2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Floss

GrannyKate said:

 ... He just decided on sofa as a scratching post.  

Find a small spray bottle, fill it with water & spray him whenever he scratches the furniture. Also, buy a bottle of spray catnip (B&M sell it) to spray his scratching post so it's a more attractive target! 

I use the Sanicat litter from Costco for Whisky, she also has a mat just outside the tray to catch most of the bits. 

I would also suggest varying his food, as you can guarantee that when you have just bought a month or more's worth of 1 particular food he will refuse to eat it... 

mehefin

Not a lot of decluttering except for time yesterday. 3 meetings ( 1 community libraries, 1 own library trustees , and 1 community council extraordinary meeting) . Was completely shattered after that lot and did not sleep well a great assortment of things going through my head!
Disastrous attempt at making scones yesterday - I really must put my glasses on when getting ingredients from the cupboard. Used plain flour instead or s/r by mistake -  I thought they looked a bit squished when they came out of the oven but it wasn't until was putting stuff away did the penny drop! They are edible- just! if they are super yuk my friends chickens can have them lol-  it was their eggs after all , so nice to give something back  

We have had several cats over the years - all rescues or we have been adopted. The current one is a barn cat  called Heidi as she finds all sorts of weird places to tuck herself away. She appeared from nowhere and had obviously been in an accident as her rear end is wonky and she has a peculiar walk. She will let you stroke her, but her claws are constantly out!! The previous adopter was 'Riley' as he had the life of.. Big lazy Tom cat and he was another one who you would find in starnge places in the barn, including on top of the 2 wheel trap ( balanced on the back of the seat!)
They both keep/kept the vermin down so they stayed.

Florenceem

Beautiful cat - I wouldn't have a cat as I live on a busy main road.
Already been into town and taken the shopping trolley and bag full of stuff to the charity shop. It wasn't as windy as I expected.
Popped to SA for printing.
C went to visit Mr F last night and said he had a very good conversation with him.
I am meant to be having a Freegler coming to collect various bags that I offered. If they are collected - I will have an empty porch - apart from the doormat!
 I have a bag of shopping bags ready to take along to the community shop.
Going to have a cuppa and sort some more stuff to leave the house.

daisy_1571

We've had several cats over the years that you couldn't force to go outside so dont rule it out if you ever fancy some furry company florenceem.  Charlie isn't even interested in looking out a window much 😻 

ruby_eskimo

Morning all.  

Again will echo other's posts @weenancyinAmerica and hope you're looking after yourself in amongst the chaos.  Hoping the rains come soon and don't cause other problems!  Who can deny the presence of climate change when California is on fire and Florida is covered in snow 😳

Hope you manage to get some answers soon @Florenceem but it does sound like Mr F is slowly making progress.  I'd second talking to the nurses, they usually know more about what's going on with the patients than the Drs.

Definitely think I need some time in the TLC carriage @Mrs_Salad_Dodger but not because of the shock of DH decorating, more to do with work woes 😬  On the home front, DH has primed the bedroom and done one coat of white on the ceiling.  Today he's doing a second coat on the ceiling and then we have to decide on a colour for the walls.  I want a light blue like our last house, he wants a light green; we'll see who wins!  So looks like it's a weekend of painting ahead of us when all I want to do is sleep 😏 

Electrician finished his first fixes (which included almost drilling through into my office but luckily he stopped in time!) and the plumber came to fit the water pipes for the washing machine yesterday while the crew filled the holes from the old (and many) electrical points.  Today they're skimming the walls and the tiler is coming tomorrow morning to look at the floor and work out what needs levelling on Monday.  So next week is floors, which means we might be able to reconnect the washing machine once that's all done 🤞  And then it will be another weekend of painting the kitchen and living room and on and on it goes.  

I'll get to decluttering again soon I hope!  But something I head this morning that resonated with me is "Follow the plan, not the feelings" which while on the face of it seems to go against a lot of things I believe (like following your gut / intuition), it does seem to help in those moments when you're trying to find some non-existent motivation and maybe some big feelings are getting in the way (which is kind of how I'm feeling at the moment).

Hugs to all that need them, I'll see you in the TLC carriage.

florianatwobob

Our mogs were regularly rolled over onto the backs when they came for a fuss so they got used to their tummies getting tickled. We reached an understanding where when they’d had enough they would press with their back legs but with no claws out (claws out resulted in nose or paws being tapped with one finger as a warning). 

This was partly done because the dog had no respect for the mogs’ dignity and was known to stick his head under their back legs and wheelbarrow them across the room when he was having g a sniff after they came in.  It avoided a lot of arguments between the furry inhabitants of the house. 

Thinking about it this may be where the cats learnt the one claw in the dog’s nose as a warning when he misbehaved. 

