2024 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

Floss

Liverpool_Anne, covid tests can be collected from a vaccination centre if your OH is on a vulnerable list, have a look here:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/covid-19-services/covid-19-vaccination-services/find-a-walk-in-covid-19-vaccination-site/?wt.mc_id=eva1_58_Translations_GAJ

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, 
@Floss, thanks for that, I will check that out

weenancyinAmerica

Cooling down to 29C today. It has been so hot - it cooked the two bananas that were on the counter.

Thursday roommate Di was due to have eye surgery at 6:30 am! About a 45 minute drive away up over the hills. We got there on time and they prepped her for the surgery - and then called it off. Turns out the assistant couldn't be there as her father had died the previous evening. So they had to cancel everything. Drove home and our "Service Engine Light" came on. Fortunately it wasn't flashing. Our mechanic had told me as long as it wasn't flashing, I could continue driving and not worry about it. We got home and both of us went back to sleep for a couple of hours since we had only gotten about three hours worth of sleep. She sleeps in the living room right now due to problems in her bedroom we are trying to take care of soon. But she is a very sound sleeper so I just went in and worked on the computer for several hours. She did wake up to watch part of the convention on TV. Did mostly the everyday cleaning - but a few more things out too. 

Friday I went to my knitting class. Did learn what I need to do to purl, so am okay that way now. On the drive to the stores afterward, I realized that the Service light on the car had gone out. I think it was driving up in the hills (very steep drive) that did it in. I think we can take the freeway most of the way next time to get around it. We don't know yet when the next time is. They have to give her a three-day warning as she has eye drops to take for those three days. Problem is we have a very crowded schedule here - so it will probably involve rearranging a lot of  other appointments as it requires an appointment the day before, several hours for the operation, and an appointment the day after. 

Got most of the shopping for the weekend done on Friday, except for cat food which is going to be delivered (half) or picked up at Walmart (the other half). Fortunately my two roommates Di and J are going out shopping and will pick it up.

Today will be cleaning one bathroom and the floor and stove top in the kitchen. It is frustrating when you clean the stove top and a couple of days later it looks awful. Especially when you haven't been the one to use it. And roommate Da brought down the dishes they had upstairs - but just left them in the sink for you know who to clean up. At least we know where the forks went.

Rest of plans for day include starting on project for knitting and crocheting class, reading a couple of books checked out from library, and having a couple cups of tea. If Real Life doesn't get in the way.

vulpix

Hey, Hey.

 I have been busy.Collected a free piece of furniture yesterday.A small mid century bookcase,display thing. Had to empty my gardening shed to put it in there. I will renovate it when we move.

 Mr V brought home a black bag of manky tea towels from his work. They have had 2 long soaks and a hot wash and now look good as new. I will send them back with a donation of 6 of my tired tea towels. Do tea towels breed in a dark drawer? I don't buy them, get rid of loads on a regular basis yet still have a drawer full.

 I made a couple of Christmas decorations to donate nearer the time. A Suffolk puff Christmas tree on a wooden cotton reel base with a little bell on top and a gift tag.

 I bought a little mouse in a match box type box at the chazzer for £1. He is wearing a night shirt so I will make him a mattress and pillow and duvet to make him more comfortable. It will go in the toy drawer. I keep toys for visiting children to look at. Uses up fabric scraps that I can't bring myself to throw away!

 In my shed were 2 big pieces of the upstairs carpet. Now neatly rolled,taped and in the loft by Mr V. A gift to the next owner.

 We have a viewing this afternoon. House all good, just need to wash up and run round with the hoover. Fluffy cat brings half the wood in stuck to her fur, then bites it off and litters the place with sticks, leaves and sticky buds. I am doing the viewing as the EA has no one available. We also have another viewing next week. Todays woman seems very keen. Fingers crossed.

 I also need to sweep some leaves up outside after the wild weather. Better get on with it then.

 I will message you later, Floss and Liverpool Anne. Vx

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,
Just a quick update, sorted out the apples a couple were starting to go over so no good for keeping but I baked 4 and we now have 4 crumbles in the freezer the cardboard boxes recycled and I did a sweep around the lr filled the bin so lr bin emptied . Getting excited about the football now and even though it is due to rain and I will probably get soaked I am looking forward to being back there. I have had a long chat with my dniece in Bequia finally as their internet connection was restored after hurricane Beryl. They were very lucky as only minor damage to the house though their garden was trashed and several trees were badly damaged and they are busy rebuilding the pergola. They were without power for 10 days so only had one water tap they could use, gravity fed, as the rest rely on a pump so had to carry buckets of water up to the house to flush the loo and had a very Heath Robinson shower set up in the garden . The main thing is that they are safe and well and have learned from the experience so know what they need to do to prep in case they are hit with another hurricane. They will be back in the UK in a few weeks and are in the process of buying a small 2 bed house that they found on their last visit in May. They are hoping to finalise and exchange by the first week in October and then camp there for about 4 weeks while they sort it out and then rent it out. They sold their house last year and want a property here just to keep a foot on the property ladder here. There is no chain on either side so we have all got everything crossed that it goes smoothly and we are planning a visit to see them though we will be staying in a nearby hotel. OH's days of sleeping on an airbed have long gone

