2024 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

florianatwobob

For those looking at kitchen design there is something called the ‘perfect triangle’ it’s the distance between fridge/freezer, oven and sink. 

We went to a couple of different places when planning the kitchen and ended up at the one named after a small garden bird. We opted for a ‘dry fit’ as we already had our own trades liked up for gas/water and electrics as they’d already done work in the past and could pick up where they left off as they’d done some of the prep already. The fitter was a proper carpenter-joiner (DSis buttered up the kitchen designer and asked him to send us his best fitter 😉) 

Moorviews

Amazingly I have slept through the night, which is almost unheard of these days. I generally have a couple of hours awake in the small hours. 

@Liverpool_Anne - I shall still get myself a new bottle of the rescue remedy as I too have found it helpful. I won’t be making up my own blends again though and am very happy to have the space in the drawer. I feel frustrated for you that after all that fantastic kitchen clearing your OH has refilled the space. It’s kind of him to help out his niece but he does need to clear up after himself too and not leave the aftermath for you. 

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger - that was a great way of mending your sleeve, especially inspired to put the elastic in too. Very neat finished effect and worthy of a ⭐️ I think your leeks look perfect and are much nicer than the huge tough ones.
@Dizzycap - I am absolutely blown away that you have completely decluttered your home and done a full clean! Really well done 👏🥳 Enjoy putting your feet up and admiring your hard work 😊
@QueenJess - please don’t be hard on yourself. Everything will be messy anyway after the party so don’t worry too much in advance. I always think when I go to someone’s home that the most important thing is to be welcomed, rather than whether it looks tidy. Certainly, small, or even large, boys don’t pay any attention to tidiness in my experience. 

@TC77 - I was just wondering if you had tried doing any visualisation to see how you might feel if things were tidy in a particular place, how you might move through and live in that space. I hope you don’t mind the suggestion but it sounded as if you felt a little bit stuck and it could turn up some helpful information. You have been through a lot dealing with your huge 🐸 and might also need some recovery time. 

@weenancyinAmerica - that’s just fantastic news about Bella. You really did a great job caring for her and then finding her a new home. 

@wishus - I am sure you are relieved at disposing of the mouse. I imagine it was announcing its presence!
@TheDoolallyDilly - I am sorry to see that you are in pain and hope that the painkillers will do the trick once you can get hold of them. 

 I haven’t  done anything more than declutter a huge cup of tea as yet so had better try and get to it. Wishing everyone a good Sunday 

Moorviews

@Madbat60 - I am so sorry to read of the awful time that you and your DP have been having. What a terrible shock for you both! I hope that all his treatment is going well and that he is making a good recovery. You are no doubt an amazing support to him. Well done for all the sewing, it can be a good antidote in stressful times. I hope you have a good day today.

2Scratters

Well we are very very near the end of emptying parents house. I have yesterday moved the last of the stuff for the CS into carrier bags to make it easier to drop off at different locations as I drive around towns. 1 bag dropped off yesterday at a CS that has been riding with me in the car since before Xmas. DB is supposed to be taking some other crockery to an auction place. Then the remnants of the cellar and the old coal place with some odd bits left in it. Front garden needs a quick tidy as the snow drops are coming up and they need to be seen. Some of the "visiting items" are going to a new home today.
Need to get some more items moving today to help clear my head.

Have a successful day

2 Scratters xx

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Liverpool_Anne said:

Hi all, awake at silly I'clock for a trip to the bathroom and can't get back to sleep so I have made a cuppa and thought I'd check in .  Yesterday was quite productive. 3 LDFPA and 2 loads washed and on the maiden. Bathroom bin, kitchen bin and kitchen recycling emptied. Another box of tea bags uu, post dealt with and OH's put on the couch . Sink area and another chunk of kitchen work top cleared and half a big corner cupboard cleared. I hope to get to the other half tomorrow. Lots of hard plastic into the bag for the tip. A candle uu but the jar cracked so I couldn't wash it out and it has gone into the bin. Several flasks packed away as we don't use them often at the moment and there are a few things I can see that will probably go in the cs bag when I get to them. OH went to the sm for bits, bananas and milk were requested and 3 big bags of stuff came through the door . They are still half unpacked on the kitchen floor, I didn't even look in them. The fridge is full of meat and I suspect some batch cooking is on the cards for tomorrow as OH is going to visit dniece and baby on Monday as dsis has covid after a trip to see the German branch of the family. OH will be on childcare duties while dniece catches up with herself . I am going to the footy tomorrow so all I will say is that I expect the kitchen to be clean and tidy when I get home or there will be words spoken

@Vulpix I lived in Lowestoft for a while and when the wind gets going it is quite fierce but it is a nice place and I have some nice memories of sailing on the broads and visiting pubs that you had to walk about a mile off the road to get to, they catered for the sailors and had their deliveries by boat . I love the bag, maybe you could ask the cousin for some others back if they haven't been used for anything yet. I'm sure she can't have dealt with a draw full already

@~FlowerPot~ good work with the logs, I have a pile that need moving but like you I have to empty some out of the log store to get it in. The whole log store needs sorting really as OH just threw them in willy nilly, the job is on the list along with some chopping

@Brie, elf and safety warning, please don't put heavy things on high shelves, much too dangerous unless you have safety steps, can cause all sorts of injuries to backs quite apart from the danger of them falling on you when you get them down . I am sure someone will have written a paper about it

@Moorviews OH uses the rescue remedy for pupils who go into panic mode before a test. I have used it myself in times of stress. I don't know how it works but it does, magic I suspect

@QueenJess I think the only houses that are perfectly tidy are show houses where nobody actually lives. I am sure ds's friends will be too busy enjoying themselves and making a mess to notice

