disappointed 🤞

Fizz2015, I have been watching the repeats of the latest series of Sort Your Life Out 🙂 - the one where Dilly was left in the house to sort out the kitchen 😉 Although we never did find out how many of the 51 mugs/cups made it back into the kitchen 😅 Well done to your DD for being inspired to declutter, always nice when there are 2 members of the household decluttering rather than just one 👏 I have always disliked shopping but have got so worse much since the lockdowns of 2020 😔 It is a really good job that I don’t shop online otherwise I would never go leave the house 😂

What a positive, upbeat & inspiring post Moorviews 😊 Absolutely excellent work not only decluttering but also converting your king size duvet cover to a single (very MSE) plus making decisions on your stash of the bedding/clothing ‘potential’ projects 👏 Also well done on deciding against more bookcases 🥳   I am so impressed that I am awarding you a Gold Star ⭐️  Thank you so much for my medal 🏅 

Liverpool_Anne enjoy your day 😊

What a lovely comment vulpix 😊 Wishing you a very successful decluttering & tidying session in Nottingham (of the living room especially) 😊 Just hope you don’t have to resort to shoving things back into cupboards 🤞🤞As long as you can make the Vicar a cup of tea & keep the kitchen door closed you should be OK 😉🙃 The coral necklace sounds beautiful & old 😊 & of course I went down a rabbit hole wondering if coral jewellery can be dated which led to whether or not it is coral & ended up stopping cheerleading but only for 10 minutes 😉 How lovely that the Church shop window display features so many of the items you have donated 😊 Fingers crossed that DD1 arrives safely with no travel issues 🤞 Hopefully you can relax a bit tomorrow & start looking forward to your trip to Wales - you have definitely earned a rest 😊 Well done on managing to sign up for online consultation with your new doctor 👏 I hope you don’t have to travel too far to take in your identification so you can book a consultation asap 🤞

Thanks for the very useful information about the Slidebox App for digital photo sorting QueenJess 👏Wishing you every success 😊

Wednesday2000, that tour of a U-tubers kitchen sounds interesting & as it has inspired you will also prove useful 😊 Good luck 🍀& fingers crossed that you can fit everything in, including the electric fan 🤞 Please, please stay safe when you & your husband are outside taking up the decking 🙏🙏 Strong winds blowing sometimes heavy items about can lead to injuries so please be careful 🙏

Excellent digital decluttering QueenJess 👏 and good luck with your finance frogs 🍀

Wednesday2000, what an interesting article about Dilly 🙂 Although she didn’t mention her fascination with labelling 😉

DH has been in a very chatty mood today, hence taking so long with this post 😉 However he set off on his walk at 13:40 & DSis although still in her room has made a couple of appearances & is feeling a bit better than yesterday 🙂 I need to decide what I am going to do today 🤔 

See everyone later when I hope to have something to report 😉

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

DH Awards: 🥇🏅⭐️

Decluttering Target 2023: 810/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £74.70