2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Florenceem

I have 6 bags of stuff ready for the charity shop - will have to take them over a few days as only so much I can fit into my shopping trolley.
I have a bag of clothes recycling to take to SA.
Felt cross with Mr F this afternoon - I have been on the go cleaning and decluttering since I got up at 5 - I did have a little sit and read for half an hour when my back was hurting. Mr F didn't answer me when I rang him - he has people to talk to - I don't - I am here on my own trying to sort out the house.
I have done enough for today - having some food now.

leftatthetrafficlights

@nannywindow - sending my best wishes for a speedy recovery for your neice - what a horrific situation 😔 

@stellata - tell the neighbour that if he's that bothered you'll happily give him written instructions on what you want doing and he can do it himself - obviously, he'll need to sign a waiver for any injury/damages and you'll sue if he deviates from the written contract 😉  all joking aside though, I'm really sorry that is happening to you - I had a neighbour once who thought that he owned the surrounding area and intimidated most of the immediate neighbours; thankfully after working with serious offenders in prisons, supporting substance misusers and a variety of very physically and verbally violent people, I never feel intimidated and am more than happy to squish attempted bullying - he tried it with me once (even brought his next door neighbour 'friend' for back up!! 🤦‍♀️)!! Suffice to say that he did not come out of the verbal confrontation well and put his house up for sale the following week (as did the friend!! 😂) - since they have both left the neighborhood is much more peaceful and at ease. It should never happen though and it incenses me that these idiots think they can get away with it 🤬 I have no idea what your housing situation is but if its social housing, report it to your landlord; if you are in private rented or an owner then it may be worth your while to make a report to the police - it's harassment and you don't have to put up with it! 

Muddy_Walker

Just popping in quickly to say hello - we went to the NEC Gardeners World show today. And really enjoyed it! Actually didn’t spend that much - a bite to eat, an ice cream and 2 collapsible seats which I’ll post a pic of tomorrow. But I did get what I went for - ideas for my autumn project and some tool questions answered. Oh and a good snoop round the showy gardens! 

Will post more tomorrow when I have more battery and energy.
Shocked and dismayed at poorly niece and foul neighbour 🤬 big hugs and black eyes where applicable xxxx

nannywindow

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts re DNiece. Still no news as yet about her last op so I'm hoping no news is good news 🤔
DH has returned home from his friend's house as they changed the 2 old front disc brakes and a pair of back ones on our car. Now they have been replaced he's brought home the old ones and all the boxes. I shall be on the look out for the scrappy man to take the metal plus an old caravan battery and the cardboard boxes will be recycled. The bin man will love me giving him all this cardboard 🤣
Stellata how dare the neighbour treat you in such a manner. Just tell him "thanks for your input" and then walk away, bet he's the type that wants the last word !
Vulpix hugs re the scattering of MIL's ashes. It must have been a very difficult time.
Pollyanna many thanks. Sorry you're still waiting for treatment. You could probably make a faux fireplace with my hm cakes 😂
Florenceem hope DH is still progressing
Sorry if I've forgotten to mention anyone.
nan

Blue_Doggy

Thank you for my medal, @Mrs_Salad_Dodger
Very best wishes for your niece’s recovery, @nannywindow
 
Another saga-length offering this week, (sorry, feel free to skip if you prefer) I keep it as a sort of journal in iPad notes else I forget.

(Having difficulty editing the spaces, oh dear.)

12/6

- decluttered 2 big loads of laundry via washer and garden to ironing basket

- dealt with 5 small (tadpoles with back legs!) email frogs 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

- read meters & submitted meter readings

 13/6

• 2 cardboard boxes from garage into recycling bin
• a bit of tidying up in the front garden = garden waste bin half filled
• one set of now-faded birthday flowers to garden waste bin (they lasted a fortnight 🙂)
• things to be washed taken off kitchen table, put on worktop
• gardening sundries removed from table to utility room
• 12 gardening books taken off shelves for assessment 

14/6

• washed 4 vases, 1 good strong fruit punnet, 2 flower pots, 5 plant pot holders, 6 mushroom punnets
• all dried & put away (fruit punnet just the right size to hold fibre pots for cuttings, mushroom punnets always useful as drip trays, drawer dividers or sorting containers)
• 2 plant pot holders to discard (or repurpose)
• ironing done
• dry non-iron garments put away
• £££ decluttered for car insurance
• watered gardens & filled bird bowls

