2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

ionafan

Morning all.  Sorry I missed posting last week, but the days go past so quickly that I lose track of myself.

I am very pleased to read that @Florenceem and MrF are coping, and that MrF is getting stronger. 

Sounds like a lovely birthday treat, @Mrs_Salad_Dodger

The antics of all your various feline and canine companions have been making me laugh.

I have ignored the family photo sorting task this week and instead concentrated on my family tree.   I have cluttered up by going back 2 more generations on one line - which is progress, even though it is going backwards! - and printing out about 12 pages of an infant school log for 1907-13 which gives some insight into the start of my Great-Aunt Eggs' teaching career.  Most of the log entries are about attendance, children being sent home for being dirty or exhibiting signs of infections/nits, inspectors' visits and school holiday dates: nothing much changes!  I must make a big effort to sort and file all the loose papers today....

TC77

@dND thanks , I have liquid gold but haven't used it and will wait til I can open the windows, lots of warnings on the back of it. 
This is organised clutter, but have many rooms and there is only me . If I move somewhere smaller will be overwhelmed. Have taken photos od cushions ( inners and whole cushions) to see if dd1 wants any. I have shelves of Box files and lever arches files which  need sorting at some stage etc.
@Dizzycap thank you, I get so much inspiration from people here.  I've been here a few years ajd definitely made progress. Last year I stopped wombling  which has made a difference!

oceanspirit

Granny Kate, sorry to hear about difficult news.

Managed to recycle lots of paper yesterday as well as use the confidential bits as fire lighters.  Another item off the kitchen windowsill, washed and back in use.  Waiting for the weather to improve so we can get out into the jungle and clear some more ivy.

Food stocks continue to go down - most satisfying.

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 into cheerleading:

oceanspirit , well done to OH for delivering the bag to CS 👏 Good work dealing with post & emails - aka prevention of clutter 👏 & Good luck with clearing more of the  reading pile 🍀

Blue_Doggy, sorry to hear that your back & hips are stiff & that the painkillers make you drowsy 😔 This “I also make lists, nicely crafted, tasks broken down into logical steps: I find the lists when I’m sorting paperwork or other stuff and sometimes they are a few years old, and even have one or two items ticked off.” sounds horribly familiar 😉 Excellent decluttering 👏 & I do think the 1940’s brush has given as much service as can reasonably be expected 😂 Hopefully the new brush will last just as long 😉

Dizzycap, love the sound of “Fabulous Decluttering February” 😊What a busy Wednesday 👏🤩 Excellent work cleaning, decluttering & making good use of better weather to tackle garden tasks 🥳 Good luck with your new listings 🍀

Excellent work with the digital decluttering TC77 👏 & great work with the decorating 👏 Well done on the sales & hopefully the monies have now turned up & the parcels are gone 🤞

sqwiffy, I need distance & reading glasses so one of each 😔 + as my eyesight is quite poor I fork out for thinner lenses & also transition lenses so that I don’t need separate prescription sunglasses 😉 Lovely cheerleading 🙂 Good work decluttering emails & munching on the “huge amphibian” 👏 Sorry to hear that the medical staff dealing with your DMum appear to be failing rather miserably 😔 Hopefully Thursday’s visit to the surgery will get things sorted out 🙏

DundeeDoll, keep up the good work 👏  Day 5 = running total 15 🙂

Dizzycap, This “Use a craft knife to sharpen it. I'd get another year out of that!” had me laughing like a drain 🤣 Perhaps QueenJess can post it to you 🙃 & reading This “……. baby-face out for her last walk, otherwise life just isn't worth living - she can be so dramatic and throw herself down in her bed too!” had me crying with laughter 😆 I do hope there were a couple of homemade zesty lemon cookies going spare 😉

redofromstart, thanks for the information about selling books 👏

Floss, This “I'm a list person but I got a bit stuck with mine after I was ill in 2023. I found I had to break the jobs into smaller tasks, so "tidy bedroom" became "strip bed; put clean sheets on; put clean duvet cover on; sort ottoman; put away clothes; clean window; polish & dust; clear dressing table". Maybe that's an approach for those whose list isn't getting ticked off?” is a great idea 👏 although I am sorry to hear about your 2023 illness 😔 

One page caught up just as I need a 2nd cuppa 😉 The dark & overcast has turned to rain 🙁 I do hope everyone is having better weather than here in East London 🤞

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

DH Awards: 🏅 

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2025: 295/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £41.00

GrannyKate

Morning all.  Rubbish collection early this morning picked up stuff from DS2's garage and then as much as they could from mine - they dispose of everything legally and recycle what can be re-used - two small vans - he asked for £50 but I gave them £60.  I still have a bit left so will collect it all up and get them to come again.  

