2024 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

Muddy_Walker

Helloooooo!
Welcome back RiF 😘
I am on holidays from work now and what usually happens is I go mad and do All The Stuff and then moan I haven’t had a break or I stay in bed too long procrastinating and then moan I’ve got nothing done.
seem to have a happy medium so far, pootled round yesterday and then started cutting back my lavender- which the bees (who have ignored it all summer) decided they would quite like it. So it is half hacked…..
Today some tidying up, hoovering, washing and I did plan on mowing the front but my Back is sore and I am tired. My dogs are at the groomers FM’s dog is at the in-laws so I think a nice cuppa, some ginger biscuits and junk tv are in order!
Please tell me this is what holidays are about and it’s ok to chill?

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

Back again. Laundry sorted into piles & first load in. The sun is now properly out 😊 so I suppose I should do some work outside & get a bit of exercise at the same time 😅 I did both 😉 Made a start on the front path & used my battery operated weeder to tackle the main length - three quarters done & tidied up after myself 😉 45 minutes later & I am back indoors “glowing” & just in time to take a call from our plumber. He is now booked for Friday morning 09:00 😂 Finally peeled & am cooking the apples from neighbour G - left it so long that I am ashamed to say I lost two thirds of them 😔 The silver lining is that the worms will get a good feed 😂 The 1st load of washing is hung out & the 2nd load is in. Now back to the cheerleading 🤞

London_1, thank you so much for sharing your mother in law’s history 😊 A truly remarkable woman & definitely one of a kind 🤩 I especially loved her pragmatic attitude to both the NHS & the Church 😂 

~FlowerPot~ thank you for my 💐 & such a lovely compliment ☺️ Excellent decluttering 👏 & hopefully the CS took the bag & are ready to take the other 4 🤞 Good luck with your 10 a day 🍀 please let us know how you get along 🙏

Lovely post daisy_1571 😊

Lovely post Liverpool_Anne 😊 Sounds like a breakthrough with your OH on the shoe front 🥳 & hopefully you have planted the seed re ‘space saving hangers’ 😉 My immediate thought was that he will wait a couple of weeks & then make out he has come up with the idea 🤣 Hope you had a lovely lunch yesterday 😊

ruby_eskimo, you are both very welcome 😊 More excellent decluttering & another Gold Star ⭐️ for both the wardrobe dismantling & the emptying of the removals firm’s packing boxes + as DH has been so helpful I am also awarding him a Gold Star ⭐️ to go with his medal 😊

vulpix, sorry to her that the bank are proving so unhelpful 😠 Might be time to bring out the big guns & report them to the ombudsman 🤔 Yippee to the new bowls & very MSE using vouchers 👏 Fingers crossed for the table 🤞

DH has just got home, he has got changed & we have unpacked his bag so I have more washing 😂 Shoes etc have been put away. He has now settled down with a cup of coffee trying to get cool 😉 Apparently when he set off this morning it was 10°C 🥶 The 2nd load of washing has finished & the heavier items are out on the whirligig. The undies & socks are in the td - sheer laziness on my part as they take so long to peg out 😉

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

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟 🥰 🏅🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 💐 🤗 ⭐️ ⭐️

Decluttering Target 2024: 1468/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £381.70

daisy_1571

vulpix, i was wondering if local mp would help.  I know civil service used to bend over backwards whe we got an 'mps jacket' as a letter was called back then.  (I always thought it was weird.  Politicians make laws, civil servants implement/abide by those laws, member of public doesn't like it when things don't go as they want, complains to mp, mp writes to us asking why we are doing this and instead of civil servant manager writing back saying we are applying the law as it stands, they give in and bend the rules.  Wrong on so many levels.)  It appears you have reached a deadlock with bank.  Mps letter might loosen their rather rigid rules?

Muddywalker yes now you are holiday-ing correctly    

Daisy xx

Brie

@vulpix
have you talked to the bank's vulnerable customers team?

Alternative - clear it out and let it go dormant?

sorry - missed out on a lot of this yesterday....

