2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

flamingo747

That does sound frustrating Vulpix, especially if you have to do all the legwork but get to make none of the decisions! I'm afraid I don't know the full story, but is your brother unreasonable about things like the lock changing?

flamingo747

+5 for 4 items for rag bag and a bag full of surplus sewing stuff for the charity shop. Have also decluttered the hated job of sofa cleaning, will have +2 for getting it off the list!

Edited to add +3 for two tunneled candles chopped up, melted in a saucepan, and poured into a silicone mould I never use, to make 8 new large wax melts. One jar recycled, the other is a pretty ribbed orange one that is staying to store the melts a nice little activity to do whilst Mr Flamingo is at work and I listened to radio 4

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

I got it wrong - DH has only just got up 14:43 😱 I watched a couple more episodes of Silent Witness, then did the prep for tonight’s dinner - fish pie from scratch. Very tasty it was too 🤤 Two portions left for freezer. Wudupa.

2067 - 2068 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans - recycled 

2069 Kitchen detritus binned 

Now back to cheerleading 😉

Great advice for ajmoney, QueenJess 👏 

~FlowerPot~, what a lovely compliment - I am now blushing furiously ☺️ So sorry to hear that you are in so much pain 😔 Please, please don’t try to do too much when the pain calms down 🙏 I hope you did manage to spend some time  at the macmillan coffee morning 🤞

Moorviews, fingers crossed that MrMV will stay motivated 🤞If he does well he might even earn a gold star 😉 I would like to thank you for sharing your method of decluttering 👏 As you say, very organic 😊

ajmoney, you have made an excellent start 👏 I am very impressed that you already have two bags to drop off at the charity shop (cs) 🥳 I do like seeing the possessions laid out in the warehouse in Sort Your Life Out but I am really curious to see the people who open all the boxes & lay everything out & then repack the boxes 🤨 They seem to me to be the unsung heroes of the programme 😊

Siebrie, another very useful observation about deciding what to keep which is just as important as what to declutter 👏

nannywindow, sorry about the hip 😔 & I hope you recover quickly 🤞Meanwhile I think you should just supervise your DH whilst he does all the work 😉

ajmoney, what a great quote & thank you for sharing it with us 👏 

flamingo747, yet another great quote 👏 sending get well soon wishes to Mr Flamingo. Flylady AND decluttering at the same time 🤩

vulpix, no wonder you have unpacking fatigue - there were a lot of boxes 😱 You should definitely have a few days off before returning to the fray 😊

short_bird 😁

flamingo747, I agree ☝️ 

Floss, fingers crossed 🤞

Excellent decluttering Rootle 👏

TC77, we have had a spate of good quotes over the last couple of pages 😊

Florenceem, so much for taking it easy 😔 Friday was an even busier day than you usually have 🤩 I hope you managed to have an early night in order to be fully refreshed for a very busy Saturday 🤞Hope the SA tabletop sale is very successful 🤞

daisy_1571, unfortunately I don’t think it us up to vulpix 😔

vulpix, very pleased to hear that the house is fine 😊 Such a shame that your brother doesn’t seem to have the sense he was born with 😉 You would have thought the very first thing he would do is change the locks - front & back 🙄 I think you have every right to feel out of sorts - much as you love your mum she rather seems to be taking you for granted 😔 & letting your brother avoid doing anything useful 😔 

Excellent decluttering flamingo747 👏

I have caught up 🥳 so I am off to bed 💤 

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 2069/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £469.00

GrannyKate

Morning all.  Slept like a log last night after a week of poorly DGS4.  He seems better and will hopefully go to school Monday.  Out tonight for a quiz and supper.  Some frogs to do today and cleaning as everywhere feels sticky and cluttered.  Water bill has gone up £9 a month - probably the swimming pool and it being so hot as well as end of first full year of having extra people living here.  

1289 Tree pruning - large pile on drive to take to tip - one of this morning's jobs
1290/91 Two frogs sent off to await replies.  

flamingo747

MrsSD yes, I want to see the rest of the team. There's no way 4 people could strip, pack, unpack, clean, redecorate, build, repack, organise, and reclean again in 7 days! 

Moorviews

Happy Birthday 🥳🎂 @flamingo747! I hope you have a lovely day 

@vulpix - it’s a difficult situation when there is a very dominant character/s involved. I can suggest from experience that if it is possible to emotionally detach from it to a degree then that is helpful. Very much a work in progress for me still so you have my sympathy. I share your view of wanting to make things easier for our children. 

We took a load of garden waste of the pernicious weeds variety to the dump this week. Also, Mr MV had a bonfire which I am not a massive fan of but there was a lot of brushwood to be dealt with. All the recycling has also been done. I am making some of my old clothes into new ones with my sewing machine and taking things in and up as needed. It’s great to give things a new lease of life and make them wearable instead of being clutter in my wardrobe. 

