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

Washed the lr window sill & dusted the photo frames & statuettes INSERT PHOTO DH headed off to get a haircut about 14:40 but has just phoned to say the barbershop is shut 😔so he is coming straight home. One benefit is that DH posted birthday card & competition entry form 👏 I have had a lovely & relaxing bath. DSis’s flight delayed by 2hours (one guess as to which airline 😔) so DH only left at 18:45 about 15 minutes after her plane landed. DH has just called 19:50 & DSis will be on the 20:00 train from Stansted so they should be back between 21:00 & 21:15 Update from DH - will be home by 22:00 but might be earlier if they get a black cab rather than using public transport 😉 Cab pulled up outside @ 21:45. DSis is covered in mosquito bites most of which are infected & sprays, antihistamines & creams don’t appear to have worked at all 😔 Even though I had requested that she not spend any money buying gifts, guess what……. DSis bought me 3 presents for the kitchen + Turron (hard nougat type confection) The bars of Turron & the narrow fish slice gratefully received but I was less enamoured of the specialist Parmesan grater 😔 & the sink drying mat & rack 😔 Both to my mind are unnecessary clutter 🤷‍♀️

Dinner was sausages, mash, baked beans & tomatoes which was dished up 5 minutes after DH & DSis arrived home - which was a good job as both DH & DSis were starving 😉 Overall DSis had a good time - met her son’s new girlfriend & her 2 kids (10 yr old boy & 6 yr old girl), met up with old friends & had fairly good weather. Although rather tainted by having been bitten by every mosquito in France 😔

1862 - 1865 Kitchen recycling, Cardboard packaging, uu mini toiletry bottle, drinks cans - recycled 

1866 Kitchen detritus binned

Brie, such a shame we can’t use wrapping paper as wallpaper 🤣 Sorry I will put myself on the naughty step 😔

Fell asleep on the sofa & have just woken up so am off to bed 🛏️ 

See you tomorrow 

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 1866/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £299.00

Pennypincin

Sorry for not keeping up with the posts and de cluttering.
I can't remember if I posted it, but I may have already said, but i've managed to declutter 2 bags to the charity shop.
Several jeans, jean shorts and a coat I've managed to slim out of.
I've managed to put the food waste, black bag and paper recycling out too.
I've had a few things come in, but hopefully a more manageable amount, jeans, t-shirts etc in smaller sizes for when I slim into them.
I'm trying to be sensible about it and not go too mad, but utilising the pound charity shops near me.
I aim/hope to do some more decluttering and tidying later today.

GrannyKate

I had time for a skim read of missed posts.  No food today as procedure tomorrow - distraction therapy needed.  Only 11am and I feel hungry.  DGS1 got the results he needed for first choice uni which is a relief as they definitely marked down and some of his friends have been disappointed I think.  He is off doing the last of his DofE Gold Award now. 

1124 Decluttered some school stuff to DGCs.
1125 Picnic box to CS bag
1126 Cases all empty and will return to loft
1127 Calendars and white board updated
1128 Changed photo format on phone back to JPG as it was using HEIC which you cannot post lots of places including here.  Now need to follow Utube videos to change the ones I have already downloaded
1129 Emails read, answered, filed or deleted
1130 Washing all done and put away
1131 General tat from holiday binned or recycled
1132 Booked car in for check next week as it is making a funny noise!
1133 All September birthday cards bought Just need an anniversary card now
1134 Washing machine engineer came - seems to be ok and he gave me some advice - hope they don't bill me as no actual fault found

Lots of stuff acquired unfortunately so garage sort out needed.  DS2 home for a fortnight before he goes off for more training.  Some legal; and tax frogs to sort.  Had a lovely holiday with fantastic beach weather for three days in Wales. 

