2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Wednesday2000

The flooring in the hall and living room is down, but they need to do the kitchen lino which will be finished today. They need to come back next week to finish the beading or something as we are going out to London tomorrow as we have a hotel booked.

I have been stuck upstairs looking at a lot of our stuff piled up and having to walk round it awkwardly and it is making me want to declutter!

I have the donation bag already and I have added some more things to it. 

I need to go and get the portable heater as I don't want to put the heating on while the windows are open downstairs and it is only 15 in this room!

I did throw away a cushion cover yesterday that my cats had totally ruined. That seems to be a theme!

vulpix

Wednesday, tell me about cats ruining stuff! Fomo is having a cheeky scratch of the new stair carpet when he thinks he can get away with it, He cannot get away with it and is asked to vacate the premises every time we catch him, I don't know what else to do apart from buy a super soaker! We tried tin foil but he just scratched a new place.grrrrrrr.

 weenancy everything crossed for the new home for the husky, she would love being part of a pack. Well done you for finding a possible responsible new owner.

 Another bag taken to the chazzer , Christmas stockings and mantle holders etc ,plus a tiny Christmas tree and the 3ft tree. I confess to buying a 4ft tree from fb. it looks much more in proportion,

 After reading that some of you have started your Christmas cards, I have written mine, They need addressing and some stamps needed. None for mil this year or her cousin. I saved a Christmas ornament of mil's and put it out yesterday. Not really my cup of tea but she loved it and it would have cost about £250 !!!!!! Never,ever,ever would I spend that much on a Christmas decoration. It hurts to spend £5 on a second hand Christmas tree.

 All of you enduring work in the house should be all smart for Christmas. Not the new bit of roof, that is a royal pain. I felt like I was in prison behind scaffolding for weeks. They put it up front and back weeks before they came and took it away weeks after they finished.

 Siebrie, a permanent pen could do the trick. I also remember from antiques roadshow that pen fades and pencil does not. They probably meant old pens though. like brie says old ink won't stand up to water.

 Stopping at home today with plenty on my to do list.

 New numbers 1437

 Vx

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

DH stayed up all night as someone was coming to quote for tree pruning at 07:30 😧 (as he was on his way to a job in our area) & I was too tired to stay up 😉 The chap turned up just as it was getting light & was actually gone by 07:30. Someone else is coming to quote on the job tomorrow.

Thursday is a dull, damp day & already quite dark at 14:00 😔 I have finished watching “Scrublands” which I thoroughly enjoyed as it was paced so well. Sum total of today’s efforts has been to write a shopping list for DH 🙊 who headed off to sm at 14:30 & DSis headed out 14:45 to pick up her meds. I had a small flurry of activity disposing of more cardboard boxes 🙂

2457 - 2465 Six cardboard boxes, 3 lots of cardboard packaging - recycled 

vulpix, I am feeling especially Grinch like this year - haven’t even planned XMas dinner 😔 SO I am enjoying reading about everyone’s Christmas decorations & especially your ‘teddy bear tree’ & I am hoping for a picture 🙏 Good news about your curtains being sold 😊 The buyer obviously appreciated your marvellous work - quality always shines out 👏

EnergyShifter, sounds like a very busy week off 😥 Good news about the main roof 🥳 but yah, boo to the bad news about the kitchen roof 😒 You need to win Euromillions 😉 Sounds like the bathroom is coming along nicely & hopefully will be finished asap 🤞 I hope you enjoyed your peaceful day yesterday 😊 Great work completing tasks & keeping your Out/In ratio at 3:1 👏

D123456789, sorry to hear that LO has been ill - fingers crossed that LO is now back to fighting fit 🤞Well done on being so productive - you got such a lot done 👏 Now that your freezer is all neat & tidy, perhaps you could pop round & sort mine out 😉😉 Hopefully when you get around to tackling the loft cupboards of doom you will find ‘treasure’ 🤞