@Mrs SD, love the leeks, such a versatile vegetable . Mr SD did a great job on the fence panel, looks very good and as for your repair, genius solution I will keep in mind when I have to do something like that
If 💐are what you desire you can certainly have some you definitely deserve them 

Ok the moon has gone so it must be nearly time to get up so I will have another cuppa and a read, might even get a bit more sleep . Hugs to everyone who would like one

146 - 148 LDFPA
149 kitchen bin emptied
150 kitchen recycling emptied
151 bathroom bin emptied
152 t bags uu
153 post dealt with
154 candle uu
155 chunk of worktop cleared
156 half a large cupboard emptied.
Take care everyone
156/2024

Morning all
@Liverpool_Anne - I lived in Lowestoft as a teenager! Now I live inland in the NW and miss the sea.
I sorted out a kitchen drawer yesterday and decluttered some old bits of greaseproof paper  etc. 
I also got 2 loads of washing line dried.
Deni
x

GrannyKate

Morning all.  Not done much in house as random children everywhere this weekend.  DS2's birthday today.  I have been cracking on with the cull of my main digital Family History file.  Another 4000 names deleted.  Had to go round house stealing money from various places (owe DGS4's money box £7) to pay window cleaner.  I had better get some cash out of bank.  DS2 is attempting to get sink plug to work - seems to have seized up - otherwise I'll have to get plumber out.  Husband of a very old friend died suddenly on Friday after short illness. 

157-160 4 x 1000 names culled from FH site
161-163 Three memberships renewed
164 Donation made to DIL's fundraising page (Macmillan) 

 Will not attempt cleaning until tomorrow.  DS2 taking children to school so I don't actually need to go anywhere until Tuesday pm school run. Quiz Thursday so I had better write some questions. I downloaded another £9 from survey site. 

daisy_1571

Mrs sd great work on the cuffs and fence.

Doolallydilly can you change the chemist that your prescriptions go to?  Or  can you authorise someone to collect on your behalf ? 

Madbat   sorry to hear about your dp

Vulpix  that bag is lovely 

2scratters  well done nearly getting cleared 

I'm sure there was other things but can't recall. 

Oh yes, one thing was weenancyinAmerica thanks for Bella update,  I'd been thinking about her

Hugs all

Daisy xxxxx

flamingo747

@Dizzycap well done, that sounds great!

@Madbat60 I hope his recovery goes well and the PIP thing isn't too difficult!

@2Scratters well done, it must be good to be close to finished!

I don't think much is getting done here today, but I do need to retrieve painting stuff from the garage ready to start this week's project. The car is getting fixed on Tues eve and is apparently safe enough to use until then. Not cheap, but could be much worse. 

dND

mehefin said:

This is what 153 boxes of books looks like !!

I have over 300 boxes in storage!!  This is why I'm following this thread and so pleased to read about how you all are decluttering. 😁

My only decluttering at the moment is unsubscribing from emails generated by entering competitions.  I've stopped entering any at the moment until after I move - yet again I have the possibility of exchange and completion being mentioned but due to this being the third or fourth time I've been here, I'm not holding my breath. 🤣

I love that decluttering can embrace repurposing also.  I think that my first mantra will be; if it's used and has a place to live, it can stay.  I know that there is going to be a very big difficult pile of items to work through while I figure out what sort of lifestyle I want/can lead here. 
From my experience of recovering from a breakdown which left me unable to deal with anything. I tackled all the boxes of paperwork by first going through them and chucking out all the old envelopes - it took a while to be able to read and fully understand what the contents said.  After that, it was the flyers ejected and the notification letters such as bank statements that I put in a pile for filing.  I could then sort them into accounts at a later date and after that I could put those files in their correct folder in the filing cabinet.  Long winded but I couldn't and still to a certain extent today, deal with multiple choices without feeling overwhelmed.

I know that sorting is going to be a long process but this time round I at least have a plan and a wonderful community here to help. ❤️❤️  All I need now is that house. 🤣

QueenJess

dND said:

My only decluttering at the moment is unsubscribing from emails generated by entering competitions.

This is a very useful decluttering activity by stopping the flood of stuff coming in.  It's my favourite way to reduce the size of my inbox!

Moorviews said:

@QueenJess - please don’t be hard on yourself. Everything will be messy anyway after the party so don’t worry too much in advance. I always think when I go to someone’s home that the most important thing is to be welcomed, rather than whether it looks tidy. Certainly, small, or even large, boys don’t pay any attention to tidiness in my experience. 

I know 6/7 year old boys will neither notice nor care about the mess, but I want the place clear so they don't (hopefully) destroy it, but we are also setting up a treasure hunt around the house and can't have them standing/tripping over stuff!

Feeling overwhelmed with stuff after my massive tidying activities yesterday that didn't seem to actually tidy things away.  Parents have only brought a small amount of stuff (clothes for the kids), but it's more stuff.  I just went into the loft to put some things away in there and then got out ASAP as I felt overwhelmed by the stuff in there and don't feel up to sorting it out.  Did take a few boxes out to recycle, but that was it (will count later).

So my new plan is to do a deep dive into some little, easy to manage areas and really get them down to the minimum/challenge myself as to whether I will actually use this stuff or not.  Challenge 1 will be to sort out my indoor plant stuff and see if I can reduce it so much that I can relocate it from the garage into the cupboard under the sink without the cupboard looking too full as I currently love how empty the cupboard is.  I suspect this will all take a long time, but by taking small bits I hope I can make a bigger difference this year and see if I can actually get things tidied up a lot easier.  I know it is possible as my living room remains largely tidy every single day and if the kids destroy it, it takes 5 mins to put it all back again.  Hopefully back later with some decluttering news.