2024 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

London_1

Mrs_Salad_Dodger said:

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

The rain held off until 02:00 Sunday morning 😉 Dinner was linguine bolognaise  (no spaghetti in the cupboard ☹️) A single person portion of the sauce is now in the freezer & the rest has had peas added to it & will be topped with mash for tomorrow night’s dinner. Wudupa. 

1448 - 1451 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, plastic bottle, glass bottle - recycled 

1452 Kitchen detritus binned 

 

London_1, what a lovely Saturday 😊 Thank you for sharing your memories of your husband 😊  Does this mean that you are an islander by marriage 🤔 Fingers crossed that the builder can start next month 🤞 You will definitely be very busy when you are back on the mainland 🤩 Hopefully you will be able to fit everyone in 🙏

Sleep tight everyone 😴 

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

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟 🥰 🏅🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 💐 🤗 ⭐️ ⭐️

Decluttering Target 2024: 1452/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £381.70

 tal: £381.70

Yes I am my late husband was a true 'caulkhead' as they are called, although we spent lots of times here over the years visiting my late ma-in-law who was an amazing lady. I had nothing but the highest respect for her.

She along with one of her sisters went into service in the late 1920s in London, and as she was living in Westminster they met a couple of London lads from Wellington Barracks at a dance.He was a PT instructor and fit as a butchers dog .They married on the Island as he had been posted to Albany barracks by then in 1932 my late husband arrived in 1933 and his brother in 1934.
He decided that 10 years as a soldier wasn't how he wanted family life to be, so they settled in Chelsea near to where his family came from Chelsea, in those days was a lot different than today.

 He left the army, and they got a flat with a job in Chelsea, looking after a mansion block. along came son number three in December 1936, in March1937 her husband caught TB and within 6 weeks was dead and my ma-in law was a 28 year old window with three small sons, and apart from his life insurance and very tiny pension from the army things were pretty hard .
The baby caught bronchitis and within a month he too had died so she had two funerals her husbands and her baby sons. Ive got the sad little bills in my family history files.

Life looked decidedly grim for her, but after settling the bills she had £560 left from his life insurance and decided to go back to the Island as her family rallied round to help.

She bought a house in Northwood that had two thirds of an acre of garden (its still there although the garden has been built over )
She said at least her boys would have a roof over their heads, and no landlord would ever be able to evict them. They moved there in August 1937 with very little at all. Her Mother and Father lived in the same village and her Dad helped to make the house more comfy, and as a carpenter built a lot of the cabinet and fittings for her himself

My husband was 3 years old and his brother 2, they had no electricity in the house until he was 8 and went to bed with candles .Life was hard as it was the depression, but she managed somehow to get odd bits of work in local farms, and she said one summer she had a job cleaning out a dozen houses that had been built for sale, and she got ten shillings per house, it had to be scrubbed from top to bottom after the builders had moved on. It clothed the boys and put winter coats on them plus decent shoes that year.
.She said the little boys helped her out as best they could.

 My husband said one reason he didn't like gardening much was the fact the two thirds of an acre of his Mums was dug over every year, and he felt he knew every inch of it. She grew all their own veg, and managed to get some chickens. The boys went rabbiting (another thing he would never eat when we married he said he'd had his fill of rabbits growing up )

But they also went fishing and one of the local fishermen would take them out on his boat and if they worked and cleaned it down they had some of his catch for their Mum. I think he felt a bit sorry for the two little boys and their Mum would only accept stuff if they worked for it

Then the war started and life got a bit easier for her as there was a lot more work for women and she went into munitions locally and her Mum kept an eye on the boys.

Whilst working there in 1941 she met her second husband Joe and he was happy to take on the boys so she remarried and went they went on to have another son with him All the boys were brought up together and life improved a bit for them all

After the war finished Joe worked for the local boat builders J.S White up until he retired. He was a lovely chap a little welshman who had been a miner during the 1930s but had to leave Wales as he had Miners Lung  (pneumoconiosis)  and ended up on the IoW having walked to Southampton looking for work during the depression the 1930s.Both hard working folk who battled to survive and made it bless them.

Joe sadly only had around 6 months of retirement as his chest was pretty bad and passed away in 1975.Ma-in-law lived another 11 years and eventually died in her own bed complete, as she was always proud to say with her own teeth she was extraordinarily proud of the fact she had never had a filling and her gnashers were her pride and joy

A tiny little lady who never let anything beat her.
I remember her telling me once that the local vicar had turned up to offer her free meals for the boys at school as times were hard 
her exact words were 
" I soon sent him off with a flea in his ear and told him their my boys, and I feed tham, I don't take charity from anyone, let alone the church."

