2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

vulpix

Thank you for keeping us updated Florenceem. Xxxxxx

gettingthrifty

Good morning all 
So much has happened since I was last here that I've been unable to update. There's been two job changes in our house resulting in change of vehicles , returning vehicles to lease company, lots of potential frogs in paperwork, a bank switch, a weekend away, a hospital procedure,  then covid, a hospital admission with covid related symptoms, cancellation of everything due to covid, rebooking of things after covid, and much more!. Throughout the whole thing all i could think of is i have to reduce the clutter for when these life events happen!! So ive done littly bits in between the chaos. My in laws in their late eighties have now decided to move house and decided to downsize  The valuation has happened and they are very stressed as one of them is a hoarder. DH and i have already said thank you  but no, please dont send anything to us we are trying to ourselves downsize for our future selves!

100 - dealt with post on arrival
101 - book to donation box
102 - top to donationan box
103 - garden fork to bin
104 - plastic pet food bucket to recycling
105 & 106 - 2 pairs never worn boxer shorts to textile recycling
107 - went through ppaer in tray whilst on 26 minute call queue
108  - 26 documents shredded
109 - further two lots of shredding
110 - box now empty!
111 - TV plug and cable to friend (shes already taken TV)
112 -out of date pancake mix out
113 -underlay of carpett binned
114 -part of carpet to bin (bin full)
115 -pair socks to textiles
116  -pair of holey pants to textiles

bit_by_bit

@charlies_tribe It is great to see a difference. Great idea to take a picture or you sort of forget how bad it was. Necessity is the mother of decluttering. A lot gets done in my house as the need appears when people are visiting.

What a wonderfl time you had @Mrs_Salad_Dodger Reminiscing the good times and sometimes the bad is so much fun (mostly). Brings lots of smiles and corrects the memory sometimes too 

@Florenceem. My heart is with you. That is so scary. I am so glad that he was in hospital for that fit. No matter how bad it gets though; they are still better by your side. I am sure he will be out soon and hopefully the source (if onc can be found) of his sudden unwellness can be treated/ Glad his meds have been sorted but if it is them it may take some time to return to normal. I hope you get some rest while MrF is in hospital.

So a good day yesterday. managed to declutter a load more stuff from the allotment and strim before a thunderstorm.

Had a lovely drive up to Manchester via vulpix who gave me some toys and bits for Grandsons. Picked up DS2 who was visiting his parents and dropped off DD to her flat. 

No childcare today so had a lovely lie in and now feel I have wasted the day a bit. Going to collect garden clutter for another tip trip and sow some seeds in a bit.

Have a great day all 

vulpix

We are in Nottingham at MIL’s. Just cutting up the outside wooden wheel chair ramp for the tip. Collecting post, baging up some things that I washed ages ago that have been on an airer. I will drop them off at the chazzer. There is a big rubber plant and massive pot to bring home. It will be snapped up on local free site I am sure. Sharps box returned to the district nurses. Not much else we can do here. 

 Lovely visit from bit by bit and family yesterday. Some toys for her grandsons from DS. A fort, knights,farmyard, action man, few cars n stuff. Plus a few bits of ours for her chazzer. 

 Our bathroom is coming on. I have ordered a blind online. Realised the plumber’s measurements were different from the ones needed for a blind. It will be the exact size rather than a piece over at the side. I can live with that. It will only be for decoration. 

 I hope Mr Florenceem is having thorough investigations today. I hope you can find a little comfort Florenceem now that he is in the hands of the professionals. You have been a rock for him. Xxxx I hope someone is being a rock for you too. 

 Gotta go. Lunch is here. Chips n curry sauce. Must be 30 years since I’ve had it. 

 Vx

Brie

@Florenceem
Do look after yourself please.  No point in getting MrF better only to have you do the full wobbly yourself.  A bit of wobbling is to be expected, or crying, or shouting, or whatever helps you most.  If you want to rant please do so here or to an understanding friend or another member of SA - no one is going to mind.

Meanwhile - one pair of clogs (birkenstock type) have been moved to the disposal room.  A reasonably comfy pair of black shoes moved to the shoe rack - which I have discovered doesn't work for anything that has a completely flat sole.  So likely it will be filled with the OH's shoes.  I don't mind as long as everything is tidy.

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   

Tuesday - I am up & dressed a lot later than the last couple of days 11:40 😔 I was happy as the sun was shining, kettle was on & I was outside my front door having a smoke & reading the daily thread. DH was getting ready to go out for a short walk. Then an incident occurred with a neighbour from across the road shouting from the safety of her front garden & being abusive about me 😢 Very upsetting & absolutely no need. DH went for his walk whilst I typed a rather longer version of the event to try & get it out of my system 😉 DH out for about 35 minutes & 3,500 steps 🙂 Then we went into the garden & cut or snapped  ( 😈 me when snapping 😉) the ‘Justin/May B Handy’ branches & bits of tree that were cluttering up the the garden. Spent an hour doing this & now have 2.5 tubs of wood/kindling for the chiminea + half a bag of wooden bits for the Tip 👏 Came indoors for a coffee as there is a biting wind & it started raining - dashed out to put the electric tools away before the heavens opened - almost managed it 😉 If the sun comes out again we may spend another hour doing a bit more work in the garden 🤔 Btw, I am in a better mood now 🙂

Before I start cheerleading I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has posted messages of support for Florenceem & MrF at such a difficult time. 