I thought I would use your lovely new name at least once Mrs Balabooberlies Badonkadonks 😊 I have made a quick note of your target & am sending lots of positive decluttering vibes your way 🙂

GrannyKate, what a lovely reason to miss a meeting 😊 catching up with DS2’s friend 😊 Keeping everything crossed that the frog gets sorted 🤞🤞

Excellent decluttering short_bird 👏

daisy_1571, I rather like ‘balooberry’ - shades of Jungle Book 😅

Excellent decluttering QueenJess especially with the digital decluttering 👏 Any chance that when your parents visit you can refuse to take their clutter 🙏 especially as they seem to keep ignoring your wishes completely 😔 The other option is to just say thank you very much & then take the whole lot to the CS 🤔 

Siebrie, good news that the insurance people are now fully involved re the water damage at your Mum’s 😊 but sorry to hear that your sister got your cousin involved & that the cousin didn’t leave well enough alone 😠 thereby annoying both you & your Mum 😔 Excellent work emptying the freezer 👏 I am awarding you a medal🏅 for taking the time to dispute the parking fines & being successful 👏 very MSE & ML would be very proud 🥹 

Excellent decluttering TC77 👏 You have definitely turned a corner in your efforts to declutter 🥳 Keep up the good work 😊 Re the photos I would definitely write in pen as pencil might fade 🙂

Thank you for sharing such a lovely story bala 😊 My bid is for six tigers 🐅 - one very two months 🤣

I am almost caught up but am struggling to concentrate + I really should do something/anything off my To Do list 😉 I will be back later, I hope 🤞

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 2465/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £679.00

bit_by_bit

Welcome back @balabooberlies. Glad you are on the mend but still take care.
I hope you are feeling better soon @weenancyinAmerica. 

So  a fairly good day today. I have taken two bags to the refugee centre (blankets. tooth brushes and paste and a tent.
Two boxes of CDs and DVDs (I count as bags) to various online buying sites.

Last night I collapsed a load of empty cardboard boxes. Most will be recycled when I am through this particular declutter. DS1s room is now free of my stuff and my room much better. I can get round one side of the bed and my bed is cleared. A bit more work there.

Also some monitor boxes put in teh loft for DD and the christmas decs and tree came down. A few year ago I sorted all my decs and labelled them for the years 2022 to 2024. It means only some of the decs come out of the loft and get in the way and I won't feel overwhelmed.

So four bags out.  Number updated.

In other news DS3 and partner are in trouble with washing again. I cleared their flat over a week earlier this year.They said 30 bags ( I hope not) I have said I will help but a few bags at a time. Will weed out the stuff that needs to go as I go for them. 

I think more suportive input is needed which may just be a few hours of childcare a week or more. Just got to be careful not to overdo it.  

Siebrie

@bit_by_bit that’s awful! Maybe you or someone in their social circle can emphasise to them that laundry and dishes need to be kept on top of, and then the rest will more or less fall into place? ‘Life’ is so much easier with clean clothes and clean pots and plates!

weenancyinAmerica

Re-writing on photographs: pencil does last longer than ink which does fade. Some of them turn from black to brown also , especially calligraphy ink. Before you use a permanent marker on the backs, find a picture you don't want to keep and try it out. Then dip it in water and see what happens. Make sure it doesn't bled through to the front of the picture. Don't press too hard with the pen or pencil as you will press through the picture and leave raised areas. I would make extra copies of special pictures and put them in a another place (another relative's home perhaps). You can even make copies of the best ones and make them into a book. Give them out to relatives as presents.  The more relatives who have copies the better.