She didn't hold with the idea that she should be beholden to the church that expected you to be grateful. She said "The Almighty and I have a deal ,  if I work hard enough  he will make sure we don't starve".

 I think she thought she didn't need a go-between she as my children would say "was the old wife that all the tales were about"

She had her great grandmothers book which was full of handwritten notes about cures for various ailments if you were ill. She didn't hold with Drs at all, she said "if my boys are ill I'll cure them " and my late husband was 18 and going into the RAF before he ever saw a Dr in 1951.
She thought the NHS was a very strange thing when it came in as to her if you needed a Dr it cost you cash that you often needed more for food.So out came her great grandma's book and she consults that.
its the one thing I regret not having when she finally passed away I've node what happened to it but I can remember looking at the beautiful copper plate notes written in the 19th century with all sorts of things in it from recipes for meals to cures for almost anything.

My lovely tiny little Ma-in-law was a courageous lady who worked hard all her life and always put her family first,  my children were in awe of their Granny as she had a dartboard in the back sitting room, and could always hit a 50 even when she was getting on in life and pushing 80 she was sharp as a button bless her. My middle aged DDs still talk about her and how she still managed to keep the enormous garden going. 
   RIP Clara Margaret you definitely were one of a kind.

Night night God bless all here 


JackieO xx

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

Sunday was a gloriously sunny day with a forecast high of 27°C. After DH watched the MotoGP races he did a bit of tidying in the garden but it was too hot to continue. He has zizzed up some worm-food & also packed his bag for his RBR trip tomorrow.  Just had a lovely chat with neighbour J. Back from visiting his mum who is finally recovering from shingles which infected her eye & left her feeling very low. Another lazy day for me - watched 5 episodes of TWD - series 7 completed - only 4 more series to go of which I have only seen 2 before 😉 The bolognese sauce topped with cheesy mash & accompanied by green beans & peas was delicious 😋 Wudupa

1453 - 1460 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, cardboard packaging, 2 glass bottles, 2 small cardboard boxes, glass jar - recycled 

1461 - 1462 Kitchen detritus, old toothbrush - binned

Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟 🥰 🏅🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 💐 🤗 ⭐️ ⭐️

Decluttering Target 2024: 1462/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £381.70

~FlowerPot~

Retiredinfeance - so sorry to hear all the troubles and worries you have had going on and very glad to hear things have improved. Biggest hugs, 💐😘

London, I do really love hearing about your past and your family, what an amazing woman you mil was 💪😍

Mrs sd - 💐 flowers for you, i love your updates and so appreciate what you do on this board xx

So, it's a work day today for me, I'm going to take a Cs bag in the car, as there is a cs shop just along from my clinic, but they very often won't take stuff, so I'm not going to load up the 5 bags I have! But 1 gone would be a start! 
Im going to try and declutter 10 things today and see if I can get into a regular routine of removing 10 things a day for September's challenge. 
Anyone want to join me? 10 things should be easy, Right? 😜

Hugs to everyone having a difficult time, or even just that Monday morning feeling!! 😘

daisy_1571

Rif glad you posted, I was wondering how mr rif was doing.  Sorry to hear you've both been having a hard time of it recently,  heres a dodgy hug from me, mr d and Charlie cat hug 🤗 🐈  ♥  


Jackieo great story there, what a life she had

Hugs to everyone xxxx

Daisy 

retiredinfrance

Thanks @FLOWERPOT, (- that doesn’t look right!) .yes, all is well here and we’re gradually decluttering the garden as it was the least of our worries. @London1, I just love your stories and Clara’ s life made me realize how fortunate we are with modern medicine and the NHS and , of course, the French system . 

I can’t exactly claim our troubles were a major impact on my attitude to clutter, but I’ve found it easier to declutter some categories now. For instance, I have decided that tatty clothes are out , and unworn stuff as well. There’s only so many gardening items one needs.So,
out
2bras- too small and unworn
2 pants-tatty
total=164+4=168/366

retiredinfrance

Thanks,@Daisy , for your hugs and like you I llike to hear that people recover. Sometimes we forget that a happy ending is possible. Hugs for all who would like one!

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, not much decluttering done yesterday, a few random things into the hard plastic bag but won't be counted until they go to the tip. Not much progress on the pot sort out as it started raining but the football was good . I had a chat with OH about the possibility of getting some of those space saving coat hangers so all OH's clothes might fit in the wardrobe. A bit of a defensive reaction so I walked away . I like to think I have planted a seed but we will see. Some progress has been made as a pair of shoes has been put aside to pass on, never been work so we are asking around but if there are no takers they will be going into the cs bag. This is quite big for OH as shoes are a fav thing .