Excellent work in the craft shed Soontobeoap 👏 You have certainly been busy & good luck with your haberdashery sale 🍀

Florenceem, I echo SuffolkSue’s & Fizz2015’s comments. 

What a good idea daisy_1571 😊 

~FlowerPot~ an excellent way to describe Monday’s weather - interesting indeed 😉 Excellent work in the garden & well done on saving so many books for a considered thought as to where they should go👏 Pleased to hear that DS2 had such an amazing time in Nepal including staying in a 5* hotel 😊Worth missing a flight in my opinion 😉😉 Hopefully now that he has recovered from being unwell & has caught up on his sleep you might get to see all the photos 🤞

Nice to see you Liverpool_Anne 👋 No need to apologise, you have been busy over the Easter weekend 😊 Sorry to hear about the worry over your niece but pleased to hear that she appears to be fine. Hopefully she will reassure you further when she is back in August 🤞 Thank you very much for the information about free Covid tests 👏 Great decluttering 👏

End of a page so will post now & come back later 🙂

971 - 973 Kitchen recycling, cardboard box, cardboard packaging - recycled 

974 Plastic packaging binned

975 Half a bag of wooden bits for Tip

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

DH Awards: 🥇🏅⭐️💐🏅 perseverance medal 🎖️ 🥇 🏅 

Decluttering Target 2023: 975/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £74.70

vulpix

Mrs SD. What!  My biggest hate is injustice. A horrible experience for you. Obviously a woman with issues. Vxxxxx

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   

Tuesday’s second bout of decluttering was in the garage as it was raining on & off. The intention was to gather a few bits & pieces together to take to the Tip before it closed. We spent the first 20 minutes of our 90 minutes gathering together broken electricals, a bag of metal bits and the half bag of wooden bits but then decided that the biggest problem we had was the ‘exercise bike’ which was taking up precious space AND to our shame 😔hadn’t been used in at least 5 years. Decision taken there & then to dismantle into constituent parts for the Tip. Took us 70 minutes but it is done 🥳 I am counting as follows - one bag of electrical components, one large bag of metal components & one large bag of plastic components - all ready for the Tip. We now need more than one Tip trip as we only have the motorbike but DH will be doing that tomorrow. Also found 2 more shredder bins for the Tip 🙄 

976 - 980 Exercise bike, 2 shredder bins for the Tip

A very satisfying session & whilst DH was doing the hard work I was having a lovely conversation with neighbour G 😅 

Lovely to see you gettingthrifty 👋 Sorry to hear that life has been so hectic & that Covid has caused you both stress & extra work ☹️ So well done on all the decluttering you managed to do 👏 Although I must say that a gentler reminder of the need to declutter would have been far nicer for you 😉😔Please stay firm in your resolve not to accept any of your in-laws clutter 🙏 although if they are moving then it might be an idea if OH can rally all the family to start some decluttering before they have viewings - just to ease them into the whole process 🤔 

Lovely post bit_by_bit 😊 You have been busy so a lie-in was well deserved 👏 I am using the ‘wagging finger emoji’ re the ‘wasted day’ comment 

vulpix, sounds like most,if not all, of the decluttering has been done at MiL’s house. You & MrV have worked very hard 👏 Lovely to see that you & bit_by_bit have become such firm friends 😊 Getting excited for you now as your new bathroom sounds like it is coming along nicely 👏 Enjoy your lunch & hopefully it as tasty as you remember 🤞

Brie, some excellent suggestions for Florenceem. Ooh, I like that ‘a Disposal Room’ - I am quite jealous 🙂😉 

Thanks vulpix 😊 

All caught up with the cheerleading but will be back later as I forgot to share some very exciting & wonderful news about DH’s niece M (the one who was so ill earlier in the year) 

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

DH Awards: 🥇🏅⭐️💐🏅 perseverance medal 🎖️ 🥇 🏅🏅 

Decluttering Target 2023: 980/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £74.70

retiredinfrance

@Florenceem, thinking of you and MrF. It must be such a relief for you to know that the medical experts are taking care of him. Do look after yourself. Bon Courage!

retiredinfrance

MrsSD, why are some people unpleasant when they could make the world a tiny bit better with a little kindness instead.Great decluttering , you should award yourself a medal and one for Mr SD  as well.