2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

nannywindow

Thanks MrsSD for your kind words, they mean a lot to me. My problem is I start something and then go off on a tangent..... and then another tangent so I get disorganised and make more mess than when I started. I've always been the same way but this weekend was quite bad, so I have given myself a kick up the derriere. 
I got out into the garden today and mowed the lawns front and back filling a large green waste bin. I started the weeding and have done about half, then tied in my honeysuckle which was flailing about manically. I also chatted to a neighbour who has kindly offered to help me or do any shopping etc if DD is working and DH is unwell, some people are so kind 🧡 Now only the rest of the weeding, the front hedge to cut and the pruning of some shrubs left to do. 
I have put 2 novels in the ongoing cs bag and have given another 2 to DD. I bought a new outdoor clock a few weeks ago and only now has the packaging been recycled and the old clock binned. I found an old moisture absorber in the shed and binned that too.
Tomorrow I will tackle the spare bedroom and put things away, not just down anywhere which is why I get myself in such a mess!
Florenceem I hope Mr F comes home soon.
Hugs to anyone in need
nan

QueenJess

No gardening done today as I am too tired and was out for the day. I realised I had extra exercise equipment I never use, so that will go. I then found the rest of the 10 things by sorting out the kitchen drawer with all the containers in.

It was pretty easy, but I’m not sure there is anything else obvious in the kitchen except for food now. @Mrs_Salad_Dodger I always reverse plan my food. I get a weekly veg/fruit box delivered based on whatever is in season and then work out all my meals (lunch and dinner) around that. I don’t plan for a whole week, just a few days at a time otherwise I find it is too hard to use everything. This way I just need a base of stuff in the cupboards and get treats every so often. It also means I only shop every few weeks as I hate shopping. It’s the cupboard and freezer stuff that I get infrequently that I’ve overstocked on as I like to shop as little as possible. I will use it all up eventually to get back to something more sensible as that way I’ll remember how long it actually takes to use something up.

Back to more tidying I think tomorrow and hopefully that’ll give me a hint as to what areas to declutter next.

Physical:

15,105-15,106 - yoga blocks (Buy Nothing)

15,107-15,110 - hand weights (Buy Nothing)

15,111-15,112 - plastic boxes (buy nothing)

15,113-15,114 - snack sized bags (Buy Nothing)

Fizz2015

Evening All, very tired (but a good tired). We did a practise walk  today, 10.5 miles!! DD did amazing walking that far, so proud of her. Weather was kind to us, windy on the ridges and needed a layer but otherwise good. Also found a carpark which was free! So treated ourselves to chippy for tea. 
Only thing decluttered today were steps.

Fizz2015

Taken at the start of our walk looking towards Cribyn, Pen y Fan and Corn Du.

florianatwobob

Yesterday was a sanding and stripping sort of day. The shelves bought last week have had a going over and chamfer up. I was thwarted in installing them however as the new drill needs hex drill bits and I only have round drill bits. Oh well, drill bits on order. 

I then progressed to the stripping of the fire surround (the one we got for free last year and carried over a kilometre home). The previous owners clearly didn’t believe in prep work which is a blessing as they hadn’t keyed or primed the wood!

We’re currently somewhere between a bad paint job and a bad stripping job as the easily removed paint is now off. 

Somehow I’ve also managed not to ruin my nail varnish!  

The aquilegia have been enjoying themselves and self seeding so I now have a nearly black one 

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Evening everyone
I woke up early so have been on it since 7.30am!
DD2 has been here for the weekend so while she was watching TV I brought down 2 tubs of stuff and she said yes or no to it all - mostly no. So I have 1.5 bags for the CS but not counting it as decluttered till it actually leaves the house. I zapped a load of her books on the z!ffit app and some have been accepted - not counted as still on the dining table! I've sorted and ironed some clothes which DD1 will put on v!nted for me. Again not counted as still in the house.
But -  I did manage to take the rest of the shed to the tip - it has taken 3 trips and 4 car bootfuls in total to get rid of it all but it is now gone When I got home i hoovered out my car. I've also shredded and recycled quite a bit of paper and decluttered some emails - still got over 17k though  
Back to work tomorrow but hoping to fit in a trip to the CS at lunch time one day this week...
Love to all
Deni 
x

Happy_Kitties

@TC77 the cats when they go mad they really uphold their executive decisions!!!! 🐈‍⬛

*177 a big glass vase that had reeds, lights and baubles hanging from it. Not used for ages as I still haven’t sorted out decorating the living room for a couple of years as like others have said, I’ve also been dumped with stuff- DDs stuff  from uni and when clearing out my DMs house quickly we just had to shift stuff and dump it  in my living room.
Anyway the cats took the executive decision that the vase was surplus to requirements and despite what I thought was safe place, it was knocked off and smashed. It was a large vase aswell, took ages to clean up the glass and I also got rid of some of the reeds and bits and bobs in it as they were looking worse for wear.
Have kept the lighted reeds as potentially i can do something much simpler…..and safer with the cats approval…….I can hope!!!

*178 cat toy that was a right state-binned
*179-180 a fleece and pure wool blanket dropped off for an animal charity. The wool blanket was DDs and she didn’t want it, rang the charity they did want it 
*181 a donation of cat food dropped off aswell
*182 really hacked through a lot  of paperwork including one frog
*183 a birthday present wrapped and ready to send…..only two weeks late.
*184 lots and lots of cardboard into recycling. Two full boxes so far not including what went last week
*185 small candle used up and into recycling
*186 another cat toy has just been binned as they have destroyed it
*187 BN garden lights of DD that have sat in the kitchen for years when she only put one lot in the garden. This lot i have given to a friend for her DD

🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

daisy_1571

Evening all.  I've been reading along.  3 things I'm remembering:

Welcome leftatthetrafficlights

Grannykate lovely hanky pouch

Nannywindow  if you know you tend to get more in a guddle when you start, maybe you need to do the slower technique - when you pick something up you take it straight to the correct place on its own rather than gathering items.  Then either return to where you were and get something else or stay where you are (where you might go off at your tangent) and do that thing properly.   That way you don't finish clearing a place in front of you only to turn round and see the pile behind you still to deal with.  Its slower but it gets the job done.  (Also never leave a room empty handed.)  Gradually it will all get to the right place.  After all, it all needs done - main tasks plus tangents - its totally up to you what order.  