I really need to clear and clean out the cupboard under the sink in the shower room as I recently spotted it was very grim! I use the bathroom myself so I hadn’t registered what has accumulated in that cupboard. I also have my eye on the cupboard under the sink in the utility room. These are obviously all distractions from tackling the desk!

2Scratters

Morning Peeps,
@ajmoney - putting like with like can be a good start in any area that needs working on. First it tidies up, then you can see a problem or not, this then makes it easier to move it on/let it go or work with it. Welcome aboard this journey.

@Liverpool_Anne hope you enjoyed your not going out out birthday yesterday. 

I have managed to UU bottle of perfume, a lipstick, decanting conditioner from the hair colour box into another vessel ( I don't worry about mixing them up). There is a physical space on top of the bathroom cabinet - never to be filled again. UU 6 candles this week - they do only last about an evening as they are old and burn quite fast even when the wick is trimmed. Not sure if I mentioned I recycled/gifted 2 items to a friend and fetched 2 other items from the loft to be used up. 

@vulpix - I empathise with you having a numpty brother who only wants to do parents house his way.
 I found a letter at parents which is 42 years old where my uncle had charged the estate for him cleaning, tidying and preparing the house for sale and taking a week unpaid from work and then claiming for his wife and 2 teenage children for a weekend 80hrs in "wages". This could have all been done at minimal cost as at the time my dad was out of work and he offered to help FOC so he had something to do.
I would just want to apply common sense in getting locks changed and keep the property safe. Is it still insured? Is he the eldest? Yet on the other hand just don't do anything and leave him to it. Has mum said anything about a will? Is she after getting the house sold for her benefit?
It really is dammed if you do or don't do. xx

2 Scratters xx

vulpix

Thank you for your support chums. As you know family can be a minefield. 

 I am the eldest by 10 years. My brother is the executor of the will. He is a very strong character but an Olympic procrastinator. I am also a strong character but not a procrastinator. We had a massive fall out 30 years ago when my Dad died when I was accused of stealing things of value from the house. It was actually things my Mum had given me. The blessed brown drawers that my Dad used in the shed. Once I had restored them, brother wanted them because he thought they were worth a lot of money. My Mum didn’t support me and tell him she had given me stuff and all that resulted in me and brother not speaking for 20 years and me n Mum not being very close. It is only in the last 10 years as my Mum has got older that I have seen more of her. I don’t bear grudges but I am extremely wary of that horrendous argument repeating. My Mum is of a similar mindset to my brother and thinks it’s fine to leave the house and contents to just rot away. On the other hand she has asked me to empty it by bringing everything to her to examine and then take it away again!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is me pushing to empty the house and sell it. When she dies it would be easier if there was no house to deal with. At least now I am doing what my Mum has asked otherwise my hands would be tied and I would also be accused of doing nothing. I have joked with MrV for many years that by the time my brother has executed the estate I will end up owing him money!

 Sad state of affairs. My kids are coming in October and we will have a blitz on the place. Taking the beds to the tip, taking Mum boxes of tat to look at. I think after that I will be done with the house. I wouldn’t mind but there is nothing of any real value in the place. Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s valuable. I actually said that to Mum yesterday. Btw, after a couple of years where I was very upset about the rift I got over it and detatched. 

 Well done if you finished reading that. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂Vx 

Floss

@vulpix it sounds like you have a plan to manage the situation, but I can imagine it is not going to be an easy process. Good that your offspring are coming to help you - perhaps you should bill the estate for their (and your) time as house clearance 🤔😉
Does the house need to be sold to pay for your mum's care? 

GrannyKate

@vulpix - my sympathies for your situation.  Luckily my siblings were ok leaving me to deal with things.  Late DH was an only child so only my three children to consult.  

Very successful frog eating morning so far

1292 - Rang up about travel insurance which I have through my bank account.  Only had to pay additional age supplement of £75 this year for worldwide travel.  I was worried about the colonoscopies but as everything benign they had no concerns.  I got some other quotes on line which were a lot more and only covered Europe.  Better to speak to a real person as I did this morning.
1293 - Car load of garden stuff to tip
1294 - Used ink cartridges to tip
1295 - Bag of plastics to SM

Came back after tip and washed hands before nipping back to village as there was a Macmillan coffee morning.  Bought raffle tickets, tombola, tea and biscuits, small halloween gift for DGS4 and a Christmas gift for DGD2. I won some chocolate biscuits and a tin of wood polish!

Cooking myself some lunch as I feel hungry - not really been eating proper meals whilst looking after poorly boy this week.  5 out of 10 items done on my list of frogs.