2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

CRANKY40

Good morning, 

Sorry that I've been AWOL - the usual start of semester ds "stuff" plus he had/still has manflu just to add to things. 

I know the answer to the cats and plastic thing - a lot of plastics contain fish oils. Our previous cat used to steal the straws from drinks (ds had one friend who always asked for a straw) so I looked it up and that was the answer. Also, if one of the rooms in your house starts to small a bit fishy then check all of your plug sockets.  The socket where my washing machine was plugged in was the culprit here (it was overheated and melting!) so there must be fish oils in those plastics too.

So, on to decluttering....the final September total was 290 so for the three quarters of the year so far the grand total is 2705. I'm not sure if I should be pleased or horrified. Ds helped me to take two more bags of things to the charity shop yesterday. I did have a sort of epiphany too. When we downsized to this house we filled it with "stuff" even though I probably halved our possessions before the move. Over the years we've looked at storage solutions and such things but I said to ds at the weekend that the answer is not better storage, it's actually less belongings.

October is off to a good start with 60 less items in the house so far. I have struggled to get a couple of items past ds who clearly has his father's hoarding genes but the answer to this is to wait until he's forgotten about it then put whatever it is in the bottom of the next bag so that he doesn't see it. 

Your flowers areso pretty Mrs S_D.sorry I missed saying Happy Anniversary to you both 💐

I'm loving all the cat photos too so thank you for those  😊

@suzeesu2000 my maiden name was a very common Welsh surname - that was hard. I'm still preferring the Scottish branch. My 3 x great grandparents were both born on the Isle of Iona. Not only that but my 3x great grandfather had the same name as my son has and the same birthday as me. 

Time for more coffee....take care all of you 😊

BlueJ94

Morning all! 

Ive got first aid training this morning, 6 hours of sitting in a room with some random people I've never met, I guess its better than going to work! 🤣

daisy_1571

Oooh cranky, you've nailed it !!   "the answer is not better storage, it's actually less belongings"  



Loving the cat photos, thanks also for that info about the fish oils in plastics, maybe they'll leave off plastic eating if they get regular fishy meals?



Daisy xxxx

vulpix

Regnbue, I am so envious of your trip. Please post lots of photos.

Soontobeoap, what a lovely job. The proportions are very pleasing to the eye.

Fomo is also a black and white cat from a cat hoarder. 8 years later I would say he is still hyper vigilant. Unlike Fluffy who came with him. I think she had been handled more.

My parents researched our family tree, both sides. They spent many happy years travelling the country visiting churches and registry offices.My Mothers family in Essex came over from France and were lace makers. The clue was in the surname though. My Dad's family were local Gentleman farmers as far back as records showed. My great great Grandfather was a bigamist who had 2 farms, two wives and 2 families. All the children had the same names. Eg first boy Adam, first girl Elizabeth etc. They only found out when he died and one wife came to the other farm to look for him. They both knew he had another farm which he spent his time between. Only 30 miles apart though, then that was a days horse ride away. In a different world I would own a very nice manor House locally as the eldest child of the eldest child etc. It has been renamed with my surname. Vulpix House!

 We have a move date of 17th October. They didn't actually say which year. hahahahaha. So I have 10 days to work up some enthusiasm.

 I forgot to say my broken toe is loads better. I can wear shoes now.

Great to hear of everyone's progress. I can't wait to unpack as discard what we don't need.

 Vx

Brie

I tried my best with tracing my mom's dad but it's a tad difficult to track an Edward Smith!!  I think I found the right one eventually based on mother's first name and where she was living according to his army ration card from WW1.  Our family has agreed that we'll accept him as correct.  Mom's mom was easier as we knew she was a Barnardo orphan shipped to Canada with her sister and Barnardos kept excellent records.  They even had a photo of them both the day they left to board the ship.  

Meanwhile - OH has finally noticed that there's some indian food in the freezer (I've only been mentioning it for 3 months) so that's likely to be dinner tonight.  We need to ensure we have space prior to going on holiday in December to make sure there's essentials for the "season" as I think we get home on the 23rd or 24th (not sure yet....I'm not in charge) plus room for whatever we might buy on the way home from Germany.  Will need to check the regulations on what we're allowed to bring back in case things change again.

Muddy_Walker

Numbers Update! 

MrsSD how many stars I have I got please? I think I missed one…

322-323 2 small boxes
324 UU handqash
325 toothbrush
326 coaster
327 cement aka Redy brek
328 stale malties
329 ood MP ( whatever that is 🤣)
330 ood fruit
331 UU toothpaste
332 broken ornament
333 very old bamboo mat
334 15 mins personal admin
335 normal rubbish
336-339 4 coasters
340 drink container
341 a mug
342 tiny pencil
343 book
345 tiny notepad
346 big notepad

and that’s it!

Muddy_Walker

Hive Mind…….for some stupid reason I have agreed to make a Christmas Cake for a family member. 

Do any of you have a special recipe or could recommend one? I want something that is easy-ish, doesn’t require a billion ingredients and is idiot proof! 😂😂
Help!

Green_hopeful

@Muddy_Walker i use Nigel Slaters. He is quite laid back about the fruit. I take a tub to our local refill place and get it weighed out so i don’t end up with lots of half packets. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/nov/22/nigel-slater-christmas-cake-recipe it looks like a long recipe but most of it is the icing. 

Green_hopeful

@Muddy_Walker if you feel up to it you can make delia’s cranberry mincemeat in the oven at the same time. It needs to marinate for 24 hours before cooking so read ahead, unlike me. It is totally lush. https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/home-made-christmas-mincemeat-with-cranberries

suzeesu2000

Thank you everyone for Family tree tips and cats with plastic info, much appreciated. I’m not sure it’s any fish oils in the plastic as Frankie doesn’t like fish. Told you, he’s a little weirdo. He will not eat any fish variety of cat food nor will he eat people tuna. Jazzy would take my hand off for tuna, If I made tuna mayo, she always had the bowl to lick clean. Oh, Frankie especially likes Sainsburys orange bags!
Decluttered the dirt from the top of the gas cooker today. It’s too much for poor old me to manage in one go,  but the top looks lovely now. What is the name for the black metal structure that goes atop the burners and you put the saucepan on? Anyway, I’ve managed to pull the cooker forward so I can scrub the sides tomorrow. 

Got rid of some packaging today too.
I took a few glass jars with lids up to a neighbour who I didn’t know before, she had put a note to neighbours asking for jars. Bless her heart, she left a little pot of plum jam on my step, isn’t that just the nicest thing? We are VERY lucky where we live as all our neighbours are lovely. 

Hope you’ve all had a good day.
Night night, sleep tight xx