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 is another sunny warm day 😊 with the temperature already 22C I was up at just gone 11:00 but DH was already having a bath 😉 Good job we have a downstairs cloakroom 😉😉 12:00 DH has left to visit his niece M - moving furniture & boxes etc into the correct rooms for her moving date of 31st August. DSis has already received her call from the doctor at 10:00 rather than between 12:00 & 13:00 🥳 She now has an appointment for today at 15:30 so might/will cancel tomorrow’s appointment for 14:30 😅 

Wednesday2000, after a few days of trundling along the EDT has picked up speed again, so no wonder you just caught up on the last few pages 😊 I only watched about 5 minutes of the football & thought I had just caught the boring bit 😉 - after reading your observation I rather pleased I didn’t watch all of it 😂 Sounds like a glorious weekend 😊 How fortuitous to discover that you sleep better in the smaller bedroom so that once your big bedroom has had the carpet cleaned you have the fun of redesigning a whole room 🙂 How decadent to have a one bedroom, 3 living rooms home 🤣 So lovely that your cat approves of the current furniture arrangement downstairs 🥰 Well done on the decluttering & gardening 👏 

weenancy, very pleased to hear that you made it through the storm 😊 The husky is obviously a very intelligent dog not wanting to go outside just yet 😉 Hopefully you will be able to persuade her to go outside before your older cat launches another attack 🤞 Hope feral cat is OK 🤞

You are welcome Happy_Kitties 🙂 Very impressed at how well you are doing with the neutral items 👏& I imagine it will be quite liberating when everything is collected next week 😊 I would also like to commend you on wrapping XMas presents as you go along - mitigating stress later in the year 👏Always gratifying when a new system works so well 🙂

Florenceem, sounds like your baked goods went down a treat 😊 I hope any leftovers were dropped off to the TLC Carriage 😉 what am I thinking - there wouldn’t have been any leftovers 😅 Well done on utilising your First Aid skills yesterday 👏 I think I would go with foolish 😉 especially as reading about it, fully removed fingernails take 4-6 months to grow back 😔 Free range eggs - I am quite jealous 😉as I haven’t had a duck egg for years 😔

Muddy_Walker, not sure you are a freak but rather a bizarre reaction 😉…🤔 An eclectic mix of decluttering 👏 Having never heard of an “emotional support snake”, I took a few minutes away from cheerleading to do some research 🙂 Absolutely fascinating 😊 plus I have learnt something new.

QueenJess, I am in awe of all that you do 👏 All your hard work & your consistent approach to decluttering is an inspiration 🥳 I really hope you went round your house at the beginning of the year taking photos of the cluttered rooms so now you can look back & see just how far you have come already 😊 I think I might be related to your DS as I too collect little plastic/paper bags 🤣 They do come in useful at the oddest times although I did cull my stash a while ago & donated most of them to a CS 🙂 Good luck with filling a box for Ziffit 🍀

weenancy, you accomplished the most important thing - you stayed safe & kept husky safe as well 👏😊 plus you managed a bit of “you time” 😊 You are always so busy that it must have been rather pleasant to sit down & read a book or two 😉 

Lovely to see you Pennypincin 👋 Sounds like you are still doing really well with your weight loss 👏 & even planning ahead by spending a small amount of money on next size down clothes 🥳 Good luck with today’s decluttering and/or cleaning 🍀

GrannyKate, so pleased to hear that DGS1 got the good results that he needed for his first choice university 👏 & he still found time for his DofE Gold Award activities 😊 Sorry to hear that you are having to resort to distraction therapy to avoid thinking of f..d but well done on getting so much decluttering done 👏 Hope tomorrow’s procedure goes well 🤞& you have planned a f..d treat for afterwards 😊 What a great photo of gorgeous scenery 🥳 I can almost smell the air & hear the water 🤩

Well, will you look at that… I have caught up with the cheerleading 🙂 DSis is in the bath cooling off as the temperature has gone up to 25C & the sun is shining brightly ☀️ Need to check if I have any washing to do but will definitely wash my towels if nothing else 😉………… towels in wm (whilst I remember 😂) 

See everyone later & I hope everyone has as good a day as possible 😊

P.S. here is the photo I forgot to insert on my previous post 🤣

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 1866/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £299.00

Brie

Gardeners here today to declutter excess grass on the lawn.  Unfortunately that means a lot of yellow flowers (buttercups?) that have popped up all over will go too.  Then they need to do a deep tidy around where OH plans on putting the hot tub.  And no I'm not taking that into account or telling the energy provider when I get quotes for a new fix for gas and electric.   There's also an olive tree that OH wants moved to a big pot in the back garden.  Not sure I like the idea as the current pot is located at the corner of the house by the carport and has kept me a couple of times from smacking the house with my car. (aka braille parking).  There's also 2 pots full of weeds and I stopped at a local garden centre where they had some lovely fat autumn asters on special so they'll go in there. 