Hugs if you want one

Daisy xx

weenancyinAmerica

Trying to clear kitchen. Two bags of stuff out in the trash this week. Trying to decide which pots and pans can go to a shelter here in town for families. We have three households worth of stuff (my parents, mine, and one roommate's parents stuff - she doesn't cook) plus roommate G flipped out at one point watching the shopping channel and bought two complete sets of pots - one box still hasn't been opened. The problem has been that none of us have the strength to move all of them and see what we have. Trying to take one cabinet at a time now that 2 classes have ended. 

Still taking the class on PowerPoint - coming in handy as doing a PowerPoint presentation on Self-Publishing a Family History next Saturday. Only 9 more slides to finish. Was able to plan those while babysitting my sister's dog on Sunday.

Sunday was a wild day here. Cross-the-street neighbor decided to help us out and came over and cut our lawn. Which went well until the end when she accidently clipped the pipe for water meant to be used if we ever added a sprinkler system. We didn't but the pipe was sticking up in the flower bed. The top was knocked off and eaten by the lawn mower leaving water shooting up into the air. She was able to turn our water off to stop it, but it meant no water in the house until we could get it fixed. This happened just before I was to go dog-sit at my sister's. Called our handyman friend who was working about thirty miles away, but who promised to come by and see what he could do. In the meantime, I went on to my sister's place (and running water) and left rest of roommates to cope at home. When I came back handyman and husband of neighbor who clipped the pipe were out there consulting on what to do. Neighbor was willing to call in a plumber but they wouldn't have been able to come until today Monday at holiday rates. Remembered that another neighbor had a lot of tools because he also does handiwork for a living. He was able to come up with the tool to rethread the top of the pipe and between the three of them they fixed it up. No plumber needed. First time neighbor from across the street and next-door neighbor had met (after 11 years of both living here). So it had a good side effect. 

Decluttered a box of 8 jigsaw puzzles, a chess set, and two language course CDs (Spanish and German) by taking them to my sister's. She is joining other sister and nephew's family for a campout this week at the beach. They can take them home to keep.

Been having trouble getting ready for my eye operation - but not from the eye. The pharmacy was the problem. Took the prescription sheet in on Wednesday and dropped it off. The pharmacist had gone over it with me to be sure it involved both eyes.
But when I went back on Friday to pick up the medicine, the 4 prescriptions for eye drops weren't there. She couldn't find the form! They called the doctor's office and I was to come back later that day to pick them up. When I came back in there were three. They couldn't reach the doctor's office. But I told her I had a copy of the form the doctor gave me with instructions. I had to go back with that and she was able to get the 4th prescription for me - thank goodness as that was the one I was supposed to take first. So on with the cataract operation on the first eye on Thursday. Trying to get what I can done before then, just in case.

Spent several hours at the library on Saturday as a friend is decluttering to move into her daughter's home and is getting rid of most of her mystery collection. The Friends will have a lot to sell in our Book Nook - 20 plus boxes worth. She also brought in 10 bags of new mysteries for the library to go on the shelves. She has been the major source of the mystery books in our library for the last 15 years. Almost every book I check out has a label that it was donated by her. At the same time, another library sent over 25 more boxes of books for our book sale and people brought in about 10 more boxes worth just since last Tuesday. We are inundated with books for the sale and the Book Nook (our tiny little book store). I only brought 1 mystery home which I promised myself will go back after I read it. It was hard to resist some of the others but I am trying to weed out my collection also. Hers were all hardbacked books except about 10 books. Mine are mainly paperbacks.

Looks like it's going to be busy this week.   Hope everyone has a successful decluttering this week.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, busy day here and I am cream crackered . 2 loads of washing sorted, mainly OHs stuff but it has been folded and left on the end of the couch, the last lot I left there has been put away so this might be a system that works, fingers crossed . The kitchen bin and recycling bin have been emptied and I spent another 3 hours in OHs garden. I managed to fill 3 massive bags with garden waste. I chopped down 2 trees that had self seeded but could only fit 1 in the bags as they were full of other stuff so the branches of the other one are in a pile on the lawn waiting for the next visit, hopefully some time this week. The bags were taken to the tip where I was helped to unload by a nice man who works there. He always helps me when I go if I have anything heavy or looks big so I went to the coffee shop and got him a coffee and a muffin and dropped it off to him before heading home. He said it had made his day . Got home about 6 and as I had coffee for ln as well we had a relax before heading in for tea. After tea I did 1 1/2 rounds of my crochet, just too tired to concentrate, so I have 1/2 round left to do and sort the ends out. This will definitely be done tomorrow.

@leftatthetrafficlights welcome aboard, so much good advice and good ideas here I am sure you'll find something to help you, though this train runs very quickly

@weenancyinAmerica, what a disaster with the water pipe, so glad you could get it sorted. Good luck with your ops, will be thinking of you, hugs.

Hugs to everyone who would like one
719 + 720 2 loads of washing sorted
721 kitchen bin emptied
722 kitchen recycling emptied
723 - 725 3 bags of garden waste
Off to bed to rest my weary head . Take care everyone
725/2023