 15/6

-1 open box & 1 bag moved from top of dog’s crate to worktop

• contents of box & bag washed & dried
• some put away, some on kitchen table pending a reorganisation of where it really belongs

16/6

• decluttered more £££ paying bills (note to self: plant more money trees ...)
• spent afternoon in friend D’s garden admiring the flowers, drinking Japanese twig tea and talking to their cats
• used my new ratchet loppers to reduce a dead hebe and a rampant laurel (gift of a grateful bird) in the front garden - a cut off laurel branch bit back so I had to treat my leg in two places
• watered front & back gardens, filled bird baths
• ironed items put away (noted that drawers need redoing/tidying)

 17/6

I had to sharpen and use my hand shears as my cordless hedge trimmer is about to declutter itself, the battery refuses to recharge. I had a little look online and haven’t yet found the right battery for it (it’s pre-COVID, probably about 2016 or 17 (so quite new by my reckoning, but possibly not their’s). This may be the prompt I need to find a gardener, rather than replace the machine. New trimmers cost about twice what the old one did, and although it’s been very useful it’s getting difficult to cut above shoulder height, and I’m a bit wobbly doing it from a ladder. Plus a gardener can take the bits away.

• clipped winter jasmine in front garden by hand
• swept drive
• clipped ornamental ivy around a planter which is getting too big for its boots
• emptied back garden planty rubbish into garden waste wheely bin (now full, ready for collection on Monday)

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Evening everyone

@stellata - echo what others have said re rude neighbour; I fear my house is the embarrasing one on our street. I am paying someone to cut back my hedge but got to await end of nesting season. Also when I dismantled my shed I got rid of my lawnmower as my neighbour mows both our lawns (I'm lucky to have a nice neighbour I know!)  but he doesn't do it as often as needed so I have to wait...
@nannywindow, hope your niece recovers that sounds awful and scary.
@vulpix - I'm going to Eyam tomorrow!
@Floss - lovely garden - I think you are near me in the NW so perhaps you can come and sort out my jungle

DD1 has sold more of my clothes on v!nted and posted them so that's a small amount of progress. I wanted to post my box of books to z!ff1t but I need one more book for them to accept it so I'll have to go through my bookshelves to try to find one they will accept...

Digital declutterind continuing but still around 11k emails.

I currenlty have 2 dining tables! Bought a circular one from a CS but when they came to deliver it and then collect my old one they wouldn't take it without the chairs even though I'd told them I didn't have fire labels on the chairs. Was a bit frustrated. Now sent photos of the table to another charity so here's hoping ...

Still twot for me & my fan is blowing all night every night at the moment

Love Deni x

Floss

Deni, I'm in the leafy Cheshire suburbs close to that big new bridge over the Mersey 😉

TC77

@nannywindow hugs and thinking of your dniece and you and your DH.

@stellata I hope you manage to not take the neighbours behaviour personally. I know how having a  difficult  neighbour is v stressful. 

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

Saturday I was up at noon 😔 Today is definitely cooler with no sunshine & a lovely breeze 🙂 DH has been watching MotoGP qualifying races but is now in the garden. He has weeded the large raised bed & is now tacking in some strips of a plastic bag (had bird food in it) to cover the gap between the top 2 planks where the wood has warped 😉 We also planted the 2nd rhubarb plant in the large raised bed in hopes of reviving it 🤞 Once replanted we topped up the soil level as it was a bit low - potatoes are peeking through 😉 We used the last of the good compost from the compost bins plus a sack of shop bought compost. DH also trimmed the hedge. All tools put away. Tomorrow we will go back to sorting out the patio - seeing as we never finished it 😔  DH watered the garden before we cooked dinner - lo burgers & hot dogs from last night with oven chips, baked beans & fried eggs for DH & me 🙂 Will do the wudupa once DSis & I have watched tonight’s episode of Casualty. As an aside DSis has finally let me bin her manky boots 🥳🥳

1472 - 1476 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, magazine, cardboard packaging, glass bottle (advocaat tipped away) - recycled 

1477 - 1480 Kitchen detritus, DSis’s bedroom detritus, pair of DSis’s boots, small bag of garden detritus - binned

1481 Old cotton polo shirt put in compost bin (after removing tags & buttons)

Siebrie, 2 large containers to fill - that should enable you to declutter a large number of items 🤞Hopefully you can get an appointment at the doctors quickly & you can get a quick solution to your feelings of sluggishness 🤞