235-244 Van loads of rubbish - giving myself 10 points - some had already been counted out but I also found in garage a rotten bookcase, loads of tat, far more plant sticks than I'd ever use, wooden ladder which looked distinctly dodgy, mats, boards, cardboard etc.  Lots of nails and screws including one which went through my shoe - ouch

Moved bikes to garage and any garden furniture to small utility room. Plenty of space in there for a box to hold garden cushions, a small freezer and my tumble dryer.  I actually have empty shelf space in garage.  More stuff moved to workshop which I think I should call my potting shed.  

I am going for wander round shops. 

dND

Hello again everyone, 👋, I'm hoping that I have finally made it onto the back of the EDT.  My head/chest cold knocked me for six with 2 days spent in bed unable to do anything and then over a week waiting for my chest to clear enough to take a deep breath without collapsing in a heap coughing.  But feeling much better now and it's nothing compared with what some of you are going through. 💕💕

So after 3 weeks of being able to do very little I have a mega catch-up to do in the house with the day-to-day stuff before I even think about all the rest of the junk. 😱
I have managed to get recyclables out and have emptied a few more boxes and recycled those.  It's very much chicken and egg still.  I need to clear boxes but I need somewhere to store what I want from those boxes but there is no storage so I need to purchase cupboards/shelves etc.  But I need to empty boxes to get the space to put said cupboards and shelves in the house!! 🤣  Little by little though I can see I'm getting there.

After the gales a few weeks back I noticed some bits of mortar on the path and then again some more a few days ago.  Further inspection of the roof revealed that some of the hip ridge tiles have lost their mortar bed so I envisage a big bill coming getting that done and while roofers are here some of the other little bits that could do with sorting before they become more major problems.

I did manage to get a bit done in the garden as well on a few of the sunny days, not as much as I felt I should have done but as much as my back would allow.  It actually brought home how much I need to have these raised beds as I can see that I soon won't be able to do proper digging for more than half an hour.  But like the house, I'll keep chipping away at it. 😁

I've decluttered a piece of hardboard and some of the very old tin of blackboard paint I found left in the workshop and made myself a small blackboard for the kitchen.  I find blackboards very useful as I'm very much an 'out of sight, out of mind' person, very easily distracted by anything else that comes into my eyeline.  I lose lists! 🤣  The blackboard is unthreatening too as if it gets overwhelming, I wipe it clean and start again.

Take care everyone and hugs to all of you that are going through illness and other problems and good luck to all newbies too.  As it's said often on this forum, things build up over years and aren't cleared in a day, no matter what some TV programmes may imply.  As with hoarders, you could just skip everything and have a clear house but unless you understand why you are keeping things and why you can't get rid of things you'll be back where you started in no time.  Taking time to understand yourself and how you tick is the best way IMO, for me I need to set up systems that work for me, hence the blackboard in the kitchen where I see it many times in the day. Dx

florianatwobob

Took the coats to the charity shop and came home with 3 plants from the garden centre after I’d bought DSis her birthday breakfast. 

vulpix

 Hi,

 dND, it sounds like I have the bug that you have had. I do hope your roof doesn't turn out to be very expensive to fix.

 I spent a lot of yesterday asleep and slept all night too .Fomo and Fluffy on nursing duties. All I managed was a couple of trips downstairs to feed cats and fiddle with the laundry. Mr V has come home and brought me avocado on toast from the bakery which has perked me up a bit.

I saw some men cutting the tree down yesterday which had fallen on the neighbours roof. Made me realise it was actually a substantial tree with a man for scale!

 I have had a lovely card today. what a nice surprise, Thank you Daisy and Mr Daisy.xx

 Happy Birthday Queen Jess. Have a lovely day.

 Mr V says my top bedside drawer is like a bin. Yes I will take that. I think I need a cutlery tray or something in there to corral all the gubbins floating about. I will give it some thought.

Happy de cluttering  Vx

Florenceem

BlueJ94 - well done on the V sales. I need a bright morning to take some photos of stuff I want to list.
CRANKY40 - I have essences and food colourings that must be ood on my baking shelf.
TC77 - Mr F was a great Wombler - took a lot to retrain him.
Mrs SD - we had our rain overnight.
vulpix - Mr F and I have bedside drawers as you describe.
I popped to SA to take back a pudding bowl.
I walked down to the £2 charity shop and decluttered 3 bags of donations.
I had to wait for a bus at the harbour. I got off early to go to the sorting office about my missing parcel. The system said that my parcel was at Medway sorting office but surprise - chap went out the back and returned with it.
I then waited for a bus again to go home.
A community nurse phoned - was it convenient to come and see Mr F. He took a photo of Mr F's heel and told us the pressure relieving equipment should arrive soon. When I creamed Mr F's heel last night - the blood blister is starting to lift off - just hope it is dry and healed underneath.
I have done one of the items on my list today - cleared/tidied and cleaned the top of a rainbow set of drawers.
Next to be done is the area on top of my sewing machine which sits in a unit.
I felt unwell in the night when I got up to visit the bathroom so won't overdo it today.

Floss

@TC77 Ladderax is quite sought after as it's mid century modern (MCM) so very trendy. My parents had a whole wall but with the wooden ladders rather than metal.