@Floss I have passed the information in your link to OH but I suspect I will be collecting them

@weenancyinAmerica what a shame about roommates op being cancelled, especially so late in the process, fingers crossed you don't have to wait too long for it to be sorted and it doesn't cause too much disruption to your other plans. Good luck with your knitting project

@lookbook thanks for popping in, nice to know not everyone has clutter and maybe one day we can have a conversation about the role of trade unions and the exploitation of Labour but probably too political for this forum

Right time to get weaving, hugs to anybody who would like one

1218 & 1219 cardboard boxes
1220 lr bin
Take care everyone
1220/2024

QueenJess

Managed to keep up with the 10 items a day and even managed to keep on top of the house all week, so it's relatively tidy and clear.  Not sure if I can keep doing that and working, but I'll guess we'll see.

Just a quick check in because I'm really tired and have a list of things to get through today.  Parents are visiting tomorrow so I'll be crossing my fingers that they won't be bringing much with them

A fair few things have come in:

5 - stuff DH brought back from his work trip
3 - bath stuff
12 - felt tips
1 - glass jar
5 - cookie cutters

Digital:
1 - online account deleted

Physical:
1 - freezer overstock used up
4 - paperwork recycled
1 - magazine recycled
3 - packaging reused
1 - pencil used up
1 - paper, reused then recycled
1 - glass jug I never use (charity box)
1 - silicone freezer bag I didn’t get on with and thought I’d got rid of them all before I did my freezer reorganisation (charity box)
6 - cookie cutters I don’t use (charity box)
1 - cards recycled
2 - lego set (charity box)
1 - ice cube tray I don’t use (charity box)
2 - box inserts that are never used (recycled)
1 - food cupboard supplies used up
2 - odd sock (recycled)
1 - bottle recycled
11 - Lego pieces sorted and added to charity box

New total = 14,900

August In: 94, August Out: 508

oceanspirit

Flowerpot, congratulations to your DD for her great results.

vulpix and MrsSD, lovely to hear that your meet up went well.

Been awol for a week or so, just trying to keep on top of day to day things.  Smoothies have dropped off a bit as it’s not easy to keep on top of fresh enough ingredients - spinach is sold in such large bags and we just can’t get through it quick enough and I don’t have the energy to do the smoothies etc, plus extra freezing/cooking of excess ingredients.  Will have to ponder how to do it.

Managed to get back onto clearing and decluttering yesterday.  One item in the bin and 5 old supermarket carrier bags will be used as bin liners.  Put the cool bags through wm handwash cycle plus more items of clothing defluffed and washed with just one more jumper to do.  A box of items gathered from the messy corner in the bedroom now in the hallway to deal with one by one.  Messy corner dusted and hoovered, skirting damp wiped and now officially clutter free.

Bedroom is so very nearly finished.  I have too many books on bedside table which will probably take a year to actually read, but there is nowhere else to put them so they will have to stay as an incentive not to buy or borrow any more.  The dressing table also needs a bit more sorting - it is way, way better than it was so I think it will naturally sort itself out.

Floss

oceanspirit said:

Smoothies have dropped off a bit as it’s not easy to keep on top of fresh enough ingredients - spinach is sold in such large bags and we just can’t get through it quick enough and I don’t have the energy to do the smoothies etc, plus extra freezing/cooking of excess ingredients.  Will have to ponder how to do it.

I think you can freeze spinach in its bags, so maybe buy a few to freeze and use from frozen? They wouldn't take up much space either 😉

I've also seen frozen "smoothie bags" so maybe your fruit could be frozen too?

Rootle

Getting a bit behind even my slow schedule but doing an OU course which is distracting me.

32/52 - a cardboard box of beauty items on top of a wardrobe emptied. Only 1 item binned but everything else rehomed to better locations. I have a need for the cardboard box too so that will be used up soon.