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks
2. Concerted effort to sort out sleep patterns - Realistic targets: bed by 2:00 a.m. & up by 10:00 a.m 
3. Continue dealing 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

Straight back into cheerleading now that I have my 2nd cuppa & the first load of washing is now tumble drying 🙂

Florenceem, sounds like you got more information from speaking to the nurse than you have gotten from speaking to must be a dozen doctors 😔 I am rather peeved (on your behalf) that the doctor didn’t phone as promised & that no one seems to be helping MrF at mealtimes 😖 Sending cwtches 🤗  

retiredinfrance, lovely supportive post 🥹

Welcome aboard scandimore 👋 Lovely to meet you 😊 I do like the way you have listed from least/not cluttered to full of “juicy clutter” 😊 My thought would be to work down the list making sure that the living room & bathrooms remain  clutter free (& celebrating that it only takes a few minutes to keep them that way 👏) & then start tackling the next area until it has reached the same stage 🤔 Remember that every item you declutter is a win 🙂 Hopefully you can get MrS on board with the decluttering 🤞Many of us have trouble getting started but if you can set aside 15 minutes a day & just dive in it is remarkable what you can achieve 🙂 Good luck 🍀 & I look forward to following your progress 😊

Blue_Doggy sorry to hear that your dog is unwell 😔 Hopefully he is on the mend & there will be no more need for 3:00 a.m. walks 🤞Good work tackling the ironing & dealing with emails 👏

weenancy, good work sorting out the bookcase area 👏 Pleased to hear that the nurse has visited & sorted out Di’s meds 🙂 Now Di just needs to knuckle down & take her meds as instructed 🙏 presumably she doesn’t want to end up back in hospital 🤞A pleasant surprise to hear that roommate G is also pitching & feeling better 😊 Hopefully both G & J will continue to put in some effort to help out whilst Di is recovering 🙏 I remember playing in large cardboard boxes - they could be anything from a car to a spaceship or my favourite a fort - I watched far too many westerns when I was younger 😂 Keeping everything crossed that the winds die down to a pleasant breeze & that the promised rain materialises 🤞🤞 I think we are all trying very hard to ignore him but it is proving quite difficult as he seems to be everywhere 😞 More Cwtches coming your way 🤗 

Dizzycap, lovely post 😊 My ‘wagging finger emoji’ is putting in an appearance 😉 - if you have been instructed to have bed rest then please be good & have bed rest 🙏 

sqwiffy, I admire your commitment to reading all the posts 😊 no wonder you are exhausted 🥱 You are fitting right in with some lovely cheerleading 😊 So pleased to hear that your Mum had such a good day 🥹 Good luck with your ‘tech project’ 🍀 Loved This “Another thing to try and improve about myself but I'm a work in progress!” ☺️

Florenceem, I hope that your sleep was restful 🤞& that having got up so early you can sneak in a little nap during the day 🙂

Another page caught up & almost time to make another drink 😉 I might even get dressed as it doesn’t look like I will be going back to bed 😂 P.S. it has stopped raining & the sun is trying to put in an appearance 🙂

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️ ❤️ 🏅 💐 💐 💐 🏅🥉🏅 🎂 🌟

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Decluttering Target 2025: 154/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

vulpix

 Hi,

 Flowerpot, you have a unique style, I do like your use of gold, is it gold leaf? If I could paint I would do it all the time and forget decluttering.

 Hi scandimore, I do like your term neurospice, it's great. I shall steal that !

Thank you sqwiffy, you will make me blush. I have renovated furniture for many ,many years. Initially as I had no money and then because I didn't want things with good bones to go to land fill. I have made money from my hobby too. Years ago I got an old beat up, dark wood dresser for £10. Painted it creamy white. Sold it on ebay for £300. Those days are gone now but nice at the time. I stick to chairs more recently as they are easy to man handle, and generally less work than wood furniture.I did a re upholstery course at night school many years ago. I wouldn't do a full job now of new springs and the works, I just stick to easy fixes. Unfortunately I deleted 90 photos off my phone only yesterday, many of which were before and after pictures. I don't do it to make money, just to make things desirable again. I am going to start on a recent free dining chair today. Mr V cut 4" off  the legs for me and it is now nursing chair height. The seat material has paint splashes on it. I will make a slip cover I think, much easier than re covering. I think I will also paint it's little stubby legs black.
 Tell us about your chair, if you do that you might be spurred on to re vamp it.

 GrannyKate, Sox is a beaut. I love a grey cat. It sounds like he is making himself at home. Another week and your transfer to Sox being your owner will be complete.

 I pressed post instead of save, doh!

 Hope you are all ok in this wind. It is wild out here, the wind in the wood is screaming. We don't actually have it as bad as some.

 Vx

Wednesday2000

What a sweet cat! We use the Catsan litter which is expensive, but it is the best one I've tried. 

The rain woke me up about 5 but it is bright and sunny now. I'm going out today and tomorrow, but I have a to-do list for next week. I haven't booked my meditation class for next week so I have a week to get a lot done. It feels like a Saturday to me today, strangely.

Duchess2

@GrannyKate. Ahhh gorgeous boy. Welcome Sox. He’ll soon realise what a privileged boy he is once he makes himself at home. In the meantime wishing you lots of fun 🐈‍⬛