2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Brie

Soontobeoap said:

Having a nightmare choosing sofas as I can't work out which ones will come through our front door and fit down our narrow hallway. NO ROOM TO PIVOT!!! 

check if the feet/legs/underbits come off. 

We had an impossible entrance way and we had 2 options.  1 was to haul large furniture over 2 spiked gates to go through the more generous door from the garden.  Or take off the legs which reduced the height of a sofa by about 2 inches which was just enough for the blinking thing to go through the front door.  When we were moving out and the movers (proper pros) were stumped about getting the sofa out we simply told them to unscrew the legs.  It hadn't occurred to them. 

suzeesu2000

London_1 said:

suzeesu2000 said:

Mrs_Salad_Dodger thanks for medal xx

London_1 best wishes to your daughter. Had to have hysterectomy etc in 2021 as I had cancer. Was treated at St. Marys and they were superb and very speedy. Please tell your daughter she is in very good hands. Mr Green, although a trifle brusque (!) is very good. xx

Mr Green is who she saw today, and he is a bit brusque She had an internal biopsy done and bearing in mind she had five children she said it was worse than giving birth and she had a pretty high pain threshold
but now we just wait for the results
Shes tucked up on the sofa with some ibuprofen and a cuppa. So fingers crossed we get some positive news 🙏🤞👍

I had one of those and yes, they are not the nicest thing. Wishing you both well and fingers crossed for good results xx

YBR

YBR said:

Finding it hard to think what I've actually achieved in the last couple of days ...

Finished a UFO for DD1 so that I could pack most of the blankets, and stitched a couple of name tapes, but more to do.

DD2's bookshelves are cleared, but not yet unscrewed them from the wall. 

DD1 still hasn't cleaned and tidied her room, but some books are packed. so the volume is reduced. 5 days of telling so far ... Teenager!

DH and I have done some recording for his online church service this Sunday (last one), he now needs to edit it all together.

I listed the frogs I need to do today and got permission to fill my neighbour's bin while they're away.

A much more satisfactory day today: 15 of the 20 items on today's list are completed, and two more have progressed, including a trip to the tip, 2 CS visited, a few frogs done, all the bookshelves emptied and unscrewed from the wall, more boxes packed, and some name tapes done. I'm really pleased as my lists are often wildly unrealistic! 
The process has thrown up more wood for the tip, and more stuff for CSs, but as I'm very busy for the next 5 days that will sit until I have more time.

Floss

suzeesu2000 said:

London_1 said:

suzeesu2000 said:

Mrs_Salad_Dodger thanks for medal xx

London_1 best wishes to your daughter. Had to have hysterectomy etc in 2021 as I had cancer. Was treated at St. Marys and they were superb and very speedy. Please tell your daughter she is in very good hands. Mr Green, although a trifle brusque (!) is very good. xx

Mr Green is who she saw today, and he is a bit brusque She had an internal biopsy done and bearing in mind she had five children she said it was worse than giving birth and she had a pretty high pain threshold
but now we just wait for the results
Shes tucked up on the sofa with some ibuprofen and a cuppa. So fingers crossed we get some positive news 🙏🤞👍

I had one of those and yes, they are not the nicest thing. Wishing you both well and fingers crossed for good results xx

I had one yesterday, and I agree with your daughter @London_1 that they are not the most pleasant experience!

Willowtree222

Unexpected small clear out. I couldn't find something so in looking did some decluttering! 

retiredinfrance

Good evening, declutterati chums! Thank you Mrs SD for the friendly nudge. Both DH and I are well though DH is worried about urology consult on Friday at our one hour away big hospital. This is a follow up to after the second sepsis bout last year. But he is really back to normal so I’m not worried about. The thing is. I’m thinking here of your DD , London I, is that when it’s something inside, it is harder to deal with not being able to to see , as it were. All best wishes for her. 

Well decluttering stopped at 360/365, as we had visits one after the other from DS and DD, so we were cleaning the house so that they wouldn’t think we were struggling, all with temperatures over 35 and at record 38. But French houses are built to deal with with this so we were fine inside-going out was a different situation!
Then the TV sort , Wimbledon, golf and Test matches.Back to decluttering. I got rid of about 20 different items when cleaning for the visits but forgot what they were. Then as my DD wanted to take books back with her we went on the hunt , aiming to get the final 65 .No, we got 40.Also out since 
1 pair trainers as DS brought me new one.
im now collecting up all my house books - you know the ones with pretty pictures and I’m going to try to sell them to Antique/ brocante shops owned by British ladies who have a British clientele. DH calls these books “ Pornography for Ladies””  If not sold off to a CS. While I haven’t decluttered much , I have been moving stuff around - Stuff A goes to Stuff B’ s home and B goes to C and so on. This has resulted in space on top of a bookshelf where I hope to store shoes I don’t wear that often and I’m researching how to keep them in good nick. Cat litter has been suggested but I’m not sure.Has anyone tried it? On the positive side there is nothing piled up on a floor, I have space on the bookshelves , clothes are being rationalized and I have cut back drastically on stuff from CShops. One thing I foresee is that sales will be coming to CS as the law here is that all fabric has to be recycled and everywhere is bunged and recycling has hit a big hitch for the moment. My local one says that people are “dumping “ fabrics that the Tip can’t take. So, 
total out  41+300=341/365
On I go  , hoping to post more often with short posts.
Hugs for all

TC77

@retiredinfrance good to see you. I'm not sure what sort of shoes you're storing or for how long but I've used shoe trees and also some very soft shoe covers ( sort of v soft fabric - probably v vintage ) for suede party type shoes. Seem to be in good condition decade's after not being put to use again. And then kept in a box ( cardboard). 
@vulpix thank you again. I do give myself credit sometimes but some stress eating taking place so maybe too hasty getting rid of some clothes  
Will read along between frog wrangling and munching.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, knackered today after 2 tip runs of wood. OH was home early so helped with the big bits on the second run, counting as 4 as both times the car was again so full I could only just see out of the windows 😂. The only other thing that got done was the bedroom recycling. OH has been nagged into sorting out some clothes and I will possibly have a bag full to take to the cs in a day or so 😁 but it is a drop in the ocean 😁.