A lot of people just scan them, but I am leery of computer copies as technology changes so much. What if your pictures were on 5 1/4" floppies? Or 3 1/2" floppy disks? Even those on VHS tapes are lost to most of us.  I have recordings and tapes which will need special equipment to transfer them to be usable. They were made by my parents and grandparents, and one record is of my uncle and cousin singing hymns together. But we have nothing here that will play it. Only a professional company will be able to make it available to my family.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, I was out for my tea yesterday with ex colleagues and we had quite a big group this time. Basically we just have a WhatsApp group where we post the date and if you can make it great but if not it is ok as well, no pressure so if things get in the way it's not a drama. We had a good old chin wag. The only problem was that the pub was quite busy and we had to move tables a couple of hours after we had eaten as it had been booked for another party. A few people were heading off then so we found a smaller table in the bar so it was all ok. I had a message from the Drs saying to remember to order meds early for christmas so I sorted that. Not much else was done although I did get the laptop up and running. Today I have been quite tired as per usual this close to my b12 jab and slept quite late but I emptied the bedroom and bathroom bins, sorted some washing. OH has been trying to catch up but with little success so I couldn't stand it any longer and took it in hand. 2 loads now drying in various places and another load in the washing machine to be sorted tomorrow. I think I will have caught up by the weekend. As Siebre says you have to keep on top of these things. I had a quick whizz around the bathroom and consolidated 2 bottles of half used shampoo into the pump action dispenser so they were put in the recycling and did similar with the laundry stuff so the kitchen recycling was emptied again. Those big bottles and boxes take up a lot of space. I went to the pharmacy to pick up my b12 stuff and booked a blood test. Amazingly I was able to get one for tomorrow, best it's been since pre covid, probably I was just lucky and got a cancellation . I also went out to pick up a to good to go box which has changed into a bag so not as much but still good value . Some things I will be passing on to ln . OH finally tackled the washing up before tea so there is some space in the kitchen now so I will try to make a veg stew/ soup for the freezer either tomorrow or at the weekend. I seem to have quite a few peppers in the fridge now so I think I will use them in my version of pepperonata for tea tomorrow, I will see how I feel
Tomorrow after my blood test I have to take my car to get a new headlight bulb fitted as it has died and with the dark afternoons and evenings it can't be left. 
Right off to bed now, hugs to anybody who would like one

1561 meds ordered
1562 bathroom bin emptied
1563 + 1564 shampoo bottles recycled
1565 bedroom bin emptied
1566 kitchen recycling emptied
1567 meds collected
1568 blood test booked
1569 2g2g collected and sorted.
Take care everyone
1569/2023

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

So I did do something off my To Do list - I sorted the contents of both freezers - like with like 🙂 They do both need defrosting but now that I have a clearer picture of what is in them I will attempt a meal plan to use up the contents of one freezer & at the same time create a list of contents. DSis was really annoyed when she got home - more problems with her meds 😔 DH got home & I packed everything away. Spent the rest of the afternoon knitting. My lovely DH cooked dinner - chicken, mushroom & spinach in a cream sauce served with gnocchi 😋 I did the wudupa.

2466 - 2468 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, glass jar - recycled 

2469 Kitchen detritus binned

weenancy, hopefully you have managed to resolve the issue with registration 🤞Sorry to hear you are feeling unwell - I am sending get well wishes & a plea to take it easy for a few days 🙏 Hope you enjoy the Senior Fair on Saturday & that Di can get help dealing with her frog 🤞Such great news about the husky & if the man does take her you know that she will be going to a great home 😊 although I know that you will miss her help with the decluttering 😉 Hopefully you will find a few non medical appointments to add to the calendar 🤞

Siebrie, hopefully you can carve out some time to find out the names again 🤞A project for you & your Mum 🤔 I am rather regretting that there is no-one left of the older generation in my family as we never quite got around to the photo project so I just have hazy memories especially of the the Italian side of my Mum’s family 😔

Sorry to hear that you have been unwell TheMillions 😔 Please remember to spend some time in the TLC Carriage 😊

London_1, sorry to hear about the streaming cold & the bad weather 😔 but as you say the silver lining is that you will have another NSD 🙂 I seem to  remember that one of your grandsons planted the potatoes 🤔 Your crop has lasted very well 👏 Excellent work not only using up food stocks but also saving money 👏 

