2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, we had a lovely afternoon and evening with OHs family. It was quite funnny as when we were having our meal the baby was being held by grandma, she just can't help herself , and he became very vocal chatting away for nearly an hour watching us all eat and listening to us chatting away as if he couldn't bear to be out of the conversation . 
I was woken early this morning by some workmen wanting me to move my car as they were doing repair work on the pavement next to my car. All finished now, they have just lifted the flags and put tarmac down which does make a flat surface but if they do loads like that I think it will lead to flooding in the road as there are no cracks for the water to escape through, maybe it is water permiable? I don't know but we shall see. 
I have cleaned the fridge as there was a strange smell. Nothing that I could see to cause it but a few things binned justin, couple of mushrooms etc that were a bit passed their best but nothing gross. I hope it's dealt with now 2 LDFPA though 1 load is still on the maiden. The kitchen bin and the lr bin have been emptied. The rain has finally stopped so I am going to prepare the coffee for over the fence with ln when I have posted this

@Soontobeoap the boots and cards are lovely. Great way to reuse plastic bottles . Can I ask where you get the little card you have done the cross stitch on? I had something similar to make gift tags but they came in a set with threads and I would like to make some more but as I have pleanty of threads I don't want to buy a set, just the card bit

@DigSunPap, welcome aboard. I am very impressed with your progress and have everything crossed for you to reach your goal of a clutter free home by 2024. I think a week to completely sort the living room is marvellous, you must have worked really hard

@Vulpix, glad to hear dil is on the mend and you had a nice time with the baby . I hope the ECG went ok and all your plans for the week go smoothly. The final in Paris should be good and I must admit to being a bit envious as one of my bucket list items is to see the haka in the flesh I hope the informal pond has sorted itself though I would probably have had to don the wellies and attacked it with the yard brush , I love your assortment of pots

@Mrs SD I love those scarves, I will defo try that pattern and see what I can produce though I don't expect it will be as neat as yours

@leftatthetrafficlights I had to laugh at your UFOs. I have had my share of strange combinations after defrosting . I must admit I think I have solved this problem now by sticking a piece of masking tape on the lid and using a sharpie writing the contents and date on it. I had tried various ways but this seems to stay stuck on and legible . My dsis uses a method of keeping different things in different draws but has still opened what she thought was stew to find mixed fruit
I am intrigued by your 'new year'. I must admit the standard start of winter being the winter solstice always seemed odd to me and your calculation makes much more sense. I also like the idea of a fire to get rid of the things from the year that have burdened you. I have friends who write things down and burn the paper for emotional things though they usually do it at samhain, though I do wonder if your date is when this was originally done as lots of pagan dates were moved a few days by the church to try to eliminate the old ways and replace them with Christian festivals such as christmas day to replace the winter solstice celebrations. All Hallows does seem a bit of a random date to me. I would be interested to know more about this if you can recommend any sources

@ajmoney, if I lived near you I would defo help chop up a conifer for firewood. They smell so nice when they are in my log burner so worth trying to to do this

@weenancyinAmerica another amazing amount of money raised for the library, I am continually in awe of the work you do for them. I am also very impressed with your work on family history. I bet you are over run with people coming to see you after your talk. It must be such an interesting thing to do and I am sure the people who come to see you will be so happy to get some answers to their questions

@EnergyShifter I hope you are feeling more yourself but it is worth noting that it can take a while to get over a virus. They are sneaky little b***ers and even a simple cold can lead to serious after effects so please take care of yourself, hugs.

@Siebrie well done on saving so much money though it is such a lot of work I am not surprised it is so expensive. How often do you need to do it? Have you calculated your annual saving? You should be able to have a nice family treat with what you have saved

@GrannyKate would it be possible to set up some sort of syphon to empty the swimming pool, a hose to an outside drain perhaps? Just a thought

@wort thanks for the info re wax melts. I was gifted loads of them when I left work. I can see I will be making more foreigners with the left over was

Right enough sitting on computer, hugs to anybody who would like one

1416 + 1417 LDFPA
1418 fridge cleaned
1419 kitchen bin emptied
1420 lr bin emptied
Take care everyone
1420/2023

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 dry & sunny so far. DH had his bath & we are both up & dressed ready to go out after we have had our cuppas. I have a slight headache but hopefully it will go in the next half hour. 