@TC77 I did the same thing with my clothes, wore everything that fitted for a day. Things that no longer fitted or for some reason were not right went off to the cs. I now only have things that fit and are comfortable but I have noticed there are things I avoid wearing so I am trying to work out why I do that, it's a work in progress 😂

@Vulpix if I ever need a jeweller I shall know who to ask 😁

@daisy_1571 that recipe looks quite nice to me 😂 though OH might not be so impressed 😂

@YBR I know how to change a plug as well 😁. My Dad taught me when I was quite young along with how to change a fuse as my Mum would never touch anything electric 😂

@London_1 hope things go well for your DD, big hugs

@Dizzycap the cake decoration is still lounging in it's tin but it will have to go to the bin as I couldn't take the sugar hit by eating it.

@weenancyinAmerica thanks for the suggestion but I am a bit worried that as lilies are often used as funeral flowers here any older folks getting them on a cake might not appreciate it 😂.

Right I am off to bed now, I have planned a busy day for tomorrow, washing and cleaning on the list before we go out for tea as the last meal out for OH's birthday 😁.

Hugs to everyone who would like one

1037 - 1040 wood to the tip
1041 bedroom recycling
Take care everyone
1041/2025

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

Tuesday: overcast cooler day with a high of 20°C, low 16°C & humidity 62% DH went to his 2nd WLP meeting - he lost 2.4kg 🤩. This week’s instructions include restricting eating & calorie intake to 10 hours a day & cutting out snacks. Dealt with my mail + a bit more paperwork. Dinner was breadcrumbed chicken, mash & baked beans whilst I had a couple of fried eggs, mash & baked beans. Wudupa

1393 - 1395 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, 0.5” Sudoku pages & paperwork - recycled 

1396 - 1398 Kitchen & lr detritus, uu pen - binned 

Liverpool_Anne, two very busy & productive days with some excellent decluttering 👏 Lemon posset sounds yummy 😋 

YBR, sounds like you are so busy packing & keeping the house running that once a task has been completed you automatically forget about it 😊 Wishing you lots of luck in persuading ‘teenager’ to finally clean & tidy her room 🍀

London_1, keeping everything crossed for your DD 🤞 Excellent decluttering by the two of you 👏 especially as I remember that you were quite brutal when you decluttered last year for your move to the IoW 😊

TC77, you are doing really well & I am so pleased that you are fighting your long-standing instinct to keep things for ‘best’ 👏You have a lot going on so well done on prioritising paper & electronic organising & decluttering 👏 Hopefully this will also help with the frogs 🙏 

Excellent decluttering Moorviews 👏 Sorry for missing nannywindow 😔

Lovely post suzeesu2000 🥹

vulpix, what a wonderful compliment for TC77 🥹 I totally agree with This “I don't think you give yourself enough credit for all the plate spinning you do.” 😊 As to This “ I like to think the people we miss are on holiday or in the garden or doing other fabulous things. It's great if this thread helped for a time.  I on the other hand need the thread to keep me accountable. Left to my own devices I would sit all day and craft. I am embarrassed that my neighbour walks past my window several times a day, going for a run, going to the gym and I am ALWAYS just sat there knitting!” remember that you are decluttering, organising & packing ready for your house move which your neighbour doesn’t see 😉 Also thanks for the information about your ‘bread belly diet’ 👏 + I must stop fast forwarding through the TV ads & start moving a lot more 😅

Floss, I think I need to grow 2’ 🙊 😬 

Excellent decluttering Wednesday2000 👏

Dizzycap, love This “I find the remembering what I've actually done also alludes me most of the time 😆😆 I thought I was developing a memory issue and then realised that I've been so busy that I'm too tired to care to remember what I've been doing, but I've been doing it and that's what matters!  😆” Wow you have been busy 👏🤩 Excellent work all round & you still found time to take care of babyface 🥹 Hopefully babyface will be less grumpy once she realises that slightly less food means slightly more energy 😉

Soontobeoap, excellent work with the wood chip 👏 Hopefully the plasterer will be able to fit you in sooner rather than later 🤞Perhaps you could get sofas that come in two parts 🤔 

London_1, everything crossed for positive news re DD 🤞🙏

Brie, didn’t think about that - a great idea 👏

Excellent work YBR 👏 Well done on getting so much of your list completed 🥳

Willowtree222, love it - unexpected decluttering 👏😊

Lovely to see you retiredinfrance 🥹 I will reply properly tomorrow as I have just realised how late it is 🙊 

Sleep tight everyone 😴 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️ ❤️ 🏅 💐 💐 💐 🏅🥉🏅 🎂 🌟⭐️⭐️❤️ 🍫🐾 😍🥇🥇 💐 🏆 ⭐️

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️ 🏅 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1398/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £299.00

retiredinfrance

Thanks for the info, TC77 . I have a pair of leather brogues not worn for three years since I got trainers which have a musty smell . I want to wear them again as they are like new and waterproof ( MSE). I have read about  filling a sock with car litter which I’m going to try. Helps also get some old socks repurposed!
1 old tatty magazine to recycling.
Im also going to check on some vintage shoes stored like TC77’s.
I blouse out 
Now  343/365
Hugs for All.