2024 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

Dfw38

I think I was getting up just as you were going to sleep Mrs SD!
Sorry to hear your dsis is still in hospital 😔 and hope she is home with you soon. Lovely mending job on the jumper👏.
Thank you for your comments Mrs SD,.I used to really mentally beat myself up that I couldn't seem to keep the house tidy, decluttered and organised but  read an article a while ago that really resonated with me and it was along the lines of: you are not useless or incapable of doing the above but you are battling against every one else's stuff too. It isn't just my stuff that I am decluttering (as an assistant)/organising and keeping tidy but 4 other people's...and a kitty and there just isn't enough time in the day to do it all. I havent had an hour to myself in 9 years (believe me, no exaggeration) and I am running around facilitating everyone else's smooth running life  sorting out estates, trying to get the house decorated (by myself - dh despises any form of diy) etc etc etc. The article made me realise that it is ok if things take longer than I would like. Having said that if Stacey's crew want to pop round and get it all sorted with me in a week I'd be up for that 😀. 
I am up super early because insomnia has struck again, think it is the stress of RL. We are off out today to London as a family and the thought of getting eldest Dd out of the house is 😬. She was getting stressed last night but seems like she had had a good night's sleep. I have used the past hour and a half to prepare- organising rucksacks and mentally prepare myself for the stress that today could bring. It is a trip we have had planned for about a month now to coincide with Chinese New year but have ruled out going tomorrow as dd wouldn't be able to handle the noise of the parade etc. 
It took me a long time to get eldest dd to the library last week - a place she absolutely adores so who knows what today will bring?
I have seen that Stacey and Dilly are back on the telly on the 20th @9 pm if anyone is interested. Hope you all have a lovely weekend 🤗.

florianatwobob

3 bags off to the charity shop yesterday (the fruits of the shed sort last week). 

I did also come home from
the charity shop with two pairs of trousers and a dress…… still, more out than in. 

Florafauna

Just had boiled egg and soldiers to fortify me for the tip and charity shop run. Dentist, decluttering and decorating planned for today. @mrssaladdodger, I have done some whittling but have other hobbies I love more so have decided to pass them on. The knives are a branded new gift and unopened so I know they are safe to pass on as blunt knives are dangerous.
Have a jolly day all

EnergyShifter

I've been on 3 full days training up in Town this week.  It was extremely tiring, particularly the travel, but the course was excellent - well worth the effort and I feel ready to put my new skills into practice.  Very, very grateful that I normally work from home though.  

I've not even tried to do anything else during that time including banning myself from thinking about doing outstanding stuff in the house.  I'll give myself a rest over the weekend then I need to get back on track.  Having said that I might set myself a challenge to get back up to a 2:1 ratio of out to in over the weekend which would mean discarding 16 items.  

Sorry haven't managed to catch up with the numerous posts that I have missed.  

Tasks:

Condolences card to friend

In (running total 29)

30. Cross & Chain (this one is a keeper) 

31. lovely whistles dress from eBay

Out (running total 46)

0

Love to all ...
@retiredinfrance - thanks, you are right, we are allowed to still buy stuff.  Enjoy your lovely bright pink cardi 🤩

2Scratters

Morning Peeps,
well that's the parents house emptied I have moved the last 7 tip runs in different towns so I don't become unpopular in a short time and 2 car boots (hatch back) full to the charity shops to drop it all off there. The last of the non recycling and recycle stuff also has been placed into our bins.  It would have been a good car boot but it wasn't the right season. My head is so clear now and there is calm finally. My knees however are telling me a different story as we are in a bungalow and there house has 3 full flights of stairs.
I spent yesterday catching up on here with everyone.

Hugs for those who would like one and for those who have popped into the TLC carriage I have for the first time ever made lemon drizzle cake. Help yourself to a slice it really is lemony just in time for shrove Tuesday. I'm a sugar and lemon girl on my pancakes and DH is jam on his. 

@dND re your mail post and updating companies you can pay a fee at the Post Office for either 6 or 12 months and your post will be diverted. One less thing to worry about for a while.

OOh just remembered  I've a frog to sort out that hopefully rewards me with some pennies, must dash.

Have a good weekend all


2 Scratters xx

Wednesday2000

I saw Sort Your Life Out is coming back too Dfw38, I'm looking forward to that.

Floss

@QueenJess if you get a chance look at inde opticians for frames - I found some Tom Ford ones that were for petite faces,  ordered them online & had lenses fitted by an independent optical company so the cost was less than the independent opticians wanted.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks + a weekly Jettison Junk in January

2. Sort out sleep patterns - target bed by 2:00 a.m. & up by 9:00 a.m 

3. Deal with mail & email on a daily basis

4. Don’t put it down, put it away + deal with mini tasks as soon as they are noticed e.g. refill olive oil pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc

5. Commence ‘Operation Frog Tickling’ using the acronym - I.R.I.S. (Identify, Research, Implement, Sign Off) - One per quarter

6. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed 

I woke up at 09:30 to a brighter day & decided to get up & dressed even though feeling very sleepy. Message from DSis that she woke up @ 05:30 dehydrated & breathless. The doctors still can’t decide whether or not she is diabetic as her records say one thing & her doctor another 🤔 She was feeling a bit better by breakfast. I now have my first cuppa & am settling down to cheerleading.

flamingo747, DSis has been living with us since May 2018, having moved to France with her son in 1996 to live with our parents. She inherited the house after our parents died but running the house & gite on her own + health issues meant it eventually became too much & too expensive so she sold up & moved in with us. Her son decided to stay in France as he was only 5 when they moved so was settled into the French way of life. I will keep my fingers crossed for a big lottery win 🤞