London_1

Good evening all , very lazy day today. Not in the least like me, but I had the dentist late morning and they relieved me of  tooth and £145, so son-in-law bless him both dropped me off then picked me up afterwards.

Mouth a bit painful as its left a large cavity at the front so I have being sitting in the conservatory with my feet up dozing and reading this afternoon. Just didn't feel like doing a thing.

Fingers crossed tomorrow I will feel better and the swelling will go down a bit.i was supposed to have two removed (well one was a root where the crown had snapped off) my previous dentist said it wasn't worth removing and just filed it down as it too was a crown. But the new dentist said he will take the root out in a fortnight when this once has gone down a bit.

Dentist was very nice though, as he was my new chap, and he said todays one was a 'stubborn little devil ' bit like me I think.

But I'd rather have it removed than put up with toothache. Age and previous health treatment had left it a little loose and debris kept giving me an infection so it had to come out.

Still I had a nice book to read, and the sun kept trying to shine on and off so a bit of a 'do-nothing' day

Not too sure what I'll have for dinner tonight but probably soup or scrambled egg, to be honest I'm not really hungry and don't want anything 'gumming up the works'

So its onwards and upwards and 'tomorrow' as was said in Gone with the Wind is another day

Hope everyones day has been more productive than mine (not hard )  

Take care chums 

JackieO xx

vulpix

 Hope you feel better soon London 1. xx

 Muddy, it sounds like you are doing everything by the good holiday book.

 Thank you for your help with my Mothers Halifax account Daisy and Brie. Don't care if I name and shame. the company. Vulnerable customers advice was to take her into branch which I did and very difficult it was too, she is very frail, unable to walk, deaf and blind. Once there the branch refused to do anything without passport or driving licence. We have been draining the account. Not able to do so in branch as she does not have ID that they like,only by cash machine! I am trying to have a pension paid into another account with a different bank and we will just empty as much as we can and then leave it. Your loss Halifax, there was a lot of money now safely with a more reasonable bank. 

Food I will not use to the food bank.

 Soft plastics to the supermarket. 

 Potted up some daffodil bulbs. Cut stuff back. Took a load of hydrangea cuttings. Sounds nothing but it took hours. A beautiful evening to be pottering around in the garden. 

 The advent calendar is coming along nicely, the kitchen table, not so much.

 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

Dinner was linguine with a creamy bacon & pea sauce.  Wudupa.

1469 -1472 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, newspaper, paper bags - recycled 

1473 - 1475 Kitchen & office detritus, broken peg - binned

I brought in the washing which was completely dry 🥳 I have at least two more loads to do but the weather forecast has changed & rain is forecast until Saturday ☹️

QueenJess, good news about the job 😊 Hopefully it means that finding a new permanent job is not so urgent 🙏 Very pleased to hear that you are “impressed with yourself” today 🥳 Excellent work all round 👏 Good luck with your ongoing library project 🍀

GrannyKate, hopefully now your sellers are on the case, the documents will soon be with your solicitors 🤞As to your solicitors opening hours - maybe they operate old style banking hours 09:30 to 15:30 😉 Excellent decluttering of items to DS2’s new home 👏 Hopefully all the moving has finished now & you can take a well earned break 😊………. at least until you move 🙏

Brie, very pleased to hear that you not only managed to declutter the frames but also resisted the temptation to reclutter with more books 👏🥳 I also love the “declutter by stealth” 😅

Excellent decluttering & tidying oceanspirit 👏 Well done on completing the bedroom declutter especially as you are reaping the benefits of both space & safety 😊 Deserves a medal 🏅 which is on its way 😊

Fizz2015, so pleased to hear that the weather stayed fine for your camping trip 😊 Last time I camped over 30 years ago the rain was torrential & flooded the tent so 3 of us had to sleep in the car ☹️ Fingers crossed that you will manage to declutter slightly more clothing than you bring in 🤞 Good luck with the decluttering which should hopefully be easier when the children are back at school 🍀