Well done on completing the tasks you were waylaid by QueenJess 👏 Also very well done on sorting out the memory boxes yesterday & finding somewhere to store them 👏 even if it did mean emptying out the cupboard in the library & creating another pile of stuff to be sorted 😉 Very pleased to hear that you are sounding more positive & are seeing a chink of light in your ongoing decluttering challenge 🥳😊 Excellent decluttering 👏 Good luck with the library sort out & tackling the more difficult ‘memories attached items’ 🍀

Florenceem, a busy Friday morning & you got a lot done 👏 Very pleased to hear that MrF was sounding chirpy when you spoke to him 🥳

EnergyShifter, you are definitely staying on the train just not finding time to sit in the TLC Carriage & read 😉 Congrats on completing your first week back at work 👏 Pleased to hear that you enjoyed the wedding ceremony & that you had a lovely time with your friend afterwards 😊 I imagine you spent less on lunch than you would have if you had bought a new dress 😉 Well done on returning so many dresses 👏

Floss, what a stunning garden 🤩 Absolutely beautiful, I love the curves 😻 & it looks like Whisky cat is loving it 😊 

Excellent decluttering short_bird 👏

Great work SuffolkSue 👏  One of the great mysteries of decluttering- “The more you declutter, the more you find to declutter 😂” I think it has something to do with tolerance to clutter becoming less & less the more space you can see 😉

vulpix lovely picture of your cat enjoying both sunshine & shade 😻 Eyam looks like a really interesting place to visit 😊 & reading about Eyam brought to mind the Sean Bean film Black Death - about a village that isolated itself during the Plague 🤔 Unfortunately it was witchcraft & zombies 😉 Way to go go MrV - one medal 🏅 coming his way 👏

Muddy_Walker, as long as it was an invigorating coma 😉 Hopefully now the car is sparkling clean you will always be able to park away from the trees & bushes 🤞

Florenceem, it won”t only be the travelling to see MrF that has tired you out but also the constant hard work decluttering & cleaning 😔 Congratulations to DGD - a First 👏🥳🤩 

Nice cheerleading Moorviews 😊 You are obviously on a roll if it only takes 2 days to fill a CS bag 👏 It is so nice to have one restful room, keeps one calm & reminds one that they are a successful declutterer 🥳

Lovely post Brie 😊 Cheerleading & sound advice 👏

Florenceem, sounds like MrF is getting a little stronger each day 😊 Your bin men must be glad of a little breather 😉

Excellent decluttering in the library QueenJess 👏

Liverpool_Anne, what a lovely way to spend a Friday - a long relaxed lunch 😊 Your sisters dog sounds like he has everyone wrapped round his little paws 😂 a privilege of being an elderly dog 😊

GrannyKate, I hope you enjoyed a relaxed Friday 😊 You have already had a busy Saturday & all before 08:30 👏

Florenceem, I forgot to add ice lollies to DH’s shopping list yesterday 😔 so one guess as to what I am craving now 🤣

TC77, very pleased to hear that you are spending time with friends 😊 Mental decluttering is just as important as physical decluttering 👏 Good luck sorting out your finance frog 👏

I have caught up a bit on the cheerleading but still over two pages behind 😔

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 1481/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £166.90

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, I have done nothing today except read, watch tv and crochet . Well I did water the pots and went over the fence to water ln's pots and hanging baskets after I cooked tea but no decluttering

@stellata and @Vulpix, I have a p!an to deal with nasty neighbour, nn. The mention of pigs and pythons sparked a braincell and off it went . We need to borrow the goat that Vulpix is borrowing, or similar and a little delivery box for it. Then we take it to Stellata at a time when we know Stellata will be out but nn will be in. On arrival we knock at nn's door and ask him to take delivery of the goat as Stellata is out. Please sign here......No doubt he will protest.  We assure nn that he's not to worry about feeding it as if he just lets it wander in his garden it will find something to eat and it won't be any trouble at all, though we would suggest if there is any washing hanging around maybe that should be taken in as it might make the goat ill if he eats it . Do you think that would be enough to shut him up or do we need to get a sheep as well?
I actually really want to do this and I know where I can borrow a trailer  

Typical, it's raining now after I spent ages watering things
Hugs to everyone who would like one, off to bed as I will have to work like a dervish to catch up with my target tomorrow
Take care everyone
STILL 838/2023