33/52 - a bundle of papers from ex-work binned or recycled.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks 

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

Saturday: it rained on & off (sometimes heavily) until 19:00 then stayed dry for the rest of the evening & overnight. I spent the afternoon sorting paperwork & reading various magazines & booklets. Still have a couple more to read but I have made a dent 🙂 I have also resurrected my To Do list 😉 Dinner: the meat from the freezer that I had thought was a bolognese sauce turned out to be cottage pie so we had mince, cheesy mash & green beans. Wudupa

1401 - 1407 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, newspaper, 2 booklets, 2 cardboard boxes - recycled 

1408 - 1409 Kitchen detritus, 0.5” shredding - binned

Sunday is a much brighter day - dry with blue skies & sunshine but only set to reach a high of 20°C - yippee finally found the ‘degrees’ symbol 🥳 now I just have to remember where it is 😂 

Lovely post dND 😊 Shame the RSJ hasn’t turned up yet 😔 but fingers crossed that it arrives in the next few days & that there is not too much disruption whilst it is being fitted 🤞 Meanwhile some great garden decluttering 👏 Good luck with the ‘meadow’ at the front of your house - sounds delightful 😊 Cwtches coming your way 🤗 

vulpix, perhaps you are are subconsciously angling for some new to you crockery 🤔 😉 Excellent decluttering especially the craft drawers 👏 Presumably you are creating space for the influx of yarn & needles 😉😉 What a lovely idea for MrV’s Scout badges 😇 I won’t be accompanying DH as I get bored driving on motorways - something like 200+ miles before he gets to the landmark 😧 He is staying out overnight & will factor in some previous year’s landmarks to make the trip worthwhile 😊 So pleased that DIL loved the quilt & bunting. Please thank her again for the chocolate - I shared it with DH & DSis & it was lush 😋

Crazycatlady2, great work at the new house 👏 Ceilings being taken down deliberately sounds awfully messy 😱 Sending lots of positive thoughts & vibes that your case manager’s decision is favourable & that your anxiety is alleviated 🍀 

crazybunnylady4, excellent work with the kitchen cupboard 👏 Very impressed that you relocated non kitchen item immediately & so found & disposed of a ‘Justin’ 🥳 So sorry to hear that Thursday was a bit of a disaster 😔 Fingers crossed that you just receive a warning re the speeding 🤞🙏 The company where you had the interview sounds very unprofessional which is such a shame as I seem to remember that you were quite keen 🤔 Fingers crossed for the resumed job hunt 🤞

~FlowerPot~ oh dear 😉 Hopefully now the paperwork sorting has been started your DD will finish it promptly 🙏 & you can reclaim your hallway 😊 Good luck with the rest of the pathway 🍀 reminds me I really should start on mine ☹️ 

TC77, you have been busy & have got a lot done 👏 please don’t forget to update your numbers - I wouldn’t want you to miss out on your next award 😉 Very pleased to hear that you are interspersing decluttering/tidying with pleasurable activities 😊

Wow you have been busy Liverpool_Anne 🤩 Excellent decluttering of both physical items & tasks 👏 Fingers crossed that you & OH remain Covid free 🤞Thanks for the reminder about apples 👏 I have a bagful from neighbour G to sort out. Very tasty but the peel is a bit tough 🙁

weenancy, pleased to hear that the temperature has cooled down a little, although it would be even better a few more degrees cooler 😊 Sorry to hear that Di’s procedure was cancelled 😔 Poor assistant, what a sad loss for her 😢  Fingers crossed that Di doesn’t have to wait too long for the procedure to be rescheduled 🤞I do hope that in between being so busy with cleaning & tidying you are finding time for more pleasurable activities 🙏 Not sure what to say about your roommates other than 😡 Good luck with your knitting/crocheting project 🍀 I do hope we get to see the finished item 🙂

vulpix, I can see that your internal decision to set a cut off date for selling your house appears to have stimulated viewings 😊 Everything crossed that today’s viewing is successful 🤞 More great decluttering & a great idea to put the carpet off cuts in the loft - a nice surprise for potential new owners 🙂 I am getting quite excited for you & really looking forward to seeing the renovated bookcase 🙏  I am also hoping that you post a pic of the mouse asleep on his new mattress & pillow 😃

Concentration is flagging so will post this & finish the cheerleading later today 🤞 DH has popped out on the hunt for milk for DSis & to pick up a couple of bits. He just phoned to say no joy in MrS so will pop into A..a on the off chance 🤞& to post my letters. 

Hope everyone is having a good day 😊

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

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟 🥰 🏅🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 💐 🤗 ⭐️ ⭐️

Decluttering Target 2024: 1409/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £303.85