2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

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

Back again - DSis has just gone out shopping, I think she wanted me to go with her but I have my own food shop planned 😉 I really do not enjoy shopping at the best of times but I enjoy it even less if I go with DSis as she never takes a list & just ambles around 😂 I did my shopping but only managed to get half the items on my list 😔 the rest were not in stock. When I got home DSis was already back - she had intended to go into Lewisham but there were no trains 😔 so she had gone to As*a as well 🙂 DH has made a start on clearing his office desk ………. after much nagging 😉 Dinner was oven baked salmon fillets, hg potatoes, peas & sweetcorn 🤤 Wudupa. DSis & I just watched The Full Monty 😉 P.S stayed dry all day with quite a bit of sunshine 🙂 

1707 - 1711 Kitchen & office recycling, plastic bottle, newspaper, drinks cans - recycled 

1712 Kitchen detritus binned 

Welcome aboard the EDT (Electric Decluttering Train) applepad 👋 Lovely to meet you 😊 I see roundtuit has explained MMiM & we also have AAiA - Admin Action in April/August. Sorry to hear about your health problems 😔 but well done on taking the decision to share dealing with finances & running your home with your husband 😊 One suggestion I will offer is to divide your paperwork into types e.g. utilities, bank accounts, savings accounts, insurances  etc, then deal with one type of paperwork at a time. I am sure our fellow declutterati will come up with other suggestions to get you started on decluttering & sorting your paperwork 😊

roundtuit, I forgot the other half of the “great minds think alike” being “fools seldom differ” 🤣 Although I do think in our case it is “great minds” 😉 Keep up the good work with decluttering books👏

Excellent decluttering of books diminua 👏 Good luck getting your haemoglobin level up 🍀

Florenceem, hope the weather is kind tomorrow for the carnival 🤞

Brie, shame about the bank branch having awkward opening times until it closes 😔 Good luck sorting the Room of Doom 🍀 Hopefully OH will pitch in properly & won’t leave it all to you 🤞 Rolling towels is quite space saving so you can keep more towels than if they are folded 😉

Oops, just seen the time so am off to bed 😉

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 1712/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £299.00

GrannyKate

Just checking in as awol with small people for a week.  
1064 Decluttered birthday presents to DD
1065 On line meeting done and papers to recycling (not used laptop to do this for a while but managed to download latest version of software at the last minute)

Reading along but not much to post

~FlowerPot~

EnergyShifter said:

Visited Stonehenge yesterday - found it quite underwhelming and blooming expensive to be honest but it was a nice day out overall!  Visited Salisbury Cathedral which was stunning, had a nice lunch & a decent walk.  

Hi energy shifter, alot of poeple find stonehenge disappointing. 
Have you ever been to avebury? 
It's stunning and you can walk right around the stones and touch them.
Plus you've also got kennet longburrow not to far away which is also lovely to visit. 
Flowers x

stellata

This weekend is quiet after a busy week, am going to gather a box of surplus shoes and other stuff and go down to the car park recycling later as it's nearest and less effort. Yesterday I took 3 dead watches and a bag of batteries and bulbs to the main tip for recycling, and gave away a HUGE bag of sheets and towels on fb, I have to deliver those tomorrow so not quite gone yet but I prefer delivering to waiting around for people to collect.
I have a morbid feeling That when I finally get my date for surgery, I need to have "everything in order" here, so hopefully that'll spur me on a bit!

Foofoopuppy

@Dfw38 I love Ziggy, I have a tuxedo kitty myself.
Speaking of cats, they are very nosy, my white kitty is getting in the way when I'm trying to move a room's worth of furniture round! Pretty sure he's after my life insurance...
On the plus side, I'm about half done and have also found another bags worth of stuff for donating. 
Once the furniture is in place it's time to go through all my wardrobe clothes... that will take a chunk of time.

applepad

Does it class as decluttering if you move things from one place to another?
Got my brother and family coming up next weekend, and I stupidly said we would have a family BBQ and the weather is going to be pants!
We have wood in the conservatory which was ‘drying’ and we did not use in the log burner in the spring, so it needs to go into the log store so I can get people in the conservatory.
Also purchased a Gazebo- well reduced of course, but trees need cutting back before it can go in it final place, only small branches so will go straight in a builders bag for tip run in the morning but it’s already raining 🥲

I have had a small win, Hubbie had some post yesterday which he needs to keep- so I got him to put it away- it was pension related- the pension stuff is in a plastic envelope, in the front of the filling cabinet- not ideal- but at least it’s all together.

daisy_1571

On the subject of stonehenge, we passed it on the road and got a photo but we didn't have time to stop but ive been to a small stone circle out in the countryside up outside Aberdeen.   Just the smallish stones and a wee path leading to them through the country.  No hype or other people around.  Just a bunch of us middleaged bikers on an afternoon out.  The stones were nothing much to look at on approach but we all felt 'something' inside the circle.  Very calm and peaceful.   All the mucking about stopped, quiet voices etc.   i agree with flowers, definitely try to get to a small set of stones if you are interested and you can travel, they are dotted about almost all over the country I think.