Floss, I agree with Siebrie - an impressive set of knives 🤩 

QueenJess, I can only think that DS believes that decluttering is only enjoyable when he does it with his mummy 😊 Sorry to hear that you are struggling to find frames that you like 😔 so good luck in Boots 🍀 Just wondering if your local  supermarket has an optical outlet, as that might be an option 🤔 More excellent decluttering 👏

Excellent decluttering ilovetea 👏

TC77, you never know, getting the wrong pick up day might be a blessing as you could find more large items to go 🤞 You must be so pleased that DD1 is becoming confident enough to sort things out herself 🥹 Well done on sorting more email frogs 👏 & wishing you continued success in using up food stores 😊

Liverpool_Anne, your comment about being “full of good intentions” could be about me practically every day of the week 😂 Good luck with your mission to persuade DH that the plastic sweet tin has done sterling service & should be released 🍀 Sorry to hear about your friend’s dMum 😢 & offering up a prayer that the daughter travelling from France arrives back in time to say her goodbyes 🙏 Fingers crossed that the ACAS thing will be finished soon 🤞 Thank you for the compliment & the good wishes for my DSis 😊

London_1, two viewings already 🤩 It sounds like your house will be snapped up really quickly & you will be able to fully concentrate on the house hunting on the IoW 😊 I love that DGS Ben has put in a request for a garden at your new house 🥹 he really has caught the gardening bug 😊

Dfw38 thank you for sharing this “I used to really mentally beat myself up that I couldn't seem to keep the house tidy, decluttered and organised but read an article a while ago that really resonated with me and it was along the lines of: you are not useless or incapable of doing the above but you are battling against every one else's stuff too. It isn't just my stuff that I am decluttering (as an assistant)/organising and keeping tidy but 4 other people's...and a kitty and there just isn't enough time in the day to do it all. I haven’t had an hour to myself in 9 years (believe me, no exaggeration) and I am running around facilitating everyone else's smooth running life sorting out estates, trying to get the house decorated (by myself - dh despises any form of diy) etc etc etc. The article made me realise that it is ok if things take longer than I would like. Having said that if Stacey's crew want to pop round and get it all sorted with me in a week I'd be up for that 😀.” Keeping everything crossed that your day out in London is going well & that you are all enjoying yourselves but especially DD1 🤞Thanks for the reminder about Stacey 👏

Excellent decluttering florianatwobob 👏

Florafauna, you have a busy day planned 😉 Hope the dentist visit goes well 🤞

EnergyShifter, hopefully you get to put your newly acquired skills into practice immediately 🤞My memories of training courses are less fond - as the two companies I worked for insisted on sending us on courses but never, ever gave us the time or opportunity to put into practice what we had learned 😔 Fingers crossed that you have already found your 16 items to declutter & can now spend the rest of the weekend relaxing 🤞

Congratulations on emptying your parents house 2Scratters 🙌 Two Gold Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ are coming your way - one for the emptying & the other for disposing of everything in a responsible manner 😊 Hopefully your poor knees can now recover 😊 I was too slow so missed the lemon drizzle cake 😔

Wednesday2000, I am just waiting until the 13th when I will be able to set the reminder 😉 

All caught up 🙂 at least for a few minutes 😉 In other news, DH’s boots arrived this morning 🙂 - I must admit that they do look very smart on 😊

MrsSD: I AM A ⭐️ - 🥇 🎖️ 💐 🌟 🏅 💐 🎖️ 💐 ⭐️ 💐 💐

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 

Decluttering Target 2023: 239/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00 

short_bird

Good afternoon, all: on day 5 out of 7 days working so simply picking the low hanging fruit rather than diving deep. 
Hopefully a better week ahead for all?

435: batch of shredding
436-437: 2 GB data deleted
438-444:350 emails deleted
445-447: 120 digital photos deleted
448-528: items to recycling or bin 

Wednesday2000

I can't remember if I said this but I'm reading a very interesting book called Four Thousand Weeks, it is kind of a self-help book and 4,000 weeks is an approximate life span for a human. It sounds like hardly any time putting it like that and my 48th birthday is next month so it is making me think! It is worth a read. I think it was only £5 on Amazon. I did see what other non-fiction books I can get free on Prime Reading and have added quite a few to my kindle, including the Andre Agassi book.

I did tidy up my office earlier as I went in there to dust and I completely cleared my desk of everything but my laptop, a paper notebook and a pen. Everything else was put in other places. It looks lovely and clutter-free.

I am using up the rest of the fridge veg to make lunch before Tesco gets here later. I have been trying to meal plan and not waste any food and it has been working. My food tin cupboard looks much better after organising it all as well.

ETA  I have eaten my lunch and hung up the wet laundry.

I was watching a YouTuber I follow yesterday called Wheezy Waiter and he did a video on decluttering. He mentioned that Marie Kondo has said that she isn't as strict as she used to be now she has children.Marie Kondo says she's 'kind of given up' on tidying up after having three kids  | Daily Mail Online

He was listing the reasons that people like decluttering like making it easier to keep your home tidy, finding things they had forgotten that they had and loved and not leaving a messy house to their kids to clean up after they die.

I dropped some HP sauce on my favourite cushion last night that I couldn't clean and when I looked inside the stuffing is all ripped so that was binned. I have had that for ages! I always have it on my lap when I read or watch TV as it is an oblong shape and it is very handy. I have an appointment on Monday and I am going to drop off another bag to a charity shop. I might have to look for a cushion in there.