More excellent decluttering of neutral items Happy_Kitties 👏

Liverpool_Anne, sounds like the garden centre cafe worked out really well 😊 A nice lunch & the opportunity to mooch & buy 😉 Excellent work in the garden 👏 & very pleased to hear that you are so happy with your new saw 😊 Of course you do realise that your ‘missing’ electric saw will now come out of hiding 😉 Great work dealing with the quilt frog 👏 Please, please don’t overdo it in the garden 🙏 

Muddy_Walker, absolutely the correct way to holiday at home 😊 A bit of pottering & a lot of relaxing & chilling 😊

daisy_1571 & Brie some good ideas for vulpix 👏 Although I see that vulpix appears to have set a plan in motion 😊

London_1, ouch to the stubborn tooth removal & the hit to your pocket 😩 Although I must admit to fully approving of your relaxed day 😊 It is about time you had a day off 😉 

vulpix, that is appalling treatment & they deserve to be named & shamed 😠 It does make me wonder how many dormant accounts there are with little or no money in them because of their intransigence 🤔 Serves them right 😂 Excellent work in the garden 👏 Not surprised that you preferred to be in the garden rather than indoors working on the table 😉

All caught up 🙂 Sending cwthches to anyone who would like one or three 🤗 Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: IS A 💎🏅 🌟 🥰 🏅🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅 💐 💐 🤗 ⭐️ ⭐️

Decluttering Target 2024: 1475/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £381.70

Floss

@vulpix my quiz league started again last night, and a team member was saying that the Halifax had delayed disbursement of her father's estate - he died June last year, probate was granted last October and the solicitors have only just got the funds from the Halifax. Seems like their whole vulnerable & bereavement process needs reviewing.

GrannyKate

Morning all.  Mrs SD sadly only about 50% or less of my son's stuff has left so far and none of the childrens as they will need to be here much of the time until I move.  Back to school today. They are all away this weekend so things may happen after that.  I need to pack for France.

I think I have told the tale before of my mum's £10 which remains in her Woolwich BS account.  Taken over by Barclays I think - many attempts to transfer the money out failed because of the difficult 'rules' - she was over 90 by then and on the verge of dementia. Her name was so rare that I know she was the only person in UK with that name and we had lots of ID including a passport - local Barclays said I had to take her to Norwich (nearest to where account was opened and 4 hours drive).  It would probably cost me £10 to park in Norwich without the cost of fuel.  11 years after her death that £10 remains in a dormant account. 

No premium bond win again but DD got £50.  

1053 Four bags dropped off at CS
1054 Two nice large wicker baskets with lids snapped up by DiL2. Not needed at new place and empty now.
1055 Large plastic storage box to DiL2

I think I may pack a couple more boxes this morning and eat some frogs. Meeting this afternoon but my usual free after 2pm car park is closed for repairs so guess I will need to buy a ticket as the other car parks have only 2 hours free which is not long enough.  Want to walk up top of town and get a school tie from uniform shop. Things on hall table to go to DS2's but won't count until they leave the house 

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, yesterday didn't work out as planned but I did get a few things done. The bedroom recycling was emptied and the quilt was taken to the cleaners where they told me it will take 2 weeks, not sure why but it is lucky I have a spare . The sm trip just took longer than I anticipated and then I had to go out to the diy shop to get some wire to tie the rose to. I thought I had some but when I looked there was only a short bit left so more needed. I had to sort out the bird feeder as it wasn't quite the way I wanted it so that took some time and then OH arrived home so we had a coffee over the fence with ln who was again glad for a break. She has an electrician coming today to sort out a socket and so had spent the day moving stuff from 1 room to another so he could get to the socket. By then the sun had gone behind a cloud and it was quite chilly so the garden was left. The kitchen bin was emptied. OH has lost a parcel. Apparently it was left hidden by a neighbours door but no idea which neighbour . I usually leave the porch door open but OH also had a parcel being returned that was left in the porch and it was collected while I was out and they shut the door so obviously it is my fault
I am off to the tip soon with some hard plastic bits from the garden and the old bird feeder as it is raining here atm so not venturing into the garden until it clears up

Hugs to everyone who would like one

1258 bedroom recycling
1259 quilt to cleaners - frog
1260 kitchen bin
1261 bird feeder fixed
Take care everyone
1261/2024