2191 - 2192 Plastic bottle, coffee tin - recycled 

Wednesday2000, hopefully the council did pick up the bulky waste & you are now clutter free 🥳 or will be once the CS bag has been dropped off 😊 I hope you enjoy your facial & manicure 🤞 both can be very relaxing 😌 

leftatthetrafficlights, Thank you for the further explanation of the significance of 7th November 👏Might I ask if it is the same date every year? I can see that you have spiked the interest of several of the declutterati as well as me -  carolbee, florianatwobob & daisy_1571 😊

Great decluttering Wednesday2000 👏 I have everything crossed that the workmen arrive on time & the job is done quickly 🤞Hopefully the dehumidifiers are efficient & you will soon be able to return the furniture from upstairs 🤞

Excellent work clearing the garden ajmoney 👏 & a good result getting 2/3rds of the cost back - very MSE 😊 Also well done on clearing the ironing pile 👏

We are off shortly so will post this & hopefully be sober enough when we get back to properly catchup on the cheerleading 😉 No promises though 🤣

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 2190/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £469.00

Soontobeoap

@madbat60 it took me years to work out my purpose after retirement. One of my main turning points was to work on the money I could save as opposed to earn. My confidence took a huge dip between retirement and pension but I am back on form now that I get my own money again.

Thank you for my medal @MrsSaladdodger I am hoping to clear some more Christmas craft fair stuff this week. Your scarves are beautiful. Learning to knit is my next big project!

@Liverpool_Anne i bought a die cut for the card template for cross stitch and sent it to my sister who has a machine. You can buy some ready punched label ones on Amazon or Etsy, I cant remember which. Hope you have some luck. 

DigSunPap

Liverpool_Anne said:

Hi ,

@Soontobeoap the boots and cards are lovely. Great way to reuse plastic bottles . Can I ask where you get the little card you have done the cross stitch on? I had something similar to make gift tags but they came in a set with threads and I would like to make some more but as I have pleanty of threads I don't want to buy a set, just the card bit

@DigSunPap, welcome aboard. I am very impressed with your progress and have everything crossed for you to reach your goal of a clutter free home by 2024. I think a week to completely sort the living room is marvellous, you must have worked really hard

@Vulpix, glad to hear dil is on the mend and you had a nice time with the baby . I hope the ECG went ok and all your plans for the week go smoothly. The final in Paris should be good and I must admit to being a bit envious as one of my bucket list items is to see the haka in the flesh I hope the informal pond has sorted itself though I would probably have had to don the wellies and attacked it with the yard brush , I love your assortment of pots

@Mrs SD I love those scarves, I will defo try that pattern and see what I can produce though I don't expect it will be as neat as yours

@leftatthetrafficlights I had to laugh at your UFOs. I have had my share of strange combinations after defrosting . I must admit I think I have solved this problem now by sticking a piece of masking tape on the lid and using a sharpie writing the contents and date on it. I had tried various ways but this seems to stay stuck on and legible . My dsis uses a method of keeping different things in different draws but has still opened what she thought was stew to find mixed fruit
I am intrigued by your 'new year'. I must admit the standard start of winter being the winter solstice always seemed odd to me and your calculation makes much more sense. I also like the idea of a fire to get rid of the things from the year that have burdened you. I have friends who write things down and burn the paper for emotional things though they usually do it at samhain, though I do wonder if your date is when this was originally done as lots of pagan dates were moved a few days by the church to try to eliminate the old ways and replace them with Christian festivals such as christmas day to replace the winter solstice celebrations. All Hallows does seem a bit of a random date to me. I would be interested to know more about this if you can recommend any sources