@retiredinfrance lovely to see you again and hoping that things continue to improve for you and Mr rif, big hugs

@London_1 great family stories, I wish I knew as much about my family but I think my parents both had quite a hard time when they were young and never really talked about it and I only ever knew 1 grandad when I was young and he had had a very bad time during WW1 and again never talked about it. All my other grandparents had died long before I came along. I love your mil idea that she didn't need a go between to make a deal with God

Today we are out for lunch so I better get something done before we go . Hugs to everyone who would like one

Take care everyone
Still 1253/2024 

ruby_eskimo

Oh thank you for the ⭐ @Mrs_Salad_Dodger and DH is very pleased with his 🏅 😁

Certainly sounds like you've both been through it @retiredinfrance but good to hear you're both coming out the other side of it

EA feedback really does make me laugh @vulpix - we had someone who was surprised that they could hear road noise from the garden of our old place - it backed on to an A-road slip and was very very obvious from the map 🙄  Hope the magical table helps people along!

This weekend was successful on the decluttering front - we managed to remove the wall of built in wardrobes from the main bedroom.  If I count the individual panels then it was about 75 separate bits and pieces which were so firmly wedged into the space, DH had to crack out the jigsaw to break the tension so we could actually get the first section to move!  I commend the workmanship but not the amount of space they took up, and especially not the dodgy wiring for the electricity sockets around the dressing table bit.  The pieces are scattered in our garden waiting for DH to saw them into more manageable pieces so I can get them in the car to take to the dump next weekend.  

I also managed to offload a few books that I no longer wanted to some friends at bookclub on Friday but I think I still need to pick up another bookcase as now I have space to display my little library but it's still too many to fit in the bookcase I already have.  Have looked on the various selling sites and a few charity shops but haven't seen anything second hand so might have to bite the bullet and go back to the big Swedish shop.

Still so many boxes to unpack but I think we've emptied all the ones the moving company gave us so they can come and pick those up this week and that will be a bit more space to move around in.

Hope everyone's doing well, can't believe it's September already.

vulpix

 RIF, what a roller coaster! I am so glad that you have found the time to update us. Special squishy hugs to you both.xxx

Mr V took a rubber boot liner from a previous car to give to someone at his work last night. Slow but steady progress. 

 I am nibbling a very old frog. I am still battling the Halifax building society, trying to close my Mother’s account.They write to her at her new address but will not accept that she has a new address because she cannot provide a passport and driving licence, plus utilities bills from her new address. She has never had a passport or driving license and my brother pays the bills at his house where she now lives. They will ONLY accept passport and driving licence, no other ID. Surely she is not unique. Yet another letter sent. No joy online or on the phone or in branch. Technology eh!

 New bowls purchased with Tesco vouchers. Woohoo 🥳 Rock and Roll. 

 The hunt for a kitchen table has narrowed to a little, oak, 1930's, barley twist leg number. I can work some magic on that and it will suit the age of the house. Just waiting for the guy to get back to me. Me impatient? whatever gave you that idea?

 Vx

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

After such a lovely day yesterday, Monday is overcast & quit a few degrees cooler. High is forecast to be 23°C. DH left about 08:3. I woke up at 09:30, made a cuppa & ran a bath………… Whilst I was enjoying my bath the phone rang twice - DH checking that I had remembered my appointment with the pharmacist 😊 He called again at 11:30 - 160 miles into his journey. Weather is low lying cloud with intermittent short showers. Now have my 2nd cuppa & just drip drying for a while 😉

~FlowerPot~, I am with you on how quickly 2024 is passing 😱 Congratulations on selling so many books 🥳 & I loved hearing that you spent the proceeds on treating yourself to a tasty lunch & a couple of pendants 😊 Fingers crossed the clearing out of the under-stairs cupboard went to plan 🤞 

vulpix, I am still giggling at your “mad as a bucket of frogs” comment 🤭 Sounds like the EA doesn’t have much imagination either 😉 Hopefully once the table & chairs is in, you will get an instant offer 🙏

Excellent decluttering TC77 👏 Hopefully as you have decided against replacing your car - for the time being at least - you will not be picking up any more of your Dad’s things 🙏 Good luck with ‘Operation Tidy’ 🍀 & don’t forget to update your numbers 😉

Lovely post Liverpool_Anne 😊 I didn’t pick up on QueenJess’s comment about working - I must be slipping 🙊 Wow you have been busy 🤩 excellent work decluttering & tidying 👏 The wedding favours sound marvellous & I hope it all goes off without a hitch 🙏

Excellent decluttering florianatwobob 👏 especially the limescale 🥳

Now that I am dressed & just about to set off in the rain ☹️, I will post this & report back later 😉

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

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟 🥰 🏅🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 💐 🤗 ⭐️ ⭐️

Decluttering Target 2024: 1462/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £381.70