Daisy xx

Floss

I too was very underwhelmed by Stonehenge - it is way too hyped for what it actually is! Avebury is much nicer with the added bonus of a good haunted pub almost within sight!

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

Sunday is currently overcast with menacing dark clouds 😬 I only woke up properly about 11:40 so probably missed any sunshine 😉😅 I have my 1st cuppa & took a cuppa up to DH 12:15. DH is making a good job of tidying his office desk but is now distracted by transferring data from a dying hard disk to a portable hard disk before transferring to the brand new hard disk & rebuilding computer 2 🙂 He is getting exceedingly bored now & a bit grumpy 😾 as although his leg is getting better it is a slow process & I am not allowing him to go out on the motorbike until it is fully healed AND he has practiced getting on & off the bike on the driveway 😉 So now to cheerleading as my laziness means I am behind again 😉 

Floss, well done on dropping off books & ignoring the temptation to browse & buy 👏 You are definitely on a roll - first the IKEA Billy cabinets & now tackling your glassware collection 👏 Champagne flutes would be the most difficult for me as I love them - they are just so elegant 😊 In fact I am rather jealous of your collection 😉 as I have less than half a dozen which come out at C……😅

Brie, well done on dropping off donations at CS & having the foresight to have OH waiting in the car so curbing any desire to browse 👏😉 Your charm offensive is definitely working on your OH 😊 To be honest I think that “not an over enthusiastic response” is a huge win 👏 OH probably needs to feel that he still has some control over decluttering decisions 😉😅

Fizz2015, you have been busy 👏 You definitely need to spend some time in the TLC Carriage - perhaps an afternoon of spa treatments - a gentle massage, facial, manicure & pedicure & maybe even a hair treatment & restyle 😊 Of course there will be waiter/waitress service 😉 Then you will be all set for a few nights away 😊

Yippee Foofoopuppy 🥳 Always so liberating when stuff stored for someone else can finally be returned before it takes root 😊 It gives you the impetus to declutter more of your own belongings 👏 You are on a roll 😊

Dfw38, thank you for the kind thoughts re DH 😊 So very pleased to hear that your procedure went well & that you have been given the all clear 😊 and what a lovely welcome home 🥹 Such a great pic 😌 Good luck with your August Challenge 🍀 Such a worthy cause to run for 😊 With 11,000 runners hopefully a huge amount of money will be raised 🤞

EnergyShifter, the only time I see Stonehenge is when we drive past on the A303 😉 Sorry to hear that you were underwhelmed & that it was so expensive 😔 For those prices I would expect to see a Druid & be given a packed lunch 😂 At least Salisbury Cathedral made up for it 😊 Great work decluttering so many tasks 👏

Pleased to see you GrannyKate 👋 Hope the visiting small people didn’t exhaust you too much 🤞Well done on updating the software on your computer for your online meeting 👏 Do pop in for a chat regardless of any decluttering or not 😉 

~FlowerPot~ I had never heard of Avebury so looked it up - yippee for the internet 👏 It looks wonderful & fascinating 😊 Thanks for the recommendation 👏

stellata, you have had a busy week 👏 Lots done & lots of clear spaces 🥳 Hmm, not quite sure what to say about your “morbid feeling” 🤨 Other than it will be lovely to come home after your operation to a tidy & stress free home, so that you can concentrate on your recuperation 😊 

Foofoopuppy, love that description “tuxedo kitty” 😊 Excellent decluttering & furniture rearrangement 👏 I did have a little chuckle “Speaking of cats, they are very nosy, my white kitty is getting in the way when I'm trying to move a room's worth of furniture round! Pretty sure he's after my life insurance...” 🤭Good luck with your ‘Clothing Declutter Challenge’ 🍀

applepad, everything that keeps you motivated e.g. tidying, cleaning, filing away, rearranging & putting away rather than putting down - counts as Decluttering 😊 It also seems you have quickly discovered one of the biggest challenges of the Decluttering Journey 😉 Task B needs to be done before Task A can be  tackled 😔 One highly motivating tool to continued & successful decluttering is the ‘before & after photos’ 😊 When your decluttering mojo is flagging you can look at the photos & remind yourself of how far you have already come 👏 Fingers crossed that the weather perks up & you can get all your preparations done for the family visit 🤞

What a beautiful & descriptive post daisy_1571 😊 As I was reading I felt peace descend & it reminded me of the feeling I get when I walk into any small church. 

DH is on the phone chatting to his sister & I am about to update & organise my To Do list 😉 I am determined that next week I will tackle at least 4 frogs - wish me luck 🍀

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 1712/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £299.00

Florenceem

The open air service was cancelled - instead we met as usual in the citadel. It was a sad but happy time - we will miss M so but she is now with her beloved husband who she was missing very much.
Heavy rain is forecast - we are leaving the carnival to the youngsters - I worry about Mr F slipping over in the wet.