The garden centre also has some early stock of spring bulbs and the OH has requested "lots" of daffodils.  So the place had self select bins of different bulbs that you use to fill a "pot" for £5.99 which I thought was pretty good.  So picked out a variety all about the same expected height (14") that flower any time from Feb to April and in a variety of colours and styles from white frills to fat yellow trumpets to multi coloured.  Got to the till and mentioned to the woman working that I hoped I hadn't over filled the pot as some bulbs were just above the top edge.  She looked at me and said "you must be joking, some people have them filled up so much that they keep falling out" and she sent me back to get some more!!  About another 1/3 of a pot!!  Hopefully that will qualify as "lots" for the OH!!!  But whether the garderners will get them in today is doubtful.  Might be next visit which is in about 3 weeks.  

Floss

Brie, what a good nudge from the GC staff member 😊

Floss

I have fallen victim to receiving "other people's stuff" into my home... DS1 & DDiL recently moved from a 3-bed house into a 2-bed apartment and while they got rid of a lot of stuff & put some into storage, they have left with me some things for selling. Spare furniture leg anyone? 🤣

Pennypincin

I've managed to declutter the housework including a very quick dust round with a damp cloth and changing the curtains, which are in the washing machine now.
I don't want to sound dirty, but I can't remember when I last washed them and are well overdue.
Edit, apart from the kitchen curtain, I should have changed it too, but only thought about it when the machine was going.

Wednesday2000

Mrs_Salad_Dodger said:Wednesday2000, after a few days of trundling along the EDT has picked up speed again, so no wonder you just caught up on the last few pages 😊 I only watched about 5 minutes of the football & thought I had just caught the boring bit 😉 - after reading your observation I rather pleased I didn’t watch all of it 😂 Sounds like a glorious weekend 😊 How fortuitous to discover that you sleep better in the smaller bedroom so that once your big bedroom has had the carpet cleaned you have the fun of redesigning a whole room 🙂 How decadent to have a one bedroom, 3 living rooms home 🤣 

I did have a quick look around a charity shop today, but didn't see any furniture I liked. I then decided to just use what I have at home for my new living room.🤩

Oh my God. The carpet cleaner just left. I did try and take before pics, but it is so sunny today that you can't really see any of the stains on the carpet. It didn't really look that bad to me, honestly. She asked if I wanted to see the water after she cleaned it. Ew, two big buckets of totally black water! She showed me the pet hair she lifted off as well. Wow. At least that is done and it feels much fresher. I'm going to leave it a couple of days just to make sure it is completely dry before I put any furniture back in there.

weenancyinAmerica

Have cleaned up the bathroom where the dog spent the night. She is back in again waiting for the pool person to arrive, so cats aren't happy. Feral cat showed up again and brought me what was left of a dead bird, so that cleaned up too. Trying to piece the dog house back together - only major damage so far from storm.

Don't understand younger people in this house who claim they don't have money for food - and then order take-out pizza. Obviously, the educational system didn't work on teaching personal finance. Not sure what to do to teach them either. I was lucky and had a special class from our Department of Agriculture on how to live on a food budget of $10 a week - which I was able to lower because of special coupons, sometimes to about $3 a week for a couple of years.
Don't ever expect anything like that to happen again. But they are spending $200-300 just on take-aways every week. And they still dip into my food too. My female roommate said she had figured out her budget with no take-aways - and then immediately went to McDs! Addicted to their sweet tea.

Today we need to go to the library and return roommate's overdue library book which I found right where I told her to look several days ago. Aargh. Do some clean-up work from the book sale, drop off another box of books. It should be a quiet night at the FamilySearch Center as our persistent visitor has just had back surgery and won't be there for a few weeks. 

Cleaned up email, did FaceBook pages, and now here on MSE while pool man is working. Then it is time to get ready to go out for a short time. 

Hope you all have a nice day.