@ajmoney, if I lived near you I would defo help chop up a conifer for firewood. They smell so nice when they are in my log burner so worth trying to to do this

@weenancyinAmerica another amazing amount of money raised for the library, I am continually in awe of the work you do for them. I am also very impressed with your work on family history. I bet you are over run with people coming to see you after your talk. It must be such an interesting thing to do and I am sure the people who come to see you will be so happy to get some answers to their questions

@EnergyShifter I hope you are feeling more yourself but it is worth noting that it can take a while to get over a virus. They are sneaky little b***ers and even a simple cold can lead to serious after effects so please take care of yourself, hugs.

@Siebrie well done on saving so much money though it is such a lot of work I am not surprised it is so expensive. How often do you need to do it? Have you calculated your annual saving? You should be able to have a nice family treat with what you have saved

@GrannyKate would it be possible to set up some sort of syphon to empty the swimming pool, a hose to an outside drain perhaps? Just a thought

@wort thanks for the info re wax melts. I was gifted loads of them when I left wor

Thank you! Happy to be aboard!  

Liverpool_Anne

Hi, sorry for the weird post, I thought I'd saved it in draft while I went to sort something, seems it posted itself and I have just come back and had to edit it

@Soontobeoap, that makes it easier, I have a small die cutter so will hunt for the die, thank you.

Still 1420/2023

Brie

Best I've managed is to declutter the letter to Santander to make my saving account joint with the OH.  What's his is mine and vice versa and all that.  He'll leave me to run the finances as always.

And have decided I need to talk to my woodworking colleague who made me some lovely table risers as my painting desk was too low.  The risers make it too high unfortunately so I need to ask him nicely if he can shave an inch off them - I think that will make it more comfortable.  I think also that originally it was a desk intended for a young teen at best because it's not standard height.  But it's "shaker" simple which I like and has a surface that can be wiped clean of my mucky paints.  

dND

Another vote for masking tape and sharpie-style pen labeling.  So useful for everything and very easy to peel off plastic boxes when you want to.

Also I'm another who looks at the beginning of November as the turning point of the year.  To me it makes more sense as it's more in tune with what's happening in the garden.  It's also helped along by being a Christmas time baby so I like to celebrate 'Christmas' at the winter solstice so I can just have my birthday on my day - I'm just bitter and twisted from too many joint Christmas/birthday presents and then having to wait 364 days for another present. 🤣🤣🤣  Actually, for many years I tried to celebrate my birthday on my half-birthday in June.

Floss

The big news here is that while still struggling with medication side effects, I have decluttered my mortgage 😁 I still have to pay rent on the other half of my house and now need to decide which half is mine, all mine! 🤣🤣

TC77

Working at home and sunshine at lunchtime so dashed to cs with a bag and added a few more things as trying to push harder on declutter front. Had a couple of lids for storage boxes and found bottoms with some ' dressing up/ fancy dress things' whixh I moved to vintage empty shoe suitcase which I want to keep. Sun cream put in one of storage boxes and a cardboard kiddie type storage to recycle. Packed up spare winde glasses, keeping as accident prone- glass cup broken the other day! 

EnergyShifter

Work is continuing on the bathroom.  Tiles all off and walls are in a terrible state so the guy doing the work will need to plaster the walls which will put a few days on the job - but at least its all underway now... 

It makes such a difference having some time off while its being done, I know I'd have been really stressed if I'd have tried to work at the same time.   Its really nice having time and space to do things and I have been slowly & steadily working my way through my "to do" list.  

Tasks 

Continued to sort paperwork in office- refined system
Set up Savings Account
Arranged second quotes for roof and radiators

IN (running total 181) 

182. Lovely Burgundy Jumper 

183. Concertina file for paperwork

OUT (running total 565)

566. More paperwork

567. Some completed notebooks