Wednesday2000, pleased to hear that the flooring is mostly done & it is just the finishing touches that need doing 😊 Hope you have a lovely time in London & that the weather is kind 🤞Good luck to you (& the cat) with the decluttering 🍀

vulpix, naughty Fomo 😏 Do you have a bit of leftover carpet that you could give to Fomo? Excellent decluttering 👏 & I am pleased to hear that you managed to buy a 4’ tree 😊 

Excellent & generous decluttering bit_by_bit 👏 What a great idea re the Christmas decorations 😊 Sorry to hear that DS3 & partner have lapsed after all your hard work earlier this year 😔 You might have to sit them down & have a long chat 😉

Great advice Siebrie 😊

weenancy, thank you for the great advice re keeping old photographs 👏 Some very useful ideas 😊 Perhaps you & your sisters can club together to get the old format of storing photographs/videos transferred to a new format 🤔 as it would be a shame to lose the recordings etc made by your parents & grandparents 😔

Liverpool_Anne, sounds like you had a lovely time with your ex-colleagues 😊 Nice to hear that so many turned up 😊 A bit sorry to hear that OH was unable to catch up with the washing etc (hope they are OK) & that you have had to sort it yourself 😔 Although well done on holding out for a couple of days 😉 Excellent decluttering 👏 & good luck with both the blood test & the B12 jab 🍀

Finally caught up so will post & go to bed 🙂

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

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

Decluttering Target 2023: 2469/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £679.00

weenancyinAmerica

Had an appointment this morning with my Gastro doctor - I get to have an Endoscopy the end of January. Oh goodie.
I do have hiatal hernia problems and it is starting to interfere with my eating.

Picked up the cat litter on the way home. I couldn't wait for my roommate J to get it as he was supposed to and neither could the cats - they used the floor instead this morning before I picked up the cat litter. Oh well. At least it was the floor in the same room as the cat box and not the bed. 

A vegetable and fruit box was delivered this morning. We still had a lot from last week to use up so we sorted it and added some other foods we had in the kitchen and took it next door. 

Worked on several family histories switching from French to English to Spanish to Swedish. I can read enough of each language to do family history in about 25 languages - but I have enough trouble with English. I can't speak anything else though I would love to learn Spanish and update my French from high school (many moons ago). I love finding out words in different languages and have been getting all of the children's dictionaries I can find. Love the Usborne ones. Brought 20 different children's books on languages home on one trip from England alone.  

We went to the FamilySearch Center and did more research - Tongan this time.

I found out that I had to fill out a questionnaire and wait 24 hours to take one of the classes I was trying to register for. Doesn't make any sense as the "questionnaire" was just a listing of the services offered by the school. May check out their clothes closet as I need a warm jacket. After I pay the bills and pay for the animal stuff, I never seem to have anything left over for clothes.

Roommate G and I cleaned out the refrigerator today. Didn't have a choice with more food being delivered. Makes us get rid of the leftovers that have been there too long. I am trying to convince G, who does most of the cooking, that there are only three of us eating what he makes - not the 8 that he is preparing food for. Fortunately he like most of the leftovers for breakfast and lunch, but I spend a lot of time trying to find the right-sized storage container with a matching lid every night. Did two loads of dishes with all of the containers we emptied out. Will be refilling a couple tonight as he made two large pans of food while we were at the Center. I think he is working on the "cook once, eat for the week" principal.

Weather is still good here. Since I don't have a warm jacket, I am just layering sweaters instead. I do have a lightweight coat I brought back from York about twenty-five years ago that so far with the sweaters has worked. 

TC77

thank you for the suggestions for labelling photos.  I do have acid free pesm.somewhere but going to start with soft pencil as some I'll label what I think they are but may need confirming with cousins in other parts of the country and world so may not be soon. 
Some I want to get Good copies for my DDs and DNephew and niece.and cousins kids. 

People not picked up.free.things they said they wanted. In office today so no decluttering although have many stage big frog with another hearing next month set with ex